In the appended drawings:
Turning to
Reinforcing rods 24 are embedded in the rubber material of the body of the belt 12, at a pitch spacing 2P multiple of the pitch spacing P of the traction lugs 20, each of which extends transversally over substantially the entire width of the track on the ground-engaging surface 16.
A track with no reinforcing rods (
Moreover, resistance tests show that, contrary to a general thinking in the field, the rubber body, which, by construction, is flexible in its longitudinal direction, is sufficiently stiffened in the transverse direction by such reinforcing rods only present at every two (2) or three (3) traction lugs 20 for example.
In the case of no reinforcing rods, the chemical composition and the mechanical resistance of the rubber material reinforced with transverse fibers, for the endless belt 12 devoid of reinforcing rods, may be selected to ensure rigidity of the endless belt 12. Such rubber material, with a transverse rigidity much larger than its longitudinal rigidity, allows fabricating a belt with a transverse rigidity high enough for allowing traction of the vehicle, while having a smaller longitudinal rigidity allowing the belt to be driven around the sprocket wheel, thereby reducing resistance to forward movements. A transverse rigidity superior by about 5 to 10 duros to that of rubber usually used in rod-reinforced belts (of a hardness of typically about 60 duros) may be a target.
If any, the reinforcing rods may be fiberglass reinforced, as known in the art.
The present tracks allow reducing the level of generated noise. Moreover, since the number of reinforcement rods is reduced, the tracks are lighter in weight (for example by 1.45 kg based on a prior art track of 15.8 kg, based on a 15′large×121″ long track for example). People in the art will further appreciate that the production time of such tracks is shortened by up to 10%, which further contributes to the decrease of costs.
As can be seen from
Such tracks are of particular interest for snowmobiles intended for use in protected environments, such as national parks for example, which have stringent regulations such as speed limits around 40 ml/hr and low noise impact.
Although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of specific embodiments thereof, it can be modified, without departing from the nature and teachings of the subject invention as defined in the appended claims.
This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/826,551, filed on Sep. 22, 2006. All documents above are herein incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60826551 | Sep 2006 | US |