Reinforced Composite Rim
AssigneeCompositech, Inc.
InventorsJoshua Poertner, Michael Hall
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A composite rim including a reinforcing assembly is provided. The composite rim includes a first sidewall portion, a second sidewall portion, a radially outer portion and a reinforcing assembly. The radially outer portion includes a radially outwardly-facing tire-engaging surface. The reinforcing assembly is disposed proximate the tire-engaging surface and includes a reinforcer and a containment member for containing the reinforcer. The reinforcer has an axis extending circumferentially about the composite rim and is configured to reinforce the composite rim in a direction generally perpendicular to the axis of the reinforcer.
Claims4
1-8. (canceled)
A composite rim comprising:
- a first sidewall portion;
- a second sidewall portion;
- a radially outer portion that includes a radially outwardly-facing tire-engaging surface and one of first and second crown portions and first and second bead portions;
- a reinforcing assembly disposed at one of the first and second crown portions and the first and second bead portions;
- and
- a plurality of fiber-reinforced sheets sandwiching the reinforcing assembly, the reinforcing assembly including:
- a reinforcer having an axis extending circumferentially about the composite rim, the reinforce comprising a bundle of fibers, and
- a containment member for containing the bundle of fibers of the reinforcer, the containment member including a thread woven about the bundle of fibers of the reinforcer,
- the reinforcing assembly configured to reinforce the composite rim in a direction generally perpendicular to the axis of the reinforcer, wherein the thread is stitched through the fiber-reinforced sheets for mechanically coupling the fiber-reinforced sheets and the bundle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.