Adapter For Rolling Assembly And Rolling Assembly Comprising Same

Abstract

An adapter for a rolling assembly comprising a tire having two beads (B), a rim (J) with two rim seats (7), said adapter connecting one of the beads and the rim. The adapter has an axially inner end (10) comprising inner reinforcer element (16), and an axially outer end (15) comprising outer reinforcer element (15), respectively mounted on a rim seat (7). Body (11) connects said outer end (9) to said inner end (10). Main reinforcement connects said outer reinforcer (15), and said inner reinforcer (16), a substantially cylindrical adapter seat (18) receiving one of said beads (B), an adapter bearing face (21) substantially contained in a plane perpendicular to the rion otataxis. The reinforcer element (15) of the axially outer end (9) is entirely situated axially outside the bearing face (21), and in that the body (11) comprises, opposite the adapter seat (7), an annular seat reinforcer (19).

Claims

1. An adapter for a rolling assembly having a rotation axis and comprising: a tire having two beads; a rim; said adapter providing the connection between one of the beads and the rim; said rim having two rim seats; said adapter comprising: an axially inner end that is adapted to be mounted on the rim seat and comprises an inner reinforcer element; an axially outer end that comprises an outer reinforcer element; a body that connects said outer end to said inner end so as to form a single piece and comprises at least one main reinforcement that provides the connection between said outer reinforcer and said inner reinforcer; a substantially cylindrical adapter seat adapted to receive one of said beads, said seat being situated at the axially outer end of said body; and an adapter bearing face substantially contained in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis, said bearing face being situated on the axially inner face of the axially outer end wherein the reinforcer element of the axially outer end is entirely situated axially outside the bearing face, and wherein the body comprises, opposite the adapter seat, an annular seat reinforcer.

2. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcer element of the axially outer end is disposed radially on the outside of the adapter seat.

3. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforcer has a compression modulus greater than or equal to 1 GPa.

4. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforcer is comprised of a core surrounded by an elastomer.

5. The adapter according to claim 4, wherein the core comprises at least one element chosen from a metal, a composite material, a thermoplastic, and a mixture thereof.

6. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforcer is made-up comprised of at least two layers of different constituents disposed in alternation.

7. The adapter according to claim 5, wherein the composite material is comprised of glass fibres embedded in a resin material.

8. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforcer 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 adapter according to claim 8, wherein the annular seat reinforcer has an axial length of between 40 and 110% of the width of the bead of the tire.

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

11. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the body has an axial length greater than 2.54 cm and less than 8 cm.

12. The adapter according to claim 11, wherein the body has an axial length greater than 3.17 cm and less than 5.10 cm.

13. A rolling assembly having a rotation axis and comprising: a tire having two beads; a rim; said adapter providing the connection between one of the beads and the rim; said rim having two rim seats; said adapter comprising: an axially inner end that is adapted to be mounted on the rim seat and comprises an inner reinforcer element; an axially outer end that comprises an outer reinforcer element; a body that connects said outer end to said inner end so as to form a single piece and comprises at least one main reinforcement that provides the connection between said outer reinforcer and said inner reinforcer; a substantially cylindrical adapter seat adapted to receive one of said beads, said seat being situated at the axially outer end of said body; and an adapter bearing face substantially contained in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis, said bearing face being situated on the axially inner face of the axially outer end, wherein the reinforcer element of the axially outer end is entirely situated axially outside the bearing face, and wherein the body comprises, opposite the adapter seat, an annular seat reinforcer.

14. The rolling assembly according to claim 13, comprising a first and a second adapter that each have a body with a different length.

15. The rolling assembly according to claim 13, comprising a first and a second adapter that each have a body with an identical length.

16. The rolling assembly according to claim 13, wherein the body has an axial length greater than 2.54 cm and less than 8 cm.

17. The rolling assembly according to claim 16, wherein the body has an axial length greater than 3.17 cm and less than 5.10 cm.

