JPH0672702U - tire chain - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Purpose] To provide a tire chain that is basically made of metal, but is extremely easy to mount as compared with conventional ones, and has excellent durability and light weight. [Structure] The chain inner member 1 has a certain degree of shape retention and a certain degree of flexibility, and the chain outer members 6 and 7 are composed of two ropes divided into approximately half circumferences. The chain inner member is turned into the inside of the tire to be mounted, and the vicinity of both ends thereof is lifted up from the outside of the tire, and the hooks 4 and 5 at both ends of the chain inner member are connected to each other in a generally conventional manner of the tire. Hooks 8 to 11 are provided at both ends of the two ropes of the chain outer member, and short ropes 12 are attached to the hooks at both ends of the one rope. Each of the short ropes is wound around the hooks to be connected several times, and then the tip rings 13 and 15 are hooked on the one hook.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a tire chain, and more particularly to a metal tire chain that is easy to install and has excellent durability.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, various tire chains have been proposed. In recent years, rubber and net-shaped tire chains have been developed, but considering the grip performance when traveling on an icy road, there is nothing better than metal tire chains.

Since the manufacture of spiked tires has been totally prohibited in Japan recently, studless tires have come into widespread use as winter tires. Since studless tires are inherently inferior in grip performance on icy roads, their rubber compounds have been improved in order to improve this performance, but it is possible to obtain sufficient grip performance especially when climbing uphill on icy roads. Can not. Therefore, it is expected that it will become common sense to use studless tires together with a tire chain depending on the road surface condition in future winter road surface running. The most suitable method of using such a tire chain is a metal tire chain that has excellent grip performance on a frozen road.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, the biggest drawback of conventional metal tire chains is that they are difficult to attach to automobile tires, and it takes several minutes to ten minutes, and sometimes tens of minutes, for one tire to be worn by an unfamiliar user. was there.

One of the reasons why the conventional metal tire chain has been difficult to mount is that the work of connecting both ends of the inner chain, which is mounted in a ring shape inside the tire, is extremely difficult. . That is, if you want to install a tire chain without jacking up the wheels, you must first connect both ends of the inner chain, but there is only a small gap between the tire house of the car and the wheel, It was extremely difficult to connect both ends of the inner chain by putting a hand between them, and the posture at the time of mounting was quite unreasonable, and the hands and clothes were often soiled.

For the purpose of facilitating the connecting work of both ends of the inner chain, for example, this connecting work is performed on the outer side of the tire, and then the entire tire chain is attached from the outer side of the tire so as to cover the tire. Made tire chains are also proposed. This type of tire chain seems to be easy to install, but the inner chain will be installed near the outer diameter of the tire, so the inner chain will come into contact with the ground during driving, and the inner chain caused by frictional heat will There is a great possibility that this will result in early disconnection. If the inner chain is cut, the cut end not only damages the vehicle body such as the tire house, but also has a great risk of being entangled with the axle and making it impossible to run or hindering braking. Therefore, in practice, after covering the entire tire chain with the tire and turning the inner chain inside the tire, additional means for tightening the inner chain to reduce the diameter in its installed state is required. On the contrary, the installation becomes troublesome.

Since the work of connecting both ends of the outer chain can be performed on the outside of the tire, there is no difficulty as in the work of connecting both ends of the inner chain described above. However, a considerable amount of force is required to connect both ends of the outer chain, and the excess tip after connection is fixed near the connection part or a rubber band for tightening is used. It was necessary to use fingertips for work such as wearing, and it was quite difficult in severe cold.

Further, the tightening force (centripetal force) due to the rubber band does not actually perform the tightening action when the vehicle is running at a certain speed, because the rubber band is stretched by losing the centrifugal force caused by the wheel rotation. For this reason, if the tire chain is not attached with a considerable amount of binding force from the beginning, regardless of whether the rubber band is attached or not, the tire chain will float up from the tire during running and will spin around, resulting in loss of the desired grip force. Will end up. However, due to the various circumstances described above, it was very difficult to mount the conventional metal tire chain with necessary and sufficient binding force.

