Snow chain bracket for vehicle wheel

A snow chain and bracket combination for mounting to a vehicle wheel. The bracket includes a first wall which extends through the wheel between the wheel rim and spider. Each chain extends radially around the tire and has opposite ends connected to the opposite ends of the bracket by means of spring-biased clips. The bracket extends inwardly from the rim and is mounted by a lug nut onto the wheel spider. The bracket abuttingly engages additional lug nuts to prevent relative motion between the wheel and bracket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention is in the field of devices for mounting to a vehicle wheel 
for increasing the traction of the wheel. The tires normally used on 
automobiles and trucks provide insufficient traction for operation in 
snow, mud and gravel. Thus, the operator may either replace the tires with 
deeply grooved snow tires or may mount snow chains on the tire. The snow 
tires and/or chains must then be removed for operation when the snow, mud 
or gravel is not present. Removal of the snow tires is undesirable in view 
of the time and effort required in jacking the vehicle upwardly and then 
removing the rim from the vehicle. Likewise, removal of snow chains 
typically requires either removal of the tire from the vehicle or at least 
considerable effort in uncoupling various chain-mounting devices. 
Disclosed herein is a bracket which may be permanently mounted to the 
vehicle wheel with the snow chains then being mounted to the bracket in 
such a manner that the chains may be quickly and easily removed without 
removal of the bracket. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
One embodiment of the present invention is a bracket for mounting snow 
chains to a vehicle wheel comprising a member having a first end portion 
and a second end portion and being extendable through a vehicle wheel to 
position the first end portion and the second end portion on opposite 
sides of the wheel, first means on the first end portion and the second 
end portion operable to engage and hold opposite ends of a snow chain 
extending radially around the vehicle wheel, second means on the member 
extending from the first end portion and positionable against the vehicle 
wheel, and third means to releasably secure the second means to the 
vehicle wheel and limit relative motion therebetween. 
Another embodiment of the present invention is the combination of a vehicle 
wheel securable to an axle by fasteners and having a rim and spider 
fixedly mounted thereto, the spider including a central axle hole and a 
plurality of mounting bosses spaced around the axle hole to receive the 
fasteners, a tire mounted on the rim, at least one snow chain extending 
around the tire and having opposite ends located on opposite sides of the 
wheel, first mounting means extending through the wheel between the rim 
and spider and having opposite end portions, connecting means connecting 
the opposite ends to the opposite end portions and operable to allow 
release of at least one of the ends from one of the end portions, and 
second mounting means extending from the first mounting means to at least 
one of the mounting bosses to be secured thereto by one of the fasteners. 
A further embodiment of the present invention is a snow chain bracket 
combination for mounting to a vehicle wheel having a rim with attached 
spider comprising a first wall with opposite end portions and extendable 
through the wheel between the rim and spider, at least one chain extending 
radially around the wheel and having opposite ends connected to the first 
wall, connecting means connecting the opposite ends of the chain to the 
opposite end portions of the first wall and operable to allow at least one 
of the ends to be unconnected from one of the end portions, a second wall 
having a proximal end portion, an intermediate portion, and a distal end 
portion with the proximal end portion connected to the first wall adjacent 
one of the end portions, the second wall extends at the proximal end 
portion from the first wall toward the distal end portion which is joined 
thereto by the intermediate portion, the distal end portion includes a lug 
bolt hole and a pair of lug-engaging corners to cooperatively limit 
relative motion of the second wall relative to the wheel. 
It is an object of the present invention is to provide a bracket for 
mounting snow chains to a vehicle wheel wherein the chains may be easily 
and quickly removed. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a snow chain and 
bracket combination with the chain being removable without the necessity 
of removing the bracket from the wheel. 
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a new and 
improved wheel and snow chain combination. 
Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent 
from the following description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the 
invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the 
drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will 
nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the 
invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications 
in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles 
of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would 
normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. 
Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a vehicle wheel 
10 such as found on either a truck or automobile. Wheel 10 includes a 
conventional metal rim upon which tire 12 is mounted. Integrally attached 
to rim 11 is a conventional spider 13 having a center axle hole 14 through 
which axle 15 projects. Spider 13 is attached at various locations 16 
along its circumferential edge to the rim with a number of gaps 17 present 
between the rim and spider at places where the spider is not attached to 
the rim. Spider 13 includes a plurality of conventional mounting bosses 
positioned around the center axle hole 14 to receive the mounting lugs 
which project from the axle through the spider. Hexagonally shaped nuts 19 
are threaded onto the lugs which project through the mounting bosses of 
the spider thereby removably securing the spider, rim and tire to the 
axle. Spider 13 is also provided with a conventional strengthening rib 20 
which extends around the spider adjacent rim 11. As mentioned, the rim and 
spider are conventional in construction. 
