1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to all-terrain vehicles and, more particularly to track assemblies for all-terrain vehicles.
2) Description of the Prior Art
Traditionally, two types of all-terrain vehicles are proposed either the wheeled type or the tracked type. Wheeled vehicles are usually more maneuverable than tracked vehicles but are not as efficient on uneven or soft terrain such as snow.
Mainly two types of track systems have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,847 describes an endless track structure having a substantially triangular shape. An endless track belt is mounted over front and rear idler wheels and two spaced apart driving wheels mounted on the existing wheel hub of the vehicle. The idler wheels are located below the driving wheels and are interconnected with sliding shoes. The track belt of U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,847 has a wide supporting footprint. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/165,707 describes an endless track structure having also a substantially triangular shape wherein an endless track belt is mounted over front and rear idler wheels a driving wheel mounted on the existing wheel hub of the vehicle. However, the idler wheels are located above the driving wheel and therefore the track belt has a punctualized localized surface with the ground.
The track structure of U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,847 gives better performance when the vehicle is in deep snow conditions than the track structure of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/165,707. However, the performance of U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,847 decreases when the ground surface is harder. Moreover, since it includes sliding shoes, it can only be used in snow conditions. Since the track structure of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/165,707 does not have sliding shoes, it can be used on any ground surfaces.
There is therefore a need for a new track assembly for an all-terrain vehicle that gives as good performance as the track system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,847 in snow conditions and can be used on any ground surface.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide improved track assemblies for an all-terrain vehicle.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a straddle-type vehicle including at least one track assembly to support vehicle onto a ground surface. The at least one track assembly comprises a longitudinal endless track belt having an outer surface and an inner surface; a frame to mount the longitudinal endless track belt to the vehicle; at least one driving wheel disposed externally to the longitudinal endless track belt, the at least one driving wheel being in driving engagement with the longitudinal endless track belt; and at least two inner wheels in contact with the inner surface of the longitudinal endless track belt.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a track assembly for an all-terrain vehicle. The track assembly comprises a longitudinal endless track belt having an outer surface and an inner surface and a mounting structure to mount the longitudinal endless track belt to the vehicle. The mounting structure includes at least one driving wheel disposed externally to the longitudinal endless track belt, the at least one driving wheel being in driving engagement with the longitudinal endless track belt, and at least two inner wheels in contact with the inner surface of the longitudinal endless track belt.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mechanism for facilitating the steering of an all-terrain vehicle having a pair of track assemblies. Each track assembly has at least one driving wheel. The mechanism comprises at least one first and second braking systems operatively connected to respective driving wheels of the pair of track assemblies; the first and second braking systems being independently actuable, whereby upon activating one of the first and second braking systems, the driving wheel operatively associated with the actuated braking system is slowed down to facilitate turning of the vehicle in the direction of the slowed down driving wheel.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an all-terrain vehicle including a steering mechanism and a pair of front track assemblies. Each of the track assemblies comprises at least one driving wheel and at least one independent braking system operatively connected to the at least one driving wheel; the braking systems of the track assemblies being selectively independently actuable, whereby upon actuating one of the braking system, the driving wheel operatively associated with the actuated braking system slows down allowing the vehicle to turn in the direction of the slowed down driving wheel.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method to facilitate the steering of an all-terrain vehicle having a pair of front track assemblies, each having at least one driving wheel. The method comprises providing at least first and second braking systems; operatively connecting the first and second braking systems to respective ones of the track assemblies; and providing independent control of the first and second braking systems.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method to facilitate the steering of an all-terrain vehicle having a pair of left and right track assemblies. The left and right track assemblies respectively includes left and right driving wheels and left and right brakes. The method comprises the step of providing independent control of the left and right brakes, whereby upon independently actuating one of the left and right brakes, only the driving wheel associated to the actuated brake is slowed down creating a speed differential between the left and right track assemblies to facilitate steering of the vehicle in the direction of the slowed down driving wheel.
According to a still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a track assembly adapted to be retrofitted to a straddle type vehicle having a driving output. The track assembly comprises an endless track belt extending over at least a pair of longitudinally spaced-apart inner wheels, and a driving arrangement adapted to be drivingly connected to the driving output of the straddle type vehicle for transmitting power to the endless track belt, wherein the driving arrangement comprises at least one driving wheel mounted outside of a loop defined by the endless track belt and in driving engagement therewith.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.
A track assembly adapted to be retrofitted to a wheeled type all-terrain vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in details with reference to the appended drawings.
Referring to
Referring back to
Referring now simultaneously to FIGS. 2 to 4, 10, it will be seen that track driving wheels 26 are preferably provided in the form of cogwheels with equidistant teeth 40.
In the embodiment of
The main driving wheel 24 is retrofitted to the existing hub 50 of the all-terrain vehicle 10 (
Wheels 24, 26 and 28 are interconnected with an inside mounting plate 70 and an outside mounting plate 72, wheels 24 and 26 being disposed externally to track belt 20. Inside plate 52 of main driving wheel 24 is connected to outside mounting plate 70 with a spacer 80. Referring to
Each of the inner idler wheels 28 has a peripheral portion in contact with the inner surface 32 of the track belt 20. In a preferred embodiment, track assembly 14 has a plurality of pairs of inner idler wheels 28. Each pair is rotatably mounted on each spacer 84. Moreover, any number of inner idler wheels 28 can be rotatably mounted on each spacer 84 without departing from the scope of the invention.
