Track for traction of an off-road vehicle such as a snowmobile or an all-terrain vehicle (ATV)
A track for traction of an off-road vehicle such as a snowmobile or an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). The track comprises an inner surface, a ground-engaging outer surface, and a plurality of traction projections projecting from the ground-engaging outer surface. The track may be very thin and/or the traction projections may be very high.
1. A track for traction of an off-road vehicle, the track being mountable around a track-engaging assembly comprising a drive wheel for driving the track, the track being elastomeric to be flexible around the track-engaging assembly, the track comprising:
a carcass comprising an inner surface for facing the track-engaging assembly and a ground-engaging outer surface for engaging the ground;
a plurality of traction projections projecting from the ground-engaging outer surface of the carcass;
a plurality of stiffening rods extending transversally to a longitudinal direction of the track and spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the track; and
a reinforcement embedded between the inner surface of the carcass and the ground-engaging outer surface of the carcass;
wherein: the stiffening rods are disposed between the reinforcement and the inner surface of the carcass; the reinforcement comprises segments underneath respective ones of the traction projections; at least a majority of each of the segments of the reinforcement is located below a level of the ground-engaging outer surface of the carcass; and at least part of the stiffening rods is located at the level of the ground-engaging outer surface of the carcass.
2. The track of claim 1 , wherein the reinforcement is a reinforcing fabric.
3. The track of claim 1 , wherein a ratio of (i) a height of a given one of the traction projections over (ii) a thickness of the carcass of the track from the inner surface to the ground-engaging outer surface is at least 15.
4. The track of claim 1 , wherein the off-road vehicle is a snowmobile and the track is a snowmobile track.
5. The track of claim 1 , wherein an entirety of each of the segments of the reinforcement is located below the level of the ground-engaging outer surface of the carcass.
6. The track of claim 1 , comprising a plurality of layers of elastomeric material and a plurality of distinct pieces of elastomeric material spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the track, wherein: the layers of elastomeric material are molded to form at least part of the inner surface and the ground-engaging outer surface of the carcass; the distinct pieces of elastomeric material are molded to form at least part of respective ones of the traction projections; and the distinct pieces of elastomeric material are consolidated with a given one of the layers of elastomeric material forming at least part of the ground-engaging outer surface during molding.
7. The track of claim 6 , wherein the distinct pieces of elastomeric material are molded to form at least a majority of each of the respective ones of the traction projections.