Field of technology: Vehicles, Engines and Transportation
Patent granted on: Tue, 02 Nov 2010
The differential steering drive for a tracked vehicle includes a drive differential interconnecting the drive shafts for the tracks and a steering differential for superimposing additive and subtractive rotations to the tracks for steering and pivot turning. In the preferred embodiment for high speed tracked vehicles, the drive differential is an all-gear no-clutch type limited-slip differential, and the steering differential is an unlimited-slip differential. The differentials are arranged to provide no-slip track operation traveling in straight paths or when steering so long as at least one track has traction. In another embodiment for pivot-turning slow-moving off-road vehicles, both the drive differential and the steering differential are all-gear no-clutch type limited-slip differentials. Further, both embodiments preferably include an additional left-side and an additional right-side all-gear no-clutch type limited-slip differential for dividing the torque delivered to a respective pair of drive axles associated with each track.