Motor vehicle wheel disc, in particular for a passenger vehicle
AssigneeMichelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
InventorsDenis Alff, Wolfgang Kruchten
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Wheel disc, including a radially outer circular mounting part, a radially inner fixing and centering part with a bearing region comprising a specified number of fixing apertures and ending radially inwardly with a centering aperture, and spokes connecting the inner and outer parts. Each spoke is disposed substantially circumferentially between two adjacent fixing apertures and the radially inner free edges of the radially outer circular part defining perforations with the free lateral edges of the spokes. In order to mechanically reinforce each spoke, the central region of each spoke is deformed in order to house a swelling receding axially outwardly relative to the lateral regions of the spokes, including a yoke opening into the centering aperture.
Claims14
Wheel disc formed from a single piece of embossed sheet metal and comprising:
- a radially outer circular mounting part adapted to be connected to a rim;
- a radially inner part spaced radially inwardly from the outer part for fixing and centering to a wheel hub, the inner part including:
- a bearing region facing axially inwardly and defining a plane,
- a radially inner edge bent axially outwardly for forming a centering aperture defining a center axis of the wheel disc, the axis extending perpendicularly to the plane of the bearing region,
- a plurality of fixing apertures disposed radially outwardly of the axis and spaced circumferentially around the axis, and
- a plurality of yokes alternating circumferentially with the fixing apertures, each yoke defined by a bent portion of the piece of sheet metal forming a generally concave side facing axially outwardly, and a generally convex side facing axially inwardly, an axially inner surface of the generally convex side of the yoke being offset axially outwardly from the plane of the bearing region;
- and
- generally radially extending spokes interconnecting the inner part with a radially inner edge of the outer part, the spokes being circumferentially spaced apart to define perforations between adjacent spokes, each spoke being generally radially aligned with a respective yoke, and extending generally radially outwardly from adjacent a radially outer end of such yoke to a location at least as far as the radially inner edge of the outer part, each spoke including lateral portions spaced circumferentially apart by an axially outwardly swelling, wherein an axial dimension of the swelling recedes from its radial inner end to its radial outer end.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.