Land vehicles: wheels and axles – Wheel – Skate wheel
Patent
1990-03-09
1991-12-10
Stormer, Russell D.
Land vehicles: wheels and axles
Wheel
Skate wheel
301 1, 305 7, B60B 1900
Patent
active
050711962
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle or a towed vehicle, designed to travel on a given support surface, comprising a central part connected to the basic structure of the vehicle and a peripheral part concentric with respect to said central part and designed to rotate around the latter, in which said central part and said peripheral part are coupled by at least one bearing comprising at least one inner annular element integral with said central part and at least one outer annular element, concentric to said inner annular element and integral with said peripheral part, the latter bearing a contact element corresponding to the nature of the support surface of the vehicle.
It also relates to a motor vehicle or towed vehicle fitted with such wheels.
The wheels of most present-day vehicles, and more particularly road vehicles such as private cars, motorcycles, heavy lorries, trailers, etc, or vehicles on rails such as certain trains, especially high-speed trains, are of the hub type. The hub, which normally has a much smaller diameter than the wheel, comprises a central part integral with the basic structure of the vehicle and a peripheral part concentric to said central part, and designed to rotate around the latter.
In the case of a road vehicle, the wheel comprises a rim bearing a tire and a lateral flange fitted with attachment means, such as, for example, bolts permitting the wheel to become integral with the corresponding hub. In the case of certain vehicles on rails, the wheel comprises a profiled annular belt having a support surface adapted to the rail, and a flange enabling the wheel to be fixed to the hub.
The starting forces and also the braking forces are always transmitted across the hub, i.e. at points relatively far from the contact points of the contact element of the wheel with the support surface of the vehicle. In the case of an automobile vehicle, drive occurs through the hub, which transmits the movement through the rim to the tire, the goal sought after being the relative displacement of the contact surface of the tire with respect to the road surface. Similarly, when braking, the forces, which in the last resort must result in a reduction in the relative displacement of the contact surface of the tire with respect to the road surface, are applied onto a disk or friction surface connected to the hub and transmitted by means of the rim to the terminal point. This transmission of forces brings into play great leverage, which requires very robust, relatively heavy and often over-dimensioned structures for safety reasons.
From the kinematic viewpoint, this type of construction has very many drawbacks. The consequences of this are manifold and the solutions which have been adopted to resolve problems of suspension, road holding, braking and power transmission have become more and more sophisticated whilst, nevertheless, remaining compromise solutions. Because of the weight of the wheel hubs and the components which are attached thereto, the inertia to be corrected by the suspension and by the shock absorbers is large, which results in very negative consequences for the road-holding of the vehicle. In practice, the contact element, which is normally a tire, at least for road vehicles, is even more difficult to keep in contact with the support surfaces because the non-suspended masses are large. If the contact of the tire with the road surface is poor, the road-holding of the vehicle is poor and it becomes dangerous to drive it, in particular on an irregular road surface.
Different approaches have been used in an attempt to resolve these problems. German Patent Application no. DE 34 08 874 Al describes a wheel having a bearing with a large diameter and theoretically not having a hub. However the inner part of this wheel has a diametrical support element, the two ends of which form attachment points for this wheel. In practice, the existence of this support is equivalent to an increase in the dimensions of the hub, especially if this support is used for mounting a telescopic suspension
REFERENCES:
patent: 2843426 (1958-07-01), Nojima
patent: 2843426 (1958-07-01), Wilkie
patent: 3329444 (1967-07-01), Lidov
patent: 4011919 (1977-03-01), Groeger
patent: 4045096 (1977-08-01), Lidov
patent: 4465321 (1984-08-01), Berg
patent: 4735459 (1988-04-01), Massonnit
SM Sbarro Mottas Engineering S.A.
Stormer Russell D.
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