JPH10176732A - Balance weight - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a balance weight fitted well to a wheel surface by making a weight main body of steel and forming a synthetic resin or soft metallic layer in the portion of the weight main body contacted with a wheel, the balance weight being attached to the wheel of an automobile. SOLUTION: A weight main body 1 is formed to be a steel bar and also circular-arc in shape along the inner peripheral surface of a rim 2a formed in the outer periphery of a wheel 2, and a steel clip 3 is attached to its one side face. This clip 3 is extended from the weight main body 1 outward in the radial direction of the wheel 2, and its tip part is bent to surround the rim 2a. The weight main body 1 includes a synthetic resin or soft metallic layer 4 formed in the part of the same contacted with the wheel 2. Since this balance weight has the synthetic resin or soft metallic layer 4 formed in the part contacted with the wheel 2, it is fitted well to the wheel surface and thus its falling-off is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a balance weight mounted on a vehicle wheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a balance weight attached to an automobile wheel generally includes a weight body made of lead and a clip for attaching the weight body to the wheel. Lead is used as the weight body because the specific gravity is large and the weight body can be small.
Also, because it is soft, when it is attached to the wheel via a clip, it is relatively easily deformed and adheres to the wheel,
This is because there is an advantage that it is hard to fall off.

[0003]

However, in recent years, the harmfulness of lead has been pointed out due to environmental problems, and it is not desirable to use lead as a balance weight. In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a balance weight that does not use lead as the weight body.

[0004]

That is, the present invention provides a balance weight having a weight body and a clip for attaching the weight body to a wheel, wherein the weight body is made of steel, and at least the weight body comes into contact with the wheel. A synthetic resin or soft metal layer is formed on a portion.

[0005]

In the above-described structure, steel has a specific gravity smaller than that of lead and thus has a disadvantage of increasing the size of the weight body, but is inexpensive and particularly pollution-free. By the way, if the steel weight main body is directly attached to the wheel by a clip, the steel weight main body is hard, so that the steel weight main body has poor adaptability to the wheel surface and easily falls off, but in the present invention, the weight main body contacts the wheel. Since the synthetic resin or the soft metal layer is formed in the portion where it is to be formed, the synthetic resin or the soft metal layer adapts to and adheres to the wheel surface, so that it is difficult to fall off.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiment. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a weight body 1 is made of steel in a rod shape and along an inner peripheral surface of a rim 2a formed on an outer periphery of a wheel 2. Manufactured in an arc shape. In the present embodiment, the rim 2a is formed by being bent approximately 90 degrees in the axial direction from the outside of the wheel 2 in the radial direction. A steel clip 3 is attached to one side surface of the weight main body 1, and the clip 3 extends radially outward from the weight main body 1 to the wheel 2, and a tip end of the clip 3 surrounds a rim 2 a on the outer periphery of the wheel 2. As in the U-shape.
The weight main body 1 has a synthetic resin or soft metal layer 4 formed at a portion where the weight main body 1 comes into contact with the wheel 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the balance weight having the above structure is attached to the wheel 2, the tip 3a of the clip 3 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the rim 2a.
On the other hand, the base 4a of the synthetic resin or soft metal layer 4, that is, the portion 3a on the side of the clip 3 abuts on the tip of the inner peripheral surface of the rim 2a, and separates from the tip of the synthetic resin or soft metal layer 4, that is, the clip 3. Part 4b is the rim 2a
Is in contact with the end face on the inner peripheral side. As described above, when the balance weight is attached to the wheel 2, it is desirable that the balance weight is in contact with the wheel 2 at the above-described three portions 3a, 4a, and 4b, and particularly between the two portions 4a and 4b. It is desirable to have a gap in the space. Also,
When the distal end portion 4b of the synthetic resin or soft metal layer 4 comes into contact with the inner peripheral end surface of the rim 2a, the weight body 1 on the distal end side relative to the distal end portion 4b of the synthetic resin or soft metal layer 4 Although it is desirable not to touch, it does not matter if it does.

As the synthetic resin, a thermoplastic resin such as PA or PAI can be used, and as the soft metal layer, Zn, Cu, Ag or the like can be used.
Coating, plating, injection, casting, or the like can be used to form the synthetic resin or soft metal layer 4. When the synthetic resin or the soft metal layer 4 is formed by the above-mentioned coating, the thickness thereof is desirably in the range of 0.01 to 0.2 mm.
It is desirable to set it in the range of 01 to 0.08 mm. If the thickness is too thin, the familiarity with the wheel 2 is not sufficient,
The effect of preventing falling off cannot be obtained sufficiently. Further, if the thickness is further increased, only the manufacturing cost is increased, and no further improvement in the effect of preventing falling off can be expected. Further, when the synthetic resin or the soft metal layer 4 is formed by injection or casting, it is desirable that the thickness is in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 mm. In these cases, if the thickness is further reduced, it becomes difficult to obtain a uniform thickness, and there is a possibility that the synthetic resin or the soft metal layer 4 may be peeled off or cracked for a long period of use. If the thickness is more than this, the weight of the synthetic resin or the soft metal layer 4 becomes relatively large with respect to the weight of the steel body 1,
Weight adjustment becomes difficult. Therefore, it is difficult to provide an accurate weight, which is the original purpose of the balance weight.

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, lead is not used in the weight body, so it is pollution-free, and since the weight body is made of steel, it can be manufactured at low cost. Since the synthetic resin or the soft metal layer is formed at the portion where the main body contacts the wheel, an effect is obtained that the synthetic resin or the soft metal layer adapts to and adheres to the wheel surface, making it difficult to fall off.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Weight main body 2 ... Wheel 3 ... Clip 4 ... Synthetic resin or soft metal layer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A balance weight comprising a weight body and a clip for attaching the weight body to a wheel, wherein the weight body is made of steel, and a synthetic resin or soft metal layer is provided at least at a portion where the weight body contacts the wheel. Balance weight characterized by being formed. 2. As the synthetic resin, PA or PAI is used.
The balance weight according to claim 2, wherein Zn, Cu, or Ag is used as the soft metal layer.