RS1185U - ADDITIONALLY DECORATIVE VEHICLE WHEEL ALUMINUM WHEEL Wheel rim - Google Patents

Abstract

An additional ornamental protective rim of the vehicle wheel alloy wheel, characterized in that it comprises a substantially circular ring (2) from which a plurality of spaced mounting grips (3) are arranged and directed such that the protective rim (1) is mounted circumferentially circumferentially ( 4) the wheel rim (5) of the vehicle, wherein the ring (2) has a diameter D substantially corresponding to the diameter of the wheel rim, and that the ring (2) is essentially an arc-shaped cross-section, to make a substantially convex, rounded, outer , the convex surface (10), and opposite the concave, rounded, inner surface (11), directed so that it is at least partially supported by the peripheral outer circumference (12) of the rim (4) of the wheel, wherein the shape of the concave inner surface (11) may be chosen to be substantially corresponding to the outer surface of the rim and where a plurality of mounting grips (3) are arranged at equal distances about the circumference of the ring (2), where the ring (2) may various cross-sections and which may be formed of a single piece of material, inexpensively durable and suitable for casting, such as durable rigid plastics, with suitable materials including but not limited to ABS (acrylic nitrile butadiene styrene), PVC (polyvinyl) chloride) acetal, acrylic, nylon, phenylene oxide, polycarbonate, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, polysulfonate, styrene, urethane and vinyl plastics and where the outer surface of the ring may be coated with a layer of chromium, paint, or other decorative and potentially protective material, and may and the entire protective rim (1) is formed as one unit in one casting process by injection of a material such as plastic, where the protective rim (70) is designed to have a ring portion (71) and a series of gripper parts (72) formed simultaneously with a ring portion of of the same material and wherein the first outlet (73) has a portion (74) of the tab extending substantially radially to the outside and axially backward to engender atio part of the tire, and the second outlet (75) has a tab (76) extending substantially radially inward and axially to the outside to engage with the rim portion, wherein the expensive outlet tab portion may be further adapted to have a sharpened the end point (77) and where the individual gripper can use a sharpened outlet (75) and a non-sharpened outlet (73). The application contains 2 more dependent claims.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The additional decorative protective rim of the aluminum wheel rim of the vehicle belongs to the decorative equipment of accessories of passenger and land motor vehicles, i.e. the equipment for protecting and/or decorating the wheel body, i.e. wheel rims of motor vehicles, more specifically rings specially adjusted to cover and protect wheel rims or sidewalls of tires (outer tires).

IntCl.<8>: B60B 7/01(2010.01)

TECHNICAL PROBLEM

Decorative car wheels on which tires are mounted have recently become very popular. These wheels are made of aluminum alloys and feature a special design and very smooth, highly polished surfaces. Such wheels can be very expensive. The protruding circular outer peripheral edge of the wheel, known as the "rim" is positioned to directly support the protruding circular inner edge of the tire (outer tire). The rim mounted in this way accepts careless contact with raised curbs on the sides of the road when parking. This contact can cause unsightly dents and scratches that appear on the protruding outer surfaces of the rim.

The additional decorative protective rim of the aluminum wheel rim of the vehicle, according to the present invention, should solve the problems described above by realizing the construction of a simple additional decorative protective rim that has the shape of a ring, with an opening in the middle and a series of rectangular grips with notches on the upper side, and which is easily mounted on the edges of the rim of decorative wheels made of aluminum alloys, which should change their appearance, enlarge them, cover existing damages (if exist) and to protect the edges of the new aluminum rim from potential impacts and damage to the rim, while the assembly should be easy to mount even by people who have no experience in mounting tires on wheels.

According to this invention, the additional decorative protective rim of the aluminum rim of the vehicle wheels also solves another technical problem, which consists in: how to install it as a separate part between the rim and the tire, to rest on the rim, without the tire additionally holding it in position and not allowing it to fall off the rim, without disturbing the balance of the wheel.

