JP2588685B2 - Wheel cover mounting device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for mounting a wheel cover for a vehicle, particularly a passenger car, and more particularly to a wheel cover made of plastics. . 2. Description of the Related Art Plastic wheel covers can be freely and easily set in shape and design, and furthermore, are free from rust.
It has many features such as lightness and durability, but on the other hand, there is a characteristic of plastics such as aging (creep) of the shape under stress. There is a problem with putting.
For this reason, a means of additionally mounting a metal spring is also employed, but the engagement between the spring and the mounting portion made of plastics is usually very complicated. [0003] One of the complications of this engagement is
In the end, it is necessary to process the spring into a complex shape,
In addition, the assembly is difficult and therefore expensive, and, for one thing, the relatively simple shape of the spring complicates the mounting portion of the plastics and causes molding difficulties, However, there has been a problem that the connection is incomplete and the reliability against the spring separation is reduced. The former example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-1639.
No. 0, Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-13052 and the like, and an example of the latter is JP-A-54-72824. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, while the spring and the mounting portion of the plastics have simple shapes, but the engagement is easy and reliable. It is an object of the present invention to provide means that can be engaged, and therefore have high reliability, can be configured at a low cost, and have good mounting properties of the wheel cover. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes a decorative portion of a resin wheel cover, and a rib 4 rising from a back side surface thereof is integrally formed in a circumferential direction on a back side of the decorative portion 2, and a circle of the annular rib 4 is formed. A crimping block 10 is formed of resin integrally with the decorative part at several places at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. In the structure of the crimping block 10, a leg 6 is formed which rises from an edge of the rib 4, and a pair of engaging members spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the wheel cover are formed on the upper edge of the leg. The stopper piece 12 and the crimping piece 11 located between the both locking pieces 12 are formed, and the locking piece 12 and the crimping piece 11 have flexible elasticity in the radial direction of the circular decorative portion 2. I do. Each of the locking pieces 12 has a hook 124 projecting in the radial direction of the decorative part 2, while the crimping piece 1 has
1 includes a hook 11 cut out in the opposite direction to the hook 124.
4 is formed. The upper edge of the hook portion 124 of the locking piece 12 has a slope 123 that is inclined downward in the outward direction of the decorative portion 2, and the upper edge of the hook portion 114 of the crimping piece 11 faces the center of the decorative portion 2. Slopes 113 are formed on the lower surface of the vehicle.
By sliding the annular spring 3 from above, the annular spring can be smoothly and easily locked to the crimping piece and the locking piece. A pair of reinforcing members 5 are provided on the side bases of the legs 6 integrally formed with the ribs 4 so as to sandwich the crimping pieces 11 therebetween. The reinforcement member 5 is formed integrally with both the leg portion 6 and the decorative portion 2. At the upper end portion of the reinforcing member 5, an annular spring 3 pushed radially inward by the crimping piece 11 when the wheel cover is mounted on the road wheel receives a radially outer crimping piece. A locking step 53 is formed to prevent the wheel from being pushed out, and an excessive force (for example, a curb) applied to the wheel from the road surface during vehicle running facing the rim of the wheel is formed on the outer periphery of the reinforcing member 5. The excessive vibration prevention surface 52 at the time of occurrence of excessive input (such as when riding on the vehicle) is formed so as to make the gap with the wheel rim portion 1 to 2 mm. The configuration of the present embodiment has been described above. Next, the operation will be described. The annular spring 3 is locked to each of the crimping blocks 10 on the wheel cover. The annular spring 3 is positioned on the locking pieces 12 and the slopes 123 and 113 of the crimping pieces 11 from above.
Further, when the annular spring 3 is pressed downward along the slopes thereof, the locking pieces 12 and the crimping pieces 11 are expanded, and when the annular spring 3 is further pressed downward, the hooks of the locking pieces 12 are hooked. The portion 124 is hooked on the hook 114 of the crimping piece 11. When the wheel cover is put on the vehicle wheel and the crimping piece 11 is locked on the wheel rim, the mounting of the wheel cover is completed. As described above, according to the wheel cover mounting apparatus of the present embodiment, the base of the leg portion 6 of each crimping block 10 has high rigidity (high stiffness) with respect to the decorative portion due to the reinforcing member 5, and Since the reinforcing member 5 extends radially outward from the leg 6 to the full extent of the gap with the wheel rim, the center of deformation of the crimping piece when a force in the axle direction is applied to the crimping piece 11 is determined by the radius of the wheel cover. Outside the direction. Thus, when the wheel cover is mounted on an automobile wheel, deformation of the crimping piece 11 in the outer direction (radial direction of the wheel cover) due to the axle-direction force applied to the tip of the crimping piece 11 is reduced, and the wheel cover is mounted. It can be mounted on the wheel smoothly. Further, in this embodiment, when the wheel cover is mounted on the wheel, generally, one crimping piece 11 is provided.
