Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    Traction device for vehicle tires sometimes referred to as tire chains and particularly that type of traction device intended for application to dual wheel sets most frequently mounted on large trucks.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Dual wheels are two wheels mounted in a side-by-side relation and mounted on a common axle. Such wheels double the area of surface engagement and provide the advantage of greater load-bearing capacity and greater traction for driving and/or braking the vehicle, typically found on large trucks intended for hauling heavy loads.  
           [0003]    With such an arrangement of dual wheels, the procedure of “chaining” the wheels is made substantially more difficult. The wrap around devices for such “chaining” are doublewide for simultaneous chaining of both tires. The operator/driver has to secure the chain at the inside of the inside wheel and the outside of the outside wheel, taking up slack as best as he is able with considerable effort.  
         BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The present invention, in a preferred embodiment, provides a dual wheel traction device that includes interconnected cable members. There is a pair of side cables that encircle the inside of the inside wheel and the outside of the outside wheel. Loops of cable are provided for each side cable with each loop having its two ends anchored in spaced apart relation to the same side cable. Opposing loop centers meet at the juncture between the two wheels and are secured together by connectors. There are multiple cable loops from each side cable joined at their centers by connectors which connections overlay the space between the dual wheel tires.  
           [0005]    Each of the connectors have an inwardly projected loop or eyelet and a cinching or tensioning line slideably projects through the multiple eyelets to encircle the tire walls at the juncture between the tires. Provision is made for the cinching line to be cinched i.e., the circumference of the cinching line is tightened around the tire which serves to draw the connectors and thus the cable loop centers into the space between the tires. This tightens the cable loops to remove undesired slack.  
           [0006]    It will be appreciated that the invention is directed to the manner by which the dual wheel chain is tightened, tensioned or cinched onto the dual wheels and is applicable to a number of dual chain types. One such variation is a ladder-type dual chain which has cross members in the form of elongate cables for chains that cross from one side member to the other. Each side member is fitted with a connector at its mid-point, i.e., between the tires, and each connector includes a slide-loop or eyelet that receives a tensioning/cinch line extended around the circumference of the tires. It will also be appreciated that the side members and cross members may be cables or interconnected chain links or combinations of the two.  
           [0007]    The invention and its numerous variations will be more fully understood and appreciated with reference to the detailed description provided hereafter. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a view of a traction device of the present invention as if spread out on a floor or road prior to mounting it to a dual wheel set;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a front prospective view of the traction device of FIG. 1 after being mounted to the tires of a dual wheel set;  
         [0010]    FIGS.  3 - 8  are views illustrating the different components of the traction device of FIG. 2 and to explain the steps of mounting the traction device of FIG. 1 to the dual wheels as shown in FIGS. 2; and  
         [0011]    FIGS.  9 - 12  are illustrations of additional embodiments of the invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0012]    With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, illustrated in FIG. 1 is a traction device of the present invention as spread out on a support surface, and FIG. 2 illustrates the same traction device mounted to a set of dual wheels, the wheels coupled together as if mounted on a drive axle of a large truck.  
         [0013]    The traction device illustrated is a type referred to as a cable type and includes an inside side cable  10  and an outside cable  12 . Spaced along the side cables are cross-member eyelets  14 . Cable loops  16  have opposed ends that are secured to the eyelets  14  and the loop  16  of inside and outside cables  10 ,  12  are connected together at the apex of the loop  16  by connectors  18 . A connector  18  is shown in greater detail in FIG. 3 (apart) and FIG. 4 (assembled), and will be further described in connection with the explanation of mounting the traction device to a dual wheel set in a following section.  
         [0014]    The cable loops  16  as connected at their respective ends to the opposing side cables  10 ,  12  via cross-member eyelets  14 , and as connected together at their apex via connectors  18 , form the traction device cross-members. As will be particularly noted in FIG. 4, the cable loops include center strands  19  provided with spring segments  20  that surround the cable strands  19 , the spring segments being spaced from the cable ends by spacers  22 . (FIGS. 1 and 2) The spring segments enhance gripping of the tires on ice or snow laden roadways as known to the art and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,912. The connectors  18  as particularly seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and  6  include an eyelet  24 . A cinch line  26  is extended through the eyelets  24  of the plurality of connectors  18  as seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and  6 . In this preferred embodiment, the cinch line  26  is a link type chain that is cooperatively formed relative to the opening of eyelet  24  to allow free passage of the cinch line through the eyelet  24 .  
         [0015]    Referring particularly to FIG. 6, one end of the cinch line is provided with a slide ring  28  and the other end (ref. nos.  30 ,  32 ,  34 ) is cooperatively configured to slide through the slide ring  28 . This other end is provided with a rubber gripping handle  30 , having an end hook  32 . A pair of snap links  34  provide the connection of the gripping handle  30  to the link chain of the cinch line. The snap links  34  enable adjustment of the overall length of the cinch line as will be apparent.  
