Mounting flange for a mounting fixture for mounting wheels from different makes of motor vehicles on the shaft of a balancing machine

Mounting flange for a mounting fixture for mounting wheels from different makes of of motor vehicles on the shaft of a balancing machine. The mounting flange has multiple sets of centering holes lying on concentric circles surrounding the central guide hole for axial guidance of the flange on the shaft of the balancing machine. The centering holes receive centering pins terminating in conical ends which fit into the mounting holes in the automobile wheel being balanced. The centering holes of each set are identified by an appearance different from any other set, provided by a configuration or color in a depression in the surface of the mounting flange surrounding the centering hole. Thus, all the centering holes that belong to the same set can be quickly identified when inserting the centering pins. Because the identifying indicia are recessed, they are protected from wear and damage.

This invention concerns a mounting flange for wheel balancing machines, 
which accommodates wheels having mounting holes of different spacings. 
PRIOR ART 
A known mounting flange of this type is distributed by the company HAWEKA 
Auswuchttechnik Horst Warkotsch GmbH (HAWEKA Horst Warkotsch Balancing 
Technology Co.) of 30928 Burgwedel, Germany, and is used with a chucking 
device for attaching wheels of different makes of motor vehicles to the 
shaft of a balancing machine. This known device is provided with at least 
two groups of axially parallel equally-spaced centering holes arranged on 
various circles having different diameters and/or in different numbers. 
The arrangement of holes corresponds to the arrangement of the lug bolt 
holes in the wheel rims of wheels of different makes of motor vehicles. In 
addition, the mounting flange has centering pins that can be inserted into 
the centering holes. The ends of the pins which project out of the 
centering holes have centering cones which fit into complementary lug bolt 
mounting holes in the wheel rims. 
This known mounting flange is used by first inserting the centering pins 
into holes of a group or set arranged to correspond to the arrangement of 
holes in the wheel rim of the wheel to be mounted on the balancing 
machine. Then the wheel to be mounted is placed on the shaft of the 
balancing machine and precentered by means of a spring-loaded cone mounted 
on the shaft. The cone can be shifted along the shaft so it engages the 
central hole of the wheel rim of the wheel to be mounted on the balancing 
machine. The wheel is precentered by pressing it against this cone. 
Then the mounting flange is positioned with its central guide hole on the 
shaft of the balancing machine such that the centering cones of the 
centering pins engage in the mounting holes in the wheel rim that serve to 
center the wheel. Then a tension nut is screwed onto a thread provided on 
the shaft of the balancing machine until the back side of the wheel rim 
presses tightly against a flange that is mounted on the shaft of the 
balancing machine. This flange makes it possible to align the wheel rim in 
a plane normal to the axis of the balancing machine. The centering cones 
of the centering pins that engage with the centering holes in the wheel 
rim permit radial centering of the wheel. 
If a different type of motor vehicle wheel is to be mounted, the centering 
pins must be removed from the centering holes in the mounting flange and 
inserted into another set of axially parallel centering holes in the 
centering flange that are arranged to correspond to the arrangement of 
centering holes in the new type of wheel rim. Then the wheel is mounted in 
the manner described above. 
Since there are a great many different types of wheel rims for automotive 
vehicle wheels with different arrangements of mounting holes, several 
different groups of arrangements of centering holes must be provided in 
the centering flange. The holes may differ in number and may be arranged 
on circles having different diameters. This results in a large number of 
complex arrangements of centering holes in the mounting flange, so it is 
difficult to locate the desired centering holes for a particular type of 
wheel rim quickly and reliably. Furthermore, it is practically impossible 
to mark the centering holes with numbers, letters, etc. because of the 
tight arrangement and lack of space. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of this invention is to provide a mounting flange of the type in 
question, where the problem of locating a specific set of centering holes 
corresponding to the centering pins of a particular wheel rim is greatly 
simplified. 
This object is achieved by providing the visible ends of the centering 
holes on the insertion side for the centering pins with an appearance 
which permits permanent and easy identification. The ends of the centering 
holes each have a depression, and the depressions of one group or set of 
centering holes all have the same appearance while the depressions of 
different groups or sets of centering holes have a different appearance. 
Therefore, it is easy to differentiate the sets of centering holes, so it 
is readily possible to locate quickly the centering holes that correspond 
to a particular wheel rim and to insert the centering pins into these 
centering holes. Since the surfaces having different designs are provided 
in the depressions in the mounting flange, they are protected from damage 
and thus are permanent. 
Essentially, the different appearances of the different sets of centering 
holes can be accomplished by any known method. However, the preferred 
appearance is characterized by the difference in shape and/or depth and/or 
diameter. The depressions of different sets of centering holes may have 
different colored surfaces. An advantage of this embodiment is that the 
depressions have a central conical inside part surrounded by an 
essentially cylindrical outside part adjacent the surface of the mounting 
flange. The conical part facilitates insertion of the centering pins. The 
base portion of the cylindrical part is not abraded when a centering pin 
is inserted, so the paint or any other form of color incorporated into the 
cylindrical part is not subject to wear or damage.

SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 shows half of an axial section through a mounting fixture for 
mounting a wheel rim 1 (shown only in part) of a motor vehicle wheel on a 
shaft 2 of a balancing machine. A base 3 having a flange 4 is fixed on 
shaft 2. A contact face 6 of wheel rim 1 comes to rest against the contact 
face 5 of flange 4 when the wheel is mounted. A conical spring 7 presses a 
stepped centering flange 8 on shaft 2 into a central hole 9ain wheel rim 1 
and thus precenters the wheel during the mounting operation. 
Mounting flange 9 having a cylindrical collar 10 is slidably mounted on 
shaft 2. The inside surface 11 of collar 10 rests on the thread 12 of 
shaft 2 with a narrow tolerance in such a way that it can be displaced. It 
thus holds mounting flange 9 in a plane normal to shaft 2 in any position 
and also centers it radially. 
Centering pins 13 (only one of which is visible in FIG. 1) are inserted 
into mounting flange 9 from the underside. The free ends of these 
centering pins terminate in centering cones 14 that engage with the wheel 
mounting holes 15 (only one of which is illustrated in FIG. 1) during the 
centering operation. A tension nut 16 with a handle 17 for manipulating it 
is provided for tightening the mounting fixture. 
FIG. 2 shows the mounting flange 9 on a slightly enlarged scale and in an 
axial view, where all the other parts including the mounting pins 13 have 
been omitted so as to show clearly the arrangement of centering holes. 
Five equally-spaced outer centering holes 18 form a first set of centering 
holes. Sets of five centering holes 19, 20 and 21 each lie on circles of 
successively smaller diameters. In addition there are three holes 21', 
that together with the hole 21, which is diametrically opposite the hole 
21' in the lower left quadrant, form a set of four equally-spaced 
centering holes. The visible or outer ends of the centering holes 18-21, 
21' are marked with different colors by set within recesses, as explained 
in detail below with reference to FIG. 3. 
FIG. 3 is a view along line III--III in FIG. 2. The sectional view shows 
centering hole 20 that has a depression 22 in the outer surface of flange 
9 with a frusto-conical inside wall 23 and a cylindrical outside wall 24 
joined to wall 23 by an annular base or flat surface 24a. The depression 
is in the area of the left end in the figure, which is the side for 
insertion of the centering pins 13 (FIG. 1). The depression 22 is marked 
with a color especially in the area of its cylindrical part 24, 24a. All 
the centering holes within the same set have the same color code, whereas 
the color markings for the different sets are different. This makes it 
possible to quickly locate all the centering holes that belong to the same 
set when inserting the centering pins 13. 
It is especially important that the depression, especially the cylindrical 
part 24, 24a of the depression 22 in the embodiment according to FIG. 3, 
is a recess that is practically inaccessible when centering pins 13 are 
inserted, so there is no danger that the color code will be damaged in 
this area or worn off over a period of time. 
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of a modified mounting flange. The 
flange 109 has a centering hole 120 that has a depression 122 in the outer 
surface with conical inside wall 123 and a frustro conical outside wall 
124 joined to the frustro-conical inside wall 123 by an annular base or 
flat surface 12a. The depressions 122 have a configuration from the 
depression 122 is dimensioned so that the sidewall of the depressions 122 
is deeper than the sidewall of the depression 22. It will be understood 
that the depression 122 may comprise one of the depressions in one of the 
sets of centering holes.