Apparatus for producing a vehicle wheel rim

A wheel rim expanding tooling apparatus adapted to engage an inner surface of a vehicle wheel to expand the wheel rim to a desired final profile comprising:

• inboard wheel rim expanding tooling assembly including a plurality of segmented inboard press members adapted to engage the inner surface of the vehicle wheel rim to expand the wheel rim to a desired final profile, each of said segmented inboard press members including an outer surface, an inner surface, a pair of end surfaces, and a pair of side surfaces, each of said side surfaces of said segmented inboard press members including a first outer section and a second inner section, said first outer section extending radially inwardly relative to said outer surface a first radial distance and said second inner section extending radially inwardly relative to said first section a second radial distance which is greater than said first radial distance, said first outer section provided with a generally curved surface profile which extends across at least a portion of an axial width thereof, said second inner section provided with a generally flat surface profile;
• and
• an outboard wheel rim expanding tooling assembly including a plurality of segmented outboard press members adapted to engage the inner surface of the vehicle wheel rim to expand the wheel rim to a desired final profile, each of said segmented outboard press members including an outer surface, an inner surface, a pair of end surfaces, and a pair of side surfaces, each of said side surfaces of said segmented outboard press members including a first outer section and a second inner section, said first outer section extending radially inwardly relative to said outer surface a first radial distance and said second inner section extending radially inwardly relative to said first section a second radial distance which is greater than said first radial distance, said first outer section provided with a generally curved surface profile which extends across at least a portion of an axial width thereof, said second inner section provided with a generally flat surface profile.

A wheel rim expanding tooling apparatus comprising:

• an outboard wheel rim expanding tooling assembly including a plurality of segmented press members, each of said segmented press members including an outer surface, an inner surface, and at least one side surface, said at least one side surface of at least one of said segmented press members including a section which extends radially inwardly relative to said outer surface, said section provided with a generally curved surface profile which extends across at least a portion of an axial width thereof;
• and
• an inboard wheel rim expanding tooling assembly including a plurality of segmented press members;
• wherein said section of said side surface is a first outer section, said section further including a second inner section provided with a generally flat surface profile, wherein said curved surface profile extends a first radial distance, said flat surface profile extends a second radial distance which is greater than said first radial distance.