CA1123712A - Spoked device and method of making same - Google Patents
Spoked device and method of making sameInfo
- Publication number
- CA1123712A CA1123712A CA322,402A CA322402A CA1123712A CA 1123712 A CA1123712 A CA 1123712A CA 322402 A CA322402 A CA 322402A CA 1123712 A CA1123712 A CA 1123712A
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- rim
- hub
- arm
- filaments
- arms
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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- Steering Controls (AREA)
- Moulding By Coating Moulds (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A structure is disclosed for a spoked wheel member suitable for use as an automotive steering wheel, gear, or the like comprising a hub, rim and interconnecting arms. Fibers of high strength are grouped together in parallel fashion as a reinforcement along the arms and are anchored in the hub and in the rim. A resinous binder of desired shear strength binds the fiber matrix together forming a fiber reinforced resinous structure.
In a preferred form, the fibers are wrapped around the hub, extend out a first arm, over the rim to an adjacent second arm and then back to the hub. A substantial number of fiber wrappings are grouped together to reinforce one segment of the structure, which includes half of the first and second arms. Thereafter a similar process is used to form the next segment of the structure which will include the other half of the second arm, half of a third arm, and the interconnecting hub and rim portions. The remaining sections are formed in similar manner and a peripheral wrapping of the rim is provided to bind the rim portions of the segments together.
A structure is disclosed for a spoked wheel member suitable for use as an automotive steering wheel, gear, or the like comprising a hub, rim and interconnecting arms. Fibers of high strength are grouped together in parallel fashion as a reinforcement along the arms and are anchored in the hub and in the rim. A resinous binder of desired shear strength binds the fiber matrix together forming a fiber reinforced resinous structure.
In a preferred form, the fibers are wrapped around the hub, extend out a first arm, over the rim to an adjacent second arm and then back to the hub. A substantial number of fiber wrappings are grouped together to reinforce one segment of the structure, which includes half of the first and second arms. Thereafter a similar process is used to form the next segment of the structure which will include the other half of the second arm, half of a third arm, and the interconnecting hub and rim portions. The remaining sections are formed in similar manner and a peripheral wrapping of the rim is provided to bind the rim portions of the segments together.
Description
3'71Z
The present invention relates to devices that comprise rims which are interconnected to hubs by a plurality of arms.
The invention described herein possessesparticular utility when applied to such devices used as automobile steering wheels which will both transmit torque between the rim and hub and will absorb rim impact loads by an energy absorbing deformation occurring in one or more arms. However, the invention is not limited to use in such devices and may in fact be applied to devices such as gears and flywheels which have a hub and a rim interconnected by at least one spoke.
In the case of automobiles, the steering wheel comprises a rim connected to the hub by one, two or three arms. The steer-ing wheel generally has its axis of rotation mounted at an angle to the horizontal so that the bottom of the rim is its rearward-most portion. During a collision, the driver of the vehicle may be thrown against the steering wheel, and the more rigid the steer-ing wheel, the greater the impact force which will be exerted upon the body of the driver. Therefore it is desirable for the steering wheel or the shaft upon which the steering wheel is mount-ed to absorb this impact energy thereby reducing the injuriessustained by the driver.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved steering wheel which in addition to transmit-ting normal torque loads repeatedly will absorb impact loads of the type described without recoil.
According to the invention, then, there is provided a torque transmitting article comprising at least one arm connect-ing a rim to a hub, wherein the arm comprises a multiplicity of substantially parallel filaments extending longitudinally of the arm and reinforced and maintained in the parallel alignment by a matrix of hardened binder of controlled shearability.
1~237 IL2 According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a one-piece steering wheel having a rim, a center hub for mounting the steering wheel upon a steering shaft, and at least one spoke connecting the hub and the rim, the rim, hub and spoke comprising a continuous hardened resinous matrix material of controlled shearability reinforced with continuously wound filamentary material, the filamentary material extending circumferentially about the rim, longitudinally through the spoke - . and circumferentially about the hub and comprising a multiplicity of substantially parallel filaments maintained in the parallel alignment by the hardened matrix material.
