Fairing Assembly for at Least One Axle of a Commercial Vehicle

Abstract

A fairing assembly for a commercial vehicle includes a forward fairing configured to be disposed such that the forward fairing begins inboard of an outer tire tread edge of a tire of a forward drive wheel and progresses outwards to end outboard of a wall of the tire of the forward drive wheel with respect to a longitudinal direction of the commercial vehicle. The fairing assembly further includes a rear fairing configured to be disposed such that the rear fairing begins inboard of an outer tire tread edge of a tire of a rear drive wheel and progresses outwards to end outboard of a wall of the tire of the rear drive wheel with respect to the longitudinal direction of the commercial vehicle, where the rear fairing has a concave cross-section in a transverse direction of the commercial vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fairing assembly for a commercial vehicle, comprising:
 a forward fairing configured to be disposed such that the forward fairing begins inboard of an outer tire tread edge of a tire of a forward drive wheel and progresses outwards to end outboard of a wall of the tire of the forward drive wheel with respect to a longitudinal direction of the commercial vehicle; and   a rear fairing configured to be disposed such that the rear fairing begins inboard of an outer tire tread edge of a tire of a rear drive wheel and progresses outwards to end outboard of a wall of the tire of the rear drive wheel with respect to the longitudinal direction of the commercial vehicle, wherein the rear fairing has a concave cross-section in a transverse direction of the commercial vehicle.   
     
     
         2 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the forward fairing and the rear fairing each include a respective first portion made of a first material and a respective second portion adjoining the first portion and wherein the second portion is made of a second material that is different from the first material. 
     
     
         3 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein the first material is a first plastic material. 
     
     
         4 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 3 , wherein the first plastic material is a thermoplastic elastomer based on olefin. 
     
     
         5 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein the second material is a second plastic material. 
     
     
         6 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 5 , wherein the second plastic material is an Ethylene-Propylene-Dien-Monomer rubber. 
     
     
         7 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein the respective first portion has a higher rigidity than the respective second portion. 
     
     
         8 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein the respective second portion forms a respective edge region of the respective fairing. 
     
     
         9 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein a cross-sectional profile of the forward fairing is cubic. 
     
     
         10 . The fairing assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein a cross-sectional profile of the rear fairing is quadratic. 
     
     
         11 . A commercial vehicle, comprising:
 an axle; and   a fairing assembly according to  claim 1 .   
     
     
         12 . The commercial vehicle according to  claim 11 , wherein the commercial vehicle is a tractor.