         [0016]    The procedure for mounting the above traction device to the tires  36  of the illustrated dual wheel set will now be explained. With reference to FIG. 1, the traction device is laid down in front of or behind the dual wheels and the truck is moved to position the dual wheels at a mid position of the device. Preferably one end of the device is longer and that end is pulled up and over the tires of the dual wheel set. As seen in FIG. 7, one of the non-connected ends of the inside cable  10  is provided with a hook  38  and that end is hooked into a receiving hole  40  in the eyelet  14  at the opposite end of the inside cable  10 .  
         [0017]    With the inside side cable ends connected (as seen in FIG. 7), the outside side cable ends are pulled together. (See FIG. 8) A snap link  42  carried by a cross-member connector  14  is engaged by an over-center latch  44  (secured to the opposing connector  14  by another snap link  42 ) and the over-center latch is drawn through the snap link and secured to the side cable by a keeper link  46 .  
         [0018]    The two ends of the traction device accordingly being connected, the operator is ready to cinch down the device. References made to FIGS. 1, 2,  4 ,  5  and  6  which best illustrate the cinch line  26 . It is assumed that the desired length at the handle end  30  has been previously determined and the snap links  34  properly secured to the appropriate links of the cinch line. (See FIG. 5) The ends of the cinch line have been positioned in close adjacency by having connected the ends of the side cables. The handle  30  and hook  32  are inserted through the slide ring  28  and the handle pulled back through the slide ring  28  in a cinch like manner and to the extent that the cinch line may tend to slide around the tires through the eyelets  24 , the slide ring  28  is oversized and will not pass through the eyelets of the connectors. (See FIG. 6) The driver/operator in continued pulling of the handle end through the slide ring will produce tightening of the cinch line around the tires and thus the joined apexes of the cable loops  16  are pulled into the space between the tires as seen in FIG. 2. When sufficiently tightened, the end hook  32  is hooked onto a chain link of the cinch line (see FIG. 6) and the tightness of the traction device is secured and made ready for traveling.  
         [0019]    The reader will understand that this invention will apply to numerous traction device types and variations thereof. Examples of such alternative traction device types are illustrated in FIGS.  9 - 12 . Reference is first made to the traction device type of FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 illustrates a ladder type tire chain wherein the side members  48  and cross members  50  are cables, the cross members  50  being fitted with spring segments  52  as known to the art. Located at a center position of the side members  50  and between two spring segments  52  is a connector  54  which can be seen in more detail in FIG. 10. The connector is designed to clamp onto the side member and includes an eyelet  56  sized to permit a cinch line  58  (of interconnected chain links) to slide lengthways through the eyelet in the manner described for the embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0020]    As indicated by the partial view of the ladder tire chain in FIG. 9, the cinch line extends through the numerous connectors that circumscribe the tire periphery and in the same manner as described for the embodiment of FIG. 1, includes an end portion consisting of an end hook  32  and handle  30 . It will be noted that this version of the tire chain assumes a sufficient length of the cinch line that does not require lengthening or shortening. The stop ring  60  prevents the end from pulling through the eyelet of the connector and otherwise the tensioning is accomplished in a manner similar to that described for FIG. 1.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate a further ladder type tire chain but having chain link side members  62  and chain link cross members  64 . As in the version of FIGS. 9 and 10, the connections of the cross members to the side members are known to the art. Positioned at each mid or center position of each cross member  64  is a connector  66  including an eyelet  68 . A tensioning or cinch line  58  extends through eyelets  68  in the same manner as described for the version of FIGS. 9 and 10. Similarly the cinch line is tightened in the same manner. It will be further appreciated that further versions could be generated whereby the side members are cable and the cross members are chain links and/or vice versa.  
         [0022]    It is considered novel to provide a traction device for a dual wheel set wherein the tightening of the chain to the tire set is achieved by cinching of the traction device at its girth between the two tires. To accomplish such tightening, a cinch line is provided that would draw the device inwardly in a manner similar to a drawstring. It is beneficial to structure the traction device so as to be readily collapsible at its center line between the tires which is provided for in the first disclosed structure by the cross-members being formed of opposed loops that readily pivot inwardly at the point of connection i.e., connectors  18 . These same connectors provide the desired eyelets  24  that allow the cinch line to easily slide through the connectors. An appreciation of these benefits will enable a person skilled in the art to apply the invention to other types of traction devices.  
         [0023]    Accordingly, this invention is intended to apply to dual wheel traction devices in general as determined by the terms of the claims appended hereto.

Technology Category: b