GB2232128A

GB2232128A - A wheel cover for a motor vehicle wheel

Info

Publication number: GB2232128A
Application number: GB8911724A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David John Petty
Original assignee: Ford Motor Co
Current assignee: Ford Motor Co
Priority date: 1989-05-22
Filing date: 1989-05-22
Publication date: 1990-12-05
Also published as: WO1990014238A1; GB8911724D0

Abstract

A wheel cover (22) is mounted on a wheel through fixing legs (24) which engage in fixing holes (16) in the wheel spider (2). The fixing legs are a snug fit in the holes to prevent them moving radially. The legs are supported by a wire ring (28) which surrounds all the legs.

Description

A WHEEL COVER FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE WHEEL This invention relates to a wheel cover for a motor vehicle wheel, and to the combination of a motor vehicle wheel and a wheel cover therefor.

It is known to secure wheel covers to vehicle wheels using a friction type of grip. When the wheel cover itself is made of plastics, then it has usually been necessary to combine the plastics wheel cover with a metal component or components to engage with the metal wheel and to hold the cover in place.

In the case of full wheel covers, ie wheel covers which completely cover the wheel, it is known to provide axially directed legs extending inwardly from the cover and which engage in an annular recess around the inner face of the rim. A wire ring located radially inside the legs can provide the necessary radial support for the legs.

However with certain types of run-flat tyres which allow the vehicle to be driven when the tyre is deflated, the rim of the wheel is enclosed within the tyre, and it is no longer possible to attach the wheel covers to the rim. One object of the present invention is therefore to provide a method of attaching a full wheel cover to a wheel for a run-flat tyre, for example of the type described in EP-B10 079 454.

According to the invention, there is provided the combination of a motor vehicle wheel and a wheel cover for the wheel, the wheel comprising a spider and a rim mounted around the spider, and the cover having an outer face and an inner face with axially directed fixing legs on the inner face arranged to locate in corresponding fixing holes in the spider to hold the cover onto the wheel.

Although this combination has been developed with the aim of using it on wheels for run-flat tyres, the invention is not restricted to that application.

Each leg preferably has a foot which is a snug fit in its corresponding fixing hole. In particular, the engagement between each foot and its fixing hole should be such that the foot cannot move to any substantial degree in a circumferential direction.

The set of fixing legs an&commat; the fixing holes are preferably arranged so that the cover is snap-fitted onto the wheel.

The snap-fit engagement will be achieved by making the legs resilient, and supporting the legs with a wire ring positioned radially outwardly of the legs.

The invention also extends firstly to a wheel cover and secondly to a wheel for use in the wheel/wheel cover combination set forth above.

In another aspect, the invention provides a wheel cover for a run-flat wheel, the cover having a plurality of generally axially directed fixing legs arranged to engage with the wheel spider, and a wire ring surrounding all the legs and restraining the legs against radial outward movement.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a rear view, partly cut away, of the spider of a wheel in accordance with the invention, omitting the wheel rim; Figure 2 is a side view -through a wheel and wheel cover in accordance with the invention; Figure 3 is a rear view of a wheel cover in accordance with the invention; Figure 4 is a detail of one fixing foot; and Figure 5 is a side view of part of the wheel cover in accordance with the invention showing one fixing leg.

The spider 2 shown in Figure 1 is viewed from the rear side. The spider has an outer flange 10 on which a wheel rim will be welded. The rim however is omitted from Figure 1, for the sake of clarity. Around an inner circumference, there are apertures 12 through which the wheel fixing studs are fitted. Around an outer circumference there are ventilation holes 14 and fixing holes 16. As can be seen in Figure 1, the fixing holes 16 are generally square in form and extend through the material of the spider.

Figure 2 shows the entire wheel in cross section with the wheel rim 18, the spider 2 and a tyre 20 fitted on the rim.

At the bottom of Figure 2, the tyre profiles 20a (fully inflated), 20b (partly deflated) and 20c, (fully deflated) are shown. The tyre profile 20c is the profile taken up when the wheel runs with a fully deflated tyre, and it will be seen that the tread of the tyre is supported against the rim 18.

A full wheel cover 22 is shown mounted on the wheel. The cover extends completely over the spider 2.

In order to hold the cover onto the spider, the cover has a number of legs 24. Each leg has a foot 26, and these feet engage in the fixing holes 16 in the spider. The cover also has ventilation holes 27 which register with the ventilation holes 14 in the spider.

All the legs 24 are supported by a single wire ring 28 (Figure 3) which surrounds the legs and restrains them from moving in a radially outward direction.

Figure 4 shows the shape of the foot 26 and the shape of the hole 16 in which it engages. The hole 16 is generally square, and the foot 26 has two flat side faces 30 and 32.

The spacing between the side faces 30 and 32 is such that the foot can just fit between the sides of the hole 16.

Because of the close fitting nature of these parts, there can be no movement between the foot and the hole in a circumferential direction, and because there are fixing legs spaced all around the cover, limiting circumferential movement for each leg results in the limiting or prevention of any overall radial movement of the entire cover.

Each leg 24 has a lug 34 which bears against the outside of the spider and prevents the feet 26 from being pushed right through the holes 16 in the spider.

In order to produce a snap-fitting engagement of the cover onto the spider, the distance between the point 36 on one leg, and the corresponding position on a diametrically opposite leg is slightly less than the distance between the radially inner edges of a pair of diametrically opposite fixing holes 16. As a result, in order to simultaneously locate two diametrically opposite fixing legs in the corresponding fixing holes, the legs need to flex outwards to snap into the holes. The legs are provided with reinforcing ribs 38 by which they are connected to the cover 22, but in addition the wire ring 28 which surrounds all the legs prevents excessive distortion and supports all the legs against each other.

The cover 22 has an in-turned radially outer flange 40 which is located, as can be seen in Figure 2, just inboard of the tyre so as to form a neat finish to the wheel. Even in the run-flat condition represented by 20c, the tyre will not come into contact with the cover, and the cover will therefore still remain in position even in the runflat condition.

Claims

1. The combination of a motor vehicle wheel and a wheel cover for the wheel, the wheel comprising a spider and a rim mounted around the spider, and the cover having an outer face and an inner face with axially directed fixing legs on the inner face arranged to locate in corresponding fixing holes in the spider to hold the cover onto the wheel.

2. The combination as claimed in Claim 1, wherein each leg has a foot which is a snug fit in its corresponding fixing hole.

3. The combination as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the engagement between each foot and its fixing hole is such that the foot cannot move to any substantial degree in a circumferential direction.

4. The combination as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the set of fixing legs and the fixing holes are arranged so that the cover is snap-fitted onto the wheel.

5. The combination as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the snap-fit engagement is achieved by making the legs resilient, and supporting the legs with a wire ring positioned radially outwardly of the legs.

6. A wheel cover for. use in the wheel/wheel cover combination.as claimed in any preceding claim.

7. A wheel for use in the wheel/wheel cover combination as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5.

8. A wheel cover for a run-flat wheel, the cover having a plurality of generally axially directed fixing legs arranged to engage with the wheel spider, and a wire ring surrounding all the legs and restraining the legs against radial outward movement.

9. The combination of a motor vehicle wheel and a wheel cover for the wheel, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A wheel cover substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.