Abstract:
A wheel and cladding includes a cladding having an outer decorative surface and an inner surface which faces a wheel to be covered. The cladding includes a plurality of openings for receiving wheel mounting lugs. Spaced from the openings are a plurality of spaced snap-locking tabs extending from the inner facing surface of the cladding toward the wheel to which the cladding is to be mounted. The wheel includes a generally circular relief cut or other recess extending around the central hub or in spaced relationship thereto and aligned with the spaced tabs of the cladding to snap-receive the cladding for holding it in place while adhesive applied to the wheel and/or cladding is cured to permanently bond the decorative cladding to the wheel.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/328,176 entitled EXPOSED LUG NUT DECORATIVE WHEEL CLADDING, filed on Oct. 10, 2001, by Brian C. Wrase, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to vehicle wheels and particularly to a composite wheel including a metal wheel with a polymeric decorative cladding.  
           [0003]    Ornamental metal-plated polymeric claddings have been employed for providing a decorative surface to the outer exposed surface of wheels for several years. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,564,791, 5,577,809, 5,597,213, 5,630,654, 5,636,906, 5,845,973 and 6,082,829, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, represent different approaches for providing and attaching such claddings to existing wheels to provide a finished decorative appearing wheel.  
           [0004]    Existing methods of attaching cladding to the underlying metal wheel include the use of an adhesive between the wheel and cladding in localized areas. During curing of such adhesive, the wheel cladding is temporarily held to the wheel using secondary cure caps clamping the cladding to the wheel for a period of time up to 24 hours. For such purpose, the curing cap extends through the center hub aperture of the wheel and has a plurality of outwardly projecting tabs which snap-fit around the center hub of the wheel on the inner side such that the cladding is held in place during the curing of the adhesive. The insertion and removal of the curing caps to thousands of wheels adds additional costly manufacturing steps in addition to the cost of the caps themselves and their tooling expense.  
           [0005]    Exposed nut wheels present a further problem in that the cladding must extend into the central hub region and around the openings for the lug nuts. Until the present invention, there has been no attempted solution to the different problems presented when adhesively bonding a cladding to an exposed lug nut wheel. There exists, therefore, a need for a wheel and cladding system in which a decorative cladding can be employed in connection with exposed lug nut wheels. There also exists a need to reduce some of the wheel weight and provide for an economical method of holding the cladding on the wheel during adhesive curing without the use of a secondary cure cap or the expensive machining of undercuts into the lug wells.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention solves these problems and fulfills these needs by providing a wheel and a cladding and the combination thereof. The cladding has an outer decorative surface and an inner surface which faces a wheel to be covered. The cladding includes a plurality of openings for receiving wheel mounting lugs. Spaced from the center of the hub and from said lug openings are a plurality of spaced snap-locking tabs extending from the inner facing surface of said cladding toward the wheel to which the cladding is to be mounted. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wheel to be clad includes a generally circular relief cut extending around the central hub in spaced relationship thereto and aligned with said spaced tabs of said cladding to snap-receive the cladding and hold it in place while a thin film adhesive applied to the wheel and/or cladding is cured to permanently bond the decorative cladding to the wheel. With such structure, the wheel itself, which can be made of magnesium, aluminum or other material, can be manufactured with a reduced amount of material in the hub area between the lugs, therefore, producing weight savings. The aperture of the central hub accommodates the service cone used in tire mounting stores during balancing and requires a smaller cap for the hub.  
           [0007]    During manufacturing of a composite wheel and cladding, the need for a temporary cure cap is eliminated as are the concomitant handling costs and tooling for multiple configuration of cure caps. Also, it is generally unnecessary to remove rack tabs typically employed for holding the cladding during the plating process. These features result in a less expensive, lighter weight wheel while still maintaining the necessary strength requirements.  
