Vehicle wheel with assembly under the rim seat
AssigneeMichelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
InventorsBruno Guimard, Denis Alff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Wheel for an automobile, in which assembly between the sheet metal disc and the wheel rim is effected under the outer seat of the rim by cylindrical fitting. The profile of the rim may be obtained by a flow spinning process.
Claims21
A wheel for an automobile comprising a sheet metal rim with an outer rim flange and an inner rim flange, an outer rim seat with a radially outer frustoconical wall inclined at an angle α relative to the wheel's rotation axis, an inner rim seat, a mounting groove, and a sheet metal disc with a hub bearing surface, a radially outer edge designed for assembly with said rim, and a connection zone, assembly between said rim and said disc being effected between the radially inner wall of the outer seat of said rim and the radially outer wall edge of said disc,
- characterized in that the radially outer edge of said disc is cylindrical and the radially inner wall of the outer seat of said rim is also cylindrical.
A “full-face” wheel for an automobile, comprising a sheet metal rim having, axially from the inside outwards, an inner rim flange, an inner seat, a mounting groove and at least part of an outer rim seat with a radially outer frustoconical inclined at an angle α relative to the rotation axis of the wheel, a disc with a hub bearing surface, a transition zone ending radially in an outer rim flange, and a shoulder extending axially inwards whose radially outer wall is designed to constitute, together with the radially inner wall of the outer end of the outer rim seat, the assembly zone of said disc with said rim,
- characterized in that the two assembly surfaces of the disc and the rim have cylindrical geometry.
The wheel according to claim 11, in which the thickness variation between the radially outer frustoconical wall and the radially inner cylindrical wall of the outer seat or of the part of the outer seat, is produced by a flow spinning operation.
The wheel according to claim 11, in which the thickness of said rim is smaller in the zone located between the outer side-wall of the mounting groove and the inner rim flange, compared with the thickness of the other parts of said rim, and in which the thickness variation is produced by cylindrical flow spinning operations.
The wheel according to claim 11, in which the angle of inclination α is 5°.
A process for the production of a vehicle wheel, in which:
- a sheet metal rim is produced by means of the following steps:
- a plate of sheet metal is cut out to obtain rectangular geometry;
- the plate is bent to produce a cylindrical sleeve;
- the two free edges of the sleeve are welded together;
- the sleeve is calibrated to a given diameter;
- at least one cylindrical flow spinning operation is carried out to obtain a given thickness profile of the sleeve, in particular comprising in the zone intended to constitute the external seat an angle of inclination α, relative to the axial direction;
- the sleeve is then shaped to obtain the rim, in particular with a radially inner cylindrical wall in the zone of the outer seat and with a radially outer frustoconical wall inclined at an angle α corresponding to the standard inclination of the rim seats of said rim;
- and
- said rim is then calibrated;
- a disc is made, having an assembly edge whose radially outer surface has cylindrical geometry;
- said rim and said disc are assembled by fitting together under the outer seat of the rim;
- and
- said assembly is welded together.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.