Off-highway vehicle including frame coupled gas spring wheel assemblies
AssigneeGacw Incorporated
InventorZoltan KEMENY
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An off-highway vehicle may include an off-highway vehicle frame and a motor carried by the off-highway vehicle frame. The off-highway vehicle may also include wheel assemblies rotatably coupled to the off-highway vehicle frame without an intervening vehicle suspension and at least some of the wheel assemblies being driven by the motor. Each of the wheel assemblies may include an inner rim coupled to the hub, an outer rim surrounding the inner rim, and gas springs coupled between the inner rim and the outer rim to provide a gas suspension for relative movement between the inner and outer rims.
Claims23
An off-highway vehicle comprising:
- an off-highway vehicle frame;
- a motor carried by said off-highway vehicle frame;
- and
- a plurality of wheel assemblies rotatably coupled to the off-highway vehicle frame without an intervening vehicle suspension and at least some of the wheel assemblies to be driven by the motor, each of said plurality of wheel assemblies comprising
- an inner rim coupled to the off-highway vehicle frame,
- an outer rim surrounding the inner rim, and
- a plurality of gas springs coupled between said inner rim and said outer rim to provide a gas suspension for relative movement between said inner and outer rims.
An off-highway hauling vehicle comprising:
- an off-highway vehicle frame;
- a truck bed pivotally coupled to said off-highway vehicle frame to haul material and permit dumping of the material;
- a motor carried by said off-highway vehicle frame;
- and
- a plurality of wheel assemblies rotatably coupled to the off-highway vehicle frame without an intervening vehicle suspension and at least some of the wheel assemblies being driven by the motor, each of said plurality of wheel assemblies comprising
- an inner rim coupled to the off-highway vehicle frame,
- an outer rim surrounding the inner rim, and
- a plurality of gas springs diverging outwardly from said inner rim to said outer rim to provide a gas suspension for relative movement between said inner and outer rims.
A method of making an off-highway vehicle comprising:
- coupling a motor to the off-highway vehicle frame;
- and
- rotably coupling a plurality of wheel assemblies to the off-highway vehicle frame without an intervening vehicle suspension with at least some of the wheel assemblies to be driven by the motor, each of the plurality of wheel assemblies comprising
- an inner rim coupled to the off-highway vehicle frame,
- an outer rim surrounding the inner rim, and
- a plurality of gas springs coupled between the inner rim and the outer rim to provide a gas suspension for relative movement between the inner and outer rims.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.