JPH1045050A - Crawler belt type vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a vehicle to travel smoothly irrespective of whether or not a crawler belt is installed and of the tire diameter of front wheels by interposing a transmission mechanism between the engine and each front-wheel drive shaft or between the engine and each rearwheel drive shaft. SOLUTION: This crawler belt type vehicle has front wheels 5, 5 with pneumatic tires mounted at the front of a vehicle body, and intermediate wheels 7, 7 with pneumatic tires and rear wheels 6, 6 with pneumatic tires mounted at the rear of the vehicle body, with crawler belts 9, 9 stretched over the intermediate and rear wheels. The crawler belt type vehicle is of the front- and rear-wheel drive type, with a transmission mechanism 45 interposed between the 1 engine and each front-wheel drive shaft 43, 43 or between the engine and each rear-wheel drive shaft 54, 54 so that it can travel irrespective of whether or not the crawler belt is installed and of the tire diameter of the front wheels. Therefore, the speed of the front wheels and that of the rear wheels can be changed quickly, easily and freely. Thus, the crawler belt type vehicle can be made to travel smoothly irrespective of whether or not the crawler belt is installed and of the tire diameter of the front wheels.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a crawler belt type vehicle having a front wheel as a tire and a rear wheel as a crawler.
Half-crawler vehicle).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a half crawler vehicle, there is a technology disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 8-8891 entitled "Tire-Driven Crawler Belt". According to the above technology, according to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the publication, a front wheel 11 with a pneumatic tire 12 is attached to a front part of a vehicle body, and a rear wheel 13 with a pneumatic tire 14 and a middle part with a pneumatic tire 16 at a rear part of the vehicle body. A wheel 15 is attached, and a crawler belt 18 is stretched over the tires 14 and 16. In addition, the half crawler vehicle 1 uses the power of the engine 25 by the front wheels 11 and 11 and the rear wheels 13 and 13.
Front and rear wheel drive type.

[0003]

Such a half-crawler vehicle travels with the crawler belt 18 attached only when traveling on soft ground in many cases, and in other cases, the crawler belt 18 is removed. However, it has good running characteristics and good ride comfort. However, the effective radius from the center of the rear wheel 13 to the road surface changes depending on the presence or absence of the crawler belt 18. That is, the effective radius changes by the thickness of the crawler belt 18 (base gauge). As the thickness increases, the effective radius also changes more. The above half crawler vehicle is
Since the rear wheel drive type is used, when the crawler belt 18 is removed, the speed of the front wheel 11 and the speed of the rear wheel 13 need to be matched. If the speeds of the front wheel 11 and the rear wheel 13 do not match, it is necessary to take some countermeasures between the front wheel drive system and the rear wheel drive system. The tire of the front wheel 11 may be replaced with a large-diameter tire in order to enhance the running performance according to the conditions of the traveling path, and the same applies in that case.

An object of the present invention is to enable a crawler belt type vehicle to run smoothly irrespective of the attachment / detachment of the crawler belt and regardless of the tire diameter of the front wheels.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a front wheel with a pneumatic tire is mounted on a front portion of a vehicle body, and an intermediate wheel with a pneumatic tire and a rear wheel with a pneumatic tire are mounted on a rear portion of the vehicle body. A crawler belt-type vehicle that mounts, wraps a crawler belt around these intermediate wheels and rear wheels, and transmits power between the tires and the belt by frictional resistance between the pneumatic tire and the crawler belt. It is a front / rear wheel drive type that transmits power to the front and rear wheels, and a crawler is provided by interposing a transmission mechanism between the engine and the front wheel drive shaft or between the engine and the rear wheel drive shaft. It is configured to be able to run smoothly regardless of the attachment / detachment of the belt and the tire diameter of the front wheel.