According to yet another aspect of the present inven-tion, there is also provided a method of making a torque trans-mitting article having a rim connected by an arm to a hub, com-prising the steps of arranging a multiplicity of parallel fila-ments in the longitudinal direction of the arm, impregnating the filaments with a hardenable binder of controlled shearability to reinforce and mai~tain the filaments in the parallel align-ment, and molding the arm in one piece with the rim and the hub.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a steering wheel armature having a hub and rim connected by arms comprising, forming a first preform by filament winding a continuous strand into a hoop to form part of the rim, forming a second preform by filament wind-ing a contlnuous strand into a second hoop having a periphery sufficient to extend around the hub, outwardly therefrom along first and second arms and over the portion of the rim between the arms, forming a third preform by filament winding a conti-nuous strand into a third hoop having a periphery sufficient to extend around the hub, outwardly along second and third arms and '~3i er the portion of the rim connecting the second and third arms, the strands each comprising a multiplicity of parallel fibers, placing the second preform adjacent the first preform with its portion connecting the first and second arms superimposed on a portion of the first preform, placing the third preform adjacent the first and second preforms with its second arm portion adjacent the second arm portion of the second preform and the portion con-necting its arms superimposed on a portion of the first preform, causing all preforms to contain a hardenable binder, and bonding the first, second, and third preforms together to produce the armature.
The invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates from the following description of several preferred embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cured, composite steering wheel embodying the present invention;
Figure 2 is a sectional view through the hub and oppo-site arms of the steering wheel shown in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a plan view of a segmented mold on whichfilaments are wound for producing the steering wheel shown in Figures 1 and 2. The mold contains a groove around its periphery and three grooves extending therefrom obliquely upwardly to a hub which forms the remainder of the armature;
Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken approxi-mately on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;
Figures 5a, 5b and 5c show in schematic form, vàrious patterns that can be used for winding strand into the mold to produce the armature;
: ~ - 3 -l~.Z3~12 Figure 6 is a schematic diagram depicting a method for impregnating a strand with binder, and winding the binder impreg-nated strand into the mold; and Figures 7a, 7b and 7c schematically depict a process wherein: a preform is made by filament winding a preform in one mold, the preform is transferred to a second mold where it is impregnated with resin using pressure and vacuum, and the mold is heated to harden the resin.
While the invention may be otherwise embodied, it i5 first described as embodied in a steering wheel for an automo-tive vehicle.
There is described hereinafter a steering wheel which will disrupt when overloaded by crack propagation longitudinally of an arm without breaking the top and bottom surfaces (filaments) of the arm. The disruption preferably occurs close to the center of the arm to in effect produce two half thicknesses of arm which in turn are more flexible and can yield through a greater dis-tance. This is accomplished by providing the arms with a rein-forcement comprising a large number of high strength parallel filaments, which are preferably anchored at one end to the rim and the other end to the hub. The filaments are held in parallel alignment by a hardened binder of a controlled shearability in-tended to permit controlled inter-laminar delamination between the filaments when the rim is impacted or otherwise overloaded.
The filament resin composite of the arms being of very high strength and anchored at both ends hold the rim to the hub allow-ing progressive transmission of load by the rim to other arms.
Suitable filaments may be organic, inoryanic, or metal-lic. Organic filaments include polyesters, nylon, aramid, poly-propylene, cotton, acrylics, etc. Inorganic filaments include ~- 3a -.
13.~371Z
,raphite, boron, glass, etc: metallic fibers include aluminum, steel, etc. Mixtures of the above fibers may be used in the com-posite steerin~ wheel construction. Because of availability and relative inexpensiveness, commercially available strands of glass filaments are the preferred reinforcement.
Suitable binders may likewise be organic or inorganic.
Organic binders will include the polyester resins, epoxy resins, aldehyde condensate resins, polyamide resins, etc. with or with-out inert fillers. Suitable inorganic binders will include the mag-oxy cements. The binder system is preferably tailored to give a desired bond to the fibers and a desired inter laminar - 3b -!, V
l~.Z37.~l~
shear strength to the arm.
The anchorage of the longitudinal arm fibers between the rim and hub can be accomplishe,d in a number of ways, however it is preferable for the fiber strands to extend uninterrupted-ly around an appreciable portion of the rim and hub.
A typical frame, or armature, of a steering wheel embodying the present invention is shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. One method of producing such frames, or arma-tures, is shown in Figures 3 through 6 and comprises a series of spools 11 bearing filamentary reinforcement such as con tinuous glass filaments 12. The filaments are led through a spacing arrangement 13 and into an impregnation tank 14 contain-ing a suitable resin 15 such as polyester, vinyl-ester, epoxy, etc.; the filaments are thereby impregnated with resin. The filaments are then passed through a feed eye 16 and laid into, or onto a mold 17 along its periphery 18 and channels 19. Rota-tion of the mold either alone or in coordination with the feed eye will produce a build up of filaments to a desired thick-ness. The lay down pattern may be varied at will to establish any desired paths for the filament and any desired volume ratio of the hub, arms or rim. Typical winding patterns which are shown in Figures 5a and 5c can produce a two spoke steering wheel; the winding pattern of Figure 5b will produce a single spoke wheel. One example of a suitable mold 21 is shown in Figures 3 and 4 and comprises split blocks 22 and 23, block 23 providing a plurality of threadably removable segments 24.
