Patent Publication Number: US-2013234498-A1

Title: Wheel Cover and Method for Making and Packaging It

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a wheel cover and, more particularly, to a wheel cover and a method for making and packaging it. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A conventional wheel cover  100  in accordance with the prior art shown in  FIG. 1  comprises a main body  101 , a plurality of locking members  102  connected with the main body  101 , and a metallic ring (not shown) locked onto and held by the locking members  102 . However, each of the locking members  102  has a fixed length and cannot be bent to reduce its length so that when multiple wheel covers  100  are stacked during packaging, the locking members  102  are located between the main bodies  101  of any two adjacent wheel covers  100  to largely increase the whole stacking height of the wheel covers  100  and to largely increase the packaging volume of the wheel covers  100 , thereby causing inconvenience in and increasing the cost of packaging, storage and transportation of the wheel covers  100 . 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wheel cover, comprising a main body, and a plurality of locking members connected with the main body. The main body has an outer face directed outward in packaging and an inner face directed inward in packaging. The outer face of the main body has a surface provided with a plurality of through holes each having a predetermined pattern. Each of the locking members is formed integrally on the inner face of the main body. Each of the locking members has a first end provided with a support portion connected with the inner face of the main body. The support portion of each of the locking members is bendable relative to the inner face of the main body to reduce a whole length of each of the locking members. Each of the locking members has a second end provided with a retaining portion. Thus, the support portion of each of the locking members is bendable relative to the inner face of the main body to move the retaining portion of each of the locking members toward the inner face of the main body so as to reduce a whole height of each of the locking members relative to the inner face of the main body. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for making a wheel cover, comprising forming a main body which has an outer face directed outward in packaging and an inner face directed inward in packaging, forming the outer face of the main body with a plurality of through holes each having a predetermined pattern, forming a plurality of locking members integrally on the inner face of the main body, with each of the locking members having a first end provided with a support portion connected with the inner face of the main body and a second end provided with a retaining portion, and bending the support portion of each of the locking members to move the retaining portion of each of the locking members toward the inner face of the main body so as to reduce a whole height of each of the locking members relative to the inner face of the main body. 
     In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for packaging multiple wheel covers, comprising forming a plurality of wheel covers each including a main body which has an outer face directed outward in packaging and an inner face directed inward in packaging, forming the outer face of the main body of each of the wheel covers with a plurality of through holes each having a predetermined pattern, forming a plurality of locking members integrally on the inner face of the main body of each of the wheel covers, with each of the locking members having a first end provided with a support portion connected with the inner face of the main body of each of the wheel covers and a second end provided with a retaining portion, bending the support portion of each of the locking members to move the retaining portion of each of the locking members toward the inner face of the main body of each of the wheel covers so as to reduce a whole height of each of the locking members relative to the inner face of the main body of each of the wheel covers, and stacking the wheel covers in a vertical manner. 
     According to the primary advantage of the present invention, each of the locking members is bendable relative to the main body so as to reduce the whole height of each of the locking members relative to the main body. 
     According to another advantage of the present invention, when multiple wheel covers are stacked, each of the locking members is bent to reduce the whole length of each of the locking members so that the distance between the main bodies of any two adjacent wheel covers is shortened so as to largely reduce the whole stacking height of the wheel covers and to largely reduce the packaging volume of the wheel covers, thereby facilitating and decreasing the cost of packaging, storage and transportation of the wheel covers. 
     According to a further advantage of the present invention, each of the locking members and the main body are formed integrally by a plastic injection molding process so as to decrease the cost of fabrication and assembly of the wheel cover. 
     According to a further advantage of the present invention, the locking members are not connected with the through holes of the main body so that the through holes of the main body will not be restricted by the locking members and can have different patterns, thereby enhancing the aesthetic quality of the wheel cover. 
     Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
         FIG. 1  is a front view showing a stacking state of a plurality of conventional wheel covers in accordance with the prior art. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a wheel cover in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a partially perspective bottom view of the wheel cover as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a locking member of the wheel cover as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a locally perspective enlarged view of the locking member of the wheel cover as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective bent view of the locking member of the wheel cover as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 7  is a front folded view of the wheel cover as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 8  is a front view showing a stacking state of a plurality of wheel covers in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a locking member of the wheel cover in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective bent view of the locking member of the wheel cover as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the drawings and initially to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a wheel cover in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a main body  1 , a plurality of locking members  13  connected with the main body  1 , and a metallic ring  132  locked onto and held by the locking members  13 . 
     The main body  1  has an outer face  11  directed outward in packaging and an inner face  12  directed inward in packaging. The inner face  12  of the main body  1  is connected with the locking members  13 . The outer face  11  of the main body  1  has a surface provided with a plurality of through holes  111  each having a predetermined pattern. Each of the through holes  111  of the main body  1  has an edge  112  which has a proper height and extends toward the inner face  12  of the main body  1 . 
