Method of making a rim for a vehicle wheel
AssigneeMichelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
InventorBruno Guimard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of making a rim of sheet metal for a vehicle wheel, in which: a rectangular geometric shape is cut out of a blank of sheet metal; the blank is bent to obtain a cylindrical hoop; the two free edges of the hoop are welded together; at least one cylindrical flow spinning operation is performed to obtain a profile of given thickness of the hoop, zones of constant thickness being adjacent to zones of variable thickness; a cut is made perpendicular to the axis of the hoop out of at least one lateral edge of the hoop; the hoop is profiled to obtain the rim; and the size of the said rim is set.
Claims10
A method of making a rim (2) of sheet metal for a vehicle wheel, comprising:
- obtaining a rectangular geometric shape from a blank of sheet metal;
- bending the blank to obtain a cylindrical hoop (14);
- welding the two free edges of the hoop (14) together;
- performing at least one cylindrical flow spinning operation to obtain a profile of given thickness of the hoop (20, 25, 26), wherein said hoop has zones of constant thickness adjacent to zones of variable thickness;
- making a cut perpendicular to the axis of the hoop (20, 25, 26) out of at least one lateral edge of the hoop (20, 25, 26);
- profiling the hoop (20, 25, 26) to obtain the rim (2);
- and
- setting the size of the said rim (2).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.