US3630256A

US3630256A - Protective mesh

Info

Publication number: US3630256A
Application number: US790226A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter Siepmann; Walter Siepmann Jr; Hans-Juergen Vogt; Herbert Sobota
Original assignee: Siepmann Werke GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Siepmann Werke GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1968-06-25
Filing date: 1969-01-10
Publication date: 1971-12-28
Anticipated expiration: 1988-12-28
Also published as: DE1755805A1

Abstract

A protective mesh for vehicle tires and the like consists of a plurality of one-piece members each of which has at least two closed loop portions and a connecting portion connecting the same. Each loop portion has an opening so dimensioned as to permit sliding insertion of a loop portion of an other member only when the loop portions of the respective members have a predetermined orientation with reference to one another. Each loop portion has two integral sections one of which is closer to and the other of which is farther from the associated connecting portion and the general planes of at least the aforementioned other sections are located in at least substantial parallelism with one another. Each connecting portion of each of the members extends through and is at least in part slidably accommodated in a loop portion of at least one other of the plurality of members so that all of the members are connected movable with reference to each other and constitute a protective mesh.

Description

United States Patent Inventors Walter Siepmann;

Walter Siepmann, Jr., both of Haus Mohnetal; Hans-Juergen Vogt, Kulbe; Herbert Sobota, Unterm Hagen, all of Germany Appl. No. 790,226 Filed Jan. 10, 1969 Patented Dec. 28, 1971 Assignee Siepmann-Werlte KG Belecke am Moehne, Germany Priorities June 25, 1968 Germany P 17 55 805.3; Dec. 9, 1968, Italy, No. 41820 A/68 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 786,931, Dec. 26, 1968. This application Jan. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 790,226

PROTECTIVE MESH 29 Claims, 13 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 152/222, 152/171, 152/180, 152/243 Int. Cl B60c 27/00 Field of Search 152/167,

Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman Attorney-Michael S. Striker ABSTRACT: A protective mesh for vehicle tires and the like consists of a plurality of one-piece members each of which has at least two closed loop portions and a connecting portion connecting the same. Each loop portion has an opening so dimensioned as to permit sliding insertion ofa loop portion of an other member only when the loop portions of the respective members have a predetermined orientation with reference to one another. Each loop portion has two integral sections one of which is closer to and the other of which is farther from the associated connecting portion and the general planes of at least the aforementioned other sections are located in at least substantial parallelism with one another. Each connecting portion of each of the members extends through and is at least in part slidably accommodated in a loop portion of at least one other of the plurality of members so that all of the members are connected movable with reference to each other and constitute a protective mesh.

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sum u UF 5 mwx- W lmmr SW M INVENTOR ATTORNEY 1 PROTECTIVE MESH CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS A related application, of which the present is a continuation-in-part application, has been filed on Dec. 26, 1968 under the title Protective Mail Meshf it has Ser. No. 786,93 I.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to protective mesh constructions, and more particularly to protective mail mesh.

In our aforementioned copending application, we have disclosed a protective mail mesh which is particularly suitable for protecting vehicle tires against damage and/or sliding on adverse terrain, that is terrain which is either very rocky and could damage the vehicle tires, or which is soft and muddy and does not admit of adequate traction for the tires.

As disclosed in the copending application, our protective mail mesh is assembled from a plurality of one-piece members of which each has at least two closed loop portions and a connecting portion connecting the same. The loop portions are each provided with an opening which is so dimensioned that the loop portion of any of the members can be slidably inserted therethrough, but only when the two loop portions which are thus being connected are in a predetermined orientation with reference'to one another. Once the insertion is completed the loop portions, or more particularly the respective members thus connected, are turned with reference to one another so that they can no longer accidentally or undesirably become disconnected by reverse movement of the one loop portion through the opening in the other through which it has been inserted. At least a part of the connecting portion of the one member is now slidably accommodated within the opening of the loop portion of the other member and the loop portions of the one member are located at opposite sides of the loop portion of the one member in which their associated connecting portion is slidably accomodated.

