CA1118015A - Plastic and metal wheel trim assembly_ - Google Patents
Plastic and metal wheel trim assembly_Info
- Publication number
- CA1118015A CA1118015A CA000330533A CA330533A CA1118015A CA 1118015 A CA1118015 A CA 1118015A CA 000330533 A CA000330533 A CA 000330533A CA 330533 A CA330533 A CA 330533A CA 1118015 A CA1118015 A CA 1118015A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- body member
- metal
- plastic
- cover member
- wheel
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Landscapes
- Laminated Bodies (AREA)
Abstract
Abstract of the Disclosure A wheel trim assembly for attachment to a vehicle wheel has been provided in which a plastic body member is cov-ered with a thin metal cover member so that a composite wheel trim assembly results in which selected portions have a metal finish. The metal cover member not only furnishes the metal finish to the selected areas but also acts to reinforce the plastic body member so that thinner sections of plastic can be used. In one embodiment of the invention the metal cover member also can be used to secure the wheel retention system in position relative to the plastic body member.
Description
This invention relates to decorative wheel trim for vehicle wheels and more particularly to wheel trim in-cluding both plastic and metal components.
Automobile manufacturers are demanding wheel covers and wheel trim having intricate surface patterns some of which have very deep axially extending recesses so that it is not practical to make the wheel cover of stamped metal. As a result, such wheel covers often are made of plastic and sub-sequently are chrome plated at great expense to achieve a bright metal finish. Such plating often is not effective or needed where there are deep surface recesses and such areas usually are finished by painting.
To make a plastic wheel cover with bright metal fin-ished surface portions it is necessary to mold a cover of high quality plastic and to subsequently treat the plastic so that it will accept a coatiny of copper ancl thereafter a coating of nickel to prepare the part for plating with chromium. If any portion of the part is to have a brushed metal finish it is necessary to interrupt the plating operation just prior to the chrome plating step and conduct the brushing operation. There-after, the entire part is plated to give a bright metal finish.
It then becomes necessary to mask those areas which are to re-tain the bright metal finish and to subsequently paint the exposed unmasked portions. In contrast to this, metal wheel covers can be made of decorative metal and can have a bright metal finish without additional plating but if plating is de-sired it can be accomplished at far less expense than a corres-ponding plastic part.
It is an object of the invention to provide a wheel trim assembly for vehicle wheels which is a composite of -~1i36~1S
plastic and sheet metal and in which the metal is applied to selected areas of the outboard surface of a plastic wheel trim member to afford the finished metal surfaces.
Another ob~ect of the invention is to provide a wheel trim assembly for vehicle wheels made of a composite of plastic and metal members so that the plastic member affords the con-struction or reinorcing features of deep recesses and so that the metal member can be located to afford a bright metal finish in the areas of the wheel trim assembly which requires such finish~
The invention includes a wheel trim assembly of metal and plastic for attachment to a vehicle wheel in which a unitary disc-shaped body member of plastic material has axially outwardly disposed primary surfaces and deep recesses having axially extending walls forming secondary surfaces extending from adjacent the primary surfaces for reinforcing the body~member, the primary surfaces occupy a substantial portion of the area within the circumference of the body member, a metal cover member of this sheet metal having an ~:
outline and axially inward surface configuration corres- :
ponding to the shape of the primary surfaces, a fastening means coacting with the metal cover member and an inboard surface portion of the plastic body member to hold the cover member to the primary surface to reinforce the body member and pro-vide a decorative metal layer having sub-stantially all of its inner surface in contacting relation-ship with all of the primary surface area and leaving the secondary surfaces exposed~ and a retainer assembly attached to the body member for attachment -to a vehicle wheel.
These and other objects of the invention wi.ll be apparent from the following description and from the drawings in which.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the wheel trim assembly embodying the present invention;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a view of the wheel cover assembly seen in Figure 2 in an exploded condition;
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 illustrating another embodiment of the invention; and Figure 5 is a view of a portion of the wheel trim assembly seen in Figure 4 but at an enlarged scale and showing the wheel trim assembly in its assembled condition.
Referring to the drawings, the wheel trim assembly embodying the invention is designated generally at 10 and is intended for attachment at the outboard side of a vehicle wheel 12 to cover substantially the entire ou-tboard surface 14 of the wheel. The wheel trim assembly 10 includes a plastic body member 16, a metal cover member lg and an ornamental hub cap 20.
The wheel trim assembly also includes a retaining assembly 22 which acts to hold the trim assembly 10 in position on the wheel 12 of a vehicle.
