Idler for undercarriage system having sacrificial wear rings and wear ring for same
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsMichael Stephen Galat, Temitope Olayemi Akinlua
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An idler for an undercarriage system in a track-type machine includes an idler rim having an outer rim surface extending circumferentially around an idler axis of rotation and forming a centrally located guide flange. The outer rim surface further forms a first ring channel and a second ring channel upon a first axial side and a second axial side of the centrally located guide flange, respectively. A first sacrificial wear ring is seated in the first ring channel and a second sacrificial wear ring is seated in the second ring channel.
Claims19
An idler for an undercarriage system in a track-type machine comprising:
- an idler rim including an outer rim surface extending circumferentially around an idler axis of rotation and forming a centrally located guide flange, and an inner rim surface;
- the outer rim surface further forming a first ring channel upon a first axial side of the centrally located guide flange and a second ring channel upon a second axial side of the centrally located guide flange, and each of the first ring channel and the second ring channel extending circumferentially and continuously around the idler axis of rotation;
- a first sacrificial wear ring seated in the first ring channel;
- and
- a second sacrificial wear ring seated in the second ring channel.
An idler for an undercarriage system in a track-type machine comprising:
- an idler rim including an outer rim surface extending circumferentially around an idler axis of rotation and forming a centrally located guide flange, an inner rim surface, a first axial end face, and a second axial end face;
- the outer rim surface further forming a first ring channel and a second ring channel structured to receive, respectively, a first sacrificial wear ring and a second sacrificial wear ring;
- the first ring channel extending circumferentially and continuously around the idler axis of rotation and including an inboard channel wall spaced axially outward of the centrally located guide flange, and an outboard channel wall spaced axially inward of the first axial end face;
- and
- the second ring channel extending circumferentially and continuously around the idler axis of rotation and including an inboard channel wall spaced axially outward of the centrally located guide flange, and an outboard channel wall spaced axially inward of the second axial end face.
A sacrificial wear ring for an idler in an undercarriage system comprising:
- a one-piece metallic ring body including an outer link-contact surface and an inner idler-contact surface each extending circumferentially around a ring center axis between a first ring body end and a second ring body end;
- the one-piece metallic ring body further including a first ring axial side surface and a second ring axial side surface oriented normal to the ring center axis and extending from the outer link-contact surface to the inner idler-contact surface;
- the one-piece metallic ring body is elastically deformable between an installation configuration where a split gap extends in a circumferential direction between the first ring body end and the second ring body end, and a service configuration where the first ring body end and the second ring body end are in abutment and the split gap is closed;
- a ring width dimension (RW) is defined between the first ring axial side surface and the second ring axial side surface;
- a ring thickness dimension (RT) is defined between the outer link-contact surface and the inner idler-contact surface;
- and
- a ratio of RW to RT is from 2.5 to 5.0.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.