US-20260125121-A1 - TRACK SYSTEM AND VEHICLE HAVING SAME

US20260125121A1US 20260125121 A1US20260125121 A1US 20260125121A1US-20260125121-A1

Abstract

An angular limiting system for a track system that is configured to be drivingly connected to an axle of a vehicle, and that is configured to be pivotally connected to the axle about an axis, includes an axle member and a frame member. The axle member is configured to be connected to the axle of a vehicle. The frame member is configured to be connected to a frame of the track system, and is configured to cooperate with the axle member for limiting movement of the track system in response to an angle between part of the track system and the axle about the axis reaching a predetermined angular limit.

Inventors

Charles ST-ARNAUD
Gabriel LANDRY

Assignees

SOUCY INTERNATIONAL INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251103

Claims (20)

1 . An angular limiting system for a track system configured to be drivingly connected to an axle of a vehicle, and to be pivotally connected to the axle about an axis, the angular limiting system comprising: an axle member configured to be connected to the axle of a vehicle; and a frame member configured to be connected to a frame of the track system, and configured to cooperate with the axle member for limiting movement of the track system in response to an angle between part of the track system and the axle about the axis reaching a predetermined angular limit.
2 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein: the axis is a pitch axis and the angle is a pitch angle of the track system; the axis is a roll axis and the angle is a roll angle of the track system; or the axis is a yaw axis and the angle is a yaw angle of the track system.
3 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein: the angular limiting system further comprises a plate configured to connect to the axle; the frame member comprises an extension comprising an external surface; and the plate and the external surface are positioned to be in contact for limiting relative movement about the axis.
4 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein: the axis is a first axis; the angle is a first angle; the predetermined angular limit is a first predetermined angular limit; and the track system is further configured to pivot relative to the axle about a second axis, and the frame member is configured to cooperate with the axle member for limiting movement of the track system in response to a second angle between part of the track system and the axle about the second axis reaching a second predetermined angular limit.
5 . The angular limiting system of claim 4 , wherein: the first axis is one of: a pitch axis, and the first angle is a pitch angle of the track system; a roll axis, and the first angle is a roll angle of the track system; or a yaw axis, and the first angle is a yaw angle of the track system, the second axis is an other one of: the pitch axis, and the second angle is a pitch angle of the track system; the roll axis, and the second angle is a roll angle of the track system; or the yaw axis, and the second angle is a yaw angle of the track system.
6 . The angular limiting system of claim 4 , wherein: the angular limiting system further comprises a plate configured to be connected to the axle; the frame member comprises an extension comprising an external surface; and the plate and the external surface are positioned to be in contact so as to limit relative movement about the first axis and the second axis.
7 . The angular limiting system of claim 6 , wherein the extension comprises at least two races forming cam surfaces configured to engage the plate.
8 . The angular limiting system of claim 7 , wherein the plate is configured to slide on the at least two races.
9 . The angular limiting system of claim 8 , wherein the races are shaped to provide a composite range of motion of about 80 degrees about the first axis and the second axis.
10 . The angular limiting system of claim 9 , wherein the races are shaped to allow a composite range of motion of about 60 degrees about the first axis and the second axis.
11 . The angular limiting system of claim 9 , wherein the races are shaped to allow a composite range of motion of about 5 degrees about the first axis and the second axis.
12 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein: the axle member is configured to be selectively connected to the axle; or the axle member is configured to be integral with the axle.
13 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein: the frame member is configured to be selectively connected to the frame; or the frame member is configured to be integral with the frame.
14 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein the frame member has a frame plate defining an angle with a horizontal plane.
15 . The angular limiting system of claim 14 , wherein the angle is between about 5° and about 45°.
16 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein: the frame member is a first frame member; and the angular limiting system further comprises a second frame member configured to be connected to the frame, and configured to cooperate with the axle member for limiting movement in response to angle between part of the track system and the axle about the axis reaching a second limiting angular value.
17 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein the frame member comprises at least one surface with a typology arranged such that: with a yaw angle of the track system being a first yaw angular value, the limiting angular value is a first limiting angular value; with the yaw angle of the track system being a second yaw angular value, the limiting angular value is a second limiting angular value; and the first limiting angular value is different from the second limiting angular value.
18 . The angular limiting system of claim 1 , wherein the frame member has stoppers.
19 . A track system comprising: a frame configured to connect to an axle of a vehicle, the frame being pivotable relative to the frame about an axis; a plurality of wheel assemblies rotationally connected to the frame, the plurality of wheel assemblies including a drive wheel assembly configured to be drivingly connected to the axle of the vehicle; an endless track surrounding the plurality of wheel assemblies and drivingly engaged with the drive wheel assembly; and the angular limiting system in accordance with claim 1 .
20 . A vehicle comprising: a frame; a motor supported by the frame; an axle supported by the frame and operatively connected to the motor; a track system drivingly and pivotably connected to the axle; and the angular limiting system of claim 1 .

