Split sprocket having slide tracks
AssigneeLaitram, L.L.C.
InventorsXiaozhong Li, Adam E. Bannerman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A split sprocket for belts or chains. The split sprocket comprises two sections that slide together along parallel slide tracks that are perpendicular to two opposite walls of the sprocket's bore. The slide track includes male T-shaped, V-shaped, or jigsaw-puzzle-shaped beams on one of the sections that slide into mating female slots in the other section. The mated slide tracks prevent the sections from separating in all directions except the separation direction along the slide tracks. A fastener through one of the sections into the other prevents the assembled sprocket sections from sliding apart along the slide tracks.
Claims40
A split sprocket comprising:
- a first sprocket section and a second sprocket section joined to form:
- at least three bore walls defining a central bore having an axis defining an axial direction;
- and
- a periphery radially outward of and encircling the bore;
- first and second slide tracks formed by mating track elements on the first and second sprocket sections, wherein the first slide track is separated from the second slide track by the bore and wherein the first sprocket section is joined to the second sprocket section by sliding the first and second sprocket sections together along the first and second slide tracks in a slide direction perpendicular to the axial direction and parallel to one of the bore walls.
A split sprocket comprising:
- an outer periphery;
- an interior portion forming first, second, third, and fourth bore walls defining a square bore axially through the sprocket;
- a first slide track extending in a slide direction from the intersection of the adjacent first and second bore walls to a first stop surface inward of the periphery and a second slide track extending in the slide direction from the third bore wall opposite the first bore wall to a second stop surface inward of the periphery, wherein the slide direction is perpendicular to the first and third bore walls;
- wherein the sprocket is divisible into first and second sprocket sections along the slide tracks.
A split sprocket comprising:
- a first sprocket section and a second sprocket section joined to form:
- at least three bore walls defining a central bore having an axis defining an axial direction;
- and
- a periphery radially outward of and encircling the central bore;
- wherein the first sprocket section forms a first complete one of the bore walls and wherein the second sprocket section forms a second complete one of the bore walls adjacent to the first complete one of the bore walls;
- first and second slide tracks formed by mating track elements on the first and second sprocket sections, wherein the first sprocket section is joined to the second sprocket section by sliding the first and second sprocket sections together along the first and second slide tracks in a slide direction parallel to the second one of the walls and perpendicular to the axial direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.