           [0008]    These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description thereof together with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a composite wheel and decorative cladding;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the wheel and cladding shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged perspective view of the cladding shown in FIG. 2;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the cladding shown in FIGS.  1 - 3 ;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the cladding shown in FIG. 4, showing the inner surface of the cladding;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along section line VI-VI in FIG. 4;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along section line VII-VII in FIG. 4;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of one of the locking tabs and wheel undercut shown in area VIII of FIG. 6;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the peripheral area of the composite wheel shown in area IX of FIG. 7;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of an alternative embodiment of the invention showing a different wheel and cladding construction;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of the wheel of FIG. 10;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 12 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of the hub area of the composite wheel shown in FIG. 10; and  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of the locking tab shown in area XIII of FIG. 12. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0022]    Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a composite wheel  10  comprising a wheel  12  made of aluminum, magnesium, steel, or other material conventionally used for manufacturing vehicle wheels. Composite wheel  10  is made by bonding cladding  14  to the otherwise outer exposed surface  13  (FIG. 2) of wheel  12 . Cladding  14  is injection molded of a polymeric material, such as a combination of polycarbonate and ABS having an average thickness of about 2 to 4 mm. The polycarbonate to ABS ranges from about 60% to 70% polycarbonate to about 40% to 30% ABS, respectively. Other polymeric materials or composite polymeric materials may also be used. The outer decorative surface  18  of cladding  14  is covered with a shiny or satin finished metal plating, such as chrome as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/707,866 filed Nov. 7, 2000, and entitled METHOD AND COMPOSITION FOR METALLIC FINISHES, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The outer surface  18  of cladding  14  can also be painted, textured or otherwise finished for a particular desired appearance.  
         [0023]    Wheel  12  is of the type which has a small central opening  16  in the wheel hub  15  and a plurality of exposed lug nut apertures  17  arranged in a circular pattern and spaced for the particular vehicle on which composite wheel  10  is to be employed. Opening  16  will typically be enclosed by a relatively small cap while the lug nuts themselves (not shown) are exposed once the wheel is mounted to a vehicle.  
         [0024]    Cladding  14  has a geometry which substantially conforms to that of wheel  12 , namely, a rim  19  which matingly fits within rim  21  of wheel  12  (FIGS. 6, 7 and  9 ). Spokes  23  extend radially outwardly from the center hub opening  24  which correspond in size, shape and location to the spokes  26  on wheel  12 . Between the spokes  23  of cladding  14  are openings  35  shaped to conform to corresponding openings  45  in wheel  12 . The recessed central hub area surrounding central aperture  24  of cladding  14  also includes a plurality of lug nut receiving apertures  27  which align with and fit within apertures  17  in wheel  12  when assembled, as best seen in FIG. 7. The central aperture  24  is aligned with aperture  16  in wheel hub  15 , as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 6. When bonded to wheel  12 , therefore, cladding  14  appears as an integral outer surface of the wheel, as seen in FIG. 1.  
         [0025]    In order to bond the cladding  14  to wheel  12 , a plurality of snap-on tabs  30  (FIGS. 5 and 8) extend outwardly from the inner facing surface  32  (FIG. 4) of cladding  14 . Tabs  30  are shown in detail in the cross sectional views, including FIGS. 6 and 8, and include an arm  31  and an outwardly projecting extension  33  (FIG. 6) at equally spaced intervals, typically between lug receiving apertures  27 . In the embodiment shown, five such tabs  30  are provided at approximately 72° intervals. In other wheel designs, a different number may be employed. Wheel  12  includes a circular undercut recess  43  (FIGS. 2 and 8) which is formed in wall  42  extending outwardly from the floor of annular recess  28  surrounding hub  15 . Undercut recess  43 , thus, is spaced radially outwardly from the center hub  16  and circle of lug-receiving apertures  17 . Recess  43  lockably receives the projections  33  of tabs  30  (FIGS. 7 and 8) for snap-fitting the cladding  14  to the wheel  12 . By providing the recess  28  in the area of lug nut apertures  17 , material is eliminated, thereby decreasing the cost and weight of the composite wheel  10  so formed. In this design also, the rack tabs  38  (FIGS. 5, 6 and  8 ) employed for holding the cladding during the decorative treating of the outer surface  18  need not be cut off since the central annular recess  28  surrounding hub  15  provides clearance for the tabs. Thus, this manufacturing process is also eliminated by the wheel design of this invention.  
