Patent Application
20230228287
The present invention is directed to a clip with a plurality of prong-shaped ends for insertion into an automatic greaser.
The regular lubrication of wheel hub bearings is a requirement to ensure that a bearing does not get damaged or dry out over time. Wheel hub bearings that have been dried out may cause a vehicle's wheel to stop turning or increase resistance to spin, which can cause poor gas mileage. When loading and unloading a boat into a body of water, the wheels of the trailer get submerged beneath the water. The water that the wheels get exposed to removes lubricant from the bearings and contributes to drying them out, especially if the water is salt water.
The wheels on a trailer each have a wheel hub with a bearing. Many trailer owners use automatic greasers to lubricate the bearings within the wheel hub. An example of the automatic greater is the product sold commercially under the brand name Bearing Buddy™ (a registered trademark of Bearing Buddy, Inc.). These automatic greasers are threaded or pressure-fitted and attached on the outer part of the wheel end bearing and onto the center section of the wheel hub assembly.
The wheels of these trailers often are subject to harsh environments such as rolling over train tracks or being constantly submerged in water, causing the automatic greasers attached to the wheel hubs to become loose or even detached from the wheel hubs. The continuous exposure to harsh environments can become costly for a trailer owner to constantly need to replace the automatic greasers. It can also cause the bearing to dry out and ruin the bearing, hub, spindle, and/or the wheel. In some instances, drying out can cause the bearing to overheat if it is in use, while heat can further cause destruction of trailer components or even a fire. Replacing the damaged parts resulting from these scenarios is quite expensive. Moreover, if any of these components become dislodged during use on a vehicle, the dislodged component can become a dangerous object to other drivers and passengers in cars also traveling on a roadway. The components are usually dislodged under extreme pressure and can impact or break windshields or other parts a vehicle.
Accordingly, a need exists for a modification to current wheel hubs and automatic/hub greasers to prevent hub wheel bearings from drying out and being destroyed. Consequently, the vehicle may be rendered immobile.
The disclosed subject matter provides a retaining clip for retaining an automatic greaser. The clip comprises a metal body including a first wing grip and a second wing grip connected via a bridge section. A first prong may extend from the first wing grip to a first end while a second prong may extend from the second wing grip to a second end. Tips positioned at each prong end may extend toward the other of the first and second prongs. A compressive force applied by the prongs assist in securely positioning the first and second ends into respective orifices on the outer surface of a hub body. The metal body may be aligned along a retaining plane when the clip is in an engaged configuration.
A system is provided for retaining an automatic greater to a wheel hub. The system includes a hub assembly having a hub base and a hub body. The hub body includes at least one friction reducing element positioned within the hub body (such as a bearing). An automatic greater may be affixed to a distal end of the hub body. A retaining clip, such as the clip described previously, includes a metal body and engages both the automatic greater and the hub body. When in an engaged configuration (engaging the automatic greater and hub assembly), first and second wing grips may apply opposing spring forces to the interior surface of the automatic greater so that the clip is secured to the automatic greaser. First and second prongs extending from the wing grips may be biased inward so that tips affixed to the prong ends are able to removably engage the hub body. The metal body, when engaged, may be aligned along a retaining plane extending along the length of the system.
A method is provided for manufacturing an automatic greater retaining system. The method includes providing a metal strand and forming it into a retainer configured to retain an automatic greaser. The retaining clip, such as the clip described previously, includes a metal body configured to engage both the automatic greater and the hub body. The first and second wing grips of the metal body may then engage an automatic greaser. An outer surface of a hub body may also be engaged by the retainer tips so that the retainer is aligned along a retaining plane when in the engaged configuration.
The disclosed subject matter, objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numbers are used throughout the different figures to designate the same components.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, a first element discussed below could be termed a second element without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising” or “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof
First and second prongs 12,13 are attached to the outer jaws 23,24 of respective first and second wing grips 14,15. First prong 12 may extend from the first wing grip 14 to a first end 18 while a second prong 13 may extend from the second wing grip 15 to a second end 19. Tips 10,11 positioned at each prong end 18,19 may extend toward the other of the first and second prongs 12,13. A compressive force applied by the prongs 12,13 assist in securely positioning the first and second ends 18,19 into respective orifices 25 (only one orifice depicted in
In embodiments, each of the first prong 12 and the second prong 13 are tensioned inward toward the tension axis when clip 5 is in a disengaged configuration (as shown in
In embodiments, metal body 17 may comprise tension wire. Use of tension wire may allow a user of clip 5 to use his/her hands to pull apart first and second prongs 12,13 away from a tension axis and place clip 5 on to automatic greater 31 and hub assembly 33 as well as pull apart first and second prongs 12,13 away from the tension axis and remove clip 5 from automatic greater 31 and hub assembly 33.