The mold 21 is mounted on a shaft 25, one end of the shaft pas-sing through a metal or plastic hub 26 and being secured therein by a bolt 27. At its other end, the shaft is threaded into or spline connected with a winding machine spindle 28 so that ~ - 4 ~
1~.23712 block 22 will bear against spindle shoulder 29. This arrange-ment permits the shaft 25 to be varied in length and thus alter the angle of th~ arms relative to the hub 26 or depth of the steering wheel. An outer, peripheral channel 30 is defined by the mold 21 and a plurality of inclined channels 32, 33 and 34 are provided by the split block 22. However, it is obviously within the scope of the invention to provide a rim forming channel or cavity on the surface of split block 22 located in-terior from the periphery. Additionally, the rim forming channel may have a multi-cornered configuration to bind the filaments at the corners during the initial filament lay-down.
This technique enables the filament to be wound more tightly into the channel to achieve a pre-stressed effect.
In operation, continuous filaments such as glass fibers, graphite, aramid, etc., are fed from the spools 11, and advanced through the impregnation tank 14 and wound in a continuous manner around the peripheral channel 30, and along channels 32, 33 and 34. In the process, the filaments are also wound around the hub 26 so that the hub becomes incorporated by the windings into the steering wheel structure.
The filaments may be applied by movement of the feed eye 16 while the mold 21 remains motionless or the mold may be rotated while the feed eye arm is motionless; this latter mode is useful when applying a filament build up to the peri-pheral channel 30.
Following completion of the desired amount of fila-ment build the mold 21 is simply removed from the spindle 28 by pulling out or unscrewing the shaft 25 to which the mold is attached. The mold may then be placed in an oven and sub-jected to heat and pressure to produce a cured resin-filament 1~.237i~
steeriny wheel composite. Following the cure treatment, the removable segments 24 and bolt 27 are unscrewed or loosened and the cured steering wheel 35 and hub 26 are removed from the mold 21.
Figures 7a, 7b and 7c illustrate another method of producing the filamentary wound steering wheel. The filaments are deposited or applied into a mold 40 (Figure 7a) essentially free of resin, the filaments being held together by a light binder which is compatible with, or soluble in, a suitable matrix resin. This produces a preform 41 as shown in Figure 7b; the preform is then transferred to a mold, as shown in Figure 7c, in which the matrix resin is introduced under vacuum, pressure, or a combination thereof thereby impregnating the preform. The mold containing the resin-impregnated preform is then cured.
Figure 1 shows the cured steering wheel 35 comprising a rim 36, integrally connected spokes 37, a hub support 38, and a metallic hub 39 wound within the hub support. The structure may be used either as a steering wheel without any further processing of significance, or it may be used as the primary load-bearing armature to be subsequently covered with materials chosen on the basis of aesthetics, color, or other considerations.
Figure 2 shows the portion of a typical steering wheel structure 45 of filamentary material impregnated with a matrix resin 46 that has been wound around a hub 47 and cured. A
splined central channel 48 is provided by the hub, and outer washer shaped portions 49 are disposed peripherally of the hub.
Since it is embedded within the cured matrix resin, a strong mechanical bond is formed between the resin and hub, particularly at the washers 49. Additionally, bonding forces due to ad-l~.Z3712 hesion, and con~raction forces due to phase change, combinewith the mechanlcal bond to form an excellent, long term bond between the hub and steering wheel.
As previously indicated, still other methods exist for producing the orientation of fibers desired by the present invention. One of the simplest ways of making parallel group-ings of glass fibers is achieved by filament winding a strand on a revolving drum to produce either a hoop of predetermined bandwidth, or a continuous cylinder. Part of the rim of ap-plicant's armature, for example, could be made by filament wind-ing a strand into a hoop of the desired rim dimension. Arms can be attached to the rim and the hub by making suitable seg-mented preforms from filament wound hoops the periphery of which correspond in length to that of two arms, plus the peripheral portion of the rim between the two arms, plus a turn around the hub. These preforms can be twisted into a figure eight having a large and a small diameter loop. These figure eight preforms are then forced endwise into a suitable mold with the small diameter loop extending around the hub and the large dia-meter loop extending up the adjacent sides of two adjacent armsand around the interconnecting rim portion. Three such preforms may be placed into a mold on top of a circular hoop forming the top portion of the rim to produce an armature having three arms. The preforms are of course impregnated with a binder forming material and upon curing of the binder the preforms are integrated into a rigid armature having substantially the same fiber configuration and physical properties as the armature produced by the continuous winding process. In both the con-tinuous winding process and the process utilizing a plurality of preforms, the fibers are connected to the rim and to the hub by radil leaving a small triangular hollow in the center.
