Belt for tracked vehicles

Abstract

A belt for tracked vehicles suitable for being driven in a closed loop between a front wheel and a rear wheel of the vehicle along a longitudinal direction and for supporting a plurality of transverse bars adapted to stick in the ground along at least a portion of the lower run of the belt loop; the belt comprising a fabric multi-layer internal structure embedded in vulcanized rubber, wherein at least a portion of the fabric fiber of at least one layer is made of aramid.

Claims

1. A tracked vehicle belt configured to be driven in a closed loop between a front wheel and a rear wheel of a vehicle along a longitudinal direction and configured to support a plurality of transverse bars, the tracked vehicle belt comprising: a fabric multi-layer internal structure embedded in vulcanized rubber, wherein: the fabric multi-layer internal structure comprises at least three layers comprising an inner layer and two outer layers on opposite sides of the inner layer, each of the layers comprising a fabric weft fiber, and a fabric warp fiber, a linking yarn keeps the fabric weft fibers and the fabric warp fibers of the layers in position and creates a connection between the different layers, and at least a portion of a fabric fiber of at least one of the at least three layers of the fabric multi-layer internal structure comprises an aramid fiber.

2. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 1, wherein the fabric warp fiber of at least one of the three layers is aligned to the longitudinal direction and the fabric weft fiber of that layer is aligned to a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

3. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 2, wherein the fabric warp fiber of the inner layer at least partially comprises the aramid fiber.

4. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 3, wherein the fabric weft fiber of the inner layer at least partially comprises a nylon fiber.

5. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 2, wherein the fabric weft fiber of at least one of the outer layers at least partially comprises the aramid fiber.

6. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 5, wherein the fabric warp fiber of that outer layer at least partially comprises a polyester fiber.

7. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 1, wherein the fabric weft fiber of at least one of the outer layers is arranged on opposite sides with respect to the fabric warp fiber of that outer layer.

8. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 1, wherein for at least one of the layers, the fabric weft fiber is arranged on opposite sides with respect to the fabric warp fiber.

9. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 1, wherein the belt defines at least one hole and the aramid fiber is arranged adjacent to the at least one defined hole.

10. The tracked vehicle belt of claim 1, wherein the fabric fiber comprising the aramid fiber comprises a percentage of aramid of between 50% and 100%.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further characteristics of the present disclosure will become clearer form the description that follows of a non-limitative embodiment, referring to the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a snow-grooming tracked vehicle for application of the belt according to the present disclosure;

(3) FIG. 2 is a top view of a portion of the tracked vehicle in FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the coupling that attaches the transverse bars to the belt; and

(5) FIG. 4 schematically shows the internal structure of the belt, made by the superimposition of layers of fabric with weft and warp fibers embedded in vulcanized rubber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) Referring now to the example embodiments of the present disclosure illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, reference numeral 1 indicates a snow-grooming tracked vehicle as an example of a tracked vehicle on which the belt 10 forming the subject of the present disclosure can be mounted.

(7) This snow groomer 1 is a tracked vehicle and is motorized to travel along a ski run 2 in a direction of travel 3. The snow groomer vehicle 1 is further equipped with a plurality of work units such as, for example, a tiller 30 configured to work the snow cover of the ski runs, a shovel 29 configured to move snow masses along the ski runs and/or a winch unit 31. The snow groomer 1 comprises a support frame 4, a driver's cabin 5 mounted on the support frame 4 and two tracks 6 mounted on opposite sides of the support frame 4.

(8) Each track 6 comprises a plurality of belts 10 mounted between a front wheel 9 and a rear wheel 8, and a plurality of transverse bars 11 fastened to the belts 10.

(9) The direction of travel of the belts 10 defines the direction that will be indicated in the remaining description as the longitudinal direction 3, while the axes of rotation of the wheels 8 and 9 define the transverse direction 7 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 3.

(10) FIG. 2 shows a staggered arrangement of the transverse bars 11 along the longitudinal direction 3 with respect to the belts 10, while FIG. 3 schematically shows the screw coupling 17 between a belt 10 and a bar 11.

(11) In particular, the bar 11 comprises a section bar 12 provided with a cavity 13 inside which a plate 14 is inserted. A counter plate 15, or outer plate, is provided on the opposite side of the belt 10 in correspondence to this plate 14.

(12) The plates 14 and 15, the section bar 12 and the belt 10 have respective holes 16 that, when aligned, can accept the screw 17 for clamping the structure in a pack.

(13) FIG. 4 shows the belt 10 in one embodiment of the disclosure with a particular distribution of weft and warp fibers arranged in three superimposed layers where at least one of these fibers is made of aramid. In this example, the belt 10 comprises a multi-layer textile structure embedded in vulcanized rubber 21. The multi-layer textile structure comprises an inner layer 18 and two outer layers 19 and 20, respectively arranged on opposite sides with respect to the inner layer 18. The transverse bar 11 is fastened externally to one 19 of the two outer layers, while the remaining outer layer 20 faces the inside of the belt loop.

(14) Each layer comprises a fabric warp fiber oriented along the longitudinal direction 3 and two fabric weft fibers arranged on opposite sides of the fabric warp fiber along the transverse direction 7.

(15) According to the example shown, the fabric warp fiber 22 of the inner layer 18 is at least in part made of aramid. The fabric weft fibers 25 and 27 of the outer layers 19 and 20 are also at least in part made of aramid. The fabric weft fibers 23 of the inner layer 18 are at least in part made of nylon, while the fabric warp fibers 24 and 26 of the outer layers 19 and 20 are at least in part made of polyester.

(16) It should be appreciated that, as previously mentioned, for the purposes of the present disclosure, even only one of the above-stated layers 18, 19 and 20 may comprise fibers at least in part made of aramid, their orientation can be angled with respect to the longitudinal direction 3, and the multi-layer structure can also comprise further outer layers or sub-layers between the specified outer layers 19 and 20 and inner layer 18.

(17) Finally, FIG. 4 shows the optional presence of a linking yarn 28, which has the purpose of keeping the fabric weft and warp fibers of the layers in position, as well as creating a connection between different layers.

(18) It is evident that modifications and variants can be made with regard to the belt for tracked vehicles described herein without departing from the scope of the appended claims. As such, the present disclosure also covers embodiments not described in the detailed description and equivalent embodiments that fall within scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, various changes and modifications to the presently disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended technical scope. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.