US1828157A

US1828157A - Method of making wheels

Info

Publication number: US1828157A
Application number: US355070A
Authority: US
Inventors: Spatta George
Original assignee: Clark Equipment Co
Current assignee: Doosan Bobcat North America Inc
Priority date: 1928-05-28
Filing date: 1929-04-15
Publication date: 1931-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 1948-10-20

Description

Oct. 20,1931. 6.5m 1,828,157, 11151110 or mum msnns Original Filed Kay 28. 1928 3 sheets she'et 1 J 1 Bear. 55am I HTIYS Oct. 1931. I s. SPATTA 1,828,157

IE'NIOD OF MAKING WHEELS Original Filed May 28, 1928 3 Shoots-Sheet 2 H Th's.

0a. 20, 1931. G. spun METHOD OF MAKING WHEELS Original Filed lay 28. 1928 '3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I lw sllllllx ||||I|||| M 4 M m o, v J .v, W J 5 J M Q A 4 w in U 8 F C L M TTE'ITZEL Bear E Patented a., 20, 1931 Original application filed May 28, 1928,

UNITED ,STATES) PATENT (BFFI'CE cnonen sra'rra. or BUCHANAN, MICHIGAN, assrenoa T0 CLARK EQUIPMENT com.-

PANY, OF BUCHANAN, MICHSGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN METHOD OF MAKING WHEELS This application is a division of my pending application Serial No. 280,97 9, filed May 28, 1928.

The present invention relates to the method of making metal wheels, particularly of the type employing a sheet metal spider. The particular feature to which the present invention is directed is the manner of uniting the rim and spokes of a wheel of the type dis closed in my copending application, Serial No. 246,926, filed January 16, 1928.

The spider of the wheel is preferably made of two sheet metal stampings drawn and formed to proper shape, united at their central parts to form a huband provided with lock seams along their outer marginsextending along the s1des of the spokes and along the web joining the spokes. Relatively thin sheet metal as of the order of fifty thousandths of an inch in thickness is employed in the preferred embodiment of the invention, and it will be appreciated at once that joining the ends of the spokes to the metal of the rim, which rim is of the order of one hundred twenty five thousandths of an inch considerable strength in bending if properly supported, the spokes must be inserted within the rim in such a manner as to have a close fit and suitable bearing to develop the full strength of the sheet metal spiden. i

. According to'the present invention l employ an internal reinforcing member in the end of the spoke, preferably in the form of a short cylinder, the inner end of which is closed, and I weld the side walls of the end of the spoke to this reinforcing thimble at the lock seam or at -other points for the purpose of uniting the thimble with the metal of the end of the spoke and thereafter depress the This depressing of the web may -be carried to the point of web of the rim into the thimble.

puncturing the web of the SeriaI No. 280,979. Divided and this application filed April 15, Serial No. 355,070.

rim and expansion of the downturned metal of the flange of the web within the thimble or it' need not be, carried that far. As an alternative form of my invention themetal of the web may be punched down and expanded into the open end of the sheet metal spoke to form-an internal flange in the end of the spoke. This flange may then be welded to the side walls of the spoke and the opening may be closed in any suitable manner as by a sheet metal stoppel or plug. The plug might be of solid metal. It may be welded to the rim as by spot welding.

The internal reinforcin thimble provides the necessary hoop strengt to prevent splitting or bursting of the end of the spoke and also it gives the thin metal of the end of the spoke additional bearing surface to support a column load. The web of the rim may be spot welded in turn to the end of the lock seams on the spokes to give the spider the ability to support a part of the load at the hub in tension.

Now in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and operating a.device of my invention I shall describe in connection with the accompanying drawings a specific embodiment of the invention and the method of making the same.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a wheel constructed in accordance with and embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional detail view'illustrating the manner of making the joint between the end of the spoke and the web of the rim. K

Fig. 4 is a similar fragmentary sectional view illustrating a modified form of making the joint between the end of the spoke and the web of the rim. I

Fig. 5 is a section taken along the

line

5, 5

" of Figure 1 showing a cross section of the spoke.

Fig. 6is a plan view of the spider pressed into the rim or felloe with the clamping device in place.

-view of a modified form of jis' an edge view of the clamping device.

Fig. 8 is an edge view of a modified form of wheel employing a drop center rim.

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view taken on the

line

9, 9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view through the end of a spoke and the adjacent g art of the rim taken on the

line

10, 10 of 1 8; and I ig. 11 is a similar fragmentary sectional joint between the rim and the end of a spoke.

