Retaining article for wheel ornamentation and method of making

A retaining article secures ornamentation, namely wheel caps and wheel covers, to a wheel. The retaining article is a unitary structure. It is received by the ornamentation which has an inboard surface with a number of protrusions extending out therefrom. The protrusions are cylindrical in shape. The retaining article has a ring with a number of openings. The openings receive the protruding cylinders therein and are secured thereto by a number of tabs. The tabs are bent by the protruding cylinders. Legs extend out from the ring. The legs are forced over lug nuts which secure the wheel to a wheel hub. The legs engage a recess in the lug nuts creating a positive engagement with the lug nuts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 The invention relates to ornamentation for vehicular wheels. More
 specifically, the invention relates to a retaining article for wheel caps
 and covers to secure them to the vehicular wheels.
 2. Description of the Related Art
 Wheel ornamentation, such as wheel caps and covers (hereinafter "wheel
 covers") are aesthetic devices used to enhance the look of the wheels to
 which they are attached. Wheel covers are used because the manufacture,
 finish and mounting of a wheel cover to a wheel is less expensive than
 manufacturing a wheel having the same quality finish of a wheel cover. A
 chrome surface on a wheel cover is an inexpensive alternative to a chrome
 plated or polished wheel. In addition, wheel covers provide various types
 of appearances and styling variations, all of which may be combined with a
 single wheel design. The desirability of wheel covers is, however,
 directly proportional to the ability to inexpensively attach the wheel
 covers to the wheel permanently while adding little weight to the overall
 composite wheel.
 U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,854, issued to Nielson et al. on Mar. 29, 1994,
 discloses a wheel cover retention system which incorporates a plurality of
 retainers secured to the wheel cover when it is mounted to a hollow
 protrusion extending out from the inboard surface of the wheel cover. The
 retainers receive lug nuts which hold the wheel in place. This system of
 wheel cover retention is undesirable because each retainer is an element
 independent of the other retainers. Inventory costs and assembly costs
 increase when dealing with so many pieces which fabricate a retention
 system.
 U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,257, issued to Wright et al. on Dec. 9, 1997, discloses
 a retention system for a wheel cover. This system includes a ring having a
 number of attachments secured thereto allowing the wheel cover and the
 wheel to be attached to the ring keeping the wheel cover secured to the
 wheel. This system relies on bolts, nuts and attachment brackets. This
 system is undesirable because there are several parts to the system which
 require alignment and threading and the system is cumbersome to install
 and remove from the wheel. More specifically, for a user to access the
 wheel, the user must unbolt the four bolts which are shown holding the
 wheel cover to the ring and the four nuts shown securing the ring to the
 wheel. This task is tedious and undesirable.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 A retaining article is used to secure ornamentation, having an inboard
 surface defining a plurality of protrusions, to a wheel. The wheel is
 secured to a wheel hub with a plurality of lug nuts. The retaining article
 includes a ring defining an outer periphery and an inner periphery. A
 plurality of openings extend through the ring between the outer and inner
 diameters. The plurality of openings receive each of the plurality of
 protrusions extending out from the inboard surface of the ornamentation.
 The ring also includes a plurality of legs which extend out therefrom to
 engage the lug nuts securing the ornamentation to the wheel.
 One advantage associated with the invention is the ability to secure
 ornamentation to a wheel of a motor vehicle. Another advantage associated
 with the invention is the ability to secure ornamentation to a wheel using
 a single element or article. Yet another advantage associated with the
 invention is the ability to secure the ornamentation to the wheel using a
 single element thus reducing the assembly time. Still another advantage
 associated with the invention is the ability to secure ornamentation to a
 wheel using a single element in a manner such that the orientation of the
 retaining element is predisposed eliminating any requirements for
 alignment or orientation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 Referring to the Figures, a retaining article is generally indicated at 10.
 The retaining article 10 is a unitary structure that retains
 ornamentation, generally indicated at 12, to a wheel 14. In the embodiment
 shown, the ornamentation 12 is a wheel cap. It should be appreciated by
 those skilled in the art that the retaining article 10 could be adapted to
 be used with other wheel ornamentation such as a wheel cover 13. The wheel
 14 is secured to a wheel hub 16 with lug nuts 18 which threadingly engage
 lug studs 20. The lug nuts 18 include a ridge 22 and a recess 24.
