A tire rim of a motor vehicle includes a substantially cylindrical body for holding a tire, and a hub connected to the body through radial members, and has an outer face facing, in use, the outside of the vehicle, and an opposite inner face. At least one elongate flexible element associated with the rim can reach a resting configuration within the rim, and a working configuration, extended with respect to the resting configuration, of such a length as to allow the tire to be surrounded, in which each flexible element is wound around the tire to form a snow chain. The rim includes at least one retaining member at a zone of its inner face, to be engaged by a portion of a flexible element in its working configuration.

A traction media is provided that includes a plurality of axes having a distal origin point and proximal point termination surrounded by one or more faces thus forming a body capable of being delivered by hand or traction enhancing system to a lower surface such as the ground to provide an increased coefficient of friction between an upper surface such as a shoe or tire and the lower surface and a relative air movement duct is provided that includes a controlled path of flow through about a 90 degree angle having an intake, discharge and baffle capable of delivering traction media from a hopper/valve assembly by an air flow to a lower surface such as the ground to provide a controlled path of traction media between an upper surface such as a tire and a lower surface such as the ground.

Provided is a tire including rims, beads each mounted so as to surround each of the rims, a side wall that is connected to the beads, a sub-tread that is formed on top of the side wall and is formed of a material having elasticity so as to have a changing curvature, and plural tread blocks that are arranged on the sub-tread such that the distances between the tread blocks change in accordance with the change in the curvature of the sub-tread.

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for detecting hazards in anticipation of opening vehicle doors. Vehicle sensors (e.g., rear viewing cameras) can be used to detect and classify traffic, for example, as pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, roller skaters, wheel chair, etc., approaching on the side of a vehicle. When there is a possibility of a vehicle occupant opening a door into approaching traffic, a warning can be issued in the vehicle cabin to alert vehicle occupants of the approaching traffic. In one aspect, a vehicle prevents a door from opening if opening the door would likely cause an accident.

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for detecting hazards in anticipation of opening vehicle doors. Vehicle sensors (e.g., rear viewing cameras) can be used to detect and classify traffic, for example, as pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, roller skaters, wheel chair, etc., approaching on the side of a vehicle. When there is a possibility of a vehicle occupant opening a door into approaching traffic, a warning can be issued in the vehicle cabin to alert vehicle occupants of the approaching traffic. In one aspect, a vehicle prevents a door from opening if opening the door would likely cause an accident.

A recovery board for providing traction to a tire or track on a vehicle includes a main body having a leading edge and a trailing edge along a direction of travel wherein a distance between the leading edge and the trailing edge defines a length of the main body. The main body includes a top surface configured to engage the wheel or track of the vehicle having spaced apart rows of exterior gripping features and an interior row of gripping features between the spaced apart rows of exterior gripping features. Upper surfaces of the spaced apart rows of exterior gripping features are at a higher elevation relative to upper surfaces of the interior row of gripping features in a direction transverse to a direction of travel along the length of the main body such that an interior valley is formed between the spaced apart rows of exterior gripping features.

A recovery board for providing traction to a tire or track on a vehicle includes a main body having a leading edge and a trailing edge along a direction of travel wherein a distance between the leading edge and the trailing edge defines a length of the main body. The main body includes a top surface configured to engage the wheel or track of the vehicle having spaced apart rows of exterior gripping features and an interior row of gripping features between the spaced apart rows of exterior gripping features. Upper surfaces of the spaced apart rows of exterior gripping features are at a higher elevation relative to upper surfaces of the interior row of gripping features in a direction transverse to a direction of travel along the length of the main body such that an interior valley is formed between the spaced apart rows of exterior gripping features.

A braking force control method that is applied to a vehicle in which regenerative braking force and friction braking force are applied to the front wheels. When the braking slip quantity of one of the front wheels that is supplied with regenerative braking force exceeds a reference value, with the instance being a reference time point, the friction braking force of the front wheels is controlled so as to increase while the regenerative braking force being controlled so as to be a provisional target regenerative braking force that is lower by a prescribed value than the regenerative braking force of the front wheels at the reference time point. When a decision is made that a prescribed period of time has passed since the reference time point, the regenerative braking force is gradually decreased and the friction braking force is gradually increased.

A robot comprises a body, at least one traveling device, a suction cup and a pump module. The at least one traveling device disposed in the body is for causing the robot to move on a surface of a plate. The suction cup and the pump module are disposed in the body. The suction cup can move relative to the body. Upon an operation of the robot, the body, the suction cup and the plate form a closed space, and the closed space is kept at a negative pressure by use of the pump module.

A sanding system for a rail vehicle includes a housing of a cellular wheel sluice having an inlet located at the top and an outlet located at the bottom, a pivotably mounted cellular wheel having a plurality of cells, and a motor that is coupled with the cellular wheel. The sanding system further includes a container connected to the inlet of the cellular wheel sluice for receiving brake sand, or a feed line connected to the inlet of the cellular wheel sluice for transporting brake sand, and a discharge line connected to the outlet of the cellular wheel sluice for transporting brake sand. The motor for driving the cellular wheel is thereby arranged above the inlet.