Further, the conventional metal tire chain can be used only in a specific size corresponding to the tire size, and there is a problem that the applicability to the tire size is poor.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 Therefore, the present inventor has conducted research and experimentation in view of the above problems in the conventional metal tire chain, and as a result, the inside member of the chain is provided with a certain degree of shape retention and a certain degree of flexibility, so that Mounting is facilitated and the outer member of the chain is divided into two parts, and by connecting the two connecting ends while tightening with a rope, it is possible to easily install with a slight force and tightening after mounting. The inventors have found that it is possible to eliminate the need for additional tightening work, and have completed the present invention.

That is, the present invention provides a chain inner member to be annularly mounted on the inside of a tire, a chain outer member to be annularly mounted to the outside of a tire, and a space between the chain inner member and the chain outer member. In a tire chain consisting of a large number of metal grounding members that are connected to each other at a required interval, (1) The chain inner member has some shape retention and some flexibility, A hook member is attached, and both ends of the chain inner member, which has been turned inside the tire to be mounted, are lifted from the outside of the tire to connect the inner hook members to each other substantially above the tire. And the chain inner member is attached to the chain inner member, and (2) the chain outer member is composed of two outer members which are divided into substantially half circles. First and second outer hooking members are attached to both ends of the outer member, and third and third outer hooking members to be opposed to the first and second outer hooking members, respectively, at both ends of the other outer member. No. 4 outer hooking member is attached, and one end of each of the first and third outer hooking members and one of the second and fourth outer hooking members has a loop-like tip end. A member is attached, and the rope-shaped member is wound around the first and third outer hooking members and the second and fourth outer hooking members several times, and then the end ring-shaped portion of the rope-like member is wound on one outer side. The tire chain is characterized in that the chain outer member is mounted by being hooked on a hooking member.

[0012]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 shows a deployed state of a tire chain according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The chain inner member 1 has a required shape-retaining property (that is, a shape similar to a mounted state even when left unfolded, that is, a ring-shaped or arch-shaped property) and required flexibility. (That is, the flexibility that can be bent relatively easily by applying a comparatively slight force while having the above-mentioned original shape), for example, one or several A steel wire having a diameter of 2 to 3 mm and one lead steel wire can be used in parallel. Alternatively, if 5 to 10, for example, 7 piano steel wires having a diameter of about 1.5 to 2.0 mm are combined to form the chain inner member 1, the required shape retention and the required shape retention intended by the present invention are obtained. It is particularly preferable because it has both flexibility and exhibits excellent effects in strength and durability. Reference numeral 2 denotes a tube made of metal or synthetic resin (for example, urethane or vinyl chloride) of a certain length, which encloses the chain inner member 1 in a parallel arrangement to protect it from contact with the outside and corrosion, and It acts as a spacer for the ground member 3. As described above, if the chain inner member 1 is composed of a plurality of wires, the function as the chain inner member is impaired even if one of them is cut due to metal fatigue or other causes. Since the cut wire is also stored inside the protective tube 2, the risk that the cut end is swung around and the vehicle body is damaged due to wheel rotation is avoided. Hooks 4 and 5 that can be locked to each other are fixed to both ends of the chain inner member 1.

The chain outer member is composed of two ropes 6 and 7 of substantially equal length. These ropes may be synthetic fiber ropes such as nylon used for general cargo handling, and it has been confirmed that such ropes have sufficient durability to be used as a chain outer member. Hooks 8 and 9 are fixed to both ends of one rope 6, and similar hooks 10 and 11 are fixed to both ends of the other rope 7. The hooks 8 and 9 are associated with relatively short ropes 12 and 14 having ring-shaped tips 13 and 15, respectively. The short ropes 12 and 14 are tied to the hooks 8 and 9 so as not to be easily detached, but if they are pulled with a certain amount of force or more, they can be pulled out through the gap between the hooks 8 and 9. It is easy to replace when damaged. The short length ropes 12 and 14 may be of the same quality as the ropes 6 and 7, but it is preferable that they have a slightly smaller diameter in order to facilitate mounting work. For example, nylon ropes having a diameter of about 8 mm are used as the ropes 6 and 7, and nylon ropes having a diameter of about 5.5 mm are used as the short ropes 12 and 14.

The two divided outer members of the chain are not limited to the rope made of a fiber material, and may be made of the same steel wire as that of the inner member 1 of the chain. In order to improve the property, it is preferable to use the rope as in this embodiment.

A large number of chain grounding members 3 are connected between the chain inner member 1 and the chain outer members (ropes) 6 and 7 at a required interval. Although the chain grounding members 3 arranged in a ladder shape are shown in the present embodiment, they may be arranged in a hexagonal shape or other arrangement state.

A method of mounting the tire chain configured as described above will be described below. First, the tire chain is turned inside the tire 20 (FIG. 2) to be mounted. Since the chain inner member 1 is formed of a steel wire having a certain shape-retaining property, it retains its original shape, that is, a shape close to a ring even in the deployed state. Since the two ropes 6 and 7 constituting the outer member of the chain can be freely bent and bent, the arrangement state of the tire chain as a whole at this stage depends on the shape or the arrangement state of the chain inner member. In other words, the tire chain is in a state in which the lower side of the axle (not shown) of the wheel is apex and both sides thereof are deployed in a substantially semicircular shape toward the outside of the wheel. Therefore, in this state, since both ends of the chain inner member 1 are located laterally (in the forward or backward direction of the vehicle) or outside of the tire 20, the portions near both ends of the chain inner member 1 can be easily moved upward with both hands. Can be lifted to. Then, by utilizing the required flexibility of the steel wire of the chain inner member 1, the portions near both ends of the lifted chain inner member 1 are passed through the gap between the tire 20 and the tire house (not shown). , Pulling the tire 20 outward. At this time, the substantially central portion of the chain inner member 1 located below the tire 20 abuts the axle of the wheel, but due to its flexibility, it easily bends into an elliptical shape. Can be positioned substantially above the tire 20, and the hooking work can be easily performed while visually checking.

After hooking the hooks 4 and 5 at both ends of the chain inner member 1 in this way, the chain outer member is connected. First, above the tire 20, the hook 8 at one end of the rope 6 and the hook 11 at one end of the rope 7 are connected using the short rope 12 connected to the hook 8. For more details, hook the short rope 12 on the hook 11 on the opposite side, hook it on the hook 8 to which it is tied, and repeat this several times as many times as necessary to wind it between the hooks 8 and 11. 13 is passed through either one of these hooks 8 and 11 to be hooked. The same work is performed below the tire 20 between the hook 9 at the other end of the rope 6 and the hook 10 at the other end of the rope 7 by winding the short rope 14 and hooking the annular tip 15 thereof. .

With the above, the mounting of the tire chain is completed. FIG. 2 shows a mounted state. For short length ropes 12 and 14, it is usually enough to make a few turns between the hooks. According to the experiment, even a person who has never worn a tire chain in the past can wear it for about 10 to 20 seconds, which is extremely short compared to a conventional metal tire chain. It was confirmed that it could be worn in time. Further, in the case of the tire chain of the present invention, by using the short length ropes 12 and 14, it is possible to give a sufficient tightening force even with a comparatively small force, so that another means (for example, a rubber band) is used after mounting. There is almost no need to further tighten the tightening force or tighten the tightening force after traveling a certain distance. Furthermore, because the inner member of the chain is made of a material that has some shape retention and some flexibility, it is extremely easy to connect both ends of the chain, but the inner diameter of the chain is sufficiently large compared to the tire diameter. Since it can be mounted on the side, it does not touch the road surface while traveling, and durability can be improved.

The tire chain of the present invention is easy to remove. That is, contrary to the case of the above-mentioned mounting, first, the short ropes 12 and 14 are detached from the hooks 8, 11 and 9, 10 to release the connected state of the ropes 6 and 7, which are the outer members of the chain, and then the inner side of the chain. It suffices to lift the member 1 as a whole upward so that the connecting portions of the hooks 4 and 5 at both ends thereof are located above the tire, and the hooked state between the hooks 4 and 5 is released. It is advisable to use a short rope 12 of a prominent color such as red or yellow, or to premark it appropriately. In this way, when the vehicle is stopped at a position where the short rope 12 is substantially above the tire and the tire chain is removed, when the outer ropes 6 and 7 are removed, the hook connecting portion of the chain inner member is removed. Is located substantially above the tire, which makes it easier to remove the hooks 4 and 5.

In this embodiment, a new structure is also adopted for the grounding member 3 of the chain. The grounding members of conventional metal tire chains are generally made by connecting iron chains in series.However, such chain grounding members are extremely uncomfortable due to the extremely great vibration and noise when running on a snow-free road surface. Not only was the road surface damaged severely, but it also suffered from poor durability when running on snow-free road surfaces at a speed of, for example, about 50 km / hour, breaking at tens of kilometers. Further, metal fatigue occurs at the connecting portion of the chain grounding member, and there is a problem in durability in this respect as well. The structure of the chain grounding member proposed in this embodiment solves these problems all at once, and as shown in FIG. 3, each grounding member 3 includes one core member having a relatively small diameter. 16 is surrounded by a protection spring 17, and a large number of ring members 18 are arranged on the outer side of the protection spring 17 in a substantially close contact state.

The core material 16 is made of, for example, a steel wire having a diameter of about 3 mm. The protection spring 17 is capable of expanding and contracting in the lengthwise direction and is excellent in flexibility, so that as shown in FIG. 2, a good contact state is secured along the radial circumferential surface of the tire and unevenness of the road surface is ensured. Also exhibits excellent followability. The protection spring 17 is obtained, for example, by winding flat steel having a width of about 2 to 3 mm and a thickness of about 0.5 to 1 mm in a spiral shape so that the outer diameter is about 5 to 6 mm. By using flat steel, a substantially flat outer peripheral surface can be provided, and undesired friction with the ring member 18 during traveling is avoided. The ring member 18 can be easily obtained by cutting a coil spring wound with a round steel wire for each turn, but preferably, the joints in each ring member 18 are solidly joined together without any discrepancy. It has a perfect ring-like shape, which provides a good friction relationship with the protective spring 17. The outer diameter of the ring member 18 is about 10 mm, and a gap of about 0.2 to 0.5 mm exists between the ring member 18 and the protection spring 17.

When the chain grounding member 3 having such a configuration is used, as a result of an experimental run, practical use is not impaired even when running on a snow-free road surface for 600 km or more at a speed of about 60 km / hour, and extremely durable. It was confirmed to be excellent. This is because the members that are in direct contact with the road surface are composed of a large number of ring members 18 that can move independently and are arranged in a non-connected state. Metal fatigue does not accumulate. In addition, in the chain grounding member 3, since the elasticity and flexibility of the intermediate coil spring 17 allows the individual ring members 18 to have a large degree of freedom of movement and can follow unevenness on the road surface, Even when traveling on a snowy road surface, the road surface is hardly damaged. Further, even when traveling on a frozen road surface, the individual ring members 18 independently move while exhibiting the road surface condition and exert a grip force, so that the same performance as or better than that of a conventional metal chain is exerted. .

[0023]

[Effect of the Invention] The tire chain of the present invention is extremely easy to install, yet has excellent grip performance on ice and snow roads, improved durability, and is lightweight and easy to handle. Further, since it is easy to replace each assembly constituting the tire chain, the life can be further extended by replacing the damaged assembly, which is extremely excellent in practical effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a developed state of a tire chain according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state where the tire chain is attached to a tire.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a configuration of a grounding member of this tire chain.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Chain inner member 2 Protective tube 3 Grounding member 4 Hook 5 Hook 6 Chain outer member (rope) 7 Chain outer member (rope) 8 Hook 9 Hook 10 Hook 11 Hook 12 Short rope 13 Ring-shaped tip 14 Short rope 15 Ring-shaped tip 16 core Material 17 Protective spring 18 Ring member 20 Tire

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 25, 1991

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A chain inner member to be annularly mounted on the inside of a tire, a chain outer member to be annularly mounted on the outside of a tire, and a required space between the chain inner member and the chain outer member. In a tire chain composed of a plurality of metal grounding members arranged and connected, (1) the chain inner member has a certain degree of shape retention and a certain degree of flexibility, and inner hook members are attached to both ends thereof. The chain inner member, which has been turned into the inside of the tire to be mounted, is lifted from the outside of the tire near both ends of the chain inside member to connect the inside hooking members to each other substantially above the tire to form the chain inside member. (2) The chain outer member is composed of two outer members divided into approximately half circumferences. And a second outer hooking member, and third and fourth outer hooking members to be opposed to the first and second outer hooking members, respectively, are attached to both ends of the other outer member. A rope-shaped member having a ring-shaped tip is attached to one of the first and third outer retaining members and one of the second and fourth outer retaining members. By winding the strip-shaped member around the first and third outer hooking members and the second and fourth outer hooking members several times, and then hooking the end ring portion thereof to one outer hooking member. A tire chain characterized in that it is configured to mount an outer member of the chain.