Simplification of mounting and demounting of a tire on and off its rim
AssigneeCompagnie Générale des Etablissments Michelin & Cie
InventorMichel Deal
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An assembly of a rim and a closed toroidal tire. The tire includes a tire casing and a ring, defining a tight chamber. The ring provides a mounting base on the rim and forms a sleeve designed to rest on said rim in mounting position. The ring includes a protuberance having a locking surface, intended to be engaged in a complementary groove arranged on the rim in order to oppose any relative movement between tire and rim axially in at least one direction. The ring has such a degree of flexibility that a pressure reduction of the chamber causes a displacement of said protuberance toward a larger radius. The tire can, for example, be fitted on the rim, and then the vacuum can be eliminated so that the protuberance will be engaged in the groove.
Claims31
An assembly including a toroidal tire and a rim, said assembly comprising, when the toroidal tire is in mounted position on the rim:
- two sidewalls;
- a crown part forming a tread and joined to radially upper ends of the sidewalls;
- a base mounted on the rim, said base forming a sleeve extending crosswise from each sidewall in the direction of the other sidewall, radially inner ends of the sidewalls being extended by said base;
- said base, sidewalls and crown part forming a closed toroid capable of defining a tight chamber even before the tire is mounted on the rim;
- a concurrent locking part situated on the base axially between the sidewalls for locking the toroidal tire on the rim against axial displacement in at least one direction, said concurrent locking part presenting, in stress-free state, a minimum perimeter Pm;
- the rim having an axial end for receiving the toroidal tire and a support area in the radial projection of said base when the tire is in mounted position on the rim, said support area directly opposite the concurrent locking part having a minimal perimeter Pjm for receiving the concurrent locking part and, axially on one side of the support area of minimal perimeter Pjm in the direction of the axial end for receiving the toroidal tire, a perimeter having a maximum perimeter PjM greater than Pjm and capable of receiving the toroidal tire for mounting on the rim, the rim from the minimal perimeter Pjm to the axial receiving end for the toroidal tire having a perimeter no greater than PjM, said minimum perimeter Pm of the concurrent locking part being less than the maximum rim perimeter PjM, said concurrent locking part being elastically extensible, so that when the tire is in place on the rim, the concurrent locking part cooperates with the rim in opposing any relative movement of the tire in relation to the rim at least axially toward the mounting end of the rim.
A toroidal tire comprising a crown part forming a tread, two sidewalls and a base having an inner face mountable on a rim, the base forming a sleeve extending crosswise from each sidewall in the direction of the other sidewall, radially inner ends of the sidewalls being extended by said base, the base, sidewalls and crown part forming a closed toroid capable of defining a tight chamber before mounting on a rim, the base having a flexible region responsive to the pressure in the chamber to cause displacement between a relaxed position when the pressure in the chamber is at ambient pressure and a position in which the region is radially outwardly stressed when the pressure in the chamber is below ambient pressure, the base further having two joined half-sleeves, each integrally molded with one of the sidewalls, the half-sleeves having ends of identical shape, and including an element forming a brace which is inserted between said ends to close the chamber and secure tightness, and securing means for securing the tire against displacement on a rim in at least one axial direction, the securing means being at the flexible region of the base to impart radial movement to the securing means responsive to the pressure in the chamber to displace the securing means between operative and inoperative positions, said securing means in operative position being adapted to cooperate with a complementary bearing arranged on a rim.
A toroidal tire comprising a crown part forming a tread, two sidewalls and a base having an inner face mountable on a rim, the base forming a sleeve extending crosswise from each sidewall in the direction of the other sidewall, radially inner ends of the sidewalls being extended by said base, the base, sidewalls and crown part forming a closed toroid capable of defining a tight chamber before mounting on a rim, the base having a flexible region responsive to the pressure in the chamber to cause displacement between a relaxed position when the pressure in the chamber is at ambient pressure and a position in which the region is radially outwardly stressed when the pressure in the chamber is below ambient pressure, and securing means for securing the tire against displacement on a rim in at least one axial direction, the securing means being at the flexible region of the base to impart radial movement to the securing means responsive to the pressure in the chamber to displace the securing means between operative and inoperative positions, said securing means in operative position being adapted to cooperate with a complementary bearing arranged on a rim, said securing means being constituted by a median part of the base, which forms a flexible belt radially and spread out axially, said complementary bearing arranged on the rim being adapted to said elastic belt.
A toroidal tire comprising a crown part forming a tread, two sidewalls and a base having an inner face mountable on a rim, the base forming a sleeve extending crosswise from each sidewall in the direction of the other sidewall, radially inner ends of the sidewalls being extended by said base, the base, sidewalls and crown part forming a closed toroid capable of defining a tight chamber before mounting on a rim, the base having a flexible region responsive to the pressure in the chamber to cause displacement between a relaxed position when the pressure in the chamber is at ambient pressure and a position in which the region is radiallly outward stressed when the pressure in the chamber is below ambient pressure, and securing means for securing the tire against displacement on a rin in the least one axial direction, the securing means being at the flexible region of the base to impart radial movement to the securing means responsive to the pressure in the chamber to displace the securing means between operative and inoperative positions, said securing means in operative position being adapted to cooperate with a complementary bearing arranged on a rim, said tire being adapted to be used with a rim which includes at least one hole making it possible to exert a radial pressure on the securing means in order to force them radially outward.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.