STATE OF THE ART

In the patent documentation, a number of solutions have been observed that describe various solutions of the protective rim for vehicle wheels, and as an example we will mention some described in American patent documents. For example: US 5,967,212 (Hameed) describes a plastic discontinuity ring that can be mounted on a wheel and that can serve as a protective liner placed over the rim. However, such an element also has certain disadvantages, the first of which is that this element can hardly properly fix the ring on the wheel. Hameed showed a portion of the rim (20 in FIG. 2) that extends axially inward between the tire and the wheel. However, placing a layer of some material between the tire and the wheel may result in inadequate contact between the tire and the wheel which may cause the tire to drop and/or slide off the wheel. Furthermore, the harsh environment of automobile wheels can quickly wear down plastic parts, as automobile wheels are often subjected to large changes in temperature, pressure, strong centrifugal forces at high vehicle speeds, shocks, water, and the like. Temperature changes can cause different expansions or contractions between the wheel rim and the rim because they are made of materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion. These differences in expansion/contraction can lead to separation and misalignment of the ring relative to the wheel.

As described in US Patent 5,071,684 (Gewecke) an extruded flexible decorative trim can be placed on a wheel by inflating the tire to substantially atmospheric pressure to insert a flexible tension member into the space between the tire (outer tire) and the rim. Pumping up tires in this way is a job more suited to mechanics in professional auto repair shops than ordinary amateur craftsmen.

Both solutions are rectangular extruded constructions that have breaks at the points where the ends meet, thus forming a ring. The existence of breaks can lead to the appearance of cracks, overlaps or jams, which can be imperceptible and lead to dirt or other malfunctions that reduce the protective ability of the device and can lead to it falling off the wheel, as well as problems with the balance of the wheel.

The solution protected by the Serbian small patent RS 1109 U (Radenković) was also observed, in which a ring for the protection of aluminum rims and tire sidewalls of vehicle wheels is shown, which includes a ring made by casting from polypropylene into which steel hooks are installed with the outer arm of the hook located outside the ring and with which the ring is placed on the edge of the rim, and between the rim and the sidewall of the tire. With its shape, the ring protects both the rim and the side of the tire from mechanical damage when moving over potholes, when installing new tires, when parking, and from other damage that would occur while driving.

This solution has a whole series of disadvantages and does not protect when mounting new tires or potholes. Polypropylene is a tough material, but it does not have good strength due to the metal hooks cast in polypropylene, so as such it "works" a lot, and at low temperatures because of this it cracks more easily, which is why it is not sufficiently resistant to shocks and temperature differences. Also, polypropylene in this form and density is stretchy, so that it shrinks when it is over-rolled and inflates and pulls the hooks with it, which causes it to fall off the rim, and lie unevenly on the rim. the solution does not specify the distances at which the steel hooks are placed, it is unclear how many are sufficient to hold the ring on the rim so that it does not fall down when hitting it, etc.. The lack of design solution of the steel hooks on this product consists in the fact that their shape can damage the rim during installation, but in fact they should protect it from damage. Likewise, the provided hooks do not have any notches, so the driver pushes them outwards, which leads to the fall of the protective ring, according to this solution, from the wheel. The hooks shown in this solution cannot keep the ring from falling off the wheel. Another disadvantage of this solution is that when placing the ring, the hooks are pulled in and clamped between the edge of the rim and the side of the pre-locker, but the pre-locker tends to push them out due to pressure, so since the hooks are not fastened anywhere and the dimensions of the hooks are not defined, if they go in a lot, i.e. if they are too long, it can lead to air leakage. In the second case, if the hooks are too short, they don't go in enough, there is nothing to hold them, ie. there is no overdrive pressure so the ring will fall off the wheel.