While in the drawings I show a wheel of the type employing a demountable rim and another wheel showing a drop center rim for receiving a tire directly, I do not Wish to be limited to either specific form, although it is desirable to close any perforations in the web of the rim where the tire bears directly upon the rim, as in the case of the drop center rim.

The wheel shown in Figs. 1, '2 and 3 comprises a felloe 1 formed of an endless circular outwardly facing channel section having a wider flange 2, a narrower flange 3 and joining web 4. This form'of rim may be bought on the open market and secured with holes v5 formed therein for receiving the clamping bolts for holding a demountable rim, as is well understood by those skilled in the art. The rim may also have holes 6 punched therein for receiving the ends of suitable wedge members employed in conjunction with 'bplts for holding the demountable rim in p ace.

The spider 7 is made of sheet metal. Two complementary stampings blanked out and drawn in dies, as disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 280,981, filed May 28, 1928, are first formed and then joined together by tubular shouldered rivets such as the rivet 8 shown in Fig. 9 and then oined together at their edges by lock seams such as the lock seams 9 shown in Figures 5 and 9 employing suitable channel strips 10 to form the lock seams.

The stampings employ each a central hub disc 11 joined to the web 12 by a shoulder 13, the size of this shoulder varying for hubs of different depth or thickness. A central opening 19 is formed through the hub and the opening is defined by inturned flanges 14, 14, formed on each of the plates 11. The

plates

11, 11 are connected by the shouldered hollow rivets 8 having the

heads

15, 15 beaded over and lying in the depressions in the plates 11 so that the

heads

15, 15 do not project beyond the outer surface of the plates 11. The stampings are provided with outwardly extending or curled flanges 17, 17 as may be seen in Figures 5 and 9, these curled flanges extending on the sides of the spokes 18. 18, and the parts of the web 12 between spokes, and the U-shaped

channel strips

10, 10 are closed over the flanges 17, 17 and swaged down to form lock seams,' which lock seams 9 terminate flush with the end on each side.

After the spider is completed it is gripped in a two part clamping ring, the parts being applied on opposite sides and grip ing the ends of the spokes, and then the spi er with the "clamping ring thereupon is pressed lat.- erally into the rim 1 to insert the spider in the rim.

In order to strengthen \the ends of the spokes for this pressing operation and for the subsequent operations, there are introduced into the ends of the spokes before the clamping ring isapplied

thimbles

20, 20 as shown in Fig. 3, these thimbles having cylindrical side walls and the closed end wall 21. The thimbles are welded to the side walls of the spoke ends, preferably as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, by a spot weld at 22 through the lock seams 9.

If desired, the welding of the thimbles 20 to the ends of the spokes may be performed by spot welding on each side of the look of the

spoke seams

9, 9. However, it is advantageous to weld through the lock seams in orderto weld extending the flanges and the channel strip 10 together spokes, particularly around the outer edgesof the spokes upon closing of the clamp. The diameter of the clamping rings at 39 is substantially equal to or slightly less than the diameter of the spider.

After the spider with the thimbles in the ends of the spokes has been inserted in the rim 1. the wheel is placed in a pres. the clamping ring being suitably supported by the bed of the press, and a punch is forced through the web 4 of the channel to pierce the web and turn the flanges 23 downwardly into the interior of the thimbles 20.

The punching and expanding of the flange 23 is done while the clamp supports the web 4 and the end of the spoke 18, the clamping ring taking the endwise thrust and also sustaining the radial pressure about the flange 23 in the thimble 20. The flange 23 is thus pressed or swaged firmly into engagement with the cylindrical wall of the thimble 20 and thereafter the web 4 is welded to the ends of the lock seams 9 at 25. The spot Weld at 25 may be omitted if desired, as shown in the modification of Fig. 4. A weld may be formed through the down turned flanges 23 4 Spider, the spider being closed at all other points. The openings 24 produced by drawing down on the flanges 23 are not objectionable in the form shown in Figures 1 and 2 since the felloe 1 supports a demountable tire rim.

. If, however, the construction is to be einployed with a drop center rim bearing the tire directly, the opening 24 may be closed by a plug or sheet metalstoppel, such as-that shown at 27 in Fig. 11.

Where a drop center rim such 'as' 30 (see Figs. 8 and 9) is employed, the construction of the spider may be thesame as previously described, and the web of the drop center part 31 has the spider forced thereinto to secure a close fit. The web 31 in this case (see Fig.