As it will be easily understood by one skilled in the art upon inspection of
It is also possible to adjust the tension of endless track belt 20 with a tension adjusting assembly. As it can be seen from
Inside mounting plate 70 has a central aperture 100 (
It is possible to adjust the height of the track assembly 14 by modifying the position of driving track wheels 26 relatively to main driving wheel 24. As it can be seen from
The track assembly 14 also allows to replace any of the driving wheels 24, 26 with another wheel having a different diameter. Changing the driving wheels 24, 26 allows to modify the gear ratio of the vehicle 10.
It is also possible to cover the external gearing of the track assembly 14, which includes main driving wheel 24 and driving track wheels 26, with a protective cover (not shown). The protective cover prevents the insertion of undesired objects, such as branches, in the track assembly 14 and further acts to reduce the security risk associated with operating such a track assembly 14, for the vehicle's user or any other person in proximity of the track assembly 14.
As stated hereinabove, the track assembly 14 is provided with an external gearing, i.e. the main driving wheel 24 and the track driving wheel are located externally of endless track belt 20. The endless track belt 20 has a plurality of equidistant openings 36 separated by bridging webs 38, which ensure a positive engagement with the teeth 40 provided on the outer circumference of track driving wheels 26. Moreover, the main driving wheel 24 is provided with a plurality of equidistant engaging members 64, which ensure a positive engagement of the teeth 40. In operation, the main driving wheel 24 is coupled to a drive shaft, via the hub 50, connected to an engine (
In another embodiment, the track assembly 14 includes a steering mechanism that facilitates the steering of the all-terrain vehicle 10. Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6, it will be seen that the steering mechanism includes two secondary braking systems. Each braking system is operatively associated with a track assembly 14 disposed at the front of the all-terrain vehicle 10, mainly with the main driving wheel 24 of the assembly 14. Each secondary braking system includes a brake 140. The brake 140 is disposed proximate to the main driving wheel 24. In FIGS. 3 to 6, the brake 140 is mounted proximate to the outside plate 54 and abuts against the latter when the braking system associated with the brake 140 is activated. The brake 140 abutting the outside plate 54 slows down the rotation movement of the main driving wheel 24 and consequently the rotation movement of the track belt 20. When the all-terrain vehicle 10 negotiate a turn in a predetermined direction, the braking system associated with the main driving wheel 24 located inside the desired turn can be activated to provide better maneuvering of the vehicle. The main driving wheels 24 of the front track assemblies 14 have therefore a different rotation speed and the vehicle 10 turns in the direction of the main driving wheel 24 having the slowest rotation speed. Moreover, for tracked vehicle, since the rotation pivot is offset relatively to the track belt 20, the vehicle steering is even more facilitated.
The steering mechanism can be activated manually with a handle, a pedal, or the like or automatically while turning the steering of the vehicle. The steering mechanism can be combined with the main braking system of the vehicle without departing from the scope of the invention. Each braking system can be operatively associated simultaneously with a front and a rear driving wheels on the same side of the vehicle 10. Brakes 140 can be operatively associated with the track driving wheels 26, on the inside plate 52 of the main driving wheel 24 or both inside and outside plates 52, 54 without departing from the scope of the invention. Preferably, the plate(s) or wheel(s) associated with each brake 140 is made in steel or any other appropriate material.
Of course, one skilled in the art could design another arrangement of the mounting assembly of the endless track belts 20 to the vehicle 10 to obtain this external driving wheel feature without departing from the spirit and nature of the present invention.
Alternatively, the track assembly 14 could only be comprised of a main driving wheel 24 directly engaged with the longitudinal track driving belt 20. In that case, the main driving wheel 24 would be provided with equidistant teeth 40 on its periphery for meshing engagement with either the transversal lugs 34 and/or the equidistant openings 36 separated by bridging webs 38. Furthermore, the motor of the all-terrain vehicle 10 preferably turns in the opposite direction.
As people in the art will understand, the all-terrain vehicle of the present invention, provided with four endless track assemblies, can be used for a wide range of operations and terrain, while being highly mobile and offering good running performance. The endless track structure maintains an adequate configuration over a variety of surfaces. Since it does not have sliding shoes, it can be used on any ground surface.
Moreover, the track assembly 14 can be used with all-terrain vehicle 10 of any cylinder capacity. As it can be seen in
Referring back to
It will be obvious to people skilled in the art that the present invention can be applied both in the case of a two-wheel drive vehicle wherein the power is typically applied only to the rear track belt assemblies and the front track assemblies merely facilitate steering, and in the case of a four-wheel vehicle, wherein power is independently provided to each one of the four track assemblies. It is also understood that, although the present invention has been described in the context of a four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle (ATV), it could also be applied to other vehicles including various straddle-type vehicles, such as dirt bikes, motorcycles and three-wheeled ATV.
As will be further understood by one skilled in the art, the all-terrain vehicle 10, equipped with track assemblies according to the present invention, may be viewed as a snow vehicle since it may be used on snow as efficiently as conventional snow vehicles such as snowmobiles, for example. The wide supporting footprint of the track assemblies is an important factor allowing this good performance. However, the absence of sliding shoes allows the use of the all-terrain vehicle on harder surface without the usual drawbacks of tracked vehicles.
Interestingly, the present track assembly system can equip all four wheels of an all-terrain vehicle or only the front or rear wheels thereof. A further possibility would be to use track assemblies according to the present invention in place of the rear wheels of a vehicle, while mounting skis in place of the front wheels thereof. Another important advantage of the track assembly 14 is that the same track assembly 14 can be mounted in any position on the vehicle (front, rear, left and right).
The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to be exemplary only. The scope of the invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims priority under 35USC§119(e) of U.S. provisional patent application 60/577,924, filed on Jun. 9, 2004, the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60577924 | Jun 2004 | US |