On the basis of the observed shortcomings of these most characteristic solutions, the aforementioned technical problems are defined, which are eliminated by this solution according to this invention, which will be described below.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

THE ESSENCE OF DISCOVERY

The additional decorative protective rim of the aluminum wheel rim of the vehicle, according to the present invention, is shown in several different embodiments as a detachable protective rim for the vehicle wheels comprising an essentially circular closed ring with an axial outer surface and an axial inner surface; a plurality of angularly spaced grippers extending inwardly from said inner surface; wherein each of said grippers comprises: an arcuate body with a first proximal portion attached to said ring, and a second end portion shaped and sized to be inserted between the wheel rim and the tire (outer tire).

In some embodiments, said ring is made of a substantially semi-rigid material suitable for injection molding, and said grippers are made of a solid material suitable for forging.

In some embodiments, said material suitable for injection molding is selected from the group consisting of plastics, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), acetal, acrylic, nylon, phenylene oxide, polycarbonate, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, polysulfonate, styrene, urethane, and vinyl plastics and combinations and mixtures thereof.

In some embodiments, said material suitable for forging is selected from the group consisting of stainless steels and their alloys.

In some embodiments, said end portion has a first surface facing to contact said tire and an opposite second surface facing said wheel rim.

In some embodiments, said first surface comprises a first substantially unidirectional element for increasing friction.

In some embodiments, said first surface includes a stud with recesses oriented to resist removal of said grippers.

In some embodiments, said second surface includes a second element for increasing friction.

In some embodiments, said second element for increasing friction contains a surface treated to be rough.

In some embodiments, said outer surface is convex and said inner surface is concave.

In some embodiments, said proximal portion is shaped and sized to have a first hollow opening that engages with the mating portion of said ring.

In some embodiments, said device further comprises at least one attachment element intended to detachably attach the first connector to said ring.

In some embodiments, said proximal portion is shaped and sized to have a first threaded opening.

In some embodiments, said additional decorative protective rim is selected from the group consisting of mirrors, plates, strips, light modules, reflectors, balance weights, and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, said ring and said grippers are formed as a single unit from the same material.

In some embodiments, it is provided that a protective assembly is added to the combination formed by the wheel rim of the vehicle and the tire mounted on it, wherein said assembly contains: an essentially circular closed ring having an outer and an inner surface; a plurality of angularly spaced grippers extending axially rearwardly and inwardly from said inner surface; each of said grips comprising: an arcuate body with a first proximal portion attached to said ring, and a second end portion inserted between said wheel rim and said tire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAFT PICTURES

In some embodiments, the protective means represents a new decorative design as shown in the drawings, where: Figure 1 shows a schematic view in perspective of an additional decorative protective rim of an aluminum wheel rim of a vehicle, according to an example embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 shows an oblique view of the decorative protective rim of the vehicle's wheel rim.

Figure 3 shows a side view of the decorative protective rim of the rim of Figure 2.

Figure 4 shows a rear view of the decorative protective rim of the rim of Figure 2.

Figure 5 shows a front view of the decorative protective rim of the rim of Figure 2.

Figure 6 shows a schematic side cross-section of a decorative protective rim attached to a vehicle wheel rim.

Figure 7 shows a schematic perspective view of one embodiment of the gripper.

Figure 8 shows a schematic perspective view of a variant embodiment of a gripper having threaded openings and roughness designed to increase friction.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the gripper of Fig. 8 taken along line 9-9 showing a one-way discharge for increased friction and serrated roughness.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic side cross-sectional view of an additional decorative protective rim rim with lugs having holes for threaded attachment.

Figure 11 shows a schematic side cross-sectional view of an additional decorative protective rim rim with a ring and lugs made of the same material in one piece.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE OF PERFORMANCE

Referring to the drawing and the views in Figures 1 to 7, the additional decorative protective rim 1 of the aluminum wheel rim of the vehicle essentially forms a circular ring 2 from which a plurality of mutually spaced mounting grips 3 are placed and directed so that the protective rim 1 is mounted along the circumference of the outer edge 4 of the wheel rim 5 of the vehicle. So the ring has a diameter D which essentially corresponds to the diameter of the wheel rim.