When a plurality of such members, which need not be identical but can be of the various different types outlined by way of example in the copending application, are assembled in this manner we obtain a protective mail mesh having the advantages set forth in the copending application and requiring no welded connections between the individual members. We have chosen the term mail mesh to differentiate from conventional tire chains from which the mesh of the present invention is far removed.

The individual one-piece members from which the novel protective mail mesh is assembled can be produced in various differentways, for instance by drop-forging, by casting or by bending and shaping of bar stock.

However, we have now found that the manufacture of these individual members can be further facilitated and simplified by choosing still other configurations for the one-piece members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide one-piece members for use in assembling a protective mesh of the type under discussion, which provide the advantages set forth in the aforementioned copending application but which can be manufactured still more readily and simply.

In pursuance of the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of our invention resides in the provision, in a protective mesh which is particularly well suited for use on vehicle tires and the like, of a plurality of one-piece members each of which consists of at least two closed loop portions and a connecting portion which connects the same. Each of the loop portions of each of the members is provided with an opening which is so dimensioned as to permit sliding insertion therethrough of a loop portion of an other of said members but only when the loop portions of the respective members have a predetermined orientation with reference to one another, and to slidably accommodate at least a part of the associated connecting portion of the other member.

In accordance with the present invention, each of the loop portions comprises two integral sections one of which is closer to and the other of which is farther from the associated connecting portion, and the general planes of at least the respective other sections of the loop portions of each of the members are located either in substantial parallelism with one another or inclined relative to another at a small angle of between substantially 0 and 30.

Each connecting portion of each of the members extends through and is at least in part slidably accommodated in a loop portion of at least one other of the plurality of members and all of the members are thus connected movable with respect to each other and together constitute a protective mail mesh.

By so configurating the loop portions of the one-piece members according to the present invention that at least the general planes of their respective other sections, that is the sections which are farther spaced from the associated connecting portion, are located either in substantial parallelism with one another, or are inclined to one another at an angle of between substantially 0 and 30, preferably about 10 to 20, we have obtained members which lend themselves particularly well to easy and simple fabrication, especially to drop-forging operations. As far as the latter type of fabricating is concerned, the configuration of the members in accordance with the present invention makes it possible to'fabricate them in a single forging step, thereby saving not only time but also reducing the necessary investment in tools.

A further advantage of the present invention, particularly in the case where the members can be manufactured in a single forging step, is the avoidance of the necessity for repeated heating of the members which eliminates the expenses involved for supplying the necessary energy.

When assembled into a mesh the members according to the present invention, even though they are longer than the ones disclosed in the copending application, result in a mesh construction which is extensible both in circumferential direction and in direction transversely thereto of a vehicle tire when the mesh is mounted thereon, and this is an important advantage of the present invention because it assures excellent ability of the mesh to conform itself to the surface contours of the vehicle tire as well as to conform itself to deformations of the tire resulting from operation of the vehicle and to conform itself to the contours of the terrain on which the vehicle operates. Depending upon the embodiment chosen, the loop portions on which the tire rests may be inclined to the direction of advancement of the tire at a greater or lesser angle and with appropriate arrangement of the loop portions the torsional stresses in the same can be reduced to thereby decrease the danger of breakage and increase the lifetime of the protective mesh assembled from such members.

In accordance with a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention the general planes extending through each of the loop portions are curved. However, they could also be planar just as the general plane of one of the loop portions could be curved and that of the other loop portion could be planar.

In accordance with a further advantageous consideration of the invention the general planes of those loop portion sections located closer to the connecting portion are inclined at an acute angle with reference to one another. This construction is particularly advantageous if the general planes of the respective loop portion, that is of the loop portion in its entirety, are curved themselves. It is then advantageous if the aforementioned acute angle is on the order of between 5 and 45 approximately, advantageously approximately 30. According to another embodiment the sections of the loop portions which in the aforementioned embodiment are inclined with reference to one another at an acute angle, in this embodiment are inclined with reference to one another at an obtuse angle. This embodiment is particularly useful when the general plane of one of the loop portions is planar and that of the other loop portions is curved. If one resorts to this embodiment it is advantageous if the sections of the loop portions which are located farther spaced from the connecting portion are inclined with reference to one another at an angle of approximately 95-140, preferably approximately lll5. While it is possible to slightly exceed or fall below these ranges it is advantageous to stay within them because individual members so constructed provide in assembled condition a protective mesh of particularly good characteristics.

