Patent Application
20200047553
The present invention relates generally to generally to vehicle wheel friction enhancement devices, and more particularly to a portable traction mat or tread for emplacement between the driven wheel of a vehicle when slippery ground conditions are encountered such as might be caused by ice, snow, mud, loose soil or the like.
Many portable traction mat devices have been proposed in the past as exemplified by the following prior U.S. Pat. No. 2,225,828 (Godshall), U.S. Pat. No. 2,486,911 (Becker), U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,002 (Kunz), U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,414 (Jureit), and U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,075 (Botbol), each of which hereby is incorporated herein by this reference. While these devices generally are satisfactory for providing enhanced traction between the wheel of a vehicle under certain imperfect or adverse road or ground conditions, further room for improvement exits.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle traction mat apparatus that advances the state of the art by combining in a unitary device several unique advantageous features unforeseen by the various traction mat devices of the prior art exemplified above. In brief, the traction mat of the present invention provides in combination: (i) an elongated molded plastic shell or body member having a top surface supporting rows of treads or cleats for engagement by the vehicle wheel or tire; (ii) inclined fore and aft edges for helping to wedge the mat between the ground and the wheel or tire; (iii) carry handles on the periphery of the body member, (iv) one or more rows of openings in the top surface for receiving additional or replacement tread or cleat elements; and (v) a storage receptacle located between the rows of cleats on the top surface for containing various accessories which may be required during use of the device such as cable ties for attaching a plurality of traction mats together to create a roadway, ground spikes for attaching the traction mat to the roadbed, and the aforementioned additional or replacement tread or cleat elements capable of being attached to the top of the traction mat as and when desired.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel vehicle mat traction device or apparatus of the foregoing type which is simple in its construction, comparatively inexpensive in its manufacture, thoroughly efficient and reliable in it use and operation, and otherwise well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed.
The above and numerous other objects of the invention will become evident from the following more detailed description of the invention, taken with reference to the annexed drawings.
The invention will be better understood and the above objects as well as objects other than those set forth above will become more apparent after a study of the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawing wherein:
With reference to the drawings, a new and improved vehicle traction mat apparatus embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention now will be described.
Turning initially to
In accordance with the preferred embodiment illustrated, our vehicle traction mat apparatus comprises a substantially rectangular-shaped tread member in the form of a shell or body member generally represented by reference sign 10. Shell member 10 is characterized by a raised top wall 12, a pair of fore and aft opposed inclined end walls or ramps 14, 16, and a pair of opposed inclined side walls 18, 20, substantially as depicted. Preferably, shell member 10 is fabricated of a stiff, durable molded polymeric material, with glass-filled nylon being mostly preferred, although other suitable material may be used as well.
The bottom of the shell member 10 is generally concave and is bounded peripherally by a continuous annular ground-engaging rim 22. Thus top wall 12 extends longitudinally along the top of the tread in raised disposition with respect to rim 22 to define an interior space 24 underneath the top wall bounded by the top wall 12 and the opposed side walls 18, 20 (
The central location of storage compartment 24 divides the top wall 12 into two substantial parallel spaced “tread sections” upon which are disposed a series of spaced “molded in place” protruding gripper elements 42 for suitably frictionally engaging the tire of a vehicle wheel. Similar gripper elements 42 are disposed in a suitable spaced array on the inclined end walls or ramps 14, 16. Each gripper element has a base portion 44 characterized by a generally triangular-shaped transverse cross-section and a protruding spike member 46 extending upwardly from base portion 44 generally centrally thereon.
Preferably, the spaced protruding gripper elements 42 are disposed in spaced juxtaposed rows, two on either side of the storage compartment 24, as best seen in
In accordance with another important feature of the invention, top wall 12 includes a plurality or series of hexagonally-shaped spaced through-openings 48 extending longitudinally along top wall 12 between the spaced rows of protruding gripper elements 42 and essentially parallel thereto with one such hexagonally-shaped opening being located between each pair of juxtaposed adjacent gripper elements 42 from the two adjacent rows, respectively (
As a result of the foregoing arrangement, “supplemental” gripper elements indicated generally by reference sign 50 (
To facilitate handling the traction mat apparatus in the field, the shell member is equipped with a series of convenient carry handles. Substantially as depicted, each inclined side wall 18, 20 includes a series of three evenly spaced molded-in-place “pockets,” each comprising a vertical wall portion 58 and an intersecting flat, horizontal “foot portion” 60. A suitable oblong through opening 62 provided in each foot portion 60 defines a “side” carry handles 64 comprising the outward extremity of each foot portion bordering each oblong opening 62, respectively (
In accordance with yet another important feature of the invention, “side” carry handles 64 serve the dual function of defining anchoring points for using conventional cable ties 70 or the like to connect two or more traction mat body shells 10 together in a juxtaposed or side-to-side configurations suitable for a vehicle having a dual-drive-wheel set-up (
End walls 30, 32 preferably have supplemental openings 72, respectively, for receiving cable ties 70 when it is desired to connect one or more of the body shells together end-to-end to create a roadway for a vehicle wheel. This arrangement is schematically shown in
To help secure the traction mat of the present invention on a roadbed, ground spikes 74 may be provided substantially as depicted in
By virtue of its one-piece molded construction and dished bottom characteristic, a plurality of traction mat body members 10 can be conveniently stacked together vertically in a compact manner to save storage space. This advantageous “storage mode” arrangement is schematically depicted in
In use, the traction mat shell or body member 10 can be used as a convenient shovel with one of the inclined end walls or ramps 14, 16 being used to remove snow, mud, loose soil or the like in the vicinity of a mired wheel/tire 78 on a vehicle 80. One of the body member's end walls or ramps 14, 16 can then be jammed against the mired wheel/tire and if necessary anchored in place with spikes 74. This will create a traction mat roadway upon which the vehicle can then safely travel un-mired in a desired direction (
To further illustrate the invention without limiting same, the following dimensions are contemplated in producing a prototypical example of the traction mat apparatus of the invention:
Overall length: 44 in.
Overall width: 14 in.
Nominal wall thickness: 0.160 in.
Gripper member height: 0.250 in.
Storage box length: 32 in.
In retrospect, it will be appreciated that the present invention affords a novel apparatus for providing effective traction for a wheel or tire of a vehicle and like vehicles which is very easily and handily used, and can be economically manufactured and sold. Such a traction apparatus or device has numerous uses and can easily and successfully be utilized in any instance where it is desired to increase the traction between a driven wheel and the underlying roadway or other surface.
While particular embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in accordance with the Patent Statutes, it is not intended that the invention be limited to such disclosure. Numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art and therefore, it is desired that the present invention be construed and limited only by the true spirit and scope of the annexed claims.
