Motor vehicle wheel-grip aid

摘要

The grip chain (15) is made of interlocking elements which slide into each other to reduce the chain length. The chain is stored on the side of the wheel and is attached to flexible mountings (42) which are wound on servo drives (3) on the side of the wheel. When extra grip is required the servo drives are activated to move the chain onto the wheel tread. A simple design uses flexible steel tape supports wound onto servo driven drums. Another flexible support is obtained from a chain of ball shaped elements guided in a flexible guide. The servo drives include sprocket wheels engaging the support contour e.g. slits in the steel tapes. The control system includes position control switches to regulate the end positions of the drives, as well as centrifugal switches.