Compound steering system for endless-track vehicles

US3966005A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen AG · DE

Inventor

• Bernhard Binger · Ravensburg, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 15, 1975
• Grant date: Jun 29, 1976
• Expiry date: Jan 15, 1995

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B62D11/16
• WIPO field: Transport
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

The driven sprockets of a pair of endless tracks on opposite sides of a vehicle are coupled with an engine by way of a hydraulic torque converter and a reversible transmission, the latter including two differential-gear sets with secondary inputs which can be rotated in mutually opposite directions by a steering unit comprising a mechanical and a hydraulic power train linked by two cascaded planetary-gear sets. The hydraulic power train receives torque directly from the engine whereas the mechanical power train is driven by the output of the torque converter to provide intensified steering action when, on downhill driving, the turbine of the converter outruns its impeller. The mechanical power train includes a pair of reversing clutches nested within a pair of similar clutches of the reversible transmission.