WO2004050392A1

WO2004050392A1 - Pneumatic safety tire

Info

Publication number: WO2004050392A1
Application number: PCT/KR2002/002283
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gyu Bong Lee
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-12-04
Filing date: 2002-12-04
Publication date: 2004-06-17
Anticipated expiration: 2005-06-04
Also published as: AU2002368416A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a pneumatic safety tire capable of being used as it is, without being repaired even though it its punctured by a nail, a screw bolt, or other aculeate things and being no problem in its function during the span of life. The pneumatic safety tire comprises a rubber tire 40, a metal wire mesh tube 10 having a donut shape of an external diameter substantially conforming to an internal diameter of rubber tire 40, and having an opening 12 formed along an inner sidewall of the metal wire mesh tube, a metal binding wire 14 for jointing the opening 12, a rubber tube 20 having a diameter smaller than an internal diameter of the metal wire mesh tube 10, into which the rubber tube 20 is inserted, and having a air injection valve 44, and rubber balls 30 filling a cavity between the metal wire mesh tube 10 and the rubber tube 20;

Description

PNEUMATIC SAFETY TIRE

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a pneumatic safety tire capable of being used as it is, without being repaired even though it is punctured by a nail, a screw bolt, or other aculeate things and being no problem in it s function during the span of life.

Background Art

Tubeless tires are usually used in automobiles, motor cycles, airplanes, and other transport means. In heavy vehicles, a tube -inserted type of tire is usually used. However, if the tire is punctured by a screw bolt or a pointed metal, air pressure within the tire is lowered, so that this type of tube tire can no longer used. Therefore, the punctured tire needs to be replaced by a spare tire.

A special tire, into which a metal plate is inserted in ord er to prevent the tire from being burst due to a puncture formed by a screw bolt, etc., is commercially available. However, since this tire is too expensive, there is a limitation in using it usually. In addition, such a tire provides deteriorated ride a nd increases gas mileage.

When a tire is punctured in use, the tire needs to be replaced by the spare tire before it is repaired at a garage or service center in the near area. After the punctured tire is repaired, the spare tire is removed from the metal wheel and the repaired tire is mounted thereon again. Such procedures are accompanied by inconvenience, waste of time, expenditure of repair costs, etc. Particularly for women, the old, or the weak, it is not easy to replace the tires. Since tires in use are frequently punctured, a great deal of time and money is spent in repairing the tires. In addition, replacement of the punctured tire with the spare tire requires much physical labor. During the replacement of tires, a safety-related accident may happen. Consequently, drivers will be under much stress due to the puncture in the tire. Furthermore, if the driver uses a car without knowing that a tire is punctured, the tire will be too damaged to be repaired, or the metal wheel will be damaged. Acc ordingly, the occurrence of safety -related accidents will be increased.

A tire in use is easily punctured by serious frictional heat generated in the tire. There is a limitation in restricting the increase of temperature in the tire by a tread parting according to the principles of air-cooling.

Disclosure of the Invention

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems involved in the prior art, and to provide a pneumatic safety tire capable of being used as it is, without being repaired even though it is punctured.

In addition, the present invention provides a pneumatic safety tire capable of being easily cooled.

In order to accomplish the above mentioned object, the present invention provides a pneumatic safety tire comprisin g a rubber tire, a metal wire mesh tube, which is inserted into the rubber tire, a rubber tube, which is inserted into the metal wire mesh tube, and rubber balls, which fill the space existing between the metal wire mesh tube and the rubber tube.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above objects, other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a metal wire mesh tube according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross -sectional view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a rubber tube according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a rubber tube and rubber bal Is, which are inserted in a metal wire mesh tube.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of the using state of a pneumatic safety tire according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view showing a principle of compensating for the no-repair of punctures according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Reference will now be made in detail to preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a metal wire mesh tube 10, which is preferably made of a metal, such as a stainless steel or aluminum alloy, a titanium alloy, etc., which has good toughness and elasticity, as well as good corrosion resistance. The mesh preferably has a size of less than 3 cm. An open ing 12 is formed along the inner periphery of the metal wire mesh tube, as seen in Fig. 1, through which a rubber tube 20 can be inserted into the metal wire mesh. Preferably, the metal wire mesh has almost the same outer diameter as the inner diameter of a rubber tire 40. The rubber tube 20 is inserted through the opening 12, as shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the opening 12 needs to be jointed by using a metal wire 14, as if the opening is sewn up, so that the metal wire mesh is not opened.