[0006] Since the speed change mechanism is interposed between the engine and the front wheel drive shaft or between the engine and the rear wheel drive shaft, the speed of the front wheel and the speed of the rear wheel can be quickly and easily adjusted. , Can be changed arbitrarily. For this reason, the crawler belt type vehicle can be smoothly driven regardless of the attachment / detachment of the crawler belt and the tire diameter of the front wheel.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings should be viewed in the direction of reference numerals. FIG. 1 is a side view of a crawler belt type vehicle according to the present invention. The crawler belt type vehicle 1 is a so-called half crawler vehicle in which front wheels are tires and rear wheels are crawlers.

More specifically, a crawler belt type vehicle 1 includes a front wheel 5 as a drive wheel and a rear wheel 6 as a drive wheel provided on a body frame (body) 4 having a front cabin 2 and a rear carrier 3. And an intermediate wheel 7 as an idle wheel interposed between the front and rear wheels 5 and 6 and an equalizer 8 interposed between the rear and intermediate wheels 6 and 7 are mounted on the left and right sides. This is a four-wheel drive / crawler type vehicle in which a crawler is configured by extending a crawler belt 9 (between wheels) between the vehicle and a middle wheel 7.

The front wheel 5, the rear wheel 6, and the middle wheel 7 are provided with rubber pneumatic tires, which are balloon tires. The front wheel 5 has a larger diameter than the rear wheel 6 and the intermediate wheel 7.
The crawler belt 9 is made of a flexible material such as a rubber material, and has a plurality of side guide portions 9a (...) on the inner peripheral surface and on both sides in the width direction with respect to the shoulder portion of the tire.
same as below. ) Is raised, and a predetermined uneven pattern (lag pattern) is formed on the ground plane 9b. The vehicle body frame 4 has an engine 11 with a transmission 11a attached to a rear portion.

The crawler belt type vehicle 1 has a contact surface pressure of the tire of the front wheel 5 of 0.1 to 0.15 kg / cm.
² , while the contact pressure of the crawler belt 9 is set in the range of 0.04 to 0.05 kg / cm ² .

When the crawler belt type vehicle 1 travels on a soft ground such as snow, the contact pressure of the tire of the front wheel 5 is set to 0.1.
If it is smaller than 1 kg / cm ² , the sink depth of the front wheel tire becomes too small. If the sinking depth is too small, the projected area from the side of the part sinking in snow, mud, or the like is small, and the steering resistance is also small. For this reason, the steering resistance becomes too small, and it becomes difficult to secure sufficient maneuverability on a soft ground. Also,
If the contact pressure of the tire of the front wheel 5 is larger than 0.15 kg / cm ² , the sink depth of the front wheel tire becomes excessive. If the sinking depth is too large, the resistance to snow and mud will increase, and it will be difficult to improve the turning performance, and it will be particularly noticeable in fresh snow and unexplored ground.

On the other hand, when the contact pressure of the crawler belt 9 is set to 0.1.
If it is smaller than 0.4 kg / cm ² , the sink depth of the crawler belt 9 will be too small, and the contact pressure will be 0.05 kg / cm ^2.
If it is larger than cm ² , the sinking depth of the crawler belt 9 will be excessive. If the sinking depth of the crawler belt 9 is too small or too large, the running resistance on the running road surface becomes large, so that it is difficult to improve the running performance, and it is particularly remarkable on fresh snow and unexplored ground.

Therefore, it is preferable that the contact surface pressure of the tire of the front wheel 5 and the contact surface pressure of the crawler belt 9 be set in the above ranges. In order to set the contact pressure in such a range, the engine 11 with the transmission 11a
The whole is disposed between the front end and the rear end of the crawler belt 9. The engine 11 includes a center of the rear wheel 6 and an intermediate wheel 7.
And a first distance L ₁ from the center C of the crankshaft of the engine 11 to the center of the rear wheel 6, and from the center C of the crankshaft to the center wheel 7. the ratio of the second distance L ₂ to the center, about 2: it is most preferred to be set to 1. In addition, the first
Distance L ₁ is preferably in a proportion of about 30% of L ₃ (wheelbase as a third distance) center-to-center distance between the rear wheel 6 and the front wheels 5. Further, a part of the engine 11 with the transmission 11a is disposed in the loop of the crawler belt 9 in a side view (in this figure).