The ring 2 may have a variety of cross-sectional shapes and may be formed from a single piece of material, inexpensive, durable, and suitable for casting, such as a durable rigid plastic. Suitable materials include but are not limited to ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), acetal, acrylic, nylon, phenylene oxide, polycarbonate, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, polysulfonate, styrene, urethane and vinyl plastics to name a few. Additionally, the outer surface of the ring may be coated with a layer of chrome, paint, or other decorative and potentially protective material.

The ring can be injection molded, rather than extruding, by making the ring to be a closed circle. In other words, a ring can be made without the discontinuity that occurs in non-closed circular rings. In this way, the protective lining can be made in such a way as to avoid the formation of an invisible crack at the break point, since the ring has a circumference smaller than the circumference of the rim to which it is connected. Furthermore, the absence of a break helps to avoid unintended jamming of the ring, when the two ends of a broken ring are joined or overlapped, since the ring has a circumference greater than the circumference of the rim to which it attaches.

As shown in Fig. 6, the ring 2 has a substantially arcuate cross-sectional shape, to form a substantially convex, rounded, outer, convex surface 10, and an oppositely concave, rounded, inner surface 11, directed to bear at least partially on the peripheral outer rim 12 of the wheel rim 4. Further, the shape of the concave inner surface 11 can be chosen to substantially match the outer surface of the rim and thus enable close fitting of the ring to the rim along the contact points for tighter engagement and thus greater protection. Most surfaces are rounded to avoid areas where dirt can collect.

As described above, a plurality of mounting lugs 3 are spaced around the circumference of the ring 2, extending substantially axially rearward and inwardly to thereby engage the wheel rim. The grippers can be equally spaced to maintain the rotational balance of the guard rim. Although eight lugs are shown, the assembly allows for the use of a different number of lugs depending on factors such as cost, lug width, and the strength of coupling desired between the rim and the wheel rim.

As shown primarily in Figures 6 and 7, each assembly gripper 3 has a substantially solid most commonly arcuate plate body 30 of a thickness T of between about 1 millimeter and about 3 millimeters, separating an arcuate, convex, upper surface 31 from a substantially parallel, arcuate, concave, lower surface 32. The body has a first proximal ring engagement portion 33 and an opposite end portion 34 directed, shaped, and sized to be inserted and held in place by friction between the rim 4 of the wheel and the tire 6 mounted on the wheel. The body can be made from a single piece of solid, rigid and forged material, such as rolled or pressed stainless steel, or from solid rigid plastic.

The grippers 3 can be precisely positioned and automatically connected to the ring 2 at the time of its formation. This is done by positioning the grippers so that their closer part 33 extends into the ring mold. When the material is injected into the mold to form the ring body, the cast material flows through the holes and fills the series of holes 37 for engagement in the grippers. When the material hardens, the so-hardened material remains in the openings forming the intermediate joints 38, which permanently secure the gripper to the ring.

Each lug may be further adapted to provide increased friction by construction 40 formed as a series of tabs 41. The lugs 41 are directed to provide substantially unidirectional friction and thus prevent the lugs from being pulled out when they are caught between the rim 4 and the tire 6. The lugs may be made by sawing the lugs and simultaneously cutting substantially U-shaped slots through the plate body from the upper surface through the body to of the lower surface to form a tab 42 of the material itself, which is then bent outwards, towards the eventual location of the tire material. The end of the tab 43 is then directed to "bury" into the tire material and more firmly if the gripper is pulled out thus preventing such movement. Alternatively, one or more tabs may be bent inward to engage the surface of the wheel. Other structures that increase friction known from the state of the art can also be used.

