JP3524001B2 - Wheel cover with brake cooling action - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a wheel cover. More specifically, it relates to a wheel cover that creates a flow of air as it rotates, thereby cooling the braking mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a typical steel wheel 1 used in an automobile. A disk-shaped wheel cover 2 is often attached to a steel wheel in order to improve its design. In addition,
The wheel cover 2 is fixed to the steel wheel by utilizing a plurality of locking claws and wire rings which are provided upright on the back surface thereof, or by utilizing a clip means, but the illustration thereof is omitted here. There is.

On the other hand, as a brake system for automobiles,
It is known to obtain a braking force by pressing a brake pad from both sides to a disc fixed to an axle. Although not shown, such a brake system is located on the opposite side of the wheel cover 2 (that is, on the left side in the figure) in the case of FIG. Of course, it is preferable to positively cool such a braking system as it heats up due to frictional heat during operation.

As such a cooling means, it has been conventionally practiced to use a wheel cover fixed to a steel wheel. That is, an example in which a rib of a predetermined shape is erected on the inner surface side of the wheel cover, an air flow is generated by utilizing the scraping action of the rib generated when the wheel cover rotates, and an air cooling of the brake system is attempted by this air flow is given. There are several. However, up to now, it is the actual situation that a sufficient cooling effect has not been achieved by such a method.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a wheel cover for an automobile which exhibits a sufficiently high air cooling effect for a braking system.

[0006]

[Means, Actions and Effects for Solving the Problems] The present invention was devised to effectively solve the above problems, and positively moves air from the rear surface side of the wheel cover to the outer surface side thereof. By doing so, the air cooling effect of the brake system existing in the steel wheel is improved. The present invention provides a wheel cover having the following features.

According to the wheel cover of the present invention, an opening formed in a wall surface extending in the axial direction of the wheel from the surface of the disk cover is formed at a position slightly outside the outer periphery of the disk-shaped wheel cover body. Equipped with multiple intervals. A plurality of fin-shaped ribs are provided on the back surface of the wheel cover main body so as to stand in the vicinity of the inner side in the radial direction with respect to the openings to partition the openings and extend substantially parallel to each other and in the radial direction. Is provided.

In the wheel cover of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, between two adjacent fin-shaped ribs which are erected on the back surface of the disk-shaped wheel cover body on the inner side in the radial direction from the opening. The air located in the space of the predetermined volume formed in the above-mentioned section tends to move outward in the radial direction as the wheel cover rotates (that is, the wheel rotates). Further, since the above-mentioned opening portion that also opens outward in the radial direction is present at the tip thereof, the airflow moving outward in the radial direction passes through the opening portion. The rim flange portion of the steel wheel is normally present at a position further outward in the radial direction than the opening portion, so that the air flow passing through the opening portion is guided by the rim flange portion and the rear side of the wheel cover. To the outer surface side.

On the other hand, since many steel wheels to which the wheel cover is attached have openings at positions near the outer peripheral edge thereof, the present invention has openings at positions slightly inside the outer peripheral edge of the disc-shaped body. In the above wheel cover, the positions of the opening and the opening of the steel wheel can be brought close to each other. Therefore, the air in the vicinity of the brake system existing inside the steel wheel is efficiently discharged to the outside through the opening of the steel wheel and the opening of the wheel cover by the air flow. Therefore, the air cooling effect on the brake system can be further enhanced.

In the wheel cover of the present invention, it is preferable to provide airflow guide side walls extending outward in the radial direction from the edges on both sides in the circumferential direction of the openings. When such a configuration is adopted, the airflow passing through the opening can be moved more smoothly to the outer surface side of the wheel cover.

Further, in the wheel cover of the present invention, an air flow for guiding the air flow passing through the openings to the wheel cover surface side at a position on the outer side in the radial direction facing the rib with respect to each of the openings. It is preferable to provide a guide peripheral wall. The airflow guide peripheral wall preferably extends by connecting both airflow guide sidewalls extending from both sides in the circumferential direction of each opening.

