The subject matter described herein relates to devices for aiding the cleaning or treatment of vehicle tires. More particularly, the subject matter described herein relates to a power wash and overspray wheel protector.
Vehicle tires, such as automotive or truck tires, are typically made of vulcanized rubber and are mounted onto a metal wheel. Colloquially, however, the term “wheel” is sometimes used to refer to the combination of wheel and tire, and the terms “rim” and “tire rim” are sometimes used to refer to the wheel only, i.e., without the tire. As used herein, the term wheel is used according to its technical definition, i.e., the structure around which the tire is mounted, not including the tire.
During operation, tires are usually exposed to the environment and may suffer damage due to such exposure, reducing the life of the tires. Tire maintenance may include washing the tire or applying a tire cleaner, protectant, or coating to the surface of the tire itself. Popular tire treatment products include protective coatings that include silicone in the chemical formula, and are often sold in a form which is applied to the tire by spraying the product onto the tire rather than applying the product with cloth, brush, or sponge.
One problem with tire protection products that include silicone is that silicone itself is very slippery and at the same time difficult to remove from the surface once applied. When a silicone based tire protectant is sprayed onto a vehicle tire, the person applying the product may accidently spray the product onto the wheel, where it may end up on vehicle brake surfaces, such as the rotor or pads of disk brakes or the drum and pads of drum brakes. When silicone is applied to brake surfaces, the silicone greatly reduces the coefficient of friction on those surfaces, which renders the brakes partially or even completely useless, with potentially disastrous effects.
In addition, the relatively exposed nature of vehicle brake surfaces means that there is little or no protection from contact with water, detergent, or wax while the tire is being washed. This is particularly true when the tire is being subject to a high-pressure power wash, where the high-pressure stream may damage wheel or brake components or move them out of place or out of alignment.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a product that can help protect a wheel from overspray during application of tire products, as well as protect a wheel from exposure to water, detergent, or waxes, during a wash or power wash. More specifically, there exists a need for a power wash and overspray wheel protector.
According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes an overspray wheel protector, the wheel protector including a planar material having at least one hand hold opening and a set of indicia disposed on at least one surface of the planar material, wherein the set of indicia represent multiple diameters for allowing a user to adjust the size of the protector to a desired diameter for use to protect a wheel from overspray.
Preferred embodiments of the subject matter described herein will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts, of which:
In accordance with the subject matter disclosed herein, a power wash and overspray wheel protector is disclosed. Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
In one embodiment, shield 100 may be provided to consumers in various fixed diameters that correspond to various tire rim sizes. In the embodiment illustrated in
In an alternate embodiment, the user may be provided with a set of shields, where each shield in the set had indications, cuts, or perforations corresponding to a set of diameters. For example, a first shield in the set may have perforations that allow the shield to be easily sized from 8 to 15 inches in increments of half of an inch, while a second shield in the set may have perforations that allow the shield to be easily sized from 15 to 31 inches in increments of an inch. Other combinations of sizes, size increments, and number of shields in the set may also be used.
Alternatively, indications 102 shown on shield 100 may indicate the locations of perforations through the thickness of the sheet that allow the user to cut, tear, or otherwise separate outer portions of shield 100 to leave an inner portion of shield 100 that is the desired diameter. In these embodiments, indications 102 may indicate places where shield 100 has been pre-cut, pre-punched, or pre-perforated to form rings of material that are attached to the rest of the material at a number of places, e.g., connections distributed equally around the circumference of the ring. In one embodiment, indications 102 may be tabs holding shields of different diameters together and that make it easy for the user to pull apart to obtain a shield of the desired size. In one embodiment, indications 102 may be perforated holes through shield 100 allowing the user to easily cut or tear shield 100 at the needed diameter. In one embodiment, shield 100 (or the inner-most shield if the desired size shield may be separated from a single sheet) may also include cutouts 104 near the center of shield 100 for the user to hold while placing the shield against the tire rim.
In one embodiment, shield 100 may be essentially disk-shaped, and may have a smooth circumference, but other shapes may be used, including circles, ovals, polygons, regular or irregular shapes, stars, spirals, and so on.
If a wheel rim has a lip, ridge, or edge, e.g., where the outer edge of the rim has a smaller diameter than an inner edge of the rim, shield 100 may be constructed of a material that is flexible enough to allow the user to compress the shield to get past the narrow opening formed by the outer edge of the rim, yet, once inside, allow the shield to expand again to fit snugly within the wider inner surface of the rim.
In one embodiment, shield 100 consists of a series of nested concentric rings of material that are designed such that as many outer rings may be removed as needed to create a substantially circular shield of the desired size. These rings may have smooth or substantially smooth perimeters, as shown in
Shield 100 may protect the tire rim against overspray when the tire is being washed or against chemicals when a harsh chemical cleaner is applied to the tire. Furthermore, shield 100 may be used to protect the rims of automobiles, trucks, golf carts, ATVs, trailers, or any other wheeled vehicle. In one embodiment, shield 100 may be decorated with logos, slogans, advertisements, websites, sports team names, promotions, or other text or artwork.
In one embodiment, the user places the wheel protector over the wheel and holds it there while the tire or vehicle is being treated. The hand holds may be used for this purpose. In one embodiment, the hand holds may be a set of holes designed to accommodate the user's thumb and/or one or more fingers. Alternatively, the hand-holds may be a pair of slots 104 such as are illustrated in
In one alternative embodiment, the wheel protector may fit snugly inside the rim such that the user does not need to continue to hold the wheel protector in position during treatment.
It will be understood that various details of the subject matter described herein may be changed without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only, and not for the purpose of limitation.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/479,975, filed Apr. 28, 2011; the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61479975 | Apr 2011 | US |