Silent Chain Protruding Plates Strength Wear
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional silent chains face limitations in design freedom for component dimensions, particularly around pin holes, which restricts the enhancement of link plate strength and increases wear elongation due to interference between adjacent link plates and limited pin hole and coupling pin diameters.
Innovation Solution
The silent chain incorporates protruding-portion-installed plates with protruding portions on one side surface, allowing for larger dimensions in the chain longitudinal direction while avoiding interference, and utilizing these protrusions as bearing portions to reduce surface pressure and enhance strength, with pin holes and protrusions formed by burring for ease of manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the plate thickness is increased to improve link plate strength, then the chain strength with respect to tensile force is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces protruding portions that extend in the chain width direction (another dimension) from the plate portion, allowing the plate longitudinal dimension to be increased without proportionally increasing plate thickness. This dimensional change enables improved tensile strength while avoiding excessive complexity in plate structure.
2Reliability
If the pin hole diameter is increased to reduce surface pressure, then chain wear elongation is suppressed, but the device complexity increases due to interference with adjacent link plates
Solution Approach 1:
The protruding portions extend in the chain width direction, creating spatial separation that allows larger pin hole diameters without interference between adjacent link plates. This resolves the contradiction by utilizing the width dimension to accommodate larger pins while maintaining compact longitudinal arrangement.
3Strength
If the coupling pin diameter is increased to improve strength, then the chain strength is improved, but the device complexity increases due to limited design space around pin holes
Solution Approach 1:
By extending protruding portions in the chain width direction, the invention creates additional design space that accommodates larger coupling pin diameters. This allows improved coupling pin strength without being constrained by the limited longitudinal space around traditional pin hole configurations.
4Strength
If the plate longitudinal dimension is increased to improve strength, then the chain strength is improved, but interference occurs between adjacent link plates in the chain longitudinal direction
Solution Approach 1:
The protruding portions extend in the chain width direction rather than the longitudinal direction, allowing the plate longitudinal dimension to be increased for improved strength without causing interference between adjacent link plates. The width-direction extension provides the necessary separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The protruding portions are configured with asymmetric orientation in the chain width direction, with adjacent plates having protrusions oriented differently. This asymmetric arrangement allows plates to be positioned closer together longitudinally while avoiding interference, enabling larger plate longitudinal dimensions for improved strength.
Data Source
AI summary
An object is to provide a silent chain that enhances the degree of design freedom for component dimensions to improve a chain strength with respect to a chain tensile force and that suppresses chain wear elongation. A silent chain includes a plurality of link plates arranged in a chain longitudinal direction and a chain width direction and coupled together by coupling pins so as to be bendable. The silent chain includes a plurality of plate longitudinal-direction trains each having the link plates arranged in the chain longitudinal direction. At least one of the plate longitudinal-direction trains includes a plurality of protruding-portion-installed plates having protruding portions protruding in the chain width direction from one side surface of a plate portion. The protruding-portion-installed plates 20 are arranged adjacently to one another in the chain longitudinal direction, with the protruding portions being different from one another in orientation in the chain width direction.