BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The hobby of radio control (RC) vehicles can be traced back to the early part of the twentieth century where clockwork cars were being raced. Rubber band powered vehicles were also competing and became part of the hobby. Most of these early entries were run in a straight line with the winner being the first to reach the finish line. With the advent of miniature gas powered engines being developed, steering control became of interest and control lines for circular tracks were introduced. Of course this limited the events to only one vehicle at a time being run. Radio control became possible in the 1950's and the hobby has exploded to include land, sea and air radio control vehicles.
One of the popular areas of radio control vehicles has been in the development in vehicles that run “off road” known as “RC Rock Crawlers”. The popularity of this class of vehicles has really taken off in the 2000s and has been very popular ever since. Since these vehicles are designed to travel over rocks and other rough terrain, the suspension systems and wheel development has been of particular importance. There is a balance between wheel compression and stiffness as well as the distribution of weight. There is a need for a system and method to improve the performance of RC vehicles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A system and method to improve radio control vehicle tire performance has a hard foam assembly. The hard foam assembly has a hard foam layer and at least one adhesive layer attached to the hard foam layer, wherein the hard foam assembly is secured to an RC wheel. The system also has a foam assembly that has an elasticized tube that is filled with a plurality of foam pieces disposed within the elasticized tube and the elasticized tube is fitted in the RC tire. A weight assembly is also provided to be placed either around the outside of the hard foam assembly or the inside surface of an RC tire. A customization kit is provided to allow a user to customize the performance of the RC vehicle.
Other features and advantages of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a transparent view of a RC vehicle tire showing the components of the tire improvement system according to an embodiment of the present invention having a weight assembly at a minimal radial distance.
FIG. 2 is a transparent view of a RC vehicle tire showing the components of the tire improvement system according to another embodiment of the present invention having the weight assembly at a maximum radial distance.
FIG. 3 is a detailed drawing of a mesh tube in an unexpanded and an expanded configuration.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of the mesh tube shown in FIG. 3 filled with foam pieces.
FIG. 5 is an illustration of the weight assembly according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 is an illustration of the weight assembly shown in FIG. 5 in a circular orientation for use.
FIG. 7 is another illustration of the foam filled mesh.
FIG. 8 is an illustration of the foam filled mesh shown in FIG. 7 in a circular orientation for use.
FIG. 9 is an illustration of a hard foam assembly according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 10 is an illustration of the hard foam shown in FIG. 9 in a circular orientation for use.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the drawings in which reference numerals refer to like elements, and which are intended to show by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
Referring to FIG. 1, a system to improve radio control vehicle tire performance 100 is shown for use in an RC vehicle tire 110 having a wheel 115. A weight assembly 150 is shown wrapped around a hard foam assembly 130 and a foam assembly 155 inserted in tire 110. In this configuration, weight assembly 150 has the weight distributed closer to the center of the radius of wheel 110.
Referring now to FIG. 2, weight assembly 150 is located on an outside edge of foam assembly 155 which increases the radial distance of the weight distribution which changes the characteristics and handling of a vehicle (not shown).
Now referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 7 and 8, a mesh tube 125 is shown in an unexpanded configuration on the left and expanded configuration 127 on the right. Mesh tube 125 is made of an elastic material such as, but not limited to, spandex or other polyurethane rubber material as long as it will expand when filled. To fill mesh tube 125, pieces of foam 135 are used. It is desirable to use viscoelastic foam commonly known as memory foam since it has desirable properties when used in tire 110. In order to produce the maximum efficiency, the memory foam should be chopped into small pieces. The pieces do not need to be uniform and could be torn or cut. The amount of pieces used, allow the user to adjust the stiffness which further optimizes and improves performance in selected environments. More foam pieces 135 increases the stiffness, while fewer reduces the stiffness.
Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, weight assembly 150 is shown as having a plurality of round weights 140. Round weights 140 may be ball bearings or BBs. Of course other materials may be used such as, but not limited to lead, iron, brass, copper coated steel, etc. as long as providing weight. Weight assembly 150 is made by having a weight substrate 120 which has a layer of adhesive which holds ball bearings 140 in place with another layer of adhesive material on top capturing and securing ball bearings 140 within. Weight substrate is flexible to allow it to radially bend to fit within tire 110. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the number of ball bearings will vary depending on which orientation is chosen with more weight being supplied in the orientation shown in FIG. 2 compared to FIG. 1. In general, round weights help evenly distribute the weight and provide more stabilization than traditional rectangular weights that are traditionally used in the art. Additionally, although two rows of ball bearings 140 are shown, other number of rows may be used such as a single row or 3 or 4 rows.
Now referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, hard foam assembly 130 has an adhesive layer 145 to allow the user to apply it wheel 110. It is also possible to include a second layer of adhesive on an opposite side thereon (not shown). The use of rigid foam adds to the stability and performance of the vehicle tire. The system to improve radio control vehicle tire performance is normally used with Beadlock rims for RC crawlers. System and method to improve radio control vehicle tire performance is usable as a preassembled package or a customizable package that allows a user to adjust the system to meet their particular needs. One of the advantages of using foam pieces 135 held inside mesh tube 125, is that there is essentially no break-in time compared to the prior art solid foam used to fill the tires. The user can easily add or subtract pieces as desired to keep the tire performance consistent. In the prior art, often once the foam was broken in, it would start to degrade and no longer provide the optimum performance. RC Tires using the instant invention will outperform the one piece foam filled tires of the prior art by at least three times as long.
Method of Use
The user needs to obtain the system to improve radio control vehicle tire performance 100. In the embodiment that allows the user to customize the application, the user decides which configuration they want to use. First the user needs to trim hard foam assembly 130 to match the circumference of wheel 115. Next the protective backing protecting adhesive layer 145 is peeled off and hard foam assembly 130 is adhered to wheel 115. If the small radius weight distribution is desired (as shown in FIG. 1), the user trims weight assembly 50 to fit around hard foam assembly 130 and then adheres weight assembly 150 to an outer edge of hard foam assembly 130. If the user wants to use the larger diameter weight distribution (as shown in FIG. 2), the user trims weight assembly to fit within an inside circumference of wheel 110. The user will fill mesh tube 125 to the desired stiffness with foam pieces 135 provided with system 100. Once filled, the user inserts foam assembly 155 into tire 110. If the and then tire is sealed using the standard Beadlock rim assembly as is known in the art. It is possible to use system 100 without using any weight other than hard foam assembly and foam assembly to meet specific conditions. The instant system will work with both vented and non-vented applications.
Of course, system 100 may also be provided as a preinstalled package where the user merely selects the desired orientation and purchases the wheel prefilled according to the instant invention.
Although the instant invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
Patent Application
20240226764