 The wheel cap 12 defines an outboard surface 26 and an inboard surface 28.
 Holes may extend between the outboard 26 and inboard 28 surfaces depending
 on the venting and aesthetic requirements. Typically, the outboard surface
 26 is finished in a manner suitable for viewing by persons outside the
 motor vehicle to which the wheel cap 12 is attached. In many instances, it
 matches the appearance of the wheel cover 13.
 Extending out from the inboard surface 28 are a plurality of protrusions
 30. In the embodiment shown, the protrusions 30 are cylindrical in shape
 defining an outer protrusion surface 32 and an inner protrusion surface
 34. Depending on the material used to fabricate the wheel cap 12, the
 thickness of the wall 36 of the protrusions 30 can only be approximately
 forty to fifty percent of the thickness of the wheel cap 12 between the
 inboard surface 28 and the outboard surface 26. If the thickness of the
 wall 36 is greater, it will create recesses in the outboard surface 26
 detracting from the aesthetic quality of the outboard surface 26. Stop
 flanges 37 extend out from the wall 36 and will be discussed in greater
 detail subsequently.
 The retaining article 10 includes a ring 38, best seen in FIG. 2. The ring
 38 defines an outer ring periphery 40 and an inner ring periphery 42. The
 edges of the ring 38 are bent under to increase the strength of the ring
 38 while minimizing sharp edges. A ring structural bend 44 extends around
 much of the ring 38 to aid in the strengthening of the ring 38.
 The ring 38 includes a plurality of openings 46. The plurality of openings
 46 receive the plurality of protrusions 30 therethrough locking the wheel
 cap 12 to the retaining article 10. A number of tabs 48 extend into the
 openings 46. The tabs 48 extend radially inwardly with respect to each of
 the openings 46. The tabs 48 are spaced along the periphery of the
 openings 46 and will frictionally engage the outer protrusion diameter 32
 of the protrusions 30. The protrusions 30 bend the tabs 48 locking the
 wheel cap 12 to the retaining article 10. The ring 38 is forced over the
 protrusions 30 until it abuts the stop flanges 37. This abutment positions
 the ring 38 with respect to the lug nuts 18 to which the ring 38 will be
 secured.
 Extending downwardly from the ring 38, the retaining article 10 includes a
 plurality of legs 50. The legs 50 extend out from the ring 38 and engage a
 portion of the lug nuts 18. Each of the legs 50 is spring biased inwardly
 to resiliently engage the lug nuts 18 such that the retaining article 10,
 and hence, the wheel cap 12, are secured to the wheel 14. Each of the legs
 50 includes an outwardly extending distal end 52 which aids in the receipt
 of the lug nuts 18 into the retaining article 10. Each of the legs 50 is
 in a group of legs associated with a single lug nut 18. In the preferred
 embodiment, there are three legs 50 for each location that is to be
 secured to a lug nut 18.
 Each of the legs 50 includes a relief 54 which receives the ridge 22 on the
 lug nut 18. Disposed adjacent the relief 54, each of the legs 50 includes
 an indentation 58 which engages a chamfered surface 60 on the lug nut 18.
 It is the contact between the indentation 58 and the chamfered surface 60
 that secures the wheel cap 12 to the wheel 14 through the retaining
 article 10.
 The method for securing the wheel cap 12 to the wheel 14 using the
 retaining article 10 includes the step of stamping a piece of sheet metal
 to form a ring 38 having a plurality of openings 46. The ring 38 is then
 cut and portions of the ring 38 are bent downwardly to create the
 plurality of legs 50 which extend out from the ring 38 in generally
 parallel direction with respect to the ring 38. Structural bends 44 are
 pressed into the ring 38 to increase the strength thereof. The legs 50 are
 bent such that they are able to receive lug nuts 18 therein when the
 retaining article 10 is secured to the wheel 14. The legs 50 are forced
 over the lug nuts 18, used to secure the wheel 14 to the wheel hub 16, to
 secure the retaining article 10 to the wheel 14.
 The invention has been described in an illustrative manner. It is to be
 understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in
 the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.
 Many modifications and variations of the invention are possible in light of
 the above teachings. Therefore, within the scope of the appended claims,
 the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.