JP6389784B2 - Amphibious tire rim assembly - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a tire rim assembly constituting a wheel used in an amphibious vehicle.

  Amphibious vehicles that enable surface and land travel are used as emergency vehicles, water rescue vehicles, disaster response vehicles, and the like.

  In such a vehicle, normal driving may be hampered or impossible due to the occurrence of a situation that may interfere with lifesaving or disaster response, such as air leaks associated with tire punctures (slow punctures). It is desirable to avoid this as much as possible. As a method for avoiding such a situation, for example, a tire rim assembly attached to an amphibious vehicle may be a non-punctured tire (solid tire) instead of a pneumatic tire.

  Conventionally, as an example of a no-puncture tire, a rim, a tire having an inner surface that defines an annular space around the rim, and an elastic closed cell that is disposed in the annular space and fills the annular space The thing provided with the foam of a type | mold has been proposed (refer patent document 1 mentioned later).

  According to this, even when the tire is cracked due to, for example, a foreign object sticking into the tire, the foam disposed in the tire does not cause air leakage as in a pneumatic tire. Thus, the various functions of the tire including the load support function are maintained, so that normal running on land can be maintained. Further, even if the cracks may be immersed in and in the foam, the water immersion in the closed-cell foam in the tire is not limited to a part of the surface area. Therefore, the function of imparting buoyancy to the amphibious vehicle of the tire when traveling on water is not lost.

  However, the conventional tire rim assembly related to the no-puncture tire is not sufficient in absorbing and mitigating impact caused by road surface unevenness generated when the vehicle travels on land. For this reason, although the conventional tire rim assembly allows normal travel of an amphibious vehicle on land, it is not sufficient in terms of ride comfort. Moreover, it cannot be said that the driving performance at high speed is sufficient.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-300426

  An object of the present invention is to provide a tire rim assembly that contributes to an improvement in riding comfort when an amphibious vehicle travels on land. Another object of the present invention is to provide a tire rim assembly that can improve the high-speed driving ability of an amphibious vehicle during land driving.

  A tire rim assembly for an amphibious vehicle according to the present invention includes a rim, a tire attached to the rim so as to be in airtight contact with the rim, and an inner surface defining an annular space around the rim, and the annular A foam having elasticity and extending in the circumferential direction of the tire and having a circumferential surface that is in airtight contact with the rim over the entire circumference and a surface that is at least partially in contact with the inner surface of the tire And a gap filled with a gas formed by supplying a gas between the inner surface of the tire and the surface of the foam and elastic deformation of the foam accompanying the supply of the gas.

  According to the present invention, an air-like gas that fills a gap formed between the foam disposed in the annular space defined by the tire in cooperation with the rim and the inner surface of the tire is air. Performs the same function as air in a tire. From this, the tire rim assembly according to the present invention gives a higher ride comfort to an amphibious vehicle to which the tire rim assembly is mounted than when a conventional no-puncture tire is mounted, and has a higher speed. Driving performance can be imparted.

  Further, when the gas in the tire flows out due to the puncture of the tire, and the gap disappears along with this, the surface of the foam is in contact with the entire inner surface of the tire and is elastic instead of the gas. The foam having the above has a load supporting function required for a tire. Thereby, the land driving | running | working of the amphibious vehicle in a puncture state can be maintained.

  Furthermore, the foam and the gas that fills the gap give buoyancy to the amphibious vehicle when traveling on the water, and contribute to the improvement of the water traveling performance of the amphibious vehicle. In the case where the foam is made of a closed-cell foam, when the tire is in a puncture state due to a crack generated in the foam, water entering the tire through the crack enters the foam. As a result of touching, the large number of bubbles constituting the closed-cell foam are independent of each other in a non-communication state, so that the water does not enter the closed-cell foam. For this reason, the loss of the buoyancy given to the amphibious vehicle when traveling on the water can be minimized.

1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a tire rim assembly for an amphibious vehicle. However, in order to avoid complication of the drawing, hatching that should be noted on the tire in the tire rim assembly is omitted.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a part of a tire rim assembly constituting a part of a wheel of an amphibious vehicle, particularly an amphibious vehicle (not shown) used as an emergency vehicle, a water rescue vehicle, a disaster countermeasure vehicle, etc. 10.