The body member 16 is substantially disc-shaped and by way of example, has an annular outer portion 24 and an adja-cent annular area 26 that is formed with radially and axially extending walls 28. The walls 28 form recesses 30 therebetween.
Disposed radially inwardly from the radially extending walls 28 is a central annular area 32 merging with a hub recess 34.
Because of its varying contour and in particular because of the relatively deep recesses 30 adjacent to the A ~
~"~
walls 28, the plastic parts of this type become extremely dif-ficult to plate~ In particular, the recesses 30 usually are inadequately plated and for this and other aesthetic reasons, such recesses often are painted follo~ing the plating operation.
In the present instance, the plastic body member 16 has portions of its exterior surface covered with a separate part of metal instead of being plated~
Referring first to the embodiment of the invention seen in Figures 1 through 3, the plastic body member 16 has the central annular area 32 covered by the annular portion 36 of the cover 18. The radial inner edge of the annular portion 36 is formed with a flange 38 which extends into the hub recess 34. The radial outer edge 40 terminates adjacent the radial inner ends of the walls 28, The metal cover member 18 can be a metal stamping of very thin metal which can be plated.
The metal cover member 18 is held relative to the plastic body member 16 by the hub cap 20 which by way o~ example~
may be made of plastic material and subsequently plated. The hub cap 20 has a plurality of uniformly spaced bosses 42 that are adapted to be received in recesses 44 in the plastic body member 16. Screws 46 pass through openings 48 in the body mem-ber and are threadably engaged with the bosses 42 on the hub cap 20 so that the latter presses~the cover member 18 into engage-ment with the plastic body member 16.
The retaining assembly 22 by which the wheel trim assembly 10 is held in position on the wheel 12 includes a plu-rality of uniformly spaced retention elements 52 mounted on an alnular support member 54~ The support member 54 is held relative to the plastic body member 16 by screws 55~ The retention elements 52 are made of spring-like steel and have ~A
an edge 56 for bighting the engaging a generally axially ex-tending flange 58 of the wheel 12. As seen particularly in Figure 2, the wheel 12 is engaged by the elements 52 so that the wheel trim 10 is retained in position with the circumferen-tial edge 60 of the annular outer portion 2~ extending radiallyoutwardly to cover the entire wheel.
The embodiment of the invention seen in Figures 2 and 3 is particularly suited for making wheel trim assemblies in which the central annular area 32 between the hub 20 and the recesses 30 is to have a brushed or satin metallic finish.
If the wheel trim assembly were made entirely of plastic such satin finishing would require removing the part from the plat- !
ing process after the usual nickel coating has been applied and brushing the part. Thereafter the plastic member would be returned to the platlng operation for application of the chromium plating. In the present embodiment of the invention, the plating operation of the plastic body member can continue without interruption and the metal cover member or stamping 18 may be brushed and plated separately at a reduction in time 20 and cost. I
The method of making the wheel trim assembly lO is to mold the plastic body member 16 and to subsequently plate it. The metal cover member 18 may be stamped and plated and the retention assembly 22 each can be manufactured separately.
The plastic body member 16, the metal cover 18, hubcap 20 and retaining assembly 22 are then assembled by properly aligning the parts and fastening them together with screws 46 and 55.
Referring now to Figures ~ and 5 another embodiment L
of the invention is shown in which a wheel trim assembly 66 has a plastic body member 16 identical with that used in the prior embodiment. In this instance however! a different metal cover meT~ber 68 is used to cover the central annular portion 32 as well as the top edges of the radially extending walls 28 and the outer annular portion 2~, The cover member 68 is in the form of a metal stamping of this metal having an outline defined by the support surfaces offered by the body 16. The cover 68 has a central annular shaped portion 70 and an annular outer ring 72 ~oined to~ether by radially extending spoke like portions 74 which in the asse~bled condition of the wheel trim assembly are complementary to and rest on the top support sur-faces of the body 16 formed by the annular portion 24~ the radially extending walls 28 and the central annular area 32.
The hub cap 20 is held relative to the metal cover member 68 and plastic body member 16 by screws 46 in the same manner as in the embodiment seen in Fi.gures 2 and 3.
The wheel trim assembly 66 i.s held in position on a vehicle wheel by a retaining assembly 78 which includes à retain-ing ring 80 on which retaining elements 52 identical with those used in the prior embodiment of the invention are mounted for 2Q engagement with the axially extending wheel flange 58. The re-tention assembly 78 is held in position on the inboard or rear surface of the plastic body member by the cover member 68 which has a circumferential outer lip 82 which is bent around the outer edge of the plastic member 16 to press the ring 80 into tight engagement with the plastic body 16.