The airflow guide peripheral wall guides the airflow passing through the opening to the outer surface side of the wheel cover, instead of the rim flange of the steel wheel. That is, since the rim flange portion of the steel wheel generally has a complicated shape, a smoother movement of the airflow can be realized by adopting the airflow guide peripheral wall instead.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the wheel cover of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 2
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the back surface side of the wheel cover 10 of the present invention. The wheel cover 10 has a disc shape as a whole, and has a plurality of openings 11 formed at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction at a position slightly inside the outer peripheral edge of the main body 10a. Each opening 11
As will be described later in detail, is formed on a wall surface 10b extending from the surface of the main body 10a in the axial direction of the wheel (see FIG. 4). Further, three fin-shaped ribs 12 are erected at the adjacent positions on the inner side in the radial direction with respect to one opening 11.

For the sake of clarity, one opening
11 and three fin-shaped ribs 12 corresponding thereto are taken out and shown in FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the wheel cover portion corresponding to FIG. 3 seen from the front side.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the opening 11 is formed so as to penetrate a wall surface 10b which extends from the outer surface of the wheel cover body 10a substantially vertically to the wheel axis direction (that is, The opening 11 is open radially outward). Three fin-shaped ribs 12a, 12b, 12c (see FIG. 3) are provided for one opening 11, and these openings allow the opening 11 to have two large openings whose center is the opening surface. It is divided into 11a and small openings 11b on both sides thereof. Note that FIG.
At the side of the fin-shaped rib 12a, the opening 11b
There is an opening similar to.

A curved wall surface (airflow guide peripheral wall) 13a is formed at a position on the outer side in the radial direction facing the opening 11 (FIG. 4).
reference). The curved wall surface 13a extends inward from the outer peripheral edge of the wheel cover 10 and is provided with the opening 11.
Curved in the same direction as 10b, it is depressed and extends. In FIG. 2, which shows the back surface of the wheel cover 10, a wall-shaped surface 13b is shown which is bulged at the radially outer position of each fin-shaped rib 12, but the back surface side of the wall-shaped surface 13b (for the wheel cover 10). The surface side) constitutes the curved wall surface 13a of FIG.

The side wall surface 10 extends from both side edges of the opening 11 in the circumferential direction.
c extends radially outward. That is,
In FIG. 4, only one side wall surface 10c is shown, but in reality, a similar side wall surface is formed on the front side of the paper surface in FIG. 4 so as to face the side wall surface 10c. The wall surface 10b provided with the opening 11 and the curved wall surface 13 are connected by the side wall surface (air flow guide side wall) 10c. As will be described later, the side wall surface 10c and the curved wall surface 13a serve to guide the air flow passing through the opening 11 from the rear surface side of the wheel cover to the outer surface side.

The three fin-shaped ribs provided for each opening 11 are substantially parallel to each other and extend along the radial direction of the wheel cover 10. These fin-shaped ribs 12 do not extend to the vicinity of the center of the wheel cover 10, but are formed only at positions close to the opening 11, as can be seen from FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view for explaining the air-cooling action of the wheel cover 10 of the present invention, and shows the rear surface side of the wheel cover 10. That is, the other side of the drawing in FIG. 5 corresponds to the outer surface side of the wheel cover 10. In FIG. 5, the fin-shaped ribs 12a, 12b,
c, opening 11a, side wall surface (airflow guide side wall) 10c, curved wall surface
Only the (airflow guide peripheral wall) 13a is taken out and shown. The principle of the air cooling action by the wheel cover 10 can be considered as follows.

A space having a predetermined volume is created between the adjacent fin-shaped ribs 12a, 12b, 12c, and when the wheel cover 10 rotates in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 5, a mass of air existing in these spaces is formed. On the other hand, an outward force such as a centrifugal force is exerted, so that the air existing between the ribs is drawn outward in the radial direction of the wheel cover 10. From the viewpoint of effective drawing of air, it is desirable that the space between the ribs is not so large. In the illustrated example, as an example, the space between two adjacent ribs is 30
mm, the standing height of the rib is 20 mm, and the extending length in the radial direction of the wheel cover is 40 mm.

The drawn air is curved wall surface extending in a curve toward the outer surface of the wheel cover 10.
It is guided by 13a and discharged to the outer surface side of the wheel cover 10 as shown by the arrow B (that is, the opening 11 functions as an exhaust port). As a result, each fin-shaped rib 12
Air on the inner diameter side of the wheel cover is drawn between a, b, and c. Both side edges of the opening 11 and the curved wall surface
The side wall surface 10c that extends by connecting with 13a prevents the air flow passing through the opening 11 from escaping to the side, thereby increasing the exhaust efficiency from the opening 11. That is, the side wall surface 10c also has a function as a guide wall for guiding the air flow to the outside.