10) is preferably not punctured but is. mere- 1y depressed as indicated at 32 into the open end of the spoke and the open end of the thimble 20. The thimble 20, prior to the introduction of the spider into the rim, is welded to the lock seam 9 by welds indicated at 22, :22, and after the spider has been forced into the rim and a depression 32 formed in the web 31 the end of the spoke may be welded to the web 31 by means of the spot welds at 25, 25 as shown in Fig. 10.

Where the thimble 20 is employed in the.

end of the spoke the spider may be forced into the rim under considerable pressure, that is, with a relatively close press fit so as to put the rim under tension and the spider under considerable compression. Where welds are formed between the outer ends of the spoke and the Web of the rim, as shown in Figs. 3, 10,1 and 11, the load at the hub may be carried partly in tension as well as in compression of the spokes.

In Fig. 11, I have shown a modified form of union between the ends of, the spokes and the web 31 of the drop center rim 30. This form of union may be employed in connection with the felloe 1 shown in F ig s. 1 and 2 if desired. In this case the thimble 20 is omitted, the spokes being gripped in the clamping ring and pressed into the rim 30, and while thus supported in the clamping ring the web 31 is punctured and the flange 32 pressed or swaged into contact with the inside wall of the spoke 18, the same being supported by the clamping ring. Thereafter the end of the spoke is welded through the lock seam 9 to the depending flange 32 by a weld indicated at 43 to unite firmly the end of the spoke and the flange 32 punched out of the rim 30. The weld 43, instead of being,

formed at and through the lock seam, may

be formed on either side of the same through a single thickness of sheet metal of which the main part of the shaft of the spoke is formed.

Thereafter the end of the lock seam 9 may be spot welded as indicated at 25 to the web of the rim. The opening 44 produced by punching down the flange 32 may be closed as by the sheet metal plug 27 or by any other suitable plug which may in turn be welded.

to the web of the rim or may be held with a friction fit in the opening 44.

I do not intend to be limited to the details shown and described nor to the exact sequence of operations herein referred to as it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that numerous deviations will be permissible within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a wheel which comprises forming an endless rim of outwardly facing channel section forming 00- operating spider stampings of larger external diameter than the internal diameter of the rim, uniting the meeting edges of the spider with lock seams and at the hub portion with rivets to form a spider having a hub and radiating sheet metal spokes, forming closed end cylindrical thimbles, forcing the thimbles into the ends of the spokes with their open ends substantially flush with the ends of the spokes, welding the thimbles to the ends of the spokes, tensioning therim on to the spider by pressing the spider into the rim, piercing the web of the rim to produce flanges extending into the ends of the thimbles thereby further tensioning the rim on the spider, and welding the ends of thelock seams to the web of the rim. 7

2. The method of making a wheel which comprises forming an endless rim of outwardly facing channel section, forming a spider of two sheet metal s tiimpin s, uniting the stampings at their edges by ock seams terminating at the edge of the spider spokes, forcingthe completed spider laterally into the rim, piercing the web of the rim to produce flanges extending into the ends of the spokes, welding the flanges to the lock seams, welding the ends of the spokes to the rim and plugging the openings in the web.

3. The method of making a wlieel which comprises forming an endless rim of. outwgrdly facing channel section-forming coo ting spider stampings, uniting the meet 4 1,aas,1s7

on the spider by piercin the web of the rim to produce flanges exten' ing intothe ends of the thimbles.

4. The method of making a wheel which 5 comprises forming two com lementary spiders having semitubular spo es united by lock seams along the meeting edges of the spokes and hub sections of the spider, inserting strengthening members into the ends of lo the spokes, mountin the spokes in a clam ing rin the end 0 which is substantial y flush with the end of the spokes, forcing the spider with the clamping ring thereon into an endless rim of slightly smaller internal diameter than the external diameter of the spider, whereby the ring prevents distortion of the spokes during the pressing o eration, piercing the web of the rim to pro uce flanges extendin into the ends of the spokes, welding 9 the s 0 es to the web of the rim and removing the c amping ring.

5. The method of making a wheel which comprises forming two complementary spiders having ,semitubular spokes united by 25 lock seams along the meeting edges of the spokes and hub sections of the spider, inserting strengthening members into the ends of the spokes, mountin the spokes in a clamping ring the'end 0 which is substantial y 3 flush with theaend of the spokes, forcing the spider with the clamping ring thereon into an endless rim of slight smaller internal diameter than the externaf diameter of the spider, whereby the ring prevents distortion of the 3s spokes during the pressing operation, piercing the web of the rim to produce flanges extending into the ends of the spokes, welding the spokes, the strengthening members and the rim together, and removing the clamping In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 9th day of April, 1929.

GEORGE SPAIITA.