JPH08324201A - Vehicle wheels - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) 【Abstract】 PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: It is possible to obtain a lightweight and highly rigid vehicle wheel of an integrally molded type by casting, without increasing the air amount in the tire.
Make the spokes airtight. A hollow cylindrical hub 1 having an axle mounting hole 1a, a plurality of spokes 2 radially extending from the hub 1, and an annular ring on which a tire is mounted by connecting the tips of the spokes 2 to each other. The rim 3 is integrally cast with a light alloy such as an aluminum alloy, and the spoke portion 2 has a base end on the hub 1 side opening into the hollow portion 4a of the hub 1, and a tip on the rim 3 side is the rim 3. It is blocked. Furthermore, the hub and the inner hollow portion of the spoke portion are configured to communicate with the outside through an axle mounting hole 1a provided in the hub.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle wheel in which a hub, a rim, and a spoke portion are integrally molded to enhance rigidity and reduce weight thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicle wheel, measures have been taken to increase its rigidity and reduce its weight, and one structural example thereof is, for example, the Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-1648.
No. 01 publication. This vehicle wheel is a wheel in which the rim, spokes, and hub are integrally cast with a light alloy. Holes are provided from the rim toward the spokes, and a part of the spokes is formed hollow. By forming a hollow part in the part, it is possible to form a wheel that is lighter and stronger than the conventional solid spoke part, and communicates the hole from the rim to the spoke part with the inside of the tire As a result, the amount of air enclosed in the tire is increased, and the cushion performance of the tire can be improved.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional vehicle wheel, the hollow cylindrical spoke portion is formed integrally with the rim, and the cushioning performance of the tire is improved, but the air volume of the tire increases. This increases the amount of deformation of the tire. Therefore, if a tire used in a general wheel having a solid spoke portion is mounted on the conventional wheel, and a tire ground contact surface similar to that when mounted on a general wheel is to be obtained, the air pressure must be increased. There is an inconvenience. Further, the area of the wheel-side inner wall surface for sealing the air pressure inside the tire becomes large, and in order to maintain the airtightness, it is necessary to increase the wall thickness especially in the spoke portion, and there is a drawback that the wheel weight increases. Therefore, conventionally, it is desired to address the above-described inconvenience, and the present invention is intended to solve such a problem remaining in the related art.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to provide a vehicle wheel which can effectively solve the above-mentioned problems. This vehicle wheel includes a hub having an axle mounting hole and a tire. A rim to be mounted and a plurality of spoke portions connecting the rim and the hub are integrally molded, the hub is formed in a hollow columnar shape centering on an axle, and the spoke portion is formed in a tubular shape. And one end of which is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the hub and is arranged radially about the axle, and the rim is formed in an annular shape in which the other end of the spoke portion is joined to the inner surface of the rim. The one end of the hollow spoke portion is formed integrally so that the inside of the spoke portion and the inside of the hollow cylindrical hub are continuous, and both of them form a hollow portion, and the hollow portion is provided in the hub. With the outside Threaded, the other end of the tubular spokes is characterized by being formed integrally closed by the rim. Further, the brake disc mounting portion may be integrally formed on the outer peripheral wall of the hub.

[0005]

In the vehicle wheel according to the present invention, since the cylindrical spoke portion and the hollow cylindrical hub are joined so as to form a continuous hollow portion inside thereof, when the wheel is cast, The spokes can be formed into a cylindrical shape with one core. In addition, it can be made lightweight and highly rigid from a hollow cylindrical hub, a cylindrical spoke portion and a rim that are integrally molded, and the other end of the spoke portion is closed by the rim. The air capacity in the tire is not increased, and the airtightness of the spoke portion is not considered. Further, since the opening is provided in the hub having a large capacity, it is possible to extract the core or the like at the time of molding using this opening.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
And it demonstrates based on FIG. In these drawings, reference symbol W indicates a vehicle wheel according to the present embodiment. In this vehicle wheel W, the hub 1, the spoke portions 2, ... And the rim 3 are integrally cast from a light alloy such as an aluminum alloy. It is molded.

