WHEELS

Abstract: A wheel (10) comprising a rim (11), and a disc (15) by which the wheel (10) is attached to a hub, the disc (15) being attached to the rim (11) by means of generally axially extending fasteners (50) each of which passes through a respective opening (46, 47) of the disc (15) and is received in a respective generally axially extending passage (40, 41) of a connection member tolerances in the openings (46, 47) of the disc (15), and/or the passages (40, 41) of the connection member or members (33 to 37) and/or the fasteners (50) permitting variation in the position of the disc (15) relative to the rim (11), characterised in that at least two indicating means (60<u>b</u>) are provided, the positions of which are fixed with respect to the rim (11), and each indicating means (60<u>b</u>) may be aligned with a corresponding additional opening (60, 60<u>a</u>) in the dic (15).

Description: ΗTLE: WHEELS Description of Invention This invention relates to a wheel of the kind having a rim and a disc releasably attached together. Such wheels are for example used for tractors so that the rim can be attached to disc in any one of the plurality of alternative axial positions and in any one of a plurality or alternative orientations, so that the distance between a pair of wheels on an axle can be varied to suit different agricultural applications. It is common practice to weld to the rim around a radially inner circumferential surface thereof, a plurality of lugs, and to attach the disc to the rim by bolting through the disc and lugs. Due to manufacturing tolerances, the actual positions of the lugs, and of passages therein to receive the bolts, cannot always be arranged to ensure that the disc is concentric to the rim and variation in the position of the disc relative to the rim may be permitted. Whereas in the factory, using a suitable jig for example, it can be arranged for the disc and rim to be assembled such that the two are concentric or as close as possible to concentric, in the field, when often the disc is left attached to the hub of the vehicle whilst the rim is re-orientated with respect to that disc, it is very difficult to reassemble the disc and rim so that the two are concentric. In applications where the vehicle is only arranged to travel at relatively slow speeds, e.g. 30 kilometres per hour, considerable eccentricities in the wheels can be tolerated. However, tractors are now being developed which are adapted to travel at 50 kilometres per hour and more and at such speeds, such eccentricities in the wheels can cause discomfort and instability in the tractor. According to a first aspect of the invention we provide a wheel comprising a rim, and a disc by which the wheel is attached to a hub, the disc being attached to the rim by means of generally axially extending fasteners each of which passes through a respective opening of the disc and is received in a respective generally axially extending passage of a connection member of the rim, tolerances in the openings of the disc, and/or the passages of the connection member and/or the fasteners permitting variation in the position of the disc relative to the rim, characterised in that at least two indicating means are provided, the positions of which are fixed with respect to the rim, and each indicating means may be aligned with a corresponding additional opening in the disc. Thus where the rim and disc are assembled in a factory for example, so as to be concentric with one another, after the disc and rim are detached, upon reassembly, by ensuring that the additional openings of the disc and the indicating means are realigned, the disc can be reattached to the rim in exactly the same position relative to the rim so that the disc and rim are concentric. Where it is intended that the disc can be attached to the rim in a plurality of alternative general orientations e.g. with the disc rotated about a diameter thereof by 180°, by ensuring that the additional openings in the disc and the indicating means are all equally spaced from the wheel axis, again concentricity between the disc and rim can be assured. Also in such case, preferably one of the additional openings of the disc and the indicating means are provided in positions equally spaced from the centre of the respective passage or opening of the disc. In one arrangement, the connection member may generally be circumferentially continuous, or a plurality of connection members may be provided, e.g. comprising lugs spaced around a radially inner circumferential surface of the rim. Particularly but not exclusively in this case, each lug may have a pair of passages each of which receives a respective fastener, and one of the additional openings of the disc and the indicating means of the lugs are preferably provided in positions equally spaced from the centres of the respective pair of passages or the respective pair of openings of the disc. Thus in whichever permissible general orientation of attachment of the disc to the rim, by ensuring that additional openings of the disc and indicating means are aligned, concentricity of the wheel can be obtained. In a preferred arrangement, each of the indicating means comprises an opening in the connection member or members, such that alignment of the openings in the connection member or members and additional openings of the