Pneumatic wheels for vehicles

Claim 1

In a vehicle having a body, wheels rotatably supported on the body, and inflated fluid tires on the wheel, the improvement comprising: a fluid chamber supported on the wheel; and a structure defining a bi-directional energy dissipating orifice connecting the interior of the chamber with the pressurized volume within the tire, the structure defining the orifice having a viscous permeability ##EQU5## where 1.4≦B≦7 depending on typical excitation from the road surface, where φ=viscous permeability of the connective canal, v r =the volume of the chamber; μ=the dynamic viscosity of media inside the cavity, l=the length of the connective canal, n=the polytropic exponent of the fluid, ρ o =the initial pressure in the tire cavity, A=the cross sectional area of the orifice, w o =the angular natural frequency of the tire, v t =the volume of the tire, whereby rapid increases in the pressure within the tire as a result of the impact of the tire with obstacles causes fluid flow through the orifice, into the chamber, dissipating a substantial portion of the fluid energy in thermal form and thereby reducing the shock transmitted to the vehicle.