Caterpillar Inc.

Eric James Johannsen

Mark Steven Diekevers

Jason L Sebright

Roger Lee Recker

Kevin Steiner

Michael D Hasselbusch

David Jennings Hakes

Mark J Kiesel

Guanghui Liang

Mircea Dumitru

Donovan Stuart Clarke

Chandrasen Rameshlal Rathod

Matthew William Trone

Allen Jay Weeks

Li Zhang

Jeffrey Scott VanderVeen

Arthur James Bland

Richard E Livesay

Yanchai Zhang

Timothy A Thorson

Gregory Jerome Kaufmann

Stephen C Garnett

Temitope Olayemi Akinlua

Xuefei Hu

Thomas J Yaniak

Ming Zhang

Michael Stephen Galat

Daniel Wilson Hoyt

Jeffrey Paul Nash

Jennifer Ann Brooks

Xiangyang Jiang

Timothy Allen McKinley

Douglas Trent Weaver

Scott E Keele

Daniel D Angot

Kenneth Nebergall

Britta A Jost

Anthony R Snyder

Timothy Richard Hoyt

Alexander H Hays

Constant B Bissahoyo

Chee Keong Ng

Aaron Michael Tetzloff

Kevin L Steiner

A method of producing a rotating guide component for a track assembly includes fixing at least one wear member to an outer surface of a tubular or annular substrate. The at least one wear member includes an inner portion, and the tubular or annular substrate includes an outer portion. The inner portion is mated to the outer portion, and the wear member is brazed to the tubular or annular substrate.

Rotating track guide components with white-iron segments

An idler adjustment assembly includes a support block; a first set of one or more adjustment components to move a first wear component between a first plurality of positions that are adjacent to an external surface of a first side of the support block; a second set of one or more adjustment components to move a second wear component between a second plurality of positions that are adjacent to an external surface of a second side of the support block; a first set of one or more alignment components to maintain a first alignment of the first wear component relative to the external surface of the first side of the support block; and a second set of one or more alignment components to maintain a second alignment of the second wear component relative to the external surface of the second side of the support block.

Idler adjustment assembly

A track joint assembly in a track-type machine includes a track link having a pin bore and a bushing bore formed therein. A track pin is attached to the track link within the pin bore, and a track bushing is attached to the track link within the bushing bore. The track pin and the track link are attached by way of a tight interference-fit, and the bushing and track link are attached by way of a light interference-fit. Once placed in service, the bushing can commence rotation during track operation to reduce wear and obviate the need for bushing turns during servicing.

Track joint assembly having bushing structured for in-service transitioning from fixed to rotating

A track link and track shoe bolted connection includes a track link with a clearance hole, a track bolt with a free end extending through the clearance hole, and a track nut with a top surface that is spaced away a minimum distance from the clearance hole. The track link includes a rail surface, a bottom surface, and a midplane between the rail surface and the bottom surface. The top surface of the track nut is at or above the midplane.

Track bolt stretch device with nut and spacer

A system may include a first device and a second device. The first device may be configured to be associated with a component of a machine. The second device may be configured to provide one or more interrogation magnetic signals to the first device; and determine, based on providing the one or more interrogation magnetic signals, whether a response magnetic signal is received from the first device. The second device may selectively provide first wear information indicating a first amount of wear of the component or second wear information indicating a second amount of wear of the component. The first information may be provided when the response magnetic signal is received from the first device. The second wear information may be provided when the response magnetic signal is not received from the first device. The second amount of wear may exceed the first amount of wear.

Component monitoring based on magnetic signals

Overheating of the rollers in a track on mobile equipment can result in failure of the track. Accordingly, embodiments are disclosed for a temperature monitoring device that can be installed within an oil fill hole of each roller. Each temperature monitoring device may monitor the oil temperature within a respective roller, and communicate that oil temperature or other temperature indication to a controller. The controller may alert a human operator or another system when the temperature of a roller exceeds a predefined threshold that is indicative of overheating.

Roller temperature monitoring

A roller mounting assembly for a ground-engaging track system includes a frame, and a roller block coupled to the frame and including a shaft support surface extending through the roller block. The roller mounting assembly further includes a damper resiliently deformable, relative to the roller block, to dampen loads transmitted between the roller block and the frame. Embodiments of a roller block assembly and a damping shim assembly are also disclosed.

