Elastic crawler
View Patent ↗An elastic crawler has a crawler body formed like an endless belt out of an elastic material, a plurality of driving projections provided on an inner circumferential surface of the crawler body with a predetermined pitch in the circumferential direction thereof, and a plurality of traction lugs provided on an outer circumferential surface of the crawler body with a pitch different from that of the driving projections.
1. An elastic crawler comprising:
a crawler body having the shape of an endless belt and composed of an elastic material, the crawler body being provided with a circumferentially extending tension member and a widthwise extending tension member embedded therein,
a plurality of driving projections provided on an inner circumferential surface of the crawler body having a predetermined pitch (GP) and a center-to-center phase between adjacent driving projections in the circumferential direction thereof, and
a plurality of traction lugs provided on an outer circumferential surface of the crawler body having a predetermined pitch (LP) and a center-to-center phase between adjacent traction lugs,
wherein the predetermined constant pitch (LP) of the traction lugs is set larger than the predetermined constant pitch (GP) of the driving projections in the circumferential direction thereof,
wherein the phases of the lugs and driving projections are shifted from each other in the circumferential direction over the whole circumference of the crawler body,
wherein the pitch (LP) of the lugs and that (GP) of the driving projections are set to LP ≅1.5 GP so as to reduce a scatter of bending rigidity of the crawler body in the circumferential direction and to retain well balanced bending characteristics of driving wheel wrapping portions of the crawler body,
wherein the circumferentially extending tension member is formed of a parallelly wound, circumferentially endless reinforcing cord that is embedded in an inner portion of the elastic material for restricting circumferential elongation of the elastic crawler, and
wherein the widthwise extending tension member is formed of a bias-arranged reinforcing cord that has been parallel-wound and embedded in an inner portion of the elastic material for improving widthwise bending rigidity.
2. An elastic crawler comprising:
a crawler body having the shape of an endless belt and composed of an elastic material, the crawler body being provided with a circumferentially extending tension member and a widthwise extending tension member embedded therein,
a plurality of driving projections provided on an inner circumferential surface of the crawler body having a predetermined pitch (GP) and a center-to-center phase between adjacent driving projections in the circumferential direction thereof, and
a plurality of traction lugs provided on an outer circumferential surface of the crawler body having a predetermined pitch (LP) and a center-to-center phase between adjacent traction lugs,
wherein the predetermined pitch (LP) of the traction lugs is set larger than the predetermined pitch (GP) of the driving projections in the circumferential direction thereof,
wherein the pitch (LP) of the lugs and that (GP) of the driving projections are set to LP ≅1.5 GP so as to reduce a scatter of bending rigidity of the crawler body in the circumferential direction and to retain well balanced bending characteristics of driving wheel wrapping portions of the crawler body;
wherein the circumferentially extending tension member is formed of a parallelly wound, circumferentially endless reinforcing cord that is embedded in an inner portion of the elastic material for restricting circumferential elongation of the elastic crawler, and
wherein the widthwise extending tension member is formed of a bias-arranged reinforcing cord that has been parallel-wound and embedded in an inner portion of the elastic material for improving widthwise bending rigidity.