US3066630A - Method for making wheel covers - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 4, 1962 e. A. LYON METHOD FOR MAKING WHEEL COVERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1960 INVENT-OR George fl/berf Lyon ATT RNEY Dec. 4, 1962 G. A. LYON 3,

METHOD FOR MAKING WHEEL COVERS Filed Feb. 25. 1960 2 Sheets$heet 2 INVENTOR G'eory e fl/berf Lyon A ORNEY United rates Patent @ffice 3 666 630 METHOD FOR Manse WHEEL covnns George Albert Lyon, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Lyon Incorporated, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 25, 196i), Ser. No. 11,078 7 Claims. (Cl. 113116) The present invention relates to improvements in a method for making wheel covers and more particularly concerns the provision in wheel covers of new and improved louvers useful in promoting air circulation through the covers in the turning of the covers during running of the associated wheels.

Vehicle wheel covers are desirably made from thin sheet metal stock die stamped and drawn into shape to provide the desired contours for the covers. The thin sheet metal of the covers, especially after drawing is possessed of substantial spring-back, so that when narrow portions of the cover member are further drawn into louver shape, and more especially a generally sinuous louver shape, there is an undue tendency to spring-back. If the louver sections are overdrawn so as to compensate for spring-back, there is undue likelihood of splitting of the material.

It is accordingly an important object of the present invention to produce louver formations on a thin drawn sheet metal wheel cover in a manner which practically eliminates spring-back.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a drawn sheet metal member tilted louver sections which are reinforced and set against spring-back.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method of providing thin sheet metal wheel covers with louvers.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an outer side elevational view of a wheel structure embodying features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary generally radial sectional detail view taken on the line 11-11 of FIGURE FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary enlarged plan view of a cover blank before louver sections are turned up in a portion of the blank;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view similar to FIG- URE 3 but showing the louvers after they have been shaped;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional detail view through apparatus for forming louvers in wheel covers and taken substantially on the line V-V of FIG- URE 6;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken substantially on line VI-VI of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary sectional detail view similar to FIGURE 6 but showing the die members separated as they appear just before bendingly shaping the louver sections of the cover disposed between the die members.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, a wheel cover member 10 constructed of thin sheet metal such as stainless steel, brass, or the like, is die press stamped and drawn to provide the same with a central crown portion 11 having annularly thereabout an intermediate portion 12 subdivided by a uniform annular series of generally radially extending but sinuous slots 13 into a series of narrow spoke-like sections 14 which are turned up to provide air circulation louvers. At its radially outer side, the

intermediate louvered annular cover portion 12 extends into an annular dished cover portion 15 having annularly thereabout an angular outer marginal cover portion 17 formed with an underturned flange 18 having cover retaining axially inward extension fingers 1? with turned short oblique radially and axially outward retaining terminals 24 In service, the cover 10 is adapted to be applied in ornamental covering, air circulation relation over the outer side of a vehicle wheel including a disk spider wheel body 21 having a peripheral attachment flange 22 attached to the base flange of a multi-flange, drop center tire rim 23. Suitable insets at circumferentially spaced areas of the attachment flange 22 provide air circulation openings 24 through the wheel. An intermediate generally axially outwardly extending flange 25 of the tire rim is engaged by the terminals 20 of the cover retaining fingers to retain the cover in press-on, pry-off attachment to the wheel. In the assembly with the wheel, a valve stem aperture 27 in the dished portion 15 of the cover is registered with a valve stem 28 carried by the tire rim. The construction and relationship are such that the air circulation louvers 14 of the cover are generally opposite the wheel openings 14 for effective air circulation through the wheel and the wheel cover.

Since one edge of each of the spoke louver sections 14 defining the air inlet louver slot opening 13 is tilted generally axially outwardly to face in one circumferential direction, it is desirable to finish such edge against sharp or raw cutting edges. Moreover, it is desirable to reinforce such tilted up edge in each instance since the tilted up margin of the louver spoke is especially vulnerable to damage upon contact with extraneous objects. Accordingly, at least the tilted up edges of the louver spokes 14 are provided with axially inwardly turned finishing and reinforcing flanges 29 respectively. Additional reinforcement for each of the louver spoke strips 14 is afforded by having the opposite, that is inwardly tilted edges also provided with axially inwardly turned reinforcing flanges 29. These reinforcing flanges 29 are preferably as short as practicable so as to avoid interference with air scooping and inward deflection, or air sucking, that is inspiration of air, from the inner side of the cover to be exhausted from the openings 13, depending upon the direction of rotation of the cover. During scooping in of air by the spoke louvers 14, the inturned flanges 29 on the inwardly tilted edges of the louver spokes assist in deflecting the inscooped air generally axially inwardly toward the wheel body 21 and the wheel openings 24.

