Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2113332
ANTI-SLIPPAGE DEVICE FOR VEHICLE TIRE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to an anti-slippage
device for mounting on a vehicle tire which may serve as a
snow chain for protection of the vehicle from slippage on
snowed or iced ground and also serves to provide a better
engagement of the tire with ground when the vehicle is driven
on a poor-conditioned route.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When a vehicle is driven on a poor-conditioned route, the
tires may not be in well engagement with ground to push the
vehicle forward. Under such a condition, slippage between the
tires and the ground surface may occur which sometimes results
in "trapping" of the vehicle on the ground, such as a sandy
ground, and sometimes simply allows the vehicle "fly out" due
to no sufficient friction between the tires and ground. For
example, in winter or high altitudes, iced road frequently
causes traffic accidents due to the ice greatly reduces the
friction between tires and ground.
~;ns, usually known as snow ch~;ns, may be used to
surround on the tires to provide a better friction between the
tires and the iced road. A disadvantage of the snow ch~ins is
that the ch~;~s surrounded on the tires may get loosened
during the operation of the vehicle and the loosened chains
may cause damage to the vehicle.
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It is therefore desirable to provide an anti-slippage
device which overcomes the above-mentioned deficiency and is
easy to mount to and dismount from vehicle tire.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION-
..
The principal objective of the present invention is to
provide an anti-slippage device for mounting on vehicle tire
which is easy to securely mount to the tire without loosening
from the tire during the operation of the vehicle and which is
also easy to dismount from the tire so as to reduce the time
consumption in using the anti-slippage device.
To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, there is
provided an anti-slippage device for mounting on a vehicle
tire comprising a central ring on which a number of gripping
members are mounted to extend along radial directions thereof
in an angularly equally-spaced manner. Each of the gripping
members comprises an elongated bar having two ends bent along
opposite directions to respectively define an L shape and a U
shape. A hole is formed on the L-shaped end to fit over a
bolt mounted on the central ring to secure the gripping member
to the central ring by means of nut. The U-shaped end defines
an interior gap large enough to accommodate the cross section
of the tire. A number of sharp-ended piercing members are
formed on the outside surface of the U-shaped end of the
gripping member for piecing into ground when the vehicle is in
operation and the tire is rolling.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objectives and advantages of the invention will be
apparent from the following description of preferred
embodiments of the present invention taken in connection with
the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 iS a perspective view showing an anti-slippage
device for vehicle tire constructed in accordance with a first
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 iS an exploded perspective view of the anti-
slippage device shown in FIG. l;
FIG. 3 iS a perspective view showing an individualgripping member adapted in the anti-slippage device of FIG. l;
FIG. 4 iS a cross-sectional view showing the mounting of
the anti-slippage device of FIG. 1 on a vehicle tire;
FIG. 5 iS a perspective view showing a second embodiment
of an anti-slippage device for vehicle tire constructed in
accordance; and
FIG. 6 iS a cross-sectional view showing the mounting of
the second embodiment of the anti-slippage device of the
present invention on a vehicle tire.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIGS.
1 and 2, wherein an anti-slippage device for vehicle tire
constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention, generally designated with reference numeral 100, is
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shown, the anti-slippage device 100 comprises a central ring
10 on which a plurality of gripping members 11 are releasably
secured and extending along radial directions of the central
ring 10 in an angularly equally-spaced manner.
. 5 Preferably, each of the gripping members 11 has a hole 17
formed thereon to receive therein a bolt 19 extending from the
central ring 10 along a radial direction thereof. A nut 18
that is engageable with the bolt 19 secures the gripping
member 11 on the central ring 10.
With particular reference to FIG. 3, wherein one of the
gripping members 11 is shown in a larger scale, the gripping
member 11 comprises an elongated strip member 12 having an end
portion bent twice in a first direction normal to the strip
member 12 to form a U shape 53 defining a bottom 13 and an
opposite end bent once in an opposite second direction normal
to the strip member 12 to form an L shape 54 defining a side
extension 14.
Preferably, the bolt hole 17 is formed on the side
extension 14 of the L-shaped end 54 so that the gripping
member 11 is secured on the central ring 10 with the side
extension 14 abutting against the central ring 10.
