AU722643B3 - A wheel arch cover - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: Grant William ANSTEY As above CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 239 George Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

A WHEEL ARCH COVER The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me: A WHEEL ARCH COVER This invention relates to a wheel arch cover of the type which is fitted over a wheel arch in the interior of a motor vehicle.

Motor vehicles, and particularly vans and utilities, have a cargo area which, in order to maximise available space, extends over and about the rear wheels of the vehicle. A wheel arch therefore extends into the cargo space.

The wheel arch is quite intrusive and is regularly knocked, scratched and scraped by cargo in the van. The arch sometimes has weld lo joints or other rough or sharp edges which can damage or scratch goods.

The paint on the wheel arches quickly become damaged and scraped and reduces the resale value of the motor vehicle.

With most vans, the cargo area leads directly into the front driver's area, which allows the driver to quickly enter the cargo space without needing to initially exist from the vehicle. Sometimes, a safety net or grid is provided to prevent the cargo from interfering with the driver. These vans suffer from a noise problem in that road noise and wheel noise travels through the wheel arch and into the interior of the van. This noise can be quite unpleasant.

Another problem with wheel arches is that the arch is generally curved in two directions, which means that the arch curves from the rear of the van to the front of the van but also from the side wall of the van to the floor of the van. While this may improve usable space, these curved surfaces provide no assistance to support cargo.

It is of course well-known to use flexible mats or carpets over wheel arches. These mats or carpets protect the arch and goods against damage. The mats also have some advantage in reducing road noise.

However, it is difficult to keep the mats in place without the use of rivets or screws which results in corrosion points, and make the mats or carpets difficult to attach or remove.

Cushioned foam blankets have also been used by these are not particularly robust and quickly wear away and become pock-marked. The foams also absorb water, smells and stains and become generally unsightly.

Other more expensive materials such as closed cell foams may also be used, but these foams are not very strong and are not very able to withstanding the repeated knocks, strikes and abrasions.

While these mats and carpets do somewhat reduce road noise being transmitted through the wheel arch, the products suffer from a disadvantage that they are not properly acoustically decoupled from the wheel arch itself. Thus, the mat lays substantially on the entire portion of the wheel arch and will therefore transmit almost all the vibrations passing through the arch. If any sound deadening is provided, this is due to the thickness of the mat (which raises its cost and weight), or the use of rather expensive (and not altogether robust) foam material.

The present invention is directed to a wheel arch cover for a motor vehicle which may overcome the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with a useful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in a wheel arch cover for a motor vehicle, the cover being substantially rigid and hollow and having a closed top wall adapted to extend over an upper part of the wheel arch, a closed outer side wall adapted to extend over a side wall of the wheel arch, an open bottom wall having a peripheral edge, the edge adapted to sit adjacent the floor of the vehicle, and an open inner side wall having a peripheral edge adapted to sit adjacent the inside wall of the vehicle and about the wheel arch.

The cover is substantially rigid by which is meant that it is not formed entirely of a pliable foam carpet or mat material. The cover can be formed of rigid plastics material with a particularly preferred plastic being acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) which has a good impact strength and chemical resistance.

The cover can be formed of plastic material and may be particularly formed using a vacuum forming process which is known in the art.

The thickness of the cover can vary depending on the material used and the required toughness or robustness. For general use applications, the cover can be approximately 3mm thick and formed from ABS which provides a good tough wheel arch cover and which weighs less than thick rubber mats or carpets.

The cover can be shaped or moulded to extend over the wheel arch. The cover therefore has a closed or continuous top wall which extends over an upper part of the wheel arch and a closed or continuous outer side wall which extends over the side wall of the wheel arch. The cover has an open bottom wall which is adjacent the floor of the van and an open inner side wall which sits adjacent the inside wall of the van and about the wheel arch. The cover can therefore be seen as a cup of sorts which can substantially or completely encapsulate the wheel arch.

It is preferred that the cover is formed by a single piece of material which is shaped by vacuum moulding) to fit the wheel arch.

Several different shapes and sizes may be necessary to fit the wheel arches of different vehicles.