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/716,332, filed Nov. 5, 2024 entitled “Track System and Vehicle Having Track System”, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/771,776, filed Mar. 14, 2025 entitled “Track System and Vehicle Having Track System”, which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present technology relates to track systems, vehicles having track systems, systems for limiting angular range of motion, vehicle having systems for limiting angular range of motion, and axles for vehicles having track systems. BACKGROUND Certain vehicles, such as, for example, vehicles used in agriculture (e.g., harvesters, combines, tractors, etc.), in construction, in forestry, in mining and in powersports, are used on ground surfaces that are soft, slippery and/or uneven (e.g., soil, mud, sand, ice, snow, etc.). In some instances, such vehicles may be equipped with implements used to perform agricultural work (e.g., seeding, spraying, harvesting, etc.) or to perform other works (e.g. plow, trailer, etc.). Conventionally, such vehicles have a chassis and ground engaging assemblies each comprising a wheel mounted with a tire to operate the vehicle along the ground surface. Under certain conditions, such assemblies may have poor traction and stability on some kinds of ground surfaces. Additionally, the tires may compact or damage the ground surface due to a load sustained by the tires being concentrated over a limited ground engaging contact patch area. As an example, when the vehicle is an agricultural vehicle, the tires may compact the soil in such a way as to undesirably inhibit the growth of crops. Furthermore, stability issues due to poor floatation over a ground surface that is uneven or yielding under such pressure may damage the vehicle (e.g., a spray boom extremity colliding with the ground surface or a plow extremity colliding with the ground) or reduce the quality of the work being performed (e.g., uneven spraying of pesticides or uneven scrapping of ground surface). Such stability issues can be similarly problematic for other types of vehicles as well. In order to reduce the aforementioned drawbacks, it was deemed desirable to increase stability and traction by distributing the weight of the vehicle across a larger ground engaging contact area on the ground surface, and track systems were developed to be used as ground engaging assemblies in place of at least some of the wheels and tires on the vehicles. Replacing the wheels and tires by a track system, however, does present inherent inconveniences due the needed management of interferences between the newly installed track system and the chassis of the vehicle. Since the track systems are mobile around an axle of the vehicle, their longitudinal displacement must be limited and known track systems are usually equipped with limiting devices. Such limiting devices are even more important for steered vehicles because the interferences can even be greater. Known limiting devices typically comprise stoppers that keep the track system in its intended orientation when an angle between the track system and a horizontal plane, for instance, reaches a predetermined value. However, a worst case has to be taken into account when choosing said predetermined value of the angle, which drastically reduces the performance of the track system to conform to the ground surface it rolls on and therefore reduces mobility of the vehicle in its main use. Another problem arises when a stopper abuts against the chassis, since a high momentum is applied to the steering knuckle of the vehicle and can provoke the breaking of the steering knuckle. Therefore, there is a desire to improve on known solutions for ameliorating performance of track systems. SUMMARY In one broad aspect of the present technology, there is provided a track system for a vehicle. The track system comprises a frame, a plurality of wheel assemblies rotationally connected to the frame and an endless track surrounding the frame and the plurality of wheel assemblies. The plurality of wheel assemblies comprises a drive wheel assembly drivingly engaged with the endless track. The drive wheel assembly is drivingly engageable with an axle of the vehicle. In some embodiments of the present technology, the vehicle may comprise an articulation assembly configured to pivotably connect the frame of the track system to the axle of the vehicle and/or to another component of the vehicle. The articulation assembly may be configured to pivotably connect the frame to the axle so as to allow pivoting movement of the frame relative to the axle about at least one of (i) a roll axis, (ii) a pitch axis, and (iii) a yaw axis of the track system. In some embodiments, the vehicle may comprise a steering knuckle configured to allow pivoting of the frame relative to the axle about a steering axis of the vehicle a