The carrier 3 is integrally mounted on the upper rear part of the body frame 4. 14 is a muffler, 15 is a passenger seat, 16 is a steering handle, 17 is a change lever, 18 is an accelerator pedal, 19 is a brake pedal, 21 is a side brake, and 22 is a front fender.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the crawler belt type vehicle according to the present invention, showing a state where the cabin 2 and the carrier 3 are removed. The carrier 3 is shown by imaginary lines in FIG. The body frame 4 includes a front suspension 25, a steering device 30, and a front wheel drive device 40 at a front portion, and a rear wheel drive device 50 and a rear suspension device 60 at a rear portion.

The steering device 30 includes a tie rod 31 for transmitting the steering force of the steering handle 16 indicated by an imaginary line, and tie rod ends 3 at both ends of the tie rod 31.
Knuckle arms 33, 33 connected to the knuckle arms 33, 33 and the support shafts 5a, 5 of the front wheels 5, 5.
and a king pin 34, 34, etc., which are connected to The rear suspension device 60 connects the rear wheel 6 and the intermediate wheel 7 to the body frame 4.
It is mounted so that it can only move up and down with respect to the (body) and cannot move in the vehicle width direction. Details of the rear suspension device 60 will be described later.

Next, the front wheel drive unit 40 and the rear wheel drive unit 50 will be described. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a front and rear wheel drive device according to the present invention. The crawler belt type vehicle 1 is of a front / rear wheel drive type that transmits the power of an engine 11 to front wheels 5, 5 and rear wheels 6, 6 via a transmission 11a. The front wheel drive device 40 includes a front propulsion shaft 41 extending forward from an output extraction portion 11b of the transmission 11a, a front wheel differential device 42 connected to the front propulsion shaft 41, and a front wheel differential device. Left and right front wheel drive shafts 43, 43 are connected between the shaft 42 and the support shafts 5a, 5a (see FIG. 2) of the front wheels 5, 5. In addition, the front wheel drive device 4
Reference numeral 0 denotes a gear box 44 interposed between the engine 11 and the front wheel drive shafts 43, 43. More specifically, the gear box 44 includes a transmission mechanism 45 for shifting the front wheels 5 and a clutch mechanism 46 for turning on and off power transmission to the front wheels 5, which is interposed in the middle of the front propulsion shaft 41.

The rear wheel drive device 50 includes a rear propulsion shaft 51 extending rearward from an output take-out portion 11b of the transmission 11a, and a rear wheel differential device connected to the rear propulsion shaft 51 via a universal joint 52. 53, and left and right rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54 connected to the rear wheel differential device 53. The rear wheels 6, 54 are attached to both ends of the rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54, respectively.
6 are connected. 56 are constant velocity joints.

Next, the operation of the front-wheel drive device 40 and the rear-wheel drive device 50 having the above configurations will be described with reference to FIG.
FIGS. 4A to 4D are operation diagrams of the front and rear wheel drive device according to the present invention. (A) shows a case where the front wheels 5 and 5 are small-diameter tires and the crawler belts 9 and 9 are attached. The clutch mechanism 46 is in the “on” state. In this case, the speed change mechanism 45 is set to the first stage, and the speeds of the small-diameter tires of the front wheels 5, 5 are made to match the speeds of the crawler belts 9, 9. As a result, the crawler belt type vehicle 1 can run smoothly by front and rear wheel drive.

(B) shows that the front wheels 5, 5 are large diameter tires,
The case where the crawler belts 9 and 9 are mounted is shown. The clutch mechanism 46 is in the “on” state. In this case, the transmission mechanism 4
5 is set to the second stage, so that the speed of the large-diameter tires of the front wheels 5, 5 and the speed of the crawler belts 9, 9 match. As a result, the crawler belt type vehicle 1 can run smoothly by front and rear wheel drive.

