Patent Application
20250019017
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The disclosure relates to track cover devices and more particularly pertains to a new track cover device for inhibiting debris from being dislodged on a track of a crawler vehicle while the crawler vehicle is being transported on a trailer. The device includes a cover that is shaped to fit around a track of the crawler vehicle, an elastomeric tube integrated into the cover to close the cover around the track and a pair of drawstrings integrated into the tube for tightening the cover around the track.
The prior art relates to track cover devices including a variety of wheel cover devices that are generally annular for enclosing a wheel of a vehicle. In no instance does the prior art disclose a track cover that has an oblong triangular shape for conforming to the shape of a track on a crawler vehicle for inhibiting debris from becoming dislodged from the track when the crawler vehicle is being transported on a trailer.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a cover that has an outer wall which is elongated along a longitudinal axis of the cover thereby facilitating the cover to conform to the shape of a track on a crawler vehicle. The cover is comprised of a resilient and tear resistant material thereby facilitating the cover to inhibit debris from being dislodged from the track when the cover is positioned over the track. In this way the cover inhibits the debris from striking a vehicle on a roadway when the crawler vehicle is being transported on a trailer. An elastomeric tube is attached to the cover for biasing the cover to close around the track when the cover is positioned over the track.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The cover 12 has a lateral wall 24 lying on a plane that is perpendicularly oriented with the outer wall 14. The lateral wall 24 has a perimeter edge 26 which has a lower side 28 extending between a front curve 30 and a back curve 32 and the perimeter edge 26 has a back side 34 extending between the back curve 32 and a top curve 36. Additionally, the perimeter edge 26 has an upper side 38 extending between the top curve 36 and the front curve 30 and the upper side 38 slopes downwardly between the top curve 36 and the front curve 30 such that the lateral wall 24 defines an approximately triangular shape with rounded corners. In this way the cover 12 can conform to a triangle track 16 that is commonly employed on skid steers, for example. The lateral wall 24 is elongated between the front curve 30 and the back curve 32 and the outer wall 14 has an upper side 40 intersecting the upper side 38 of the perimeter edge 26 of the lateral wall 24. The outer wall 14 has a back side 42 which intersects the back side 34 of the perimeter edge 26 of the lateral wall 24 and the outer wall 14 has a front side 44 which intersects the front curve 30 of the perimeter edge 26 of the lateral wall 24.
The cover 12 has a lateral panel 46 which lies on a plane that is oriented parallel to the lateral wall 24 and the lateral panel 46 has a lower edge 48 which has a lower side 50 that extends between a forward side 52 and a rear side 54 of the lower edge 48. The lower side 50 of the lower edge 48 is spaced from and extends along a line that is oriented parallel to the upper side 40 of the outer wall 14. The rear side 54 of the lower edge 48 is spaced from and extends along a line that is oriented parallel to the back side 42 of the outer wall 14 such that the rear side 54 of the lower edge 48 intersects a termination of the back side 42 of the outer wall 14. The forward side 52 of the lower edge 48 extends between the lower side 50 of the lower edge 48 and a termination of the front side 44 of the outer wall 14. Additionally, the termination of the front side 44 of the outer wall 14 and the termination of the back side 42 of the outer wall 14 defines a track opening 56 in the cover 12 for receiving the track 16 having the outer wall 14 resting on an outwardly facing surface 58 of the track 16. The outer wall 14 has a lip 60 extending between the termination of the back side 42 of the outer wall 14 and the termination of the front side 44 of the outer wall 14 and the lip 60 intersects the lower side 28 of the perimeter edge 26 of the lateral wall 24.
An elastomeric tube 62 is provided and the elastomeric tube 62 is attached to the cover 12. The elastomeric tube 62 extends along the lip 60 and the termination of the front side 44 and the termination of the back side 42 of the outer wall 14 of the cover 12. In this way the elastomeric tube 62 biases the track 16 opening to close around the track 16 when the cover 12 is positioned over the track 16 thereby facilitating the cover 12 to enclose debris 20 on the track 16. Furthermore, the elastomeric tube 62 has a hole 64 which extends into an interior of the elastomeric tube 62.
A pair of drawstrings 66 is provided and each of the pair of drawstrings 66 is disposed within the elastomeric tube 62. Each of the pair of drawstrings 66 extends outwardly through the hole 64 in the elastomeric tube 62 such that an end 68 of each of the drawstrings 66 is exposed. Furthermore, the pair of drawstrings 66 is drawable outwardly from the elastomeric tube 62 for tightening the track 16 opening in the cover 12 around the track 16 for retaining the cover 12 on the track 16. The drawstrings 66 includes a pair of balls 70 that is each attached to the end 68 of a respective one of the drawstrings 66. A slide 72 is provided and each of the drawstrings 66 slides through the slide 72. The slide 72 has a locking mechanism 74 which is biased into a locking condition for engaging the pair of drawstrings 66 to inhibit the pair of drawstrings 66 from sliding through the slide 72. The locking mechanism 74 is actuatable into an unlocked condition to facilitate the pair of drawstrings 66 to freely slide through the slide 72.
In an alternative embodiment 76 shown in
In use, a cover 12 is positioned over each of the pair of tracks 16 on the crawler vehicle 18 when the crawler vehicle 18 is driven onto a trailer 22 for transporting the crawler vehicle 18. The drawstring 66 in each of the covers 12 is pulled to tighten each of the covers 12 around the pair of tracks 16. In this way the covers 12 inhibit debris 20 lodged in the tracks 16 from becoming dislodged during transport and potentially striking a vehicle on a roadway. Furthermore, the tracks 16 on the crawler vehicle 18 do not have to be cleaned of debris 20 prior to loading the crawler vehicle 18 onto the trailer 22 thereby saving time spent on a jobsite. The cover 12 can be disposed of after a single use or when the cover 12 becomes too damaged to contain the debris 20.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
