JP2022007274A - Wheel nut cap - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a wheel nut cap free from a risk of falling of an indicator, and capable of being used without the indicator according to the selection of a user.SOLUTION: A cap main body having a circular opening at a bottom surface, and provided with an attachment portion to be detachably integrally attached to a wheel nut, in a hollow inner portion of an outer shell body for housing the wheel nut in the hollow inner portion, and an indicator which has a mark on a side surface of a ring body to which the wheel nut is inserted, and on which a cylindrical attachment portion detachably integrally attached to the cap body by being inserted from the circular opening in a state of fixing the mark in a prescribed direction, is extended at one-side opening of the ring body, are independently provided. The indicator is held between the cap main body attached to the wheel nut, and a tire wheel fixed by the wheel nut.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a wheel nut cap mounted on a wheel nut of a vehicle and relates to a configuration including an indicator capable of visually detecting looseness of the wheel nut.

When the tire wheel is first fixed to the hub of the vehicle with a wheel nut or during regular inspections, the wheel nut is tightened to a fixed torque value using a torque wrench, but the wheel nut becomes loose due to subsequent running etc. If you do not notice this and leave it unattended, it will lead to a serious accident such as derailing.

Therefore, in Patent Document 1, an indicator having a pointed tip is projected on the outer peripheral surface of a ring body that can be attached to a wheel nut, and a cap covering the wheel nut is integrally formed on one side of the opening of the ring body. The looseness checker formed is disclosed. According to this checker, when the wheel nut is loosened by attaching it to the wheel nut so that the tips of the indicators face each other between adjacent checkers, or by attaching the indicators so that the tips of the indicators face the center of the wheel. Since the direction of the tip of the indicator changes, the looseness of the wheel nut can be visually detected.

Further, in Patent Documents 2 and 3, a substrate mounted on a nut (“cap” in Patent Document 2 and “main body” in Patent Document 3) and an indicator indicating looseness of the nut (“indicator” in Patent Document 2, Patent Document). A two-member structure that is separate from the "marking element" in 3) is also known.

Registered Utility Model No. 3146831 Japanese Patent No. 331126 Special Table 2019-531447 Gazette

All of the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 to 3 are guaranteed the function that the looseness of the nut can be visually recognized by the variation in the orientation of the indicator. However, in the looseness checker of Patent Document 1, since the indicator body is integrally formed with the cap via the ring body, the indicator body and the cap cannot be separated, and for a user who exclusively aims to protect or decorate the wheel nut. , There is no choice because no indicator is required.

On the other hand, in Patent Documents 2 and 3, since the mounting base and the indicator are separate bodies, it is possible to mount only the mounting base on the nut. However, even if such a usage method is adopted, the cap of Patent Document 2 is not suitable for a user who does not like such a design because a large number of grooves for externally fitting the indicator are provided on the outer peripheral surface. Is. Further, since the main body of Patent Document 3 has a cylindrical shape with both upper and lower sides open, it does not have a function of completely covering the nut to protect or decorate it.

As described above, Patent Documents 2 and 3 do not assume that the mounting substrate is used alone, but that it is used as a set with the indicator, but these are due to vibration during traveling or the like. The indicator may fall off. That is, no matter how firmly the mounting base itself is mounted on the nut, the indicator is only fitted into the mounting base and is mounted with the nut and the tire wheel cut off, so that the indicator is mounted over time. May come off the mounting substrate. In particular, in Patent Document 2, the indicator is attached to the mounting substrate (cap) by external fitting, and since the fitting portion is always exposed, there is a high risk that the indicator will fall off.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wheel nut cap that can be used without the risk of the indicator falling off and the indicator omitted at the user's option. It is to be.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the present invention, it is a cap that can be attached to a wheel nut of a vehicle, the bottom surface is a circular opening, and the wheel nut is attached to and detached from the hollow inside of the outer shell that accommodates the wheel nut. Based on a cap body provided with a mounting portion that can be integrally mounted and a ring body through which the wheel nut is inserted, a mark is provided on the side surface of the ring body, and the opening on one side of the ring body is described as described above. A separate indicator is provided with an extended cylindrical mounting portion that is detachably and integrally inserted into the cap body from the circular opening with the mark fixed in a predetermined direction, and the indicator is the wheel. A means of sandwiching between the cap body attached to the nut and the tire wheel fixed by the wheel nut was used.

