WO2006018566A1

WO2006018566A1 - Device for reproducing driving conditions on a slippery road for a wheeled vehicle method for assembling said device

Info

Publication number: WO2006018566A1
Application number: PCT/FR2005/050589
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jérôme Vassia
Original assignee: Vassia Jerome
Priority date: 2004-07-23
Filing date: 2005-07-18
Publication date: 2006-02-23
Also published as: EP1778505A1; FR2873327B1; WO2006018566A8; FR2873327A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (D) for reproducing driving conditions on a slippery road for a vehicle (K) provided with wheels (R) comprising a removable belt thread fixable to one or several wheels (R) of the vehicle (K) whose adhesion power is less than that of the wheels (R) of the vehicle (K). A method for assembling the inventive device (D) on a wheel (R) provided with a tyre. Said invention is used for mechanical sports and for training to drive in adhesion-loss conditions.

Description

DEVICE FOR REPRODUCING THE CONDITIONS OF A SLIDING SURFACE DRIVE FOR A WHEELED VEHICLE

ITS MOUNTING METHOD

FIELD OF APPLICATION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of wheeled vehicles and adaptations allowing for playful or educational reasons to reproduce for said vehicles the driving conditions that can be encountered for example on a slippery road. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In the field of leisure or motor sports such as kart racing, there are several solutions to reproduce the loss of grip and driving sensations due to a slippery road. Thus, for example, a first solution is to humidify the track equipped with a conventional coating.

A second solution is to make a track using a sliding coating.

The first solution allows from a conventionally coated track to reproduce punctually conditions of a slippery track for drivers. Nevertheless, this solution is particularly messy for both drivers and for the vehicle or vehicles that must be immobilized for cleaning which is a shortfall.

The second solution avoids cleaning problems but does not allow to use the track thus produced for a conventional driving corresponding to a dry coating with normal adhesion making the commercial operation of the track limited.

Apart from the field of leisure and motor sports, it can be particularly interesting in the context of learning to conduct to teach the driver the behavior he must adopt or that his vehicle will adopt in conditions where the grip ground is limited. In this particular field of training in driving, there are devices of the wheel rack type such as that described in French Patent No. FR 2680593 on which are installed the rear wheels making the vehicle almost uncontrollable especially during a vehicle. braking phase. If this device punctually illustrates the conditions that the driver might encounter in the event of loss of control of his vehicle during braking, it can not be used over a long distance or as part of a motor sport. Indeed, the interposition of the wheeled supports makes the driving of such a vehicle particularly far from a real driving.

In the field of tires, it appears in the prior art that all the modifications that can receive or undergo the wheel or the tire possibly associated with the wheel are in the direction of improving the adhesion qualities or efficiency of the wheels relative to a given surface. For example, the document CA 2 013 777 proposes a reduced friction removable tread for mountain bikes tires in order to authorize the use of a mountain bike with a good performance on a conventional road surface. road type. Indeed, the use of tires said all terrain on a substantially smooth surface of tar type defines a very high coefficient of friction that can be reduced without reducing the adhesion power through the use of different treads.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Based on this fact, the applicant has conducted research which led to the design of a device for reproducing conditions of loss of adhesion for a wheeled vehicle that could be used as well. in a playful or sporty setting than as part of an apprenticeship.

According to the main characteristic of the invention, the

the device making it possible to reproduce the conditions of slippery surface driving for a wheeled vehicle is remarkable in that it consists of a removable tread that attaches to one or more wheels of the vehicle and whose power of adhesion is lower than that offered by the wheels of the vehicle.

This characteristic is particularly advantageous in that it makes it possible to reproduce for a wheeled vehicle the driving conditions that the driver might encounter, either in the event of loss of grip due for example to wheel wear or in the case of a road slip coating. wet, icy, etc.

Of course, the difference in the adhesion of the removable tread with that of said wheels on which it is installed, is assessed in relation to a same coating, the purpose of the invention being in particular to reproduce the loss of adhesion of a vehicle without changing the coating.

