JP2001300690A - Light alloy-made wheel for vehicle and producing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cast and provide a light alloy-made wheel for a vehicle having a peculiar design with the preference of a small number of customers which normally require much man-hour and is expensive, at a low cost and in a short delivery time. SOLUTION: An insert part 18 on a metallic mold surface corresponding to the designing part 9 of a disk in the wheel is arranged at one or plural positions and if the insert 17 forming the peculiar design with the prefence of the customer therein is inserted to cast the wheel, the light alloy-made wheel having the different peculiar designing part is stably obtained by exchanging only the insert at this portion without changing the metallic mold.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle wheel, and more particularly to a light alloy wheel for a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, due to environmental problems, improvement in fuel efficiency of automobiles has been greatly emphasized, and accordingly, reduction in weight of automobiles has been studied. Of these, the demand for weight reduction of components is strict, and there are many cases where iron-based components are changed to light alloy-based components such as aluminum alloys and magnesium alloys. One of these factors is the shift from iron-based to light alloy-based automobile wheels, which is both lightweight and fashionable. At present, the number of passenger cars equipped with aluminum alloy wheels on a line has been considerably increased to about 40 to 45%. Also, wheels of various designs are mounted from the viewpoint of fashion. In addition, a wheel mounted on a line that is mass-produced by a wheel manufacturer in response to an instruction of the overall specification of the wheel from a normal wheel sales company or a car maker will be immersed, so emphasizing individual tastes, There is also a growing demand for wheels with different, unique designs.

One of these is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-11410.
No. 1 discloses that a solid space is provided on the outer surface of the disc design portion where a specific expression can be given, and a design of characters, symbols, numerals, etc. is given to this space. However, it is disclosed that many names must be prepared for personal use, and the same number of templates must be prepared. For this reason, when the number of requests is small, it has been proposed to engrave a name on a disk portion of a wheel material by a processing machine.

[0004]

However, when casting a small amount of wheel for casting a vehicle wheel, it is necessary to replace the mold and perform casting. There was an annoying problem. Manufacture of a personal wheel by the method using the above-described processing machine requires a lot of man-hours, so that the price is high, it is hardly accepted, and the product is difficult to spread.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a small number of light alloy wheels for vehicles for a small number of customers having a unique design, which are inexpensive and have a short lead time, according to the preference of the customer, which tends to be expensive and expensive. Is to do.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a small number of light alloy wheels for a vehicle having a disc design portion provided with a unique design portion having a unique design having a unique design are continuously cast in small quantities. I can do it. In other words, one or more nests are provided on the mold surface corresponding to the disk design portion of the wheel, and a nest that forms an individual design desired by the individual is inserted into the nest and cast to change the mold. Instead, by exchanging only the nest at that portion, a light alloy wheel for a vehicle having a unique design can be stably obtained. Since the casting quantity is to be mounted on a privately owned car, it will be one or several cars, and the number of wheels will be four or at most several tens. Here, the disk design portion of the wheel refers to a portion representing the basic design of the entire wheel, such as the position of the decorative window and spokes of the wheel, the overall arrangement of the dish type, and the unique design is the disk design portion. Refers to the parts with unique designs such as letters, numbers, marks, names, family crests, patterns and pictures drawn on the spokes and dishes in the interior. Further, the unique design portion refers to a portion formed by nesting other than the unique design on the disc design portion, and the disc design portion may have a unique design portion having irregularities on the surface, and may have no irregularities. It may have a unique design section. As described above, a unique design having irregularities is formed inside the unique design portion.

In the present invention, the material forming the nest includes sand, ceramic, gypsum and the like. The sand mold includes a CO2 mold, a shell mold, a cold box mold and the like, and can be molded by a mold, but can be molded by using a wooden mold to reduce the cost. Examples of the ceramic include alumina, zirconia, and a composite material with sand. Materials for nesting include sand, ceramic, and gypsum, as described above, but must be removed from the cast product (wheel) after casting. Is preferred.

