US3734221A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Endless track vehicle
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1971-06-04
•
Granted: 1973-05-22
•
Expires: 1991-06-04
Abstract
Abstract An endless track motor vehicle, more particularly a snowmobile, in which the engine and the transmission are surrounded by the endless track belt and the resulting assembly movably mounted within the vehicle chassis and suspended by spring and shockabsorbing means. The vehicle is also provided with a specially designed ski and with means to maintain the track bottom run in a curved shape to provide greater ease in steering, especially on a hard surface. The vehicle is much safer to operate than conventional snowmobiles, because the rubber endless track shields the passenger from the engine and associated moving parts, and because the vehicle has a lower center of gravity, effectively separates the gasoline reservoir from the engine and has its engine located behind and below the passengers, whereby the latter are not subjected to toxic exhaust gases. The snowmobile also has greater maneuverability, can be easily converted into a vehicle for summer use and can be easily taken apart for repair and the like.
Inventors
- 👤 R Labelle
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 08:40
CPC Classifications
B; B62; B62M; B62M27/00; B62M27/02
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 32
Claim 1
Independent Claim
232 words
In an endless track motor vehicle, a chassis having a front portion and a rear portion, a steerable ground-engaging member carried by said chassis front portion under the same, said chassis rear portion being hollow, having a top, sides, front and back, and having a bottom opening, and a sub-carriage disposed within said hollow chassis rear portion and protruding therefrom through said bottom opening, said sub-carriage including a subframe, an endless track surrounding said subframe and having a bottom run adapted to engage and thrust against the ground for moving the vehicle thereon, track-engaging means carried by said subframe for maintaining said track around said subframe with the top and bottom runs of the track spaced around said subframe with the top and bottom runs of tHe track spaced from each other, said track-engaging means encompassed by the said track, motor means entirely mounted within said subframe, wheel means carried by said subframe and contacting the inside of said track for driving the latter around said subframe, said motor means drivingly connected to said wheel means, said subframe connected to said chassis for up and down movement of said subframe relative to said chassis, resilient suspension means connecting said chassis and said subframe for resiliently resisting said movement, a passenger seat carried by said chassis front portion, connected to said steerable ground-engaging member and accessible to a driver seated on said seat.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
232 words
In an endless track motor vehicle, a chassis having a front portion and a rear portion, a steerable ground-engaging member carried by said chassis front portion under the same, said chassis rear portion being hollow, having a top, sides, front and back, and having a bottom opening, and a sub-carriage disposed within said hollow chassis rear portion and protruding therefrom through said bottom opening, said sub-carriage including a subframe, an endless track surrounding said subframe and having a bottom run adapted to engage and thrust against the ground for moving the vehicle thereon, track-engaging means carried by said subframe for maintaining said track around said subframe with the top and bottom runs of the track spaced around said subframe with the top and bottom runs of tHe track spaced from each other, said track-engaging means encompassed by the said track, motor means entirely mounted within said subframe, wheel means carried by said subframe and contacting the inside of said track for driving the latter around said subframe, said motor means drivingly connected to said wheel means, said subframe connected to said chassis for up and down movement of said subframe relative to said chassis, resilient suspension means connecting said chassis and said subframe for resiliently resisting said movement, a passenger seat carried by said chassis front portion, connected to said steerable ground-engaging member and accessible to a driver seated on said seat.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
72 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said steerable ground-engaging and vehicle supporting member is a ski and said track-engaging means exert unequal downward pressure on the bottom run of said track, whereby said track is caused to engage a flat supporting hard surface with a greater pressure on a localized restricted longitudinal zone of said bottom run than on the remaining longitudinal zone of said run.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said passenger seat is secured to the top of said chassis rear portion.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
45 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said chassis front portion defines a platform disposed at a lower level than the top of said chassis rear portion and a guard wall is upstanding from the front end of said platform.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 4, further including a passenger seat carried by said platform and a back-rest for said seat in front of said chassis rear portion.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 5, further including a passenger seat resting on the top of said chassis rear portion.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
62 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said subframe is pivoted to said chassis about a horizontal axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of said vehicle for pivotal movement in a vertical plane and said resilient suspension means are connected to said subframe at points longitudinally spaced from the pivotal connection of said subframe to said chassis.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
47 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein at least one of said track-engaging means is movably mounted on said sub-frame, and means to adjust the position of said last-named track-engaging means on said frame to adjust the tension of said endless track.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
63 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said steerable ground-engaging and vehicle supporting member consists in a snow-engaging ski and further including a plow member carried and by said sub-frame and extending just over the inside surface of the bottom run of said track to expel snow and other material which may accumulate on said track bottom run.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
