Tension-based non-pneumatic tire
First Claim
1. A non-pneumatic tire for supporting an applied load comprising:
- a generally annular inner ring having an axis of rotation;
a deformable generally annular outer ring; and
a flexible interconnected web extending between said inner and said outer ring, the interconnected web comprising at least two radially adjacent layers of web elements at every radial cross-section of said tire,the web elements defining a plurality of generally polygonal openings that extend along the axis of rotation, the web elements comprising at least one radial web element that is angled relative to a plane that extends radially through the axis of rotation and at least one tangential web element that is generally traverse to the radial plane, and a substantial amount of said applied load is supported by the plurality of said web elements working in tension, wherein, when the applied load is applied, a plurality of the radial web elements in a region above the axis of rotation are subjected to a tensile force while at least some of the radial web elements in a region between the applied load and a footprint region buckle and a plurality of the tangential web elements distribute the applied load through the flexible interconnected web.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A non-pneumatic tire for supporting a load by working in tension comprising a generally annular inner ring, a generally annular outer ring, and an interconnected web having a plurality of web elements and comprising a plurality of generally polygonal openings. Web elements are sized, oriented and comprised of a material that facilitates buckling when subjected to a compressive load. By buckling, those elements in a deformed portion of the tire between a wheel and a footprint region where the tire contacts a surface can assume a significantly reduced portion of the load, if any. This causes web elements in other portions of the interconnected web to operate in tension to support the load.
166 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A non-pneumatic tire for supporting an applied load comprising:
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a generally annular inner ring having an axis of rotation; a deformable generally annular outer ring; and a flexible interconnected web extending between said inner and said outer ring, the interconnected web comprising at least two radially adjacent layers of web elements at every radial cross-section of said tire, the web elements defining a plurality of generally polygonal openings that extend along the axis of rotation, the web elements comprising at least one radial web element that is angled relative to a plane that extends radially through the axis of rotation and at least one tangential web element that is generally traverse to the radial plane, and a substantial amount of said applied load is supported by the plurality of said web elements working in tension, wherein, when the applied load is applied, a plurality of the radial web elements in a region above the axis of rotation are subjected to a tensile force while at least some of the radial web elements in a region between the applied load and a footprint region buckle and a plurality of the tangential web elements distribute the applied load through the flexible interconnected web. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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33. A non-pneumatic tire comprising:
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a generally annular inner ring that attaches to a wheel, a generally annular outer ring, a radially external surface engaging a tread carrying layer, an interconnected web between said generally annular inner ring and said generally annular outer ring, and an axis of rotation; said interconnected web comprising web elements defining a plurality of generally hexagonally shaped openings circumferentially spaced around said tire and radially spaced at varying distances from said axis of rotation, a first plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings adjacent said generally annular inner ring and a second plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings adjacent said generally annular 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 said first plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings and each other of said second plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings, respectively, by at least one of said plurality of hexagonally shaped openings, so as to support an applied load by working in tension;
wherein the first plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings and the second plurality of generally quadrilaterally-shaped openings face a direction parallel to the axis of rotation, wherein, when the applied load is applied, the applied load is distributed throughout the web elements with the web elements positioned above the axis of rotation and directly aligned with the direction of the applied load being in tension. - View Dependent Claims (34, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification