US3007741A

US3007741A - Dual-tire rims

Info

Publication number: US3007741A
Application number: US799793A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wallace M Brown
Original assignee: Pacific Car and Foundry Co
Current assignee: Paccar Inc
Priority date: 1959-03-16
Filing date: 1959-03-16
Publication date: 1961-11-07
Anticipated expiration: 1978-11-07

Description

Nov. 7, 1961 w. M. BROWN DUAL-TIRE RIMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16, 1959 INVENTOR. WALLMI E M. BRGWN HTTURNE Y5 W. M. BROWN DUAL-TIRE RIMS Nov. 7, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 16, 1959 INVENTOR. WALLACE M. BROWN f-H'TORNEYS 3,907,741 DUAL-THEE RIMS Wallace M. Brown, Seattle, Wash, assignor to Pacific Car and Foundry Company, Seattle, Wash, a corporation of Washington Filed Mar. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 799,793 4 Claims. (Cl. 3431-13) This invention relates to improvements in the mounting of dual-tire rims, and particularly multiple-piece rims of that t pe known in the automotive industry as earthmover rims.

Eanthmover rims, as generally produced, are comprised of separate rims for the inner and for the outer of the wheels dual tires, the two rims being separated by a spacer sleeve and each such rim including an inner integral gutter portion against the end face of which the spacer sleeve bears. The two gutters are each internally flared with the smaller diameter being in each instance innermost. The vehicle wheel on which the rim is to be mounted presents a cylindrical surface of rather long axial extent terminating at the inner end in a shoulder flared in correspondence with the flare of the inner rims gutter portion. In mounting the rims the procedure is to first feed the inner rim onto the wheel and bring the flaring face of its gutter against said flared shoulder of the wheel, whereupon the spacer sleeve is applied, followed by the outer rim. The distance from the flared shoulder of the outer of these applied rims to the exposed face of the wheel is quite a considerable distance, commonly varying with diflerent overall widths as between inner extrerne tire edge and outer extreme tire edge from a minimum of 6%." to a maximum of 9%. In securing the rims in place the practice heretofore has been to employ a cylindrical wedge band of a width moderately exceeding this said distance and having a nose tapered in correspondence with the taper of the outer rims tapered hub, slipping this ring onto the outer portion of the wheel to bring such nose against the tapered hub, and then cinching the band by the use of clamping nuts and lugs engaging the front face of the ring at spaced intervals of the circumference, the nuts working on wheel-carried studs.

There are several major objections to the use of a cylindrical ring as a means of securing the dual-tire rims in place. One such objection lies in the fact that its annular nose is incapable of exerting a substantially uniform thrust to the bearing hub of the rim throughout the entire circumference of the latter. Another major objection is that a cylindrical ring tends to freeze upon the cylindrical surface of the wheel over which it is applied and makes for difliculty in removal. A still further and particularly serious objection is that the use of a cylindrical wedge band demands a fairly considerable space between the outer surface thereof and the inner surface of the rim so that the two will not become so bound in use as to preclude the ring from being backed off when removal is required, and the consequence of leaving this said space between ring and rim is that the rim, in use, becomes subject to considerable radial deflection under stress of road impact before finding bottoming engagement against the band. The incidence of breakage has been very high.

The present invention proposes to provide a mounting for earthmover rims which overcomes all of the enumerated objections and which has the further advantage of assuring an unusually strong and serviceable mounting instrumentality which can be manufactured with economy in material and which requires no change in the construction either of existing wheels or of existing rims.

With these and still additional objects and advantages in view, the invention consists in the novel construction hired rates i atent all) and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section portraying clamp structure embodying teachings of the present invention applied in mounting a standard dualtired rim on a standard earthmover wheel.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view drawn to an enlarged scale on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail perspective view showing one of the segmental clamping members of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 portraying a modified form of clamp structure.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view drawn to an enlarged scale on line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a detail perspective view showing one of the modified clamping tongues which are illustrated in FIG. 4.

Referring to said drawings, the numeral 1% indicates a conventional earthmover wheel having its external surface substantially cylindrical excepting for the provision, at the inner end, of a peripheral collar ll merging with the cylindrical surface by a flaring shoulder 12.

