United States Patent (19)

Hermanns (ii) 3,802,743

(45) Apr. 9, 1974
54) VARIABLE DIAMETER WHEEL 2,765, 199 10/1956 Partin........... r 301/47
76 Inventor: William H. Hermanns, clo George FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS
Spector 3615, Woolworth Building, 422,841 4/1925 Germany.............................. 301/46
233 Broadway, Tampa, Fla. 10007 9,385 10, 1912 Great Britain....... ... 52/55
22 Filed: Apr. 17, 1972 38,641 7/1902 . France................. ... 301/5 R
326,048 i? 1958 Switzerland............ . . . . . . . . . . . 301147
(21) Appl. No.: 244,456
Primary Examiner-Kenneth H. Betts
52 U.S. Cl....................... 301/5 R, 152/55, 30 1116 Assistant Examiner-Reinhard J. Eisenzopf
(5) Int. Cl............................................. B60b 19/04 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Stein, Orman & Fisher
58) Field of Search........... 30 1/5 R, 16, 46, 47,50;
152/55 (57) ABSTRACT
A wheeled vehicle is provided with a plurality of
56) References Cited wheels, each wheel being provided with separately ac
UNITED STATES PATENTS tuatable means for varying the diameter between two
489.446 1/1893 Anderson............................ 301/5 R fixed values, one small, the other large. Through the
756,290 4/1904 Sayer.................................. 301/5 R use of separately adjustable wheels the vehicle can tra
3,358,634 121 1967. Pratt... ... 305/34 verse uneven surfaces such as steep hills and valleys
1,787,608 11193 l Ansell..... ... 301147 without tilting or tipping.
t,980,314 - 1 1/1934 Barreres................................ 301/16 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures
PATENTED PR 917 3,802,743
 1.
3,802,743
VARIABLE DIAMETER WHEEL
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Each wheel has a hub with a plurality of spokes ex
tending radially outward therefrom in a common verti
cal plane in equidistantly spaced positions. Each spoke
takes the form with a hydraulic cylinder with a piston
therein that can be moved between withdrawn and ex
tended positions. The pistons have free ends remotely
disposed from the hub and extending out of the cylin
ders. A plurality of circular segments are disposed pe
ripherally about the pistons and are secured either to
the ends or to members connected to these ends. When
the pistons are fully extended the segments are spaced
from each other but are disposed along a circle having
a first diameter. When the pistons are withdrawn, the
segments are spaced from each other but by smaller
distances and are disposed along a circle having a sec
ond and smaller diameter. Thus, the diameter of the
wheel can be adjusted as required. Hydraulic fluid,
under the control of a manually operable valve, flows
through the hub to the cylinders to determine the pis
ton positions and hence the wheel diameter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 25
FIG. 1 is a side view of my wheel; and
FIG. 2 is an end view of a vehicle in use employing
my wheels. FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail of the structure
shown in FIG. 1 and shown in the same plane.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIG. 1, a plurality of hydraulic cyl
inders 10 extend radially outward from a central hub
12 in a common vertical plane in equidistantly spaced
positions. These cylinders each contain a separate pis
ton. Each cylinder and piston defines a spoke in a
wheel. Each piston has a free end extending out of its
cylinder remote from the hub. Each piston has a with
drawn position (shown in solid line of FIG. 1) and an
extended position (shown in phantom in FIG. 1). These
spokes have two different lengths as shown at 14A
(first spoke) and 14B (second spoke) and alternate in
position with each adjacent pair of spokes of one length
being separated by a spoke of the other length. The
spokes are supported by circle 24.
A plurality of circular segments 16 lie along the path
of either a first diameter circle shown in phantom at 18
or a second diameter circle shown in solid line at 20.
In both cases the segments are separated from each
other, the separation decreasing with decreasing circle
S2.
Each second piston extends into a space between ad
jacent segments 16. Each first piston is connected di
rectly to the center of a corresponding segment.
As shown in greater detail in FIG. 3, it is to be noted
that the spokes 14A are at their outward ends con
nected to gussets 28 welded to rolled plates 30. A
checker type wear plate 32 is bolted to plate 30; the
wear plate 32 being in face to face alignment with wear
2
plates 34 attached to an inner side of wheel rim seg
ments 16.
Upon the outer side of the wheel rim segments 16,
there are bolted a plurality of rubber traction pads 36,
in spaced apart relation, as shown in FIG. 3.
The resulting wheel can have its diameter varied as
previously described.
FIG. 2 shows a vehicle 26 having one wheel of large
diameter and an opposite wheel or smaller diameter
O whereby it can move in level position on a hill or the
like.
I claim as follows:
1. A variable diameter wheel of the type designed to
be incrementally retractable from a first diameter to a
15 second, concentric, smaller diameter and expandable
from said second diameter to said first diameter, said
wheel comprising: a plurality of first spokes equidis
tantly attached about the periphery of a hub and ex
tending radially outward therefrom in a common plane;
20 a corresponding plurality of second spokes equidis
tantly attached in alternating arrangement with said
first spokes about said periphery of said hub and ex
tending radially outward therefrom in said common
plane, said second spokes being of a predetermined les
ser longitudinal dimension than said first spokes; sup
port means comprising a circle attached to said first
and second spokes at a predetermined distance from
said hub, whereby said first and second spokes are sup
ported in fixed equidistant relation to one another; a
30 plurality of circular segments including wear plates at
tached to the concave sides thereof disposed in spaced
apart relation along a circle of said first diameter and
attached at their midpoints to the outer extremity of
said first spokes; a plurality of reinforcing means at
35 tached to the outer extremity of said second spokes and
abutting the concave surfaces of two of said wear plates
adjacent each other; and hydraulic means connected to
said first and second spokes to vary the length of said
first and second spokes, whereby the length of said
40 spokes determines which of said diameters is defined
by said segments.
2. A wheel as in claim 1 wherein said first and second
spokes comprise an hydraulic cylinder including a pis
ton mounted therein, said piston including a free end
45 comprising said outer extremity of said first and second
spokes extending out of said cylinder remotely from
said hub.
3. A wheel as in claim 2 wherein said reinforcing
means comprise substantially triangular gussets at
50 tached at their apex to said free ends of said second
spokes, said gussets further including a rolled plate se
cured to the convex outer edge thereof and a checker
type plate fastened to the convex outer face of said
rolled plate, whereby said checker type plate abuts the
55 concave surfaces of two of said wear plates adjacent
each other.
4. A wheel as in claim 2 wherein said circular seg
ments further include traction treads formed of elastic
material attached to the convex surface thereof.
60 k k k :
65