Measuring and testing – Tire – tread or roadway
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-05
2002-02-26
McCall, Eric S. (Department: 2855)
Measuring and testing
Tire, tread or roadway
C033S288000, C033S337000, C033S203180
Reexamination Certificate
active
06349593
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to devices for sizing specific tires and rims to specific vehicles.
2. Prior Art
There exists a rim offset gauge patented in 1990 by Theodore Loucus (U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,307) that supposedly measures fender well clearance and indicates the proper offset needed for a wheel to fit a particular vehicle. However, this tool does not hold an actual tire to accurately determine fitment, which is the most critical aspect of the Tire Mounting Device. Loucus' tool will only extend vertically approximately 16
th
to measure a maximum tire size of approximately 33″ overall diameter. It doesn't have the ability to hold and measure taller tires. The Loucus tool relies on the idea that a tire has a fixed width. It suggests that you mount a real tire on a rim that is the same width that you want to use, inflate it and determine how wide it is. This amount of work reduces the effectiveness of the patented tool. The same tire will measure differently on different width wheels. Even tire manufacturers indicate a tires section width (how wide it is) based on mounting it on a given wheel width. It also fails to utilize actual tires.
The present invention will stretch or compress the sidewalls of an actual tire to give an accurate indication of how wide a tire will be once inflated on a wheel.
GENERAL DISCUSSION OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become better understood hereinafter from a consideration of the specification with reference to the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, and in which like numerals correspond to parts throughout the several views of the invention.
The name “Tire Mounting Device” may be manufactured from steel or aluminum.
It is produced for the automotive industry, specifically automotive tire and wheel retailers.
The Tire Mounting Device shown in the present patent will physically grasp and hold any tire (within its dimensional limitations) up to, but not limited to, 48″ tall light truck tires. The Tire Mounting Device will provide a means to test fit wheels on automobiles, vans, trucks and heavy trucks such as dump trucks.
The Tire Mounting Device is a tool to determine if the offset and backside setting of a given wheel mounted with a tire will fit a vehicle. It does this by having a vertical extension that can be extended to represent a 14″-20″ diameter wheel. Two overlapped sliding horizontal extensions are bolted perpendicular to the vertical extension. One horizontal extension is 6.25″ in length, the other is 12″ in length. This allows the Tire Mounting Device to represent a 7″-16″ wide wheel. It can hold a tire to see if it fits. Also, the two horizontal extensions have teeth on top of the bottom extension that interlock with a tooth on the bottom of the top extension to secure the tool so that it doesn't slide when a tire is in its grasp. The two horizontal extensions each have a groove cut down the center so they can pivot and slide using a bolt with a washer and wingnut protruding through an angled piece of metal (vertical extension) that connects at the other end to the face plate. This angled piece of metal has notches on each side of the top that the bottom horizontal extension fits into by means of a matching channel. This is a dramatic improvement over the prior art, because the Tire Mounting Device is thereby more versatile and allows for greater accuracy in determining if a tire or wheel will fit properly.
The Tire Mounting Device is a simple tool that anyone can use to determine proper wheel and tire fitment.
The Tire Mounting Device is a tool designed to eliminate the need to test wheels on vehicles. The Tire Mounting Device will be used in place of an actual wheel to determine if a specific wheel and tire combination will fit on a particular vehicle. There are many advantages to using the Tire Mounting Device instead of an actual wheel. It can replicate any wheel from 14″×7″ to 20″×16″. To understand how the Tire Mounting Device works it is helpful to understand a few technical aspects of measuring a wheel. First, you have the diameter and then the width of the wheel. The centerline is the exact center of the wheel's width. The mounting pad is the surface of the wheel that actually contacts the vehicle. The relative position of the mounting pad to the centerline is referred to as offset. It is measured in a positive or negative millimeter measurement from the centerline. If the mounting pad is forward (street side) of the centerline, it is positive offset. If the mounting pad is behind the centerline, it is negative offset.
Every wheel has different measurements; Therefore, a wide range of settings is possible.
Trying to determine if a specific wheel will fit a particular vehicle is a difficult job, especially when the wheel is not readily available. The purpose of the Tire Mounting Device is to allow a tire/wheel dealer to adjust the Tire Mounting Device to the specific measurements of the wheel that a customer wants. The dealer can test fit any wheel to a vehicle without the actual wheel. This will eliminate unnecessary freight costs and the risk of damaging an expensive custom wheel while trying to make it fit on the vehicle.
The Tire Mounting Device is critical in today's custom wheel market. The larger the diameter, the more difficult the task of fitting custom wheels. Adding to this problem is determining what size tire to use. The number of tire sizes is growing by 10% per year, especially in the high performance and light truck market. The Tire Mounting Device will allow for tire dealers to test fit a specific tire to a particular vehicle as well. By combining these two uses, the Tire Mounting Device can revolutionize the aftermarket custom wheel industry. No longer will tire/wheel distributors have to risk loaning a wheel or tire to a tire/wheel dealer. No longer will costly mistakes and accidents in the shop have to occur. The dealer will simply take the measurements of the wheel that the customer wants, select from a group of tires that seems reasonable to use and test fit the application while the customer is in the shop and can witness the results. The tire/wheel dealer and the customer can then be confident that the selected tire and wheel will fit properly.
The “Tire Mounting Device” addresses a common problem in the passenger/light truck industry. That problem is the application of non-OEM tires and wheels to specific vehicles. At the present, there is no way to determine if a specific wheel, tire or combination of the two will work on a particular vehicle without test fitting first. This usually entails mounting a wheel on the vehicle, turning the front wheels from left to right and “eyeballing” the results. The next step is to mount a tire on the wheel and repeat the test fit process. In doing so, there are many problems that arise from this situation. They are:
1. The wheel distributor doesn't care to offer a new wheel for test fit because once mounted it becomes difficult to sell.
2. Most automotive retailers are not careful and tend to damage items easily. If they cause damage, they are not willing to purchase the tire or wheel because they cannot make any money. They want to use the wheel and tire free of charge and return them with no responsibility toward ownership unless it fits properly and the customer wants the tire and wheel.
3. Even careful retailers can have accidents causing damage while mounting tires and wheels thus leading to problems returning the tire or wheel. This also leads to problems when trying to sell a damaged wheel to a customer.
The Tire Mounting Device would eliminate the guesswork and trial by allowing the retailer to adjust the Tire Mounting Device to the precise measurements of the wheel and grasp and hold the tire that is needed for the test fit.
The Tire Mounting Device eliminates the chance that a retailer might damage a new wheel. In today's market high end chro
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