According to a further embodiment of the invention the general planes of each loop portion extend approximately normal to the plane in which the connecting portion of the member is located, which connecting portion in this case is arcuately curved. Such an embodiment assures that the loop portions of the individual members in a mesh assembled from such members are arranged approximately normal to the tire surface and thereby approximately normal to the surface of the ground. This assures a most effective positioningof the loop portions and most reliable. and advantageous characteristics of the protective mesh, regardless whether the vehicle is moving forwardly or rearwardly.

The connecting portion of each individual member can be configurated in various different ways. For instance, in plan view it may be of substantially trapezoidal outline but it may also be of U-shaped outline or have the outline of a regular or irregular polygon with preferably rounded comers. It is also possible to so configurate the connecting portion of each individual member that it is curved according to one or several relatively large radii. The configuration of the connecting portions of the individual members has a significant influence upon the characteristics of the entire protective mesh and can thus be utilized for influencing these characteristics.

It is further possible to so construct the individual members that the general planes of the loop portions and the general plane of the connecting portion are located slightly laterally offset with respect to one another with all of the general planes being planar or substantially planar. In extreme cases it is even possible that all of these general planes are located in a common plane.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the general plane of the loop portionsat least in the region of their sections which are farther spaced from the connecting portion-and the general plane of the connecting portion are not coincident but rather are located in two and preferably three laterally offset parallel planes. A mesh constructed from members having such a configuration will consist of individual strands of connected members which cross one another and are connected in net fashion with one another. The individual strands consist of individual members which stepwise overlap one another. This is true also for an embodiment wherein the general planes of the loop portionsat least in the region of their sections farther spaced from the connecting portionand the general plane of the connecting portion are located in two different but at least substantially parallel planes. However, it is also possible to have the general plane of the connecting portion and that of one of the loop portions be coincident and to have the general plane of the other loop portion be located laterally offset and extending at least in substantial parallelism therewith.

We have found it advantageous if we provide bent transitional portions integral with and interposed between the connecting portion and the respective loop portions between the respective ends of the same. However, it is also possible to provide such bent transitional portions at other locations, for instance in the region of the middle of the connection portion; in either case, however, the transitional portions provide for a transition from one to the other of the ofi'set parallel or substantially parallel planes. Generally, the length of each loop portion with respect to the associated connecting portion has a relationship of approximately 1:1 to 3:1, preferably on the order of 2: 1. With this dimensioning, which has been generally found particularly advantageous, we obtain a mesh of particularly advantageous mesh opening size. The openings in this case are small enough to largely cover the tire surface and to protect the same against damage, while on the other hand the are large enough to provide very high traction.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 illustrates a side-elevational view of a member constructed according to the embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention in a view similar to FIG. 1 1

FIG. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic fragmentary illustration in plan view of a net assembled from members of the types shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a further embodiment of the invention in the loop portions and the connecting portion of three different general planes;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of yet an additional embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a side view seen from one direction of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side view seen from another direction of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to that of FIG. 7 but illustrating a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a view analogous to FIG. 8 but of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a view analogous to FIG. 9 but of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 13 is a somewhat diagrammatic fragmentary illustration in plan view of a net assembled from members of the types shown in FIGS. 10-12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing firstly the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that there is shown individual one-piece member which consists of a connecting portion 1 and two closed loop portions 2 which are of one piece with the connecting portion and provided at the opposite ends thereof. The configuration of the loop portions is most clearly evident from FIG. 2. Each of the loop portions is provided with an opening 3 whose width is identified with h in FIG. 2 whereas its length, measured normal to its width, is identified with t. The total width of the loop portions 2 is identified with H and it.will be seen that the length t is at least equal to and preferably larger than the total width H as measured in the general plane A of the loop portions. Furthermore, the length r of each opening 3 is at least substantially double and preferably more than double the thickness d, of the connection portion 1 measured in a plane substantially normal to the general plane A. This dimension d is shown in FIG. I. The dimension d shown in FIG. 2, on the other hand, indicates measurement of the thickness of the connection portion 1 substantially in the general planes A of the loop portions 2. The width h of the openings 3 measured in the respective general planes A of the loop portions 2, is at least equal to and preferably larger than the dimension d.

