Patent GB-887514-A (GB)
Title: Improved hinge structure
Inventor: BONMARTINI GIOVANNI
IPC: B62D55/12
Filed: 1959-11-17
Abstract: 887,514. Endless tracks. ETABLISSEMENT SCIENCES TECHNIQUES. Nov. 17, 1959 [Nov. 17, 1958; Jan. 30, 1959; April 15, 1959; April 30, 1959; May 26, 1959; Aug. 8, 1959], No. 38914/59. Class 79(1). [Also in Groups XXV and XXXII] A hinge structure comprising two knuckles relatively rotatable about a common axis has a hinge pin or pintle consisting of at least two parallel bars of rigid material with resilient means interposed between them. The invention is particularly intended for use in joining the tread units of the track of a track-laying vehicle. Hinge arms 46, 46a (Fig. 2), which are preferably integral with adjacent tread units, have knuckles 47, 47a with apertures having flat portions 49, 49a which match the respective flat surfaces 53, 53a of two rigid bars 52, 52a of the pintle which are separated by a block 57 of rubber or like material. The pintle is pre-stressed before insertion into the knuckles so that the block 57 urges the surfaces 53, 53a of the bars against the flat portions 49, 49a of the knuckle apertures. Relative rotation of the arms 46, 46a is accompanied by corresponding rotation of the bars 52, 52a so that the rubber or like material exerts a restoring force, and relative transverse displacement of the knuckles perpendicularly to the hinge axis is accommodated by compression of the material (Fig. 4). A number of modified pintles are described (see Group XXXII), in which metallic coil springs or leaf springs of various shapes may replace, or be embedded in, the rubber or like material, and the shape of the block 57 of rubber or like material may also be varied, either by forming a deep concave pocket along one side of the block so that relative rotation of the knuckles 47, 47a in one direction is resisted more strongly than that in the other, or by shaping the pintle as in Fig. 27 so that in the normal position the arms 46, 46a are at an angle with one another. In a further modification, Fig. 21, the rigid bars 97, 97a are provided with tongues 98, 98a at each end and ribs 104, 104a, 105, 105a along each side edge, which act as stops to limit the transverse displacement and relative rotation, respectively, of the hinge knuckles. Tabs 106 are also provided to lock the pintle within the openings in the knuckles. An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in Figs. 6 and 7 in which the hinge knuckles have abutments 61, 61a for engagement with the rigid parallel bars of the pintle, the inner surfaces 54<SP>1</SP>, 54a<SP>1</SP> of which are separated by resilient members 111, 111a from central rigid members 113, 113a which normally meet at the centre 121. Relative rotation of the knuckles is converted into rolling contact between the members 113, 113a until either the surfaces 119, 119a or the surfaces 120, 120a abut, after which relative rotation is resisted by compression of the members 111, 111a. Compression continues until end ribs 64, 64a of the bars and edge ribs 115, 115a of the central members abut. The rigid bars of the pintle are preferably made of steel, but hard rubber or like material may be employed in some cases.