18. The rolling assembly according to claim 17, wherein the reinforcer element of the axially outer end is disposed radially on the outside of the adapter seat.

19. The adapter according to claim 1, wherein the annular seat reinforce has a compression modulus greater than 4 MPa.

Description

[0062] 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:

[0063] FIG. 1 schematically shows the adapter according to the prior art,

[0064] FIG. 2 schematically shows, in radial section, a tire mounted on two adapters according to the invention, which are themselves fitted on the rim in a removable manner; and

[0065] FIG. 3 shows a schematic view, in radial section, of a non-mounted adapter according to the invention.

[0066] FIG. 1, which shows an adapter according to the prior art, comprises a tire P (partially shown), an adapter A and a rim J.

[0067] The tire, which is of unaltered design per se 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 at at least one bead wire, in this case of the braided type 3, 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.

[0068] It is important to note that the invention can be implemented with a large number of types of tire, be they radial tires or diagonal tires, or even with tires of the type having self-supporting sidewalls.

[0069] The rim J comprises a groove 6, known as a mounting groove, 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.

[0070] The adapter A mainly comprises an axially outer end 9, an axially inner end 10 and a body 11 connecting said end 9 to said end 10.

[0071] The axially outer end 9 comprises an outer reinforcer element 20 made up of a first portion 20a that is connected to a second portion 20b that form a substantially perpendicular angle between one another. During the mounting of the tire, the bead seat of the bead B is fitted into the space created by this outer reinforcer element 20.

[0072] FIG. 2 shows a mounted assembly comprising two adapters A according to the invention that connect the beads B of the tire P to two rim flanges 8 of the rim J. The adapters of this FIG. 2 are removable from the rim J and the beads B of the tire.

[0073] The adapter A, which is disposed 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 disposed on the adapter seat 14 and made to bear axially against a bearing face 21.

[0074] FIG. 3 shows an adapter according to the invention which is not mounted on a rim. This adapter comprises, on one side, 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-reinforced plastic, and, on the other side, 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 one side, said plies 17 are joined axially on the inside and radially on the outside to the walls of the reinforcer 15, and on the other side, they are anchored, in the end 10, to the metal reinforcer 16, such as a bead wire that forms a turn-up at each end.

[0075] The body 11 comprises a substantially cylindrical adapter seat 18 that is intended to receive a bead of the tire that is disposed at the axially outer end of the body 11.

[0076] The body 11 also comprises an adapter bearing face 21 that is contained substantially in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis, 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. 3, the entirety of the reinforcer 19 is disposed at the radially outer surface of the surface of the body 11.

[0077] The body 11 has a length of about 3.175 cm (1.25 inches). This length is measured between the bearing face 21 and the axially outer lip 22 of the axially inner end 10.

[0078] In contrast to the known device (FIG. 1), the annular seat reinforcer 19 is not secured to the outer reinforcer 15. These two reinforcers 19, 15 are entirely independent of one another.

[0079] 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.

[0080] The elastomer layer of the reinforcer 19 has a radial thickness of about 0.3 mm and an axial length of about 15 mm.

[0081] A layer of elastomer 20 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.

[0082] The following examples show the results obtained with the adapter according to the invention.

EXAMPLE

Kerb Impact Tests

[0083] 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).

[0084] The test proceeds 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.

[0085] A conventional assembly without an adapter (control 1) is compared with an assembly provided with an adapter according to the document WO00/78565 (control 2) and with an assembly provided with an adapter according to the invention (invention). These assemblies are all of the size 205/55R16 comprising a 6.5J16 rim. The results are collated in the following Table I and are given in percent:

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 force of raised 100 50 40 vertical bearing- surface (Fz) at the puncturing speed State of the mounted Tire punctured Tire and wheel Tire, assembly following the Wheel marked intact adapter and impacts Adapter wheel intact plastically deformed

[0086] Results greater than 100 show an improvement in behaviour when subjected to a lateral impact.

[0087] 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.

[0088] 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.