As a result of the above cycles being continuously generated, a flow of air from the inner surface side to the outer surface side of the wheel cover 10 is generated. As can be seen from FIG. 5, since the fin-shaped ribs 12 are not extended to the vicinity of the center of the wheel cover 10 but are formed only at the positions close to the openings 11, the fin-shaped ribs 12 are located radially inward of the fin-shaped ribs. It can be seen that the air is drawn not only from the position but also from the side of the rib to achieve efficient air circulation.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a state in which the wheel cover 10 is attached to the steel wheel 1, and shows the direction of the air flow generated by the wheel cover 10. The steel wheel 1 is the same as the conventional one shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the rib 12 extends into the opening surface (the surface including the opening space) without interruption before the opening 11 and partitions the opening surface. Air existing on the back side can be effectively discharged to the outside.

As can be seen from FIG. 6, since the rim flange portion 1b of the steel wheel 1 exists at a position further outside the curved wall surface (airflow guide peripheral wall) 13a, the opening can be made even if the curved wall surface 13a is not provided. The airflow passing through the portion 11 is guided to the outer surface side of the wheel cover. Therefore, although it is possible to omit the curved wall surface 13a, it is advantageous to provide the curved wall surface 13a that smoothly curves because the air moves smoothly. Even when the curved wall surface 13a is omitted, it is preferable to provide the side wall surface 10c extending outward from the both side edges of the opening 11 in the radial direction.

As described above, in the wheel cover 10 of the present invention, the opening functioning as an air exhaust port.
11 is provided at a position slightly outside the outer peripheral edge of the wheel cover body. The reason for this is that in many steel wheels, as shown in FIG. 6, the opening 1a is provided at a position near the outer peripheral edge thereof. That is, "the opening as an exhaust port provided in the wheel cover 10
By making the "position 11" and the "position of the opening 1a formed in the steel wheel 1" close to each other, the inside of the steel wheel (that is, the axle side corresponding to the lower side in Fig. 6)
The air can be efficiently discharged to the surface side of the wheel cover 10 through both openings 1a and 11. And
Since the brake system including the brake disc and the brake pad exists inside the steel wheel, the air cooling effect on the system can be further enhanced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view conceptually showing a general steel wheel and a wheel cover fixed thereto.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the back surface of the wheel cover according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a part of FIG. 2 for explanation.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a front side of a wheel cover corresponding to the wheel cover portion of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of the air-cooling action of the wheel cover of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing the flow of air in a wheel to which the wheel cover shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 steel wheel 1a opening 1b Rim flange part 2 wheel cover 10 wheel cover 10a Wheel cover body 10b wall 10c Side wall surface (air flow guide side wall) 11, 11a, 11b Opening 12, 12a, 12b, 12c Fin-shaped rib 13a Curved wall surface (airflow guide peripheral wall) 13b Wall surface

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-9-39502 (JP, A) JP-A-10-67201 (JP, A) Actually opened 63-98801 (JP, U) Actually opened 57-127001 (JP , U) Actual development Sho 61-10204 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60B 7/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An opening (11) formed in a wall surface (10b) extending from the surface of the disk-shaped wheel cover body (10a) at a position slightly inside the outer peripheral edge of the wheel cover body and extending in the wheel axial direction, The wheel cover body (10a) is provided with a plurality of openings at predetermined intervals, and on the back surface of the wheel cover body (10a), a plurality of openings (11) are provided upright at positions near the inner sides in the radial direction of the openings (11). as well as partitions, have substantially parallel and fin-shaped rib extending radially (12) is provided with each other, from both sides in the peripheral direction of the edge of each opening (11), radially
An air flow guide side wall (10 c ) extending toward the outside is provided.
A wheel cover that is characterized by 2. The rib (1 ) is provided for each opening (11) .
2) Pass the opening (11) at a position on the outer side in the radial direction opposite to ( 2).
Guide the excess air flow toward the front surface of the wheel cover
An air flow guide peripheral wall (13 a ) is provided, and the air flow guide peripheral wall (13 a ) is located on both sides of each opening (11) in the circumferential direction.
Both airflow guide side walls (10 c ) extending from
Wherein the is, wheel cover according to claim 1, wherein.