Variable geometry power transmission device

Abstract

The invention is a power transmission device, such as a wheel or track, comprising retractable vanes or protrusions that can be deployed to support all or part of the vehicle's weight, depending on the nature of the surface on which it travels. This device includes a regulating means that allows the deployment / retraction range of the vanes to be reduced according to the vehicle's use and the conditions encountered. The main applications are land vehicles, for which devices according to the invention allow the flexibility of their tread to be adapted to the circumstances, in particular to limit the noise of power transmission devices such as metal tracks by deploying strips of more flexible materials such as rubber when traveling on roads. Abstract figure: Fig. 18

Claims

[Claim 1] Demands A power transmission device such as a wheel (IA) or a track (IB) whose cyclic motion drives or is driven by the movement of a vehicle relative to its solid, fluid, or gaseous environment, comprising: - an element called the peripheral envelope (2), - one or more cyclic motion pressure generation elements hereinafter referred to as vanes (21, 22 and following), - a deployment / retraction means allowing a blade or part of a blade to deploy by moving in a direction from the inside to the outside of said peripheral envelope, and conversely to retract by moving in the opposite direction, the set of possible positions of all parts of a blade relative to said peripheral envelope forming a domain called the original displacement domain of the blade in question, characterized in that said cyclically moving pressure generation element is an element whose orientation and geometry are designed to interact with any medium or support in order to generate a force to support the weight of the vehicle. [Fig. 2] [Fig. 3] [Fig. 5] [Fig- 6] 23 221 211 [Fig. 12] [Fig. 15] 21 [Fig. 17] [Fig. 19] 400 [Fig. 28] 22 22 [Fig. 31] [Fig. 33]

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