Traction device

A traction device designed for attachment and support by a spoke of a vehicle wheel. The traction device includes a clamping arm that is forced by a threaded fastener to grip an individual spoke. Extending from the clamping arm is a traction arm having a traction finger that extends transversely to the treadwall portion of the tire.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an anti-skid or traction-aid device for a vehicle 
wheel assembly, and more particularly to such a device for use with a 
pneumatic tire of an automobile or the like while mounted on a wheel rim 
having multiple radially-extending spokes to which the device is removably 
attached. 
The traction device of the present invention is designed for rapid and 
convenient installation and removal from the vehicle tire while in contact 
with the surface of a road. 
Two useful alternatives to the common practice of employing metallic chains 
to envelop the tread portion of a vehicle tire are disclosed in my U.S. 
Pat. Nos. 3,893,497 and 4,278,122. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,497, there is 
disclosed an anti-skid apparatus made from a tire casing from which a 
radial segment is removed so that the casing can be placed over the tire 
of a vehicle while in contact with the road surface. A fastener is used to 
interconnect the end portions of the tire casing. In U.S. Pat. No. 
4,278,122, there is disclosed a traction device for a vehicle wheel 
assembly having spoke hole openings in the wheel rim thereof which engage 
with support arms extending to a carrier plate at the hub portion of the 
wheel assembly. Traction arms are attached to the carrier plate to extend 
across the treadwall portion of the tire. A threaded shaft extends from 
the carrier plate to the axle member of the vehicle for engaging the 
support arms with the wheel rim. 
In other forms of anti-skid apparatus, an anti-skid arm is made from a 
narrow band or strap with a plurality of such arms arranged at 
spaced-apart locations about a surface of the tire. The manner by which 
the arms are supported is very important and greatly affects the 
successful use of the device. One general concept for supporting the 
anti-skid arms is to mount them onto a plate that is attached by the wheel 
lug nuts to the wheel studs for the vehicle wheel. Examples of such a 
support plate are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,397,277; 3,426,824; 
3,753,456; 3,996,984; 4,089,369 and 4,089,359. The attachment of a support 
plate in this manner requires modification to the wheel assembly and/or 
longer wheel studs to accommodate the support plate which should be 
removed when not needed. Other forms of support for the anti-skid arms are 
designed to movably position the arms into supported relation with the 
tire surface by radially displacing the arms. Examples of such forms are 
shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,601,882; 3,016,079 and 4,122,881. These forms of 
support are believed less than completely adequate to accommodate the 
loads and forces that are imposed on the anti-skid apparatus during use 
and generally require an operating mechanism that protrudes from the 
exposed side of the vehicle wheel. 
The traction device of the present invention is particularly adapted to a 
wheel rim of a vehicle wheel assembly having elongated and slender spoke 
sections formed by openings in the wheel rim between the usual hub portion 
and a rim portion engaged with a tire. The slender spoke sections are 
advantageously utilized to form support sites for traction devices that 
can be attached and removed without modifications and cumbersome 
inconveniences. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved traction 
device for a vehicle wheel assembly wherein the device is clamped directly 
to radial spoke portions of the wheel without modification in a simple and 
expedient manner. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved 
clamping structure for attaching a traction device to the wheel rim of a 
wheel assembly for a vehicle without lifting the assembly from a road 
surface. 
More particularly, according to the present invention there is provided a 
traction device for a vehicle wheel assembly which includes a tire with a 
treadwall portion supported by a rim having a plurality of spokes 
extending radially from a hub portion, the traction device including a 
traction arm having a traction finger protruding angularly from a base, 
the traction finger having a length sufficient to extend across at least 
part of the treadwall portion of the tire, clamp means carried by the base 
at a front surface of one of the spokes for engaging a back surface 
thereof, the clamp means including reversely-bent end portions at opposite 
radial sides of one of the spokes, and fasteners means for releasably 
securing the clamping means to one of the spokes. 
In one embodiment, the clamping means comprising two clamp members are 
drawn into engagement with opposite side edges of a spoke to securely grip 
the spoke. For this purpose, the aforesaid fastener means takes the form 
of a threaded shaft having left- and right-hand threads to engage 
correspondingly threaded openings on the clamp member. However, in another 
embodiment, the fastener means takes the form of a shaft having threaded 
end portions to engage with a threaded opening in one of the clamp 
members. In this arrangement of parts, a retainer is used to rotatably 
attach the other end of the shaft to the other clamp member. 
In a further embodiment, the clamp means takes the form of a U-shaped clamp 
member having reversely-bent ends which wrap around the edges of the 
spoke. A threaded fastener is engaged with a threaded opening in the 
U-shaped clamp member and forced to abut against the outer face of a spoke 
and thereby forcibly draw the end parts of the clamp member against the 
track surface of a spoke. The parts of the traction device can readily be 
made from steel, plastic or any suitable material but preferably plastic. 
It is desirable that the traction finger extends only a third of the way 
across the treadwall of the tire. This will allow for a significant 
reduction in wear and tear on the roads when such devices are used.