By providing a retractable tread, the installation of the device of the invention can be achieved without long immobilization of the vehicle. This feature is particularly interesting in the context of a fun use of the device of the invention on vehicles such as karts that can be used interchangeably with or without the device of the invention without requiring special preparation or immobilization of vehicles to offer races under normal conditions or races with lower grip conditions. In addition, the device reproduces the same type of contact between the retractable tread and the road that already existing between the wheel and the road. Consequently, the device of the invention makes it possible to better reproduce the situations of loss of adhesion than the devices of the prior art without modifying the coating on which the vehicle is moving. - -

In contrast to what is proposed by the prior art and inventive efforts deployed in the field of retractable, removable or dismountable treads which are oriented towards an improvement of the tread efficiency, the device of the invention proposes a tread whose ability to promote the movement without slippage of the vehicle (adhesion power) is less than that of the wheel or the tread on which it is installed on an ad hoc basis.

The removable tread proposed by the invention thus promotes the phenomena of slippage and wheel slip, phenomena not existing in use on the same coating of the initial tread of the wheels. The device of the invention therefore defines a coefficient of friction permitting on a given coating a loss of adhesion of the tread and consequently the wheels and the associated vehicle. The simplicity of the device both in its constituent elements and in its installation has been a particularly important criterion in the design of the device of the invention.

Thus, according to a particularly advantageous characteristic of the invention, the device is remarkable in that it consists of a tubular body whose inner peripheral wall comes into contact with the tread of the wheel and whose outer peripheral wall comes from in contact with the ground thus forming the tread of the device.

The use of a device consisting of a tubular body facilitates both its use and its manufacture.

Its positioning and its holding in position have also been greatly simplified.

So, for example, the tubular body is less wide than the tread of the wheel on which it comes to settle. In addition, when the wheel is equipped with a tire, that is to say when the device is attached to a wheel equipped with a tire, the inner diameter of the tubular body is less than that of the inflated tire. These characteristics make it possible to use the elasticity of the tire as well as the adhesion properties of its tread to accommodate and hold in position the device of the invention. ^These characteristics have also allowed the applicant to consider a method of mounting the device on a wheel equipped with a particularly simple tire, another object of the invention, and remarkable in that it consists in carrying out the following operations: deflate the tire,

- place the tubular body on the tire,

- inflate the tire.

Thus, it is the pressure of the tire exerted on the device that keeps it in position. ^Similarly , the disassembly process resumes the same operations in the opposite direction, namely,

- deflate the tire,

- remove the tubular body of the tire,

- inflate the tire. In order to optimize positioning or holding in position, the applicant has provided other features such as, for example, that the inner peripheral wall of the tubular body is preformed to better adhere to the tread of the wheel or that the tread of the wheel on which is installed the device of the invention is preformed to cooperate with the inner peripheral wall of the tubular body and facilitate its setting in position and its holding in position. Thus, according to this characteristic, the tread of the wheel on which the device is installed is arranged with a relief or a drawing - -

likely to better accommodate the device.

bearing of the wheel referenced R and whose outer peripheral wall 120 comes into contact with the ground S.

Thus, as illustrated in the drawing of FIG. 2, the device D is a ring whose inner peripheral surface cooperates with the tread of the wheel R so as to fix it axially and radially and whose outer peripheral surface comes into contact with the ground S instead of the tread of the wheel thus providing a surface and a different adhesion related to the device and no longer to the wheel.

The adhesion conditions proposed by the device D may vary according to the width of the tubular body 100, the relief of its outer peripheral surface 120 and the nature of the material used. Thus, several types of loss of adhesion can be simulated and therefore offered to the driver in the context of both learning and a more fun activity.

According to a preferred embodiment, the removable tread is made of plastic material. According to another preferred embodiment, the removable tread is made of a material of the polyurethane type. The polyurethane selected is a hard material whose adhesion is lower than that of tires. As a result, when this polyurethane interposes between the tire and the ground, the driving force of the wheels (for driving wheels) is less well transmitted which creates a sliding resulting in slippage or skidding sought. In addition, polyurethane is a standard material that can be machined or molded and has a long service life. Another advantage of the use of polyurethane is that it is not an abrasive material likely to damage the tread of the wheel or the tire on which it is installed. According to a non-illustrated embodiment, the tubular body 100 is formed on its inner peripheral wall - o -

110 of a surface state facilitating its holding in position on the tread of the wheel R.