The radii that are thus naturally produced increase the section modulus of the arms at their juncture with the rim and hub and prevent stress concentration at these points.
In both of the embodiments above described, the rim 36 may be displaced axially approximately six inches from the hub 39, so that an object impacting on the rim will cause one of the arms to yield. In the normal straight ahead position of the steering wheel, one of the arms will be at the bottom of the steering wheel. As this arm is being deformed under impact loading rim 36 transfers increasing portions of the impact load to the other arms of the armatùre - two of which will nor-mally be horizontal. Thus a sequential transfer of the impact load to various arms of the armature results.
In the preferred construction, the arms fail while the rim remains intact. Failure of the arms is caused by inter-laminar shear near the center of the arms. These disruptions preferably start in the center third of the arm and progressively increase in length along the arm. The disruptions produce longi-tudinal cleavages between the resin and the fibers leaving thefibers intact. As cleavage increases in length, the arm be-comes more flexible causing further deflection and in turn fur-ther cleavage - all during which a sustained resistance to the impact load is provided. The binder between the fibers can, of course, be designed to provide any desired shear strength by modifying the amount of inert fillers used or altering the composition of the resin or both.
While embodiments of the invention have been described in considerable detail, the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments shown and described and includes all l~.Z373~Z
novel adaptations, modi~ications, and arrangements thereof which come within the practice of those skilled in the art to which the invention relates and which Eall within the purview of the following claims.
As mentioned in the preamble of the disclosure the methods described above and equally applicable to devices other than vehicle steering wheels. For example a flywheel may be produced in which a hub and a rim are connected by spokes for-med from generally parallel fibers. In this case the spokes may not be dished in the manner shown with respect to the steer-ing wheel. The spokes may be bonded to a heavy metal rim during formation of the spokes or an additional rim could be attached after the basic form has been produced. Naturally the shear characteristics of the spokes will not be utilized in such an application although the benefits such as economy of manufacture may still be achieved.
A further example of the utilization of the methods discussed above is the production of a spoked gear wheel. In this case a basic spoked form having a circular rim may be pro-duced and an additional rim with gear segments formed thereinadded. Alternatively the gear segments could be formed in-tegrally with the basic form, either by laying the fibers in such a manner as to define the individual teeth or by curing the preform in a mold having the shape of the teeth defined ,in the wall thereof. The teeth may be formed by injecting suf-ficient matrix resin into the mold to form the teeth and bind the fibers or by placing preformed segments in the mold and connecting the rim and segments by a matrix binder.
,~ ~f" _ 9 _
The present invention relates to devices that comprise rims which are interconnected to hubs by a plurality of arms.
The invention described herein possessesparticular utility when applied to such devices used as automobile steering wheels which will both transmit torque between the rim and hub and will absorb rim impact loads by an energy absorbing deformation occurring in one or more arms. However, the invention is not limited to use in such devices and may in fact be applied to devices such as gears and flywheels which have a hub and a rim interconnected by at least one spoke.
In the case of automobiles, the steering wheel comprises a rim connected to the hub by one, two or three arms. The steer-ing wheel generally has its axis of rotation mounted at an angle to the horizontal so that the bottom of the rim is its rearward-most portion. During a collision, the driver of the vehicle may be thrown against the steering wheel, and the more rigid the steer-ing wheel, the greater the impact force which will be exerted upon the body of the driver. Therefore it is desirable for the steering wheel or the shaft upon which the steering wheel is mount-ed to absorb this impact energy thereby reducing the injuriessustained by the driver.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved steering wheel which in addition to transmit-ting normal torque loads repeatedly will absorb impact loads of the type described without recoil.
According to the invention, then, there is provided a torque transmitting article comprising at least one arm connect-ing a rim to a hub, wherein the arm comprises a multiplicity of substantially parallel filaments extending longitudinally of the arm and reinforced and maintained in the parallel alignment by a matrix of hardened binder of controlled shearability.
1~237 IL2 According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a one-piece steering wheel having a rim, a center hub for mounting the steering wheel upon a steering shaft, and at least one spoke connecting the hub and the rim, the rim, hub and spoke comprising a continuous hardened resinous matrix material of controlled shearability reinforced with continuously wound filamentary material, the filamentary material extending circumferentially about the rim, longitudinally through the spoke - . and circumferentially about the hub and comprising a multiplicity of substantially parallel filaments maintained in the parallel alignment by the hardened matrix material.