[0008] In the present invention, the nesting is 1
Each shot can be attached to a cast product (wheel). This requires a small amount of casting, so when casting wheels with the following different unique design parts, if the nest is fixed in the mold, the casting operation must be interrupted and the fixed nest replaced. There is.
The reason why the nest is attached to the product every shot is to prevent the replacement time from being excessively long, perform the casting operation smoothly and continuously, and perform the casting operation without disturbing the casting conditions such as the mold temperature. However, even if the metal nest is fixed, the nest may be made of a material other than the above, especially if the mold is devised so that it can be easily replaced every few shots in a short time.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light alloy wheel for a vehicle, which is cast using a nest made of a certain material forming a disk design portion having an original unique design. The unique design part of the wheel has its own unique design according to the customer's requirements. For spoke type wheels, one or several unique design parts are provided in one or several spoke parts, and one or more unique design parts In the case of a dish type wheel, a design part is provided at any one or a plurality of portions of the dish portion, and the wheel is a light alloy wheel for a vehicle having one or a plurality of unique designs. The unique unique design includes wedding anniversary, birthday celebration of children and grandchildren,
Enhance personality by giving personal designs such as crests, places of memories, dates, names of yourself or family, pictures of your favorite characters, etc. Can be done. Also, as a side effect, they are conscious of their personal belongings,
It also leads to theft prevention.

In the present invention, the unique design is expressed in a convex shape, and the entire unique design portion may be in a convex shape, the frame of the unique design portion may be in a convex shape, and characters, numerals, patterns, marks, etc. Only the unique design may have a convex shape. Also, once the frame is formed in a convex shape, a unique design can be provided in the concave shape. The height of the convex shape is desirably 10 mm or less, more preferably 5 mm or less, from the surface of the disc design portion where the unique design portion exists. This is because the strength of the wheel is slightly increased by the convex shape, but if the rotation balance of the wheel is considered too high, the so-called wheel balance is lost.

In the present invention, the unique design is expressed in a concave shape and the entire unique design portion may be a concave shape, or the entire unique design portion may be a concave shape, and only the unique design such as characters, numerals, patterns, marks, etc. The shape may be convex.
It is also possible to once frame the unique design portion in a convex shape and apply the unique design in a concave shape therein. The depth of the concave portion is desirably less than 6 mm from the surface of the disk design portion where the unique design portion is located. This is because if the concave portion is formed too deep, there is a high possibility that the wheel balance is lost, and the safety strength may not be maintained. Unevenness expressing the unique design of the unique design department,
Not limited to the above, various combinations such as convex / concave / concave / convex / concave / concave / concave are infinitely conceivable.

In the present invention, the unique design portion and / or the unique design of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle is colored differently from the colors of the other disc design portions, thereby further enhancing fashionability. The coloring can be selected according to the customer's preference, and may be one color or a plurality of colors.

In the present invention, at least a part or all of the convex portions of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle have a metallic luster by diamond cutting or the like,
The upper part is covered with transparent acrylic resin, etc., adding further uniqueness.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows an example of casting a light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to the present invention, schematically showing equipment and a mold when an aluminum alloy wheel is cast by ordinary low pressure casting. The figure shows a state in which the mold is clamped. A holding furnace 2 is provided in the closed container 1, and a lower die plate 3 is mounted on the closed container 1 to seal the closed container 1. The lower die plate 3 is provided at its center with a stalk 4 for replenishing the molten metal 5 of the aluminum alloy to the mold, and a lower end of the stalk 4 is immersed in the molten metal 5 in the holding furnace 2.
The upper end of the stalk 4 is connected to the sprue 7 of the lower die 8 via the sprue bush 6 fitted in the lower die plate 3 and the lower die 8 of the die. The lower die 8 of the die is attached to the lower die plate 3. The lower die 8 is a so-called fixed die, and is a surface on which a disk design portion 9 is formed on a wheel. Lower mold 8
Is provided with a nest portion 18 into which a nest 17 forming the unique design portion 100 is inserted. On both sides is a laterally movable mold 10 which forms the outer peripheral surface of the rim 11 of the wheel. The upper mold 12 of the mold is attached to an upper die plate 13. The upper mold 12 is a so-called movable mold, and forms a surface 14 for attaching a wheel to a vehicle and an inner peripheral surface of the rim portion 11.

