Abstract:
An improved method for forming a vehicle wheel wherein the inboard and outboard tire bead seat retaining flanges are precisely oriented and located relative to an inboard mounting surface of the disc, and the inboard and outboard tire bead seat surfaces are precisely oriented and located relative to a wheel axis includes the steps of steps of: (a) providing a rim defining a rim axis and including at least an inboard portion and an outboard portion; (b) providing a disc defining a disc axis and including at least an inner annular wheel mounting portion and an outer annular portion, the wheel mounting portion defining an inboard mounting surface and having a centrally located pilot hole formed therethrough; (c) positioning the rim and disc together in generally coaxial relationship; (d) simultaneously with step (c), joining the outer annular portion of the disc to the rim by welding to produce a partially-formed wheel assembly defining a wheel axis; (e) subsequent to step (d), forming an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an inboard tire bead seat, and an outboard tire bead seat of the wheel to locate the inboard and outboard tire bead seat retaining flanges a predetermined first and second lateral distances, respectively, relative to the inboard mounting surface of the disc and in a parallel relationship therewith, and to locate the inboard and outboard tire bead seats a predetermined first and second radial distances, respectively, relative to the wheel axis and in a concentric relationship with the wheel axis.
Abstract:
Disclosed are a method, apparatus and tool for the manufacture of a deep-bed wheel rim from a hollow cylindrical preform. In the method the metal preform is shaped to the deep-bed rim in a single mounting on a single tool of several parts, and the constriction of the middle part of the preform to make the bed is performed with concentric rotation of tool and preform. The side portions of the preform are widened to make the bead flanges by a radial shifting of the axis of rotation of the preform together with a tool part shifting appropriately in the plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation to make the bed and the bead seat. The pressing at least during the widening takes place inwardly in a single radial direction, the direction of the axial shift corresponding to the pressing direction. The invention furthermore relates to an apparatus for the practice of the method. According to the invention, this apparatus is a pressing machine with two spindles which bear a tool in common. This tool has a part which is displaceable in a plane perpendicular to the spindles' axis of rotation.
Abstract:
An improved aluminum wheel is disclosed having a two-part construction with a disc at a front position and a rim extending to a rear position. The disc comprises all the portions of the wheel that are visible from the front and thus is the only portion that is chrome-plated. The rim is formed from a double rim member that is cut at a central position to form two rims. Substantial savings in machinery, manufacturing, and material costs are realized by this arrangement.
Abstract:
A tire rim structure and method of manufacture in which rows of sharply edged or pointed projections are integrally provided on the ear portions or bead seat portions of the rim. In accordance with the preferred embodiments of the invention, the projections may be pyramid shaped, triangular prism shaped or sawtooth shaped. The projections may be formed by applying a triangularly toothed roller or a grinding device to elongated ridges formed on the tire rim during an otherwise conventional extrusion process for obtaining a smooth tire rim.
Abstract:
A profiled vehicle wheel rim is manufactured by spirally winding a continuous strip of ductile sheet metal onto a profiled former, with an adhesive interposed between the turns, under forces which deform the strip from the flat state to adopt the shape of the former. In a preferred construction a disc for the wheel is interposed between two axially separable parts of the former so that the windings bend down over the axial extremities of the periphery of the disc, thus entrapping it in an annular channel of the formed rim.
Abstract:
An improved method of making vehicle wheel rims particularly suitable for use with materials having relatively low ductility, such as aluminum, is disclosed. A circumferential drop center well is formed about the periphery of the band and work hardened so that the well material exhibits higher strength and lower ductility than the remaining band material. The strength and ductility differential between the well and band material adjacent thereto assists in confining material movement in subsequent rim forming operations and induces drawing of the rim bead seat area material.
Abstract:
A method of manufacturing a solid wheel rim having a wheel-rim flange at one end of a wheel rim base and a spring-ring groove at an opposite end of the base, from a rolled and a longitudinally welded sheet-metal ring of a predetermined inner diameter having a reduced wall thickness over at least a part of its length, includes the contraction of a portion of the ring to produce an annular groove zone having an inner diameter of a first predetermined size, an enlarged zone having an inner diameter greater than the inner diameter of such predetermined size, and a tapered zone located between the annular groove and enlarged zones, the wall thickness of the ring being reduced during a pressing operation, and the spring-ring groove as well as the wheel-rim flange being formed during a rolling operation.
Abstract:
A wheel rim is formed from a cylindrical blank in an apparatus including a female die with a profiled, internal die cavity for receiving the blank and a male die, which includes a pair of shafts with eccentric portions carrying rollers for sequentially bearing against the blank to gradually form a wheel rim. During formation of the wheel rim, the female die, which is mounted on a turntable, is rotated while the male die is stationary. The blank is held between a ring portion of the male die and the central portion of the female die. The shafts carrying the rollers are independently rotatable, so that only one set of rollers actively forms the rim at any time during formation.