The open bottom wall and open inner side wall are each defined by a peripheral edge. It is preferred that the peripheral edge comprises a flange extending outwardly, for instance at right angles from the respective wall. The flange can provide dimensional rigidity to the cover and can also provide a good fixing area to allow the cover to be fixed to the van.

It is preferred that the cover is attached or fixed to the van via an acoustic decoupling means. In one form, the acoustic decoupling means may be in the form of an adhesive which, when cured, remains flexible to acoustically decouple the cover from the remainder of the van. The sealant may be in the form of a silicone sealant although other sealants are also envisaged which are flexible when cured. It is also envisaged that the cover may be attached by fasteners having rubber or other resilient spaces or washers to acoustically decouple the cover from the van.

A curable sealant is preferred however as holes do not need to be drilled through the van body which may be a source of corrosion initiation.

It is preferred that the cover is dimensioned such that when cupped or extended over the wheel arch, the main part of the cover does not touch any part of the wheel arch. The resultant gap or air layer can provide improved sound insulation. Therefore, it is preferred that the cover is attached to the vehicle (typically the floor and wall of the vehicle around the wheel arch) via the sealant or other acoustic decoupling means.

The separation between the cover and the wheel arch can also allow for differences in expansion and contraction of the metal wheel arch and the cover and reduces or eliminates and chaffing caused by direct material to material contact.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which Figure 1 is an end view of a wheel arch according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom view.

Figure 3 is a side view of the cover.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a wheel arch cover which is formed from 3mm thick ABS and can be coloured to suit. The cover has enclosed top wall 11 which is substantially planar and which has a length of approximately 800mm (the dimensions of the cover will of course vary depending on the size of the wheel arch). Top wall 11 is adapted to extend over an upper part of the wheel arch. Cover 10 has a closed outer side wall 12 which is substantially planar and has a length of approximately 800mm and is adapted to extend over a side wall of the wheel arch. The cover has an open bottom wall 13. The cover also has an open inner side wall 14 which is opposite closed side wall 12.

Bottom wall 13 and side wall 14 are defined by a continuous peripheral edge which is in the form of a 30mm flange formed integrally with the remainder of the cover and which extends outwardly at right angles from the respective wall. The flange can provide structural rigidity to the cover (that is to stop it twisting) and also provides a good contact area for the sealant.

In use, the area around the wheel arch is cleaned and a bead of silicone sealant is run around the flat flange of the cover. The cover is then pressed into place over the wheel arch. If necessary, masking tape can be attached to hold the cover in place during the curing period of the silicone.

The silicone acts to partially acoustically decouple the cover from the arch while holding the two together.

The cover the sized such that an air space is formed between the cover and the wheel arch which increases the sound insulation and allows for the difference in expansion and contraction of the metal and the plastic and also prevents any chaffing caused by direct material to material contact.

The covers are model specific and different sized and shaped covers may be required for different vehicles. While the embodiment describes a cover having a 3mm thickness, it may be possible to increase or decrease the thickness depending on the amount of protection required. For instance, for light goods, a thinner cover may be suitable while for heavy duty work, a thicker cover will be suitable.

The cover provides a noticable reduction of noise being transmitted through the wheel arch. The cover helps to maintain the interior of the vehicle in an undamaged condition and can be used in conjunction with floor mats and side panels. Damaged wheel arches can be hidden by attachment of a cover. The cover reduces paint damage and panel dents and is easy to attach and remove.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims (3)

1. A motor vehicle having an intemal wheel arch and a wheel arch cover fitted about and spaced from the wheel arch, the cover being substantially rigid and hollow and having a closed top wall extending over and spaced from an upper part of the wheel arch to define an air gap, a closed outer side wall extending over and spaced from a side wall of the wheel arch to define an air gap, an open bottom wall having a peripheral edge which is attached to or adjacent to the floor of the vehicle, and an open inner side wall having a peripheral edge which extends about the wheel arch and which is fastened to the wall of the vehicle which is about the arch.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the peripheral edge of the bottom wall and the inner side wall comprises a flange extending outwardly from the respective wall, the flange being attached to the floor and the wall of the vehicle via an acoustic decoupling means.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the cover is substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. DATED this 24 t h day of May 2000 Grant William ANSTEY By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.