Maxion Wheels Germany Holding Gmbh

Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc.

Maxion Wheels Germany Holdings Gmbh

Maxion Wheels Holding Gmbh

Günter Stelzer

Werner Kermelk

Karl Rode

Thomas E Heck

Alan Coleman

John Holm

Montgomery D Csapo

Thomas Czarniecki

Vehicle wheel comprising a rim part and a disc part formed from a one-piece sheet metal blank and including a central portion with bolt holes and a plurality of radially extending spoke arrangements merging into a disc edge delimiting together with the spoke arrangements ventilation apertures which extend over the region between the edge webs and the disc edge. In order to create steel wheels with four-hole fixing in which high strength and stiffness are achieved the number of spoke arrangements and of bolt holes is four and these are in each case arranged mirror-symmetrically with respect to a common radial line, with the width of each spoke arrangement narrowing radially towards the outside and each ventilation aperture extending in the circumferential direction over an arc length of more than &#x2159; of the circumference of the disc part. Further, each ventilation aperture is having on a radial line a maximum radial clear width which is equal to or preferably greater than the radial width of the metal portion of the disc part on the same radial line.

Vehicle wheel for passenger cars

A vehicle wheel e.g. for passenger cars, having a disc part connected to a rim part, the disc part, integrally formed form a sheet metal blank, has a central part with bolt holes for wheel bolts and a central hole for a vehicle hub, and a plurality of radially extending spoke arrangements for transmitting forces between the vehicle hub and the rim part. Each spoke arrangement is provided with a central web, merging on both sides into a radially extending side web, being bent outwards from the surface of the central web, and an edge web, bent back again relative to the side web, wherein the radially outer ends of the webs merge into a disc rim, being aligned parallel to the wheel axis, connecting all spoke arrangements to one another and delimiting ventilation holes. In order to provide, without structural drawbacks, steel vehicle wheels with an unequal number of bolt holes and spoke arrangements, an inner annular bead and an outer annular bead are formed in the central part, which beads are concentric with one another and with the disc rim, and a raised annular strip provided with the bolt holes is formed between the beads.

According to the invention, the fabricated vehicle wheel includes a conventional full wheel rim and a unique wheel disc joined to the wheel rim. The wheel disc includes an inner wheel mounting pad, an outer annular rim connecting flange and a plurality of radial spokes connecting the inner wheel mounting pad to the rim connecting flange. The rim connecting flange extends in an axial direction and defines a side edge surface extending between each pair of adjacent spokes. A plurality of windows are formed in the wheel disc. Each of the windows has a predetermined shape defined by the adjacent spokes and the side edge surface of the rim connecting flange. The rim connecting flange and the side edge surface are configured such that the window extends to an outermost periphery of the wheel disc. The inner wheel mounting pad includes at least one rib provided therein. The rib has an outer surface and an inner surface, at least one of the outer surface and the inner surface is provided with a flat planar surface.

Fabricated vehicle wheel having spokes and stiffening ribs

Growing community of inventors

Bad Honnef, Germany

Günter Stelzer