Reinforced bicycle rim

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9844978-B2
Application number	US-201615262953-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2016
Priority date	Feb 12, 2014
Publication date	Dec 19, 2017
Grant date	Dec 19, 2017

Abstract

A bicycle wheel including a hub and a rim coupled to the hub. The wheel also includes a cover that is coupled to rim and that defines a bead seat engageable by a tire. The rim can have a first annular feature and the cover can have a second annular feature that is complementary to the first annular feature to attach the cover to the rim.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A bicycle wheel comprising:
a hub;
a rim coupled to the hub; and
a cover coupled to the rim and including a sidewall, the cover at least partially defining a bead seat engageable by a tire bead,
wherein a thickness of the sidewall is larger than a thickness of a wall of the rim.

2. The bicycle wheel of claim 1 , further comprising a tire including the tire bead and a casing having tread and defining a sidewall of the tire, and wherein the cover is positioned to engage the tire bead and the sidewall such that the cover is constructed to predominantly support a load generated by tire pressure when the tire is inflated.

3. The bicycle wheel of claim 1 , wherein the cover is stretchably attached to the rim.

4. The bicycle wheel of claim 1 , wherein the rim and the cover include complementary engagement features to attach the cover to the rim.

5. The bicycle wheel of claim 1 , wherein the rim includes a first annular feature and the cover includes a second annular feature, and wherein the first annular feature and the second annular feature are engaged with each other to attach the cover to the rim.

6. The bicycle wheel of claim 5 , wherein the rim includes an annular wall, wherein the first annular feature includes one of an annular projection extending from the annular wall and an annular channel disposed in the annular wall, and wherein the second annular feature includes the other of the annular projection and the annular channel.

7. The bicycle wheel of claim 1 , wherein the cover includes another sidewall such that the sidewalls are disposed adjacent lateral sides of the rim, and wherein the cover is continuous between the sidewalls.

8. The bicycle wheel of claim 1 , wherein the rim includes an inner wall and an outer wall, and wherein the thickness of the cover is larger than a thickness of the outer wall.

9. The bicycle wheel of claim 1 , wherein the rim includes an inner wall and an outer wall, and wherein the thickness of the cover is larger than a thickness of the inner wall.

10. The bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the rim includes an annular wall, and wherein the thickness of the cover is defined in a direction along the central plane between an outer extent of the annular wall and an outer extent of the cover.

11. A bicycle wheel comprising:
a tire including a casing having tread and a tire bead;
a hub;
a rim coupled to the hub and including an annular wall; and
a cover coupled to the annular wall and positioned between the tire and the rim such that the tire is separated from the rim by the cover and the cover is constructed to provide rigidity and predominantly support a load generated by tire pressure when the tire is inflated.

12. The bicycle wheel of claim 11 , wherein the cover includes a first sidewall disposed adjacent a first lateral side of the rim and a second sidewall disposed adjacent a second lateral side of the rim, and wherein the cover defines bead seats between the first and second sidewalls and is continuous between the sidewalls.

13. The bicycle wheel of claim 11 , wherein the tire bead is a first tire bead and the casing has a second tire bead, wherein the cover is positioned adjacent a first lateral side of the rim, the bicycle wheel further comprising another cover coupled to the annular wall adjacent a second lateral side of the rim, and wherein each cover has a sidewall at least partially defining one bead seat such that each cover is engageable by the casing and one of the tire beads.

14. The bicycle wheel of claim 11 , wherein the rim includes a first annular feature and the cover includes a second annular feature that is complementary to the first annular feature to attach the cover to the rim.

15. The bicycle wheel of claim 14 , wherein the first annular feature includes one of an annular projection extending from the annular wall and an annular channel disposed in the annular wall, and wherein the second annular feature includes the other of the annular projection and the annular channel.

16. The bicycle wheel of claim 15 , wherein the rim includes the annular projection and the cover includes the annular channel defined in the sidewall.

17. The bicycle wheel of claim 11 , wherein the cover is stretchably attached to the rim.

18. The bicycle of claim 11 , wherein the cover includes a sidewall having a thickness that is larger than a thickness of the annular wall.

19. A bicycle wheel comprising:
a hub;
a rim coupled to the hub and including a wall; and
a first cover coupled to the rim and including a first sidewall, the cover at least partially defining a first bead seat engageable by a tire bead,
a second cover separately coupled to the rim and including a second sidewall, the second cover at least partially defining a second bead seat engageable by another tire bead,
wherein a thickness of each of the first sidewall and the second sidewall is larger than a thickness of a wall of the rim.

20. The bicycle wheel of claim 19 , further comprising a tire including a casing having a tread and the first and second tire beads, wherein the first cover and the second cover are constructed to predominantly support a load generated by tire pressure when the tire is inflated.

Assignees

• Specialized Bicycle Components Inc

Inventors

• Teixeira Chuck

Classifications

• B60B21/025

  the transverse section being hollow · CPC title

• B60B25/06

  Split flange rings, e.g. transversely split; Connecting equipment for overlapping the slot · CPC title

• B60B2360/50

  Rubbers · CPC title

• B60B25/08 Primary

  Continuous flange rings; Arrangement of recesses enabling the flange rings to be slipped over the rim body · CPC title

• B60B2900/212

  Damage · CPC title