Caterpillar Inc.

Robert C Gibson

Marvin P Schneider

Kevin Knox

Michael J Smith

Lloyd E Thompson

A belt damper for a gear train is provided. An endless belt is wrapped around pulleys mounted to an idler gear and an output gear. The pulleys are mounted to splined shafts which are axially aligned with and connected to splined gear shafts on which the idler and output gears are mounted. Pressurized lubricant is supplied to both splined connections. The combination of the lubricant in the spline connections and the damping effect of the belt provides for an effective damping system. A tension device may also be applied to vary tension imposed on the belt.

Belt damper

At least two torque paths between a driver and a camshaft distribute dynamic torque applied to the camshaft, allowing for cancellation of undesirable torque components. The second torque path has a greater number of gears than the first torque path, and acts as a constraint on the camshaft, ameliorating discontinuities in camshaft rotation due to sudden changes in load on the camshaft.

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Peoria, IL, United States of America

Robert C Gibson