Land vehicles: wheels and axles – Wheel – With wheel cover
Reexamination Certificate
1995-06-07
2004-06-29
Stormer, Russell D. (Department: 3617)
Land vehicles: wheels and axles
Wheel
With wheel cover
C301S037110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06755485
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to metal-plated automobile wheels. More specifically, this invention relates to a composite automobile wheel having a permanently attached metal-plated overlay which is formed from a high impact plastic and whose bond strength with the metal plating permits the overlay to be shaped and contoured to closely conform to the shape of the wheel without concern for the deleterious effects of heat and corrosion on the high impact plastic or the integrity of the metal plating bond.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Motor vehicles often include substantial amounts of metal-plated trim elements which provide both decorative and functional purposes. In particular, chrome-plated aluminum wheels have been very popular since the time chromium plating was first introduced, and have recently become particularly fashionable with both sports cars and prestige automobiles. Chrome-plated wheels are often significantly contoured to enhance their effect on the overall appearance of the vehicle by exploiting the highly reflective nature of the chromium surface.
However, automobile manufacturers have not generally provided chrome-plated cast aluminum wheels as original equipment on their automobiles because the porosity of the cast aluminum makes such wheels very difficult to plate. Moreover, the porosity of cast aluminum wheels results in a somewhat porous chromium plate layer which generally exhibits poor corrosion resistance to the wheel, causing the chromium plating to be susceptible to corrosion. Specifically, it is well known in the art that chrome-plated cast aluminum wheels have been unable to pass the automobile manufacturers' corrosion tests due to the inability of the copper-nickel-chrome layer to effectively cover the porous aluminum cast wheel. As a result, chrome-plated cast aluminum wheels have been provided to the public exclusively by aftermarket suppliers who adapt expensive plating techniques to attempt to solve this problem with limited success.
To obtain better plating results, current plating practices generally entail plating only machined surfaces of a cast aluminum wheel, the machining being intended to “close” the pores in the cast aluminum surface to promote a better subsurface to which the chromium may be plated. However, this approach severely limits the surfaces of a cast aluminum wheel which can be chrome-plated since known machining techniques are incapable of adequately machining deep recesses in cast aluminum wheels, such as the turbine openings formed in “spoke” wheels. Nevertheless, the entire wheel is often chrome-plated, resulting in poor adherence on surfaces which were not machined or inadequately machined, leaving these areas highly susceptible to delamination and corrosion. Chromium plating the entire wheel also incurs up to three pounds of additional weight, which detracts from the weight advantage of cast aluminum wheels.
In addition to the adverse effects of porosity and resulting corrosion, the adhesive strength of a chromium plating must be sufficient to endure deformation of the wheel as the automobile is driven down the road, or when the automobile is involved in a collision, or strikes road debris, roadway abutments or the like. Such hazards further challenge the ability of the chromium to adhere to the wheel without cracking or delamination. One known approach to avoiding this threat is to provide an ornamental wheel cover which is attached to the wheel so as to partially isolate the wheel cover from wheel deflections. U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,502 to Connell adopts this approach, providing an annular-shaped wheel cover that is permanently attached with double-sided adhesive tape to the wheel midway between the rim and the center hub area of the wheel. The remainder of the wheel cover is spaced apart from the outboard surface of the wheel, presumably to avoid the deleterious effects of heat generated by the tire, the wheel and the brake. However, Connell teaches nothing toward improving the subsurface of a metal-plating to the wheel cover such that the metal-plating might survive an automobile manufacturer's corrosion tests. In addition, the bulky structure taught by Connell almost completely hides or obscures the styling of a wheel, thereby significantly defeating the purpose of using a cast aluminum wheel—that is, the prestigious appeal associated with its appearance.
As another substitute for directly plating wheels, it is also known in the prior art to use a plastic overlay which is bonded to the outboard surface of the wheel for purposes of appearance and aesthetics. Generally, this approach is taken to allow the wheel to be designed for structural purposes, allowing the wheel's appearance to be determined by the ornamental design of the overlay.
As taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,501 to Derleth, the ornamental surface of an annular-shaped overlay is a thin plastic cover, preferably formed from acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), which is axially spaced away from the outboard surface of the wheel to provide a cavity between the cover and the wheel into which an adherent polyurethane foam is disposed. Derleth teaches that the polyurethane foam adhesive provides a low-density, semi-resilient reinforcement for the thin gauge plastic cover while also providing sound insulation for tire and wind noise. However, it is understood by those skilled in the art that another reason for spacing the overlay's cover from the wheel surface is to avoid the deleterious effects of heat generated by the wheel and brake which would otherwise distort the plastic cover and delaminate any metal plating applied thereto. This is particularly true in the immediate region of the wheel hub where temperatures tend to be much higher than in the remainder of the wheel. As a result, definite styling and design limitations are associated with the use of the overlay taught by Derleth. Moreover, the styling of the wheel is obscured by the overlay. In addition, Derleth does not teach an overlay with improved adhesion between the overlay and its aesthetic treatments which might successfully pass an automobile manufacturer's corrosion tests.
Another example of an overlay is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,926 to Maglio, which discloses adhering a wheel cover to a wheel with a resin matrix containing hollow microspheres. Similar to the teachings of Connell and Derleth, the wheel cover taught by Maglio is also axially spaced away from the wheel to avoid the wheel's potentially high temperatures, particularly near the center of the wheel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,148 to Grill emphasizes this concern, teaching an overlay which is attached only to the outer regions of the wheel, while extending radially inward toward the center of the wheel a limited distance. A retainer is provided to space the overlay axially away from the center of the wheel, thus avoiding thermal conduction from the wheel center to the overlay. In contrast to Grill, U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,820 to Stalter teaches a plastic cap which completely covers but is axially spaced from the region of the wheel center. The cap relies upon an interference fit with an annular-shaped overlay to remain attached to the wheel.
In addition to their styling being significantly limited by the adverse effects of high temperatures, the ornamental plastic overlays of the above prior art all share a common disadvantage in their inability to permanently adhere a metal plating, particularly when exposed to a corrosive environment. Though the prior art fails to emphasize this aspect as a recurring problem, its existence is clear from the fact that automobile manufacturers have not to date provided chrome-plated plastic overlays as original equipment. As with the aforementioned chrome-plated wheels, metal-plated plastic overlays have been unable to pass the automobile manufacturers' corrosion tests, and therefore have been provided to the public exclusively by aftermarket suppliers.
A wide variety of platable plastics are known. For exa
Lacks Industries, Inc
Stormer Russell D.
VanOphem & VanOphem P.C.
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