According to yet another aspect of the present inven-tion, there is also provided a method of making a torque trans-mitting article having a rim connected by an arm to a hub, com-prising the steps of arranging a multiplicity of parallel fila-ments in the longitudinal direction of the arm, impregnating the filaments with a hardenable binder of controlled shearability to reinforce and mai~tain the filaments in the parallel align-ment, and molding the arm in one piece with the rim and the hub.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a steering wheel armature having a hub and rim connected by arms comprising, forming a first preform by filament winding a continuous strand into a hoop to form part of the rim, forming a second preform by filament wind-ing a contlnuous strand into a second hoop having a periphery sufficient to extend around the hub, outwardly therefrom along first and second arms and over the portion of the rim between the arms, forming a third preform by filament winding a conti-nuous strand into a third hoop having a periphery sufficient to extend around the hub, outwardly along second and third arms and '~3i er the portion of the rim connecting the second and third arms, the strands each comprising a multiplicity of parallel fibers, placing the second preform adjacent the first preform with its portion connecting the first and second arms superimposed on a portion of the first preform, placing the third preform adjacent the first and second preforms with its second arm portion adjacent the second arm portion of the second preform and the portion con-necting its arms superimposed on a portion of the first preform, causing all preforms to contain a hardenable binder, and bonding the first, second, and third preforms together to produce the armature.
The invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates from the following description of several preferred embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cured, composite steering wheel embodying the present invention;
Figure 2 is a sectional view through the hub and oppo-site arms of the steering wheel shown in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a plan view of a segmented mold on whichfilaments are wound for producing the steering wheel shown in Figures 1 and 2. The mold contains a groove around its periphery and three grooves extending therefrom obliquely upwardly to a hub which forms the remainder of the armature;
Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken approxi-mately on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;
Figures 5a, 5b and 5c show in schematic form, vàrious patterns that can be used for winding strand into the mold to produce the armature;
: ~ - 3 -l~.Z3~12 Figure 6 is a schematic diagram depicting a method for impregnating a strand with binder, and winding the binder impreg-nated strand into the mold; and Figures 7a, 7b and 7c schematically depict a process wherein: a preform is made by filament winding a preform in one mold, the preform is transferred to a second mold where it is impregnated with resin using pressure and vacuum, and the mold is heated to harden the resin.
While the invention may be otherwise embodied, it i5 first described as embodied in a steering wheel for an automo-tive vehicle.
There is described hereinafter a steering wheel which will disrupt when overloaded by crack propagation longitudinally of an arm without breaking the top and bottom surfaces (filaments) of the arm. The disruption preferably occurs close to the center of the arm to in effect produce two half thicknesses of arm which in turn are more flexible and can yield through a greater dis-tance. This is accomplished by providing the arms with a rein-forcement comprising a large number of high strength parallel filaments, which are preferably anchored at one end to the rim and the other end to the hub. The filaments are held in parallel alignment by a hardened binder of a controlled shearability in-tended to permit controlled inter-laminar delamination between the filaments when the rim is impacted or otherwise overloaded.
The filament resin composite of the arms being of very high strength and anchored at both ends hold the rim to the hub allow-ing progressive transmission of load by the rim to other arms.
Suitable filaments may be organic, inoryanic, or metal-lic. Organic filaments include polyesters, nylon, aramid, poly-propylene, cotton, acrylics, etc. Inorganic filaments include ~- 3a -.
13.~371Z
,raphite, boron, glass, etc: metallic fibers include aluminum, steel, etc. Mixtures of the above fibers may be used in the com-posite steerin~ wheel construction. Because of availability and relative inexpensiveness, commercially available strands of glass filaments are the preferred reinforcement.
Suitable binders may likewise be organic or inorganic.
Organic binders will include the polyester resins, epoxy resins, aldehyde condensate resins, polyamide resins, etc. with or with-out inert fillers. Suitable inorganic binders will include the mag-oxy cements. The binder system is preferably tailored to give a desired bond to the fibers and a desired inter laminar - 3b -!, V
l~.Z37.~l~
shear strength to the arm.
The anchorage of the longitudinal arm fibers between the rim and hub can be accomplishe,d in a number of ways, however it is preferable for the fiber strands to extend uninterrupted-ly around an appreciable portion of the rim and hub.
