This invention relates to an anti-aquaplaning device for vehicles in general and for airplanes. More particularly, this invention relates to a device of the type mentioned above which is capable, when in operation, of avoiding in case of necessity the typical drawbacks of the aquaplaning phenomenon, so improving substantially on the safety of the user. It is well known that aquaplaning is the phenomenon consisting in the loss of grip between the wheels of the vehicle and the roadway because of the formation of a film of water between the tire and the roadway asphalt in case of ride on a wet roadway. In spite of deep studies and researches carried out especially by those engaged in the production of tires in an attempt to avoid the occurrence of such phenom¬ enon, it has been observed that the same occurs anyway at a speed of about 100 km/hour. Such studies have anyway brought about the realiz¬ ation of tires having engraved tread in order to avoid as much as possible the consequences of loss of grip or anyway in order to increase the threshold of occurrence of aquaplaning. Moreover, it is well known that in the recent years the problems inherent to safety on motorways have been particularly felt by the public opinion and that, as a consequence, all those engaged in the field have addressed their researches to the realization of devices and/or technical solutions, designed to improve on the safety of vehicles.

Accordingly, the Applicant has invented an anti- aquaplaning device suitable for any type of vehicle or of airplane, the latter being provided with landing wheels, said device being capable of preventing the

water film under the tires of the vehicle itself from being formed.

These and other results are obtained according to the present invention by supplying a fundamental tech- nical teaching for the realization of an anti-aqua¬ planing device which can be made operative, automatically or through a controlled action on the part of the driver in case of necessity, said device sub¬ stantially comprising a sliding block or runner, or any other similar member, which, when the device itself is in operation, is positioned in front of the correspond¬ ing tire so as to break the water film that would be formed, a structure that supports said runner and is capable of absorbing the attitude changes as well as of lifting or lowering said runner, and a device for driving said supporting structure.

Accordingly, it is a specific object of the present invention an anti-aquaplaning device for vehicles in general as well as for airplanes, said device comprising means for removing water from the roadway in front of a wheel; means for coupling said water-removal means to the structure of the vehicle, said coupling means being capable of absorbing any change in the attitude of the vehicle itself as well as any changes on the vertical plane of the road; means for the insertion/ disinsertion of said means for removal of water into the operative or the inoperative position; and means for controlling said insertion/disinsertion means.

In a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, said means. for removing water can be made up of a rod, which preferably consists of fibres or of steel and is coupled in a fixed or in a removable way to said coupling means.

The rod of the device according to the present invention, when consisting of steel can have a Teflon sliding block or runner at its end which in the operat-

ive position is in contact with the roadway, said runner being connected to the rod itself in a fixed or a remov¬ able way.

Again according to the present invention, said coupling means can be provided on the chassis of the vehicle or on the suspensions of the same.

In a further preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention, said insertion/dis- insertion means can be made up of a pneumatic cylinder, the free end of the stem of the same being pivoted on said coupling means, said cylinder being pivoted at the other end on the chassis of the vehicle and being driven through a vacuum reservoir whose operation is controlled by a solenoid valve. Further according to the present invention said insertion/disinsertion means can be made up of mechan¬ ical means, electromechanical means or magnetomechan- ical, electrohydraulic, electronic-pneumatic, electro- pneumatic or electronic-hydraulic means. The control means of the device according to the present invention will be preferably provided inside the passenger compartment, and in particular on the steering wheel, and they can consist of a mechanical device, or of an electronic device, or an electromechanical, infra- red remote control, ultrasonic remote control device and so on.

The employment of the anti-aquaplaning device ac¬ cording to the present invention reduces the need for deeply engraved tires like those employed at the present time in order to reduce the aquaplaning phenomenon.

Accordingly, it will be possible to realize long lasting tires more capable of enduring wear than those available at present, because of a less number of tread blocks, and with a better lateral road-holding on dry roadway, with less tendency to keep gravel, less sensitivity to the lateral wind, as well as with higher

- A - driving precision and less tendency to "vagueness" of behaviour on superhighways.

