GB2139974A - Vehicle spray-inhibiting means - Google Patents

Abstract

Means for inhibiting the formation of spray by vehicles travelling at relatively high speed over a wet road surface comprises a spray arrestor having a vertically extending curtain 11 formed from a plurality of generally vertical flexible filaments 15 which may comprise a plurality of sections 13 each provided with a stock or holder 14 arranged to secure the upper ends of said filaments, their lower ends being free. Conveniently said curtain 11 is mounted in a housing 10, the interior of said housing or parts mounted therein providing constraint limiting the degree to which said filaments can flex in a generally rearwards direction. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Spray inhibiting means This invention relates to spray-inhibiting means which is intended for use on a road vehicle in order to reduce or prevent the formation of objectionable spray by the vehicle when it is travelling along wet roads. Such spray represents a considerable hazard to road users and a high proportion of the spray will normally arise from water which is flung rearwardly from the wheels of a vehicle. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of spray-inhibiting means which can in use be mounted adjacent to a vehicle wheel in order to intercept water which may be flung rearwardly or outwardly from said wheel in wet conditions so as to control and reduce the formation of spray therefrom.

In accordance with the invention there is provided spray-inhibiting means which comprises a spray arrestor intended in use to be mounted adjacent to and at the rear of a vehicle wheel, said spray arrestor comprising a generally vertically extending curtain comprising a plurality of generally vertical flexible filaments which are disposed so as in use to intercept spray thrown off said wheel.

The spray arrestor may be mounted in a housing, said filaments being capable of flexing in use in a stream of spray to a limited extent determined by constraint which is imposed by the housing or other elements disposed therein.

There may also be provided a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally extending louvres which are disposed within the housing, each of said louvres being inclined to a vertical plane.

The aforesaid generally vertically extending curtain may comprise an array of brush-like assemblies which each have a plurality of bristles mounted at their upper ends in a stock or holder or the like, the lower ends of such bristles being free and being arranged to overlap the upper part of the brush-like assembly immediately beneath. There may also be provided in the housing an array of vertically spaced louvres which may be positioned either in front of or behind (in relation to the normal direction of travel of the vehicle on which the associated wheel is fitted) the aforesaid curtain.

Furthermore, there may be provided a skirt portion which extends downwardly from the lower edge of said housing and which is intended in use to intercept water which is thrown rearwardly from the lowermost part of the associated wheel, the lower part of said skirt portion being arranged so that it will be disposed adjacent to the road surface along which the vehicle will be travelling. Said skirt portion may itself also be provided with a series of spaced louvres which may each be provided on at least one face with a brushlike assembly.The array of louvres (when provided) conveniently comprises a plurality of louvres which are fixedly mounted in the housing so as to extend from side to side thereof, each louvre being inclined to a vertical plane so that its lower edge projects forwardly (relating to the forward direction of advancement of the associated vehicle) of its upper edge when the louvre array is mounted in the rear face of the housing and rearwardly of its upper edge when the louvre array is mounted in the front face of the housing.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is an end elevation showing one example of spray-inhibiting means constructed in accordance with the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of one portion of the spray-inhibiting means seen in Figure 1, Figures 3 to 6 are end elevations showing alternative forms of spray-inhibiting means in accordance with the present invention, Figure 7 is a scrap sectional elevation showing part of additional spray-inhibiting means that can be included in means in accordance with the invention, Figure 8 is a perspective view from the front of the arrangement seen in Figure 7, Figure 9 is a side view of an example of sprayinhibiting means in accordance with the invention and attached to a separately formed mudguard, and Figure 70 is a partial perspective view of a mudguard which can also form part of another example of spray-inhibiting means in accordance with the invention.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 the spray-inhibiting means shown therein comprises a spray arrestor having a housing 10 (which may be formed in sheet metal, plastics, wood or any other suitable material) within which is mounted two arrays namely an array of generally vertically extending brush-like assemblies generally indicated by reference numeral 11 which together form a generally vertically extending curtain and an array of vertically spaced louvres generally indicated by reference numeral 12.

