GB2357052A

GB2357052A - Aluminium rim and its method of manufacture

Info

Publication number: GB2357052A
Application number: GB9929126A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chien-Cheng Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-12-10
Filing date: 1999-12-10
Publication date: 2001-06-13
Also published as: GB9929126D0

Abstract

A method for manufacturing an aluminum rim comprises the steps of pressing a strip of an aluminum plate by dies; pressing the plate by rolls and making two ends of the plate contact so as to form a circular closed loop; welding the ends of the loop to form the rim; and leveling the rim by blades of a roll. By utilizing this, an aluminum rim having a uniform thickness, an improved surface hardness, and a preserved appearance is obtained.

Description

2357052 ALUMINUM RIM AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME The present

invention relates to an aluminum rim and method for manufacturing the same.

Conventionally, a method for manufacturing an aluminum rim comprises the steps of welding two ends of a strip of aluminum plate to form a closed loop, and pressing it with a press to gradually form a circular rim. But this is unsatisfactory for the following reasons:

1. The pressing process is slow, resulting in a waste of time and an inprease of manufacturing cost.

2. The press is prohibitively expensive which in turn increases the manufacturing cost.

3. Such gradual pressing process usually causes a much thin and deformed aluminum rim, resulting in a decrease of hardness and a short life cycle.

Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved aluminum rim and method for manufacturing the same to overcome the above drawbacks of prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an aluminum rim comprising the steps of a) pressing a strip of aluminum plate from upper and lower dies to form a desired shape; b) pressing the aluminum plate by a set rolls and making two ends of the aluminum plate contact so as to form a circular closed loop; c) welding the join of the aluminum loop to form an aluminum rim; and d) leveling the aluminum rim by a plurality of blades of a pinch roll to obtain a finished rim having a uniform thickness, an improved surface hardness, and a preserved appearance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an aluminum rim which is formed by pressing a strip of aluminum plate by a die, pressing the aluminum plate by a set rolls and making two ends of the aluminum plate contact so as to form a circular closed loop, welding the join of the aluminum loop to form an aluminum rim, and leveling the aluminum rim to obtain a finished rim having an improved quality.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating pressing a strip of aluminum plate from upper and lower dies; FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the aluminum plate is pressed by a set rolls to form a circular loop; FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating welding two ends of the aluminum - and loop to form a riml FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating a leveling process.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown a method for manufacturing an aluminum rim comprising the steps of.

a) Pressing a strip of aluminum plate 1 from upper and lower dies 2 to form a desired shape (FIG. 1). Note that it is possible to extrude the strip of aluminum plate 1 by dies 2 which is apparent to those skilled in the art.

2 b) Pressing the aluminum plate 1 by a set rolls 3 and making two ends of the aluminum plate I contact each other so as to form a circular closed loop (FIG. 2), c) Welding the join 11 of the aluminum loop to form an aluminum rim 13 (FIG.

3).

d) Mounting the aluminum rim 13 on a shaft 41 and driving the shaft 41 in a high speed while gradually causing a plurality of blades 43 of a pinch roll 4 to approach and contact the surface of the rim 13 so as to level the rim 13 in order to obtain a finished rim 13 having a uniform thickness, an improved surface hardness, and a preserved appearance by such polishing process.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

1. A process for manufacturing an aluminum rim comprising the steps of:

a) pressing a strip of an aluminum plate from an upper and a lower dies to form a desired shape; b) pressing the aluminum plate by a set rolls and making two ends of the aluminum plate contact each other so as to form a circular closed loop; c) welding the ends of the aluminum loop to form the aluminum rim; and d) leveling the aluminum rim by a plurality of blades of a pinch roll to obtain a finished rim.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, in which step b) comprises the step of extruding the strip of the aluminum plate by the dies to form the desired shape.

3. An aluminum rim whenever produced by the process of claim 1.

4. A process for manufacturing an aluminum rim substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

4