Patent ID: 7066557

Claim:
A wheel and overlay assembly comprising: a wheel having a disk and a rim circumscribing said disk, said wheel further having an outboard surface with a rim flange at an outer peripheral region thereof, said disk having a first plurality of turbine openings, each of said first plurality of turbine openings having a peripheral edge defining a first predetermined peripheral shape; and an overlay having: an inboard surface facing said outboard surface of said wheel; an outboard surface opposite said inboard surface, at least a portion of said inboard surface being spaced apart from said outboard surface of said wheel to define at least one void therebetween, said inboard surface and said outboard surface defining a predetermined thickness of said overlay; a plurality of predetermined contours on said outboard surface opposite said inboard surface of said overlay, said plurality of predetermined contours adapted to provide a predetermined aesthetic characteristic on a particular vehicle; and a second plurality of turbine openings in said overlay, at least one of said second plurality of turbine openings having a peripheral edge defining a second predetermined peripheral shape, at least a portion of said peripheral edge of said at least one of said second plurality of turbine openings extending in a direction away from said peripheral edge of a respective one of said first plurality of turbine openings in said disk and further extending into said opening of said respective one of said first plurality of turbine openings by a distance greater than said thickness of said overlay whereby said inboard surface of said overlay is spaced away from said peripheral edge of said respective one of said first plurality of turbine openings so as to redefine said first predetermined peripheral shape of said respective one of said first plurality of turbine openings of said disk.