EP1478527A1

EP1478527A1 - Snow chain made of a used tire

Info

Publication number: EP1478527A1
Application number: EP02733515A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Chang-Soo Han
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-01-31
Filing date: 2002-05-09
Publication date: 2004-11-24
Also published as: CN1328075C; EP1478527A4; CN1617810A; KR200280673Y1; RU2004126321A; WO2003064191A1; RU2281206C2

Abstract

Disclosed is a snow chain making use of a used tire, which can reuse a used tire economically by using used tire pads, as friction material. The snow tire making use of a used tire includes: a plurality of used tire pads made by dividing a used tire in a circumferential direction; inner and outer connection members for connecting ends of the used tire pads at regular intervals, the inner and outer connection members being in the form of a trapezoid when they are spread; a plurality of spikes coupled to the surfaces of the used tire pads; inner and outer coupling means for separating the inner and outer connection members from each other, the inner and outer coupling means closely contacting the used tire pads to a tread surface of a tire in such a manner that the used tire pads go across the tread surface of the tire; and chains arranged between the used tire pads, ends of the chains being connected to the inner and outer connection members respectively. The snow tire, which uses the same material as the tire, can reduce damage of the tire, the environmental pollution by reusing waste material, and economic loss by reducing a material cost.

Description

SNOW CHAIN MADE OF A USED TIRE

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a snow chain making use of used tire, and more particularly, to a snow chain made of a used tire, which can re-use a used tire economically by using used tire pads, which are made by dividing the used tire, as friction material.

Background Art In general, a snow chain uses a urethane pad or a steel chain as friction material.

However, in case of the snow chain using the urethane pad, if a temperature variation is large, the urethane pad may be broken, and the pad must be replaced with a new one frequently due to a severe abrasion. Furthermore, molds by kinds are needed because the snow chains are manufactured by kinds according to sizes of tires, and a manufacturing cost is high because material of the urethane pad is expensive.

Meanwhile, the snow chain using the steel chain has more excellent brake force than the snow chain using the urethane pad, but is not easy in mounting due to its heavy weight and makes a noise during traveling. Moreover, the snow chain using the steel chain may damage the tire and the road surface of a paved road due to its high hardness.

Furthermore, with the development of an automobile industry, environmental pollution of the disposal of used tires is on the rise as a social problem. Generally, the used tires are disposed by incineration. However, when the used tires are incinerated, lots of noxious gases and elements, such as sulfur dioxide gas, are generated due to sulfur element contained in the tires, thereby causing severe air pollution. Additionally, the disposal of the used tires requires costs a great deal because being incinerated after iron cores combined with the tires are separated from the tires.

Therefore, to solve the above problems, various attempts have been made. For example, U.S. Patent No. 6,016,856 discloses a traction device for tires (hereinafter, called "prior art 1"), and U.S. Patent No. 3,856,068 discloses a traction device (hereinafter, called "prior art 2").

As shown in FIG. 1, the prior art 1 includes inner fastening plates 3 a and 3b extending along a circumferential surface inside both rims of tire cutouts 2, and outer fastening plates 4 disposed outside the tire cutouts 2 to be fastened with the inner fastening plates 3 a and 3b with bolts 5. A plurality of straps 6 are connected to slots 7 of the inner fastening plates 3a and 3b, so that the straps 6 of all sides tighten inward and mount the tire using a buckle 8.

As shown in FIG..2, the prior art 2, coupling plates 18 are disposed on the inside and the outside of ends of end sections 16 of a cross link 12 cut in such a manner that both sides of a tire is in the form of a "V" letter, and fastened with a pair of rivets 20. After that, chains 10 pass between the coupling plates 18, and a lower rivet 22 is fastened at a lower center of the coupling plates 18 to be located inside the chain 10. However, the prior art 1 is very heavy due to too many metal plates 3 a, 3b and 4, and has a complicated structure and bad durability because the inner fastening plates 3 a and 3 require the slots 7 to couple the straps 6, the inner fastening plates 3 a and 3b and the outer fastening plates 4 must be fastened with the bolts 5, and the straps 6 are fastened. Moreover, the prior art 2 is simple in its structure, but requires lots of troublesome work because the coupling plates 18 are connected to the ends of the end sections 16, and may be easily damaged due to shock generated when a car travels on a uneven surface of the road because the chains 10 are mounted with the rivet 22.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a snow chain making use of a used tire, which can reduce damage of a tire and the road surface, enlarge its life, and reduce a material cost and a manufacturing cost by using used tires, having the same material as the tire, as friction material.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a snow chain making use of used tire including: a plurality of used tire pads made by dividing a used tire in a circumferential direction; inner and outer connection members for connecting ends of the used tire pads at regular intervals, the inner and outer connection members being in the form of a trapezoid when they are spread; a plurality of spikes coupled to the surfaces of the used tire pads; inner and outer coupling means for separating the inner and outer connection members from each other, the inner and outer coupling means closely contacting the used tire pads to a tread surface of a tire in such a manner that the used tire pads go across the tread surface of the tire; and chains arranged between the used tire pads, ends of the chains being connected to the inner and outer connection members respectively.