The casting operation is performed according to the following procedure. After inserting the insert 17 into the insert 18 of the lower mold 8 and closing the molds of the upper mold 12 and the lateral movable mold 10 by a mold opening / closing mechanism (not shown), the molds of 0.02 to 0.02 of air, inert gas, etc. A pressurized gas of 0.05 MPa is fed into the closed container 1 through the pressurized gas feed pipe 15. Approximately 6 in the holding furnace 2
The molten aluminum 5 kept at 50 ° C. is pushed up through the stalk 4 and enters the cavity 16 in the mold kept at a mold temperature of 200 to 350 ° C. The cavity portion 16 of the mold is coated with a coating mold that serves both heat retention and release. After about 4 to 5 minutes, the pressurization is stopped, the molten metal 5 in the unsolidified stalk 4 is returned to the holding furnace 2, and the molten metal in the mold is waited for solidification. Solidification of the molten metal in the mold is completed,
When the removal temperature of 350 ° C. is reached, the mold is opened and the cast product (wheel) is removed. This cycle is repeated and the product is cast. In order to perform the casting operation in a constant cycle, the insert 17 was attached to the product for each shot of the casting (see FIG. 3 (c)). As a result, it is possible to cast the casting at a constant casting cycle without any extra man-hours during the casting operation, that is, to keep the casting conditions constant, and it is possible to cast aluminum alloy wheels with good quality and a well-defined unique design. Was obtained. At this time, a sand mold made of No. 7 sand was used for the nest 17 by using a wooden mold by a generally known method of CO2.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the lower die 8 of the die when the dish-type wheel 101 shown in FIG. 4A is cast by a low-pressure casting method.
Is a diagram showing a state in which a unique design part 100 is formed by inserting a symbol. Since the character ABC of the unique design is transferred to the disc design part 9, the character ABC looks inverted. The nest 17 was formed from a ceramic of a mixture of magnesia, kaolin and other systems. In addition, as the ceramic material, a simple oxide, a silicate, a double oxide, a nitride, a mixture thereof, or the like is used. In the ceramic type, the corners of characters and the like can be sharpened, and as a unique design, the shape is preferable, but the price tends to be slightly higher than other materials.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the nest 17 and the nest 18 constituting the unique design section 100 of FIG. As the wheel, a wheel 102c shown in FIG. 5 (c) is a model in which a specific design is cast in a convex shape. In FIG. 3, (a) shows that the nest portion 18 is
The nest 17 has not been inserted yet. (B), the nest 17 is inserted into the nest portion 18,
This shows a state in which mold clamping is completed and preparation for receiving molten metal is completed. (C) shows that after the molten metal is filled in the cavity 16,
When the solidification of the molten metal is completed and the product has reached the removal temperature, the mold is opened, and the insert 17 is moved to the wheel 102c.
It is a figure showing the situation which follows. Nesting 1 at this time
For No. 7, a non-defective aluminum alloy wheel was obtained using a gypsum mold.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show an example of a product cast and machined by the above-described casting method.
Is a dish-type wheel 101 with nesting 17
In the unique design part 100 formed by
C shows a disk design part 9 having a unique design,
(B) is a spoke type wheel 102, showing a disc design portion 9 having a unique design of ABC in characters on a unique design portion 100 formed by the nest 17. As an example of the color, the background was made gray by powder coating, the inside of the frame of the unique design part was colored with white paint, and the letters ABC as the unique design were colored red to stand out. In this embodiment, the unique design of the unique design unit 100 shows only the characters of ABC. However, as described above, it goes without saying that various designs can be selected according to the preference of the customer. Also, various combinations can be made for the unevenness of the unique design portion.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a section taken along line KK of FIG. 4B of the spoke type wheel 102. FIG. 5C shows a state in which the convexity of the unique design of the unique design part 100 is represented by a nest 17 having a height of 5 mm. The tip of the convex shape may be given a paint color different from the casting surface, and the tip may be diamond-ground to give metallic luster. After diamond grinding, it was coated with a transparent acrylic resin. FIG. 5D shows a state in which the unique design portion 100 is once recessed by 5 mm, a portion representing the unique design is formed in a convex shape, and has the same height as the surface of the original disk design portion. ing. As an example of the coloring, the concave shape is colored with a black color, and the convex shape is colored with gold, to emphasize the unique design. When the unique design portion in FIG. 5D once becomes concave and the unique design becomes convex, the height of the convex shape may protrude from the original surface. If it protrudes, the tip can be diamond ground to give a metallic luster. The unevenness indicating the unique design of the unique design unit 100 is not limited to the above,
Various variations as shown in FIG. 6 are possible.
A simple convex shape as in (a), a further convex shape as in (b), a once convex and concave shape as in (c), or a concave shape as in (d) Simple concave shape, (e)
It is conceivable that the shape once becomes concave or convex as shown in (1) or the shape has a concave specific design portion as shown in (f). Further, these combinations are also possible, and there are infinite combinations as described above.

