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US 5,707,113 AGranted
Wheel cover assembly for a vehicle wheel
AssigneeAluminum Company of America
InventorVincent T. Russell
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAluminum Company of America
InventorVincent T. Russell
Estimating the term…
A wheel cover assembly is disclosed for a wheel that is mounted to a vehicle by a plurality of wheel mounting means comprised of threaded studs and associated nuts. This assembly includes a generally rigid hub cap and a plurality of reusable fasteners which are used to secure the hub cap to the wheel. The hub cap has a generally circular outline, with a plurality of notches spaced about its periphery and a flange extending into each of said notches. A notch in the hub cap is provided for each stud, so that when the wheel cover assembly is positioned on a wheel, the hub cap covers the central portion of the wheel, and each stud and associated nut is located in a notch of the hub cap. Each fastener includes a closed top end portion and a generally cylindrical sidewall extending from the closed top end portion so as to define a generally hollow cavity therein. A terminal collar depends from the bottom of and around the periphery of the sidewall of each fastener. Retaining means are provided within the cavity of each fastener for attaching the fastener to the wheel mounting means, so that at least a portion of the terminal collar of the fastener seats on at least a portion of the flange extending into the notch. There is also disclosed a hub cap and protective fasteners for use in such an assembly.
A wheel cover assembly for a vehicle wheel, which wheel is mounted to the vehicle by a plurality of wheel mounting means, each of which is comprised of a threaded stud and an associated nut, said wheel cover assembly comprising:
For use in a wheel cover assembly for a vehicle wheel, which wheel is mounted to the vehicle by a plurality of wheel mounting means comprised of threaded studs and associated nuts, and wherein said assembly includes a plurality of protective fasteners which are adapted for placement over the studs and associated nuts, a hub cap comprising a generally rigid disk having a generally circular outline with a plurality of notches spaced about the periphery thereof and a flange extending into each of said notches, said notches being equal in number to the number of studs and said notches and flanges being of such size and arrangement that when the wheel cover assembly is positioned on a wheel, the hub cap covers a central portion of the wheel with each stud and associated nut being so located in a notch that the flange of the hub cap does not impose a radially-directed bearing force on the wheel mounting means, so that a protective fastener may be attached to each of the wheel mounting means so that the fastener seats on at least a portion of the flange of the hub cap extending into the notch in which said stud and nut are located, thereby to secure the hub cap on the wheel.
For use in a wheel cover assembly for a vehicle wheel, which wheel is mounted to the vehicle by a plurality of wheel mounting means comprised of threaded studs and associated nuts, wherein said assembly includes a hub cap having a plurality of notches spaced about its outer periphery with each notch having a flange therein, which hub cap may be positioned on the wheel so as to cover a central portion thereof with each stud and associated nut being so located in a notch that the flange of the hub cap in the notch does not impose a radially-directed bearing force on the wheel mounting means, a reusable fastener, being provided for use in the assembly for attachment to the wheel mounting means to secure the hub cap on the wheel, in a number equal to the number of studs, each such fastener comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.