As best visualized in FIG. 2, the louver spokes 14 extend in a generally radially and axially tilted disposition, with substantial axially outer end portions. of the louver spokes located on the wheel axialy outwardly beyond the tip of the terminal flange so as to be well situated with respect to the slipstream in the running operation of the associated wheel and rotation of the cover therewith whereby air is scooped in and directed toward the wheel openings 24. It may also be observed that by having the axially outer end portions of the louver spokes 14 of generally radially arched form improved air scooping or air inspiring action is attained depending on the direction of rotation of the cover. This curved form of the louver spokes is also advantageous in affording substantial rigidity therein which is improved by the conformably arched disposition of the reinforcing edge flanges 29.

A buffer rib 30 is provided at juncture of the crown portion 11 with the intermediate cover portion 12 and projecting annularly axially outwardly beyond the maximum axially outward projection of the tilted louver portions of the spoke louvers 14. Although the spoke louvers 14 are substantially rigid, they are possessed of some resilient deflectability so that should the buffer rib 30 press against a curb or the like there will be some axially inward yielding afforded by the spoke ribs 14 whereby to avoid damaging indentation or distortion of the cover.

In a desirable method of forming the louver spokes 14, the body of the cover member 10 is shaped into its final form with the intermediate annular portion 12 formed with a uniform annular and cross-sectional contour wherein the portion thereof to be formed into the tilted louver spokes may be of generally sinuous, ogee radial section. The slots 13 are then punched in the ogee contour section of the cover portion 12 and in a desirable form such slots are of sinuous shape substantially as shown in FIG. 3. Material surrounding and defining the slots 13 is bent axially inwardly relative to the cover body to provide the longitudinal edge finishing and reinforcing flanges 29. Thereafter, the louver spokes 14 are bent into the desired tilted louver form depicted in FIGURES 2 and 4.

Tilting, bending of the louver spokes 14 can be effectively accomplished in the die structure shown in FIG- URES 6. This includes a base member 31 which may be supported in any preferred manner upon the anvil of a die press and has an upstanding annular supporting rib portion 32 upon which the annular rib 30 of the cover member is engaged in inverted relation, that is with the axially outer side of the cover rib 30 engaging upon the supporting die member rib 32. Supported by the base member 31 about the upstanding supporting rib 32 thereof is an annular die ring member 33 having an upper surface cross-sectionally contoured to receive thereon the annular cover portion 12, the dished cover portion and the cover marginal portion 17, as the cover lies in inverted relation upon the lower die assembly comprising the members 31 and 33.

Coactively related to the lower die assembly is an upper die assembly which is adapted to be vertically reciprocably carried by the ram of a press and includes an inner holddown and guide member 34 having an annular depending holddown nose rib 35 constructed and arranged to engage within the channel of the cover rib to clamp the same against the lower die member rib 32. About the die member 34 is a relatively reciprocably guided ring die member 37 having the cover opposing lower face thereof shaped complementary to the opposing upwardly facing portion of the lower die member 33. Disposed about the ring 37 is a hold-down die portion 38 engageable against the inner side of the dished portion 15. The construction and arrangement is such that after the formed cover blank has been placed as shown in FIG. 5 upon the lower die assembly 31, 33, the upper die assembly is moved from a raised position into cover engaging position wherein the cover is clamped by the hold-down die portions and 38 while the relatively reciprocable die member 37 is in a raised position as indicated in dot dash outline in FIG. 5. Then, by driving of the die member 37 toward the underlying die member 33 bending, tilting of the louver spoke sections 14 is effected.

