Tension-based non-pneumatic tire
AssigneeBridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC
InventorsAli Manesh, Mike Tercha, Brian Anderson, Karen Schlei, Brian Meliska, Louis Stark, Benjamin Knospe, Fidelis Ceranski, Glenn Howland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A non-pneumatic tire and hub assembly includes an inner ring having an axis of rotation, a deformable outer ring, and a flexible web extending between the inner ring and the deformable outer ring. The assembly further includes a hollow, metal cylinder coupled to the inner ring. The hollow, metal cylinder has a flanged portion extending towards an interior portion of the hollow, metal cylinder.
Claims20
A method of making a tire and hub assembly comprising:
- providing a hollow cylinder;
- placing the hollow cylinder in a mold;
- and
- connecting an inner ring of a non-pneumatic tire to the hollow cylinder.
A method of making a non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly comprising:
- providing a hollow cylinder having an outer surface;
- placing the hollow cylinder in an injection mold;
- injecting a flowable material into the injection mold, thereby forming an inner ring about the outer surface of the hollow cylinder;
- and
- connecting a pair of wheel components to the hollow cylinder such that each of the pair of wheel components are substantially coaxial with the hollow cylinder,
- wherein the connecting of the pair of wheel components to the hollow cylinder includes attaching a first face of a first wheel component to a first side of a flanged portion of the hollow cylinder, and
- wherein the connecting of the pair of wheel components to the hollow cylinder further includes attaching a second face of a second wheel component to a second side of the flanged portion of the hollow cylinder.
A method of making a non-pneumatic tire and wheel assembly comprising:
- providing a hollow cylinder having an outer surface;
- providing a green non-pneumatic tire;
- placing the hollow cylinder in a vulcanization mold;
- placing the green non-pneumatic tire in the vulcanization mold about the hollow cylinder;
- and
- connecting a pair of wheel components to the hollow cylinder such that each of the pair of wheel components are substantially coaxial with the hollow cylinder,
- wherein the connecting of the pair of wheel components to the hollow cylinder includes attaching a first face of a first wheel component to a first side of a flanged portion of the hollow cylinder, and
- wherein the connecting of the pair of wheel components to the hollow cylinder further includes attaching a second face of a second wheel component to a second side of the flanged portion of the hollow cylinder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.