Cast vehicle wheels
AssigneeGKN Kent Alloys Limited
InventorJoseph A. Thompson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A light-alloy vehicle wheel comprises a nave, a wheel disc with ventilation apertures, two opposed tire bead seats and a well lying between the bead seats. A plurality of external, equally-spaced webs extends between the outer face of the wheel disc and one of the tire bead seats on its outer face and a corresponding plurality of internal fillets lie between adjacent ventilation apertures. Each fillet has an inwardly-directed face preferably of convex cross-section such that the corners of the cross-section defining the adjacent ventilation apertures are closer to the neutral axis of the local cross-section of the wheel disc, than the convex face of the fillet.
Claims4
A cast vehicle wheel comprising:
- a wheel centre comprising a nave having apertures to enable the wheel to be secured to a vehicle hub, and an inclined section extending generally outwardly from the nave and consisting essentially of T-section spokes separated by vent holes;
- and
- a rim portion having a well extending from the outer periphery of said inclined section and
- two tire bead seat portions spaced apart by the well;
- each said T-section spoke comprising a web extending between the outer face of said inclined section and the adjacent one of the said tyre bead seat portions, said web forming the stem of the T and, forming part of the cross-member of the T,
- an integral fillet located on the inner face of said inclined section so that the cross-member of the T is thicker at its middle than at its ends which are located at two adjacent vent holes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.