Roller mounting and roller block assemblies for ground-engaging track system

In one aspect, a track shoe assembly may include a shoe plate having a shoe plate body including a shoe plate attachment surface, and at least two slots extending through at least the shoe plate attachment surface. The track shoe assembly may also include a grouser having a grouser body having a grouser attachment surface, and at least two tabs, integrally formed with the grouser body, the at least two tabs extending from the grouser attachment surface, and perpendicular to the grouser attachment surface, the at least two tabs of the grouser being configured to be positioned within the at least two slots of the shoe plate. In another aspect, a method of manufacturing a track shoe assembly may include forming a shoe plate as described above, forming a grouser as described above, and attaching the grouser to the shoe plate to thereby form a track shoe assembly.

Track shoe assembly including a shoe plate and a grouser and related method of manufacture

A ground-engaging track system includes a center tread idler having an inner surface defining an idler axis of rotation, and an outer tread surface. The ground-engaging track system further includes a track contacted by the idler between parallel track chains and defining a track pitch dimension. The outer tread surface defines an outer diameter dimension, and a ratio of the track pitch dimension to the outer diameter dimension is between 28% and 37%. The outer diameter dimension may be one of the outer diameters of Table 1. The idler and track contact during service at fixed bushing-idler contact locations so as to bias wearing away material of the idler to form pockets imparting a sprocketed configuration to the idler during service.

Center tread idler in ground-engaging track system dimensioned to form a sprocketed idler wear pattern

A component, of a machine, may comprise a body comprising a cavity; and a sensing assembly located in the cavity. The sensing assembly may comprise a strain measurement device configured to generate strain data indicating an amount of strain experienced by a portion of the component. The sensing assembly may further comprises a component controller configured to generate, based on the strain data, wear information indicating an amount of wear of the portion of the component; and cause the wear information to be provided to one or more devices.

Component wear monitoring based on strain data

In some implementations, a controller may receive, from a sensor system of the machine, sensor data indicating a movement of an idler block of an idler assembly of an undercarriage of the machine. The controller may determine, based on the sensor data, that the idler block has moved from a first position to a second position. The controller may determine an amount of wear of an idler of the idler assembly based on the idler block moving from the first position to the second position. The controller may determine whether the amount of wear satisfies a wear threshold. The controller may cause the machine to perform an action based on determining whether the amount of wear satisfies the wear threshold.

Determining idler wear based on position of idler assembly

In at least one aspect, a track shoe assembly includes a shoe plate having a shoe plate body including at least one shoe plate attachment surface defining a groove extending along a width of the shoe plate body, and a grouser having a grouser body having at least one grouser attachment surface, a cross-sectional shape of the at least one grouser attachment surface being the same as a cross-sectional shape of the groove defined by the at least one shoe plate attachment surface.

In some implementations, one or more devices may determine whether an electrical circuit is closed or open, the electrical circuit including electrodes of the sensor device, the electrical circuit being closed based on the electrodes being immersed in a lubricant in a cavity of a component of a track assembly of the machine, the electrical circuit being open based on the electrodes not being immersed in the lubricant in the cavity. The one or more devices may generate sensor data based on determining that the electrical circuit is open, the sensor data indicating that a level, of the lubricant in the cavity, does not satisfy a level threshold. The one or more devices may cause the machine to perform an action based on the sensor data indicating that the level does not satisfy the level threshold.

Predicting track assembly component failure using direct oil contact sensor device

A controller may receive, from a sensor device of a machine, machine drivetrain data indicating a load, on a drivetrain of the machine, over a period of time. The controller may detect, based on the machine drivetrain data, one or more occurrences of a decrease in the load during the period of time. The controller may determine that the one or more occurrences, of the decrease in the load, are unexpected. The controller may detect wear of a component of an undercarriage of the machine based on determining that the one or more occurrences, of the decrease in the load, are unexpected. The controller may cause an action to be performed based on determining the wear of the component.

Detecting sprocket segment wear based on machine drivetrain data

A track component for use with a track assembly includes a gyro sensor that monitors a track wrap angle of the track chain assembly about the idler wheel, or the drive sprocket.

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Washington, IL, United States of America

Eric James Johannsen