Video of Bridgestone's airless tyre appears online
ERJ staff report (DS)
YouTube -- Japanese technology company Diginfo has released a short video of Bridgestone's latest design of airless tyre, which ERJ revealed on 1 December. A Bridgestone spokesman says four of the wheels can support a 200 kg electric buggy, and each wheel can safely support up to three times that load.
The wheel has two sets of specially-designed spokes. One set on the inside of the rim is oriented in a clockwise pattern. the other set on the outside is oriented in an anti-clockwise manner, so that the combined effect is of two supporting spokes to give stability. The combination of two spokes, said a spokesman enables the plastic spokes to flex effectively without twisting.
The initial application is on a vehicle similar to a personal mobility scooter for people who find walking difficult. The spokesman said Bridgestone intends to begin with similar small-scale applications and progress up to standard vehicles.
Bridgestone expects the wheels to be used with the spokes revealed, however, it noted that if a stone or other item gets stuck in the matrix of spokes, then the suspension characteristics wil be affected, so they need to find a way to overcome this potential weakness.
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Press release from source
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