This invention will be disclosed in the following according to some ^preferred embodiments of the same, with particular reference to the Figures of the enclosed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the device according to the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a schematic view of the front portion of a vehicle on which the device of Figure 1 is assembled. The kind of embodiment of the device according to the present invention illustrated in Figure 1 is to be considered as illustrative but not as limitative, because, as is obvious, different applied technical sol- utions can be provided according to the type of the vehicle and to the particular requirements, said embodi¬ ment providing a rod 1 which consists of fibres or of steel, whose lower end, which is in contact with the roadway, if made up of steel is provided with the slid- ing block or runner mentioned above, which can be realized employing Teflon.

At the end opposite to that which is in contact with the roadway, said rod 1 is provided with a rapid connection 2 for realizing the coupling of the rod with the supporting structure and with the structure that compensates for changes in the attitude, as well as for rapidly substituting the rod in case of wear or of breaking.

The supporting structure of the rod 1 is provided with a shaped member 3 which is connected at one end to the connection 2 and is centrally pivoted on an articu¬ lated joint 4 arranged on the chassis of the vehicle and, at the other end, is pivoted on the end of the stem 5 of the piston of the cylinder 6. The cylinder 6, comprising in its inside part a return spring (not shown), is pivoted in turn on the r. ~

articulated joint 7 with the chassis of the vehicle.

The cylinder 6 is driven as a result of the switch¬ ing of an electric valve 8 which is controlled from the inside of the vehicle, said valve allowing the connec- tion of the cylinder 6 to be realized with the vacuum reservoir 9 which in turn is connected, through the connection pipe 10, with the suction manifold (not shown), a valve 11 being interposed for return and adjustment of the vacuum. The device according to the present invention is in¬ serted into the operative position by means of a controlled action on the part of the driver, so that said rod 1 is taken into the position shown in Figure 1, whereas in case of dis-insertion the stem 5 is pushed outwards of the cylinder 6 so that the shaped member 3, through rotation about the joint A, causes the rod 1 to lift.

Figure 2 shows the positioning of the device accord¬ ing to the present invention on a vehicle 12. Said device is provided before each one of the front wheels 13, at such a distance as to avoid any inter¬ ference between the rod 1 and the wheel 13.

When the device according to the present invention is assembled on motor vehicles, it is good practice to attach the mechanical part to the suspended masses, as the masses of the vehicle which are not suspended are subjected to vertical accelerations that asks for a very strong construction of said mechanical part. As is evident, this involves the fact that the construction is to be capable of undergoing motions of amplitude equal to that of the suspension of the vehicle itself.

In case of a TIR truck and trailer or of a motor bus, in which a rigid axle is provided, the device can be applied to the non-suspended masses, and in particular it can be applied just to the axle itself.

For realizing such application, due to the larger

distance between the axles, it can be necessary to position the device both at the point corresponding to the front wheels and at the point corresponding to the wheels of the rear axle. As is evident, the part concerning the insertion and disinsertion of the device according to the present invention can be realized, differently from the solution shown in Figure 1, with a mechanical, or electromechan¬ ical, magneto echanical, electr©hydraulic, electronic- pneumatic, electropneumatic or electronic-hydraulic devices.

The rod 1 is preferably made up of fibres because of its mechanical properties, and in particular because of its flexibility at 3° or 40°, the sizes and the shape of its cross section, its hysteresis, its length, its hardness, its specific weight, its wear resistance, its resistance to mechanical stresses as well as to the ozone contained in the atmosphere and to the salt spread on roadways in winter, and the capability of minimizing the noise when in contact with the asphalt of the road¬ way.

This invention has been disclosed with specific ref- rence to some preferred embodiments of the same it is to be understood that modifications and/or changes can be introduced by those who are skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention for which a priority right is claimed.