The hub 1 has an axle mounting hole 1 at the center thereof.
a is formed and the inside thereof is hollow to form a cavity 4a communicating with the axle mounting hole 1a.
A plurality of hubs (10 in FIG.
The reinforcing ribs 1b of the present invention are formed radially of the hub 1 so as to protrude outward from both side surfaces. In addition, the hub 1 is provided with an outer peripheral portion.
Lines extending radially outward from the
) Are formed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, these spokes 2 ... Have a truncated truncated pyramid shape in appearance.
The base end on the side of the hub 1 is thick, and gradually decreases from the base end toward the other end on the side of the rim 3, in other words, a substantially tapered shape that becomes thinner from the side of the hub 1 to the side of the rim 3. Is formed. The inside of the spokes 2 ... Is hollow, the base end portion on the hub 1 side communicates with the hollow portion 4a formed in the hub 1, and the outer end portion is the rim 3
Cylindrical hollow parts 4b ... The cavity 4a is mutually connected to the outside by the axle mounting hole 1a, which is an opening provided in the hub 1. Further, the thickness of each of the spoke portions 2 along the length direction of the axle mounting hole 1a is substantially uniform as shown in FIG. Further, mounting holes 5 for brake discs are formed on the outer peripheral wall of the hub 1 and between adjacent base ends of the spokes 2. A rim 3 is formed at the tip of each of the spokes 2.

The rim 3 is formed in an annular shape so as to straddle between the respective tips of the spoke portions 2..., And as shown in FIG. 2, its cross section has a substantially U-shape for mounting a tire. The inner peripheral surface 3a is formed so as to close the cylindrical hollow portion 4b of the spoke portion 2 at the distal end as described above.

According to such a vehicle wheel W, since the hollow portion 4b of the spoke portion 2 is closed by the rim 3 to prevent communication with the inside of the tire, the hollow portion 4 has a closed structure. There is no need to do this, and manufacturing control is easy.

Further, since the tip of the cavity 4b is closed by the rim 3, the capacity of the cavity communicating with the inside of the tire is set by the inner shape of the tire and the outer shape of the rim 3. As a result, The capacity of the cavity communicating with the inside of the tire is set almost uniquely regardless of the casting accuracy of the hub 1 and the spokes 2. As a result, the casting quality of the spokes 2 contributes to the improvement of the quality of the vehicle wheel W, and the characteristics set for the tire can be reliably obtained in a state where the tire is mounted on the vehicle wheel W.

The spoke portion 2 having the above-mentioned cylindrical hollow portion 4b has a large sectional modulus and a substantially uniform thickness, so that it has excellent rigidity. Since the portion 4b is communicated with the axle mounting hole 1a via the hollow portion 4a in the hub 1, the capacity of the hollow portion formed in the vehicle wheel W as a whole is large, thereby increasing the rigidity. Further, the vehicle wheel W whose weight is significantly reduced can be obtained.

The hollow portion 4 formed by the hollow portion 4a of the hub 1 and the cylindrical hollow portion 4b of the spoke portion 2 is a substantially star-shaped one centered on the axle mounting hole 1a. Become. In such a wheel, the cavity 4a in the hub 1
When forming the hollow cylindrical portion 4b in the spoke portion 2, an integral star-shaped core can be used, which simplifies the structure of the casting die and allows the hub 1 and the spoke portion 2 to be formed. .. and the molding of the rim 3 together, the manufacturing becomes easy.

Further, according to the vehicle wheel W,
In the case of integral casting by sand casting, the core (sand mold) inside the tubular hollow portions 4b of the spoke portions 2 ... Is pulled out from the axle mounting hole 1a which is the opening on the hub 1 side. The spokes 2 ... are tapered and thin from the hub 1 side toward the rim 3 side, and conversely, they are gradually thicker toward the hub 1 side. It is unlikely that the hollow inside of the cylindrical hollow portion 4b will get stuck. as a result,
The work of removing the sand mold from the hollow spokes 2 becomes easy, thereby improving the productivity.

In the above-described embodiment, the reinforcing ribs 1b are provided so as to protrude outward from both side surfaces of the hub 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be provided so as to protrude from the surface toward the inner cavity 4a.