In the embodiment of the invention seen in Figures ~
and 5, all o~ the surfaces of the body 16 which are intended to have a bright metal finish act as a support surface and are covered by the cover member 68 leaving the axially e~tending recesses 30 unfinished and uncovered but surrounded by portions ~A -6-' : ' of the cover member. In this case, the wheel -trim assembly 66 can be manufactured without any plating of the plastic body member 16. ~s a consequence the body member 16 may be made of a lower grade plastic than would ordinarily be used and furthermore, painting operations can be completed before assembly without requiring masking or the painting can be completely eliminated by molding the plastic body member in the desired color~
In the method of manufacturing the wheel trim assembly 66, the plastic body member 16, the metal stamped cover member 68, the retainer assembly 78 and the hub cap 20 can all be formed separately. The cover member 68 can initially be held in position on the plastic body member 16 by the hub cap 20 held in position by screws 46. Thereafter the retainer ring 80 can be positioned at the inboard face of the plastic body member 16 and the lip 82 can be formed to hold the ring 80 in position.
P~
Automobile manufacturers are demanding wheel covers and wheel trim having intricate surface patterns some of which have very deep axially extending recesses so that it is not practical to make the wheel cover of stamped metal. As a result, such wheel covers often are made of plastic and sub-sequently are chrome plated at great expense to achieve a bright metal finish. Such plating often is not effective or needed where there are deep surface recesses and such areas usually are finished by painting.
To make a plastic wheel cover with bright metal fin-ished surface portions it is necessary to mold a cover of high quality plastic and to subsequently treat the plastic so that it will accept a coatiny of copper ancl thereafter a coating of nickel to prepare the part for plating with chromium. If any portion of the part is to have a brushed metal finish it is necessary to interrupt the plating operation just prior to the chrome plating step and conduct the brushing operation. There-after, the entire part is plated to give a bright metal finish.
It then becomes necessary to mask those areas which are to re-tain the bright metal finish and to subsequently paint the exposed unmasked portions. In contrast to this, metal wheel covers can be made of decorative metal and can have a bright metal finish without additional plating but if plating is de-sired it can be accomplished at far less expense than a corres-ponding plastic part.
It is an object of the invention to provide a wheel trim assembly for vehicle wheels which is a composite of -~1i36~1S
plastic and sheet metal and in which the metal is applied to selected areas of the outboard surface of a plastic wheel trim member to afford the finished metal surfaces.
Another ob~ect of the invention is to provide a wheel trim assembly for vehicle wheels made of a composite of plastic and metal members so that the plastic member affords the con-struction or reinorcing features of deep recesses and so that the metal member can be located to afford a bright metal finish in the areas of the wheel trim assembly which requires such finish~
The invention includes a wheel trim assembly of metal and plastic for attachment to a vehicle wheel in which a unitary disc-shaped body member of plastic material has axially outwardly disposed primary surfaces and deep recesses having axially extending walls forming secondary surfaces extending from adjacent the primary surfaces for reinforcing the body~member, the primary surfaces occupy a substantial portion of the area within the circumference of the body member, a metal cover member of this sheet metal having an ~:
outline and axially inward surface configuration corres- :
ponding to the shape of the primary surfaces, a fastening means coacting with the metal cover member and an inboard surface portion of the plastic body member to hold the cover member to the primary surface to reinforce the body member and pro-vide a decorative metal layer having sub-stantially all of its inner surface in contacting relation-ship with all of the primary surface area and leaving the secondary surfaces exposed~ and a retainer assembly attached to the body member for attachment -to a vehicle wheel.
These and other objects of the invention wi.ll be apparent from the following description and from the drawings in which.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the wheel trim assembly embodying the present invention;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a view of the wheel cover assembly seen in Figure 2 in an exploded condition;
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 illustrating another embodiment of the invention; and Figure 5 is a view of a portion of the wheel trim assembly seen in Figure 4 but at an enlarged scale and showing the wheel trim assembly in its assembled condition.
Referring to the drawings, the wheel trim assembly embodying the invention is designated generally at 10 and is intended for attachment at the outboard side of a vehicle wheel 12 to cover substantially the entire ou-tboard surface 14 of the wheel. The wheel trim assembly 10 includes a plastic body member 16, a metal cover member lg and an ornamental hub cap 20.
