Self-aligning power transmission belts and systems incorporating the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12228209-B2
Application number	US-202318240945-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2023
Priority date	Aug 31, 2022
Publication date	Feb 18, 2025
Grant date	Feb 18, 2025

Abstract

A self-aligning power transmission belt, which may be used in conjunction with a corresponding sprocket, and systems incorporating the self-aligning power transmission belt are described. The self-aligning belt includes a tooth configuration that can eliminate tracking error in belt applications. In some configurations, the self-aligning belt includes two or more rows of teeth, with the teeth in one row being offset from the teeth in a second row.

First claim

We claim:

1. A power transmission belt having an axis of rotation and a direction of travel, comprising:
a first row of spaced apart teeth, the first row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the first row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt; and
a second row of spaced apart teeth, the second row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the second row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt;
wherein the teeth in the second row are offset in a direction generally parallel to the direction of travel from the teeth in the first row; and
wherein the offset of the second row of spaced apart teeth from the first row of spaced apart teeth is less than half a pitch of the first row of spaced apart teeth.

2. The power transmission belt of claim 1 , wherein each tooth in the first row of spaced apart teeth is in contact with at least one tooth in the second row of spaced apart teeth.

3. The power transmission belt of claim 1 , wherein the second row of spaced apart teeth is centered on the width of the power transmission belt.

4. The power transmission belt of claim 3 , wherein a side edge of the first row of spaced apart teeth serves as a side edge of the power transmission belt.

5. The power transmission belt of claim 1 , wherein the sum of the width of the first row and the width of the second row is equal to the width of the power transmission belt.

6. The power transmission belt of claim 1 , wherein the cross- sectional shape and dimensions of each tooth and the spacing between teeth in the first row of spaced apart teeth is identical to the cross-section shape and dimensions of each tooth and the spacing between teeth in the second row of spaced apart teeth.

7. A power transmission belt having an axis of rotation and a direction of travel, comprising:
a first row of spaced apart teeth, the first row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the first row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt; and
a second row of spaced apart teeth, the second row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the second row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt;
wherein the teeth in the second row are offset in a direction generally parallel to the direction of travel from the teeth in the first row; and
wherein the cross-sectional shape of each tooth in the first row of spaced apart teeth is different from the cross-sectional shape of each tooth in the second row of spaced apart teeth.

8. A power transmission belt having an axis of rotation and a direction of travel, comprising:
a first row of spaced apart teeth, the first row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the first row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt;
a second row of spaced apart teeth, the second row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the second row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt; and
a third row of spaced apart teeth, the third row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the third row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt;
wherein the teeth in the first row are aligned in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation with the teeth in third row;
wherein the teeth in the second row are offset in a direction generally parallel to the direction of travel from the teeth in the first row and the teeth in the third row; and
wherein the offset of the second row of spaced apart teeth from the first row of spaced apart teeth and the third row of spaced apart teeth is less than half the pitch of the first row of spaced apart teeth and the third row of spaced apart teeth.

9. The power transmission belt of claim 8 , wherein each tooth in the second row of spaced apart teeth is in contact with at least one tooth in the first row of spaced apart teeth and at least one tooth in the third row of spaced apart teeth.

10. The power transmission belt of claim 8 , wherein the second row of spaced apart teeth is centered on the width of the power transmission belt.

11. The power transmission belt of claim 10 , wherein a side edge of the first row of spaced apart teeth serves as a first side edge of the power transmission belt and a side edge of the third row of spaced apart teeth serves as a second side edge of the power transmission opposite the first edge of the power transmission belt.

12. The power transmission belt of claim 8 , wherein the second row has a width that is approximately one third of width of the power transmission belt.

13. The power transmission belt of claim 8 , wherein the sum of the width of the first row, the width of the second row, and the width of the third row is equal to the width of the power transmission belt.

14. The power transmission belt of claim 8 , wherein the cross-sectional shape and dimensions of each tooth and the spacing between teeth in the second row of spaced apart teeth is identical to the cross-section shape and dimensions of each tooth and the spacing between teeth in the first row of spaced apart teeth and the third row of spaced apart teeth.

15. A power transmission belt having an axis of rotation and a direction of travel, comprising:
a first row of spaced apart teeth, the first row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the first row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt;
a second row of spaced apart teeth, the second row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the second row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt; and
a third row of spaced apart teeth, the third row oriented generally parallel to the direction of travel and each of the spaced apart teeth oriented generally parallel to the axis of rotation, the third row of spaced apart teeth having a width less than the width of the power transmission belt;
wherein the teeth in the first row are aligned in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation with the teeth in third row;
wherein the teeth in the second row are offset in a direction generally parallel to the direction of travel from the teeth in the first row and the teeth in the third row; and
wherein the cross-sectional shape of each tooth in the second row of spaced apart teeth is different from the cross-sectional shape of each tooth in the first row of spaced apart teeth and the third row of spaced apart teeth.

16. A composite power transmission belt having an axis of rotation and a direction of travel, comprising:
a primary power transmissi

Assignees

• Gates Corp

Inventors

• Lifsey Walt
• Spring Kyle
• Moss Iii Thomas S

Classifications

• F16H7/023 Primary

  with belts having a toothed contact surface or regularly spaced bosses or hollows for slipless or nearly slipless meshing with complementary profiled contact surface of a pulley · CPC title

• F16G1/28 Primary

  with a contact surface of special shape, e.g. toothed · CPC title