The aforesaid array of brush-like assemblies 11 comprises a plurality of sections 13 which are each provided with a stock or holder 14 which serves to secure a plurality of downwardly extending flexible filaments 15 which are conveniently in the form of a plurality of lengths of natural or man-made fibres (e.g. formed from plastics material), the lower ends of said fibres being free. Furthermore the lower ends of the fibres of each section above the lowermost section overlap the upper part of the section immediately below. As will be seen from Figure 2 the housing 10 incorporates on each side a vertically extending channel section 16 or 17 and the stocks or holders 14 of the aforesaid sections 13 making up the generally vertically extending curtain are connected to said channel sections.

The array 12 of louvres which is also mounted within the housing 10 comprises a plurality of vertically spaced louvres 18 which each comprise a slat or strip of metal fixed within the housing so it extends between said channels 16 and 17. Furthermore as shown in the arrangement of Figures 1 and 2 each of said louvres 18 is inclined to the vertical so that its lower edge projects forwardly (relating to the forward direction of advancement of the associated vehicle) of its upper edge, the arrangement in this case being such that said array of louvres is mounted in the rear face of said housing, the array or curtain 11 being mounted in the forward face of the housing. In an alternative arrangement however the array of louvres may be mounted in the forward face of the housing with the array 11 being mounted in the rear face of the housing.In the latter case the louvres would be arranged so that the lower edge of each louvre would be disposed rearwardly of its upper edge.

As previously indicated, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a part, namely the upper part, of the spray-inhibiting means shown in Figure 1 and said means is completed by a skirt portion generally indicated by reference numeral 19 (see Figure 1) which depends below the aforesaid assembly of housing and arrays mounted within the housing.

Said skirt portion 19 comprises a collecting chamber having an inlet opening on its forward face 20 and an outlet opening indicated by reference numeral 21 on its rearmostface,the inlet opening being larger in size than said outlet opening. Mounted within the skirt portion are two further sections 22 and 23 of generally brush-like form so that each of said sections comprises a plurality of fibres which are free at their lower ends the upper ends of the fibres being secured to stocks or holders 14 as before. Said skirt portion 19 is also provided with air vents 24 and 25 which serve to relieve any excess air pressure that may develop within said skirt portion.As will be seen from Figure 1 the section 22 is arranged so that its downwardly depending fibres engage the suface of the road along which the associated vehicle is travelling so that the complete assembly shown in Figure 1 when mounted behind a vehicle wheel will form a screen to intercept water and spray flung rearwardly from said wheel. The fibres contained in the aforesaid array 11 will act to effect separation of the air and water which make up the spray formed behind the wheel, the air passing through into said housing and thence through the rear face thereof between the louvres whilst any remaining water in the air will be caught on said louvres and will fall downwardly therefrom into the skirt portion.A larger part of such water contained in the spray will however be collected on the fibres of the array 11 and will similarly fall downwardly into the skirt portion and will be gathered together into a sheet of water which will be deposited back onto the road surface in a controlled fashion as it leaves the outlet 21 so that the amount of spray originally formed behind said wheel will be very substantially reduced.

It will also be appreciated that the aforesaid fibres in the above described spray-inhibiting means will initially tend to collect debris thrown up by the adjacent wheel but since droplets of water clinging to the fibres will run downwardly such debris will tend to be removed so that the fibres are to a large degree self cleaning. The louvres on the other hand will control the flow of airthrough the rearface of the aforesaid housing and will themselves tend to collect any water which passes through the aforesaid fibres. The faces of said louvres may themselves be provided with brush-like elements and the louvres, instead of being formed in metal, may be formed in a plastics material or any other suitable material.It will also be appreciated that in use each of the brush-like assemblies 13 forming the aforesaid curtain will be able to flex in a generally rearward direction but only to a limited extent which is determined by the constraints afforded by the interior of the housing 10 or (where provided) by louvres when mounted behind the brush-like assemblies 13. Such flexing of the filaments of the assemblies 13 will thus be controlled and each filament will then provide a water-conducting path which will serve to lead droplets of water in the required direction, i.e. downwardly in the case ofthe array or curtain 11.