FIG. 2 also shows the length of the connection portion 1, which is identified with f and the total lengths l of the respective loop portions 2. In the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2, the lengths I and f have a relationship of approximately 2: l.

The general planes A of the loop portions 2, shown in FIG. 1, are located in two transversely spaced parallel planes and the general plane B of the connecting portion 1 is located intermediate the general planes A and extends in parallelism therewith. In this embodiment the plane B is substantially midway between the two planes A and the connecting portion and the two loop portions of the member shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 thus have three different parallel planes which are spaced from one another. Transition portions 4, offset or bent in the manner shown in FIG. I, are provided at the opposite ends of the connecting portion 1 connecting these ends with the respective loop portions 2 and being of one piece both with the loop portions 2 and the connecting portion 1. It is immaterial whether the transitional portions 4 constitute parts of the connecting portion 1, as illustrated, of the respective loop portions 2. Furthermore, it is also possible to provide only a single such transitional portion which would then be located in the provision now illustrated for one or the other of the two transitional portions 4 in FIG. 1, and which could also be located substantially at the middle of the connecting portion 1 intermediate the opposite ends of the latter.

The member illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 3 corresponds largely to the one shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except for the fact that it is so configurated that the general planes A of the respective loop portions 2 coincide with the general plane B of the connection portion 1; in other words, they are all located in a single plane. This eliminates the need for the transitional portions 4 of FIGS. 1 and 2.

Coming to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, it will be seen that we have shown therein a plan view of a fragment of a mesh assembled from a plurality of the members illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The mesh in FIG. 4 is identified with reference numeral 5 and it will be clear from a perusal of FIG. 4 how the individual members are connected with one another, and that this connection is accomplished in the manner set forth in detail in our aforementioned copending application. This connection makes it possible to assemble from the illustrated members a mesh which requires no welded or other connections between the members but which, on the other hand, is completely protected against accidental separation of the individual members from one another. The mesh shown in FIG. 4 may be arranged on vehicle tires in such a manner that the direction of rotation of the tire is indicated by the arrow u, or alternately it may be arranged that the direction of rotation of the tire is indicated by the arrow v or w. The last two possibilities are preferred and in this case the loop portions 2, which constitute the supporting portions on which the vehicle tire is supported on the ground, will always extend with respect to the direction of rotation of the tire at an angle of approximately 45; in the first-mentioned case, that is of the direction of rotation of the tire indicated by the arrow u, they will extend either in this direction or normal thereto, depending on which of the members are involved. This is clear from FIG. 4.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 shows a member consisting of a connecting portion 1 and two loop portions 2 which are of one piece with the connecting portion 1 and respectively provided with an opening 3. FIG. 5 shows particularly clearly that the loop portions 2 are of curved configuration, from which it follows that their general planes A are also curved. Because of this curvature the loop portions 2 are subdivided into two longitudinally adjacent sections 2a and 2b of which the former is located farther from and the latter is located closer to the connecting portion 1. In this embodiment, and as clearly shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the general planes A of the two loop portions 2 are located in two different but parallel planes in the region of the respective sections 2a; at least in the region of its center portion the connecting portion 1 has a general plane which is located in a third plane paralleling the two first-mentioned general planes.

In the region of the respective sections 2b of the loop portions 2 the general planes A of the loop portions are inclined with one another so as to form an angle a, of approximately 30 with one another. FIG. .5 shows particularly clearly that the loop portions 2 are of identical length as do the sections 2a and 2b of each loop portion. However, this is not absolutely necessary and the length of the loop portions 2 can be different from one loop portion to the other, as well as the lengths of the sections 2a and 2b can differ both with respect to one another and to their counterparts of the respectively other loop portion.