A typical frame, or armature, of a steering wheel embodying the present invention is shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. One method of producing such frames, or arma-tures, is shown in Figures 3 through 6 and comprises a series of spools 11 bearing filamentary reinforcement such as con tinuous glass filaments 12. The filaments are led through a spacing arrangement 13 and into an impregnation tank 14 contain-ing a suitable resin 15 such as polyester, vinyl-ester, epoxy, etc.; the filaments are thereby impregnated with resin. The filaments are then passed through a feed eye 16 and laid into, or onto a mold 17 along its periphery 18 and channels 19. Rota-tion of the mold either alone or in coordination with the feed eye will produce a build up of filaments to a desired thick-ness. The lay down pattern may be varied at will to establish any desired paths for the filament and any desired volume ratio of the hub, arms or rim. Typical winding patterns which are shown in Figures 5a and 5c can produce a two spoke steering wheel; the winding pattern of Figure 5b will produce a single spoke wheel. One example of a suitable mold 21 is shown in Figures 3 and 4 and comprises split blocks 22 and 23, block 23 providing a plurality of threadably removable segments 24.
The mold 21 is mounted on a shaft 25, one end of the shaft pas-sing through a metal or plastic hub 26 and being secured therein by a bolt 27. At its other end, the shaft is threaded into or spline connected with a winding machine spindle 28 so that ~ - 4 ~
1~.23712 block 22 will bear against spindle shoulder 29. This arrange-ment permits the shaft 25 to be varied in length and thus alter the angle of th~ arms relative to the hub 26 or depth of the steering wheel. An outer, peripheral channel 30 is defined by the mold 21 and a plurality of inclined channels 32, 33 and 34 are provided by the split block 22. However, it is obviously within the scope of the invention to provide a rim forming channel or cavity on the surface of split block 22 located in-terior from the periphery. Additionally, the rim forming channel may have a multi-cornered configuration to bind the filaments at the corners during the initial filament lay-down.
This technique enables the filament to be wound more tightly into the channel to achieve a pre-stressed effect.
In operation, continuous filaments such as glass fibers, graphite, aramid, etc., are fed from the spools 11, and advanced through the impregnation tank 14 and wound in a continuous manner around the peripheral channel 30, and along channels 32, 33 and 34. In the process, the filaments are also wound around the hub 26 so that the hub becomes incorporated by the windings into the steering wheel structure.
The filaments may be applied by movement of the feed eye 16 while the mold 21 remains motionless or the mold may be rotated while the feed eye arm is motionless; this latter mode is useful when applying a filament build up to the peri-pheral channel 30.
Following completion of the desired amount of fila-ment build the mold 21 is simply removed from the spindle 28 by pulling out or unscrewing the shaft 25 to which the mold is attached. The mold may then be placed in an oven and sub-jected to heat and pressure to produce a cured resin-filament 1~.237i~
steeriny wheel composite. Following the cure treatment, the removable segments 24 and bolt 27 are unscrewed or loosened and the cured steering wheel 35 and hub 26 are removed from the mold 21.
Figures 7a, 7b and 7c illustrate another method of producing the filamentary wound steering wheel. The filaments are deposited or applied into a mold 40 (Figure 7a) essentially free of resin, the filaments being held together by a light binder which is compatible with, or soluble in, a suitable matrix resin. This produces a preform 41 as shown in Figure 7b; the preform is then transferred to a mold, as shown in Figure 7c, in which the matrix resin is introduced under vacuum, pressure, or a combination thereof thereby impregnating the preform. The mold containing the resin-impregnated preform is then cured.
Figure 1 shows the cured steering wheel 35 comprising a rim 36, integrally connected spokes 37, a hub support 38, and a metallic hub 39 wound within the hub support. The structure may be used either as a steering wheel without any further processing of significance, or it may be used as the primary load-bearing armature to be subsequently covered with materials chosen on the basis of aesthetics, color, or other considerations.
Figure 2 shows the portion of a typical steering wheel structure 45 of filamentary material impregnated with a matrix resin 46 that has been wound around a hub 47 and cured. A
splined central channel 48 is provided by the hub, and outer washer shaped portions 49 are disposed peripherally of the hub.
Since it is embedded within the cured matrix resin, a strong mechanical bond is formed between the resin and hub, particularly at the washers 49. Additionally, bonding forces due to ad-l~.Z3712 hesion, and con~raction forces due to phase change, combinewith the mechanlcal bond to form an excellent, long term bond between the hub and steering wheel.
As previously indicated, still other methods exist for producing the orientation of fibers desired by the present invention. One of the simplest ways of making parallel group-ings of glass fibers is achieved by filament winding a strand on a revolving drum to produce either a hoop of predetermined bandwidth, or a continuous cylinder. Part of the rim of ap-plicant's armature, for example, could be made by filament wind-ing a strand into a hoop of the desired rim dimension. Arms can be attached to the rim and the hub by making suitable seg-mented preforms from filament wound hoops the periphery of which correspond in length to that of two arms, plus the peripheral portion of the rim between the two arms, plus a turn around the hub. These preforms can be twisted into a figure eight having a large and a small diameter loop. These figure eight preforms are then forced endwise into a suitable mold with the small diameter loop extending around the hub and the large dia-meter loop extending up the adjacent sides of two adjacent armsand around the interconnecting rim portion. Three such preforms may be placed into a mold on top of a circular hoop forming the top portion of the rim to produce an armature having three arms. The preforms are of course impregnated with a binder forming material and upon curing of the binder the preforms are integrated into a rigid armature having substantially the same fiber configuration and physical properties as the armature produced by the continuous winding process. In both the con-tinuous winding process and the process utilizing a plurality of preforms, the fibers are connected to the rim and to the hub by radil leaving a small triangular hollow in the center.
