Land vehicles: wheels and axles – Wheel – Compression wheel
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-15
2003-09-23
Stormer, Russell D. (Department: 3617)
Land vehicles: wheels and axles
Wheel
Compression wheel
C301S063103, C029S894322
Reexamination Certificate
active
06623086
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the fabrication of chrome-plated automotive vehicle wheels, particularly wheels formed of aluminum.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For quite a number of years automotive vehicle wheels have been plated with chrome to enhance their corrosion resistence, as well as to improve their aesthetic appearance. Chrome-plate aluminum wheels and also chrome-plated steel wheels are in widespread use on automotive vehicles.
In the fabrication of an automotive vehicle wheel, particularly an aluminum wheel, the wheel is often constructed of two basic parts. That is, the wheel includes an outer, annular metal wheel rim and an inner wheel center, which is sometimes termed an “inner”
0
or “filler”
0
in the automotive vehicle wheel fabrication industry.
In the construction of such an automotive vehicle wheel, the outer, annular metal wheel rim and the inner metal wheel center are first fabricated separately. The outer metal wheel rim is formed with a radially inwardly facing center-receiving surface while the wheel center is formed with an outwardly facing rim-contact surface. The diameter of the inwardly facing center-receiving surface of the rim and the rim-contact surface of the wheel center are nominally coextensive with each other.
In order to allow the wheel center to be set within the wheel rim, the annular metal rim is heated, typically to a temperature of between about 375° F. and 450° F. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the metal of which the rim is formed causes the opening in the wheel rim defined by the center-receiving surface to increase sufficiently so that the wheel center can be set within the wheel rim in longitudinal and coaxial alignment therewith. When the wheel rim is allowed to cool, it contracts, thus causing its center-receiving surface to shrink radially inwardly upon the rim-contact surface of the wheel center so that these surfaces reside in tight, intimate contact with each other.
After the wheel rim and center have been assembled together in this fashion, they are welded together. More specifically, an annular weld is created about the inboard circumference of the inboard extremities of the center-receiving surface of the metal wheel rim and the rim-contact surface of the wheel center. The term inboard, as utilized herein, refers to the side of the wheel that faces the brake mechanism, while the term outboard refers to the side of the wheel facing outwardly away from the brake mechanism and away from the structure of the vehicle and against which the lug nuts are fastened when the wheel is in use.
Following the welding process many wheels are chrome-plated to provide corrosion protection and to enhance their appearance. To chrome plate a wheel, the wheel body, that is the assembled wheel rim and wheel center welded together, must first be treated to ensure that the chrome-plating will adhere to the aluminum or other metal of which the wheel body is formed. In a typical chrome-plating process the exposed surfaces of the metal wheel rim and metal center forming the wheel body are first cleaned to remove any grease or other film or contamination on the wheel. The wheel is then chemically stripped. That is, it is placed in an acid or caustic bath to further remove contaminants and condition its surface to accept the chrome-plating. The exposed surfaces of the wheel are then polished, typically in stages beginning with a grit of perhaps one hundred twenty and proceeding to a finer grit, which may be as fine as an eight hundred, for example.
Following the step of polishing, the wheel is then copper-plated. This step is performed by placing the wheel in an acid solution containing copper. Following the copper plating process, the wheel is then buffed again and plated, first with nickel and then with chrome. Both the nickel and chrome-plating solutions are acid bath solutions. Following the step of chrome plating, the wheel is then ready for use.
Most wheels that are properly treated in the plating process will retain their chrome plating in unblemished condition for many years. However, in a significant number of wheels, the acids and other chemical employed in the plating process seep into the interface between the radially inwardly facing center receiving surface of the wheel rim and the radially outwardly facing rim-contact surface of the wheel center at the unwelded, outboard extremities of these surfaces, despite the extremely tight fit between these surfaces. Some residual quantities of acids and other chemicals from the plating process are then trapped beneath the chrome overcoating layer that is applied to the exposed surfaces of the wheel. These residual acids and caustic chemicals then attack the chrome overcoating from beneath to form blisters in the chrome coating on the wheel. Such blisters are unsightly when they form, and inevitably break, thereby creating gaps in the chrome coating on the wheel. The portion of the wheel body exposed at these gaps is thereby subject to deterioration. The owner of the wheel is then quite dissatisfied, and the wheel is often returned as being defective.
While the great majority of chrome-plated wheels do not suffer this type of degradation, the number of wheels that do prove to be defective in this manner is significant enough to represent a continuing annoying and expensive problem to entities that chrome plate wheels. While this problem has persisted for years, no satisfactory solution has heretofore been found to prevent it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention involves an automotive vehicle wheel that is fabricated in such a manner as to prevent residual acids and other chemicals from seeping into the interface between the radially inwardly facing center receiving surface of the metal wheel rim and the radially outwardly facing rim-contact surface of the wheel center during the treatment of the wheel in the chrome-plating process. The invention is equally applicable to wheels which may be plated with other metals, such as nickel, for example.
The present invention involves a unique wheel construction that forms a barrier to residual acids and other chemicals at the outboard extremity of the interface between the contacting surfaces of the wheel rim and the wheel center. This barrier prevents damaging chemicals from flowing or seeping into the interface between the wheel rim and the wheel center.
The unique construction of a plated automotive vehicle wheel according to the invention involves the formation of a narrow, annular channel into the radially outwardly facing rim-contact surface of the wheel center near the outboard extremity of that surface, and the provision of a resilient O-ring within that channel. The O-ring is present in the channel when the wheel rim and wheel center are assembled together and is partially compressed to form a fluid-tight seal between the wheel rim and the wheel center as the wheel rim cools following insertion of the center into it. By locating the channel and resilient O-ring quite close to the outboard extremities of the mating surfaces of the wheel rim and the wheel center, damaging chemicals are excluded from entering between the surfaces.
In one broad aspect the present invention may be considered to be a metal-plated automotive vehicle wheel comprising: an outer, annular metal wheel rim having a radially inwardly facing center-receiving surface that has opposing inboard and outboard extremities; a metal wheel center set within the wheel rim and having a radially outwardly facing rim-contact surface that resides in face-to-face contact with the center-receiving surface between the inboard and outboard extremities thereof, and wherein a radially inwardly directed channel is defined in the rim-contact surface proximate the outboard extremity of the center-receiving surface; and a resilient O-ring is disposed in the channel and compressed against the center-receiving surface of the rim, and said wheel center is welded to the wheel rim at the inboard extremity of the center-receiving
Stormer Russell D.
Thomas Charles H.
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