Back to results
US 12,397,593 B2Granted
Sound-absorbing device for a vehicle wheel
AssigneesToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTaehwa Lee, Masaki Nakaoka, Danil V. Prokhorov
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sound-absorbing device includes a resonator. The resonator includes a flexible, tube-shaped resonator body having a first end, a second end, and a channel fluidically connecting the first end and the second end. The resonator body is wrapped completely around a hub of a vehicle wheel at least one time and is configured to absorb sound produced within a cavity of a tire of the vehicle wheel.
Claims15
A sound-absorbing device, comprising:
- a resonator including a flexible, tube-shaped resonator body formed from rubber or silicone tubing having a first end, a second end, and a channel fluidically connecting the first end and the second end, the resonator body wrapped completely around a hub of a vehicle wheel at least one time and configured to absorb sound produced within a cavity of a tire of the vehicle wheel;
- and
- one or more beads located in the channel and configured to section the channel into a plurality of resonator body sections.
A sound-absorbing device comprising:
- a resonator including a flexible, tube-shaped resonator body formed from rubber or silicone tubing having a first end, a second end, and a channel fluidically connecting the first end and the second end, the resonator body wrapped completely around a hub of a vehicle wheel at least one time and configured to absorb sound produced within a cavity of a tire of the vehicle wheel;
- and
- one or more clamps located external to the resonator body and configured to clamp the resonator body to section the channel into a plurality of resonator body sections, such that the plurality of resonator body sections define unequal lengths.
A vehicle wheel, comprising:
- a hub;
- a tire mounted to the hub and defining a hollow cavity;
- a resonator including a flexible, tube-shaped resonator body formed from rubber or silicone tubing having a first end, a second end, and a channel fluidically connecting the first end and the second end, the resonator body wrapped completely around the hub at least one time, the resonator configured as a quarter-wavelength resonator having a resonance frequency that is a function of a length of the resonator body and that is substantially equal to a resonance frequency of a sound produced by the tire rolling on a ground surface, whereby the resonator is configured to absorb sound produced in the cavity;
- and
- one or more beads located in the channel configured to section the channel into a plurality of resonator body sections.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.