Patent Application
20160101647
The disclosure relates to shield devices and more particularly pertains to a new shield device for preventing a fluid applied to a tire from contacting a wheel.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a tire coupled to a wheel of a vehicle. A pair of shells is structured to form a closed ring. The shells may be positioned on the tire such that the shells surround the wheel. A rod is provided. The rod comprises a plurality of movable sections of the rod such that rod has a telescopically adjustable length. The rod is coupled between the shells such that the rod selectively adjusts a diameter of the shells to match a diameter of the wheel. Thus, the shells may prevent a fluid applied to the tire from contacting the wheel.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
Each of the first 22 and second 24 ends of a bottom one of the shells 12 is open. The first 22 and second 24 ends of the bottom shell 12 insertably receive an associated one of the first 22 and second 24 ends of a top one of the shells 14 wherein the shells 12,14 are slidably coupled together. Thus, the shells 12,14 form a closed ring 25. The shells 12,14 are positionable on a tire 26 coupled to a wheel 28 of a vehicle 30. The shells 12,14 are positionable such that a first lateral side 32 of the outer edge 16 of the shells 12,14 abuts the wheel 28. Additionally, the shells 12,14 are orientable so the outer surface 20 of the shells 12,14 is coextensive with an innermost edge 34 of the tire 26 wherein the shells 12,14 may form a barrier between the wheel 28 and the tire 26.
A rod 36 is provided. The rod 36 has an upper portion 38 and a lower portion 40 each slidably coupled to a central portion 42 of the rod 36. Thus, the rod 36 has a telescopically adjustable length. A grip 44 surrounds the central portion 42 of the rod 36. The grip 44 is centrally positioned in the central portion 42 of the rod 36 and extends toward each of the upper 38 and lower 40 portions of the rod 36. The grip 44 may be gripped to position the shells 12,14.
A free end 46 of each of the upper 38 and lower 40 portions of the rod 36 is coupled to the inner surface 18 of an associated one of the shells 12,14 such that the rod 36 bisects the closed ring 15. The rod 36 is positioned proximate a second lateral edge 48 of the outer edge 16 of the shells 12,14 such that the rod 36 is spaced away from the wheel 28 when the shells 12,14 are positioned on the wheel 28. The rod 36 selectively adjusts a diameter of the shells 12,14 to match a diameter of the wheel 28. Thus, the shells 12,14 may prevent a fluid 50 applied to the tire 26 from contacting the wheel 28. The fluid 50 may be a chemical tire cleaner or other similar fluid.
In use, the diameter of the shells 12,14 is adjusted to match the diameter of the wheel 28. The fluid 50 is applied to the tire 26 after the shells 12,14 are positioned on the wheel 28. The tire 26 is cleaned while the shells 12,14 are positioned on the wheel 28. The shells 12,14 are removed from the wheel 28 after the tire 26 has been cleaned.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