For accomplishing the louver spoke bending and tilting, the lower die member 33 is provided with upwardly opening generally radially extending groove cavities 39 having the desired tilted cross-sectional shape of the tilted spoke louvers, as best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7. Between the cavities 39 are upstanding ribs 40 which are dimensioned to fit within the slots 13 of the cover blank, thereby positively aligning the originally transversely, that is circumferentially, coplanar spoke sections 14 with the forming cavities 39, as shown in FIG. 7. Coactive with the forming cavities 39 are complementary male punch formations 41 on the lower forming face of the upper die member 37. While the die cavities 39 are defined by side walls which are opposed by the edge flanges 29 of the spoke sections 14, the punch ribs 41 are of a width to fit within the flanges 29 and for this purpose are narrower than the cavities 39 equal to about twice the thickness of the mate- 4 rial of the cover in the flanges 29 so as to afford clearance to accommodate the flanges 29 but to be in close enough relationship thereto so as to maintain the flanges 29 in substantially their original axial planes during the shaping operation on the spoke sections 14.

In operation, the cover blank 10 is placed upon the lower die assembly 31, 33 while the die assemblies are separated. At this time, the louver sections 14 are in a common circumferential plane as in FIGURE 3 and as shown in FIGURE 7. Concentricity of the cover blank with the lower die assembly is attained by engagement of the upstanding upper contour of the die ring 33 within the dished portion 15 of the cover. Proper registration 'of the spoke sections 14 is assured by engagement of the upwardly projecting registration and sizing ribs 40 between the louver shaping cavities 39 within the cover slots 13 as shown in FIG. 7. In this relationship, one edge of each of the spoke sections 14 is engaged within the reentrant corner at the high side of the shaping cavity 39 and the contiguous registration and sizing rib 40 in each instance.

As the upper die assembly closes down against the lower die assembly, the annular portions of the cover member radially inwardly and radially outwardly adjacent to the ends of the spoke sections 14, namely, the cover rib portion 30 and the adjacent solid part of the intermediate portion 12 of the cover at the radially inner side and the solid annular part of the dished portion 15 at the radially outer side, are gripped in firm clamped relation between the opposing upper and lower die parts and thus held against distortion. Thereafter, the shaping punch die member 37 is driven into louver shaping stroke relation to the lower die member 33, whereby the shaping punches 41 tiltably bend the spoke sections 14 from their original plane into the transversely tilted louver planes thereof as shown in FIGURE 6. During this tilting bending of the louver spoke sections 14, the side flanges 29 of the louver spoke sections are maintained in their original generally axial planes by the respective opposed side walls of the cavities and the punches. Since this involves some bending of the junctures of the flanges 29 with the respective louver spoke sections 14 some cold work hardening in addition'to the cold work hardening originally incurred in the initial formation of the flanges 29 further stiffens the flanges or at least the junctures thereof with the louver spokes.

As a result of maintaining the axial orientation of the finishing and reinforcing side flanges 29 of the spoke louvers 14 during the louver shaping operation wtih freedom from warpage or buckling of the flanges, springback is practically, if not absolutely, eliminated when the bending and sizing of the louver spokes has been completed by action of the dies and the dies opened for removal of the formed cover. This is highly desirable especially with the initially already substantially cold worked and hardened and thus fairly resiliently resistant character of the material of the spoke sections 14 before they are subjected to the louver bending, shaping action of the louver forming die members 33 and 37. By the present method, the louvers can be shaped directly to the ultimate position of each desired, whereas in the absence of the anti-spring-back relationship aiforded by the side flanges 29 it would be necessary to overbend the spoke sections 14 in order to compensate for springback and thus place the material of the spoke sections under additional and sometimes damaging strain. Furthermore, by the size-retaining action of the side flanges 29 substantially more uniform results are attained in the shape of the entire series of resulting louvers as compared with over-shaping to compensate for spring-back and the resultant variables caused by the inevitable range of differences in stretch, stress, hardness, gauge, and the like, present in any piece of die-formed or otherwise shaped rolled sheet metal stock. 7

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a method of making a sheet metal article such as a wheel cover, forming a series of spaced slots in a predetermined area of a sheet metal body member, forming material at the edges defining the slots into narrow flanges which project from one side of such area and in a predetermined angular relation to such side of the area, and bending the sections of said area between the slots into tilted louver relationship to one another and to the remainder of the body while maintaining said flanges in substantially said predetermined angular relation and substantially against warpage distortion to maintain the bendably tilted louvers against spring-back.

