Abstract: A wheel assembly for a wheeled vehicle utilizes interchangeable wheel hubs to secure various types of tires to provide better performance and maintenance on the vehicles. The design of the hubs is such that fabrication costs are reduced as well as costs for maintaining wheel inventories. The hubs are designed with locking elements and shoulders to ensure that tires are effectively secured in the wheel assembly. The hub is configured so that replacement of worn tires is done quickly, without having to touch the wheel bearings or drain the lubricant.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 30, 2003
Date of Patent:
August 30, 2005
Assignee:
The Wheel Thing, Inc.
Inventors:
Aidan J. Bradley, Kevin T. Parent, Frank K. Weigand
Abstract: A tire assembly for a wheeled vehicle has a ring-shaped integrally formed outer tire member made of relatively hard and relatively rigid material, and a ring-shaped integrally formed inner tire member. The inner tire member is made of a resilient material that is essentially incompressible but rather easily deformable, and has protuberances and recesses formed in its circumferential surface to allow for both radial compression and lateral expansion of its material, thereby ensuring resilient support of the outer tire member.
Abstract: A tire assembly for a wheeled vehicle has a ring-shaped integrally formed outer tire member made of relatively hard and relatively rigid material, and a ring-shaped integrally formed inner tire member. The inner tire member is made of a resilient material that is essentially incompressible but rather easily deformable, so that the inner tire member may be deformed to position it inside the outer tire member with the outer surface of the inner tire member in interfitting relation to the inner surface of the outer tire member, and has protuberances and recesses formed in at least one of its circumferential surfaces to allow for both radial compression and lateral expansion of its material, thereby ensuring resilient support of the outer tire member.