Patent Publication Number: US-2017361925-A1

Title: Auxiliary rotating structure and tire assembly therewith

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an auxiliary rotating structure and a tire assembly therewith, and more particularly, to an auxiliary rotating structure and a tire assembly therewith capable of preventing a serious wear caused by a high speed touchdown of an aircraft, so as to extend service life of the tire assembly. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A tire of an aircraft is for absorbing an impact force and providing a frictional force when the aircraft is landing. Especially, when the tire contacts the ground surface during the landing of the aircraft, the frictional force drives the tire to start rotating, so that the tire is worn by the frictional force seriously at this moment, which reduces service life of the tire. Therefore, the tire should be inspected and replaced by a new one within a short period, which increases cost of replacement and maintenance. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is to provide an auxiliary rotating structure and a tire assembly therewith for solving the aforementioned drawbacks. 
     According to the claimed invention, an auxiliary rotating structure adapted for a tire of an aircraft includes a first side wall and a second side wall. The first side wall is fixed on a wall of the tire and rotates along with the tire. A side of the second side wall is connected to a side of the first side wall to form a chamber between the first side wall and the second side wall. An opening is formed between the other side of the first side wall and the other side of the second side wall and communicated with the chamber. The second side wall is made of resilient material. When the auxiliary rotating structure is located at a lower side of the tire, the opening faces windward with respect to an air flow, so that the air flow passes through the opening into the chamber to generate a first torque along a first rotary direction for rotating the tire, and when the auxiliary rotating structure is located at an upper side of the tire, the opening faces leeward with respect to the air flow, so that the air flow flows through the second side wall to deform the second side wall to be attached on the first side wall for generating a second torque along a second rotary direction opposite to the first rotary direction and less than the first torque. 
     According to the claimed invention, the side of the first side wall and the side of the second side wall are formed in a streamlined shape. 
     According to the claimed invention, the other side of the second side wall is formed in a curved shape. 
     According to the claimed invention, a tire assembly includes tire having a wall and at least one auxiliary rotating structure. The at least one auxiliary rotating structure includes a first side wall and a second side wall. The first side wall is fixed on the wall and rotates along with the tire. A side of the second side wall is connected to a side of the first side wall to form a chamber between the first side wall and the second side wall. An opening is formed between the other side of the first side wall and the other side of the second side wall and communicated with the chamber. The second side wall is made of resilient material. When the at least one auxiliary rotating structure is located at a lower side of the tire, the opening faces windward with respect to an air flow, so that the air flow passes through the opening into the chamber to generate a first torque along a first rotary direction for rotating the tire, when the auxiliary rotating structure is located at an upper side of the tire, the opening faces leeward with respect to the air flow, so that the air flow flows through the second side wall to deform the second side wall to be attached on the first side wall for generating a second torque along a second rotary direction opposite to the first rotary direction and less than the first torque. 
     According to the claimed invention, the side of the first side wall and the side of the second side wall are formed in a streamlined shape. 
     According to the claimed invention, the other side of the second side wall is formed in a curved shape. 
     According to the claimed invention, the wall and the at least one auxiliary rotating structure are integrally formed. 
     According to the claimed invention, the at least one auxiliary rotating structure comprises four auxiliary rotating structures disposed on the wall at equal intervals. 
     In summary, the present invention utilizes the first side wall and the second side wall on the wall of the tire for forming the chamber and the opening of the auxiliary rotating structure. Therefore, when the auxiliary rotating structure is located at the lower side of the tire, the opening faces windward with respect to the air flow, so that the air flow passes through the opening into the chamber to generate the first torque along the first rotary direction for rotating the tire assembly, which reduces the relative speed between the tire and the ground surface and relieves wear of the tire, so as to extend the service life of the tire. Furthermore, when the auxiliary rotating structure is located at the upper side of the tire assembly, the opening faces leeward with respect to the air flow, so that the air flow flows through the second side wall to deform the second side wall to be attached on the first side wall for generating the second torque along the second rotary direction opposite to the first rotary direction and less than the first torque, which facilitates the tire assembly to rotate in the first rotary direction without air resistance. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an aircraft with a tire assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of the tire assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of an auxiliary rotating structure according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of the tire assembly as the aircraft is landing according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an aircraft  2  with a tire assembly  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a diagram of the tire assembly  1  according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the tire assembly  1  is installed on the aircraft  2  and capable of being driven to rotate for reducing a frictional force between the tire assembly  1  and a ground surface Gas the aircraft  2  is landing. