A non-pneumatic wheel possessing spokes having a compliant shear block providing spoke tension.

A preform for fabricating a wheel rim and a method of making a preform is provided. The preform includes a main section and at least one secondary section, each section being formed from composite materials, such as triaxially braided composite material that includes fibers oriented in at least three directions. The main section forms at least part of a lateral section of the preform and the secondary section forms at least part of a radial portion of the preform, the radial portion of the preform being generally perpendicular to the lateral section of the preform. The preform is fabricated from a plurality of composite layers, at least some being custom composite layers having a plurality of axial fibers interwoven intermittently with substantially consistent first and second sets of biased fibers. In some embodiments, the preform is initially fabricated in an intermediate configuration prior to being moved to a final configuration.

A composite material body (10) includes a first material layer (20) and a second material layer (30) overlapping the first material layer (20). The first material layer (20) and the second material layer (30) are wound to form a flexible and circular rod. Impact absorption is effectively improved and impact resisting strength is enhanced because energy-absorber or damping material or its composition is attached into the composite material body (10). Technical characteristics, effects and objects of this invention are achieved thereby.

An article made by composite material includes a body made of reinforced fiber. The body has at least two opposing sidewalls. A foam component is embeddedly disposed in each sidewall. Owing to the two foam components, the finished composite structure is lightweight and has high mechanical strength.

A method of manufacturing a bicycle component having a component body formed at least partially of a fibrous composite material in a shaping mold. A shaping area of the shaping mold which serves to shape an outer section of the component body is provided with at least one intended surface roughness. At the same time, an intentional surface roughness is provided for the outer section by means of the surface roughness of the shaping area during manufacture of the outer section, to inhibit surface imperfections of the shaped outer section.

A wheel of a vehicle has a rim, a hub portion and at least two spokes connecting the hub portion to the rim. At least one spoke intermediate space between the spokes is at least partially covered by a single-piece cover element. A wing portion of the cover element is deformed axially away from the wheel when heat is supplied. The cover element is connected directly to the wheel, and the single-piece cover element is formed from a single material.

A wheel caster comprising a roller, and a two piece socket, wherein the two piece socket comprises a top housing, having a concave cavity to accept the roller in a freely rotatable configuration, a stem, to be inserted inside a leg of an object, and a bottom housing comprising an opening to allow a portion of the roller to extend below the bottom housing allowing the roller to contact a surface.

Disclosed is a wheel having a sphere at the hub of the rim which can rotate in all directions by the ball bearing it is supported by, wherein the sphere is produced from various metals, carbon fibre, etc. material. The wheel helps to prevent vehicles from skidding off tracks at turns even at high speeds or to prevent accidents that may occur as a result of swiping of vehicles with each other particularly during competitive racing.

A shaped preform component (200) for a face portion (104) of a composite wheel (100), the shaped preform (200) having a hub (206) that extends around a central axis (Y), the shaped preform component (200) being formed from a cured composite fibre material having a compressibility of <2% volumetric under moulding conditions of 50 bar hydrostatic pressure and a temperature of 60 to 200 C.

A shaped preform component (200A) for a spoke portion (108A) of a composite wheel (100), the shaped preform (200A) comprising: an elongate body (215) configured to be located in a spoke (108) of a composite wheel (100), wherein the shaped preform component (200A) is formed from a cured composite fibre material having a compressibility of <2% volumetric under moulding conditions of 50 bar hydrostatic pressure and a temperature of 60 to 150 C., and wherein the density of the cured composite fibre material is selected to form a counterbalance mass for a mass addition (300) to the composite wheel (100).