Rolling assembly comprising a tire, a rim and an adapter

Abstract

Adapter coupled between a tire bead and a rim, and having an axially inner end mounted on the rim seat. The adapter comprises an inner reinforcer, an axially outer end that comprises an outer reinforcer, and a body that connects the outer and inner ends to form a single piece and comprises one main reinforcement that connects the outer and inner reinforcers. Substantially cylindrical adapter seat receives one of the tire beads, the seat being situated at the axially outer end of the body. An adapter bearing face is substantially contained in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the tire/rim rolling assembly, the bearing face being situated on the axially inner face of the axially outer end. The reinforcing element of the axially outer end is axially situated entirely on the outside of the bearing face. The body comprises, facing the adapter seat, an annular seat reinforcement.

Claims

1. A rolling assembly having an axis of rotation and comprising: a tire having two beads; a rim; an adapter coupled between one of the beads and the rim, said rim having two rim seats, said adapter having: an axially inner end that is adapted to be mounted on one of the rim seats and comprises a metal inner reinforcing element, an axially outer end that comprises an outer reinforcing element having a spherical geometric shape in section, a body that connects said axially outer end to said axially inner end and provides a connection between said outer reinforcing element and said inner reinforcing element, a substantially cylindrical adapter seat adapted to receive one of said beads of the tire, said seat being situated at an axially outer portion of said body, an adapter bearing face substantially contained in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, said adapter bearing face being situated on an axially inner face of the axially outer end, wherein the outer reinforcing element is axially situated entirely on the outside of the bearing face, wherein the body comprises, facing the adapter seat, an annular seat reinforcement, wherein the annular seat reinforcement and the outer reinforcing element of the axially outer end are distinct from one another, and wherein the rim is made of a material selected from the group of: (1) alloys of aluminium and/or of magnesium, (2) composite materials based on carbon fibres, glass fibres, aramid fibres, plant fibres, said fibres being comprised in a matrix based on thermosetting compounds or on thermoplastic compounds, or of a composite containing an elastomer, and (3) a composite comprising resin and fibres selected from the group of: (a) carbon fibres, (b) glass fibres, (c) aramid fibres, (d) plant fibres, and (e) any combinations of materials (a), (b), (c) and (d).

2. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the fibre-based composite materials comprise fibres of a length greater than or equal to 5 mm.

3. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the matrix based on thermosetting compounds is selected from one or more from the group of: epoxy resins, vinyl ester, unsaturated polyesters, cyanate ester, bismaleimide, acrylic resins, phenolic resins, and polyurethanes.

4. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the matrix based on themioplastic compounds is selected from one or more from the group of: polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyamides (PAs), semiaromatic polyamides, polyester (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyethersulphone (PSU), polyetherimide (PEI), polyimide (PI), polyamideimide (PAI), polyphenylenesulphide (PPS), polyoxymethylene (POM), and polyphenylene oxide (PPO).

5. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the outer reinforcing element is positioned radially on the outside of the adapter seat.

6. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforcement has a compression modulus greater than or equal to 1 GPa.

7. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the composite material comprises glass fibres embedded in a resin material.

8. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforcement has an overall axial length greater than or equal to 30% of the width of the bead of the tire, and less than 150% of this same width.

9. The rolling assembly according to claim 8, wherein the annular seat reinforcement has an axial length of between 40 and 110% of the width of the bead of the tire.

10. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforcement has a mean radial thickness greater than or equal to 0.3 mm and less than or equal to 20 mm.

11. The rolling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforcement has a compression modulus greater than 10 GPa.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be described with the aid of examples and figures which follow and which are given purely by way of illustration, and in which:

(2) FIG. 1 schematically shows, in radial section, a rolling assembly according to an embodiment of the invention, comprising a tire mounted on two adapters, which are themselves fitted onto a rim in a removable manner; and

(3) FIG. 2 shows a schematic view, in radial section, of a non-mounted adapter according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(4) FIG. 1 shows a rolling assembly which comprises a tire P (partially shown), an adapter A and a rim J.

(5) The tire of which the design per se is unaltered in the invention, consists of a tread reinforced by a crown reinforcement joined to two beads B on either side of an equatorial plane XX by way of two sidewalls 1. A carcass reinforcement 2 that mainly reinforces the sidewalls 1 is anchored in each bead B to at least one bead wire 3, in this case of the braided type, so as to form turn-ups 4 that are separated from the main part of the carcass reinforcement by profiled elements 5 having a quasi triangular shape.

(6) It is important to note that the invention can be implemented with a very large number of types of tire, be they radial tires or cross-ply tires, or even with tires of the type having self-supporting sidewalls.

(7) The rim J, which is made of carbon/epoxy composite, comprises a well 6, known as a mounting well, that connects, on either side of the equatorial plane, two rim seats 7 that are axially extended by rim flanges 8, the radially outer edges of which are curved.