disc, can be facilitated by the insertion of an elongate element such as a dowel or wedge pin during reassembly of the disc and rim. According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a method of making a wheel according to the first aspect of the invention which comprises the steps of locating the disc relative to the rim in a general orientation such that the openings of the disc are each aligned with respective passages of the connection member or members, such that fasteners may be inserted through the disc and received in passages of the connection member or members, adjusting the position of the disc relative to the rim, such that the disc and rim are concentric, tightening the fasteners so as to locate and attach the disc in the rim and providing the additional openings in the disc. Thus the additional openings in the disc, and the openings in the connection member or members too, if desired, may be made in a factory environment with the disc and rim arranged e.g. on a jig, so as to be concentric. According to a third aspect of the invention we provide a method of reassembling a wheel made by a method according to the second aspect of the invention which comprises the steps of locating the disc relative to the rim in a general orientation such that the openings of the disc are each aligned with respective passages of the connection member or members such that fasteners may be inserted through the disc and received in passages of the connection member and members, adjusting the position of the disc relative to the rim so as to align the additional openings in the disc with the indicating means, and tightening the fasteners so as to locate and attach the disc in the rim. It will be appreciated that tractor wheels for example, are large and that manhandling of the position of a rim relative to that of a disc can be difficult particularly where a single operator is reassembling a wheel. Preferably the indicating means of the lugs or other connection member or members comprise openings in which case, to assist the operator, preferably an elongate element such as dowel or wedge pin is provided such that the step of adjusting the position of the disc relative to the rim so as to align the additional openings in the disc with the openings of the connection member or members can be achieved by inserting into the additional openings of the disc and the openings of the connection member or members, respective elongate elements which closely correspond in dimension to the dimensions of the additional openings of the disc, and the openings of the connection member or members. The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a wheel in accordance with the invention, and Figure 2 is a fragmentary section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1. Referring to the drawings, a wheel 10 comprises a rim 11 which comprises rim flanges 12 and 13 and a rim well 14, which are adapted to receive a tyre (not shown), and a disc 15 by which the wheel 10 can be attached to a hub of a vehicle. To this end, the wheel disc 15 has a generally circular central opening 16 to receive a part of the hub, and a plurality of openings 17 by which the disc 15 and hence the wheel 10 can be bolted to the hub of the vehicle. In this arrangement, the wheel disc 15 is generally square, with the corners of the square being truncated so as to provide a generally octagonal shape have four longer sides at 20 to 23 interleaved with four shorter sides 24 to 27. Welded to a radially inner circumferential surface 30 of the rim 11 there are provided four spaced connection members comprising lugs 31, 32, 33 and 34, the lugs 31 to 34 extending circumferentially of the surface 30 and being welded thereto by fillet welding indicated at 35 in Figure 2. Each of the lugs 31 to 34 has in this example, a pair of passages 40 and 41, the passages comprising through openings in each of two limbs 42, 43 of the generally U-shaped lugs 31 to 34. The wheel disc 15 also has adjacent each shorter side 24 to 27, a pair of openings 46, 47 which are generally aligned with the openings 40 and 41 in the respective lug 31 to 34. Fasteners, comprising in this example bolts 50 (not shown in Figure 1 for clarity), may pass through the passages 40, 41 of the lugs 31 to 34, and through respective openings 46, 47 of the wheel disc 15, to permit the disc 15 to be attached to the rim, by tightening nuts 51 on the bolts 50. Because in practice the rim 11 may not be exactly round, and the positions of the lugs 31 to 34 around the radially inner surface 30 of the rim 11 may not always be arranged to ensure that the disc 15 is concentric to the rim 11, the manufacturing tolerances of the openings 46 and 47 of the wheel disc 15, at least, and also of the passages 40, 41 of the lugs 31 to 34 and of the diameters of the bolts 50 have to be such as to allow adjustment of the position of the disc 15 relative to the rim 11, prior to the nuts 51 being tightened on the bolts 50, in order to ensure alignment of the openings 46, 47 of the disc 15 and the passages 40, 41 of the lugs 31 to 34. In this way, particularly in a factory environment e.g. by placing the rim 11 and disc 15 in a jig, it can be arranged for the wheel disc 15 to be attached concentrically to the rim 11, or within an acceptably small range of eccentricity. When assembled