Wheel assembly for an irrigation system

Claim 2

A wheel assembly for traversing a path along a ground surface having a layer of soil, the wheel assembly comprising: a central support having a plurality of outwardly protruding spokes that define a plurality of recesses therebetween; and an airless flexible covering mounted on the central support and having a plurality of rigid sections each including an inwardly facing mounting boss for aligning with and engaging the outwardly protruding spokes, and a plurality of flexible sections for aligning with the recesses, the outwardly protruding spokes being configured to urge the rigid sections into the layer of soil when the rigid sections contact the ground surface and wherein the recesses between the outwardly protruding spokes permit the flexible sections to flex inwardly towards the recesses when the flexible sections contact the ground surface so that the rigid sections and the flexible sections cooperatively form a corrugated pattern in the ground surface without urging the soil to side margins of the airless flexible covering, the corrugated pattern having a plurality of valleys formed by the rigid sections and a plurality of spaced peaks formed by the flexible sections.

Claim 3

The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the central support is a wheel and the airless flexible covering is a tire, and the tire presents an outer surface that is substantially flat between first and second edges thereof for preventing the soil from being urged to the side margins of the tire.

Claim 4

The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outwardly protruding spokes are retractable for removing the airless flexible covering from or attaching the airless flexible covering to the central support.

Claim 5

The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outwardly protruding spokes are removably attached to the central support for removing the airless flexible covering from or attaching the airless flexible covering to the central support.

Claim 6

The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the central support is attached to a support structure via threaded fasteners.

Claim 7

The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outwardly protruding spokes each include two prongs collectively forming a V-shape, each prong being aligned with a prong of another protruding spoke for placing a straight edge and a level device thereon to set a rotational orientation of the central support.

Claim 8

The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outwardly protruding spokes each include two prongs collectively forming a U-shape, each prong being aligned with a prong of another protruding spoke for placing a straight edge and a level device thereon to set a rotational orientation of the central support.

Claim 9

The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the flexible sections of the airless flexible covering each are configured to revert to an outwardly arcuate shape so as to be spaced away from the recesses when not contacting the ground surface.

Claim 10

The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the airless flexible covering includes a plurality of traction lugs.

Claim 13

The method of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined distance corresponds to a synchronized relative rotational alignment such that the outwardly protruding spokes of the first central support and the outwardly protruding spokes of the second central support are configured to engage common engagement points of a substantially compliant ground surface along the path so as to form a corrugated pattern in the substantially compliant ground surface for improving traction thereon.

Claim 14

The method of claim 11 , wherein the first central support presents a surface for checking an inclination of the surface corresponding to a desired rotational orientation of the first central support.

Claim 15

The method of claim 11 , further comprising: checking an inclination of a support structure and rotating the first central support until the inclination of the surface is equal to the inclination of the support structure.

Claim 16

The method of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined distance corresponds to an unsynchronized relative rotational alignment such that the outwardly protruding spokes of the first central support and the outwardly protruding spokes of the second central support are configured to engage different engagement points of a substantially non-compliant ground surface along the path so as to reduce a corrugation effect on the substantially non-compliant ground surface for improving traction thereon.

Claim 17

The method of claim 10 , further comprising: setting a rotational orientation of the first central support before measuring the distance between the rotational reference points.

Claim 18

The method of claim 10 , further comprising: mounting a first and a second airless flexible covering on the first and the second central support, respectively.

Claim 19

The method of claim 16 , wherein the outwardly protruding spokes are removably attached to the central support for removing the airless flexible covering from or attaching the airless flexible covering to the central support.

Claim 20

A support tower for a movable irrigation system for traversing a path along a ground surface having a layer of soil, the support tower including first and second wheel assemblies collectively comprising: a leading wheel and a trailing wheel aligned with and spaced from each other along the path, each wheel having a plurality of outwardly protruding spokes defining a plurality of recesses therebetween, each wheel including a reference point for rotationally synchronizing the wheels; and an airless flexible tire mounted on each wheel and having a plurality of rigid sections each including an inwardly facing mounting boss for aligning with and engaging the outwardly protruding spokes, and a plurality of flexible sections for aligning with the recesses, the outwardly protruding spokes being configured to urge the rigid sections into the layer of soil when the rigid sections contact the ground surface and wherein the recesses between the outwardly protruding spokes permit the flexible sections to flex inwardly towards the recesses when the flexible sections contact the ground surface so that the rigid sections and the flexible sections cooperatively form a corrugated pattern in the ground surface without urging the soil to side margins of the airless flexible covering, the corrugated pattern having a plurality of valleys formed by the rigid sections and a plurality of spaced peaks formed by the flexible sections, and the airless flexible tires each having a plurality of outwardly facing traction lugs for improving traction.

Claim 21

A support tower for a movable irrigation system for traversing a path along a ground surface having a layer of soil, the support tower including first and second wheel assemblies collectively comprising: a leading wheel and a trailing wheel aligned with and spaced from each other along the path, each wheel having a plurality of outwardly protruding spokes defining a plurality of recesses therebetween, each wheel including a reference point for rotationally synchronizing the wheels; and an airless flexible tire mounted on each wheel and having a plurality of rigid sections each including an inwardly facing mounting boss for aligning with and engaging the outwardly protruding spokes, and a plurality of flexible sections for aligning with the recesses, the outwardly protruding spokes being configured to urge the rigid sections into the layer of soil when the rigid sections contact the ground surface and wherein the recesses between the outwardly protruding spokes permit the flexible sections to flex inwardly towards the recesses when the flexible sections contact the ground surface so that the rigid sections and the flexible sections cooperatively form a corrugated pattern in the ground surface without urging the soil to side margins of the airless flexible covering, the corrugated pattern having a plurality of valleys formed by the rigid sections and a plurality of spaced peaks formed by the flexible sections, and the airless flexible tires each having a plurality of outwardly facing traction lugs for improving traction.

Claim 22

The support tower of claim 18 , wherein each tire presents an outer surface that is substantially flat between first and second edges thereof for preventing the soil from being urged to the side margins of the tire.

Claim 23

The wheel assembly of claim 18 , wherein each wheel includes a reference point for rotationally offsetting the wheels.