The arrangement shown in Figure 3 differs from the construction described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 in that no lower skirt portion is employed.

Thus there is provided in Figure 3 a housing 26 together with an array 27 comprising a plurality of sections which each comprise a downwardly depending assembly of fibres together with an array 28 of louvres as before. In this case however it will be noticed that the lowermost section of the array 27 lies entirely within the housing 26 so that its lower edge is disposed above the lowermost louvre 29 and the latter may be provided at its lower edge with a rearwardly directed and rearwardly curved extension 30 which will serve to control any water which is thrown rearwardly from the bottom portion of the associated wheel.

Referring now to the embodiments shown in Figure 4 the spray arrestor shown therein is provided with a housing 31 in the forward face of which is mounted a generally vertically extending curtain comprising a plurality of brush-like sections 15 as before. In this case however there is no array of louvres and the rearward face 32 of the housing is of closed or solid construction or, alternatively, may be formed of slatted construction or, as a further alternative, of wire or plastics mesh or the like. There is also provided at the bottom of said closed rear face 32 a downwardly and rearwardly extending curved plate 33 which serves to direct downwardly and rearwardly water from spray which has been intercepted by the aforesaid curtain.

Figure 5 shows yet another example in which there is a housing 33 in which is mounted in its front face a curtain comprising a plurality of brush-like sections 15 as before together with an array of louvres indicated in this case by dotted lines 18.

There is however also provided a lower or skirt portion generally indicated by reference numeral 35 and this portion contains further louvres 36 which are disposed in a vertically spaced relationship so that they extend downwardly and rearwardly towards the open rear face of said skirt portion 35 which also has an open front face. Along their rearmost edges the louvres 36 are provided with an integrally formed upwardly curved portion as shown. In addition each of said louvres 36 is provided with a brush-like section 37 which each comprises a plurality of fibres arranged so that the upper or forward ends of the fibres are secured together in a stock or holder whilst the lower or rearward ends of said fibres are free. Said fibres are flexible and in a rest position said lower or rearward ends of the fibres will tend to drop onto or towards the louvre immediately below but in use fibres will tend to assume the position shown in Figure 5 in which they will be lifted against the louvre above by the force of the stream of air and water which passes through said skirt portion. The fibres forming said brush-like sections 37 will again form water conducting paths so that the spray flung rearwardly from the lower part of the adjacent wheel will impinge on the fibres and the droplets of water in the spray will tend to coalesce to form eventually a sheet of water which will be deposited on the road, thereby reducing or eliminating the spray itself.In the meantime of course water which passes downwardly from the housing 34 will also pass into the skirt portion 35 and will join with the water which enters the skirt portion direct from the vehicle wheel to add to the sheet of water issuing from the arrestor. In the case of the embodiment shown in Figure 5 the lowermost baffle 36 may be arranged so that it is disposed at a distance of approximately 1.1/2 inches from the surface of the road along which the vehicle will be travelling.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 6 there is a housing 38 in which is mounted a curtain formed of a plurality of brush-like sections 15 and also an array of louvres 18 as before. There is also provided a skirt portion generally indicated by reference numeral 39 and within said skirt portion there is a plurality of further baffles 40 which are each provided on at least one surface namely the lower surface with a brushlike section 41. As is the case with the embodiment shown in Figure 5 each of said brush-like sections 41 has a plurality of fibres which are secured in a stock or holder (which may be formed by bending over the upper end of the associated baffle) at their upper ends whilst the lower or rearward ends of said fibres are free.The position of said fibres as shown in Figure 6 however is intended to indicate the position which will be assumed when the arrestor shown therein is moving forwardly with the vehicle to which it is fitted and again such fibres will colect droplets of water from spray flung rearwardly from the lower part of the adjacent vehicle wheel and will coalesce such droplets to form a more continuous sheet of water which will be deposited in a control led manner on the road surface behind the vehicle thereby reducing the amount of spray that is formed.