In the above means, the cap body is integrally attached to the wheel nut, and the indicator is integrally attached to the cap body with the orientation of the mark fixed. Therefore, if the wheel nut becomes loose, the indicator will be attached. Looseness of the wheel nut can be visually detected by rotating with the wheel nut together with the cap body and changing the direction of the mark. Since the indicator can freely change the direction of the mark when it is attached to the cap body, the mark can be set in an direction that is easy for the user to see. Since such an indicator is sandwiched between the cap body and the tire wheel when the cap body is mounted, it will not fall off during traveling as long as the cap body is mounted and held on the wheel nut.

Regarding the specific mounting structure of the indicator to the cap body, it is preferable that the outer shape of the mounting portion of the cap body and the inner shape of the mounting portion of the indicator have a gear shape that can be fitted to each other. After mounting the indicator, the gear-shaped mounting part and the corner of the mounting part match each other, so that the indicator is firmly restrained by the cap body and the careless independent rotation of the indicator can be reliably suppressed. be. Further, the larger the number of gear-shaped corners, the finer the direction of the mark on the indicator can be adjusted.

Regarding the mounting structure of the cap body to the wheel nut, that is, the inner shape of the mounting part of the cap body, the same structure as the conventional wheel nut cap can be adopted, but the outer shape of the mounting part is made into a gear shape as described above. In this case, it is preferable that the inner shape has the same gear shape and that a convex portion protruding from the inner corner portion toward the center is provided. This is because the tip of the convex portion comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the wheel nut, and the cap body can be firmly attached to the wheel nut.

Furthermore, by providing a spring on the inner surface of the mounting portion, the spring is compressed during mounting to facilitate mounting of the cap body, and after mounting, the elastic force of the spring enhances the contact force of the convex portion with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the wheel nut. be able to. Since this spring is a leaf spring, it can be easily installed inside the mounting portion.

On the other hand, the mark provided on the indicator may have any configuration as long as its orientation can be visually recognized, but if it is a triangular blade that horizontally protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the ring body, the visibility is enhanced. On the other hand, when the mark is composed of a single vertical line along the axial direction by a groove or a strip, the mark becomes inconspicuous, and the decorativeness of the wheel nut by the cap body can be emphasized.

The wheel nut cap of the present invention has an essential purpose of detecting looseness of the wheel nut, so an indicator is indispensable. However, if the user does not need the indicator, the cap body can be used alone. Is. Furthermore, if a ring body without a mark is provided instead of the indicator, the entire wheel nut can be completely covered by the cap body and the markless ring by replacing the indicator with a ring body without joints as appropriate. The protective effect and decorative effect of the wheel nut can be enhanced compared to when the cap body is used alone.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent the indicator indicating the looseness of the wheel nut from falling off. Further, depending on the user's choice, the cap body can be used alone or the cap body can be used in combination with the ring body without a mark, and a wheel nut cap suitable for many users can be provided.