The frontal face of the wheel is necked down at the periphery to present an exposed circumferential rabbet l3, and at equidistant intervals of the circumference the floor of this rabbet is bored and tapped to accommodate a plurality of threaded studs 14- arranged to receive clamping nuts 15.

Designated generally by 17 and 13, respectively, the rim assembly for the inner tire and the rim assembly for the outer the are commonly each a composite affair with the parts connected by welding and excepting that the same are reversely applied so that gutters 2d and 21, respectively, of these rim assemblies each occur at the inside, one in facing relation to the other, and thus have the flared internal surface 22; of the former directed inwardly toward and the flared internal surface 23 of the latter directed outwardly from the vehicle frame, the. two rim assemblies are or may be identical in construction. The sleeve 24 which is arranged to be introduced as a spacer between the two gutters 2t? and 21 bears against faces 25 of the gutters, and the ends of the gutters opposite these bearing faces present a circumferential ledge 26. A cylindrical sleeve 27 of quite considerable length seats by its inner end upon this ledge and has its outer end seated on a similar ledge 23 provided by a wing section 2%. An outer side flange 31 for the rim assembly bears against an upstanding rim 32 provided by the wing section. An inner side flange 33 beru's against a split bead seat band 34 removably applied to the rim assembly at the inner end thereof. A split locking ring 35 holds this band 34 against lateral displacement.

it will be apparent from arr inspection of the drawings that the flared internal surface 22 of the inner rim gutter 2% seats upon the flaring shoulder 12 of the Wheel, and that the length of the wheel between said shoulder and the facing rabbet 13 very appreciably exceeds the span between the two gutters. The flared internal surface 23 of the outer rim gutter 21 thus is removed inwardly a material distance from this rabbet.

According to the present invention, and in lieu of the cylindrical wedge band which has heretofore been slipped over the wheel and pressed inwardly against said flared surface 23 of the rim gutter as a means of cinching the rim in place, the present invention provides a plurality of segmental clamp members. I have shown two embodiments thereof with the one illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, and the other illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 6.

First considering the former said embodiment, each said clamp member is angular in shape with one leg 40 thereof being quite short and the other leg 4-1 being quite long.

These two legs will hereinafter be termed heel and tongue sections, respectively. Considered in more particularity, said tongue 41 has a length moderately exceeding the length of that portion of the wheel which projects beyond the flared surface 23 of the outer rim gutter Z1, and upon the inner end thereof presents a nose 42 sloped in exact correspondence with the flare of said surface 23. The inner surface of said tongue is sectionally concave so as to fit more or less snugly against the cylindrical external surface of the wheel. The heel section 46 of said clamp member has a length approximating the depth of the rabbet, considered along a radius of the Wheel, and a hole 44 is drilled therethrough in position to register with and receive a threaded stud I'ld therethrough. A nut 15 applied to the stud self-evidently exerts clamping pressure through the tongue of the clamp member to the outer rim gutter. Each clamp member has its heel section undercut, as at 46, to present a lip overhanging the nose prolongation 16 of the wheel, and the purpose thereof is to accommodate a pry-bar should need therefor arise in freeing the clamping member from its wedged engagement with the rim.

As will be seen from the drawings, the tongue of each clamp member is somewhat thickened at its root point of juncture with the heel section so as to resist bending deformation as between the tongue and the heel as clamping pressure is exerted from nut 15 upon the heel member. The shoulder 47 produced by this thickening closely underlies the sleeve section 27 of the rim 38, leaving little more than bare tolerance therebetween. The clearance which this tolerance provides is such as will permit free introduction of the tongue to and Withdrawal of the tongue from the interstice between wheel and rim, but it is important that the clearance be held to a minimum in that it provides a bottoming stop substantially preeluding that portion of the rim which overhangs the wheel from being deflected in any substantial degree Proceeding now to describe the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4, and 6, it will be seen that, for each clamping member, a functioning counterpart Stl of the heel section is made a separate piece from the tongue 51. No need thus arises to unduly thicken the outer end although the significant provision of little more than bare tolerance between such outer end of the tongue and the rims surrounding sleeve section 52 is necessarily retained. As with the tongues 41, each tongue 51 presents at its inner end a nose 53 sloped in exact correspondence with the flare of a surface 54 provided by a gutter section 55 of the rim, and has its underside, considered in end elevation, formed to a concave configuration snugly fitting the cylindrical external surface of the wheel 56. The outer end of the tongue projects Well beyond the outer face of the wheel, and two holes 57 spaced apart transversely at opposite sides of the longitudinal median line of the tongue pierce such projecting portion and are adapted to selectively receive the levered end of a pry-bar for freeing the tongue from its wedged engagement with the gutter of the rim. Provision of two holes selectively employed insures a ready disengagement of a tongue in the event that the same should become unduly bound in that the wedge bond can be broken first by rocking one side and then the other side in the initial extraction of the tongue. A transverse incised notch having a V-shape in profile, with the outer wall disposed normal or approximately normal to the plane of the tongues underside, can perforce be provided on the underside of the tongue in lieu of the holes 57 It is thought that the advantages of the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of the illustrated embodiments. Minor changes in the details of construction will suggest themselves and may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, wherefore it is my intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be iven a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed language admits.