Coming to the embodiment of FIGS. 7-9, it will be seen that the member illustrated therein has two loop portions 2 whose general planes-insofar as they concern the sections 20 of the respective loop portions-are located in parallelism with one another. The connecting portion 1 is curved as illustrated and is integral with the sections 2b of the respective loop portions which are tangential to the arcuate curvature of the connecting portion 1. One of the loop portions 2 is of planar configuration, whereas the other is of curved configuration, and of course their general planes are correspondingly curved. FIG. 8

shows that generally speaking the member of FIGS. 7-9 is located in two different planes which are substantially parallel with one another. The size and configuration of the opening 3 in each of the loop portions is visible in FIG. 9 and FIG. 7 shows that the sections 2b of the respective loop portions 2, and thereby the general planes of the sections 2b, are inclined with reference to one another at an obtuse angle a, of approximately The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 10-12 corresponds substantially to that in FIGS. 7-9. It differs from that embodiment in that the section 2a of the curved loop portion 2 (lower part of FIG. 10) is only very short and extends not in parallelism with but rather at a small angle B of approximately 15 inclined to the other loop portion 2. The section 2b of the curved loop portion 2 in FIG. 10 extends tangentially to the arcuately curved section 1. However, a different configuration is also possible in which the section 2b of the curved loop portion 2whose curvature is identified with reference numeral 6-would begin only in the region of this curvature. It is clear that in this embodiment the length of the individual member is considerably greater than in other embodiments and that the connecting portion 1 will be correspondingly longer and extend to the curvature 6.

Coming, finally, to FIG. 13 it will be seen that this resembles FIG. 4 in illustrating in plan view a fragment of a mesh assembled from a plurality of the members illustrated in FIGS. 10-12. The connection of the individual members is clearly visible in FIG. 2 and it is evident that they cannot become accidentally and undesirably disconnected from one another. The tread portion or ground-contacting portion of the mesh is identified with reference numeral 5 and will advantageously be so arranged on the tire that it direction of movement coincides with the direction of movement of the tire identified with the arrow 1: or the arrow y. However, a different direction of movement can be selected although those identified with the arrows x and y are the most advantageous because in this case the loop portions 2 of the individual members making up the net will be arranged at different angles to the respective direction of advancement.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a protective mesh particularly for vehicle tires, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A protective mail mesh for exteriorly surrounding vehicle tires, comprising a plurality of one-piece members each consisting of at least two closed loop portions and a connecting portion connecting the latter, said loop portions of each of said members each being provided with an opening so dimensioned as to permit sliding insertion therethrough of any loop portion of any other of said members but only when the loop portions of said members have a predetermined orientation with reference to one another, and to slidably accommodate at least a part of the associated connecting portion of said other member, each of said loop portions comprising two integral sections one of which is closer to and the other of which is farther from the associated connecting portion, the general planes of at least the respective other sections of the loop portions of each of said members having a relative angular orientation between and substantially 30, and each connecting portion of each of said members extending through and being at least in part slidably accommodated in a loop portion of at least two others of said plurality of members, whereby all of said members are connected movable with respect to each other and together constitute a mail mesh.

2. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, wherein said general planes of said other sections are at least substantially parallel with one another.

3. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, wherein the general planes of said loop portions are curved.

4. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, wherein the general planes of said loop portions are straight.

5. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, wherein the general plane of one of said loop portions is curved and the general plane of the other of said loop portions is straight.

6. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, wherein the general planes of said one sections of the loop portions of the respective members are inclined with reference to one other.

7. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 6, wherein the general planes of said one sections are inclined at an acute angle with reference to one another.

8. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 6, wherein the general planes of said one sections are inclined with reference to one another at an angle of between substantially and 45.

9. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 8, wherein said angle is on the order of 30.

10. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 6, wherein the general planes of said one sections are inclined relative to one another at an obtuse angle.

11. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 10, wherein the general planes of said one sections are inclined relative to one another at an obtuse angle of between substantially 95 and 140.

12. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 11, wherein said obtuse angle is on the order of between 100 and l l 5.

13. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, wherein the general planes of said one sections of the loop portions of the respective members extend at least substantially in parallelism with one another.

14. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said conoutline.

18. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim .14. said curved connecting portion having the outline of a polygon with rounded comers.

19. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 14, said connecting portion having at least one relatively large radius of curvature.

20. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 14, said connecting portion having a plurality of relatively large radii of curvature.

21. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said connecting portion and said loop portions being substantially planar, and wherein the general plane of said connecting portion and the general planes of said loop portionsextend in substantial parallelism with one another.

22. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 21; each of said members further comprising two transitional portions each interposed between and of one piece with said connectmg portlon and one of said IOOP'POI'IIOHS and providing a transition between the general planes thereof.

23. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 21, said con- I necting portion and each of said loop portions having a necting portion being curved in a predetermined plane, and

wherein the general planes of the respectively associated loop portions intersect said predetermined plane substantially normal thereto.

15. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 14, said curved connecting portion having a substantially trapeziumshaped outline.

16. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 14, said curved connecting portion having a substantially U-shaped outline.

17. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 14, said curved connecting portion having a substantially polygonal predetermined length, and wherein the predetermined length of said loop portions relative to the predetermined length of said connecting portion has a ratio of between substantially 1:1 and 3:1.

24. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 23, wherein said ratio is 2: l.

25. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said connecting portion and said loop portions being substantially planar, and wherein the general plane of said connecting portion and the general planes of said loop portions are substantially coincident with one another.

26. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said connecting portion and said loop portions each having a general plane, and wherein said general planes are located in at least two transversely spaced-parallel planes.

27. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said connecting portion and said loop portions each having a general plane, and wherein said general planes are located in three transversely spaced-parallel planes.

28. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said connecting portion and said loop portions each having a general plane, and wherein the general planes of said loop portions are coincident and extend transversely spaced from and in substantial parallelism with the general plane of said connecting portion.

29. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said connecting portion and said loop portions each having a general plane, the general planes of said connecting portion and of one of said loop portions coinciding with one another and the general plane of the other of said loop portions being transversely spaced and extending in at least substantially parallelism thereto.

Claims

1. A protective mail mesh for exteriorly surrounding vehicle tires, comprising a plurality of one-piece members each consisting of at least two closed loop portions and a connecting portion connecting the latter, said loop portions of each of said members each being provided with an opening so dimensioned as to permit sliding insertion therethrough of any loop portion of any other of said members but only when the loop portions of said members have a predetermined orientation with reference to one another, and to slidably accommodate at least a part of the associated connecting portion of said other member, each of said loop portions comprising two integral sections one of which is closer to and the other of which is farther from the associated connecting portion, the general planes of at least the respective other sections of the loop portions of each of said members having a relative angular orientation between 0* and substantially 30*, and each connecting portion of each of said members extending through and being at least in part slidably accommodated in a loop portion of at least two others of said plurality of members, whereby all of said members are connected movable with respect to each other and together constitute a mail mesh.

8. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 6, wherein the general planes of said one sections are inclined with reference to one another at an angle of between substantially 5* and 45*.

9. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 8, wherein said angle is on the order of 30*.

11. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 10, wherein the general planes of said one sections are inclined relative to one another at an obtuse angle of between substantially 95* and 140*.

12. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 11, wherein said obtuse angle is on the order of between 100* and 115*.

14. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said connecting portion being curved in a predetermined plane, and wherein the general planes of the respectively associated loop portions intersect said predetermined plane substantially normal thereto.

15. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 14, said curved connecting portion having a substantially trapezium-shaped outline.

17. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 14, said curved connecting portion having a substantially polygonal outline.

18. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 14, said curved connecting portion having the outline of a polygon with rounded corners.

21. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 1, said connecting portion and said loop portions being substantially planar, and wherein the general plane of said connecting portion and the general planes of said loop portions extend in substantial parallelism with one another.

22. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 21; each of said members further comprising two transitional portions each interposed between and of one piece with said connecting portion and one of said loop portions and providing a transition between the general planes thereof.

23. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 21, said connecting portion and each of said loop portions having a predetermined length, and wherein the predetermined length of said loop portions relative to the predetermined length of said connecting portion has a ratio of between substantially 1:1 and 3:1.

24. A protective mail mesh as defined in claim 23, wherein said ratio is 2:1.