WO2011126463A1

WO2011126463A1 - Locally-forged tubeless rim with reduced weight

Info

Publication number: WO2011126463A1
Application number: PCT/TR2010/000074
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ercan Cercioglu
Original assignee: Jantsa Jant Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S.
Priority date: 2010-04-06
Filing date: 2010-04-06
Publication date: 2011-10-13

Abstract

A rim for vehicles comprising a wheel disk (2) in contact with a rim ring (3) having a tyre seating surface over which a tyre is assembled, and a valve (4) provided with a hole (5) to inflate the tyre, whereby the rim comprises at least one valve seat, which is formed locally on the tyre seating surface, without having a hump throughout the periphery on the tyre seating surface, to provide the securing of the valve (4) on the circular surface of the rim ring (3), which secures the valve (4) and has a depth in compliance with the neck of the valve (4).

Description

LOCALLY-FORGED TUBELESS RIM WITH REDUCED WEIGHT Field of Invention The present invention relates to rims of wheels for land transportation vehicles having tubeless tyres, using disk brake or drum brakes systems.

Prior Art

Tubeless rims have constructional differences compared to those of the former- generation tube-type rims. New generation rims both grip the tyre and provide air sealing, thereby eliminating the need towards the tube. Some parts by which the rims grip the tyre and the valve seats differ according to the type of drums. The form of rims and valves may be different in commercial vehicles, e.g. mass transportation vehicles, transportation vehicles, than those used in passenger cars. Different production designs are implemented on the wheel rim for holding together and fixing the valve components.

Such an embodiment is disclosed in EP2036742. This application proposes a solution for a valve arrangement on tubeless rims of commercial vehicles such as those transporting heavy loads or passengers.

Such kind of embodiment is also described in WO0128785, EP1106388, and FR2802149. These applications disclose the assembly details of a wheel rim and disk, besides their own arrangements, as well as a valve orifice and disk arrangements.

Another embodiment is disclosed in EP0701911. This application provides the details of a wheel rim for tubeless tyres According to this document, there are provided a bead seat groove formed between two humps and a valve hole. The humps, safety beads, described in said application are provided all along the periphery (360 degrees) of the wheel rim by means of cold forming. The valve is introduced through the wheel rim by means of this hump and is extended out on the front surface of the disk between the wheel disk and wheel rim. Said invention moves the location, on which the valve is secured, from the interior to the exterior and aims at protecting the valve arrangement against possible damages of foreign substances (stones, pebbles, etc.).

The drawback of EP0701911 is that both the material requirement is enhanced and the wheel weight is increased, since the hump is formed 360 degrees around the periphery of the wheel. Another inconvenience occurs as the tyre bead heal is passed over the wheel hump during assembly. In brief, the weight and cost of the rim are increased, as well as the tyre-wheel assembly time is lengthened and labor costs enhanced accordingly. The hump structure retaining the valve element on the wheel makes the maintenance, repair, and disassembly/assembly operations of a tyre more complicated. It increases the wheel production cost and raw material consumption due to its present structure. Tubeless rims, however, are expected to provide assembly/disassembly convenience, cost-efficient production, production convenience, maintenance convenience, use convenience, and to lower the vehicle's mechanical load.

Brief Description of Invention

The object of the present invention is to reduce raw material consumption in the manufacture of rims of wheels for land transportation vehicles having tubeless tyres, using disk brake or drum brakes systems, to provide cost advantage, and to facilitate tyre assembly/disassembly operations, thereby reducing the weight of the final product.

In compliance with the above object, present invention does not include a hump on the wheel rim. Thus, the valve is moved onto the outer surface of the wheel disk, such that saving is made in the material, which would otherwise be used on the wheel rim to produce the hump. On the other hand, since the rim according to the present invention does not comprise a 360-degree hump, the operation of assembling/disassembling a tyre to/from a wheel is facilitated. Besides eliminating the hump, the rim according to the present invention provides material saving and reduces the rim weight with the disk being designed to have a lower weight, by means of changing the number and geometry of ventilation holes. According to this feature, the present invention provides a wheel with lower production cost and lower weight, due to changes made in the design of the disk and wheel rim.

The rim according to the present invention comprises a wheel disk in contact with a rim ring having a tyre seating surface to which a tyre is assembled, and a valve having a hole to inflate the tyre. The rim according to the present invention comprises at least one valve seat, which is formed locally on the tyre seating surface, not having a hump throughout the periphery on the tyre seating surface, to provide the securing of the valve on the circular surface of the rim ring, which secures the valve, and has a depth in compliance with the valve neck. Additionally, the weight is reduced via the design and geometric form, the size and number of ventilation holes on the wheel disk. The number of ventilation holes are 7, based on design considerations, located peripherally at seven 7 equal intervals.

A wheel formed via forging method according to the present invention, exhibits following differences and advantages over the prior art, in which the valves are secured over the hump: a-) The raw material used for the hump around the entire 360 degree periphery of a rim according to the prior art is now used at a section of around 8° via local forging, so that the raw material requirement is reduced by 1 %, the costs are lowered, and saving is provided in raw material. b-) In assembling a tyre, the bead heal is passed over the safety bead extending along the full periphery (360 degrees) according to the prior art, and then it is inflated. In contrast thereto, the subject rim does not comprise any safety bead, so that the tyre is passed over a locally-forged section of 8 degrees only, without requiring any particular effort or any extra equipment. This provides assembly easiness and shortens the assembly time. c-) While it is necessary to perform at least two cold forming operations to form a complete (360 degree) safety bead, it is sufficient to carry out a simple single press operation for the local forging operation. Thus, the operation is facilitated and significant advantages are made with respect to labor and energy costs.

