Modular Sprocket Wheel With Detachable Rim Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Sprocket wheels experience excessive wear and difficulty in replacing heavy tumbler components, particularly in complex constructions like bulldozers, due to the need for direct access and the bulkiness of existing removable segments.
Innovation Solution
A modular sprocket wheel design featuring detachable sprocket rim elements with a projection-and-recess arrangement, allowing for radial displacement and reattachment, which provides tangential support and reduces torque loads on attachment screws, enabling easy replacement without detaching the mating transmission mechanism and extending wear life by 2-fold through 180° rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sprocket wheels use conventional heavy tumbler components or integrated teeth, then wear resistance and structural strength are improved, but ease of repair and replacement difficulty worsen due to bulkiness and complex construction
Solution Approach 1:
The sprocket wheel is divided into a sprocket wheel body and multiple separate sprocket rim elements that can be independently removed and replaced. Each rim element can be detached by unscrewing attachment screws, allowing replacement of only the worn rim portion rather than the entire heavy tumbler assembly, thus improving ease of repair while maintaining wear resistance through replaceable hardened rim elements
Solution Approach 2:
The wear-prone rim elements are extracted as separate removable components from the main sprocket wheel body. These rim elements can be removed by detaching attachment screws, allowing the worn outer portion to be taken out and replaced without removing the entire sprocket wheel from the shaft, significantly easing repair operations in complex constructions like bulldozers
2Ease of repair
If sprocket wheels use removable segments, then ease of repair is improved, but device complexity worsens due to additional components and assembly requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment screws integrate multiple functions: they secure the rim elements to the wheel body, provide the projection-and-recess engagement mechanism, and enable tool-based removal and reattachment. This merging of functions reduces the need for separate fastening mechanisms, locking devices, or complex assembly procedures, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while maintaining ease of repair
3Ease of manufacture
If attachment screws are positioned away from load points, then ease of manufacture is improved, but strength worsens due to increased torque loads on attachment screws
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment screws engage in the axial direction (perpendicular to the radial load), creating a three-dimensional engagement where the screw threads resist the radial outward force generated by tangential loads. The projection-and-recess arrangement works together with the axial screw engagement to distribute loads across multiple dimensions, allowing the attachment screws to withstand high torque loads while maintaining ease of assembly through standard threading
Data Source
Figure 1~2b
Figure 3a~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A sprocket wheel (10) for rotation about a central axis to drive a mating transmission mechanism, such as a conveyor, chain or a crawler track, comprises a plurality of teeth distributed tangentially about the sprocket wheel (10) and projecting radially from the central axis (A), the plurality of teeth defining a corresponding plurality of slots (14) between them and being configured to mesh with a mating transmission mechanism, the sprocket wheel (10) comprising a sprocket wheel body (18) and plurality of separate sprocket rim elements (20), wherein each of said sprocket rim elements (20) is detachably attached to the sprocket wheel body (18) by means of a respective attachment screw (26) penetrating into the sprocket wheel body (18), wherein each of said sprocket rim elements comprises at least one respective slot (14) of said plurality of slots, and each of said attachment screws (26) holds its respective sprocket rim element (20) to the sprocket wheel body (18) at said respective slot (14).