(C) shows that the front wheels 5, 5 are large-diameter tires,
This shows a case where the crawler belts 9, 9 have been removed. The clutch mechanism 46 is in the “on” state. In this case, the transmission mechanism 45
Is set to the third stage, and the speeds of the large-diameter tires of the front wheels 5 and 5 are made equal to the speeds of the rear wheels 6 and 6. As a result, the crawler belt type vehicle 1 can run smoothly by front and rear wheel drive.

(D) shows the case where the clutch mechanism 46 is set to the "disengaged" state in the above (b). In this case, the crawler belt type vehicle 1 can run by rear wheel drive. As described above, the crawler belt type vehicle 1 has the front wheels 5,
Regardless of the tire diameter of No. 5, the vehicle can run smoothly.

Next, the rear suspension device 60 will be described. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rear suspension device according to the present invention. A rear suspension device 60 extends a swing arm 61 from the vehicle body frame (vehicle body) 4 backward to be able to swing up and down. The rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54 are mounted, and the bases of the pair of sub-beams 63, 63 are extended forward and swingable up and down. , 66, the intermediate wheels 7, 7 (see FIG. 2) are mounted on the intermediate wheel support shafts 66, 66, and the rear wheels 6, 6 as drive wheels are mounted on the rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54 (FIG. 2). Reference).

More specifically, the swing arm 61 includes a support beam 61a extending in the vehicle width direction and rotatably attached to the vehicle body frame 4, and three arm portions extending rearward from the support beam 61a. (Left arm portion 61b, central arm portion 61c, right arm portion 61d). The central arm portion 61c is a cylindrical body having a front end to which a housing 53a of a rear wheel differential device 53 is attached, and through which a rear propulsion shaft 51 connected to the rear wheel differential device 53 is inserted. The rear propulsion shaft 51 is
Since the universal joint 52 is provided at the position of the swing point of the swing arm 61, the swing arm 61 can swing up and down together with the swing arm 61. The housing 53a of the rear wheel differential 53 is
Connection cylinders 62, 62 extending on both sides in the vehicle width direction are attached. A connection body composed of the housing 53a and the connection cylinders 62, 62 on both sides includes three arm portions 61b.
It becomes a beam spanning the tip of 61d.

The connecting cylinder portions 62, 62
4 and 54, and these rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54
54 is mounted so as to be rotatable and immovable in the axial direction. Therefore, the swing arm 61 has the rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54 rotatably and axially immovably attached to the distal end thereof via the connecting cylinders 62, 62. Therefore, the rear wheels 6, 6 attached to the rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54 are provided.
Can only move up and down with respect to the body frame (body) 4 and cannot move in the vehicle width direction. Also, the rear wheel drive shaft 54,
Numeral 54 can swing up and down while maintaining a parallel state with respect to the body frame 4. Therefore, the left and right rear wheels 6, 6
It can move up and down simultaneously in conjunction with each other. The rear wheel differential device 53, the rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54, and the left and right connecting cylinders 62, 62 are arranged concentrically.

The left and right connecting cylinders 62, 62 are provided with a pair of sub-beams 63, 63 at both ends in the vehicle width direction, and these sub-beams 63, 63 extend forward. By the way, the sub-beam 63 is configured to be extendable and contractible in the traveling direction in order to adjust the tension of the crawler belt 9 (see FIG. 1). More specifically, the sub-beam 63 is composed of a beam member 64 attached to the connecting cylinder portions 62, 62 so as to be able to swing up and down, and a beam extension portion 65 attached to the front end side of the beam member 64 so as to be slidable back and forth. The intermediate wheel support shaft 66 is attached to the extension 65. The intermediate wheel support shafts 66, 66 have the intermediate wheels 7, 7 attached thereto. Therefore, the intermediate wheels 7, 7
Can only move up and down with respect to the body frame (body) 4 and cannot move in the vehicle width direction.