54 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said wheel means for driving said track are located at the trailing end of the bottom run of said track with respect to the normal advancing movement of said vehicle, so as to exert a direct pull on said track bottom run.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
58 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said steerable ground-engaging and vehicle supporting member is a ski and the track-engaging means engaging the bottom run of said track, confer to said bottom run an outwardly convex shape, whereby said bottom run will contact a flat hard support surface along a restricted longitudinal zone.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
47 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said motor means is an internal combustion engine and further including a fuel reservoir for said engine, said reservoir carried by said chassis rear portion within the same, but exteriorly of said subframe and track.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
41 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said subframe is pivotally connected to said chassis at the rear end thereof and said resilienT suspension means are connected to said subframe at the front end portion thereof.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
21 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, further including shock-absorbing means associated with said resilient suspension means.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said endless track consists in an endless flexible rubber belt.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
78 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 15, wherein said rubber belt has a ground-engaging contacting surface provided with straight ribs arranged in two rows longitudinally of the track, the ribs of each row being substantially parallel to each other, the ribs of one row being inclined with respect to the long axis of said track in a direction opposite to the inclination of the ribs of the other row to form a chevron-like pattern.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said steerable ground-engaging and vehicle supporting member is a ski carried by and mounted underneath said main end portion.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
38 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 17, wherein said ski has a longitudinally extending central groove at its ground contacting undersurface and has a downwardly extending flange along each of its longitudinal side edges.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
33 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 18, further including rod-like members extending longitudinally of said ski at the underface thereof and secured thereto inwardly of and adjacent said flanges.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
20 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 18, wherein both ends of said ski are curved upwardly.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 18, wherein the intermediate portion of said ski has a smaller width than both end portions of said ski.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
41 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 18, wherein said longitudinal edges are slightly concave when the ski is seen in plan view to define end portions of said ski of greater width than the central portion thereof.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said track-engaging means are unsprung with respect to said subframe.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
26 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 23, wherein said wheel means are mounted on transverse shafts unsprung with respect to said sub-frame.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
44 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 23, wherein said steerable ground-engaging and vehicle supporting member is a ski and wherein the track-engaging means engaging the track bottom run, confer to the latter an outwardly convex shape longitudinally of the track.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
79 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said resilient suspension means are removably connected to said subframe and said pivotal connection of said subframe to said chassis comprises a tube secured to said subframe and extending transversely thereof and a rod removably extending through said tube and removably secured to the chassis rear portion, whereby removal of said rod from said chassis and tube releases the pivotal connection of said subframe to said chassis.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
37 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 29, wherein said motor means is an internal combustion engine and said subframe box has air circulating openings shielded against said snow or said other foreign material.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
54 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 27, wherein said subframe box has a bottom wall spaced above the track bottom run, said bottom wall having openings for the escape of gases from within said subframe box into the space between said subframe box bottom wall and said track bottom run.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
66 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said chassis rear portion forms a box-like enclosure open at the bottom and said subframe forms a substantially closed box surrounded by said track and enclosing said motor means to deaden the noise thereof and to prevent snow and other foreign material, which may be entrained by said track, from reaching said motor meAns.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
38 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 29, wherein said box-like enclosure and said subframe box have registering lateral service openings to give access to said motor means and removable covers for said service openings.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
42 words
In an endless track motor vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein said subframe is pivotally connected to said chassis at the front end portion thereof and said resilient suspension means are connected to said subframe at the rear end portion thereof.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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Cited
US2289768A
Cited
US2702088A
Cited
US3011576A
Cited
US3221830A
Cited
US3412821A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-05-21 | 1976-11-20 | 1977-05-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-05-21 | 1980-11-20 | 1981-05-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-05-21 | 1984-11-20 | 1985-05-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |