Bounce damping in elastomeric tires
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorRobert J. Price
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Damping of the bounce in elastomeric tires is desirable to eliminate the tendency of a machine, such as a loader, to lope or bounce when carrying a load for a distance. The subject invention substantially reduces the lope or bounce by filling the cavity or closed chamber of a tire of a wheel assembly with a liquid, mounting an accumulator to a rim, and controllably interconnecting the closed chamber and the accumulator. By controlling the rate of fluid flow between the closed chamber and the accumulator, the elastomeric tire retains some resiliency while forcing the springs and shock absorbers of the machine to control the tendency for the machine to bounce or lope.
Claims5
Bounce damping apparatus for use in a wheel assembly having an elastomeric tire mounted on a rim to define a closed chamber, comprising:
- a fill conduit disposed on the rim between the closed chamber and the exterior thereof and adapted to permit filling of the closed chamber with a liquid;
- an accumulator mounted on the rim;
- and
- a fluid communication mechanism interconnecting the closed chamber with the accumulator, the fluid communication mechanism controls the rate of flow from the accumulator to the closed chamber at a rate different than the rate of flow from the closed chamber to the accumulator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.