Non-pneumatic tire

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9573422-B2
Application number	US-201313802474-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2013
Priority date	Mar 15, 2012
Publication date	Feb 21, 2017
Grant date	Feb 21, 2017

Abstract

A non-pneumatic tire is disclosed where a resilient wheel is mounted on a rim and the wheel has an inner ring, an outer ring and a plurality of flexible webs interconnected between the inner and outer rings. The flexible webs define openings in through the resilient wheel. The stiffness of the inner wheel at a position adjacent to the inner face is different than the stiffness of the inner wheel at a position adjacent to the outer face. This stiffness difference can be accomplished by providing inflated membranes in at least some of the openings or by molding the wheel with an asymmetric parting line. In addition, the wheels could be dynamically controlled by providing magnetically actuable membranes in some of the openings.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-pneumatic wheel for contacting a ground surface, comprising:
a rim having an axial centerline defining a wheel rotational axis;
a resilient web positioned on the rim, the web comprising a radially inner ring, a radially outer ring and a plurality of flexible web elements interconnected between the radially inner and outer rings, the interconnected plurality of flexible web elements including a plurality of internal connections radially spaced apart from the radially inner ring and the radially outer ring and the resilient web having an axially inner face along the wheel rotational axis and an axially outer face along the wheel rotational axis; and
a tread layer positioned on the radially outer ring and defining a contact surface of the wheel adapted to contact the ground surface,
wherein the plurality of flexible web elements define a plurality of openings, and the flexible web elements are stiffened at a position intermediate the radially inner ring and radially outer ring to vary the stiffness of the resilient web at one of a position adjacent to the axially inner face and a position adjacent to the axially outer face, and the resilient web is radially spaced apart from the contact surface.

2. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 1 , wherein the stiffness of the resilient web at a position adjacent to the axially outer face is greater than the stiffness of the resilient web at a position adjacent to the axially inner face.

3. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 2 , wherein the flexible web elements have varying dimensions that alter the stiffness of at least a portion of the resilient web.

4. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 1 , wherein the flexible web elements have varying dimensions that alter the stiffness of at least a portion of the resilient web.

5. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 4 , wherein a parting line for the resilient web is asymmetric.

6. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of flexible web elements include filled membranes positioned in at least one of the openings that vary the stiffness of at least a portion of the resilient web.

7. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 6 , wherein the membranes are air filled.

8. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 6 , wherein the membranes are comprised of foam.

9. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 8 , wherein the membranes are discrete.

10. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the membranes is interconnected to at least one of the adjacent membranes.

11. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 6 , wherein the membranes are filled with a magnetic material.

12. The non-pneumatic wheel of claim 11 , further comprising a charging mechanism to electrically charge the magnetic material and thereby change the viscosity of the magnetic material.

13. A vehicle, comprising:
a frame;
at least two wheels for contacting a ground surface;
a propulsion device coupled to at least one of the two wheels;
wherein at least one of the wheels is a non-pneumatic wheel, comprising:
a rim having an axial centerline defining a wheel rotational axis;
a resilient web positioned on the rim, the web comprising a radially inner ring, a radially outer ring and a plurality of flexible web elements interconnected between the radially inner and outer rings, the interconnected plurality of flexible web elements including a plurality of internal connections radially spaced apart from the radially inner ring and the radially outer ring and the resilient web having an axially inner face along the wheel rotational axis and an axially outer face along the wheel rotational axis; and
a tread layer positioned on the radially outer ring and defining a contact surface of the wheel adapted to contact the ground surface;
wherein the plurality of flexible web elements define a plurality of openings, and at least one of the openings includes at least one membrane that varies the stiffness of the resilient web at one of a position adjacent to the axially inner face and a position adjacent to the axially outer face, and the resilient web is radially spaced apart from the contact surface.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the stiffness of the resilient web at a position adjacent to the axially outer face is greater than the stiffness of the resilient web at a position adjacent to the axially inner face.

15. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the flexible web elements have varying dimensions that alter the stiffness of at least a portion of the resilient web.

16. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the flexible web elements have varying dimensions that alter the stiffness of at least a portion of the resilient web.

17. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein a parting line for the resilient web is asymmetric.

18. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein a state of the membranes can be modified to change the stiffness of the resilient web.

19. The vehicle of claim 18 , wherein the membranes are air filled.

20. The vehicle of claim 19 , wherein the membranes are discrete.

21. The vehicle of claim 20 , wherein the membranes are interconnected.

22. The vehicle of claim 18 , wherein the membranes are filled with a magnetic material.

23. The vehicle of claim 22 , further comprising a charging mechanism to electrically charge the magnetic material and thereby change the viscosity of the magnetic material.

24. The vehicle of claim 18 , further comprising a tire cooling system fluidly coupled to the two wheels for blowing air through the resilient web.

25. The tire of claim 1 , wherein the tread layer radially surrounds the resilient web.

26. The tire of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of flexible web elements extends substantially perpendicular to the radial direction of the tire.

27. The tire of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of openings are generally hexagonally shaped openings circumferentially spaced around said tire and radially spaced at varying distances from the wheel rotational axis, a first plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings adjacent the radially inner ring and a second plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings adjacent the radially outer ring, each of said first plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings and each of said second plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings circumferentially separated from each other of the first plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings and each other of the second plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings, respectively, by at least one of the plurality of hexagonally-shaped openings, so as to support a load by working in tension.

28. The tire of claim 6 , wherein at least one opening comprises at least two membranes, the at least two membranes being axially aligned within the at least one opening.

29. The tire of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of internal connections joins at least three adjacent web elements.

30. The tire of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the openings is generally hexagonally shaped.

31. The tire of claim 1 , wherein the openings comprise of a first plurality of generally polygonal openings having a first number of sides and a second plurality of generally polygonal openings having a second number of sides, the second number being less than the first number.

32. The

Assignees

• Polaris Inc

Inventors

• Gass Donald Brett
• Bennett Jeffrey D
• Brady Louis J
• Borud Eric J
• Koenig David J
• Peppel Keith W

Classifications

• B60B2900/313

  Resiliency · CPC title

• B60B2900/131

  Vibrations · CPC title

• B60C7/18

  disposed radially relative to wheel axis · CPC title

• B60B2310/204

  by moulding, e.g. injection moulding, i.e. casting of plastics material · CPC title

• B60B9/26

  comprising resilient spokes · CPC title