An exploded perspective view of a wheel nut cap according to an embodiment of the present invention (view from above). Same, disassembled perspective view (view from below) The same, perspective view with the indicator attached to the cap body Same, disassembled cross section In the same, (a) is a bottom view of the cap body, (b) is a plan view of an indicator, and (c) is a plan view of a wheel nut. Same as above, cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. Same as above, sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. The same, front view with the indicator attached to the cap body Explanatory drawing showing the same usage example Explanatory drawing showing the same and other usage examples An exploded perspective view of a wheel nut cap according to another embodiment of the present invention. An exploded perspective view of a wheel nut cap according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 8 show a wheel nut cap according to an embodiment of the present invention. In each figure, 10 is a cap body detachably and integrally attached to a nut N, and 20 is a bottom side of the cap body. It is an indicator that can be attached to and detached from the wheel. As described above, the wheel nut cap of the present invention has a two-member configuration in which the cap body 10 and the indicator 20 are separate bodies. To attach the wheel nut cap, first attach the indicator 20 to the cap body 10 and then attach it to the nut N (see FIG. 3), or first insert the indicator 20 into the nut N and then. The cap body 10 may be attached to the nut N, but the indicator 20 can be sandwiched between the cap body 10 and the tire wheel W fixed by the nut N by either procedure (FIG. 7). reference).

To elaborate on the configuration of each member, first, the cap body 10 is provided with a mounting portion 2 inside the hollow of the outer shell 1 for accommodating the nut N. The outer shell 1 has a circular opening 3 on the bottom surface, and has a dome shape in the outer shape in this embodiment. However, the outer shape of the outer body 1 is not limited to the dome shape, and may have other shapes.

On the other hand, the mounting portion 2 is based on a composite polyhedral cylinder having a predetermined height, which has a gear shape both inside and outside (in the example, a star-shaped regular icositetragon), and has the composite multifaceted cylinder shape. The internal structure is such that a convex portion 5 is provided one step away from the inner corner portion 4 of the body, and a leaf spring 6 is arranged at one location of the inner corner portion 4. By abutting the convex portion 5 and the leaf spring 6 on the outer peripheral surface of the nut N, the cap body 10 can be integrally attached to the nut N in a state where the relative rotation is restricted. At that time, the corner of the nut N escapes to the inner corner portion 4 in which the convex portion 5 and the leaf spring 6 are not provided (see FIG. 6). As is clear from FIG. 2, the leaf spring 6 is arranged so as to be inclined so as to be gradually compressed as the cap body 10 is deeply mounted. Such a leaf spring 6 maintains the mounting workability of the cap body 1, and after mounting, the elastic force enhances the integrity of the cap body 10 with respect to the nut N. It is also possible to use another spring instead of the leaf spring 6, and if the cap body 10 is firmly attached to the nut N, the spring itself can be omitted from the mounting portion 2.

Next, the indicator 20 is based on the donut-shaped ring body 21, and the triangular blades 22 are projected horizontally from the side surface thereof, and the upper surface opening of the ring body 21 has an outer diameter smaller than that of the ring body 21. It has a diameter and extends a cylindrical mounting portion 23 that can be inserted into the circular opening 3 of the cap body 10. In this embodiment, the ring body 21 has the same outer diameter as the circular bottom surface of the cap body 10. Therefore, when the indicator 20 is attached to the cap body 10, the outer surfaces of the ring body 21 and the outer body 1 are flush with each other (see FIG. 8).

Further, as is clear from FIG. 4, the inside of the ring body 21 has an insertion hole 21a through which the nut N is inserted, a large-diameter hole 21b into which the pedestal portion N1 of the nut N is fitted, and an insertion hole 21a and a large-diameter hole. It has a three-stage structure with a tapered hole 21c that expands toward the end where the tapered portion N2 of the nut N fits between 21b. Therefore, the indicator 20 is sandwiched between the cap body 10 and the tire wheel W as described above, but in this embodiment, the indicator 20 is strictly capped by the large diameter hole 21b and the tapered hole 21c. It is in a state of being held down by the pedestal portion N1 of the nut N by the main body 10 (see FIG. 7).