2. In a method of shaping an annular area of a sheet metal article such as a wheel cover with spoke-like tilted louvers, subdividing said annular area into a plurality of spoke sections of limited width with separating slots between the sections and annular continuous portions of the article connecting the spoke sections, forming side flanges on the edges of the spoke sections defining said slots and with the ends of the flanges connected to said continuous annular portions, holding said continuous annular portions against distortion and bending said sections into tilted louver relation to one another and to said continuous annular portions, and while thus bending the louver sections maintaining said flanges in predetermined angular relation to said continuous annular portions and against warpage distortion to maintain the bent louver spoke sections against spring-back from said tilted relation.

3. In a method of shaping a circular sheet metal member, including forming a circular body with an annular area thereof of predetermined width and in a predetermined circumferential plane, forming a series of slots across said area and thereby subdividing the area into separate sections connected at their ends to respective portions of the member beyond the ends of the slots, forming on at least one side of each of the sections a flange angular thereto and projecting from one side of the member and connected at opposite ends to said respective portions of the member to which the sections are connected, and bending said sections into tilted relation to said respective portions and with the flange sides tilted up relative to the opposite side from said one side to define louver-mouths with said flanges reinforcing and finishing the tilted up edges of the sections.

4. In a method of shaping a circular sheet metal member, including forming a circular body with an annular area thereof of predetermined width and in a predetermined circumferential plane, forming a series of sinuous slots across said area and thereby subdividing the area into separate sections connected at their ends to respective portions of the member beyond the ends of the slots, forming on at least one side of each of the sections a flange angular thereto and projecting from one side of the member and connected at opposite ends to said respective portions of the member to which the sections are connected, and bending said sections into tilted relation to said respective portions and with the flange sides tilted up relative to the opposite side from said one side to define louver-mouths with said flanges reinforcing and finishing the tilted up edges of the sections.

5. In a method of shaping a thin sheet metal article, forming an annular area of the article into sinuous crosssectional shape, forming a series of uniformly spaced slots across said annular area to subdivide the area into separate sections with the ends of said sections connected to annular portions of the members beyond the ends of the slots, forming on the same side of each of said sections a flange projecting in a predetermined angular relation thereto toward one side of said annular area and with the ends of the flanges connected to said portions beyond the ends of the slots, and while maintaining said annular portions against distortion, bending said sections substantially identically into tilted louver relation with the edges having said flanges tilted toward the opposite side of said area from said flanges, and. while bending said sections maintaining said flanges in said predetermined angular relation and against warpage distortion.

6. In a method of shaping a thin sheet metal article, forming an annular area of the article into sinuous crosssectional shape, forming a series of uniformly spaced sinuous slots across said annular area to subdivide the area into separate sections with the ends of said sections connected to annular portions of the member beyond the ends of the slots, forming on the same side of each of said sections a flange projecting in a predetermined angular relation thereto toward one side of said annular area and with the ends of the flanges connected to said portions beyond the ends of the slots, and while maintaining said annular portions against distortion, bending said sections substantially identically into tilted louver relation with the edges having said flanges tilted toward the opposite side of said area from said flanges, and. while bending said sections maintaining said flanges in said predetermined angular relation and against warpage distortion.

7. In a method of making thin sheet metal articles, shaping a sheet metal body with an annular area having annular portions of the body at each side of the area, forming slots across said area to thereby separate the area into sections of predetermined width connected at their ends to said portions of the body, forming along at least one common side of each of the sections a flange angularly disposed in predetermined relation to the circumferential plane of the area, and while maintaining the flange against buckling distortion and in said angular relation tiltably bending the associated section in each instance into louver form with bending of the juncture of the flange with the section to maintain said angular relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,780,433 McGregor Nov. 4, 1930 2,282,588 Lyon May 12, 1942 2,597,010 Lyon May 20, 1952 2,755,140 Lyon July 17, 1956 2,761,408 Lyon Sept. 4, 1956 2,776,170 Lyon Jan. 1, 1957 2,828,838 Lyon Apr. 1, 1958

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