Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-08
2004-10-05
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S847000, C280S851000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06799782
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a splash and spray suppressor for motor vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During a thunderstorm or a cloud burst, rainwater falls to the road where the water pools or collects in indentations, tire tracks and channels in the road surface. This pooled water is dangerous, as it can allow hydroplaning of motor vehicles.
Equally dangerous is the spray of water from the roadway splashing motor vehicles. The motor vehicles generate clouds of spray beside or behind the vehicle as they drive down the road. The tire tread of the rotating tires contacts the road surface to lift the water and flings the water onto the fender. Alot of the splashed water ricochets off the fender back onto the tire, while some water ricochets laterally out of the well. Some of the splashed water droplets collide with other water droplets to break apart and atomize into a fine spray. This fine spray produces a fog flowing laterally from the well to decrease visibility. Spray may also include other objects on the road, such as ice, salt, pebbles and dust.
Spray produced by smaller motor vehicles, such as cars, may drench nearby pedestrians but is unlikely to be thrown onto the windshield to blind another driver. The spray produced from a large truck's tires, however, is thrown at windshield level of smaller vehicles. This spray can blind the driver of a passing or trailing car. Because a large truck passing at highway speeds can pull and push the small vehicle sideways on the road, the blinded driver can lose his orientation on the road, as well as lose his control of the vehicle. This loss of control can result in a wreck.
To reduce dangerous spray, various splash guards and fenders have been proposed. While these splash guards address some of the problems of splash and spray by motor vehicles, none of them adequately and efficiently protect other motor vehicles from excessive water spray.
Many prior devices use extensive enclosures of the wheel well. While they reduce spray, these enclosures cause other problems. These enclosures are located outside the fenders which may increase drag on the vehicle. This increased drag decreases the vehicle's mileage.
In addition, by substantially enclosing the wheel well, these enclosures trap heat within the well. This additional heat allows the tires to overheat, which reduces the life of the tire and can contribute to reduced handling of the vehicle.
Additional heat trapped within the well also heats the brakes. Overheated brakes are prone to reduced braking efficiency or even failure. Reduced braking efficiency and brake failure can have lethal results, especially with a heavy truck. A reduced ability to brake increases the braking distance required to come to a stop. A vehicle with brake failure cannot use the brakes to stop. Both conditions can lead to serious wrecks, many of which will be deadly.
Most of the prior devices require additional hardware and frames installed within the wheel well to attach the device to the vehicle. With the tight tolerances found in modern streamlined vehicles, such as the heavy duty trucks, there is little if any extra space between the tire and fender to attach such a device. These devices, therefore, cannot be used in these streamlined trucks.
Therefore, it is one object of the invention to provide a device to reduce splash and spray from the wheel well. Another object of the invention is to provide a device that reduces splash and spray but does not cause the tires to overheat. Still another object of the invention is to provide a device that can be used in the limited space between the fender and the tire within the wheel well.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided a splash and spray suppressor for a wheeled motor vehicle, especially for trucks. The splash and spray suppressor reduces splash and spray from the wheel well in the lateral direction while allowing fluid to drain. The vehicle's fender has an arched wall and an outer sidewall that extends radially from the arched wall toward one of the vehicle's wheels. The arched wall and outer sidewall define a wheel well.
The splash and spray suppressor also has at least one arched panel fitting within the fender. In one embodiment of the invention, this arched panel is a wheel panel. The wheel panel has a plurality of apertures. The wheel panel is spaced from the fender to form a gap in fluid communication with the apertures. The wheel panel preferably attaches to the fender in a manner to reduce spray in the lateral direction while leaving an opening to allow fluid to drain from the splash and spray suppressor. The opening is in fluid communication with the gap.
In another embodiment of the invention, there is a second arched panel or the inner panel. While the inner panel fits between the wheel panel and the fender, the inner panel is spaced from the wheel panel to form a gap between the inner panel and the wheel panel. This gap is in fluid communication with the apertures. The inner panel preferably attaches to the wheel panel in a manner to reduce spray in the lateral direction while leaving an opening to allow fluid to drain from the splash and spray suppressor. This opening is in fluid communication with the gap and is located between the inner panel and the wheel panel.
Additional effects, features and advantages will be apparent in the written description that follows.
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Allendorph L. David
Beigel David J.
Jain Sunil K.
Calfa Jeffrey P.
International Truck Intellectual Property Company, LLC
Johnson Brian L.
Lukasik Susan L.
Shriver J. Allen
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