Patent Publication Number: US-2007096543-A1

Title: Wheel cover structure of an aluminum alloy wheel

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a wheel cover of an aluminum alloy wheel, more particularly one, which is relatively easy, fast and cheap to manufacture, and can&#39;t form any scratch on an aluminum alloy wheel in assembly.  
      2. Brief Description of the Prior Art  
      Wheel covers are secured on wheels to make the wheels more attractive and pleasant-looking. A common wheel cover is provided to an aluminum alloy wheel, which has an edge protrusion, and several hollow portions. The wheel cover has several through holes thereon, equidistant first insertion trenches near to an edge thereof, metallic fastening plates secured on the first insertion trenches, several extension wall portions encompassing respective ones of the through holes, second insertion trenches on the extension wall portions, and metallic securing plates inserted in the second insertion trenches. The wheel cover is firmly held on the aluminum alloy wheel with the through holes facing respective ones of the hollow portions, the fastening plates being connected to the edge protrusion, and the securing plates being pressed against and stopped by inner ends of the hollow portions of the aluminum alloy wheel to prevent the wheel cover from falling off. Therefore, the wheel cover can be rapidly joined to and separated from the aluminum alloy wheel.  
      However, the wheel cover is relatively time-consuming and expensive to manufacture because it has the first insertion trenches near to the edge, the fastening plates secured on the first insertion trenches, the second insertion trenches, and the securing plates inserted in the second insertion trenches. Furthermore, when the wheel cover is being secured in position, the fastening plates and the securing plates, which are made of metal are prone to form scratches on the aluminum alloy wheel.  
      Another kind of wheel cover is provided to a recessed-surfaced aluminum alloy wheel, which has several holes. The wheel cover has several through holes thereon, extension wall portions extending from an inner side to encompass respective ones of the through holes, insertion trenches on intermediate portions of the extension wall portions, and elastic plates inserted in the insertion trenches. Furthermore, the extension wall portions have protruding plates on the insertion trenches, and the elastic plates each include an insertion portion, a pressing portion, and a sloping portion; the insertion portions of the elastic plates are inserted in the insertion trenches of the extension wall portions; the pressing portions of the elastic plates extend in a sloping manner; in assembly, the protruding plates will be pressed against hole-defining inward edges of one side of the aluminum alloy wheel, which define the holes while the elastic plates will be passed through the holes, and pressed against hole-defining inward edges of the other side of the aluminum alloy wheel.  
      From the above description, it can be easily seen that the wheel cover is time-consuming and expensive to manufacture, and prone to form scratches on the recessed-surfaced aluminum alloy wheel, like the first common one.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is a main object of the invention to provide an improvement on a wheel cover of an aluminum alloy wheel to overcome the above problem. The wheel cover of the present invention has several through holes thereon, and several wall portions encompassing respective ones of the through holes. The encompassing wall portions extend from an inner side of the wheel cover and abut respective ones of the edges of the through holes. And, the encompassing wall portions each have several detained protrusions on an outward side of a tail end thereof. The wheel cover is joined to an aluminum alloy wheel, which has several hollow portions, with the encompassing wall portions thereof being passed through respective ones of the hollow portions, and with the detained protrusions being tightly pressed against inner ends of the hollow portions and detained in the aluminum alloy wheel; thus, the wheel cover is firmly supported on the aluminum alloy wheel without risk of falling off. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the wheel and the wheel cover in the present invention,  
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the wheel cover in the invention, and  
       FIG. 3  is a lateral sectional view of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a preferred embodiment of a wheel cover  2  is provided to an aluminum alloy wheel  1 , which has several hollow portions  11  with a certain shape.  
      The wheel cover  2  has several through holes  21  thereon, and several encompassing wall portions  22  encompassing respective ones of the through holes  21 , which encompassing wall portions  22  extend from an inner side of the wheel cover  2 , and abut respective ones of the edges of the through holes  21 . Furthermore, the encompassing wall portions  22  each have several detained protrusions  23  on an outward side of a tail end thereof.  
      The wheel cover  2  is joined to the aluminum alloy wheel  1  with the encompassing wall portions  22  being passed through respective ones of the hollow portions  11 , and with the detained protrusions  23  tightly touching inner ends of the hollow portions  11  of the aluminum alloy wheel  1 . Therefore, the wheel cover  2  is firmly held on the aluminum alloy wheel  1  with the through holes  21  being right in front of respective ones of the hollow portions  11 , and the detained protrusions  23  being tightly pressed against and detained in the wheel  1 .  
      From the above description, it can be easily seen that the wheel cover of the present invention is easier, faster and cheaper to manufacture than the conventional wheel cover described in Background. And, the wheel cover of the invention can&#39;t form any scratch on the aluminum alloy wheel in assembly.