Wheel with suspension system

Abstract

A wheel with a suspension system being connectable to a vehicle, like a wheel chair. The wheel includes a hub and a rim rotatable about the axle of the hub. Between the hub and the rim, a number of support members is located. The support members are adapted to retain the distance when stressed up to a threshold value and recoverly alter the distanced when stressed over this threshold value. Exemplary support members are spring elements, damping strokes by compression if the support member is compressed or elongated. The spring elements may be preloaded.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent appl. Ser. No. 14 / 354,607, filed on Apr. 28, 2014, entitled: “Wheel With Suspension System And Centralizing Unit With Suspension System”, which is a National Phase of PCT Patent Application No. PCT / IB2012 / 001994 having International filing date of Oct. 8, 2012, which claims the benefit of priority under §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 552,505, filed on Oct. 28, 2011.[0002]PCT Patent Application No. PCT / IB2012 / 001994 is also a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) of PCT Patent Application No. PCT / IB2012 / 000530 having International filing date of Mar. 20, 2012, which claims the benefit of priority under §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 552,505 filed on Oct. 28, 2011 and of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 485,086 filed on May 11, 2011.[0003]The contents of all the above applications are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein in their entireties.FIELD AND...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a wheel with a smooth and even damping system. The wheel has a hub and a rim, with support members in between them. The support members change their distance depending on the force they are stressed with. This function is made possible by a spring member that compresses and stores mechanical energy only when the force exceeds a certain threshold. The spring member can be preloaded and can be connected to a damper. The non-radial configuration of the supporting members increases the stability and strength of the wheel and prevents potential "sticking" phenomena. The technical effects of this invention are a smoother and more effective damping of wheels, particularly for self-propelled vehicles.

Problems solved by technology

This wheel has the possible drawback that due to the high stress of the spokes, the spokes may break.

The possible drawback of the use of such dampers is that the damping characteristics by compressing the damper differ from the damping characteristics by elongating the damper.

Due to the different damping characteristics, the rotation of the wheel becomes uneven.

Furthermore, the dampers described in DE 10 2005 032 537 cannot be preloaded.

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