Patent Application
20060238018
The present invention relates to safety wheel devices. Over the years, there have been quite a few safety devices invented. However, most of these have been for internal devices There have been several that relate to external devices. We will concentrate on these, as this invention is an external device.
Several prior art devices are known about, that enable a vehicle that sustains a loss of tire air pressure, either because of a puncture, or because of a blowout, to proceed to a safe place to repair, or to replace, the involved tire.
However, many of them are very complex, or they affect the external aspect of the tire rim making a generally unaesthetic rim device. Because of this, such devices have had only limited acceptance.
For example, GB Patent 960323, GB Patent 967397 and FR Patent 1408477 disclose devices for spare rims which are mechanically complicated and expensive to manufacture and maintain. Other devices, such as the rim devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,019,120 and 3,208,798 disclose rim devices which include one or two externally mounted side support steel ring members attached to the rim, such that upon tire deflation, the supporting rings engage the ground surface to provide support for the wheeled vehicle.
Other support devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,518 which relates to an annular ring attached to the rim and having an elastomer mounted to the end thereof, U.S. Pat. No. 1,766,393 which has an annular ring with a wedging groove having an elastomer thereon attached to the rim, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,203,774, 2,354,444 and 2,670,994 all of which have grooved peripheral annular devices attached to the rim that retain the elastomer to the extended end of the annular device to engage the road surface during the run-flat condition.
Argentinean Patent Application No. P010101027 also refers to a spare rim to be permanently used next to the main rim.
A Japanese Patent No. WO 88/04996 issued to Tadashi Takeuchi is for an auxiliary safety device for the tire of an automobile, which is formed so that, when the tire of the automobile is punctured while the vehicle is moving, the vehicle can be driven safely for a short distance to a safe place to repair or to change the tire. The characteristics of the device reside in that a disc type member having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the wheel body and a diameter less than the outer diameter of the tire, and a suitable level of strength is provided so as to extend in parallel with the wheel body. Owing to this disc type member, the weight of this portion of the vehicle is supported even with a flat.
German Patent No. DE 3928553A issued to Takeuchi started with the same design as the preceeding design and progressed to a completely different design. Both inventions were for automobiles and both required modifications of the vehicle wheel/rims. It is very doubtful if they could with-stand the tremendous forces involved with a blowout on the steer/drive wheel of a large 18-wheel truck.
One object of the invention is to use the present wheel, that is, no modification in the vehicle wheel is needed. This invention is a unit in itself.
This invention uses 2 disc type steel members, having a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the vehicle tire and a greater diameter than the wheel body member.
It also uses a ⅜″×2¾″ steel ring on the outer periphery of the disc type members to support them and to form a base for the rubber foot.
It is also reinforced by triangular steel braces so it is able to adequately support the tremendous force in the event of a blowout of the steer/drive wheel tire of a large truck.
It allows the wheel to drop only 2″ instead of going flat, thereby facilitating the driver to maintain control and help prevent a roll-over or from swerving into on-coming traffic.
For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the present invention, there is in the accompaning drawings, a preferred embodiment of the present invention, from which an inspection of, when considered in connection with the following description, the invention, its construction and operation and some of its advantages may be readily understood and appreciated.
FIGS. 4 (A-I) show cross-sectional constructional views of the invention.
This invention is for trucks, buses, motor-homes and the like.
This device is a disc type device and consists of:
For assembly:
NOTE: There is a critical measurement. All wheels are not the same.
Measure the diameter of the stud circle, that is, from the center of one stud to the center of the opposite stud. It has to be exact. It will be from 10⅛″ to 11¾″. (In this particular device, it is 11¼″). All other measurements are the same as stated.