As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the gripper 50 can be further adapted so that its upper surface 51 has a one-way friction-enhancing structure such as tabs 53 similar to those shown in the embodiment of Figure 7, and the lower surface 52 has a roughness 54 (shown as cross-hatching in the drawing) provided to increase friction with the wheel rim. Part 55 of the upper surface may be roughened similarly or in some other way. Many types of roughening such as scoring, etching, and/or scraping can be used. As shown in Figure 9, the bottom surface 52 of the gripper can also be roughened to provide increased friction in one direction. This can be achieved if the roughening is carried out to give a saw-like structure 56 in cross-section.

As shown in Figure 10, the catch 60 can be further adapted to provide means for attaching and detaching the various attachment parts 61 to the protective rim while attached to the wheel. Such parts may include but are not limited to reflectors, panels, tapes such as fluorescent or colored self-adhesive paper or textile pieces, light modules, and other decorative or useful parts such as wheel balance weights or curb sensors. The attachment means may comprise each mounting gripper by adapting it to have a threaded opening 62 aligned with a passageway 63 directed to engage with a suitably threaded threaded portion of a screw 64 extending from the connection portion 61. The passageway may also extend beyond the end portion 66 of the gripper toward the bottom 67 of the passageway. The passage preferably has a closed end of the opening to reduce confusion and to prevent the threaded portion of the bolt passing through the passage from contacting and potentially damaging the wheel rim. The passage can be made to have a diameter similar to the hole and have its thread aligned with the hole. Alternatively, the passage can be made larger to allow the screw to pass through without substantial engagement.

As shown in Figure 11, the protective rim 70 may be formed from a single piece of moldable material, such as plastic. The protective rim has an annular part 71 similar to the embodiment of Fig. 1 and a series of gripper parts 72 formed flush with the ring part of the same material. In this way, the entire protective rim can be made as a single unit in a single injection molding process. It should be noted that some machining must be done after casting in order to shape parts of the structure that are not completely and accurately cast. In this embodiment, the first outlet 73 has a tab portion 74 that extends substantially radially outward and axially rearward to engage the tire portion, and the second outlet 75 has a tab portion 76 that extends substantially radially inward and axially outward to engage the rim portion. The tab portion of the second outlet can be further adapted to have a sharpened end point 77 for better gripping of the wheel surface. Due to the different materials typically used for wheel rims and tires, a single gripper may use a sharpened recess 75 and a non-sharpened recess 73 as shown.

The purpose of the presented examples of implementation and explanation is to inform experts in the subject area about the constructions that can be realized by applying an additional decorative protective rim of the aluminum wheel rim of the vehicle. that the upper part of the rim 70 and parts 72 of the grips, which is located between the rim and the tire, can also have a variable and different shape depending on the rim and the tire, and that shape can be longer, sharper, thicker, thinner, i.e. different from the one shown in the picture, and that these modifications and variations are covered by the inventive idea and are included in the scope of the disclosed invention which is defined by the following patent claims.

Claims (3)

