Non-pneumatic tire having covers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12311707-B2
Application number	US-202017783817-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2020
Priority date	Dec 30, 2019
Publication date	May 27, 2025
Grant date	May 27, 2025

Abstract

A non-pneumatic tire includes a lower ring having a first diameter and an upper ring having a second diameter greater than the first diameter. The upper ring is substantially coaxial with the lower ring. The non-pneumatic tire further includes support structure extending between the lower ring and the upper ring. The non-pneumatic tire also includes a flexible cover having an annulus shape that covers at least a portion of a first side of the support structure, wherein a lower portion of the flexible cover includes a circumferential projection that projects axially outward relative to a region above the circumferential projection.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-pneumatic tire, wheel rim, and cover assembly, the assembly comprising:
a non-pneumatic tire including:
a lower ring having a first diameter,
an upper ring having a second diameter greater than the first diameter, the upper ring being substantially coaxial with the lower ring, and
a support structure extending between the lower ring and the upper ring;

a wheel rim connected to the lower ring of the non-pneumatic tire;
an upper cover connected to a first side of the non-pneumatic tire,
wherein the upper cover has an annulus shape that covers at least a portion of the support structure,
wherein a lower portion of the upper cover includes a circumferential projection that projects axially outward relative to a region above the circumferential projection; and

a lower cover connected to the upper cover, wherein the lower cover has a circumferential groove disposed on a rear surface that receives the circumferential projection of the upper cover.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the upper cover is attached to the non-pneumatic tire at a plurality of locations.

3. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a circular wire attached to the non-pneumatic tire, wherein the upper cover is attached to the circular wire.

4. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the circumferential projection of the upper cover is defined by a wire.

5. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the upper cover is constructed of a flexible material.

6. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lower cover is attached directly to the wheel rim.

7. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lower cover is attached to at least one connector that is attached directly to the wheel rim.

8. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lower cover has a front face that is a disk.

9. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lower cover has a front face that is an annulus.

10. A method of covering a side of a non-pneumatic tire, the method comprising:
providing a non-pneumatic tire including:
a lower ring having a first diameter,
an upper ring having a second diameter greater than the first diameter, the upper ring being substantially coaxial with the lower ring, and
a support structure extending between the lower ring and the upper ring;

providing a wheel rim;
mounting the non-pneumatic tire on the wheel rim;
providing an upper cover having an annulus shape, wherein the upper cover has a lower circumferential projection that projects axially outward relative to a region above the lower circumferential projection;
connecting the upper cover to the non-pneumatic tire;
providing a lower cover having a circumferential groove disposed on a rear surface; and
attaching the lower cover onto the upper cover by inserting the lower circumferential projection of the upper cover into the circumferential groove of the lower cover.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the support structure includes a plurality of spokes, wherein the upper cover includes a plurality of projections disposed on a rear surface, and wherein the connecting of the upper cover to the non-pneumatic tire includes inserting the projections of the upper cover between adjacent spokes of the non-pneumatic tire.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the connecting of the upper cover to the non-pneumatic tire includes attaching a wire to the non-pneumatic tire and attaching the upper cover to the wire.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising bolting the lower cover to the wheel rim with axially extending bolts.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising bolting the lower cover to the wheel rim with bolts.

15. A non-pneumatic tire having a cover, the non-pneumatic tire comprising:
a lower ring having a first diameter;
an upper ring having a second diameter greater than the first diameter, the upper ring being substantially coaxial with the lower ring;
a support structure extending between the lower ring and the upper ring;
a flexible cover having an annulus shape that covers at least only a portion of a first side of the support structure, not the entire first side of the support structure,
wherein a lower portion of the flexible cover includes a circumferential projection that projects axially outward relative to a region above the circumferential projection.

16. The non-pneumatic tire of claim 15 , wherein the circumferential projection is defined by a circumferential wire.

17. The non-pneumatic tire of claim 15 , wherein the circumferential projection is molded into the flexible cover.

18. The non-pneumatic tire of claim 15 , further comprising a rigid cover configured to snap onto the circumferential projection.

19. The non-pneumatic tire of claim 15 , wherein the support structure includes a plurality of spokes.

Assignees

• Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations Llc

Inventors

• Parr Richard S

Classifications

• B60B9/04

  in leaf form · CPC title

• B60B9/26

  comprising resilient spokes · CPC title

• B60B7/063

  to the rim · CPC title

• B60C7/107

  comprising lateral openings · CPC title

• B60C7/143 Primary

  having a lateral extension disposed in a plane parallel to the wheel axis · CPC title