Triangle chocky bar for use on compactor wheel wire guards
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsKevin Hanks, Jim D. Angell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Mobile equipment, such as landfill compactors, utilize wheels with wire guards to prevent wire, cable, or the like from entangling the mobile equipment. Traditional wire guards either do not satisfy life expectations or do not provide an edge that promotes chopping or cutting of refuse and/or traction. The disclosed wire guard comprises one or more chocky bars, extending between pairs of adjacent cleats on the peripheral edge of a circumferential surface of a wheel rim. This wire guard may improve the life of the wire guard system to match the life of the cleats, while also providing a serrated edge that improves chopping and cutting of refuse and provides traction on the varied and unpredictable terrain of a landfill.
Claims17
A wire guard comprising:
- a plurality of chocky bars, wherein each of the one or more chocky bars comprises:
- a triangular tooth comprising a pair of triangular side surfaces, a top surface, and a bottom surface;
- and
- a rectangular attachment plate comprising a top surface and a flat bottom surface, wherein the top surface of the rectangular attachment plate is brazed to the bottom surface of the triangular tooth;
- and
- a base comprising a circumferential surface, wherein the circumferential surface of the base comprises a plurality of flat portions arranged, along a circumferential axis, from a first end of the base to a second end of the base that is opposite the first end, wherein the flat bottom surface of the rectangular attachment plate of each of the plurality of chocky bars is affixed to a respective one of the plurality of flat portions of the circumferential surface of the base.
A wheel comprising:
- a rim comprising a circumferential surface that is annular around a longitudinal axis;
- a plurality of cleats affixed to the circumferential surface of the rim, so as to protrude from the circumferential surface of the rim, wherein a subset of the plurality of cleats are arranged at equidistant intervals around the longitudinal axis on a peripheral edge of the circumferential surface of the rim;
- and
- a plurality of wire guards that each comprises
- a base comprising a circumferential surface and a bottom surface opposite the circumferential surface, wherein the circumferential surface of the base comprises a plurality of flat portions arranged, along a circumferential axis, from a first end of the base to a second end of the base that is opposite the first end, and
- a plurality of chocky bars, wherein each of the plurality of chocky bars comprises
- a triangular tooth comprising a pair of triangular side surfaces, a top surface, and a bottom surface, wherein the top surface comprises a first portion inclined in a first direction and a second portion inclined in a second direction that is opposite the first direction, and wherein an interface between the first portion and the second portion is beveled, and
- a rectangular attachment plate comprising a top surface and a flat bottom surface, wherein the top surface of the rectangular attachment plate is brazed to the bottom surface of the triangular tooth,
- wherein the flat bottom surface of the rectangular attachment plate of each of the plurality of chocky bars is affixed to a respective one of the plurality of flat portions of the circumferential surface of the base, and
- wherein the bottom surface of the base of each of the plurality of wire guards is affixed to the circumferential surface of the rim between a respective pair of adjacent cleats in the subset of cleats.
A wire-guard kit for a compactor wheel, the wire-guard kit comprising:
- a base comprising a circumferential surface, wherein the circumferential surface comprises a plurality of flat portions arranged from a first end of the base to a second end of the base that is opposite the first end;
- and
- a plurality of chocky bars, wherein each of the plurality of chocky bars comprises
- a triangular tooth comprising a pair of triangular side surfaces, a top surface, and a bottom surface, wherein the top surface comprises a first portion inclined in a first direction and a second portion inclined in a second direction that is opposite the first direction, and wherein an interface between the first portion and the second portion is beveled, and
- a rectangular attachment plate comprising a top surface and a flat bottom surface, wherein the top surface of the rectangular attachment plate is brazed to the bottom surface of the triangular tooth,
- wherein there is a space between adjacent chocky bars of the plurality of chocky bars.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.