Kelsey-Hayes Company

Motor Wheel Corporation

John A Main

James Evans

David Trevarrow

Lawrence K Shinoda

Vehicle wheel

A vehicle wheel assembly comprises a detachable wheel mounted on a radial wheel mounting flange using a single wheel fastener and a conical disc spring to secure the wheel to the wheel mounting flange. The conical disc spring is deflected to a preselected compressed state by the fastener to exert a predetermined axial clamping force uniformly along an annular region of contact between the wheel and the disc spring and to resiliently pre-load the wheel bearings. A lock prevents the single fastener from working loose.

Vehicle wheel assembly

Wheel

Trim ring for vehicle wheel

A trim attachment for a motor vehicle wheel includes a plurality of generally conical retention members which engage and secure the trim attachment directly to complementary conical surfaces on conventional threaded lug nuts utilized to retain the wheel in the vehicle. The retention members are spaced about the trim attachment in a pattern corresponding to that of the wheel lug nut. The members include a central conical surface which engages the conical portion of the lug nut, a stop structure positioned uniformly at one end of each conical surface which engages the body of the lug nut, a resilient camming structure disposed uniformly at the other end of each conical surface which resiliently engages the conical surface of a lug nut and a free standing triangular tab adjacent the camming surface and pointing away therefrom which guides and engages the trim attachment onto the lug nuts.

Wheel trim attachment

A wheel rim construction that cooperates with the tire bead seat to insure retention of the tire, even under a 'run flat' condition. The bead seat portion of the rim is formed with a plurality of circumferentially extending radial projections that cause gripping of the tire bead to form a mechanical interlock between the projections and wheel flange. The radial projections are formed during the roll forming of the wheel rim by extruding the rim material into grooves in the upper finishing roll so that the permanently formed projections lie radially outward of the basic rim profile.

Wheel rim

A method and a machine for performing final finishing operations upon a wheel to minimize both axial and radial run-out. The assembled wheel, including the rim and attached wheel center is placed in the machine and the rim and particularly the bead seat portion is deformed both radially and axially into a true condition. While held in this condition, the center hole, the bolt hole chamfers, and the axial locating surfaces are finish machined.

Wheel forming machine

A wheel cover with a plurality of axially extending resilient prongs the free ends of which extend through prong receiving holes in the mounting bolt circle area of a disk of a vehicle wheel. The prongs have a cam surface adjacent the free edge thereof which engages the inner edge of the prong receiving holes to abut the free ends of the prongs with the mounting surface of a hub on which the disk is secured to firmly and tightly retain the wheel cover on the wheel.

Growing community of inventors

Plymouth, MI, United States of America

John A Main