In the description of the casting method of the present invention, the method of casting by low pressure casting is described. However, it is needless to say that the casting method is not limited to this, but can be applied to gravity casting and die casting. In the above description, the casting method when the unique design is provided in the disk design portion of the aluminum alloy wheel of the one-piece casting (one piece) has been described, but the unique design is provided in the disk design portion of the two-piece or three-piece wheel. It can be applied to any situation. Although the alloy material to be cast has been described as an aluminum alloy wheel, it is needless to say that the alloy material can be applied to a vehicle wheel made of an alloy such as a magnesium alloy or a titanium alloy as long as it has fashionability.

[0021]

According to the present invention, a small number of light alloy wheels for a vehicle having a unique design according to the customer's preference can be obtained by using a nest at the time of casting the unique design portion provided in the disk design portion of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle. In addition, casting can be performed efficiently, and it can be supplied to customers' needs in a short delivery time and at a low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part of a casting apparatus and a mold.

FIG. 2 is an example of a plan view of a lower die.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram in which a unique design portion is formed by casting. (A) shows that the nest is formed in the lower mold, (b) shows that the nest is housed in the nest, and (c) shows that the upper mold is lifted up after casting is completed. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing that the nest attached to the product is also lifted accordingly.

FIG. 4A is a plan view of a dish type wheel having a unique design portion in a disk design portion, and FIG. 4B is a plan view of a spoke type wheel having a unique design portion in a disk design portion.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are examples showing irregularities of a shape of a unique design representing a unique design portion, wherein FIG. 5A shows a portion having a unique design and a convex shape, and FIG. FIG.

6A and 6B are diagrams showing an example of irregularities of a unique design representing a unique design portion, where FIG. 6A is a convex shape with a convex shape, FIG. 6B is only a convex shape, FIG. (d) is a sectional view showing that only the concave shape is shown, (e) is a concavely convex shape, and (f) is a concavely concave shape.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 closed container, 4 stalk, 5 molten metal, 8 lower mold, 9
Disk design part, 10 horizontal movable type, 11 rim part, 1
2 Upper type, 16 cavities, 17 nesting, 18 nesting part, 100 unique design part, 101 dish type wheel, 102 spoke type wheel

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A unique design part in which one or more nests are provided on a mold surface corresponding to a disk design part of a light alloy wheel for a vehicle, and the nest has a unique design according to a customer's request. A method for manufacturing a light alloy wheel for a vehicle, comprising: inserting a nest forming a circle; and casting a light alloy wheel having a unique design portion in a disc design portion for the customer. 2. The method for manufacturing a light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the nest is made of a sand mold. 3. The method for manufacturing a light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the nest is made of ceramic. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the insert is made of gypsum. 5. The method for manufacturing a light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein one nest is used for one casting. 6. A light alloy wheel for a vehicle cast by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a unique design according to a customer's request is formed in a disk design part. Alloy wheels for vehicles. 7. The light alloy for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the light alloy wheel for a vehicle is a spoke-type light alloy wheel for a vehicle, wherein the spoke portion of the disc design portion has a unique design. Made wheels. 8. The vehicular light alloy wheel according to claim 6, wherein the vehicular light alloy wheel is a dish type vehicular light alloy wheel having a unique design in a dish portion of a disc design portion. Alloy wheels. 9. The disk design portion of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle has a unique design portion which is constituted by a combination of one or a plurality of concave and convex shapes from the surface. 2. A light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to item 1. 10. The light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein a disk design portion of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle has a unique design having a convex shape. 11. The disk design portion of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle, wherein the unique design portion has a convex shape once from the surface and the portion showing the unique design has a concave shape. 2. A light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to item 1. 12. The height of the convex shape is such that the protruding height from the surface of the disk design portion of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle is 1
The light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the diameter is 0 mm or less. 13. The light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the disk design portion of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle has a unique design portion having a concave shape. 14. The disk design portion of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the unique design portion has a concave shape once and the portion showing the unique design has a convex shape. A light alloy wheel for a vehicle as described. 15. The depth of the concave shape is less than 6 mm from the surface of the disk design portion of the light alloy wheel for a vehicle.
A light alloy wheel for a vehicle having the specific design portion described. 16. The disc design part has a unique design part and / or another color of at least one color.
Or having a unique design.
16. A light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to any one of claims 15 to 15. 17. The method according to claim 17, wherein the unique design part has at least one
The light alloy wheel for a vehicle according to any one of claims 6 to 16, wherein a part or all of the convex shapes have metallic luster.