GB2394265A

GB2394265A - Wheel Safety Device

Info

Publication number: GB2394265A
Application number: GB0224349A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ray Mason
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-10-19
Filing date: 2002-10-19
Publication date: 2004-04-21
Also published as: GB0224349D0

Abstract

A safety device (20) is used to connect two wheel mounting elements (e.g. wheel nuts) to prevent them from loosening in use. The device has an elongate body (28, 32) which has at each end a respective mounting portion (22, 24) with a spanner-like opening (26) for engaging a mounting element. The body may be in two parts (28, 32) connected (30) so as to permit variation in length. A mounting portion (22, 24) may have a central engagement portion which is rotatable in one sense only so that it can be turned to align with a mounting element but does not turn in the loosening direction.

Description

, 2394265

WHEEL SAFETY DEVICE

The present invention relates to a safety device for vehicle wheels, particularly the wheels of road vehicles.

5 It is mainly concerned with large commercial vehicles such as buses and lorries. In further aspects the invention relates to a vehicle having wheels fitted with such safety devices, and to a process of fitting the devices. 10 A conventional vehicle wheel has a number of mounting holes distributed around its axis. Threaded rods fast with the vehicle extend through these, and wheel nuts are screwed onto the ends of these rods, to keep the wheel in place. (Alternatively, screw bolts 15 could be passed through the mounting holes from the outside, to engage in threaded holes associated with the vehicle.) It is clearly of the highest importance that the nuts (or bolts) should be tightened firmly, and should not unscrew during use of the vehicle. Of course, 20 the wheels of a vehicle are subjected to a great deal of vibration, so loosening is an everpresent danger.

Fig. l is a schematic view of a wheel mounted on a commercial vehicle. In the central region, there is a circular array of eight wheel nuts lO with hexagonal 25 heads. Two of these are shown bearing a known type of

indicator device 12. This indicator device has the form of a brightly coloured plastic element with a splined hole dimensioned so that it can be pushed firmly over a wheel nut 10. The body of the device 12 is shaped like a S pointer. Thus devices 12 can be fitted to a pair of adjacent nuts 10 with the pointers in line. If there is any movement of any nut 10, this is visible at a glance, because its pointer can be seen to have moved out of alignment. 10 The present invention represents an improvement of this type of safety device. It provides a device which can have a similar indicating function, but which can also serve to reduce the likelihood that a nut (or bolt) will loosen. Thus it can be of use even for wheel 15 mountings that are not visible, e.g. being concealed beneath a decorative hub cap.

Thus the present invention provides a wheel safety device which has a first mounting portion for engaging a first wheel mounting element (such as a hexagonal nut), a 20 second mounting portion for engaging a second wheel mounting element, and a body portion which connects the two mounting portions.

The mounting portions are adapted to be mounted on the wheel mountings non-rota/ably, e.g. being formed like 25 spanners, with complementary hexagonal holes (or part

hexagonal openings) or, less desirably, being spliced.

Thus for one wheel mounting element to unscrew, it would have to turn the indicator device anti-clockwise. This is resisted by the fact that the other end of the safety 5 device is mounted on another mounting element.

Furthermore, the loosening direction of movement for one mounting element would tend to be tightening the connected mounting element.

The body portion may be of variable length, so that 10 different spacings of wheel mounting elements can be accommodated. This may involve a threaded shaft on one portion being received in a threaded opening in another portion. A turnbuckle arrangement may be employed, so that it is not necessary for one mounting portion to be 15 rotated. Alternatively, one body portion may be telescopically received in a cavity of the other. The body portions may be retained together, e.g. by a thin strap. The mounting portions may have central engagement 20 portions which are rotatable clockwise relative to the body of the device, but resist counter-rotation. Thus they can be rotated to align with a wheel mounting device to allow fitting, but resist unscrewing of the mounting device. A conventional ratchet-and-paw! arrangement can 25 be used for this.

t An embodiment of the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle wheel; and 5 Fig. 2 is a front view of a vehicle wheel safety device embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a safety device 20. This has a pair of like mounting portions 22,24, each having a hexagonal aperture 26 dimensioned to fit over a standard wheel nut.

10 The first mounting portion 22 is fast with a first body portion 28 which has a threaded bore 30 opening towards the second mounting portion 24. The second mounting portion 24 is fast with a second body portion 32 which is a rod with an external thread, engageable in the threaded 15 bore 30. Thus the spacing of the apertures 26 can be adjusted by screwing the rod 32 into or out of the aperture 30. When a suitable spacing has been arrived at, the device can be engaged over a pair of adjacent wheel nuts 10, as shown for a lower pair of nuts in Fig. 20 1. The device may be formed principally of metal for strength. The apertures may have plastic liners to facilitate force-fitting to wheel nuts without excessive force being required.

Claims

Claims

A wheel safety device which has a first mounting portion for engaging a first wheel mounting 5 element, a second mounting portion for engaging a second wheel mounting element, and a body portion which connects the two mounting portions, the mounting portions being such that the engagement of each mounting portion with a wheel mounting element is such as to resist relative 10 rotation, at least in the sense required for the mounting element to unscrew.
2. A device according to claim 1 in which the mounting portions have hexagonal or part-hexagonal openings for engaging hexagonal wheel nuts.

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3. A device according to claim 1 in which the mounting portions have splined openings.
4. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the body portion is of variable length, so that different spacings of wheel mounting elements can be 20 accommodated.
5. A device according to claim 4 wherein the body portion comprises a threaded shaft on a first portion which is received in a threaded opening in a second portion. s
6. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the mounting portions have central engagement portions which are rotatable clockwise relative to the body of the device, but resist counter-rotation.

5
7. A wheel safety device substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings.
8. A vehicle having a wheel mounted by means of a plurality of mounting elements, and a device according to 10 any preceding claim engaging two of the mounting elements.