Patent ID: 6095562
Filing Date: 2000-08-01
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
A restraining system for an axle mounted wheel of a vehicle, the vehicle having a frame to which the axle is secured, leaving sufficient clearance to avoid road hazards and not interfere with the wheel's motion during normal operation of the vehicle, the system comprising a cage assembly secured to the frame and passing in front of, laterally along an exterior side of, and behind the wheel of the vehicle so as to leave a lower part of the wheel exposed, to allow the wheel to contact a road and have unobstructed movement during normal operation of the vehicle and to retain the wheel in close proximity to its original installation point and entrap the wheel and carry it along with the vehicle should it become detached from the axle, the cage comprising a series of bars secured to the frame and extending downwardly therefrom, and in front of, behind and along an exterior side of the wheel, the bars providing an outside clearance for the wheel which is less than the distance the wheel must move laterally and outwardly to come off the axle, with a lesser clearance being provided from the outer edge of its associated tire at the front than from the outer edge of the rear of that tire, whereby the tire, if it has come off of the axle, during forward movement of the vehicle, will be steered by the bars inwardly at the front and hence back towards the axle.