Furthermore, the spike includes a spike in the form of a hexagonal bolt and a coupling member having a protrusion at a head part thereof, and the spike and the coupling member are inserted into a spike insertion hole formed in the used tire pad and screwed with each other. Moreover, chain coupling holes are formed in both sides of the used tire pad.

Brief Description of the Drawings Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a tire on which the snow chain of the prior art 1 is mounted;

FIG. 2 illustrates a development view of a snow chain of the prior art 2;

FIG. 3 illustrates a development view of a snow chain making use of a used tire according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a tire on which the snow chain is mounted;

FIG. 5 illustrates an enlarged perspective view of a fastening structure of a metal chain of the snow chain making use of the used tire;

FIG. 6a illustrates a perspective view of a spike of the snow chain making use of the used tire; FIG. 6b illustrates a sectional view taken along the line of A- A' of FIG.

4a;

FIG. 7a illustrates a perspective view of an inner fastening means of the snow chain making use of the used tire;

FIG. 7b illustrates a sectional view taken along the line of A-A' of FIG. 5a;

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of a turn buckle of the snow chain making use of the used tire; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of a tire on which a snow chain making use of used tires according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention is mounted. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. For reference, like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout several views.

FIG. 3 illustrates a development view of a snow chain making use of a used tire according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 illustrates a view showing a used state of the snow chain making used of the used tire.

As shown in the drawings, the snow chain making used of the used tire according to the present invention includes: used tire pads 100 made by dividing the used tire in a circumferential direction uniformly; inner and outer connection members 210 and 220 for connecting both ends of the used tire pads; inner coupling means 300 for coupling the inner connection members, which are located at the outermost positions, of the inner and outer connection members 210 and 220 in a separable and interval-adjustable manner; and outer coupling means 400 for coupling the outer connection members, which are located at the outermost positions, in a separable and interval-adjustable manner. The used tire pads 100 are used tire fragments made by dividing the used tire in the circumferential direction uniformly, and both ends of the used tire pads 100 are coupled to the inner and outer connection members 210 and 220 respectively.

A plurality of spikes 110 is mounted on the surfaces of the used tire pads 100 to increase friction force to a slippery road surface.

A chain 500 is arranged between the used tire pads 100 to increase friction coefficient, and both ends of the chain 500 are connected to the inner and outer connection members 210 and 220 respectively. As shown in FIG. 4, the chain 500 can be connected to the inner and outer connection members 210 and 220 with a pair of rings 510, but it is preferable that U-shaped rings 520, as shown in FIG. 5, are used to reduce friction noise of the chain 500 and assemble conveniently. Moreover, if several rings of rings of the inner and outer connection members 210 and 220 are cut to an extent of a prescribed interval and the cut rings are removed to adjust the interval, the inner and outer connection members 210 and 220 can be easily used suitable for all kinds of tires even though the tires of different sizes are used. As described above, the snow chain making use of the used tire according to the present invention can increase durability and brake performance by using friction of a metal chain having relatively high friction coefficient. The chain 500 may be replaced with a friction pad made of urethane.