The beam member 64 and the beam extension 65 are
The slide buckle 67 is connected so as to be adjustable in slide. Therefore, the tension adjustment of the crawler belt 9 is performed by the turn buckle 67. 64a are guide portions for guiding the beam extension portion 65, 64b... Are bolts for fixing the beam extension portion 65 to the beam member 64. The left sub-beam 63 and the right sub-beam 63 are connected by a swingable cross rod 68 near the attachment position of the intermediate wheel support shafts 66, 66. 61e and 61e are reinforcing members, and 69 is a rear guard pipe.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a rear suspension device according to the present invention.
Alternatively, the base beam and the vicinity of the front end of the sub beam 63 are suspended from the body frame 4 via first and second oil dampers (shock absorbers) 71 and 72. More specifically, the first oil damper 71 suspends the left and right rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54 at two locations on the left and right via a bracket 73, and the second oil damper 72 supports the beam member 64 via the bracket 74. The distal end (near the support shaft 66 for the intermediate wheel) is suspended at two places on the left and right. The first oil damper 71 may be one in which the vicinity of the left and right rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54 is suspended at one place.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a cross rod mounting portion according to the present invention. The cross rod 68 has connecting rings 68a, 68a penetrating in the extending direction of the beam member 64 attached to both ends in the vehicle width direction, and rubber bushes 75, 75 having a damper function are press-fitted into the connecting rings 68a, 68a. . The ends of the cross rod 68 are vertically swayable to the brackets 64c, 64c of the beam members 64, 64 via rubber bushes 75, 75, respectively.
The connection is made at 76.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a rear suspension system according to the present invention, in which an engine 11 with a transmission 11a is mounted via brackets 4a, 4a at the rear of the body frame 4 and substantially at the center in the vehicle width direction. Show.

Next, the operation of the rear suspension device 60 having the above configuration will be described. 9 (a) and 9 (b) are action diagrams of the rear suspension device according to the present invention, where (a) shows the present invention and (b)
Indicates a comparative example. The half crawler vehicle of the comparative example shown in (b) has an oil damper 71 between the vehicle body 4 and the rear wheels 6, 6.
It is connected by 71. When such a half-crawler vehicle travels across a slope, that is, when the vehicle body 4 is tilted left and right, the portion above the oil dampers 71, 71 moves toward the valley side, so that the vehicle weight center G becomes lower than the valley side. Go to (G
→ G0). For this reason, the weight balance of the vehicle body 4 is biased, and the maneuverability is affected. On the other hand, in the half-crawler vehicle of the present invention shown in (a), since the rear wheels 6, 6 can be moved only up and down with respect to the vehicle body and cannot be moved in the vehicle width direction, the vehicle travels across a slope. In this case, the center of gravity G of the vehicle body 4 does not move in the vehicle width direction. For this reason, the weight balance of the vehicle body 4 is not biased, the stability is good, and there is no influence on the maneuverability.

On the other hand, in FIG. 2, since the rear wheels 6 and 6 are mounted on the vehicle body 4 so that they can only move up and down and cannot move in the vehicle width direction, the lateral acceleration (when the crawler belt type vehicle 1 turns) is generated. (Generally referred to as "lateral G")), a side drag force (lateral sliding force) is generated in the crawler belts 9, 9. As a result, side slips easily occur in the crawler belts 9,9. For this reason, since side slip can be positively used, turning performance can be improved.

A pair of sub-beams 63, 63 are attached to the tip of the swing arm 31 so as to be able to swing up and down, and these sub-beams 63, 63 extend forward. 66, and the intermediate wheels 7, 7 are mounted on the support shafts 66, 66 for the intermediate wheels, so that the pair of intermediate wheels 7, 7 can move up and down independently of each other, corresponding to the unevenness of the road surface. It can move up and down smoothly. For this reason, when the crawler belt type vehicle 1 travels on a road surface with a lot of unevenness, the intermediate wheels 7, 7 move up and down, so that the vehicle body 4 moves up and down slowly. Accordingly, the vehicle has good road following ability and therefore has a good riding comfort. Even when the left and right rear wheels 6 and 6 are attached to the vehicle body 4 so as to be able to move up and down at the same time, rapid up and down movement of the vehicle body 4 is prevented. Can be suppressed.

