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US 8,281,833 B1Granted
Tire assembly with low-friction interior
OwnerGary L. Rumbaughinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pneumatic tire assembly is disclosed. The tire assembly includes a tire body having an interior surface covered with a low-friction material and a tire rim having an interior surface. The tire body is attached to the tire rim such that the interior surface of the tire body and the interior surface of the tire rim define an inner space of the pneumatic tire assembly. The inner space is filled with a gas and the covering of the low-friction material reduces friction between the gas and the interior surface of the tire body.
Claims10
A pneumatic tire assembly, comprising:
- a tire body having an interior surface covered with a low-friction material;
- and
- a tire rim having an interior surface,
- wherein said tire body is attached to said rim such that said interior surface of said tire body and said interior surface of said rim define an inner space of said pneumatic tire assembly,
- wherein said inner space is filled with a gas,
- wherein said covering of said low-friction material reduces friction between said gas and said interior surface of said tire body;
- wherein said interior surfaces of said tire body and said tire rim have an undulant shape and are configured so that undulations on said interior surface of said tire body match undulations on said interior surface of said tire rim to form air pockets inside said tire assembly;
- and
- wherein the undulations on the said interior surface of said tire body have an antiparallel configuration relative to the undulation on said interior surface of said tire rim, whereupon rotation of the tire assembly produces air rotating in the said air pockets opposite to the direction of tire rotation, and wherein the rotating air inside each air pocket generates a thrust on the undulations in the same direction as the rotation direction of the tire assembly.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.