Road wheel ornament
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorMark Peschiutta
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A road wheel includes an outboard surface defining an orifice and a cavity. The road wheel additionally includes an ornament having a bottom surface and a key extending from the bottom surface to interface with the cavity. The ornament also includes a post extending from the bottom surface to interface with the orifice in the outboard surface. The key may include a semi-circular profile. The cavity and key may have corresponding triangular shapes. The post may have an internally threaded portion. The cavity may have a slot oriented along a wheel radius sized to receive the key, and the orifice open in the slot.
Claims17
A vehicle road wheel comprising:
- an outboard surface defining a cavity and an orifice in the cavity, the cavity having a length oriented along a wheel radius and a width, less than the length, oriented along a wheel circumference;
- and
- an ornament having a post extending from a bottom surface to interface with the orifice, and a key extending from the bottom surface on two sides of the post to interface with the cavity.
A method of manufacturing a vehicle road wheel, the method comprising:
- forming a wheel having an outboard surface;
- forming a cavity in the outboard surface oriented along a wheel radius;
- forming an orifice in the cavity;
- selecting an ornament having a bottom surface, a post extending from the bottom surface corresponding to the orifice, and a key extending from the bottom surface on first and second sides of the post, the key corresponding to the cavity;
- aligning the key of the ornament with the cavity in the outboard surface;
- aligning the post with the orifice;
- and
- fastening the ornament to the wheel through the orifice and post.
A vehicle wheel assembly comprising:
- a road wheel defining a plurality of cavities arranged on outboard surfaces of wheel spokes, each cavity being oriented along a wheel radius and having an orifice extending through the wheel;
- and
- a plurality of ornaments associated with the plurality of cavities, each ornament having a post extending from a bottom surface to interface with an associated orifice and a key extending from the bottom surface on first and second sides of the post to interface with an associated cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.