Patent ID: 7621048

Claim:
A method for producing a vehicle wheel cover which is formed separately from and is adapted to be installed onto a vehicle wheel comprising the steps of: (a) providing a tooling fixture including at least a first tooling member, a second tooling member and a third tooling member, the first tooling member including an outer end having a generally rounded surface and an annular groove formed therein, the second tooling member having an outer end having a generally rounded surface which is generally complimentary to the rounded surface of the first tooling member, and the third tooling member having an outer end having a rounded surface which is generally complimentary to the annular groove of the first tooling member; (b) providing a wheel cover which is formed separately from and is adapted to be installed onto the associated vehicle wheel, the wheel cover having at least a preformed generally U-shaped outer end and a plurality of openings formed therein which generally correspond to a plurality of windows formed in the associated vehicle wheel; (c) positioning the wheel cover onto the tooling fixture wherein the wheel cover is supported on the first tooling member and spaced apart from the second and the third tooling members; (d) actuating the tooling fixture whereby the second tooling member is operative to engage and reshape the outer end of the wheel cover to produce a desired outer end shape caused by the action of the rounded surface of the second tooling member engaging and reshaping the outer end of the wheel cover against the annular groove of the first tooling member so as to generally conform to the shape of the annular groove formed in the first tooling member, while a portion of the outer end of the preformed wheel cover is captured between the rounded surface of the outer end of the third tooling member and the rounded surface of the outer end of the first tooling member; and (e) removing the wheel cover from the tooling fixture for subsequent installation on the associated vehicle wheel.