US Patent Issued to Caterpillar on July 15 for "Idler for undercarriage system having sacrificial wear rings and wear ring for same" (Illinois Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,358,578, issued on July 15, was assigned to Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.).

"Idler for undercarriage system having sacrificial wear rings and wear ring for same" was invented by Michael Stephen Galat (Peoria, Ill.) and Temitope Olayemi Akinlua (Peoria, Ill.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An idler for an undercarriage system in a track-type machine includes an idler body having an outer rim surface extending circumferentially around an idler axis of rotation and forming a centrally located guide flange. The outer rim surface further forms a first ring channel and a second ring channel upon a first axial side and a second axial side of th...