Multi-Piece Wheel Assembly for Lateral Rotation of Directional Tires
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Solution Overview
Problem
High performance vehicles with staggered wheel fitment face challenges in rotating directional tires laterally without dismounting them from the rim, leading to increased tire wear and maintenance costs due to traditional methods requiring physical removal and re-mounting, which damages tires and limits tire rotation options.
Innovation Solution
The development of multi-piece wheels that allow lateral rotation of directional tires by detaching the rim and tire as a unit, using a mechanism where the spoke assembly is separated and re-coupled to the opposite side of the axle, enabling side-to-side rotation without dismounting from the rim, utilizing a fastening mechanism with apertures and protrusions for secure attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional tire rotation methods are used (dismounting and re-mounting tires), then tire rotation is achieved, but tire damage occurs and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel is divided into separable components: the rim housing and the face assembly (which includes the tire). This segmentation allows the face assembly to be detached and re-coupled to the opposite side of the rim housing, enabling tire rotation without complete disassembly and preventing damage that would occur with traditional methods.
2Reliability
If staggered wheel fitment is used for high performance vehicles, then vehicle handling and cornering are improved, but the ability to rotate directional tires laterally is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel assembly is made dynamically reconfigurable through the detachable face assembly that can be re-coupled to either side of the rim housing. This dynamic capability allows directional tires on staggered fitment vehicles to be rotated laterally by detaching and re-attaching the face assembly to the opposite side, maintaining both performance handling characteristics and tire rotation versatility.
3Reliability
If directional tires are used on vehicles with camber, then cornering performance is improved, but inner tire wear increases and cannot be corrected by re-alignment
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of attempting to correct tire wear through alignment adjustments (the conventional approach), the invention inverts the problem by physically rotating the tire to the opposite side of the vehicle using the detachable face assembly. This lateral rotation redistributes wear patterns and extends tire life while maintaining the camber settings optimized for cornering performance.
Data Source
AI summary
The technology provides a multi-piece wheel for a vehicle that is disassembled to laterally rotate directional tires without needing to dismount a tire from a rim. The multi-piece wheel includes a rim housing with threaded apertures provided at side edges proximate to an outboard flange and an inboard flange. The multi-piece wheel includes a face that is removably coupled to the rim housing, the face having a bore that centers the face on an axle hub, a disk that is concentric with the bore; and spokes that are mechanically coupled to the disk and extend outwardly therefrom, the spokes having apertures at an end opposite to the disk that align with the threaded apertures in the rim housing. The multi-piece wheel further includes a fastener that releasably couples the face and the rim housing and a secondary fastening mechanism that mechanically engages the spokes and the rim housing.