     The locking members  13  are arranged in an annular manner and are spaced from each other. Each of the locking members  13  is formed integrally on the inner face  12  of the main body  1 . Each of the locking members  13  has a first end provided with a support portion  134  connected with the inner face  12  of the main body  1 . The support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  is bendable relative to the inner face  12  of the main body  1  to reduce a whole length of each of the locking members  13 . Each of the locking members  13  has a second end provided with a retaining portion  133  for retaining the metallic ring  132 . The retaining portion  133  of each of the locking members  13  has a side provided with a locking recess  131  locked onto the metallic ring  132 . Thus, the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  is bendable relative to the inner face  12  of the main body  1  to move the retaining portion  133  of each of the locking members  13  toward the inner face  12  of the main body  1  so as to reduce the whole height of each of the locking members  13  relative to the inner face  12  of the main body  1 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  has a first (or front) side  135  which is directed in a direction the same as that of the locking recess  131  and a second (or rear) side  136  which is directed in a direction opposite to that of the locking recess  131 . The second side  136  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  has a surface provided with a folding seam  137  to make the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  bendable. The folding seam  137  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  has a depth of about 0.3 millimeter (mm). The folding seam  137  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  has a distal end  138  extended toward the first side  135  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13 , and a distance “d” between the distal end  138  of the folding seam  137  and the first side  135  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  is ranged between 0.7 mm and 0.8 mm. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7  with reference to  FIG. 3 , each of the locking members  13  is divided by the folding seam  137  of the support portion  134  into a first part “B” and a second part “A”. The folding seam  137  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  is disposed between the first part “B” and the second part “A” of each of the locking members  13 . The first part “B” of each of the locking members  13  is connected with the inner face  12  of the main body  1 . The second part “A” of each of the locking members  13  is connected with the retaining portion  133  and is bendable relative to the first part “B”. Thus, each of the locking members  13  is bendable at the folding seam  137  with the second part “A” of each of the locking members  13  being bent toward the main body  1  to reduce the whole length of each of the locking members  13 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  is bendable relative to the main body  1  to reduce the whole length of each of the locking members  13 . Thus, when multiple wheel covers are stacked during packaging, the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  is bent to reduce the whole length of each of the locking members  13  so that the distance between the main bodies  1  of any two adjacent wheel covers is shortened so as to largely reduce the whole stacking height of the wheel covers and to largely reduce the packaging volume of the wheel covers. 
     In fabrication, each of the locking members  13  and the main body  1  are formed integrally by a plastic injection molding process. The folding seam  137  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  is also formed when each of the locking members  13  and the main body  1  are formed integrally during the plastic injection molding process. Alternatively, the folding seam  137  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  may be formed by other working manner after each of the locking members  13  and the main body  1  are formed integrally during the plastic injection molding process. In addition, each of the locking members  13  and the main body  1  are made of a plastic material with greater flexibility, such as polypropylene (PP). Thus, each of the locking members  13  will not be broken during bending and can be returned to its original state after bending. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the depth and shape of the folding seam  137  of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  may be changed according to the depth and shape of the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13 . Thus, the support portion  134  of each of the locking members  13  can be bent easily and smoothly by provision of the folding seam  137 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the support portion  22  of each of the locking members  2  is provided with two opposite reinforcement ribs  23  to reinforce the structural strength of the support portion  22  of each of the locking members  2 . The second side  21  of the support portion  22  of each of the locking members  2  has a surface provided with a folding seam  24  to make the support portion  22  of each of the locking members  2  bendable. The folding seam  24  of the support portion  22  of each of the locking members  2  is extended through each of the reinforcement ribs  23 . Thus, each of the reinforcement ribs  23  is divided by the folding seam  24  of the support portion  22  into a first part  231  and a second part  232 . 
     Accordingly, each of the locking members  13  is bendable relative to the main body  1  so as to reduce the whole height of each of the locking members  13  relative to the main body  1 . In addition, when multiple wheel covers are stacked, each of the locking members  13  is bent to reduce the whole length of each of the locking members  13  so that the distance between the main bodies  1  of any two adjacent wheel covers is shortened so as to largely reduce the whole stacking height of the wheel covers and to largely reduce the packaging volume of the wheel covers, thereby facilitating and decreasing the cost of packaging, storage and transportation of the wheel covers. Further, each of the locking members  13  and the main body  1  are formed integrally by a plastic injection molding process so as to decrease the cost of fabrication and assembly of the wheel cover. Further, the locking members  13  are not connected with the through holes  111  of the main body  1  so that the through holes  111  of the main body  1  will not be restricted by the locking members  13  and can have different patterns, thereby enhancing the aesthetic quality of the wheel cover. 
     Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.