1. An additional decorative protective rim of an aluminum wheel rim of a vehicle, characterized by the fact that it includes an essentially circular ring (2) from which a plurality of mutually spaced mounting grips (3) extend and are positioned and measured so that the protective rim (1) is mounted along the circumference of the outer edge (4) of the wheel rim (5) of the vehicle, wherein the ring (2) has a diameter D that essentially corresponds to the diameter of the wheel rim, which the ring (2) has essentially an arcuate cross-sectional shape, to form a substantially convex, rounded, outer, convex surface (10), and a counter-concave, rounded, inner surface (11), oriented to at least partially abut the peripheral outer rim (12) of the rim (4) of the wheel, wherein the shape of the concave inner surface (11) may be selected to substantially correspond to the outer surface of the rim wherein a plurality of mounting grips (3) spaced equidistantly around the circumference of the ring (2), wherein the ring (2) may have various cross-sectional shapes and may be formed from a single piece of material, inexpensive, durable, and suitable for friction, such as a durable rigid plastic, suitable materials including but not limited to ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride) acetal, acrylic, nylon, phenylene oxide, polycarbonate, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, polysulfonate, styrene, urethane and vinyl plastics and where the outer surface of the ring can be coated with a layer of chrome, paint, or other decorative and potentially protective material, and the entire protective rim (1) can be made as a single unit in a single injection molding process of a material such as plastic where the protective rim (70) is made to have an annular part (71) and a series of gripper parts (72) shaped identically to the ring part of the same material and where the first discharge (73) has part of (74) tab extending substantially radially outwardly and axially rearwardly to engage the tire portion, the second outlet (75) having a tab portion (76) extending substantially radially inwardly and axially outwardly to engage the rim portion, wherein the tab portion of the second outlet may be further adapted to have a sharpened end point (77) and wherein the individual gripper may utilize the sharpened spout (75) and unsharpened outlet (73). 2. An additional decorative protective rim of an aluminum wheel rim of a vehicle, according to patent claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of mounting grips (3) are placed at equal distances around the circumference of the ring (2), extending essentially axially rearward and inwardly for engagement with the wheel rim, each mounting grip (3) having a substantially solid, usually arcuate plate body (30) with a thickness T of between about 1 millimeter and about 3 millimeters, separating an arcuate, convex, upper surface (31) from a substantially parallel, arcuate, concave, lower surface (32) where the body (30) has a first proximal portion (33) for attachment to the ring and an opposite end portion (34) directed, shaped and dimensioned to be inserted and held in place by friction between the rim (4) of the wheel and the tire (6) mounted on the wheel, wherein the body (30) can be made of one solid piece, of rigid and forged material, such as rolled or pressed stainless steel or of rigid rigid plastic, which grippers (3) can be precisely positioned and automatically connected to the ring (2) at the time of its formation by extending their proximal part (33) into the ring mold (2) where, during the injection of material into the mold to form the body of the ring (2), the cast material is projected through the holes and fills the series of holes (37) for engagement grippers, and the hardened material remains in the openings forming intermediate joints (38), which permanently fix the grippers to the ring. 3. An additional decorative protective rim of the Dumimjur rim of the vehicle's wheels, according to patent claims 1 and 2, characterized by the fact that the grips (3) in the second variant are made with a construction (40) with a series of tongues (41) made by cutting the grips and at the same time by cutting essentially shaped slots, U-shaped through the plate body from the upper surface through the body to the lower surface, in order to form the tongue (42) from the material itself, which is then bent towards the outside, towards the eventual place where the tire material is located, whereby the end (43) of the tongue is directed to "bury" in the tire material and where alternatively, one or more tongues can be bent inwards to engage with the surface of the wheel, i.e. in the third variant the structure (50) whose upper surface (51) has a construction that increases friction in one direction like the tongues (53), and the lower surface (52) has a derived roughness (54) whereby part (55) of the upper surface can be roughened where the roughening can be done as incising, etching, and/or scraping, and where the lower surface (52) of the gripper can also be roughened if the roughening is done so as to obtain a saw-like structure (56) in cross-section, as well as in an alternative variant with a structure (60) with a means (61) for attaching and detaching the various connecting parts to the protective rim while attached to point, where the parts (61) may include but are not limited to reflectors, panels, strips such as fluorescent or colored self-adhesive paper or textile pieces, light modules, and other decorative or useful parts such as wheel balance weights or curb sensors, wherein the attachment means (61) may include each mounting clip (3) by adapting it to have an opening (62) with a thread that is aligned with passage (63) directed to engage with the suitably threaded threaded part of the screw (64) which extends from the connecting part (61), and where the passage can extend behind the end part (66) of the grip towards the bottom (67) of the passage, and which passage can be made to have a diameter similar to the opening and that its thread is aligned with the opening, i.e. alternatively, the passage can be made larger to allow the passage of the screw without substantial engagement.