Crawler

A crawler comprising:

• at least one connecting member;
• at least one link connectable to other links by said at least one connecting member to form an endless shape such that said at least one link can be assembled onto a drive mechanism of a machine having a predetermined weight, said at least one link having an inner link surface facing the drive mechanism of the machine when assembled thereon, and an outer link surface facing away from the drive mechanism when assembled thereon;
• at least one crawler block having an inner crawler surface with a portion attached to the outer link surface, and an outer crawler surface facing away from the outer link surface;
• at least one pad having an inner pad surface vulcanized and adhered to said outer crawler surface and to a portion of the inner crawler surface not attached to the outer link surface, and an outer pad surface facing away from the at least one crawler block, the outer pad surface having a peripheral portion and a central portion, the at least one pad having a peripheral thickness defined by a distance between a peripheral portion of the outer pad surface that faces away from the outer side of the at least one crawler block and a peripheral portion of the outer pad surface that faces away from the inner side of the at least one crawler block, and a central thickness defined by a distance between said outer pad surface and said inner pad surface at said central portion, the peripheral thickness being greater than the central thickness,
• said at least one pad, as viewed from a direction orthogonal to the outer pad surface, having a portion that extends away from an outer periphery of said at least one crawler block at a distance such that when said at least one crawler block is arranged in said endless shape, a gap distance between said at least one crawler block and an adjacent crawler block is "substantially" filled by adjacent pad portions that extend away from the outer periphery of said at least one crawler block and said adjacent crawler block.

A crawler comprising:

• at least one connecting member;
• at least one link connectable to other links by said at least one connecting member to form an endless shape such that said at least one link can be assembled onto a drive mechanism of a machine having a predetermined machine body weight, said at least one link having an inner link surface facing the drive mechanism of the machine when assembled thereon, and an outer link surface facing away from the drive mechanism when assembled thereon;
• at least one crawler block having an inner crawler surface with a portion attached to the outer link surface, and an outer crawler surface facing away from the outer link surface;
• and
• at least one pad having an inner pad surface vulcanized and adhered to said outer crawler surface and to a portion of the inner crawler surface not attached to the outer link surface, and an outer pad surface facing away from the at least one crawler block, the outer pad surface having a peripheral portion and a central portion, the at least one pad having a peripheral thickness defined by a distance between a peripheral portion of the outer pad surface that faces away from the outer side of the at least one crawler block and a peripheral portion of the outer pad surface that faces away from the inner side of the at least one crawler block, and a central thickness defined by a distance between said outer pad surface and said inner pad surface at said central portion, the peripheral thickness being greater than the central thickness, wherein the peripheral thickness and central thickness are selected such that when the at least one pad is subjected to the machine body weight, the peripheral portion of the outer pad surface that faces away from the inner side of the at least one crawler block is co-planar with the central portion of the outer pad surface.