Dunlop Gmbh

Sp Tyres UK Limited

Douglas J Major

Peter R Marriott

Claude A Hart

William P Mack

Michael C Clatworthy

A vehicle wheel adapted to provide support for deflated or punctured tire. The wheel rim comprises a pair of parallel, circumferentially extending, axially spaced-apart, radially outwardly facing bead seats. Adjacent to and axially outwards of each bead seat is a radially outwardly projecting tire retaining flange. A tire fitting well is provided between the bead seat and a substantially rigid, deflated tire support surface radially outwardly of the bead seats mounted upon a support member projecting radially from the well wherein the support member is positioned at one side of the well, considered in axial cross section of the wheel rim, around part of the circumference of the wheel rim and at the other side of the well around the remainder of the circumference so that tire fitting is facilitated. The support member is preferably at one side of the well around half the circumference and may also be integral and the remainder of the wheel rim.

Vehicle wheel

A vehicle's spare tire can be made lighter and cheaper for economy, but this entails limited performance and shorter safe life. The invention provides a temporary spare tire with a tread which emits a distinctive two-tone or three-tone warning sound when in use to give audible warning of the need for early replacement. The tread is structured to maximize highway noise, and is circumferentially divided into two or more parts, each at least one-sixth of the circumference and which contact the highway in sequence. Each part emits a particular different note or tone, so that different notes or tones sound in sequence as the vehicle moves. The preferred tread structure is a block pattern with a sinusoidally varying land/sea ratio to concentrate acoustic energy at a characteristic frequency within each circumferential part. The same tread pattern may be used around the whole tread, 'stretched' into long-pitch lengths for low notes and 'compressed' into short-pitch lengths for high notes.

Tire treads and tires

Tire for a vehicle wheel

Tire

Growing community of inventors

Sutton Coldfield, United Kingdom

Douglas J Major