Land vehicles: wheels and axles – Wheel – Spoke
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-19
2003-05-06
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Land vehicles: wheels and axles
Wheel
Spoke
C301S061000, C301S058000, C029S894330
Reexamination Certificate
active
06557946
ABSTRACT:
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a spoke nipple which is particularly well suited for use on the wheels of a bicycle, wheelchair, or other such similar contrivances.
Furthermore, the use of such spoke nipples is not solely limited to the wheels of bicycles; it is also possible to make use of such spoke nipples on the wheels of other types of single or multi-wheeled contrivances such as, for example, the wheels of a (bicycle) trailer or those on strollers and children's pushchairs. For reasons of simplification, the following description of the present invention will basically refer to its use on bicycle wheels, although this description does not in any way signify a restriction of the scope of the application.
Spoke nipples are customarily arranged on the rims of bicycle wheels for the purpose of securing the spokes. A spoke nipple is usually realized as an essentially cylindrical body having a protuberance at one end which may comprise a nipple head. When being mounted, an end of the spoke nipple is inserted from the outside into a hole in the rim which has a smaller diameter than the diameter of the nipple, respectively smaller than the diameter of the nipple head, so that the spoke nipple will be retained in the rim. An outer thread is disposed on the end of the spoke protruding radially outwardly from the hub, onto which the inner thread of the spoke nipple is screwed.
In a second known implementation, a spoke nipple will not have a so-called spoke head, but will rather be essentially realized as a conventional nut. Spoke nipples of this type are preferably used in doubled-walled or hollow-chamber rims with the spoke nipples being arranged on the rim in an area between the first and second rim wall. At that spot where the spoke is arranged, such a doubled-walled rim has holes in both walls in radial direction, whereby the exterior wall, as seen radially, has a hole of larger diameter than that of the interior wall, as seen radially, so that the spoke nipple may be inserted from the outside into the opening in the outer rim wall, but not through the opening in the radial inner wall. A spoke nipple of this type is thus partially arranged within the hollow chamber area of the rim and its end usually has a hexagonal profile which is positioned radially outwardly when in mounted state in order to screw the spoke nipple onto its corresponding spoke.
A wheel customarily has between 6 and 48 spokes which are usually distributed symmetrically around its periphery. When mounting, the individual spoke nipples are screwed on in such a manner that the rim is aligned in a plane with the radius remaining constant over the peripheral angle.
In order to enable reliable wheel properties when in use, the spokes are tensioned such that the wheel will only deform slightly, even under stress loads.
A disadvantage of spoke nipples as known in the state of the art is, however, that the spoke nipples are relatively hard to turn when screwing onto the spokes.
A further disadvantage of spoke nipples as known in the state of the art is that the screwed connection between spoke nipple and spoke often has a tendency to slacken over time, even when the screw thread is sluggish.
This leads to a situation in which the wheel becomes less stable and the rim no longer is positioned exactly on one plane so that the wheel exhibits a “buckling.” Such a slackening or loosening of one or several spokes may not only result in a “buckling” and/or a less comfortable ride, but can also considerably reduce the factor of safety, among other factors.
If a spoke breaks during operation, the bicycle's overall level of safety may conceivably be considerably lowered; therefore, the causes which give rise to spokes breaking should be diminished as far as possible.
Apart from external influences such as improper handling or the use of force, material fatigue of the spoke is one of the most frequent causes for a spoke breaking, whereby the break due to material fatigue will occur upon exceeding the fatigue limit. Due to the operational load on a bicycle wheel when in use, the spoke is alternatively loaded with forces of pressure and traction whereby with a load of, for example, 900N (corresponds to a weight load of approximately 90 kg) and a wheel with 32 spokes, this load is roughly distributed over three pressure spokes and three traction spokes so that the tractive spokes are approximately exerted by an additional 300N beyond their initial tensioning while the pressured spokes are relaxed by about 300N relative their initial tension.
Since spokes can usually only take up tractive load, the spoke's pretensioning must normally be set so high that an adequately high residual tension (pretension minus pressure stress) will remain even upon higher load. On the other hand, the maximum tension of the pressured spokes (pretension plus tractive stress) has to remain within the spoke's region of flexibility. In rolling wheels, the spokes are therefore loaded with a mounting tractive stress having an amplitude in the selected example amounting to 300N. A spoke break due to fatigue frequently occurs in the area of the screw thread. But yet if the spoke's pretensioning is appropriately dimensioned, the flexible area of the pretensioned spoke shaft will take up the alternating load with load fatigue strength, thereby reducing the load on the thread and forestalling fatigue failure to a large degree. This means that a sufficiently high enough pretensioning will counteract material failure and the consequent breaking of a spoke.
In operation, such alternating loads can induce, among other things, the spoke nipple to rotate and loosen from the spoke, thus reducing the spoke tension and the safety factor.
Bicycles used in semi-professional and professional sports are made from high-quality materials; lightweight and sturdy materials are used for the bicycle wheels. With these types of wheels, the spokes are placed under a high tension when mounted in order to attain a high degree of stability and to avoid any loosening of the spokes when in operation. However, these types of high-quality wheels also require maintenance after just a short period of use.
It is therefore the task of the present invention to provide a spoke nipple, particularly for wheels such as on bicycles and other similar contrivances, which screws onto a spoke without a great degree of effort and which the use thereof prevents accidental or inadvertent slackening or loosening.
This task is solved in accordance with the present invention by the object of claims
1
and
19
.
Preferred embodiments constitute the subject matter of the subclaims.
The present invention provides a spoke nipple which may be screwed onto a spoke with little effort and which the use thereof reliably prevents an accidental or inadvertent slackening of the screwed connection due to consequences of settling or vibrations.
The spoke nipple according to the present invention comprises a body which is shaped essentially rotation symmetrical relative a longitudinal axis of said body and which can be realized not only as a short body, but also as one extended substantially longitudinally.
The inventive spoke nipple furthermore comprises a bore hole arranged concentrically to the longitudinal axis and accessible from at least the first end of said body, whereby the hole preferably extends as a continuous bore hole from the first to the second end of the spoke nipple. A thread extends parallel to the longitudinal axis over at least one longitudinal segment of said hole, said thread being provided for receiving a spoke having a corresponding thread.
A quantity of glue is provided and disposed on and/or in said spoke nipple such that when screwing in a spoke, said glue is activated to secure the thread so that an automatic loosening of the spoke will then be reliably prevented.
The spoke nipple according to the present invention has numerous advantages.
Through the use of a spoke nipple according to the present invention and the quantity of glue disposed thereupon or therei
d'Alberto Maurizio
Gerrit Jager
Morano S. Joseph
Nguyen Long Bao
Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP
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