After the rubber tube 20 is inserted into the metal wire mesh tube 10, the cavity formed between the metal wire mesh tube 10 and the rubber tube 20 should be tightly filled with rubber balls 30 prior to closing the opening by means of the metal binding wire 14. Preferably, the rubber balls have a diameter from 3 cm to 5 cm. However, rubber balls of different diameters may be used, if necessary.

When the cavity is filled with the rubber balls, the rubber balls are inserted into the cavity by means of air blasting method, such as sand blasting, ball blasting, etc. Since these methods are widely known and used, a detailed description thereof will not be provided.

An internal pressure of the respective rubber balls 30 used in the present invention is a half or less than the internal pressure of the rubber tire 40 or rubber tube 20. Preferably, the internal pressure of the respective balls 30 is within a range of 15 psi to 20 psi. According to the request of a user, the internal pressure of the rubber balls 30 can be adjusted. The reason for filling the balls with air is because if the internal pressure (approximately 30 to 40 psi) of the rubber tire 40 is applied to the rubber balls 30, the rubber balls 30 are extremely pressed not to maintain the elasticity thereof.

Upon filling the cavity formed between the metal wire mesh tube 10 and the rubber tube 20 with the rubber balls 30, the opening of the metal wire mesh tube 10 is closed by tightly connecting the ends of the metal binding wire 14, as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 5 shows that the semi -finished product, as shown in Fig. 4, is inserted into the rubber tire 40. The metal wire mesh tube 10 is kept in position by keeping part of the metal binding wire 14 in contact with the center of a tire securing metal wheel 50.

Then, an air injection valve 44 of the rubber tube 20 is mounted to the rubber tire 40, and the rubber tire 40 is mounted to the metal wheel 50. Air is injected into the rubber tube via the air injection tube 44 until the internal pressure of the rubber tube 20 containing the rubber balls 30 reaches a range of 30 to 40 psi. Specifically, the total amount of air injected into the rubber tube 20 and the rubber balls is preferably controlled in such a way that the internal pressure reaches the range of 30 to 40 psi. Therefore, the air pressure within the rubber tire 40 reaches the range of 30 to 40 psi.

When the rubber tube 20 is filled with the air at a proper level of pressure, the rubber tire 40 will maintain a normal shape and the rubber tu be 20 will be expanded, as shown in Fig. 5. Since the expanded rubber tube 20 pushes the rubber balls 30 down, the rubber balls 30 in the metal wire mesh tube 10 will maintain an elliptical shape under pressure. Consequently, the rubber balls 30 closely fill the cavity formed between the metal wire mesh tube 10 and the rubber tube 20, which are inserted into the rubber tire 40, as shown in Fig. 5.

With the above mentioned description, the pneumatic safety tire according the embodiment of the present inven tion is prepared. Referring to Fig. 6, when a screw bolt 60 is stuck in a tread parting 46 of the rubber tire 40, one or more of the rubber balls may be burst by the tip of the screw bolt 60. The burst rubber balls 30a, as shown in Fig. 6, are kept in ti ght proximity to the tread parting 46 under the air pressure within the rubber tube 20 and the rubber balls 30. The tip of the screw bolt 60 will be wrapped with the burst rubber balls 30a, as if the rubber balls 30a surround the tip of the screw bolt 60.

Therefore, the compressed air within the rubber tire 40 will not be leaked out through the puncture formed by the screw bolt in tread parting. As seen in Fig. 6, the screw bolt, which is stuck in the rubber tire, will result in no further damage to the tire even when the vehicle is continually traveling. However, it would be desirable to remove the screw bolt. Since the puncture will be thoroughly covered with the rubber balls 30a after removing the screw bolt, the compressed air within the rubber tire 40 is not leaked out through the puncture. Even though a few rubber balls 30a are damaged by the screw bolt 60, only the pressure corresponding to the number of damaged rubber balls 30a will decrease from the total internal pressure. Therefore, sufficient internal pressure is provided by the remaining normal rubber balls 30 and the rubber tube 20, thereby being no problem in driving the vehicle. If the number of burst rubber balls 30a is increased due to the burst of frequent occurrence and, the inter nal pressure of the rubber tire 40 is decreased to some extent. At this case, the rubber tire 40 maintains the normal internal pressure by injecting the air into the rubber tube 20, so that there will be no problem in driving the vehicle.