Since a wheel with a valve seat made via local forging shall weigh lighter than a wheel with a safety bead extending all around the periphery (i.e. 360 degrees) due to material saving, the load limit will increase and the fuel consumption will decrease, taking into account the reduction in the total weight of all wheels of a vehicle.

On the other hand, the differences between the disk rim having 7 ventilation holes according to the present invention and the disk rims according to the prior art are as follows: a-) In the disks according to the prior art, the rim weight is increased due to the design of ventilation holes. In the rim design according to the present invention, changes made in the number of ventilation holes on the disk, as well as in the shape and size of holes reduce the raw material requirement, while maintaining the strength of the rim, and enhance the cooling/ventilating capacity. b-) A significant saving is made in the material by around 7% due to the ventilation holes in the disks according to the present invention as compared to the prior art disks. This difference shall provide saving in a commercial vehicle with 10 wheels, both because of load and fuel. c-) Thanks to maintaining the rim strength and enhancing the cooling/ventilation capacity while reducing the weight of rim according to the present invention, the users of such rims, which may be persons or transportation companies, shall be able to load the reduced amount of weight so as to reach the same load limit any time. Thus, it shall be possible to transport the same load with fewer transportation trips. Further since the vehicle weight shall be reduced as it is empty, it shall also consume relatively less fuel.

Assuming that a vehicle with 10 wheels is loaded with an extra load of 30 kg for each trip, the amount of saving made for each trip (for a vehicle carrying a load of 20.000 kg) shall mean 3 lesser trips with full truck load in a total of 2000 trips, leading to advantages in depreciation and fuel savings.

The present invention shall be described in detail in the following parts, based on an illustrative embodiment simply shown in annexed figures briefly described hereunder.

Figure 1 is a general perspective illustration of the rim according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a front external illustration of the valve elements fixation part of the subject rim embodiment.

Figure 3 is a rear internal illustration of the valve elements fixation part of the subject rim embodiment.

Figure 4 is a detail illustration of the ventilation holes of the rim according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is a front illustration of the rim according to the present invention.

Figure 6 illustrates the longer, shorter side tyre seating surface and the rim ring axis, according to the prior art.

Figure 7 illustrates a rim with a safety bead extending throughout 360°, according to the prior art.

Reference Numbers of Parts in Figures

1 Rim 2 Wheel disk

3 Rim ring

4 Valve

5 Valve hole

6 Valve tip

7 Longer-side tyre seating surface

8 Ventilation hole

9 Shorter-side tyre seating surface Detailed Description of Invention

The vehicle rim (1) with an integrated valve seat as illustrated in figures 1 , 2, and 3 most generally comprises a rim ring (3) with a circular surface over which the tyre is seated, a wheel disk (2) in contact with this rim ring (3) in a coaxial manner, a tyre seating surface (7) on the longer side of the rim ring, and a valve (4) with a valve hole (5) through which air inlet is provided.

The circular surface of the rim ring (3) over which the tyre is seated is composed of two parts, one longer-side tyre seating surface (7) and a shorter-side tyre seating surface (9). A locally-forged valve seat is provided on the longer-side tyre seating surface (7), into which the valve (4) is seated. This valve is shaped to have a depth in compliance with the valve neck, so that once the valve (4) is seated into the seat, it becomes secured. Thus, the need towards a safety bead extending 360 degrees over the tyre seating surface is eliminated. The rim further comprises ventilation holes (8) distributed around the disk (2).

The valve seat is formed on the longer-side tyre seating surface (7) at an angle of around 8° by means of local forging. The valve seat is provided on the longer-side tyre seating surface (7) by means of local forging with a special die. The other end (6) of the valve (4) mounted to the valve hole (5) at the locally-forged valve seat provided on the rim ring (3) is extended out on the region of ventilation hole between the rim ring (3) and the wheel disk (2). According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the number of ventilation holes (8) on the rim disk (2) is seven, situated at equal intervals of 360/7 degrees (around 51 degrees) along the periphery of the disk. These ventilation holes (8) have a width of approximately 80 mm and a length of approximately 135 mm, with a cam like profile geometry.

The local forging operation is carried out by means of applying a simple and preferably single press operation onto an approximately 8-degree wide region of the longer-side tyre seating surface (6) of the rim ring (3). Thus, the valve (4) is mounted into the valve hole (5) on the valve seat (6) formed via local forging, and the valve (4) is extended out on the front region of the disk from the ventilation hole (8), through between the rim ring (3) and the wheel disk (2).

The present invention is not to be restricted with the illustrative embodiment given above, but must be evaluated within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A rim for vehicles comprising a wheel disk (2) in contact with a rim ring (3) having a tyre seating surface over which a tyre is assembled, and a valve (4) provided with a hole (5) to inflate the tyre, characterized in that the rim comprises at least one valve seat, which is formed locally on the tyre seating surface, without having a hump throughout the periphery on the tyre seating surface, to provide the securing of the valve (4) on the circular surface of the rim ring (3), which secures the valve (4) and has a depth in compliance with the neck of the valve (4).

2. The rim according to Claim 1 , wherein the angle by which said valve seat is formed on the longer-side tyre seating surface (7) of said tyre seating surface is approximately 8 degrees.

3. The rim according to Claim 1 , wherein the number of ventilation holes (8) formed between said rim ring (3) and wheel disk (2) and through which the valve tip (6) is extended out is preferably seven, said holes (8) being situated at equal intervals of approximately 51 degrees around the disk periphery.

4. The rim according to Claim 3, characterized in that said ventilation holes (8) have a width of approximately 80 mm and a length of approximately 135 mm, with a cam like profile geometry.