Guarded Track Lock Using Sprocket Bolt Immobilization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a lightweight, durable, and versatile locking mechanism that can prevent unauthorized operation of power-operated machinery with rotating tracks, such as excavators and track loaders, which are often targets for theft due to their size and ease of movement.
Innovation Solution
A guarded track lock design featuring a support plate with protruding fingers and arms, a bolt with a flattened tip, and a key-actuated locking member, which fits through the machinery's sprocket to prohibit track operation in both directions, ensuring secure and easy installation and removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a locking mechanism is designed to be lightweight and portable, then it can be easily carried to remote locations, but it may lack sufficient strength to securely immobilize heavy machinery
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is divided into separate components including a locking bar, support arms with rollers, and a mounting base. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while keeping individual parts lightweight, yet the assembled mechanism provides sufficient strength through the coordinated action of multiple elements engaging with the machinery's track system
Solution Approach 2:
Rollers are introduced as intermediary elements between the support arms and the machinery track. These rollers distribute the locking force across a larger area and engage with the track's structural features, allowing the locking mechanism to achieve secure immobilization without requiring excessive force from the locking bar itself, thus maintaining lightweight construction
2Ease of operation
If a locking mechanism is designed to be simple and quick to install, then it can be easily deployed, but it may lack the complexity needed to provide secure multi-directional locking
Solution Approach 1:
The support arms are pre-configured with rollers positioned to engage specific features on the machinery track. The locking mechanism is designed so that when the locking bar is inserted, the support arms automatically position themselves to engage the track at predetermined locations. This preliminary configuration allows secure multi-directional locking to be achieved through a simple insertion motion without requiring complex adjustment procedures
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of designing a mechanism that requires active adjustment and positioning during installation, the locking mechanism is designed to passively self-position. The support arms with rollers are arranged to automatically engage the track's structural features when the locking bar is inserted, inverting the traditional approach where the operator must actively position locking elements. This inversion simplifies the installation process while maintaining the complexity of the engagement geometry for secure locking
3Reliability
If a locking mechanism uses a bolt fitting through the sprocket to prohibit track operation, then it effectively prevents unauthorized movement, but it requires precise alignment and installation access
Solution Approach 1:
The locking bar serves multiple functions: it acts as the primary locking element, provides structural support for the support arms, and serves as the installation/removal handle. The support arms with rollers are designed to engage various features on different machinery tracks, making the mechanism universally applicable across different equipment types without requiring precise model-specific alignment, thus maintaining ease of operation while ensuring reliable track prohibition
Data Source
AI summary
A guarded track lock includes a support plate having a planar anterior face, a finger protruding outwardly away from the planar anterior face, and a bolt protruding outwardly away from the planar anterior face and registered parallel to the finger. A face plate has a plurality of statically coupled portions angularly offset from a central axis of the bolt, wherein one of the portions has an aperture configured to receive the bolt therethrough. A protective cover is removably engaged with the face plate and supported against the one portion, a nut affixed to the bolt and seated within the protective cover, and a locking member releasably connected to the bolt and seated within the protective cover. The bolt is configured to fit through the sprocket of the existing power-operated machinery, thereby providing the new and useful result of prohibiting operation of the track in forwarded and reward directions.