  The tire rim assembly 10 includes a rim 12, a tire 14 attached to the rim, an elastic foam 16, and a gap 34 filled with a gas described later. The tire 14 has an inner surface 20 that defines an annular space 18 around the rim 12, and the foam 16 is disposed in the annular space 18 and extends in the circumferential direction of the tire 14. More specifically, the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 is defined by an inner liner (not shown) attached to the tire 14.

  The illustrated tire 14 is disposed between a plurality of carcass 22 constituting the skeleton, a bead portion 24 that fixes both ends of the carcass 22, a tread portion 26 of the tire 14, and the carcass 22, and extends in the circumferential direction of the tire 14. And a plurality of belts 28 which are reinforcing bands. The tire 14 is in airtight contact with the bead sheet 12c between the flange 12a and the bump 12b of the rim 12 at the bead portion 24 thereof.

  The illustrated foam 16 includes a first portion 30 which is two different foams, and a second portion 32 which is fixed to the first portion 30 and covers the first portion. “Foam” broadly means a polymer foam, and in practice, a plastic foam (plastic foam) is used as the foam. Moreover, the kind of plastic for forming the said plastic foam is not ask | required.

  In the illustrated example, the first portion 30 and the second portion 32 constituting the foam 16 are respectively made of an ether-based polyurethane foam and ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM) (for example, manufactured by Bridgestone Corporation). (Everlite Moran (trademark)). These are all preferable because they are made of a closed-cell foam and hardly hydrolyze. Further, as another example of the first portion 30, instead of the closed cell type foam, an open cell type foam, for example, an ether type polyurethane foam may be used. In this example, the closed-cell second portion 32 prevents water from entering the open-cell first portion 30. Further, the first portion 30 may be made of ester polyurethane instead of the ether polyurethane. The foam body 16 can be constituted by a single body (foam body) instead of the illustrated example in which the foam body 16 is constituted by the two portions 30 and 32. In this case, the single foam is of the closed cell type, and preferably comprises the ether polyurethane foam or ethylene propylene diene rubber foam.

  The first portion 30 of the foam 16 is formed of an annular lump, and has a surface 30a facing the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 at a distance from the inner surface 20 and a cylindrical surface 30b continuous with the surface. The cylindrical surface 30 b surrounds a part of the rim 12, more specifically, spaced from a portion between the bumps 12 b of the rim 12.

  The surface 30a of the first portion 30 has a shape that follows or follows the curved shape of the inner surface 20 of the tire 14. Further, the cylindrical surface 30b of the first portion 30 is located outward (upward in the drawing) from the bead portion 24 of the tire 14 in the radial direction of the tire 14 (vertical direction in the drawing). For this reason, the surface 30 b is opposed to a part of the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 on the radially outer side of the bead portion 24 of the tire 14. Further, as a result, the foam 16 is placed and supported on the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 at both edges of the cylindrical surface 30 b of the first portion 30 and through the second portion 32. .

  On the other hand, the second portion 32 of the foam 16 is made of a curved plate-like body, and has a surface 32 a that faces the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 and a back surface 32 b that faces the surface 30 a of the first portion 30. The front surface 32a and the back surface 32b of the second portion 32 each have a form that follows or follows the curved form of the inner surface 20 of the tire 14. The surface 32a of the second portion 32 is in contact with the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 at least at a part thereof, that is, at a part or the whole thereof. Further, the back surface 32 b is in contact with the front surface 32 of the first portion 30. Both the first and second portions 30 and 32 are bonded to each other on the front surface 30a and the back surface 32b via an adhesive (not shown).

  The second portion 32 of the foam 16 also has a pair of peripheral surfaces (only one of which is shown) 32c connected to the front and back surfaces 32a, 32b. 12 and more specifically, it is in airtight contact with the bead sheet 12c. Specifically, the peripheral surface 32c is bonded to the bead sheet 12c via an adhesive (not shown).

  The foam 16 allows the supply of a gas, such as air, between the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 in contact with each other and the surface of the foam 16, more specifically the surface 32a of the second portion 32, and It has an elastic deformation performance that allows the formation of the gap 34 filled with gas. Since the gap 34 is defined by the tire 14 and the foam 16 that are in airtight contact with the rim 12, the gap 34 has airtightness. The gas can be supplied at a high pressure between the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 and the surface 32 a of the foam 16 through a valve (not shown) provided on the rim 12.