(8) The adapter A mainly comprises an axially outer end 9, an axially inner end 10 and a body 11 connecting the said end 9 to the said end 10.

(9) The axially outer end 9 comprises an outer reinforcing element 20 made up of a first portion 20a that is connected to a second portion 20b that between them form a substantially perpendicular angle. During the mounting of the tire, the bead seat for the bead B is fitted into the space created by this outer reinforcing element 20.

(10) The adapters of this FIG. 1 are removable from the rim J and the beads B of the tire.

(11) The adapter A, which is positioned at each bead B of the tire, may be symmetrical or non-symmetrical. Symmetry means that the overall length of the body 11 is identical on both adapters. When the assembly (tire, rim and adapter) is mounted, the beads B of the tire are positioned on the adapter seat 14 and made to bear axially against a bearing face 21.

(12) FIG. 2 shows an adapter according to the invention which is not mounted on a rim. This adapter comprises, on one hand, an axially outer end 9 with an outer reinforcer 15 having a substantially spherical geometric shape in section, consisting of a composite material such as glass-fibre-reinforced plastic, and, on the other hand, an axially inner end 10 with a metal reinforcer 16, and finally a body 11 made up of two plies 17 that comprise textile cords. The cords of each ply are mutually parallel. On the one hand, the said plies 17 are attached axially on the inside and radially on the outside to the walls of the reinforcer 15, and on the other hand, they are anchored, in the end 10, to the metal reinforcer 16, such as a bead wire, forming a turn-up at each end.

(13) The body 11 comprises a substantially cylindrical adapter seat 18 that is intended to receive a bead of the tire (see FIG. 2) that is positioned at the axially outer end of the body 11.

(14) The body 11 also comprises an adapter bearing face 21 that is contained substantially in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, is situated on the axially inner face of the axially outer end, and is intended to keep the bead in place in its housing. This adapter seat 18 comprises an annular seat reinforcer 19 that has a compression modulus equal to 100 GPa. According to the depiction in this FIG. 2, the entirety of the reinforcer 19 is positioned at the radially outer surface of the surface of the body 11.

(15) The annular seat reinforcer 19 is not secured to the outer reinforcer 15. These two reinforcers 19, 15 are entirely independent of one another.

(16) The reinforcer 19 is made up of a tri-layer comprising metal reinforcers in the form of wires, alternating with an elastomer of the rubber-resin type. The reinforcer 19 has a radial thickness of about 1.5 mm and an axial length of about 15 mm

(17) The elastomer layer of the reinforcer 19 has a radial thickness of about 0.3 mm and an axial length of about 15 mm

(18) A layer of elastomer 25 covers all of the elements that make up the adapter, namely the reinforcer 15, the reinforcer 16, the body 11 and the radially outer surface of the reinforcer 19.

(19) The following examples show the results obtained with the adapter according to the invention.

EXAMPLE

Kerb Knock Tests

(20) This test consists in causing a mounted assembly to mount a kerb at an angle of attack of 30. The choice of this angle is based on the fact that it constitutes very harmful stress for a tire. The test is carried out with two different kerb heights (90 mm and 110 mm), and the procedure is as follows: Several passes of the wheel at different speeds are carried out until the tire is punctured. The starting speed is 20 km/h and then the speed is incremented by 5 km/h on each new pass.

(21) A conventional assembly without an adapter and with a conventional steel rim (control 1) is compared against an assembly equipped with an adapter according to document WO 00/78565 (control 2) and an assembly according to the invention equipped with an adapter and with a rim made of composite according to the invention (invention). These assemblies are all of the size 205/55R16 comprising a 6.5J16 rim.

(22) The results are collated in the following Table I and are given in percent:

(23) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE I Control 1 Control 2 Invention Percentage of the 100 >150 >150 puncturing speed compared with control - kerb height 90 mm Level of vertical thrust 100 50 40 force (Fz) recorded at the puncturing speed State of the mounted Tire Tire and Tire, adapter and assembly following the punctured wheel intact wheel intact impacts Wheel Adapter marked plastically deformed

(24) Results greater than 100 show an improvement in behaviour when subjected to a lateral knock.

(25) The test carried out at the kerb height of 90 mm led to the puncturing of the control tire at a speed of 30 km/h, whereas the assembly according to the invention did not suffer any damage at the same speed, or even at a speed of 50 km/h.

(26) The test carried out at the kerb height of 110 mm led to the puncturing of the control tire at a speed of 20 km/h, whereas the assembly according to the invention did not suffer any damage at the same speed, or even at a speed of 50 km/h.

(27) The scope of protection of the invention is not limited to the examples given hereinabove. The invention is embodied in each novel characteristic and each combination of characteristics, which includes every combination of any features which are stated in the claims, even if this feature or combination of features is not explicitly stated in the examples.