The wheel trim assembly also includes a retaining assembly 22 which acts to hold the trim assembly 10 in position on the wheel 12 of a vehicle.
The body member 16 is substantially disc-shaped and by way of example, has an annular outer portion 24 and an adja-cent annular area 26 that is formed with radially and axially extending walls 28. The walls 28 form recesses 30 therebetween.
Disposed radially inwardly from the radially extending walls 28 is a central annular area 32 merging with a hub recess 34.
Because of its varying contour and in particular because of the relatively deep recesses 30 adjacent to the A ~
~"~
walls 28, the plastic parts of this type become extremely dif-ficult to plate~ In particular, the recesses 30 usually are inadequately plated and for this and other aesthetic reasons, such recesses often are painted follo~ing the plating operation.
In the present instance, the plastic body member 16 has portions of its exterior surface covered with a separate part of metal instead of being plated~
Referring first to the embodiment of the invention seen in Figures 1 through 3, the plastic body member 16 has the central annular area 32 covered by the annular portion 36 of the cover 18. The radial inner edge of the annular portion 36 is formed with a flange 38 which extends into the hub recess 34. The radial outer edge 40 terminates adjacent the radial inner ends of the walls 28, The metal cover member 18 can be a metal stamping of very thin metal which can be plated.
The metal cover member 18 is held relative to the plastic body member 16 by the hub cap 20 which by way o~ example~
may be made of plastic material and subsequently plated. The hub cap 20 has a plurality of uniformly spaced bosses 42 that are adapted to be received in recesses 44 in the plastic body member 16. Screws 46 pass through openings 48 in the body mem-ber and are threadably engaged with the bosses 42 on the hub cap 20 so that the latter presses~the cover member 18 into engage-ment with the plastic body member 16.
The retaining assembly 22 by which the wheel trim assembly 10 is held in position on the wheel 12 includes a plu-rality of uniformly spaced retention elements 52 mounted on an alnular support member 54~ The support member 54 is held relative to the plastic body member 16 by screws 55~ The retention elements 52 are made of spring-like steel and have ~A
an edge 56 for bighting the engaging a generally axially ex-tending flange 58 of the wheel 12. As seen particularly in Figure 2, the wheel 12 is engaged by the elements 52 so that the wheel trim 10 is retained in position with the circumferen-tial edge 60 of the annular outer portion 2~ extending radiallyoutwardly to cover the entire wheel.
The embodiment of the invention seen in Figures 2 and 3 is particularly suited for making wheel trim assemblies in which the central annular area 32 between the hub 20 and the recesses 30 is to have a brushed or satin metallic finish.
If the wheel trim assembly were made entirely of plastic such satin finishing would require removing the part from the plat- !
ing process after the usual nickel coating has been applied and brushing the part. Thereafter the plastic member would be returned to the platlng operation for application of the chromium plating. In the present embodiment of the invention, the plating operation of the plastic body member can continue without interruption and the metal cover member or stamping 18 may be brushed and plated separately at a reduction in time 20 and cost. I
The method of making the wheel trim assembly lO is to mold the plastic body member 16 and to subsequently plate it. The metal cover member 18 may be stamped and plated and the retention assembly 22 each can be manufactured separately.
The plastic body member 16, the metal cover 18, hubcap 20 and retaining assembly 22 are then assembled by properly aligning the parts and fastening them together with screws 46 and 55.
Referring now to Figures ~ and 5 another embodiment L
of the invention is shown in which a wheel trim assembly 66 has a plastic body member 16 identical with that used in the prior embodiment. In this instance however! a different metal cover meT~ber 68 is used to cover the central annular portion 32 as well as the top edges of the radially extending walls 28 and the outer annular portion 2~, The cover member 68 is in the form of a metal stamping of this metal having an outline defined by the support surfaces offered by the body 16. The cover 68 has a central annular shaped portion 70 and an annular outer ring 72 ~oined to~ether by radially extending spoke like portions 74 which in the asse~bled condition of the wheel trim assembly are complementary to and rest on the top support sur-faces of the body 16 formed by the annular portion 24~ the radially extending walls 28 and the central annular area 32.
The hub cap 20 is held relative to the metal cover member 68 and plastic body member 16 by screws 46 in the same manner as in the embodiment seen in Fi.gures 2 and 3.
The wheel trim assembly 66 i.s held in position on a vehicle wheel by a retaining assembly 78 which includes à retain-ing ring 80 on which retaining elements 52 identical with those used in the prior embodiment of the invention are mounted for 2Q engagement with the axially extending wheel flange 58. The re-tention assembly 78 is held in position on the inboard or rear surface of the plastic body member by the cover member 68 which has a circumferential outer lip 82 which is bent around the outer edge of the plastic member 16 to press the ring 80 into tight engagement with the plastic body 16.