What I claim is:

1. in the described mounting of dual rims upon a wheel of the earthmover type presenting upon its periphery a cylindrical surface of extended length terminating at the inner end in a flared shoulder, said rims being axially separated by a spacer sleeve and, excepting for gutters at the facing ends and against which the spacer sleeve bears, having an internal diameter substantially greater than the diameter of said cylindrical surface and generally parallelin the latter, the gutter of the rim which lies to the inside having its internal surface flared in mating correspondence with said flared shoulder of the wheel so as to bear against the shoulder, the gutter of the outer rim having its internal surface correspondingly flared but reversely directed so as to face outwardly, said last-named gutter, when the rims with the spacing sleeve are applied to the wheel, being removed inwardly from the frontal face of the wheel a distance which approximates at least half the width of the parent rim, the combination with the rims and the wheel, means for securing said rims to the wheel comprising a set of clamp members applied to said wheel at equidistantly spaced intervals of the circumference and each comprising a tongue seating upon the perimeter of the Wheel with its inner end bearing against the flared internal surface of the last-named gutter and its outer end exposed beyond the frontal face of the wheel, and a respective means for clamping each of the tongues taking its purchase from the Wheel and acting to force the tongue inwardly against the concerned gutter, said tongues other than for their engagement with the gutter being spaced from the internal surface of the outer rim throughout the entire length of the tongue and being characterized in that the spacing is, however, so minor at least at the extreme outer end of the tongue that a bottoming stop is produced substantially precluding that portion of the rim which overhangs the wheel from being deflected to any discernible degree, radial to the wheel axis, as the tire mounted on said outer rim travels over rocks and other irregularities commonly encountered along the edge of a roadway in which the earthmover is being Worked, the exposed portion of each tongue presenting a means accommodating a pry-bar to facilitate removal of the tongue.

2. Structure according to claim 1, the front face of the wheel presenting a shoulder disposed approximately parallel with the rotary axis of the Wheel and facing outwardly, the exposed portions of said tongues each having at least one hole piercing the same and serving to accommodate a pry-bar for removing the tongue, the clamping means comprising, for each tongue, a respective lug disposed radially of the wheel with its inner end bearing in the corner angle defined between said outwardly facing shoulder and the front face of the wheel and its outer end bearing against the outer end of the tongue, clamping pressure being exerted on said lug intermediate said bearing points by a nut-and-bolt combination drawing the lug toward the frontal face of the wheel.

3. Structure according to claim 1 in which the underside of each tongue presents a concave configuration when viewed from the end providing an exact mating fit with the surface of the wheel on which it seats.

4. Structure according to claim 1, said means for clamping the tongues comprising respective lugs disposed radial to the wheel with the inner end of each fulcrumed to the frontal face of the wheel and the outer end leveraged against the outer end of the related tongue by a clamping nut working on the exposed end of a stud threaded into the wheel, the wheel providing a shoulder against which said inner end of the lug bears to localize the lug relative to the wheel.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Clausen Nov. 4, 1924 Swain July 27, 1926 5 Martin Dec. 25, 1928 Brunner Dec. 22, 1931 6 Woodward June 6, 1933 Burger Aug. 22, 1933 Sauzedde Mar. 17, 1936 Walther Oct. 16, 1956 Powers Jan. 29, 1957 Fahlman et a1. Ian. 7, 1958 Brink Feb. 24, 1959