Safety and Speed can be Connected
Installing and removing a wheel assembly that can weigh as much as 9,000kg is a complex and dangerous exercise. Tyre fitters must enter a high-risk space, a potential Crush Zone, to perform an essential task: Fitting or Removing wheel nuts. There has been NO alternative… until NOW
Entering a Crush Zone
Tyre fitters must enter a high-risk space to fit or remove the wheel nuts.
The most commonly used, and recommended processes, to manage the risks, rely heavily on soft controls to protect fitters from a potentially fatal crush injury:
- 01Exclusion / No Go Zones
- 02Signage and positive communications
- 03Demarcation
Team members are still required to access an area where there is a very real risk of being injured or, in the worst of circumstances, being crushed.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the term “crush zone”.
It’s commonly used and has lost any real meaning.
Entering this space means accepting the risk!
The following is a YouTube link to an Animation created by Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT)
Standing in the line of fire is obviously Dangerous
but there has been NO alternative…
The Elimination of Risk through innovation
The Challenge:
Tyre and Rim assemblies, or Wheel assemblies, are mostly attached to the wheel hub by fasteners:
Nuts and Bolts
Wheel nuts are threaded ON or OFF a vehicle stud by mechanical means:
By a person with or without a power tool
In the hierarchy of controls, the elimination of a risk is the highest achievable goal.
An engineering solution needed to be found to address a risk that millions of people are exposed to, everyday.
It may be on mine sites, building sites, civil engineering projects, agricultural workplaces or any maintenance workshop that handles heavy vehicles.
Remove the person from the areawhile the load is unsecured!
Fitting the first few wheel nuts requires a person to enter the space in front of an unsecured load.
The removal of the final wheel nuts creates an unsecured load and a potential Crush Zone in which tyre fitters are at risk.
The risk can be Eliminated by removing the need to enter this high risk zone to fit the first, or remove the final, wheel nuts.
After 7 years, countless redesigns and extensive field testing on actual mine sites, the solutions has been created.
Introducing the Rim-Lock® and Rim-UnLock® systems
Our team is proud to present the multi-award winning Rim-Lock® and the Rim-UnLock® systems.
Joseph (Joe) Guinea, the inventor of the systems, has created a set of tools that will remove people from danger zones, while the risk of uncontrolled or unexpected movement is possible.
A simple solution to a complex problem
Rim-Lock® retainers have been created to instantly and securely lock a tyre and rim, wheel assembly, in place without the need for any manual interaction by a person.
Removing the human element from a crush zone, eliminates the risk of serious injury or fatality.
- STEP 01
The retainers are placed on the nave plate of the rim to be installed, at a point when the wheel assembly does not present any danger of uncontrolled movement to any person. They are securely held in place by the neodymium magnets embedded in the unit.
- STEP 02
The normal process of installing the wheel assembly to the vehicle, with the Tyre Handler, can start.
Rim-Lock® retainers contain a unique and patent protected internal mechanism that engages with the stud. It instantly locks onto the thread and secures the assembly to the hub of the vehicle. It does not require any rotation of the retainers to secure the load.
- STEP 03
Tyre fitters can fit all wheel nuts as per the normal process
- STEP 04
Remove the Rim-Lock retainers from the nave and return to the hardcase.
Eliminating a Crush Zone Risk
The removal of the final wheel nuts creates an unsecured load and a potential Crush Zone in which tyre fitters are at risk.
The Rim-UnLock® system has been created to remotely release, or Unlock, a tyre and rim assembly from the vehicle.
The risk can be Eliminated, because no person needs to enter this high risk zone to remove the final wheel nuts.
- STEP 01
Once the tyre fitter has removed a wheel nut from the 9, 12 and 3 o’clock positions, the Rim-UnLock® Retainers are installed onto the exposed studs.
- STEP 02
Using the Rim-UnLock® Remote Controller, the retainers are Locked into the thread of the stud. The patent protected internal mechanism engages with the thread to secure the wheel assembly to the vehicle.
- STEP 03
The tyre fitter(s) can now remove all remaining wheel nuts from the hub as per the normal process.
- STEP 04
Once every person has moved to a safe distance the Tyre Handler can move into position and grasp the wheel assembly as per the normal process.
- STEP 05
Using the Remote Controller, the retainers are Un-locked. The patent protected internal mechanism disengages from the thread of the studs, and the assembly can be removed from the vehicle without manual interaction.
- STEP 06
The Rim-UnLock® Retainers can be removed from the nave and returned to the hardcase.
Can Safety and Speed be Connected?
Following is a case study regarding use of the Rim-Lock® system. The data was collected from 20 installations of a wheel assembly, on 5 active mine sites across Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. These sites and workshops use “world best practice” processes, using a Tyre Handler in a Tyre Bay workshop on concrete level floor.
| Observed Process per Wheel assembly | |
|---|---|
| Enter and exit tyre handler twice | 4 minutes |
| Isolate, de-isolate tyre handler and install wheel chocks (incl. danger tagging) | 7 minutes |
| Fit the minimum required 4–6 fasteners and tension | 3 minutes |
| Total | 14 minutes |
| Process using the Rim-Lock®, per assembly | |
|---|---|
| Install the retainers onto the nave plate | 2 minutes |
| Enter / exit tyre handler once | 2 minutes |
| Continue with standard installation process | — |
| Total | 4 minutes |
Engineering Certifications
The Rim-Lock® and Rim-UnLock® systems, and their designs, have been audited and certified by one of Australia’s leading Registered Professional Engineers.
The design audit was carried out by an industry-leading Australian engineering firm.
Where possible the Steel components are machined from 4140 tool steel and are treated for corrosion resistance.
A re-invention of the humble nut
Rim-Lock® and Rim-UnLock® Retainers can be customised to suit most vehicles, both large and small. We believe that we cover up to 85% of vehicles in operation.
If your vehicle, or its individual specifications and setup, is not currently in our lists, we can work with you to create a solution.
Once we receive your vehicle specifications we can provide you with a quotation for the retainers.
Where there is a need to instantly and securely Lock, or Un-Lock, a wheel assembly from a vehicle we can provide a solution.
Industries we cover with our technology:
- Mining
- Construction
- Civil Engineering
- Agricultural (Farming of all sizes)
- Transportation
The Rim-Lock® and Rim-UnLock® retainers are, at their core, a re-invention of the nut (i.e. nuts and bolts, or fasteners).
They are not products that aim to replace the function or the use of a nut as an essential partner of the bolt.
However, they function as a tool that can be used in all circumstances where safety and speed are essential for the mechanical fastening of an unsecured load.
Our unique innovations can also be used in other circumstances where an unsecured load creates a potential danger zone. Its application in the mining industry is only its starting point.
Ranging from the Motor Racing Industry to the Farming Industry, and many others that we have yet to uncover or understand, the adaptation of the Rim-Lock® and Rim-UnLock® technology can deliver safer working environments.