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US 10,449,804 B1Granted
Superelastic tire
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
InventorsSanto A. Padula, II, James Benzing, Vivake M. Asnani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tire includes a plurality of SMA springs. Each SMA spring includes a first end portion, a second end portion, and an arching middle portion. Each SMA spring is interlaced with at least one other SMA spring thereby forming a laced toroidal structure extending about an entire circumference of the tire.
Claims20
A tire comprising:
- a plurality of wires having a first end portion, a second end portion, and an arching middle portion;
- each wire interlaced with at least one other wire thereby forming a laced toroidal structure extending about an entire circumference of the tire;
- and
- a selected number of wires comprising a shape memory alloy (SMA) having an austenite crystal structure in an ambient condition, and during the application of an externally applied force upon the SMA, the austenite crystal structure of the SMA reorients to a martensitic crystal structure to minimize internal strain energy and decrease local stiffness to accommodate load and large deflection of the SMA.
1 more element
A tire comprising:
- a plurality of wires having a first end portion, a second end portion, and an arching middle portion interconnecting the first end portion and the second end portion;
- each wire extending radially outward from the first end portion to the middle portion and radially inward from the middle portion to the second end portion;
- a plurality of wires interlaced with an adjacent wire on a first side of the wire and further being interlaced with an adjacent SMA spring on a second opposite side of the SMA spring thereby forming a toroidal structure extending about an entire circumference of the tire;
- and
- a selected number of wires comprising a shape memory alloy (SMA) having an austenite crystal structure in an ambient condition, and during the application of an externally applied force upon the SMA, the austenite crystal structure of the SMA reorients to a martensitic crystal structure to minimize internal strain energy and decrease local stiffness to accommodate load and large deflection of the SMA.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.