Trencher assembly utilizing a direct drive motor
AssigneeCaterpillar SARL
InventorsEric A. Armstrong, Mark R. Kinder, Alessandro Magliulo, Henry Torosyan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention includes a trencher assembly with a motor that directly drives a sprocket through the rotation of a shaft of the motor. The rotation of the sprocket drives both a digging chain and an auger assembly simultaneously. The ability to use a motor to directly drive the sprocket decreases the components necessary for a drive train of the trencher assembly to promote a compact design. This occurs because the sprocket is able to drive both the digging chain and auger assembly through the transfer of driving forces from the motor without any intermediate gearing, belts, rotating support structure, and the like.
Claims11
A trencher assembly, comprising:
- a frame;
- a boom arm connected on the frame;
- a motor connected on the frame, the motor having a rotatable shaft;
- a sprocket connected directly on the shaft of the motor, the sprocket being directly driven by the motor through the rotation of the shaft;
- a digging chain connected between the boom arm and the sprocket, the digging chain being driven by the rotation of the sprocket;
- and
- an auger assembly connected with the sprocket for rotation therewith in unison with the digging chain.
A trencher assembly having a pivotable boom arm connected to a work machine, a digging chain rotatably connected on the boom arm, and an auger assembly, comprising:
- an enclosed drive train assembly including a motor with a rotatable shaft and a sprocket for simultaneously driving the digging chain and auger assembly in unison, the sprocket being connected directly on the shaft of the motor and directly driven by the motor through the rotation of the shaft;
- and
- the sprocket including a gear portion and a hub portion integral with the gear portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.