Non-pneumatic wheel having nylon spoke
AssigneeCompagnie Generale Des Etablissements Michelin
InventorsClayton Bohn, Jr., Steven M Cron, Damon Lee Christenbury, Ryan Michael Gaylo, Timothy Brett Rhyne
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A non-pneumatic wheel includes an outer band, a hub and a plurality of spokes formed from a polyamine material. Each of the plurality of spokes is displaced to create pretension in the radial direction under a design load and the displacement is equal to or greater than the predetermined deflection of the outer band. The plurality of spokes is made from a polyamide material having a conditioned tensile modulus between 600 MPa and 3000 MPa, an equilibrium moisture content of no more than 1.5%, and a fatigue failure resistance that can withstand at least 1 million cycles.
Claims12
A non-pneumatic wheel defining an axis of rotation and defining axial, radial, and circumferential directions, the non-pneumatic wheel comprising:
- an outer band, the outer band having a contact patch corresponding to a ground contacting surface, and the outer band having, during operation, a predetermined deflection of the outer band in the contact patch;
- a hub;
- and
- a plurality of spokes,
- wherein each spoke is mounted having a displacement corresponding to the change in distance between a radially inner portion and a radially outer portion of each spoke under the design load of the wheel, the displacement equal to or greater than the predetermined deflection of the outer band, wherein the plurality of spokes is made from a polyamide material having a conditioned tensile modulus between 600 MPa and 3000 MPa as determined under ISO-527-2, an equilibrium moisture content of no more than 1.5% as determined at 23° C. and 50% relative humidity under ISO 62 and a fatigue failure resistance that can withstand at least 1 million cycles as determined under ASTM D7774
- wherein said plurality of spokes have a linear stiffness through displacement to the design loading conditions of the wheel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.