Similarly water flowing downwardly from the interior of the housing 38 will also pass into the skirt portion 39 to join the water previously intercepted by the fibres of the sections 41 and add to the sheet of water flowing from said skirt portion. Furthermore in the case of the embodiment shown in Figure 6 the skirt portion is provided with a bottom plate 42 which extends across the underside of said skirt portion and which may in this case be disposed in use at a distance above the road surface which is less than 1 inch. Conveniently the aforesaid baffles 40 may be inclined to the horizontal at an angle of 30 although of course any other suitable angle may be used instead.

Figure 7 shows additional spray inhibiting means that can be used in conjunction with any of the above described embodiments. Said additional means includes a side valance 43 which in use extends in a substantially vertical plane, said side valance being spaced from and extending around the exterior of the outer side of the upper part of the associated vehicle wheel 44. As shown in Figure 7 said side valance 43 is formed of a flange 45 which is formed integrally with the upper curved portion 46 of a mudguard together with a bolted on downwardly projecting extension 46. In the case of the embodiment shown in Figure 7 however the side valance 47 is formed integrally in one piece with the upper part 48 of the mudguard. It is to be understood however that side valance and/or the upper part of the mudguard can in effect be provided by a wing or wheel arch of the vehicle.As shown in Figure 7 there may als be provided a further spray-arresting curtain 48 which is formed from a plurality of flexible filaments which hang downwardly from holders or brackets 49 and which extend in use so that their lower ends are disposed below the uppermost part of the periphery of the associated vehicle wheel 44.

Spray which in use may be thrown sideways from the upper part of the wheel will thus be intercepted by said curtain 48. Droplets of water from such spray will then be collected on the filaments of said curtain 48 and will run downwardly to be returned to the road surface whilst air from the spray can pass through said curtain into the space between the curtain and the side valance 43. As shown in Figure 8 said side valance (i.e. side valance 47 in the case of the construction shown in Figure 8) may be formed with a plurality of generally radially extending slits 50 through which air can pass and if desired the spray arresting curtain 48 can be divided into sections which are respectively aligned with the sections of side valance between said slits 50. Said sections of the side valance between the slits 50 can flex slightly relative to adjacent sections.There may also be provided a third spray arresting curtain, indicated in Figure 7 by reference numeral 51,this curtain extending above and across the whole or part of the upper part of the vehicle wheel 44 and being connected to said portion 46 by means of brackets 52 which thus space said curtain 51 from the interior of the portion 46. The spray arresting curtain 51 may be formed from flexible filaments which each extend in a generally horizontal direction or alternatively the curtain may be formed from brush-like elements which each include relatively short bristles which each extend in a generally radial direction relative to the axis of the vehicle wheel 44.

As shown in Figure 8 the side valance 47 forms part of spray arresting means which includes a generally vertically extending curtain 53 which may be formed in accordance with any of the above described embodiments shown in Figures 1 - 6. The curtain 53 (with or without a side valance 47) thus forms a vehicle mudguard or mudflap. In an alternative arrangement however shown in Figure 9 a generally vertically extending spray arresting curtain 54 (which may similarly be formed as described in any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 1 to 6) is formed separately from a vehicle mudguard 55 and is then attached to the rearward end thereof in any convenient manner.

in the embodiment shown in Figure 10 there is provided a mudguard generally indicated by refer ence numeral 56 which in use would be combined with a generally vertically extending spray arresting curtain as above mentioned. The mudguard 56 is formed with a side valance 57 (behind which may be provided a further spray arresting curtain such as curtain 48) which is connected to a portion 58 which extends around the upper part of the vehicle wheel, said side valance 57 and portion 58 thus enclosing the upper part of the periphery of the wheel and the outer side of said upper part of the wheel periphery.

In this case however said portion 58 is so formed as to provide a plurality of air vents 59 which are spaced circumferentially from each other and which extend in a generally axially direction relative to the axis of the associated wheel. There is also provided a spray arresting curtain 51 as previously referred to and the air vents 59 are arranged to permit air which passes through the curtain 51 to flow outwardly and rearwardly from the mudguard. As shown in Figure 10 the spray arresting curtain 51 comprises a plurality of generally horizontally extending filaments which collect water droplets from the spray which is thrown over the top of the vehicle wheel.

