Chain Link Axial Stops to Eliminate Chain Pin Wear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional chains experience significant wear due to large tensile forces, particularly affecting the chain pin and its surrounding bearing sleeve, especially in high-temperature applications where lubricant-free materials like brass, bronze, or plastic bushings deform or flatten under stress.
Innovation Solution
The chain link design incorporates axial stops within recesses to redirect tensile forces internally, eliminating the need for chain pins to bear these forces, and the sprocket is modified to support the chain links with parallel or oblique surfaces to prevent force transmission to the pins, ensuring all forces act within the link.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If conventional chain pins and bearing sleeves are used to connect chain links, then the chain can transmit tensile forces, but the chain pin and bearing sleeve experience significant wear under large tensile forces
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the force transmission function from the chain pin by introducing axial stops that extend perpendicular to the link plate. The stops assume the role of bearing tensile forces, while the chain pin is reduced to a simple connecting element that no longer experiences wear from force transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The chain link is segmented into distinct functional elements: the link plate for structural support, the axial stops for force bearing, and the chain pin for connection only. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, with stops designed to handle tensile forces without wearing the pin.
2Temperature
If lubricant-free bushings made of brass, bronze, or plastic are used in high-temperature applications, then the chain can operate without lubrication, but the bushings flow away or are rolled flat under high tensile forces exceeding 180°C
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the force-bearing function from the bearing sleeve by introducing axial stops that extend perpendicular to the link plate. This eliminates the need for the bearing sleeve to resist high tensile forces, allowing it to maintain structural integrity at temperatures exceeding 180°C without flowing or deforming.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the bearing sleeve stronger to withstand high temperatures and forces, the invention inverts the approach by removing the force-bearing requirement from the sleeve entirely. The stops assume this function, allowing the sleeve to be made of materials suitable for high-temperature lubricant-free operation.
3Device complexity
If the chain pin couples two outer links and two inner links, then the chain structure is simplified, but the chain pin becomes the most severely affected wearing part under tension
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the force transmission function from the chain pin by introducing axial stops on the link plates. The pin is reduced to a simple connecting element that passes through recesses in the link plates, eliminating wear while maintaining the simplified chain structure with outer and inner links.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection system is segmented into the link plate with integrated stops for force bearing and the pin for connection only. This segmentation is achieved by providing recesses in the link plates that receive the pins, with the stops extending axially to handle all tensile forces.
4Ease of manufacture
If tensile forces are transmitted through the chain pin, then the chain can be constructed with simple link plates, but the forces concentrate on specific points causing wear
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions the force transmission from a point contact at the chain pin to a distributed contact along the axial stops. The stops extend perpendicular to the link plate in the axial dimension, distributing tensile forces over a larger area and eliminating concentration at the pin location.
Solution Approach 2:
The link plate is segmented to include integrated axial stops that extend from the plate surface. These stops are formed as part of the link plate structure, maintaining ease of manufacture while providing distributed force bearing surfaces that prevent wear concentration.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
To ensure that all forces are always contained within the chain link during operation in a chain link with a first recess (3) and a second recess (4) for receiving a chain pin (27), an axially outwardly directed first stop (9) is provided in the region of the first recess (3), and a second stop (10), also axially outwardly directed but in the opposite direction to the first stop (9), is provided in the region of the second recess (4) such that tensile forces act only within the chain link and not on the chain pin during operation. The invention also relates to a chain (100) with the chain links according to the invention, a sprocket (50) for the chain (100), and a drive unit with chain (100) and sprocket (50).