The U-shaped end 53 of the gripping member 11 defines an
interlor gap 55 large enough to snugly and slightly tightly
accommodate the cross section of the vehicle tire 29, as shown
in FIG. 4. Preferably, a serrated portion 15 is formed inside
the U-shaped end 53 of the strip member 12 so as to provide a
better engagement with the tire 29.
3,9
Outside the U shape 53 of the strip member 12, there are
a plurality of piercing elements 16, each having a sharpened
distal end for piercing into ground to tightly hold the
vehicle tire 29 on ground without slippage therebetween.
5According to the first embodiment of the present
invention, the gripping members 11 of the anti-slippage device
100 are divided into two sets, each comprising, for example,
five gripping members 11 with a plurality of, preferably two,
flexible wires 20 connected inbetween, as illustrated in FIGS.
1 and 2. This may help mounting the gripping members 11 at
proper relative positions on the tire 29.
In installing the anti-slippage device 100 on the tire
29, the two sets of the gripping members 11 are separately
mounted on the tire 29 with each of the gripping members 11
fitting over the tire 29 with the U-shaped end 53 thereof and
spaced from each other with the distance determined by the
flexible wires 20. The central ring 10 is disposed between
the L-shaped ends 54 of the gripping members 11 so that the
gripping members 11 extend outward along radial directions of
the central ring 10 and the nuts 18 are tightened on the bolts
19 to secure the gripping members 11 on the central ring 10.
To dismount the anti-slippage device 100 from the tire
29, the nuts 18 are loosened first and the gripping members 11
released from the central ring 10 and Le,l-oved from the tire
29. The flexibility of the wires 20 allows each set of the
gripping members 11 to be stored in a more compact manner
while kept together.
33~
,
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the present
invention wherein an auxiliary anti-slippage device 200 is
provided to secured to the anti-slippage device 100 in a
parallel manner. In the second embodiment, the anti-slippage
- 5 device 100 also comprises a central ring 21 on which first
bolts 30 are mounted along a first circumference thereof to
secure thereon a plurality of gripping members 11 in a
substantially angularly equally-spaced manner so as to allow
the gripping members 11 to extend along radial directions from
the central ring 21.
The central ring 21 further comprises second bolts 22
extending therefrom. The second bolts 22 are mounted on the
central ring 21 along a second circumference thereof and
spaced from the first circumference thereof in such a manner
to allow auxiliary gripping members 25 to be secured thereon
by nuts 36 and extending outward along radial directions of
the central ring 21 so as to mount both the gripping members
11 and the auxiliary gripping members 25 on the central ring
21 in a parallel manner.
Each of the auxiliary gripping members 25 comprises a U
shape having two ends bent in opposite direction to define two
opposite side extensions 26 and 32, each having a hole 28 or
34 formed thereon. One of the side extensions, for example
the side extension 32 is secured to the central ring 21 with
the respective second bolt 22 extending through the hole 34 to
engage the nut 36. The auxiliary gripping member 25 is so
~;men~ioned that when the auxiliary gripping member 25 is
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fixed to the central ring 21, the bottom of the U shaped
auxiliary gripping member 25 located at substantially the same
level with the bottom of the U shape of the gripping member
11. In this way, the auxiliary gripping members 25 provide
the tire 29 with a greater contacting area with ground and
thus the gripping force of the tire 29 with ground.
Similarly, sharp-ended piercing members 38 are
distributed on the outside surface of the bottom of the U-
shaped auxiliary gripping members 25.
Preferably, a second ring 23 is secured between the
second side extensions 26 of the auxiliary gripping members 25
and preferably substantially co-axial with the central ring
21. The second ring 23 has a plurality of bolts 24 mounted
thereon, preferably in an angularly equally-spaced manner, to
extend through the hole 28 that is formed on the second side
extension 26 of the auxiliary gripping member 25 to engage a
nut 27 in order to secure the auxiliary gripping members 25 on
the second ring 23.
In the embodiment illustrated, similar to the gripping
members 11, the auxiliary gripping members 25 are separated
into two sets, each containing five such auxiliary gripping
members 25 with flexible wires 20 connected inbetween.
It is apparent that although the invention has been
described in connection with the preferred embodiments, those
skilled in the art may make changes to certain features of the
preferred embodiments without departing from the scope of the
invention as defined in the claims.