The portion 58 may either be formed in one piece (which can if desired be integrally connected to the side valance 57) or alternatively said portion 58 can be formed in a number of separate sections which are afterwards connected together.

Spray-inhibited means as described in any of the above mentioned embodiments may be used to replace conventional mudflaps or mudguards (or may be attached to conventional mudflaps or mudguards) at present provided on vehicles or they may be mounted on the associated vehicle by means which will maintain the lower edge of the sprayinhibiting means at substantially the same predeter mined distance from the road irrespective of the loading on the vehicle concerned.

Claims (20)

1. Spray-inhibiting means comprising a spray arrestor intended in use to be mounted adjacent to and at the rear of a vehicle wheel, said spray arrestor comprising a generally vertically extending curtain comprising a plurality of generally vertical flexible filaments which are disposed so as in use to intercept spray thrown off said wheel.

2. Sprayer inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said spray arrestor is mounted in a housing, said filaments being capable of flexing in use in a stream of spray te a limited extent determined by constraint which is imposed by the housing or other elements disposed therein.

3. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 2 wherein a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally extending louvres are disposed within the housing, each of said louvres being inclined to a vertical plane.

4. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said generally vertically extending curtain comprises an array of brush-like assemblies which each have a plurality of bristles mounted at their upper ends in a stock and holder or the like, the lower ends of such bristles being free and being arranged to overlap the upper part of the brush-like assembly immediately beneath.

5. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein there is provided a skirt portion which extends downwardly from the lower edge of said housing and which is intended in use to intercept water which is thrown rearwardly from the lowermost part of the associated wheel, this lower part of said skirt portion being arranged so that in use it will be disposed adjacent to the road surface along which the associated vehicle will be travelling.

6. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 5 wherein said skirt portion is provided with a plurality of spaced louvres.

7. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 6 wherein said skirt portion louvres are each provided on at least one face with a brush-like assembly.

8. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said spray arrestor is adapted to be mounted on a separately formed mudguard, mud flaps, vehicle wing or other vehicle part.

9. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in any one of Claims 1 - 7 wherein said spray arrestor forms a vehicle mud flap or mudguard.

10. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein there is also provided a further spray arrestor which comprises a substantially vertical side valance which in use is spaced from and extending around the exterior of the outer side of the upper part of the associated vehicle wheel.

11. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 10 wherein there is provided, in association with said side valance, a further spray-arresting curtain which comprises a plurality of flexible filaments, said further curtain being disposed on the inner side of said side valance and spaced therefrom.

12. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 10 or Claim 11 wherein said side valance is formed with a plurality of slits extending upwardly from its lower edge so as to provide a plurality of sections between the slits.

13. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 12 wherein said further curtain is divided into a plurality of brush-like assemblies which are respectively aligned with and disposed behind said sections of the side valance.

14. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in any one of Claims 10-13 wherein there is also provided a third spray-arresting curtain which comprises brushlike means which in use extends over the whole or part of the width of the upper part of the associated vehicle wheel.

15. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 11 wherein the flexible filaments of said further spray-arresting curtain extend in use downwardly so that these lower ends will in use hang below the uppermost part of the periphery of the associated vehicle wheel.

16. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in any one of Claims 10-15 wherein said further spray arrester embodies a portion which is connected to said side valance and which extends around and above the upper part of the associated vehicle wheel.

17. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 16 wherein said portion is provided with a plurality of rearwardly extending air vents which each extend in a direction parallel to the axis of the associated vehicle wheel.

18. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 16 or Claim 17 wherein said portion is formed integrally with said side valance in one piece.

19. Spray-inhibiting means as claimed in Claim 16 or Claim 17 wherein said portion is formed of a plurality of separately formed sections connected together.

20. Spray-inhibiting means substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 and 2, or Figure 3, or Figure 4, or Figure 5, or Figure 6, or Figures 7 and 8, or Figure 9, or Figure 10 of the accompanying drawings.