Uretech International, Inc.

Richard J Ashman

Scott L Murray

Paul N Skotynsky

A composite styled wheel has a rigid wheel backbone with a plastic overlay on an outboard face thereof. The wheel backbone is positioned in a lower mold to define a mold cavity therebetween, and an upper mold seals through apertures in the wheel backbone. The lower mold has a ring-shaped forming surface that selectively abuts the outboard flange edge of the wheel backbone, and a riser which selectively engages the wheel backbone, and selectively positions the outboard flange edge a spaced apart distance from the forming surface to define a venting space therebetween. A reactive urethane mixture is injected into the mold cavity to fill at least a portion of the same, and flow the mixture through the venting space to evacuate air from the mold cavity. Before the mixture is fully cured, the riser is actuated, the wheel backbone and lower mold are converged, so that the outboard flange edge abuts the forming surface to seal off the venting space, and form over at least a portion of the outboard flange edge, a smooth, skinned, mold-formed outer portion of the plastic overlay.

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Bowling Green, KY, United States of America

Richard J Ashman