[0016]

As described above, according to the vehicle wheel of the first aspect, the following excellent effects can be obtained. a. The vehicle wheel of the present invention can use an integral core when forming the hollow portion in the hollow columnar hub and the tubular hollow portion of the spoke portion, thereby forming a casting mold. Is simplified and combined with the hub, the spoke portion and the rim being integrally molded, the manufacturing is facilitated. b. Further, in the vehicle wheel of the present invention, since the hub has a hollow cylindrical shape, the width of the axle support point of the hub can be widened without increasing the weight of the vehicle wheel itself, and the vehicle The rigidity of the vehicle wheel can be increased, and the rigidity of the vehicle wheel can be maintained to some extent even if the thickness of the spoke portion is reduced.
The vehicle wheel can be made highly rigid and lightweight as a whole. c. In the vehicle wheel of the present invention, the air capacity of the tire does not increase because the communication between the inside of the tubular spoke portion and the inside of the tire is blocked. Also, due to the increase in air capacity, the amount of tire deformation does not increase,
It is possible to prevent the ground contact surface of the tire from changing due to an increase in the amount of deformation of the tire, and the performance of the tire is not deteriorated. That is, since the other end of the spoke portion is closed by the rim, the air capacity of the tire is set by the inner shape of the tire and the outer shape of the rim,
As a result, the air capacity of the tire can be set almost uniquely regardless of the degree of casting production of the hub and the spokes. Therefore, when the tire is mounted on the vehicle wheel, the set characteristics of the tire can be reliably obtained. d. The vehicle wheel of the present invention does not need to consider the airtightness of the cylindrical spoke portion, and the spoke portion of the spoke portion for ensuring the airtightness like a conventional wheel having a hole from the rim toward the spoke portion does not need to be considered. Since there is no need to increase the wall thickness, the wheel can be made lighter. e. Further, as described above, it is not necessary to consider the airtightness of the tubular hollow portion of the spoke portion, so that manufacturing control can be facilitated as compared with the conventional wheel. f. Also, a hollow cylindrical hub, a cylindrical spoke portion,
Since the rim is integrally formed, the rigidity in the direction orthogonal to the circumferential surface of the vehicle wheel can be increased, which is excellent as a wide tire wheel. g. Further, the hollow portion is communicated with the outside through the opening provided in the hub, and the opening provided in the hub having a large capacity can be used for removing the core during molding, so that the core can be easily removed. . According to the vehicle wheel of the second aspect, in addition to the above effects, since the brake disc mounting portion is integrally formed on the outer peripheral wall of the hub having high strength and rigidity, no special reinforcement is required. The strength and rigidity of the mounting portion of the brake disc can be secured, and the weight can be reduced as a whole.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing one embodiment of a vehicle wheel of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hub 1a Axle mounting hole (opening) 2 Spoke part 3 Rim 4, 4a Cavity part 4b Cylindrical hollow part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hub having an axle mounting hole, a rim on which a tire is mounted, and a plurality of spokes connecting the rim and the hub are integrally molded, and the hub is centered on the axle. It is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape, the spoke portion is formed in a tubular shape, and one end is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the hub, and the rim is an annular shape in which the other end of the spoke portion is joined to the inner surface of the rim. The inside of the spoke portion and the inside of the hollow cylindrical hub are continuous at one end of the tubular spoke portion, and both are integrally formed to form a cavity portion, and the cavity portion is A vehicle wheel characterized in that the hub is communicated with the outside through an opening formed in the hub, and the other end of the cylindrical spoke portion is closed by the rim and is integrally formed. 2. A hub having an axle mounting hole, a rim on which a tire is mounted, and a plurality of spoke portions connecting the rim and the hub are integrally molded, and the hub is centered on the axle. It is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape, the spoke portion is formed in a tubular shape, and one end is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the hub, and the rim is an annular shape in which the other end of the spoke portion is joined to the inner surface of the rim. The inside of the spoke portion and the inside of the hollow cylindrical hub are continuous at one end of the tubular spoke portion, and both are integrally formed to form a cavity portion, and the cavity portion is The hub is communicated with the outside through an opening provided in the hub. The other end of the cylindrical spoke is closed by the rim to be integrally formed. The outer peripheral wall of the hub is integrally provided with a brake disc mounting portion. Be formed in Vehicle wheel, characterized.