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the tire assembly  1  includes a tire  10  having a wall  101 , and four auxiliary rotating structures  11 . The wall  101  can be a surface on a tire body or a hub of the tire  10 . The four auxiliary rotating structures  11  are symmetrically disposed on the wall  101  of the tire  10  at equal intervals. In other words, an included angle between two adjacent auxiliary rotating structures  11  is 90 degrees substantially. However, the number and configuration of the auxiliary rotating structure  11  are not limited to this embodiment. For example, the tire assembly  1  can includes two auxiliary rotating structures  11  diagonally disposed on the wall  101  and opposite to each other. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a diagram of the auxiliary rotating structure  11  according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the rotating structure includes a first side wall  111  and a second side wall  112 . The first side wall  111  is fixed on the wall  101  of the tire  10  and rotates along with the tire  10 . A side  1120  of the second side wall  112  is connected to a side  1110  of the first side wall  111  to form a chamber  113  between the first side wall  111  and the second side wall  112 . An opening  114  is formed between the other side  1111  of the first side wall  111  and the other side  1121  of the second side wall  112  and communicated with the chamber  113 . In other words, the second side wall  112  is connected to the first side wall  111  by the following ways. The opening  114  is located at a side of the auxiliary rotating structure  11  and communicated with the chamber  113  between the first side wall  111  and the second side wall  112 . Besides, at the other side of the auxiliary rotating structure  11 , an edge of the other side  1121  of the second side wall  112  is connected to the first wall  111  all the way (without any opening). Furthermore, in this embodiment, the second side wall  112  can be made of resilient material, so as to be deformed easily. The side  1110  of the first side wall  111  and the side  1120  of the second side wall  112  can be formed in a streamlined shape, and the other side  1121  of the second side wall  112  can be formed in a curved shape. However, the shapes of the first side wall  111  and the side of the second side wall  112  are not limited to this embodiment. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is a diagram of the tire assembly  1  as the aircraft  2  is landing according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 , when the aircraft  2  is landing, the tire assembly  1  is located at a landing position. The opening  114  of one of the four auxiliary rotating structures  11  located at a lower side of the wall  101  of the tire  10  faces windward with respect to an air flow W. The curved-shaped side  1121  of the second side wall  112  allows the air flow W to pass through the opening  114  into the chamber  113  of the auxiliary rotating structures  11  located at the lower side of the wall  101  easily, so as to generate a first torque along a first rotary direction R 1  for rotating the tire assembly  1 . At this time, the opening  114  of another one of the four auxiliary rotating structures  11  located at an upper side of the wall  101  faces leeward with respect to the air flow W. The streamlined-shaped sides  1110 ,  1120  of the first side wall  111  and the second side wall  112  of the auxiliary rotating structures  11  located at the upper side of the wall  101  allow the air flow W to smoothly flow through the second side wall  112 , so as to deform the second side wall  112  to be attached on the first side wall  111  for generating a second torque along a second rotary direction R 2  opposite to the first rotary direction R 1  and less than the first torque. Therefore, the tire assembly  1  can be driven to rotate along the first rotary direction R 1  (forward), due to a resultant torque of the first torque and the second torque. As for the other two auxiliary rotating structures  11  located at left and right sides of the wall  101  of the tire  10 , since the side  1110  of the first side wall  111  and the side  1120  of the second side wall  112  are formed in a streamlined shape, the air flow W can flow through the second side walls  112  of the auxiliary rotating structures  11  smoothly. Therefore, the second side walls  112  of the other two auxiliary rotating structures  11  located at the left and right sides of the wall  101  of the tire  10  are driven to be deformed and attached on the first side walls  111 . 
     In other words, the auxiliary rotating structure  11  located at the lower side of the wall  101  receives the air flow W to generate the first torque for driving the tire assembly  1  to rotate in the first rotary direction R 1 . Except for the auxiliary rotating structure  11  located at the lower side of the wall  101 , other three auxiliary rotating structures  11  are collapsed by the air flow W, so as to generate the second torque along the second direction R 2  and less than the first torque. The tire assembly  1  is driven to rotate forwardly before landing, so that a relative speed between the tire  10  and the ground surface G can be reduced for reducing the frictional force between the tire  10  and the ground surface G, which extends the service life of the tire  10  of the tire assembly  1 . 
     In contrast to the prior art, the present invention utilizes the first side wall and the second side wall on the wall of the tire for forming the chamber and the opening of the auxiliary rotating structure. Therefore, when the auxiliary rotating structure is located at the lower side of the tire, the opening faces windward with respect to the air flow, so that the air flow passes through the opening into the chamber to generate the first torque along the first rotary direction for rotating the tire assembly, which reduces the relative speed between the tire and the ground surface and relieves wear of the tire, so as to extend the service life of the tire. Furthermore, when the auxiliary rotating structure is located at the upper side of the tire assembly, the opening faces leeward with respect to the air flow, so that the air flow flows through the second side wall to deform the second side wall to be attached on the first side wall for generating the second torque along the second rotary direction opposite to the first rotary direction and less than the first torque, which facilitates the tire assembly to rotate in the first rotary direction without air resistance. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.