The outer diameter of the mounting portion 23 of the indicator 20 is a cylinder having an outer diameter substantially the same as the inner diameter of the circular opening 3 of the cap main body 10, but the inner shape thereof is the outer diameter of the mounting portion 2 of the cap main body 10. It is formed in the same gear shape. Therefore, if the mounting portion 23 is inserted through the circular opening 3 of the cap body 10, the mounting portion 2 of the cap body 10 is fitted inside the mounting portion 23, and the peripheral wall of the mounting portion 23 is mounted with the outer body 1 of the cap body 10. It is inserted into the annular space between the parts 2. In this way, by fitting the mounting portion 2 and the mounting portion 23, both of which are in the shape of gears, the indicator 20 can be mounted on the cap body 10 in a state where relative rotation is restricted. Further, according to such a fitting structure, the orientation of the blade 22 can be adjusted by the number of corners.

According to the wheel nut cap having the above configuration, the cap body 10 is attached to the nut N so that it cannot rotate relative to the nut N, and the indicator 20 is attached to the cap body 10 so that the indicator 20 cannot rotate relative to the nut N. The indicator 20 rotates together with the nut N together with the cap body 10, and the looseness of the nut N can be visually recognized by the change in the direction of the blade 23.

It is up to you how to set the orientation of the blades 22 of the indicator 20, but if you want to clarify the standard, as shown in FIG. 9, the tips of the blades 23 of the indicator 20 are placed between adjacent caps. It is preferable to face each other or set the tips of the blades 23 of the indicator 20 on the same circumference and in the same direction as shown in FIG. When setting as shown in FIG. 10, it is necessary that all the blades 23 are oriented in the same direction, but it is not necessary to match the direction of the tire rotation (the traveling direction of the vehicle).

Further, the mark provided on the indicator 20 is not limited to the triangular blade 22 as in the above embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 11, one vertical line 24 is formed on the side surface of the ring body 21. May be good. The vertical line 24 can be formed by a concave groove, a ridge, or a coloring, and is inconspicuous as compared with the above-mentioned blade 22. Therefore, if such an indicator is adopted, it is possible to enhance the decorative effect of the nut N together with the cap body 10 while maintaining the function of detecting the looseness of the nut N.

In this regard, as shown in FIG. 12, if the ring body 30 without a mark without the blade 22 and the vertical line 24 is replaced, the looseness of the nut N cannot be detected, but the decorative effect of the nut N is further enhanced. The indicator 20 may be replaced with the unmarked ring body 30 according to the purpose.

The present invention is not limited to the wheel nut of a vehicle, and can be widely used as a nut loosening detector.

10 Cap body 20 Indicator N Nut W Tire wheel 1 Outer body 2 Mounting part 3 Circular opening 4 Internal angle part 5 Convex part 6 Leaf spring 21 Ring body 21a Insertion hole 21b Large diameter hole 21c Tapered hole 22 Blade 23 Mounting part 24 Line 30 Mark None ring body

Claims (8)

A cap that can be attached to the wheel nut of a vehicle, has a circular opening on the bottom, and has a mounting portion that is detachably and integrally attached to the wheel nut inside the hollow of the outer shell that houses the wheel nut. A mark is provided on the side surface of the ring body based on the cap body and the ring body through which the wheel nut is inserted, and the mark is fixed in a predetermined direction to the one-side opening of the ring body. A separate indicator is provided with an extension of a cylindrical mounting portion that is detachably and integrally inserted into the cap body from the opening, and the indicator is the cap body mounted on the wheel nut and the wheel nut. A wheel nut cap characterized by being sandwiched between a tire wheel and a fixed tire. The wheel nut cap according to claim 1, wherein the outer shape of the mounting portion of the cap body and the inner shape of the mounting portion of the indicator are each in the shape of a gear that can be fitted to each other. 2. The described wheel nut cap. The wheel nut cap according to claim 3, wherein the mounting portion further has a spring that can elastically contact the outer peripheral surface of the wheel nut on a part of the inner surface. The wheel nut cap according to claim 3, wherein the spring is a leaf spring. The wheel nut cap according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the mark provided on the indicator is a triangular blade that horizontally protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the ring body. The wheel nut cap according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the mark provided on the indicator is one vertical line provided along the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the ring body. The wheel nut cap according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the wheel nut cap is provided with a ring body having no mark instead of the indicator.

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