The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 01, 2001
Filed:
Mar. 20, 1998
Jon Goodwin, Cedarapids, IA (US);
Cedarapids, Cedar Rapids, IA (US);
Abstract
A tensioning device for maintaining proper belt tension on the drive belt of a tracked vehicle. The flexible drive belt extends between a drive wheel and a carriage mounted free wheel. An idler device dynamically adjusts the tension on the drive belt, and includes a drive wheel mounted to a frame, a carriage slidably mounted to the frame and supporting a free wheel, a hydraulic cylinder mounted to the frame and engaging the carriage for applying a force to the carriage. A hydraulic control circuit operates the hydraulic cylinder, the control circuit being adapted to adjust the pressure in the hydraulic cylinder to apply a first force against the carriage in response to a first detected condition, such as during normal forward operation of the vehicle. The control circuit is further adapted to apply a second force against the carriage in response to a second detected condition, such as during reverse operation of the vehicle. A sensor is provided for detecting the operating condition of the vehicle and is connected to the hydraulic circuit.