Segmented Track Guide for Hydraulic Excavator Wear Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing track guide and track link in hydraulic excavators are prone to wear, making replacement costly and burdensome, with the track guide being heavy and difficult to detach, and the track link being easily worn and costly to replace.
Innovation Solution
The improved track guide design features a restraint plate with a reinforcement plate and rib structures that increase the gap between the track link and the contact plate, reducing wear and allowing easier attachment and detachment, while maintaining structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the track guide is made closer to the track link to reduce the gap, then the structural integrity is improved, but the wear of both components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The track guide is divided into multiple segments (first track guide segment and second track guide segment) that can be independently positioned and adjusted. This segmentation allows the track guide to maintain structural integrity through proper positioning while reducing wear by allowing controlled movement and gap adjustment between segments and the track link.
Solution Approach 2:
The track guide segments are designed to be movable relative to each other and to the track link, transitioning from a static fixed structure to a dynamic adjustable structure. This dynamic capability allows the system to adapt to wear conditions and maintain optimal gap distances, reducing wear while preserving structural integrity through controlled movement.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the track link is made closer to the track guide to reduce the gap, then the stability is improved, but the frequency of contact and impact increases causing more wear
Solution Approach 1:
The track guide segments can move dynamically to maintain stable positioning of the track link during crawling operations. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to preserve crawling stability by keeping the track link properly positioned while controlling the frequency and intensity of contact between the track guide and track link, thereby reducing wear.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable track guide segments act as intermediaries between the fixed crawler frame and the track link. These intermediaries can absorb and distribute contact forces, reducing the direct impact frequency between the track guide structure and the track link, thereby maintaining stability while reducing wear.
3Reliability
If the track guide is made heavier to increase durability, then the wear resistance is improved, but the ease of replacement deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The track guide is segmented into multiple independent sections that can be replaced separately rather than as a single heavy unit. This segmentation reduces the weight of individual replacement components while maintaining overall durability through the combined structure, and significantly improves ease of replacement by allowing targeted replacement of only worn segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The segmented track guide design allows individual segments to be treated as replaceable wear components. Rather than replacing a single heavy durable unit, lighter individual segments can be replaced as needed, reducing replacement cost and effort while maintaining the durability of the overall track guide system through selective replacement of worn portions.
4Reliability
If the track link is made more durable to reduce wear, then the reliability is improved, but the cost and burden of replacement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The design accepts that track links will wear and need replacement, but makes this replacement easier and less costly by using segmented track guides that can be replaced independently. This allows the use of more durable track links that can be replaced as discrete components rather than requiring complete disassembly of heavy integrated assemblies, reducing both the burden and cost of replacement while improving reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A working machine includes a track guide for restraining a crawler belt from displacement in a left-and-right direction. The track guide includes a front attachment member and a rear attachment member each detachably attached to a crawler frame, and a right contact plate member and a left contact plate member laid between the front attachment member and the rear attachment member. Each of the right contact plate member and the left contact plate member includes a restraint plate and a reinforcement plate, and is supported on the front attachment member and the rear attachment member with an outer surface of the restraint plate and an upper surface of the reinforcement plate both being in surface contact with the front attachment member and the rear attachment member.