Similarly, according to another embodiment not illustrated, the tubular body 100 is equipped on its inner peripheral wall with an element of different material which is interposed between the wheel (or the tread of the tire associated therewith) and the outer peripheral surface 120 of the tubular body 100 that is here the tread of the device D. This characteristic implies that the device may consist of a plurality of layers of different materials or not. This interleaved material ensures a good connection between the device D and the wheel R and therefore a good service life of the device D of the invention. to provide the same function, another non-illustrated feature of the invention, the inner peripheral wall 110 of the tubular body 100 is preformed to better adhere to the tread of the wheel R.

According to the illustrated embodiment, the tread 120 of the device D is cylindrical and parallel to the inner peripheral surface of the device.

According to another feature not illustrated, the tread 120 of the tubular body 100 adopts a convex profile. This profile decreases the surface of the device in contact with the ground.

As illustrated in the drawing of Figure 3, only the rear wheels R kart referenced K are equipped with the device D of the invention. Indeed, the number of wheels equipped with the device D of the invention may vary depending on the application and purpose sought. The installation and removal of the device D on the wheels R of a go-kart are particularly fast operations that do not require any particular tools, nor any modification on the wheels or on the karts themselves. Thus, users and kart operators can use said karts in lower grip conditions without the disadvantages of the prior art.

As illustrated in the drawing of Figures 3 and 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, the tubular body 100 is narrower than the tread of the wheel R. In addition, when the device D is attached to a wheel equipped with a tire as shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4a, 4b, 4c 4d, the inner diameter of the tubular body is smaller than that of the inflated tire.

These latter features make it possible to implement the assembly method of the invention illustrated by FIGS. 4a, 4b, 4c and 4D.

As illustrated in the drawing of Figure 4a, the tire of the wheel R has once inflated an outer diameter greater than the diameter of the tube constituting the inner peripheral wall 110 of the tubular body 100 constituting the device D.

In order to allow the installation of the tubular body 100 on the wheel R, the tire is deflated as illustrated in the drawing of FIG. 4b until the outer diameter of the tire is smaller than the internal diameter of the tubular body or at least allows insertion of the device on the tire. Thus, the installation of the device can be performed without tools outside the inflating and deflating means.

The device D is centered on the tread of the wheel R as illustrated in the drawing of Figure 4c and the tire is inflated. The inflation operation ensures pressure on the inner peripheral surface of the device which ensures that it is held in position thanks to the protrusion of the tire on either side of the device D. Thus, once the inflation is achieved, the device D is both radially and axially. This protrusion of the tire on either side of the device D has the other advantage of protecting the device D from axial shock.

The device D does not require a large thickness and does not require a large lift of the vehicle or wheel from the ground for installation or removal. Thus, installation or removal of the device does not require disassembly of the wheel.

It is understood that the device and the method which have just been described above and shown, have been for the purpose of disclosure rather than limitation. Of course, various arrangements, modifications and improvements may be made to the example above, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Thus, for example, a strip of material can be interposed between the device and the ground to provide a different adhesion (but still lower than that of the wheel) and serve as a wear part.

Claims

7. Device (D) according to claim 2, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the tread (120) of the tubular body (100) adopts a convex profile.

8. Device (D) according to claim 2, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the inner peripheral wall

(110) of the tubular body (100) is preformed to better adhere to the tread of the wheel (R).

9. Device (D) according to claim 2, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT the tread of the wheel (R) is preformed to cooperate with the inner peripheral wall (110) of the tubular body (100) to ensure its setting in position and keeping it in position.

10. A method of mounting a device (D) according to claim 2 on a wheel (R) equipped with a tire, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT it consists in performing the following operations:

- deflate the tire,

placing the tubular body (100) on the tire,

- inflate the tire.