in this way, when the wheel 10 is attached to the hub of a vehicle, the wheel 10 will rotate generally non-eccentrically about a wheel axis indicated in Figure 1 at A. It will be appreciated from the drawings, that the wheel disc 15 comprises a planar part 55, a conical portion 56, and a peripheral portion 57 in which the openings 46 and 47 are provided. The disc 15 may be attached to the rim 11 in the position shown in Figure 2 i.e. with the peripheral region 57 to the left as seen in the drawings, of the lugs 31 to 34, or alternatively, at the right hand side of the lugs 31 to 34. In this way the position of the rim 11 can be adjusted axially on the vehicle so as to achieve different spacing between two wheels on an axel of the vehicle, e.g. to suit different agricultural and other applications. Also, to achieve further variation in the axial position of the rim 11, if desired, the wheel disc 15 may be re-orientated by rotating through 180° about a diameter D of the disc 15 and again, the peripheral region 57 may be secured on the left or the right of the lugs 31 to 34, as seen in Figure 2. Thus the disc can be attached to the rim in any one of a plurality of general orientations. To ensure that when the disc 15 and rim 11 are reassembled in the field, such that the disc 15 is again concentric to the rim 11, in accordance with the invention, in a factory environment preferably, when the disc 15 and rim 11 have been assembled on e.g. a jig so as to be concentric or closely concentric, additional openings 60, 60a . are provided through the disc 15 adjacent at least two of the lugs 31 to 34, e.g. by drilling. Such additional openings 60, 60a . may be provided adjacent any two of the lugs 31 to 34, through the disc 15, but preferably are provided in a pair of diametrically opposed positions. In Figure 1, additional openings 60, 60a . are shown for illustrative purposes only adjacent each of the three lugs 31 to 33, through the disc 15. Although the additional openings 60, 60a . may be made in alignment with any indicating means provided on the lugs 31 to 34, in a preferred arrangement, at the same time as making the additional openings 60, 60a in the disc 15, openings 60b are made in the respective lugs 31 to 34, of a size corresponding to the additional openings 60 of the disc 15. To enable the orientation of wheel disc 15 in the rim 11 to be inverted, the openings 60b_ the lugs 31 to 33 and the additional openings 60, 60a. in the wheel disc 15 are arranged to be equally spaced from the wheel axis A. Furthermore, the openings 60b . of the lugs 31 are provided equally spaced from the centres of the respective passages 40, 41 of the lugs 31 to 33. In this way, whichever of the plurality of general orientations is selected so as to achieve a desirable axial wheel position, provided the additional openings 60, 60a, and openings 60b_ are aligned, the disc 15 and rim 11 will be concentric. To facilitate man handling of the wheel and disc and to assist in achieving alignment of the additional openings 60, 60a . of the disc 15 and the openings 60b in the lugs 31 and 33, preferably during reassembly, elongate elements such as dowel pins or wedge pins are inserted into the additional openings 60, 60a . and the openings 60b_ in the lugs prior to tightening of the fasteners. Such pins can be removed once the fasteners 50, 51 are tightened, although in some circumstances, could remain in place. In another arrangement, each of the lugs 31 to 34 may be provided with a single passage 40 to receive a fastener, and the disc 15 may also be provided with a single opening 46 in a position adjacent to a corresponding lug 31 to 34, so that a fastener 50 may be inserted through the opening 46 of the disc 15, and be received in the passage 40 of the corresponding lug 31 to 34. The disc 15 would be provided with four additional openings 60, 60a, each equally spaced to one side of an opening 46 of the disc 15. When the disc 15 is in one orientation relative to the rim 11, a first two of the additional openings 60, 60a . may each be arranged to be aligned with a respective one of two openings 60b_ or other indicating means of the lugs 31 to 34, which too are each located each to one side of the single passage 40 of the respective lug 31 to 34. When the orientation of the disc 15 is reversed, the other two of the four additional openings 60, 60a . may be brought into alignment with the two openings 60b of the lugs 31 to 34. Of course, this arrangement could be reversed i.e. four openings 60b or other indicating means may be provided in the lugs 31 to 34, e.g. two in each of two lugs, and the disc may have two additional openings 60, 60a . only, each located to one side of a respective opening 46 of the disc 15. Many alternative variations of such constructions are possible as will be apparent to the man skilled in the art. The present invention has been described with reference to a particular example in which the disc 15 is attached to the rim 11 by means of a plurality of lugs 31 to 34. In another arrangement, alternative kinds of connection members could be provided spaced around the inner circumferential surface 30 of the rim 11, in pairs, or otherwise as required. In yet another arrangement, instead of there being a plurality of individual connection members each providing passages to receive the