As shown in
Lower retaining sections 29,30 of the first and second wing grips 14,15 may keep the inner jaws 21,22 and outer jaws 23,24 in the proper position so that tension forces are applied to lips 32 of the sidewall of automatic greater 31 and clip 5 is further secured to automatic greater 31. First and second prongs 12,13 extending from the wing grips 14,15 may be biased inward so that the tips 10,11 affixed to the prong ends 18,19 are able to removably engage the hub body. The metal body 17, when engaged, may be aligned along the retaining plane extending along the length of system 34. In embodiments, each of the lower retaining sections 29,30 may be substantially parallel to respective ones of the pair of tips 10,11. In further embodiments, each of the first tip 10 and the second tip 11 may be substantially parallel with bridge section 16 when clip 5 is in an engaged configuration.
In order to provide additional support for automatic greater 31, the pair of tips 10,11 may each engage one of a pair of orifices 25 (other orifice not depicted) that are symmetrically spaced from one another on the outer surface 37 of hub body 36. Additionally, clip 5 may be positioned to abut the automatic greater 31 and hub body 36 along the retaining plane when clip is in an engaged position.
It is noted that the shape of clip 5 may allow a user to easily insert and remove the clip 5 from an automatic greater and wheel bearing. The shape of clip 5 may be designed in a way that allows the user to grip the clip 5 at the first and second wing grips 14,15, allowing for comfortable and easy insertion and removal of clip 5. Furthermore, as shown in
Retainer 5, such as the clip 5 described previously, includes a metal body 17 and is configured to engage both the automatic greater 31 and the hub body 36. First and second wing grips 14,15 of the metal body 17 may then engage 450 an automatic greater 31 (as described previously). An outer surface 37 of a hub body 36 may also be engaged 460 by retainer tips 10,11 so that retainer 5 is aligned along the retaining plane when in an engaged configuration. In order to provide additional support for automatic greater 31, the pair of tips 10,11 may each engage 470 one of a pair of orifices 25 (other orifice not depicted) that are symmetrically spaced from one another on the outer surface 37 of hub body 36. Furthermore, retainer 5 may be positioned 480 to abut the automatic greater 31 and hub body 36 along the retaining plane.
In embodiments, a drill may be used to form round orifices 25 (other orifice not depicted) in hub body 36.
retaining clip 5
left tip 10
right tip 11
first prong 12
second prong 13
first wing grip 14
second wing grip 15
bridge section 16
metal body 17
first prong end 18
second prong end 19
inner jaws 21,22
outer jaws 23,24
orifices 25 (only one orifice depicted in
greater cover/bra (not depicted)
automatic greater cavity 28
lower retaining sections 29,30
automatic greater 31
lips 32
(wheel) hub assembly 33
automatic greater retaining system 34
hub base 35
hub body 36
outer surface 37
In embodiments, metal body 17 may comprise a coating that may abut at least a portion of the outer surface of metal body 17.
It is noted that the space between first prong 12 and second prong 13 may allow a user to insert his/her fingers into the space, moving first and second prongs 12,13 into an open, disengaged configuration (pulling first and second prongs 12,13 away from the tension axis as well as pulling left and right tips 10,11 out of orifices 25 [and other orifice not depicted]) for the insertion and removal of clip 5 from automatic greater 31 and hub assembly 33.
It is noted that retaining clip 5 may be utilized in an automatic greater retaining system 34 that is not associated with wheel hub assemblies.
For the purposes of this disclosure, the terms “clip”, “retaining clip”, “retainer”, “automatic greater clip”, “automatic greater retaining clip”, and “apparatus” may be synonymous.
For the purposes of this disclosure, the terms “hub assembly” and “wheel hub assembly” may be synonymous.
For the purposes of this disclosure, the term “engaged configuration” may refer to clip 5 engaging both the automatic greater 31 and the hub assembly 33 (as shown in
A plurality of additional features and feature refinements are applicable to specific embodiments. These additional features and feature refinements may be used individually or in any combination. It is noted that each of the following features discussed may be, but are not necessary to be, used with any other feature or combination of features of any of the embodiments presented herein.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as are commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. Although methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present disclosure, suitable methods are described herein.
All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In case of conflict, the patent specification, including definitions, will prevail. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and includes both combinations and sub-combinations of the various features described hereinabove as well as variations and modifications thereof, which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description.