The radii that are thus naturally produced increase the section modulus of the arms at their juncture with the rim and hub and prevent stress concentration at these points.
In both of the embodiments above described, the rim 36 may be displaced axially approximately six inches from the hub 39, so that an object impacting on the rim will cause one of the arms to yield. In the normal straight ahead position of the steering wheel, one of the arms will be at the bottom of the steering wheel. As this arm is being deformed under impact loading rim 36 transfers increasing portions of the impact load to the other arms of the armatùre - two of which will nor-mally be horizontal. Thus a sequential transfer of the impact load to various arms of the armature results.
In the preferred construction, the arms fail while the rim remains intact. Failure of the arms is caused by inter-laminar shear near the center of the arms. These disruptions preferably start in the center third of the arm and progressively increase in length along the arm. The disruptions produce longi-tudinal cleavages between the resin and the fibers leaving thefibers intact. As cleavage increases in length, the arm be-comes more flexible causing further deflection and in turn fur-ther cleavage - all during which a sustained resistance to the impact load is provided. The binder between the fibers can, of course, be designed to provide any desired shear strength by modifying the amount of inert fillers used or altering the composition of the resin or both.
While embodiments of the invention have been described in considerable detail, the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments shown and described and includes all l~.Z373~Z
novel adaptations, modi~ications, and arrangements thereof which come within the practice of those skilled in the art to which the invention relates and which Eall within the purview of the following claims.
As mentioned in the preamble of the disclosure the methods described above and equally applicable to devices other than vehicle steering wheels. For example a flywheel may be produced in which a hub and a rim are connected by spokes for-med from generally parallel fibers. In this case the spokes may not be dished in the manner shown with respect to the steer-ing wheel. The spokes may be bonded to a heavy metal rim during formation of the spokes or an additional rim could be attached after the basic form has been produced. Naturally the shear characteristics of the spokes will not be utilized in such an application although the benefits such as economy of manufacture may still be achieved.
A further example of the utilization of the methods discussed above is the production of a spoked gear wheel. In this case a basic spoked form having a circular rim may be pro-duced and an additional rim with gear segments formed thereinadded. Alternatively the gear segments could be formed in-tegrally with the basic form, either by laying the fibers in such a manner as to define the individual teeth or by curing the preform in a mold having the shape of the teeth defined ,in the wall thereof. The teeth may be formed by injecting suf-ficient matrix resin into the mold to form the teeth and bind the fibers or by placing preformed segments in the mold and connecting the rim and segments by a matrix binder.
,~ ~f" _ 9 _
Claims (20)
1. A torque transmitting article comprising at least one arm connecting a rim to a hub, wherein said arm comprises a multiplicity of substantially parallel filaments extending lon-gitudinally of said arm and reinforced and maintained in said parallel alignment by a matrix of hardened binder of controlled shearability.
2. An article as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least some of said reinforced filaments extend into said hub and said rim.
3. An article as claimed in claim 2, wherein said re-inforced filaments extend around at least part of said rim.
4. An article as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said reinforced filaments comprise glass fibers.
5. An article as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said rim, said hub and said arms are integrally molded.
6. An article as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said reinforced filaments extend uninterruptedly around said rim and said hub and along said arm.
7. An article as claimed in claim 3, wherein said re-inforced filaments extend from said hub along said arm and said rim to a second arm, along said second arm to said hub and around said hub.
8. An article as claimed in claim 1, wherein said arm is one of a pair of arms connecting said rim to said hub and said filaments form strands which are grouped together to form at least one large loop extending around said rim and at least one small loop extending around said hub, said strands extending along both of said arms between said small and large loops.
9. An article as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, including a jacket of foamed material covering said rim, said hub and said arm.
10. An article as claimed in claim 8, including a jacket of foamed material covering said rim, said hub and said arm.
11. A one-piece steering wheel having a rim, a center hub for mounting the steering wheel upon a steering shaft, and at least one spoke connecting said hub and said rim, said rim, hub and spoke comprising a continuous hardened resinous matrix material of controlled shearability reinforced with continuously wound filamentary material, said filamentary material extending circumferentially about said rim, longitudinally through said spoke and circumferentially about said hub and comprising a multi-plicity of substantially parallel filaments maintained in said parallel alignment by said hardened matrix material.