fasteners 50/51, in another arrangement, the wheel 10 may comprise a single connection member which extends generally continuously around the radially inner circumferential surface of the rim 11, the connection member providing a plurality of spaced openings to receive fasteners by which the disc 15 can be attached to the rim 11. The disc 15 need not be of the octagonal configuration shown in the drawings, but could be of any other desired polygonal, or even circular configuration, as desired. Although the wheel 10 described is a tractor wheel, the invention of course may be applied to any other wheel where the disc 15 and rim 11 are in releasably attached, particularly but not exclusively to permit repeated reassembly and disassembly of the wheel whilst maintaining concentricity between the disc 15 and rim 11. The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A wheel comprising a rim, and a disc by which the wheel is attached to a hub, the disc being attached to the rim by means of generally axially extending fasteners each of which passes through a respective opening of the disc and is received in a respective generally axially extending passage of a connection member of the rim, tolerances in the openings of the disc, and/or the passages of the connection member and the fasteners permitting variation in the position of the disc relative to the rim, characterised in that at least two indicating means are provided, the positions of which are fixed with respect to the rim, and each indicating means may be aligned with a corresponding additional opening in the disc. 2. A wheel according to claim 1 wherein the disc is attachable to the rim in a plurality of alternative general orientations and the additional openings of the disc and indicating means are all equally spaced from a wheel axis. 3. A wheel according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the disc is attachable to the rim in a plurality of alternative general orientations and one of the additional openings of the disc and the indicating means are provided in positions equally spaced from the centre of a respective passage or a respective opening of the disc. 4. A wheel according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein a plurality of connection members are provided spaced around a radially inner circumferential surface of the rim. 5. A wheel according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the disc is attachable to the rim in a plurality of alternative general orientations and the or each connection member has a pair of passages each of which receives a respective fastener, and one of the additional openings of the disc and the indicating means of the connection member or members are provided in positions equally spaced from the centres of the respective pair of passages or the respective pair of openings of the disc. 6. A wheel according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each of the indicating means comprises an opening in the connection member or members. 7. A wheel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. 8. A method of making a wheel according to any one of the preceding claims which comprises the steps of locating the disc relative to the rim in a general orientation such that the openings of the disc are each aligned with respective passages of the connection member or members, such that fasteners may be inserted through the disc and received in passages of the connection member or members, adjusting the position of the disc relative to the rim such that the disc and rim are concentric, tightening the fasteners so as to locate and attach the disc in the rim and providing the additional openings in the disc. 9. A method of making a wheel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 10. A method of reassembling a wheel made by the method of claim 8 or claim 9 which comprises the steps of locating the disc relative to the rim in a general orientation such that the openings of the disc are each aligned with respective passages of the connection member or members, such that fasteners may be inserted through the through the disc and received in passages of the connection member or members, adjusting the position of the disc relative to the rim so as to align the additional openings in the disc with the indicating means, and tightening the fasteners so as to locate and attach the disc in the rim. 11. A method according to claim 10 wherein the indicating means comprise openings in the connection member or members. 12. A method according to claim 11 which includes the steps of adjusting the position of the disc relative to the rim so as to align the additional openings in the disc with the openings of the connection member or members by inserting into the additional openings of the disc and the openings of the connection member or members, respective elongate elements closely corresponding in dimension to the dimensions of the additional openings of the disc and the openings of the connection member or members. 13. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: CROWE TERENCE ROY, PANKHURST DONALD, CROWE, TERENCE, ROY, PANKHURST, DONALD
Applicants: CROWE TERENCE ROY, GKN SANKEY LTD, PANKHURST DONALD, CROWE, TERENCE, ROY, GKN SANKEY LIMITED, PANKHURST, DONALD
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B60B23
IPC codes: B60B23