Land vehicles: wheels and axles – Wheel – Detachable wheel section
Patent
1997-09-23
1999-08-17
Stormer, Russell D.
Land vehicles: wheels and axles
Wheel
Detachable wheel section
301 3562, 301 101, B60B 2310
Patent
active
059382910
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
This invention relates to a wheel of the kind having a rim and a disc releasably attached together.
Such wheels are for example used for tractors so that the rim can be attached to disc in any one of the plurality of alternative axial positions and in any one of a plurality of alternative orientations, so that the distance between a pair of wheels on an axle can be varied to suit different agricultural applications.
It is common practice to weld to the rim around a radially inner circumferential surface thereof, a plurality of lugs, and to attach the disc to the rim by bolting through the disc and lugs.
Due to manufacturing tolerances, the actual positions of the lugs, and of passages therein to receive the bolts, cannot always be arranged to ensure that the disc is concentric to the rim and variation in the position of the disc relative to the rim may be permitted.
Whereas in the factory, using a suitable jig for example, it can be arranged for the disc and rim to be assembled such that the two are concentric or as close as possible to concentric, in the field, when often the disc is left attached to the hub of the vehicle whilst the rim is re-orientated with respect to that disc, it is very difficult to reassemble the disc and rim so that the two are concentric.
In applications where the vehicle is only arranged to travel at relatively slow speeds, e.g. 30 kilometers per hour, considerable eccentricities in the wheels can be tolerated. However, tractors are now being developed which are adapted to travel at 50 kilometers per hour and more and at such speeds, such eccentricities in the wheels can cause discomfort and instability in the tractor.
According to a first aspect of the invention vie provide a wheel comprising a rim, and a disc by which the wheel is attached to a hub, the disc being attached to the rim by means of generally axially extending fasteners each of which passes through a respective opening of the disc and is received in a respective generally axially extending passage of a connection member of the rim, tolerances in the openings of the disc, and/or the passages of the connection member and/or the fasteners permitting variation in the position of the disc relative to the rim, characterised in that at least two indicating means are provided, the positions of which are fixed with respect to the rim, and each indicating means may be aligned with a corresponding additional opening in the disc.
Thus where the rim and disc are assembled in a factory for example, so as to be concentric with one another, after the disc and rim are detached, upon reassembly, by ensuring that the additional openings of the disc and the indicating means are realigned, the disc can be reattached to the rim in exactly the same position relative to the rim so that the disc and rim are concentric.
Where it is intended that the disc can be attached to the rim in a plurality of alternative general orientations e.g. with the disc rotated about a diameter thereof by 180.degree., by ensuring that the additional openings in the disc and the indicating means are all equally spaced from the wheel axis, again concentricity between the disc and rim can be assured.
Also in such case, preferably one of the additional openings of the disc and the indicating means are provided in positions equally spaced from the centre of the respective passage or opening of the disc.
In one arrangement, the connection member may generally be circumferentially continuous, or a plurality of connection members may be provided, e.g. comprising lugs spaced around a radially inner circumferential surface of the rim. Particularly but not exclusively in this case, each lug may have a pair of passages each of which receives a respective fastener, and one of the additional openings of the disc and the indicating means of the lugs are preferably provided in positions equally spaced from the centres of the respective pair of passages or the respective pair of openings of the disc.
Thus in whichever permissible general orientation of
Crowe Terence Roy
Pankhurst Donald
GKN Sankey Limited
Stormer Russell D.
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