US 12,479,236 B2Granted

Vehicle wheel with a particle collector

AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

InventorsSebastien Willy Fontaine, Armand Rene Gabriel Leconte, Frederic Ngo, Bodo Aherns, Vincent Jean-Emile Decouvreur

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Abstract

A wheel assembly having a wheel rotation axis; a rim with an outer surface around the wheel rotation axis; wherein the outer surface comprising suction ports; two tires mounted on the outer surface of the rim; a particle collector adapted to trap particles entering said particle collector; a particle suction system with a bladed suction structure configured for generating a suction air flow in the rim upon rotation of said bladed suction structure about the wheel rotation axis; an air passage connecting the suction ports to the bladed suction structure via the particle collector in order to suck particles through the suction ports by means of the suction air flow generated by the bladed suction structure.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A wheel assembly comprising:

a wheel rotation axis;
a first face;
a second face axially at the opposite of the first face;
a rim around the wheel rotation axis;
a first tire and a second tire which are mounted around the rim, which are respectively at the first face and at the second face, and which comprise a tire outer diameter;
an outer circular groove with a circular bottom surface forming the rim and axially between the first tire and the second tire, said circular bottom surface comprising a bottom diameter which is smaller than the tire outer diameter;
suction ports through the circular bottom surface;
a particle collector;
a particle suction system configured for generating a suction airflow through the wheel assembly upon rotation of said particle suction system about the wheel rotation axis;
an air passage connecting the suction ports to the particle suction system in order to suck particles with the suction ports, wherein the air passage comprises a first disc-shaped portion radially extending from the suction structure toward the wheel rotation axis, and a second disc-shaped portion extending from the suction ports toward the wheel rotation axis.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.