A pair of brackets 30 are used to mount the snow chains to the wheel with 
one of the brackets 30 being shown in FIG. 2. Bracket 30 includes a member 
or first wall 31 having a pair of opposite end portions 32 and 33 with 
wall 31 being extendable through one of the gaps 17 so as to position end 
portions 32 and 33 on the opposite sides of the wheel. Integrally attached 
to wall 31 adjacent end portion 33 is a second wall 34 (FIG. 4) which is 
used for mounting bracket 30 to the wheel. Wall 34 has a proximal end 
portion 35 (FIG. 2) attached to wall 31 and integrally joined to distal 
end portion 36 by an intermediate portion 37. The proximal end portion 35 
extends perpendicularly from wall 31 toward distal end portion 36 which is 
parallel but offset from wall portion 35 and joined thereto by the 
intermediate portion 37. Distal end portion 36 includes a lug bolt hole 38 
through which one of the lugs extending through the mounting bosses of the 
spider projects with a nut 19 then being used to secure bracket 30 to the 
spider. 
Each end portion 32 and 33 of wall 31 includes a plurality of apertures 39 
and holes 46 for receiving one of the spring clips 40 for mounting the 
chains to the bracket. Each chain extends radially around the tire having 
a pair of opposite ends joined to end portions 32 and 33 by spring clips. 
For example, chain 41 extends radially around tire 12 and has a pair of 
opposite ends 42 and 43 (FIGS. 1 and 3) positioned on the opposite sides 
of the tire. A pair of conventional spring clips 44 and 45 are 
respectively connected to ends 42 and 43 of chain 41 with clips 44 and 45 
extending respectively through holes 39 and 46 of end portions 33 and 32 
of wall 31. A fragmentary view of end portion 33 is shown in FIG. 5 with 
clip 65 having a movable spring-biased leg 68 which may be moved relative 
to leg 69 of the clip so as to allow removal of the clip from hole 39 or 
removal of chain 61 from the clip. All of the chains and clips are 
identical. 
Wall 31 (FIG. 4) has a radius of curvature "R" forming a concave plate as 
viewed from the distal end portion 36 of wall 34 toward wall 31. The 
radius of curvature of wall 31 allows the wall to be positioned in gap 17 
adjacent the wheel rim without interference between the bracket and the 
spider and rim. Likewise, the distal end portion 36 includes a curved edge 
50 which extends partially around the axle hole of the spider thereby 
preventing interference between the bracket and vehicle axle. The lug bolt 
hole 38 is positioned between curved edge 50 and wall 31 with hole 38 
being located from wall 31 a fixed distance "G." Distal end portion 36 has 
a pair of extensions which terminate in corners 51 and 52 with each corner 
located a distance from wall 31 greater than distance G. Curved edge 50 
extends from corner 51 toward hole 38 and back to the remaining corner 52. 
Each corner 51 and 52 form a nut-engaging stop surface for limiting 
rotational movement of the nut immediately adjacent the corner. For 
example, corner 51 includes a stop surface 53 (FIG. 4) which abuttingly 
engages one of the side surfaces of the hexagonally shaped nut 19 
threadedly received by lug 55. Likewise, corner 52 includes stop surface 
56 which engages a side surface of a nut threaded onto lug 57 attached to 
the axle and projecting through the spider to mount the rim to the axle. 
Both stop surfaces 56 and 53 are located a distance greater than distance 
G from wall 31. The mounting bosses provided on spider 13 are positioned 
equidistant around the axle bolt hole and are located along a circle which 
extends around the axle bolt hole so as to receive the similarly located 
lugs projecting outwardly from the axle. The opposite end portions 32 and 
33 (FIG. 2) are flared outwardly away from wall 34 in order to increase 
the strength of the bracket. 
The holes provided on end portions 32 and 33 along with the spring clips 
provide a means to engage and hold the opposite ends of the chains. Thus, 
once wall 31 is slipped into gap 17 and a lug is positioned so as to 
extend through hole 38 with the hexagonally shaped nut threadedly mounted 
onto the lug extending through hole 38, the bracket is in place to receive 
the chains. When mounting the bracket 30, the stop surfaces 53 and 56 
should be positioned so as to engage side surfaces of the hexagonally 
shaped nuts located on either side of the lug extending through hole 38. 
The chains may be extended radially around the tire such as shown in FIG. 
3 with one end of each chain being fastened to end portion 32 with the 
spring clips and with the opposite ends then being fastened to portion 33 
which is located on the outwardly facing side of the spider. In the event 
it is desired to remove the chains, bracket 30 may be left in place and 
the spring clips may be used to remove the chains from the bracket. 
Wall 34 provides a means which extends from wall 31 and is positionable 
against the spider of the wheel so as to allow for the mounting of the 
bracket. The hexagonally shaped nut threaded onto the lug extending 
through hole 38 of the bracket provides a means to releasably secure the 
bracket to the vehicle wheel and to cooperatively with stop surfaces 53 
and 56 limit relative motion between the bracket and wheel. Bracket 30 
includes distal end 36 offset from portion 35 by intermediate portion 37 
so as to provide a relief to receive spider rib 20. The rib is nestingly 
received immediately adjacent the proximal end portion 35 and the 
intermediate portion 37 of wall 34. 
It will be obvious from the above description that the present invention 
provides a new and improved snow chain bracket which may be quickly and 
easily mounted to the vehicle wheel. It will be further obvious that in 
addition to the bracket, the snow chain may be mounted or removed from the 
vehicle wheel simply by connecting or disconnecting the chains from the 
bracket. 
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the 
drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as 
illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that 
only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all 
changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are 
desired to be protected.