12. A one-piece steering wheel as claimed in claim 11, wherein said filamentary material extends from a junction of said rim and said spoke, circumferentially about a first por-tion of said rim to a second spoke connecting said hub and said rim, longitudinally along said second spoke to said hub, circum-?erentially about said hub, longitudinally along said first spoke to said rim, circumferentially about a second portion of said rim to said second spoke, longitudinally along said second spoke to said hub, circumferentially about said hub and longitudinally along said first spoke to said first spoke-rim junction.
13. A one-piece steering wheel as claimed in claim 11, wherein said filamentary material extends from a junction of said spoke and said rim, circumferentially about said rim, longitudinally along said spoke to said hub, and circumferentially about said hub and longitudinally along said spoke to said junc-tion.
14. A steering wheel, comprising an arm connecting a hub to a rim, said arm, said hub and said rim being molded in one piece from a synthetic resinous matrix material of controlled shearability reinforced by a filmentary material embedded within and impregnated by said matrix material and comprising a multipli-city of substantially parallel filaments extending longitudinally of said arm and, at opposite ends of said arm, without interrup-tion into and circumferentially about said hub and said rim, said filaments being maintained in said parallel alignment by said matrix material.
15. A steering wheel as claimed in claim 14, wherein said filaments comprise glass fibers.
16. A steering wheel as claimed in claim 14 or 15, wherein said rim is disposed in a plane offset from said hub.
17. A method of making a torque transmitting article having a rim connected by an arm to a hub, comprising the steps of arranging a multiplicity of parallel filaments in the longi-tudinal direction of said arm, impregnating said filaments with a hardenable binder of controlled shearability to reinforce and maintain the filaments in said parallel alignment, and molding said arm in one piece with said rim and said hub.
18. A method as claimed in claim 17, which includes arranging said reinforced filaments to extend at least partially around said rim and said hub.
19. A method as claimed in claim 18, which includes forming a length of the reinforced filaments into at least one large loop, at least one small loop and at least one connecting portion between said large and small loops, and embedding said large and small loops and said connecting portion in said rim, said hub and said arm, respectively.
20. A method of making a steering wheel armature having a hub and rim connected by arms comprising:
forming a first preform by filament winding a continuous strand into a hoop to form part of the rim;
forming a second preform by filament winding a conti-nuous strand into a second hoop having a periphery sufficient to extend around the hub, outwardly therefrom along first and second arms and over the portion of said rim between said arms;
forming a third preform by filament winding a conti-nous strand into a third hoop having a periphery sufficient to extend around the hub, outwardly along second and third arms and over the portion of the rim connecting said second and third arms;
said strands each comprising a multiplicity of parallel fibers;
placing the second preform adjacent said first pre-form with its portion connecting said first and second arms super-imposed on a portion of said first preform;
placing the third preform adjacent said first and second preforms with its second arm portion adjacent said second arm portion of said second preform and the portion connecting its arms superimposed on a portion of said first preform;
causing all preforms to contain a hardenable binder;
and bonding said first, second, and third preforms together to produce the armature.
forming a first preform by filament winding a continuous strand into a hoop to form part of the rim;
forming a second preform by filament winding a conti-nuous strand into a second hoop having a periphery sufficient to extend around the hub, outwardly therefrom along first and second arms and over the portion of said rim between said arms;
forming a third preform by filament winding a conti-nous strand into a third hoop having a periphery sufficient to extend around the hub, outwardly along second and third arms and over the portion of the rim connecting said second and third arms;
said strands each comprising a multiplicity of parallel fibers;
placing the second preform adjacent said first pre-form with its portion connecting said first and second arms super-imposed on a portion of said first preform;
placing the third preform adjacent said first and second preforms with its second arm portion adjacent said second arm portion of said second preform and the portion connecting its arms superimposed on a portion of said first preform;
causing all preforms to contain a hardenable binder;
and bonding said first, second, and third preforms together to produce the armature.
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US88123178A | 1978-02-27 | 1978-02-27 | |
| US881,231 | 1978-02-27 | ||
| US1333379A | 1979-02-23 | 1979-02-23 | |
| US13,333 | 1993-02-04 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1123712A true CA1123712A (en) | 1982-05-18 |
Family
ID=26684716
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA322,402A Expired CA1123712A (en) | 1978-02-27 | 1979-02-27 | Spoked device and method of making same |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1123712A (en) |
-
1979
- 1979-02-27 CA CA322,402A patent/CA1123712A/en not_active Expired
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