Resilient tires and wheels – Tires – resilient – Wheel securing means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-28
2001-08-28
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Resilient tires and wheels
Tires, resilient
Wheel securing means
C152S385000, C152S454000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279631
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a wheel for moving a land vehicle over hard, soft, smooth, irregular, and/or other surfaces. The invention also relates to a land vehicle that includes such a tire. The present invention also relates to a tire and wheel combination including the tire. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for moving a land vehicle as well as a method for making a tire according to the invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For many decades, land vehicles and also airplanes have been provided with wheels comprising a rim and a pneumatic tire mounted on the rim. Due to the rather high angular velocities of such wheels during use and the danger of rupture of the tire due to encounters with obstacles in its path, the casings of prior art tires almost uniformly have been provided with extensive reinforcements in the forms of fabrics or cords made from natural or synthetic materials or metal, or both.
In most early applications of such pneumatic tires, the tire comprised a reinforced carcass having a U-shaped cross-sectional configuration with annular beads which engaged the rim. A torus-shaped inner tube was positioned within the tire carcass in engagement with both the carcass and the outer diameter of the rim. In such wheels, which are still in extensive use, the rim and tire carcass provide the necessary mechanical strength and the tube provides the necessary airtight interior volume during operation. More recently, tubeless tires have come into general use in which the carcass of the tire is sealed directly to the rim to provide the airtight interior volume, thus eliminating any need for an inner tube.
To ensure adequate load bearing capacity, to retain such prior art tires on their rims and to ensure that such wheels can resist the torque applied to drive and brake such vehicles, the tire carcasses have typically been quite rigid and far less flexible than their inner tubes. Both tube type and tubeless tires have been inflated to a rather high operating pressure, typically well in excess of 25 pounds per square inch. When such prior art wheels are mounted on a vehicle and subjected to an axle load, the tire flattens very slightly and, in general, retains an exterior appearance quite similar to that of an uninflated, unloaded wheel.
Such prior art wheels are admirably suited for use on vehicles which operate over relatively hard, even support surfaces. However, should the vehicle encounter a soft surface such as beach sand or a rather irregular surface such as rocky terrain, then the performance of the prior art wheel often is less than satisfactory. Specifically, the contact area between the prior art tire and the underlying support surface is so small that the pressure per unit area is extremely high on the underlying support surface, which often causes the wheels of the vehicle to sink at least partially into soft support surfaces such as beach sand. On irregular surfaces, the relatively hard, unyielding nature of such prior art tire carcasses and their high inflation pressure make it difficult for the tire to yield to obstacles in its path so that the vehicle can go forward with a minimum of applied power. In some instances, large expensive wide track tires have been used in self-powered vehicles to facilitate their movement over soft and irregular surfaces due to the increased contact area of the wide track tire.
A variety of carriers or vehicles have been developed in recent years which are intended to be pulled over soft or irregular surfaces, usually manually but also by self-powered tractors. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,933 granted to W. E. Tuggle for “Sailboat Carrier” discloses a type of carrier suitable for moving catamaran sailboats across wide expanses of beach sand and into the water. While small wheels of the prior art type previously discussed can be used on such carriers, a still significant effort is required to move the loaded carrier across a beach. A need has continued to exist for a wheel having both a much larger contact surface to minimize sinking into soft surfaces and a more elastic and flexible tire body both to permit easy deformation of the tire as it rolls over obstacles in its path and to permit the contact area of the tire to increase very substantially under load.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a low pressure tire. The tire includes a torus of flexible substantially inelastic material such that the material will not deform at a temperature of about 225° F. The torus includes an inner diameter service for engaging a tire supporting rim and an outer diameter service for contacting a scored surface. The torus can flatten under a load to facilitate movement of the tire over soft or regular support services. The tire also includes a sealable opening for inflating and deflating the torus.
Additionally, the present invention includes a tire and wheel combination wherein the tire is substantially as described above. The wheel includes a tire supporting rim having a cylindrical center section for engaging the inner diameter surface of the tire. A pair of support flanges axially extend from opposite sides of the center section for engaging the tire as it flattens under a load.
Also, the present invention includes a wheeled vehicle that includes a frame, at least one tire as described above, at least one tire supporting rim as described above and at least one axle interconnecting the at least one rim and the frame such that the at least one rim and at the least one tire may rotate.
Furthermore, the present invention includes a method for moving a land vehicle including providing the vehicle such as that described above. The vehicle is moved across a support surface while the vehicle is supported on the at least one tire.
The present invention also includes a method for making a tire. The method includes blow molding a torus of flexible, substantially inelastic material wherein the material will not deform at a temperature of about 225° F. The torus includes an inner diameter surface for engaging a tire supporting rim and an outer diameter surface for contacting a support surface. The torus can flatten under a load to facilitate movement of the tire over soft or irregular support surfaces. A sealable opening is provided in the torus for inflating and deflating the torus.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it is shown and described only the preferred embodiments of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
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Connolly Bove & Lodge & Hutz LLP
Morano S. Joseph
Nguyen Long Bao
Primex Marketing, Inc.
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