         [0026]    The cladding  14  is bonded to wheel  12  by providing continuous or segmented beads of suitable bonding adhesive such as RTV (silicon adhesive)  25  (shown partially in FIGS. 8 and 9) which is placed on the inner surface  32  continuously or in sections around the rim  19  of the wheel, around each of the wheel openings  35 , and in the area surrounding opening  24  where the inner surface  32  of cladding  14  and outer surface  13  of wheel  12  are in contact. Other adhesives, such as two component urethane, epoxy, or other adhesive suitable for the automotive wheel environment, may be employed. Once a bead of adhesive is applied either to the inner surface  32  of the cladding or the outer surface  13  of wheel  12 , the cladding is snap-fitted by aligning the cladding to the wheel and pressing the deformable tabs  30  into recess  43 , thereby snap-fitting the cladding to the wheel which, in view of the dimensions and spacing as shown particularly in FIGS.  6 - 9 , compressibly holds the cladding to the wheel during the curing of the adhesive without requiring the cladding to be continuously press-fit against the wheel or held by a curing cap in the manufacturing process.  
         [0027]    The resultant product is the finished composite wheel shown in FIG. 1, which has the appearance and performance of an integral wheel. In the embodiment shown in FIGS.  1 - 9 , the undercut recess  43  is formed in the wall  42  of wheel  12  spaced radially outwardly from the circle of lug apertures  17 . The recess is a continuous circle, although separate recesses aligned with tabs  30  could be employed. Also, instead of an inwardly facing recess, such as recess  43 , a radially outwardly facing recess in the hub  15  of wheel  12  can be employed with inwardly facing snap-locking tabs, as described in the embodiment of FIGS.  10 - 13 , now described.  
         [0028]    In the alternative embodiment shown in FIGS.  10 - 13 , the wheel and cladding in the composite wheel so formed has substantially similar elements as the first embodiment, with the exception that the snap-on tabs face radially inwardly from the cladding and engage a radially outwardly facing recess in the hub of the wheel in a position spaced radially inwardly from the circle formed by the lug nuts. Accordingly, the reference numerals employed in the alternative embodiment for these common elements are the same as in the first embodiment proceeded with the reference numeral “1” and the description accompanying the first embodiment applies to such elements.  
         [0029]    In the embodiment of FIGS.  10 - 13 , the spokes of the wheel extend radially outwardly and may be of a different size and configuration than that of the first embodiment, however, the major difference is that the wheel hub  115  (FIG. 11) includes a radially inwardly formed recess  143  (FIGS. 11 and 13) which is spaced radially inwardly from the circle formed by lug nut apertures  117 , while the cladding  114  includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced inwardly projecting locking tabs  130  which project inwardly from the area surrounding opening  124  in cladding  114  between each of the lug openings  127  and include a stem  131  and radially inwardly projecting tab  132  which matingly fits within recess  143 , as best seen in FIGS. 12 and 13. The tabs  130 , like tabs  30 , have sufficient resilience to allow cladding  114  to snap-fit onto wheel  112  to form the composite wheel  110 , which includes bonding adhesives  125  at locations around the rim  119  of cladding  114 , around the lug openings  127 , and around the central aperture  124  of the cladding on the surface facing the wheel during assembly. Thus, as in the first embodiment, the requirement for a curing plug is eliminated, the material in the hub area  115  is reduced by recess  128 , and the need to remove rack tabs is eliminated.  
         [0030]    It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications to the preferred embodiment of the invention as described herein can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.