GB2622560A - Wheelwraps wheelcovers - Google Patents

Abstract

A device capable of being fitted to the wheel of a vehicle such as a pram, bicycle, golf trolley or similar with one hand. When fitted, the device, rather than the wheel makes contact with the ground or floor. Preferably the device comprises material 1 such as plastic or plastic-covered cloth adapted to be drawn around the wheel when the vehicle is not in use. The device may have means to retain the cover in place. Eyelets 2 and a nylon filament 3 may be used to raw and retain the device on the wheel. A further claim for a rigid disc or annulus shaped device of greater diameter than the wheel capable of being removably fitted to the wheel such that the wheel does not contact the ground or floor when fitted.

Description

Patent Specification

Many modern prams or pushchairs may be folded, making then easy to stow in vehicles, sometimes on the back seat, or to take into a building.

A problem with all such prams, however, is that in the course of their normal use in the street, the park or other places, their wheels may become contaminated with mud, chewing gum, phlegm, dog excrement, discarded food, bird droppings, and other unpleasant materials. Those contaminants may then be transferred into a vehicle or a house. Similar problems are encountered with children's bicycles, golf trolleys and the like, and my invention is intended to be equally applicable to them.

Conventional approaches to this problem are to ignore the problem, to try to avoid contamination, or to wash or wipe the wheels after use. Another solution has been the use of elasticated covers similar to shower caps, but these are time-consuming and fiddly to fit, and there is a tendency when fitting them for the hand to touch the tyre of the wheel to which such a device is being applied. This is particularly if one is attempting to fit them with one hand, as is often the case with prams.

The aim of this invention is to solve some or all of the above problems, while providing an effective and speedy means of avoiding the transfer of contamination from tyres to surfaces.

My invention consists of a device which is capable of being readily fitted into an operative position on the wheels of a pram, child's bicycle or other wheeled equipment, so that when fitted, it is the device, and not the potentially contaminated wheels which come into contact with carpets, car seats or other surfaces on which prams and other vehicles may be placed.

The device consists of a layer of material such as plastic, or plastic-coated cloth, which is adapted to be drawn around each wheel or wheels and fitted with a method of closure, so as to cover the tyre or tyres when the pram or other vehicle is not in use.

The attached Figure 1 illustrates the way of giving effect to the invention.

Figure 1 consists of a layer of flexible, waterproof material (1) with a series of eyelets (2) at its periphery containing drawing means whereby it may be laid around the wheel's tyre and drawn tight by means of a flexible nylon monofilament (3) provided at one end with a suitable fixing means shown, and the fixing means is in the nature of a cleat, into which the monofilament may be locked after being drawn tight. The use of a monofilament has the advantage of being sufficiently stiff enough to hold the device open, which enables it to be single-handedly slipped over a wheel or wheels before tightening it up. The use of tightening of this kind further insures that even if there is a fork that prevents the whole of the drawing rod from being located behind the wheel, it can still be pulled sufficiently tight to make it difficult or impossible to remove from the wheel.

Preferably, the device when removed from the wheel will be so configured that the outer periphery containing the drawing means is drawn into a smaller diameter than the ring of textile or the like to which it is fitted. In this way the device will in its unfitted state be somewhat bag-shaped, rather than flat, which will make it easier to slip one-handed onto a wheel, and also to contain any detritus removed from the wheel for ease of emptying

Claims (4)

1. What I claim is: I. A device which is capable of being readily fitted with one hand into an operative position on the wheels of a pram, bicycle, golf trolley or the like, so that when in such an operative position, it is the device, and not the potentially contaminated parts of the wheels which come into contact with carpets, car seats or other surfaces on which such vehicles may be placed after use.
2. 2. A device in which the device consists of a layer of material such as plastic or plastic-coated cloth, which is adapted to be drawn around the wheel or wheels when the vehicle is not in use and which is provided with covering means so as to cover those parts of the tyre which might otherwise contact and contaminate other surfaces, and with holding means to retain the cover in place.
3. 3. A device in which the device consists of a disc or annulus of greater diameter than the vehicle wheel to which it is intended to be fitted, arid is provided with fixing means to enable it to be removably fitted to the vehicle wheel, such disc and such fixing means having sufficient rigidity to prevent contact between contaminated parts of the wheel and a surface upon which the vehicle is laid
4. 4. A method of protecting surfaces such as carpets or car seats from contamination by contact with the wheels of prams and the like, by the use of the device claimed above.