Articulated tracked vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10029748-B2
Application number	US-201715439696-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2017
Priority date	May 8, 2013
Publication date	Jul 24, 2018
Grant date	Jul 24, 2018

Abstract

The present invention relates to an articulated tracked vehicle comprising a front and a rear vehicle unit connected by means of a rigid load-carrying frame. The load-carrying frame is pivotally attached to the front vehicle unit about a substantially vertical front steering link and pivotally attached to the rear vehicle unit about a substantially vertical rear steering link. The vehicle further comprises control means arranged to steer the front vehicle unit relative to the load-carrying frame about the front vertical steering link and to steer the rear vehicle unit relative to the load-carrying frame about the rear vertical steering link, wherein the control means is arranged such that the front and rear vehicle units are individually steerable relative to the load-carrying frame about their respective vertical steering links.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An articulated tracked vehicle comprising:
a front vehicle unit having a front track assembly pair;
a rear vehicle unit having a rear track assembly pair;
a rigid load-carrying frame connecting the front vehicle unit and the rear vehicle unit, the load-carrying frame being disposed on top of the front and rear vehicle units so as to directly accommodate an external load;
a front vertical steering link configured for pivotal attachment to the rigid load-carrying frame;
a steering device arranged to steer the front vehicle unit and the rear vehicle unit relative to each other by steering the front vehicle unit relative to the load-carrying frame about the front vertical steering link; and
a control unit disposed in the steering device and arranged to individually control the operation of the respective track assembly of the front and rear track assembly pair to effectuate pivoting of the front and rear vehicle units relative to each other.

2. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the rear vehicle unit comprises a rear vertical steering link, the steering device being arranged to steer the rear vehicle unit relative to the load-carrying frame about the rear vertical steering link, and the steering device is arranged such that the front and rear vehicle units are individually steerable relative to the load-carrying frame about their respective vertical steering links.

3. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the front vertical steering link is arranged substantially centrally of the front vehicle unit and the rear vertical steering link is arranged substantially centrally of the rear vehicle unit.

4. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the front vehicle unit comprises a rolling link extending in the axial main direction of extension of the load-carrying frame, and the load-carrying frame is configured for rotatable attachment to the rolling link such that the front vehicle unit is allowed to rotate relative to the load-carrying frame about the axis of the rolling link such that the front and rear vehicle units are allowed to rotate relative to each other about the rolling link.

5. The articulate tracked vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the rolling link extends in the extension of the load-carrying frame such that the axis of the rolling link runs through the load-carrying frame.

6. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the steering device further is arranged to steer the front and rear vehicle units relative to each other by steering the front vehicle unit relative to the load-carrying frame about the axis of the rolling link.

7. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the front vertical steering link is arranged between the respective track assemblies of the front track assembly pair and substantially centrally arranged relative to a longitudinal extension of the front track assembly pair such that a weight of the load carried by the load-carrying frame is distributed to be carried centrally over the track assembly pair of the front vehicle unit, and the rear vertical steering link is arranged between the respective track assemblies of the rear track assembly pair and substantially centrally arranged relative to a longitudinal extension of the rear track assembly pair such that the weight of the load carried by the load-carrying frame is distributed to be carried centrally over the track assembly pair of the rear vehicle unit.

8. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the steering device comprises a first and a second front steering member arranged to pivot the front vehicle unit about the front vertical steering link.

9. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the steering device comprises a first and a second rear steering member arranged to pivot the rear vehicle unit about the rear vertical steering link.

10. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the steering device comprises a first and a second roll steering member arranged to rotate the front vehicle unit relative to the load-carrying frame about the axis of the rolling link such that the front and rear vehicle units are allowed to rotate relative to each other about the rolling link.

11. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the first and second steering members and/or the first and second roll steering members are constituted by steering cylinders.

12. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the steering device further comprises a control unit arranged to individually regulate the control of at least one of a front steering member for steering about the front vertical steering link, a rear steering member for steering about the rear vertical steering link, and a roll steering member to effectuate pivoting of the front and rear vehicle units relative to each other.

13. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the control unit is arranged to individually regulate the control of each of the front steering element, rear steering element and roll steering element.

14. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is arranged to individually control the operation of the respective track assembly of the front and rear track assembly pairs based on torque and/or speed control.

15. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the steering device is arranged to control the pivoting of the front and rear vehicle units about the front and rear vertical steering links to achieve crab steering.

16. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the front vertical steering link is pivotally attached to a front centre beam of the front vehicle unit, wherein the centre beam is disposed in between the respective track assemblies of the front track assembly pair and interconnecting the front track assembly pair of the front vehicle unit, the rear vertical steering link is pivotally attached to a rear centre beam of the rear vehicle unit, and the centre beam is disposed in between the respective track assemblies of the rear track assembly pair and interconnecting the rear track assembly pair of the rear vehicle unit.

17. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the articulated tracked vehicle is a forestry machine.

18. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the articulated tracked vehicle is a forwarder.

19. The articulated tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the articulated tracked vehicle is a diesel-electric vehicle.

Assignees

• Bae Systems Haegglunds Ab

Inventors

• Hellholm Björn
• Nordberg Björn

Classifications

• B62D55/065

  Multi-track vehicles, i.e. more than two tracks {(soil-shifting machines E02F; mining machines E21C)} · CPC title

• B62D7/026

  characterised by comprising more than one bogie, e.g. situated in more than one plane transversal to the longitudinal centre line of the vehicle · CPC title

• A01G23/003

  Collecting felled trees · CPC title

• B60D5/00

  Gangways for coupled vehicles, e.g. of concertina type · CPC title

• Y10S903/902

  Prime movers comprising electrical and internal combustion motors · CPC title