Meanwhile, spikes 110 are attached on the surface of the used tire pads 100 to increase friction force. In FIG. 4, the spike 110 is formed in a cone at a front end to increase friction force by being compressed to the road surface effectively. FIGS. 6a and 6b illustrate another embodiment of the spike. As shown in FIG. 6a, the spike 110 includes a spike 111 in the form of a hexagonal bolt and a coupling member 112 having a protrusion at a head part thereof. The spike 111 and the coupling member 112 are inserted into a spike insertion hole 101 formed in the used tire pad 100 and screwed with each other.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the inner and outer connection members 210 and 220 have a metal chain structure, maintain a round form by connecting the ends of the used tire pads 100, and serve to closely contact the used tire pads 100 to a tread surface of the tire.

FIG. 7a illustrates the inner coupling means 300 for making the used tire pads 100, which are tied with the outer connection members 220 in the form of a trapezoid, round by connecting the ends of the inner connection members 210. As shown in FIG. 7b, the inner coupling means 300 includes a rack 310 fixed at an end of the inner connection member 210, a rack coupling box 320 fixed at the other end of the inner connection member 210, and a fixing pin 350 mounted in the rack coupling box 320 in a vertically movable manner, elastically supported by a compression spring 330 through the medium of a release section 340, and engaging a gear of the rack 310 to restrict the rack 310 to move in a direction that the rack is inserted into the rack coupling box 320. The inner connection member 210 can connect both ends of the inner connection member 210 through only one motion that the rack 310 is inserted into the rack coupling box 320. Additionally, through a simple motion that a user pulls out the rack 310 while pressing the release section 340, the coupling of the ends of the inner connection member 210 can be easily released. The interval between the ends of the inner connection member 210 can be adjusted by an insertion depth of the rack 310 according to the size of the tire.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of the outer coupling means 400 for coupling both ends of the outer connection member 220 in the interval-adjustable manner. As shown in the drawing, the outer coupling means 400 is in the form of a turn buckle, and includes a bolt 410 mounted at an end of the outer connection member 220 and a nut 420 mounted at the other end of the outer connection member 220 for connecting a bolt 411. When the nut is rotated to shorten the length, the used tire pads 100 connected to the connection members are closely contacted to the tire and the snow chain is mounted on the tire. When the nut is rotated in an opposite direction, the snow chain is detached. FIG. 9 illustrates a snow chain making use of the used tire according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment of the present invention, the snow chain does not use the chain 500 of FIG. 3. The snow chain making use of the used tire of FIG. 9 has worse performance than the snow chain of FIG. 3, but has little friction noise. Furthermore, because connection members coupling holes 120 are formed in both sides of the used tire pads 100 and the inner connection member 210 and the outer connection member 220 are inserted into the connection members coupling holes 120, there is no space by the coupling of the chain 500, and thereby the snow chain has a close coupling. •

The user can mount and use the snow tire making use of the used tire according to the present invention as follows. First, the snow tire making use of the used tire according to the present invention is spread on the floor. A wheel of a car is put on the snow chain, and the rack 310 and the rack coupling box 320 mounted at the ends of the inner connection member 210 located inside the tire are coupled with each other. After that, the bolts 410 and 411 and the nut 420 of the outer coupling means 400 mounted at the end of the outer connection member 220 located outside the tire are coupled. The length is adjusted by rotating the nut to closely contact the used tire pads to the tire.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the snow chain making use of the used tire according to the present invention has a simple structure, a simple and firm coupling between the used tire pads 100 and the inner and outer connection members 210 and 220, reduces damage due to shock from the uneven road surface, and has a good durability, thereby lengthening the life and reducing a manufacturing cost.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A snow.chain made of a used tire, the snow chain comprising: a plurality of the used tire pads made by dividing a used tire in a circumferential direction; inner and outer connection members for connecting ends of the used tire pads at regular intervals, the inner and outer connection members being in the form of a trapezoid when they are spread; a plurality of spikes coupled to the surfaces of the used tire pads; inner and outer coupling means for separating the inner and outer connection members from each other, the inner and outer coupling means closely contacting the used tire pads to a tread surface of a tire in such a manner that the used tire pads go across the tread surface of the tire; and chains arranged between the used tire pads, ends of the chains being connected to the inner and outer connection members respectively.

2. The snow chain according to claim 1, wherein the inner coupling means of the inner and outer coupling means includes rack coupling means separably coupled in a rack form, and the outer coupling means is in the form of a turn buckle.

3. The snow chain according to claim 1, wherein connection members coupling holes are formed in both sides of the used tire pad.