Land vehicles: wheels and axles – Wheel – With wheel cover
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-31
2002-07-30
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Land vehicles: wheels and axles
Wheel
With wheel cover
C301S037420
Reexamination Certificate
active
06425640
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automobile wheel cover, and particularly to one that is easy to safely adjust the tightness of the wheel cover body and quickly fixing the wheel cover on a wheel.
2. Description of Related Art
A wheel cover is used for an adornment covering on the wheel rim, and a wheel cover
10
is shown in
FIG. 1
of which the present invention improves upon and is applied to. The wheel cover
10
comprises a wheel cover body
12
and six or eight or ten identical ring supporters or hook arms
14
. The hook arms
14
each have a hook portion
16
for catching and holding a metal retention ring
20
, which serves for urging the hook arms
14
outwardly. A tightening force is created between the retention ring
20
and the hook arms
14
to press the hooks arms against the inner circumferential edge of a wheel rim (not shown), as will be understood by those familiar with wheel cover retainers. A conventional retention ring
20
, shown in
FIG. 2
, is made of a slender round wire or bar having both ends welded together so that it has definite diameter virtually impossible to vary. Thus a functional diameter A, illustrated in
FIG. 2
, is formed by the outer edges
21
of the hook arms
14
. Conventionally this functional diameter is fixed or not adjustable when the retention ring
20
is engaged with the hooks.
When a wheel cover rotates at a high rate of speed together with a wheel, the interconnecting tightness between the hook arms and the inner circumferential edge of the wheel is extremely important. If the mutual tightness is not proper, the wheel cover may accidentally fall off and wound a person walking on the street during driving of a car. In fact, wheel rims and wheel covers commonly have some gap between them before they are combined together. This is why the wheel cover body is provided with ring supporters and a retention ring for expanding out the ring supporters so that a wheel cover body may be positioned tightly on a wheel rim. Ideally however, a wheel cover should provide a tightness adjusting structure formed by the ring supporters and the ring.
When the inner circumferential edge of a wheel has a diameter a little different from the definite functional diameter A defined by the hook arms
14
and ring
20
being engaged, the wheel cover
10
may not be fixed with the wheel in a secured condition. Though a wheel rim theoretically has a certain inner diameter, it is inevitable that some error may result in the manufacturing process. When the inner circumferential edge of the wheel has a slightly larger diameter than the functional diameter A of the wheel cover
10
, the attachment of the wheel cover may be loose and unstable. On the contrary, when the inner circumferential edge of the wheel has a smaller diameter than the functional diameter A of the wheel cover
10
, the wheel cover
10
may be difficult to fix to a wheel or cannot be fixed thereto without hammer. These problems occur due to slight errors between the inner diameter the wheel rim and a fixed, nonadjustable diameter of the wheel cover retention ring.
This invention aims to furnish a wheel cover retention ring system of which the functional diameter of the wheel cover is adjustable between two or more (multiple adjusting holes) different measurements so as to cope with the diametrical error a wheel may have.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides an automobile wheel cover having an easily and safely adjustable structure. The automobile wheel cover includes a wheel cover body, a plurality of ring supporters fixed to and spaced apart around an outer peripheral edge of the wheel cover body, and a retention ring detachably engaged on the ring supporters. The retention ring has free ends, and a retention tab comprising one of the plurality of ring supporters is especially formed for retaining the free ends of the retention ring. The ring supporters comprise a hook like portion and a lengthwise groove adjacent the hook like portion for a portion of the retention ring to be supported in. A tab like portion is provided adjacent the groove for maintaining the portion of the retention ring within the groove.
The retention tab provides a system for selectively varying a practical diameter of the retention ring when engaged with the ring supporters, to provide an adjustment of tightness between the wheel cover and a wheel diameter. The retention ring comprises a slender round bar formed into a circle, a first free end of the ring being blunt and a second free end of the ring having a bend to form a finger. The retention tab has a first side having a slotted opening for receiving the blunt end of the ring and a stop for the blunt end to bear against. The retention tab has a second side having at least two adjacent finger slots for selective engagement with the finger end of the ring. The finger slots are arranged for receiving and securing the finger end of the ring the bend. The slotted opening and the finger slots are arranged at approximately a right angle with respect to one another. The second side of the retention tab further comprises a retaining tab and a groove supporting a portion of the second end of the ring before the bend and finger, and retaining the finger portion within a selected finger slot.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4458952 (1984-07-01), Foster et al.
patent: 4709967 (1987-12-01), Sakamoto
patent: 4822109 (1989-04-01), Feria
patent: 5161860 (1992-11-01), Sakane
patent: 5700062 (1997-12-01), Wang
patent: 5895166 (1999-04-01), Tsai
patent: 6099082 (2000-08-01), Wang
patent: 6139114 (2000-10-01), Wang
Liniak Berenato Longacre & White
Morano S. Joseph
Nguyen Long Bao
Rally Manufacturing Inc.
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