If the function of the rubber tire 20 to compensate for the puncture in the tire is excessively deteriorated due to the damages to many rubber balls, the damaged rubber balls can be replaced by new rubber balls at a near garage. In order to replace the rubber balls, the metal wire mesh tube 10 is entirely taken out of the rubber tire 40, and then the metal binding wire 14 is untied. Otherwise, the semi-finished product, as shown in Fig. 4, may be used.

As shown in Fig. 5, when the pneumatic safety tire according to the present invention is in use, heat generated in the rubber tire 40 is cooled by the tread parting 46. Since the heat is transferred to the tire securing metal wheel 50 via the metal wire mesh tube 10, the rubber tire 40 according to the present invention is cooled more properly than the conventional tire.

A number of several hundred or several thousand rubber balls 30 are used in automobiles, such as small cars, heavy transport vehicles, buses, etc, with the balls introduced into the rubber tube 20 according to the present invention. Even if more than several tens of screw bolts or pieces of metal are stuck in the tread parting 46, the tires according to the present invention can be used without being repaired.

In addition, even if the rubber tire of the present invention impacts against a projecting part on the ground in use, the rubber tire 40 is hardly torn or instantly damaged, since it has a multiple structure comprising the metal wire mesh tube 10, the rubber balls 30, and the rubber tube 20. Furt hermore, since the impact disappears before it reaches the tire securing metal wheel 50, the tire securing metal wheel 50 may be hardly crumpled or damaged. Even if the rubber tire 40 is torn too long or punctured widely in an instant, the metal wire mesh tube 10 does not escape out of the rubber tire through the torn portion, since the tire has a structure of elastically combining the rubber tube 20 with the rubber balls 30. Therefore, it is also possible to prevent heavy accidents.

Industrial Applicability With the above description, the present invention provides a rubber tire that can be used for long time without a great change to the internal pressure of the tire by keeping rubber balls 30a closely even when a number of screw bolts or pieces of metal are stuck in the tread parting of the tire. Upon heat generation in the rubber tire, the tire will not be overheated, since the tire is easily cooled by transferring the heat to the tire securing metal wheel 50 via the metal wire mesh tube 10. Therefor e, the problems caused by the puncture in the conventional tires can be resolved.

In addition, it is possible to prevent heavy accidents caused by such a puncture. Use of the pneumatic safety tire according to the present invention relieves economical imposition upon purchase of vehicles, since a spare tire is unnecessary. Lack of the necessity of a spare tire leads to a reduction of the vehicle weight and an increase of gas mileage. In addition, the space and equipment required for spare tires will al so be unnecessary in the vehicles. Accordingly, there will be a synergistic effect of producing vehicles at lower expenses.

Claims

1. A pneumatic safety tire comprising: a rubber tire 40; a metal wire mesh tube 10 having a donut shape of an external diameter substantially conforming to an internal diameter of the rubber tire 40, and having an opening 12 formed along an inner sidewall of the metal wire mesh tube; a metal binding wire 14 for jointing the opening 12; a rubber tube 20 having a diameter sma Her than an internal diameter of the metal wire mesh tube 10, into which the rubber tube 20 is inserted, and having a air injection valve 44; and rubber balls 30 filling a cavity between the metal wire mesh tube 10 and the rubber tube 20; wherein the metal wire mesh tube 10 containing the rubber balls 30 and the rubber tube 20 is inserted into the rubber tire 40, and the rubber tire 40 is mounted on the tire securing metal wheel 50.

2. The pneumatic safety tire as claimed in claim 1, wherein an internal p ressure of the rubber balls 30 is within a range of 15 psi to 20 psi.