  When the gas-filled gap 34 is formed, the tire rim assembly 10 substantially constitutes a gas (air) -filled tire. Therefore, the tire rim assembly 10 to which the gas is supplied gives the amphibious vehicle to which the tire rim assembly 10 is mounted with relatively high riding comfort and relatively high speed running performance similar to the gas (air) tire. The gas also protects the foam 16 from its surroundings so that it does not rub against the inner surface 20 of the tire 14 when the amphibious vehicle is running on land, and acts to prevent a decrease in its durability. When the gas in the tire 14 flows out due to puncture of the tire 14 and the gap 34 disappears accordingly, the surface 32a of the foam 16 contacts the entire inner surface 20 of the tire. According to this, the foam 16 is elastically deformed in response to the unevenness on the road during the land running, and bears the load support function required for the tire 14. Thereby, the land running performance of the amphibious vehicle in a puncture state can be maintained. These riding comfort and running performance are useful for ensuring emergency response, quickness, safety, etc. particularly required for emergency vehicles, water rescue vehicles, disaster response vehicles, and the like.

  The gas that fills the foam 16 and the gap 34 gives buoyancy to the amphibious vehicle when traveling on the water, and contributes to the improvement of the traveling performance of the amphibious vehicle. When the foam 16 is made of the closed-cell foam, when the tire 14 is in a puncture state due to the crack, water entering the tire 14 through the crack touches the foam. At this time, the intrusion of water into the foam 16 does not reach the entirety, but remains on a part of the surface 32a. For this reason, the loss of the buoyancy given to the amphibious vehicle when traveling on the water is minimized.

  The foam 16 having a ring shape or a ring shape as a whole is arranged inside the tire 14 such that a plurality of pieces obtained by dividing the foam 16 into a plurality of portions in the circumferential direction thereof are in contact with each other. can do. At this time, an adhesive is applied in advance to the divided surface of each piece. Two pieces arranged in the tire and adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction are bonded to each other via the adhesive. Further, after applying an adhesive to the peripheral surface 32c of the second portion 32 of the foam 16, the tire 16 is mounted on the rim 12, so that the foam 16 is attached to the bead sheet 12c of the rim 12 on the peripheral surface 32c. It can be made to be airtight.

In order to impart the above-described running performance, riding comfort, etc. to the amphibious vehicle, the hardness of the first portion 30 of the bubble body 16 is preferably set to 190 to 570N. The hardnesses 190N and 570N are sizes that cause 75% strain when stresses of 600N and 1000N are applied to the first portion 30, respectively. Moreover, in order to provide such a hardness, the density of the first portion 30 is set to 60 to 70 kg / m ³ . Setting the density in this range is also preferable in that the buoyancy imparted to the amphibious vehicle when traveling on water can be made relatively large.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Tire rim assembly, 12 ... Rim, 14 ... Tire, 16 ... Foam, 18 ... Annular space, 20 ... Inner surface of tire, 30 ... No. of foam 1 part, 32 ... second part of the foam, 32a ... surface of the foam, 32c ... peripheral surface of the foam.

Claims (6)

With the rim,
A tire mounted on the rim so as to be in airtight contact therewith and having an inner surface defining an annular space around the rim;
An elastic foam that is disposed in the annular space and extends in the circumferential direction of the tire, and has a circumferential surface that is in airtight contact with the rim over its entire circumference, and a surface that is at least partially in contact with the inner surface of the tire. A foam having,
An amphibious vehicle including a gas-filled gap formed by supplying a gas between an inner surface of the tire and a surface of the foam and elastic deformation of the foam accompanying the supply of the gas Tire rim assembly. The foam comprises a first part made of open-cell or closed-cell foam and a second part made of closed-cell foam covering the first part;
The tire rim assembly according to claim 1, wherein the second portion defines a contact surface with respect to the rim and a contact surface with respect to an inner surface of the tire.   The tire rim assembly according to claim 2, wherein the first part of the foam is made of an ether-based polyurethane foam, and the second part is made of a polyurethane foam mainly composed of ethylene propylene diene rubber. The tire rim assembly according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first portion of the foam has a density of 47 to 53 Kg / m ³ .   The tire rim assembly according to claim 1, wherein the foam is a single closed-cell foam. The tire rim assembly according to claim 5 , wherein the foam is made of an ether-based polyurethane foam.

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