Further, since the rear wheels 6, 6 are used as driving wheels, when the crawler belts 9, 9 are driven, a reaction force of the crawler belts 9, 9 generates a moment to lift the intermediate wheel on the crawler belt. As a result, the crawler can easily get over a place where snow, mud, and the like are accumulated in the traveling direction. Therefore, the traveling performance of the crawler belt type vehicle 1 is enhanced.

In the above embodiment, the speed change mechanism 45 and the clutch mechanism 46 are provided between the engine 11 and the front wheel drive shafts 13, 13 or between the engine 11 and the rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54. Anything that is interposed may be used. Also,
The number of gear stages of the speed change mechanism 45 may be set arbitrarily according to the application. Further, the attachment of the clutch mechanism 46 is optional. Furthermore, the rear wheel 6 and the intermediate wheel 7 need only be able to move up and down with respect to the vehicle body frame (vehicle body) 4 and cannot move in the vehicle width direction. For example, the rear wheel drive shafts 54, 54 are directly mounted on the tip of the swing arm 61 so that they can only move up and down and cannot move in the vehicle width direction.
The rear wheels 6 and 6 may be attached to 54. The sub beam 63 may be configured to be expandable and contractible in the traveling direction in order to adjust the tension of the crawler belt 9, and is not limited to the combination of the beam member 64, the beam extension 65, and the turnbuckle 67.

[0036]

According to the present invention, the following effects are exhibited by the above configuration. Claim 1 attaches a front wheel with a pneumatic tire to a front portion of a vehicle body, attaches a middle wheel with a pneumatic tire and a rear wheel with a pneumatic tire to a rear portion of the vehicle body, and hangs a crawler belt around the middle wheel and the rear wheel. In a crawler belt-type vehicle that transmits power between tires and a belt by frictional resistance between an entering tire and a crawler belt, the crawler belt-type vehicle is a front / rear wheel drive type that transmits engine power to front wheels and rear wheels. Yes, by interposing a speed change mechanism between the engine and the front wheel drive shaft, or between the engine and the rear wheel drive shaft, regardless of the attachment or detachment of the crawler belt, and regardless of the tire diameter of the front wheel , And can be run smoothly.

Since the speed change mechanism is interposed between the engine and the drive shaft for the front wheels or between the engine and the drive shaft for the rear wheels, the speed of the front wheels and the speed of the rear wheels can be adjusted quickly and easily. , Can be changed arbitrarily. For this reason, the crawler belt type vehicle can be smoothly driven regardless of the attachment / detachment of the crawler belt and the tire diameter of the front wheel.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a crawler belt type vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a crawler belt type vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a front and rear wheel drive device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation diagram of a front and rear wheel drive device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rear suspension device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the rear suspension device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a cross rod mounting portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a rear suspension device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operation diagram of the rear suspension device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Crawler belt type vehicle, 5: front wheel, 6: rear wheel, 7 ...
Middle wheel, 9 crawler belt, 11 engine, 11a
... Transmission, 43 ... Front wheel drive shaft, 44 ... Gear box, 45 ... Transmission mechanism, 46 ... Clutch mechanism, 5
Reference numeral 4: drive shaft for rear wheel, 60: rear suspension device, 61: swing arm, 63: sub beam, 64: beam member, 65
… Beam extension part, 66… Middle wheel spindle, 67… Turnbuckle, 68… Cross rod.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A front wheel with a pneumatic tire is mounted on a front portion of a vehicle body, an intermediate wheel with a pneumatic tire and a rear wheel with a pneumatic tire are mounted on a rear portion of the vehicle body, and a crawler belt is wrapped around the intermediate wheel and the rear wheel. In a crawler belt-type vehicle that transmits power between tires and a belt by frictional resistance between an entering tire and a crawler belt, the crawler belt-type vehicle is a front / rear wheel drive type that transmits engine power to front wheels and rear wheels. Yes, by interposing a speed change mechanism between the engine and the front wheel drive shaft, or between the engine and the rear wheel drive shaft, regardless of the attachment or detachment of the crawler belt, and regardless of the tire diameter of the front wheel A crawler belt type vehicle characterized by having a configuration capable of running smoothly.