The object of the invention is a spray-suppression system for reducing hazards such as water and other sprays caused by vehicle wheels to other road users. The present spray- suppression system comprises the wheel's mudguard part, rain flap part, and a spray-suppressing material layer situated on at least a part of the surface of the spray- suppression system directed towards the vehicle wheel.

With a view to improving road safety, commercial vehicles are equipped with spray-suppressing devices to retain water and pulverized water spraying from wheels. A known device used for this purpose is a, usually semicircular, plastic or metal mudguard, on the rear of which a rain flap is mounted. The surface of the rain flap on the wheel side is, in addition, covered with a spray-retaining mat or other similar material.

The rain flaps used at present are usually flexible, especially as regards the part extending outside the mudguard. Normally the rain flap hangs downwards from the rear edge of the mudguard. It may also be furnished with spray-suppressing material.

Previously, it was not compulsory to fit vehicles with all these different parts of the spray-suppression system, and thus adding them afterwards is difficult. Even in new vehicles, combining a mudguard, rain flap and spray- suppressing material has proved difficult and complicated.

The object of the present invention is, therefore, to achieve a novel spray-suppression system for vehicles, without the above disadvantages. It is characteristic of the spray-suppression system relating to the invention that at least the mudguard part and the rain flap part form a solid, integrated whole, to the surface of which a spray- suppressing material layer is firmly affixed.

By means of the invention, the separate mudguard part and rain flap part can be replaced with a single easily-mounted whole.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the mudguard part corresponds to the shape of the wheel and is curved, preferably essentially semicircular and provided with side edges turning towards the hub of the wheel. The rain flap part corresponds to the shape of the mudguard part and is essentially equally wide, but more flexible. The rain flap part is also fixed firmly to form an extension of the mudguard part, and the shape of the rain flap part fits smoothly with the shape of the mudguard part at the joint.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the mudguard part is also curved, corresponding to the shape of the wheel, and preferably essentially semicircular and provided with side edges turning towards the hub of the wheel. The difference in comparison to the above embodiment is that the mudguard part and rain flap part form an integrated whole, in which case the rain flap part has been formed by making the end of the mudguard part more flexible than the rest of the mudguard part. No additional rain flap part is thus required. In this case the spray-suppressing material is also firmly affixed to the interior surface of the mudguard part. The thick backing used in existing spray-suppressing material constructions is thus also eliminated.

According to yet another preferred embodiment of the inventio , on the interior surface of the mudguard part is mounted an interior piece, which comprises an inner mudguard part, a rain flap part and a layer of spray- suppressing material affixed to the surface of the inner mudguard part and/or rain flap part directed towards the vehicle wheel. This type of spray-suppression system construction can easily be mounted afterwards on almost

any mudguard.

The spray-suppression system relating to the invention is more advantageous than existing devices as regards both manufacture and installation. By using this device, the weight of the vehicle can also be reduced.

Other advantageous aspects of the invention are the following:

- The system is made of plastic and particularly of HDPE.

- The end of the mudguard part blank is formed and worked to be flexible so that a separate flap part will not be required. The flexibility of the end of the mudguard part can also be achieved by fixing a separate flexible part of the same width as the mudguard part at the end of the mudguard part, as an inseparable part of it, preferably by welding.

- The shaping of the end of the mudguard part blank can be carried out by heating and forming it into the desired shape or, if the properties of the plastic used make it possible, by cold working.

- In certain vehicles, such as those provided with pneumatic springs, the road clearance is to such an extent standard, that a flexible part at the end of the mudguard part is not required. In this case the mudguard part used is so long that the end of the mudguard part may be either straightened (vertical when mounted) or curved.

- To the inside of the mudguard part, behind the wheel and to the surface of the flexible part is solidly fixed a spray-suppressing device which may be mat-like, formed of plastic nets, shaped of plate etc. The device is fixed to the interior surface of the mudguard part, making use of the properties of the plastic, mainly its weldability. In

the welding, hot-air welding, ultrasonic welding, friction welding and other welding methods can be used. The essential aspect is that the mudguard part and its flexible part form the supporting part of the spray-suppression device, so that the thick backing construction of the device can be completely eliminated. Thus the weight of the complete system will also be reduced considerably in comparison to the systems at present in use.

- The system complies with the EC Council Directive of 27 March .1991 (91/226/EEC) and other corresponding stipulations.

- The spray-suppression device may consist, for example, of plastic strands projecting from a base (artifical turf, Monsanto), curled plastic thread (polyamide, AKZO) . The device may be a mat, resembling a spiked mat, moulded of plastic or rubber (Boydell & Jacks, Dunlopillo, etc) . The device may also be made of one or more plates, with or without perforations, or of one or more nets, or in any other such manner so as to comply with the above-mentioned directive or corresponding stipulations.

The invention is explained in the following with examples, with reference to the appended drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows a side view of a vehicle wheel provided with the spray-suppression system relating to the invention,

Figure 2 shows a part of the spray-suppression system of figure 1 as seen from the inside, Figure 3 shows the same spray-suppression system as a perspective view, Figure 4 shows a similar view as figure 1 of a slightly different embodiment, Figure 5 shows the device of figure 4 as a perspective view, and Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a

different embodiment.

In the figures, the mudguard part is referred to by reference number 1, the rain flap part by reference number 2 and the spray-suppressing material layer by reference number 3.

In all the figures 1 - 5, the mudguard part 1 corresponds to the shape of the vehicle wheel in a manner known as such, as seen from the side. As seen in the direction of travel, the profile of the mudguard part is essentially flat in the centre, and curves on both sides slightly towards the centre of the wheel .

According to the invention, the rain flap part 2 is made into a solid, integrated whole with the mudguard part 1. The rain flap part 2 is designed to correspond essentially to the shape of the mudguard part, but it is not, however, as curved on the edges as the mudguard part.

In figures 1 - 3 the rain flap part 2 is affixed firmly to the mudguard part 1 by means of a weld 4. Both the mudguard part and the rain flap part are preferably made of plastic.

To the interior side of the rain flap 2 is affixed a spray- suppressing material layer 3, which may be, for example, a mat consisting of plastic net. The suppressing layer 3 extends over the entire length of the rain flap and also partly over the mudguard part.

Figures 4 and 5 correspond to figures 1 and 3 described above. The only difference is that in figures 4 and 5 the rain flap part 2 forms a single part with the mudguard part. The rain flap part 2 may be made of the same material as the mudguard part 1, or, for example, of slightly softer plastic than the mudguard part.

As an alternative embodiment, the rain flap part may

consist of a flexible plate fixed to the interior side of the mudguard part and forming an integral part of it, as shown in figure 6. In this case, too, the rain flap part 2 is fixed to the mudguard part by welding.

Finally, reference is made to an alternative mentioned above, but not depicted in the drawings, in which alternative the mudguard part is provided with an interior piece, that is, with a so-called inner mudguard part. In this case the rain flap part forms a solid integral whole with the inner mudguard part, in the same way as it forms a solid whole with the mudguard part itself in the figures explained above. The spray-suppressing material layer is then naturally fixed to the rain flap part and to a part of the inner mudguard part.