Is first inserted into the hump portion, and as a result, the opposite crimping piece 11 is pushed outward through the annular spring 3, and the pushing deformation of the opposite crimping piece 11 is caused by the locking step 53. To prevent the crimping piece 11 from being excessively expanded,
The mounting workability of the wheel cover is good. Also, even if an excessive load is applied to the wheel cover when the vehicle is running or the like and an excessive displacement is to be generated on the wheel cover such as when climbing a curb, the excessive displacement is separated by a small gap of 1 to 2 mm. Since the wheel cover is not received by the excessive vibration prevention surface 52 and does not cause excessive displacement, it is effective for preventing the wheel cover from falling off. FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, two crimping pieces 11 equivalent to those of the above-described embodiment are provided, and they are located between the crimping pieces 11. 1
In this embodiment, the locking pieces 12 are provided, and the locking step 53 of the reinforcing member 5 in the above embodiment is omitted. Therefore, also in this embodiment, since the reinforcing member is formed integrally with the leg 6, the rigidity of the crimping piece 11 and the locking piece 12 in the expanding direction is naturally increased, and in particular, in the present embodiment, In the embodiment, since the reinforcing member 5 is formed integrally with the leg portion 6 and the decorative portion 2, in the case of a relatively small-diameter (small) wheel cover, even if the locking step portion is omitted, the wheel cover is formed. Because the spring force of the annular spring 3 used for the wheel cover is small, the overspreading force when the wheel cover is mounted on the wheel is small, and the mountability of the wheel cover is not impaired. Also, the wheel cover can be prevented from falling off. As described above, the present invention has a leg 6 on the back surface of the decorative portion 2 of the wheel cover mounted on the rim portion of the vehicle wheel, the leg portion 6 standing upright in a direction perpendicular to the back surface. A crimping piece 11 formed at the upper end edge of the leg 6 and elastically deformable in the radial direction of the wheel, and furthermore, presses the crimping piece 11 against the hump, and an annular spring 3 for applying a crimping force of the crimping piece 11 to the hump. A plurality of crimping blocks 10 composed of locking pieces 12 for locking are spaced at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the decorative portion, and when the wheel cover is mounted on a wheel, the crimping pieces move outward from the cover. A wheel cover mounting device in which a reinforcing member 5 that prevents overturning and has an excessive vibration preventing surface 52 facing a rim portion of a wheel with a small gap is formed integrally between the leg portion 6 and the back surface of the decorative portion 2. Because there is For example, since the reinforcing member 5 is formed integrally with the leg portion 6 and the decorative portion over the leg portion 6 and the decorative portion 2, the base of the leg portion 6 of each crimping block 10 is formed by the reinforcing member 5. It has high rigidity (high stiffness) with respect to the decorative portion, and the reinforcing member 5 extends radially outward from the leg portion 6 to the full extent of the gap with the wheel hump portion. The center of deformation of the crimping piece when the force is applied is outside the radial direction of the wheel cover, so that when the wheel cover is mounted on the automobile wheel, the force in the axle direction particularly applied to the tip of the crimping piece 11 As a result, the deformation of the crimping piece 11 in the outer direction (radial direction of the wheel cover) is reduced, and an effect that the wheel cover can be smoothly mounted on the wheel can be obtained. [0018] In addition the present invention, over-expansion of the crimping pieces 11 can be prevented by providing the engaging step 53 in the end portion on the reinforcing member 5. That is, when the wheel cover is mounted on the wheel, generally, one crimping piece 11 is first inserted into the hump portion, and as a result, the opposite crimping piece 11 is pushed out through the annular spring 3. However, since the pushing deformation of the opposite side crimping piece 11 is restricted by the locking step 53 and the crimping piece 11 is prevented from being excessively expanded, the workability of mounting the wheel cover is good. Also, even if an excessive load is applied to the wheel cover such as when the traveling vehicle climbs on a curb when the vehicle body is running, an excessive displacement is likely to occur on the wheel cover, the excessive displacement is received by the excessive vibration prevention surface 52. As a result, an excessive displacement of the wheel cover does not occur, and an effect of effectively preventing the wheel cover from falling off can be obtained. Further, in the present invention in which the reinforcing member 5 is formed integrally with the leg portion 6 and the decorative portion 2, in the case of a wheel cover having a relatively small diameter, the spring force of the annular spring 3 used for the wheel cover is small. For this reason, since the overspreading force when mounting the wheel cover on the wheel is small, even if the locking step is omitted, the mountability of the wheel cover is not impaired, and the wheel cover can be prevented from falling off.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a wheel cover mounting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a wheel cover mounting device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Description of Signs] 2 ... Decoration part 3 ... Annular spring 4 ... Rib 5 ... Reinforcement member 6 ... Leg part 10 ... Crimping block 11 ... Crimping piece 12 ... Locking piece

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [1] A decorative portion (2) of a wheel cover attached to a rim portion of an automobile wheel has a leg (6) standing upright in a direction perpendicular to the rear surface. It is formed on the upper edge of the leg (6) and is elastically deformable in the radial direction of the wheel.
Moreover, a plurality of crimping pieces (11) for crimping on the hump portion and locking pieces (12) for locking an annular spring (3) for applying a crimping force of the crimping piece (11) to the hump portion. The crimping blocks (10) are spaced at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the decorative portion, to prevent the crimping pieces from falling down outside the cover when the wheel cover is mounted on the wheel, and to provide a rim portion of the wheel. A reinforcement member (5) having an excessive vibration prevention surface (52) facing with a small gap is provided with the leg portion (6) and the decoration portion (2).
A wheel cover mounting device, which is formed integrally over the back surface. [2] An annular spring is locked to the upper end of the reinforcing member (5) to form a locking step (53) for limiting overexpansion of the crimping piece due to the expanding force of the annular spring. The wheel cover mounting device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is characterized in that: