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US 6,460,938 B1Granted
Light-weight vehicle wheel
AssigneeHayes Lemmerz International, Inc.
InventorJohn M. Baumgarten
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle wheel includes a one-piece backbone wheel cast from a light-weight metal. The backbone wheel includes a generally cylindrical wheel rim adapted to carry a vehicle tire, and a wheel disc backbone extending across the wheel rim. The wheel disc backbone is adapted to be mounted on the vehicle. A styled plastic wheel face is molded on at least a portion of the wheel disc backbone.
Claims19
A vehicle wheel comprising:
- a one-piece universal backbone wheel cast from a light-weight metal, said wheel adapted to be mounted upon a plurality of vehicles, said wheel comprising a generally cylindrical wheel rim adapted to carry a vehicle tire, said wheel rim having an outboard end and an inboard end, said wheel rim including a deep well formed between said outboard and inboard ends, said deep well defining a deep well wall which is adjacent to said outboard end of said wheel rim, said wheel also having a central hub supported within said rim by a plurality of radially extending spokes, said spokes having a generally arcuate shape with one end of each spoke terminating upon said hub and the other end of each spoke terminating on said deep well wall whereby the spoke forms a generally radial arch between said hub and said deep well wall and the amount of material included in an outboard wheel sidewall is minimized while providing sufficient strength to support a vehicle;
- and
- a styled plastic wheel face molded directly upon at least a portion of said wheel disc, such that said styled plastic wheel face provides a pleasing esthetic appearance to the wheel.
A vehicle wheel comprising:
- a one-piece universal backbone wheel cast from a light-weight metal, said wheel adapted to be mounted upon a plurality of vehicles, said wheel comprising a generally cylindrical wheel rim adapted to carry a vehicle tire, the wheel rim having an outboard end and an inboard end, said wheel rim including a deep well formed between said outboard and inboard ends, said deep well defining a deep well wall which is adjacent to said outboard end of said wheel rim, said wheel also having a central hub supported within said rim by a plurality of radially extending spokes, said spokes having a generally arcuate shape with one end of each spoke terminating upon said hub and the other end of each spoke terminating on said deep well wall whereby the spoke forms a generally radial arch between said hub and said deep well wall to minimize the amount of metal utilized to form the wheel while providing sufficient strength to support a vehicle;
- and
- a styled plastic wheel face molded directly upon at least a portion of said wheel disc and the outboard end of the wheel rim, the plastic wheel face forming a plastic flange on the outboard end of the wheel rim, such that said styled plastic wheel face provides a pleasing esthetic appearance to the wheel.
A method of producing a vehicle comprising:
- (a) casting a one-piece universal backbone wheel from a light-weight metal, the wheel adapted to be mounted upon a plurality of vehicles, the backbone wheel comprising a generally cylindrical wheel rim adapted to carry a vehicle tire, said wheel rim having an outboard end and an inboard end, said wheel rim including a deep well formed between said outboard and inboard ends, said deep well defining a deep well wall which is adjacent to said outboard end of said wheel rim, said wheel also having a central hub supported within said rim by a plurality of radially extending spokes, said spokes having a generally arcuate shape with one end of each spoke terminating upon said hub and the other end of each spoke terminating on said deep well wall whereby the spoke forms a generally radial arch between said hub and said deep well wall and the amount of material included in an outboard wheel sidewall is minimized while providing sufficient strength to support a vehicle;
- and
- (b) molding a styled plastic wheel face directly upon at least a portion of the wheel disc, such that the styled plastic wheel face provides a pleasing esthetic appearance to the wheel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.