Chain Guide Lip Height for Outer Plate Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional chain drive devices with chains having outer plates with lower backside height than inner plates experience noise generation and wear or damage due to poor guidance, as the outer plates do not effectively contact the chain guide, leading to improper chain regulation and balance issues.
Innovation Solution
A chain drive device with a chain guide featuring a guide shoe with a wider shoe surface and a lip end that has a height greater than the dimensional difference between inner and outer plates, ensuring the outer plates do not run onto the lip end, thus preventing noise and wear, and allowing the chain to return to a normal running state by lifting the inner plates off the guide.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If chains with outer plates having lower backside height than inner plates are used, then friction resistance between chain and guide is reduced, but the chain guide cannot favorably guide the chain, leading to noise generation and wear or damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating different surface characteristics on the guide shoe: a smooth shoe surface part for low friction contact with inner plates, and a lip with specific geometry (front-side lip end with slopes) that locally engages with outer plates to provide guidance and prevent lateral offset. This localized differentiation allows the guide shoe to simultaneously reduce friction while maintaining effective chain guidance.
2Quantity of substance
If the outer plates have lower backside height, then the number of contacting plates is reduced, but the outer plates do not contact the front-side lip end, causing improper chain regulation and balance issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by designing the lip front end face height to be higher than the backside height difference between inner and outer plates. This ensures that before the chain enters the guide shoe, the outer plates are already positioned to contact the front-side lip end, establishing proper chain alignment and regulation in advance, preventing lateral offset and balance issues.
3Ease of operation
If the chain enters the guide with offset, then the slopes on front-side lip end should regulate motion, but the outer plate is detached from lip end, so slopes cannot favorably regulate chain motion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by designing the lip front end face with sufficient height to prevent outer plate detachment before the chain fully enters the guide shoe. The lip's front-side slopes are positioned to engage outer plates in advance, counteracting any lateral offset tendency before it can cause improper chain regulation or balance issues.
Data Source
AI summary
An object of the present invention is to provide a chain drive device that guides a chain favorably with a chain guide to prevent noise generation and wear or damage of various parts with a simple structure, and to provide the chain guide. Provided is a chain drive device 10 having a guide shoe 40 that includes a shoe surface part 41 and a lip 43. The shoe surface part 41 has a larger widthwise dimension than that of the chain 20. The lip 43 has a front-side lip end 44 which has a lip front end face 44a that faces the front side in the chain running direction. The lip front end face 44a has a height that is set larger than a dimensional difference in backside height between inner plates 21 and outer plates 23.