According to the present invention, in FIG. 1 there is illustrated a 
plurality of traction devices 1 affixed to a vehicle wheel assembly which 
includes a tire 2 having the usual side wall portions 3 and a treadwall 
portion 4. The side wall portions 3 include a bead for support in the 
usual manner by a wheel rim 5. The wheel rim is characterized by a 
plurality of slender, radially-extending spoke sections 6 interconnecting 
a hub section 7 with rim flanges 8. The spoke sections 6 have holes to 
receive threaded end portions of the usual wheel studs to engage with lug 
nuts for holding the wheel assembly on the chassis axle. As illustrated in 
FIG. 1, each spoke 6 has a width of at least about 1 inch between side 
edges extending along window openings 9 which have, typically, a 
rectangular or keystone-shaped configuration. The hub section 7 also 
includes a central opening which fits over the projected end of the 
vehicle wheel axle. 
In FIG. 2, there is illustrated a first embodiment of the traction device 
according to the present invention which includes a traction arm 11 having 
an end portion forming a traction finger 12 protruding angularly from a 
base portion 13. The traction finger extends across a portion of the 
thread of the tire. The traction arm has a cross-sectional profile which 
generally corresponds to the profile, in cross section, of the spoked area 
of the wheel rim, the outwardly-extending flange therefrom which receives 
and supports the bead of the tire and the side wall of the tire. As can be 
seen from FIG. 2, the traction arm has a U-shaped configuration at its 
upper end comprised of the traction finger 12, a base spacer section 14 
and a radial base section 15. Extending at a generally right-angle 
relation to section 15 is a base support arm 16 having a width that is 
equal to but preferably less than the width of a spoke 6. At the terminal 
end portions of section 16, there is attached a clamp assembly 17 having 
arms 18 and 19 extending from opposite sides of the traction arm. The arms 
18 and 19 have reversely-curved end portions that can wrap around the 
opposite longitudinal sides of the spoke 6. A block, such as a nut member 
21 is affixed to the exposed face surface of the arms 18 and 19 which are 
also affixed to the section 16. A tapped hole is provided in the nut 
member 21 to receive the threaded end portion of a fastener 22. The 
threads of the fastener are engaged with the threaded opening in member 21 
and extend through an opening in the member 16 for engaging the front face 
surface of the spoke 6. Sufficient torque is applied to the fastener such 
that the traction arm is drawn away from the front face of the spoke and 
the reversely-extending end portions of arms 18 and 19 engage with the 
back surface of the spoke. Sufficient torque is applied to the fastener to 
firmly clamp the traction arm to the spoke. 
FIG. 3 illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention in which 
the traction arm 11 is constructed in essentially the same manner as 
described previously. Attached to the lower end portion of section 16 is a 
separate arm 18A while an arm 19A is arranged to slide toward and away 
from arm 18A. Arms 18A and 19A each includes upstanding blocks 23 and 24, 
respectively. Block 24 has a bored opening to receive threads along a 
shank part 26 of a fastener 25. Block 23 has a threaded opening to engage 
with the threads on the end portion of fastener 25. Adjacent block 23 on 
an end portion of the fastener, as shown schematically in FIG. 3, there 
are radially-extending arms for applying torque to the fastener. A collar 
27 adjacent the arms can jam against block 23. By rotating the fastener 
25, the collar is drawn against block 23 and thereafter, continued 
rotation of the fastener draws arm 19A toward arm 18A. In this way, the 
reversely-bent end portions of the arms 18A and 19A are drawn into clamped 
engagement with opposite vertical sides of the spokes 6 for clamping the 
traction arm thereto. 
A further embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4 which 
differs from the embodiment described above and shown in FIG. 3 by the 
provision that a threaded fastener 25A has left-hand and right-hand 
threaded portions 28 and 29 extending to a central body 30. Threaded 
portion 28 is threadedly engaged with the threads of a block 24A that is 
attached to clamp arm 19B. Threaded portion 29 is threadedly engaged with 
a tapped hole in block 23A that is affixed to the arm 18B. By rotating the 
fastener 25A in one direction, arm sections 18B and 19B are drawn toward 
each other such the reversely-bent end portions, not shown, can be drawn 
into clamped engagement with opposite vertical side edges of the spoke 6. 
By rotating the fastener in the opposite direction, the arms are forced 
away from the side edges of the spokes. 
The ground contact surface of the traction finger preferably includes 
studs, cleats, knobs or the like to increase frictional contact with the 
ground surface for increased traction. The entire traction device can be 
made of steel or any suitable material, but plastic is preferred. Another 
important feature is that the traction arms 11 is designed to extend only 
one-third of the way across the treadwall portion 4 of the tire. This will 
significantly reduce the wear and tear such devices cause on the roadways 
while it will not hinder the effectiveness of this invention. 
Although the ivne;ntion has been shown in connection with certain specific 
embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that 
various changes in form and arrangement of parts may be made to suit 
requirements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.