Tire chain and components thereof

Abstract

A link member for a tire chain, comprising a body including a cavity for receiving a portion of a ring element therein, the body also including an opening for inserting the ring element into the cavity, said body further being adapted to receive a retaining member for closing the opening and retaining the ring element in the cavity.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT / AU2013 / 000006 filed on Jan. 8, 2013 and published as WO 2013 / 10401 4 A1 on Jul. 18, 2013. This application is based on Australian Patent Application 2012900103 filed on Jan. 11, 2012. The entire disclosures of all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a chain for use on tires and specifically tires for large vehicles such as those used at mine sites, earthmoving and other large-scale industrial locations. The present invention also relates to tire chain units and other components of tire chains, to methods of forming a tire chain as well as tires fitted with the tire chains and methods of servicing tire chains.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION[0003]Large vehicles used in industrial applications such as at mine sites use large tires which are very expe...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a link member for a tire chain that can receive a ring element and securely hold it in place. This link member can be attached to other link members or a seamless ring element for use in a tire chain. The invention also includes a method for making a tire chain and a tire chain unit comprising link members and seamless ring elements. The technical effect is the creation of a reliable and secure tire chain that can withstand high levels of wear and tear in tire performance.

Problems solved by technology

Large vehicles used in industrial applications such as at mine sites use large tires which are very expensive, wear out quickly and are subject to damage from cuts and penetrations.

The presence of this raised protrusion can hamper and or otherwise interfere with movement or rotation of the chain ring relative to the chain links when in service.

This can reduce chain ring rotation and result in wear points forming on the chain ring at the specific points where the chain links contact the chain rings.

Furthermore, wear is not evenly shared around the entire circumference of the chain ring.

Localised ring point wearing causes rapid dimensional expansion of the overall tire chain assembly which then requires varying continual manual service adjustments so that the tire chain assembly continues to stay within tension specification and correct running position on the tire: this takes repeated servicing, time and effort.

In addition, once the chain ring wears to the extent that the wearing extends past the centre line of the ring cross section at these focused ring wear points, a further rapid acceleration of wear results due to the reduction of actual surface area contact between the ring and the link engagement, thus increasing the surface load and wear rate.

The use of butt welding also places limitations on the dimensions that can be utilised for the component dimensions directly affecting area of the engagement surface between the chain link and chain ring as extra chain ring material length is required to facilitate the actual welding process of the ring during assembly of the chain assembly and the dimensions of the chain links are limited at the point where they are attached to the ring because they need to be bunched together to facilitate welding of the ring and also a further portion of the ring length is sacrificed for the welding process to take place.

All these limitations imposed on the component dimensions increase the rate of wear between the link and the ring at the points where the chain link and chain ring engage.

The materials that can be used for the chain ring are also limited by the need to use a welding process.

Once the whole tire chain is assembled then the whole tire chain assembly has to undergo a heat treatment, quenching and tempering process, but, because the rings and links are constructed of different materials and also comprise varying mass and dimensions, there is a compromise in the whole process.

Any final processes are also limited, such as the application of performance enhancing treatments, shipping / storage preservatives, most surface coatings or product visual enhancements, can only be done once the tire chain has been welded into an assembly and heat treated.

Welding processes during chain construction are hazardous, physically demanding, labour intensive, energy expensive and have extensive health and safety implications because of the heat, noise, dust, toxins, by-products and the like that are produced as part of the process.

The process of welding and assembling the tire chain requires repeated movements of the assembly, it is physically demanding and time consuming, and in larger applications chains need to be done in multiple sections which are then joined together with non-rotating rings.

Current welded tire chain design places high costs and severe restrictions on the re-use of any salvageable components or sections of the scrapped used assembly.

There are significant costs and delays when ordering non-stocked or custom-built chains from tire chain manufacturers, importers or dealers.

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