Emergency wheel mountable on vehicle wheel and method of use
OwnerIrving Smithinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rapidly-mountable spare wheel intended for emergency roadway use of a wheeled vehicle in the event of a flat tire condition of one of the main wheels of the vehicle is mounted outwardly alongside the main wheel for joint rotation therewith in a side-by-side mounted state during the flat tire condition.
Claims20
A spare wheel for emergency roadway use of a vehicle in the event of a flat tire condition of a main wheel of the type having a main rim, a main flange and a flat tire mounted thereon, said spare wheel comprising:
- (a) an auxiliary rim;
- (b) means on the auxiliary rim for mounting the spare wheel outwardly alongside the main wheel for joint rotation therewith about an axis in a side-by-side mounted state during the flat tire condition, said mounting means including resilient tongues stamped out of and extending inwardly of the auxiliary rim, said tongues having innner circumferential, axially-extending engaging surfaces extending at least partly about the axis and supportably axially engaging the main flange at outer peripheral surfaces of the main flange in the mounted state;
- and
- (c) a spare tire mounted on the auxiliary rim, said spare tire having an outer diameter larger than that of the flat tire and operative for supporting the flat tire above the roadway in the mounted state, and for enabling the vehicle to be moved along the roadway despite the existence of the flat tire condition without the necessity for removing the flat tire from the vehicle.
A method of rendering a vehicle operational for emergency roadway use in the event of a flat tire condition of a main wheel of the type having a main rim, a main flange and a flat tire mounted thereon, said method comprising the following steps performed during the flat tire condition:
- (a) axially moving and mounting a spare wheel having an auxiliary rim outwardly alongside the main wheel for joint rotation therewith about an axis in a side-to-side mounted state, including providing resilient tongues stamped out of and extending inwardly of the auxiliary rim, said tongues having inner circumferential, axially-extending engaging surfaces extending at least partly about the axis and supportably axially engaging the main flange at outer peripheral surfaces of the main flange in the mounted state;
- and
- (b) mounting a spare tire on the auxiliary rim, and forming the spare tire with an outer diameter larger than that of the flat tire to support the same above the roadway and to enable the vehicle to be moved along the roadway despite the existence of the flat tire condition without the necessity for removing the flat tire from the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.