In the embodiment of the invention seen in Figures ~
and 5, all o~ the surfaces of the body 16 which are intended to have a bright metal finish act as a support surface and are covered by the cover member 68 leaving the axially e~tending recesses 30 unfinished and uncovered but surrounded by portions ~A -6-' : ' of the cover member. In this case, the wheel -trim assembly 66 can be manufactured without any plating of the plastic body member 16. ~s a consequence the body member 16 may be made of a lower grade plastic than would ordinarily be used and furthermore, painting operations can be completed before assembly without requiring masking or the painting can be completely eliminated by molding the plastic body member in the desired color~
In the method of manufacturing the wheel trim assembly 66, the plastic body member 16, the metal stamped cover member 68, the retainer assembly 78 and the hub cap 20 can all be formed separately. The cover member 68 can initially be held in position on the plastic body member 16 by the hub cap 20 held in position by screws 46. Thereafter the retainer ring 80 can be positioned at the inboard face of the plastic body member 16 and the lip 82 can be formed to hold the ring 80 in position.
P~
Claims (4)
1. A composite wheel trim assembly of metal and plastic for attachment to a vehicle wheel, comprising: a unitary disc-shaped body member of plastic material having axially outwardly disposed primary surfaces and deep recesses having axially extending walls forming secondary surfaces extending from adjacent said primary surfaces for reinforcing said body member, said primary surfaces occupying a substantial portion of the area within the circumference of the body member, a metal cover member of thin sheet metal having an outline and axially inward surface configuration corresponding to the shape of said primary surfaces, fastening means co-acting with said metal cover member and an inboard surface portion of said plastic body member to hold said cover member to said primary surface to reinforce said body member and provide a decorative metal layer having substantially all of its said inner surface in contacting relationship with all of said primary surface area and leaving said secondary surfaces exposed, and a retainer assembly attached to said body member for attachment to a vehicle wheel.
2. The wheel trim assembly of Claim 1 wherein said means fastening said cover member to said support member include flange on said cover member adjacent to the circumferential edge to engage the rear face of said body member.
3. The wheel trim assembly of Claim 1 wherein said recesses are arranged uniformly and symmetrically between the outer circumference and the axial hub of said body member.
4. The wheel trim assembly of Claim 1 wherein said means fastening said cover member to said support member in-cludes a hub cap engaging said cover member and being fastened to said support member.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000330533A CA1118015A (en) | 1979-06-26 | 1979-06-26 | Plastic and metal wheel trim assembly_ |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000330533A CA1118015A (en) | 1979-06-26 | 1979-06-26 | Plastic and metal wheel trim assembly_ |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1118015A true CA1118015A (en) | 1982-02-09 |
Family
ID=4114546
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000330533A Expired CA1118015A (en) | 1979-06-26 | 1979-06-26 | Plastic and metal wheel trim assembly_ |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1118015A (en) |
-
1979
- 1979-06-26 CA CA000330533A patent/CA1118015A/en not_active Expired
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| US4295685A (en) | Plastic and metal wheel trim assembly | |
| US6286908B1 (en) | Vehicle wheel cover retention system and method for producing same | |
| CA2129396C (en) | Vehicle wheel construction | |
| US7416260B1 (en) | Vehicle wheel cover retention system and method for producing same | |
| US6517168B1 (en) | Wheel cover having interchangeable turbine pocket inserts | |
| AU726496B2 (en) | Vehicle wheel assembly and method of making same | |
| US6068350A (en) | Universal vehicle wheel | |
| JP2002362102A (en) | Composite wheel assembly and manufacturing method for the same | |
| JP3847792B2 (en) | Wheel applique and locking device | |
| US4842339A (en) | Vehicle wheel cover and assembly | |
| US6502308B1 (en) | Vehicle wheel cover retention system and method for producing same | |
| US4133583A (en) | Wheel and trim assembly | |
| US5664845A (en) | Vehicle wheel cover retention system and method for producing same | |
| US4659148A (en) | Vehicle wheel construction | |
| US6238007B1 (en) | Retaining article for wheel ornamentation and method of making | |
| US7494192B2 (en) | Vehicle wheel rim flange and overlay assembly | |
| USRE42140E1 (en) | Vehicle wheel cover retention system and method for producing same | |
| US6443531B1 (en) | Method for manufacturing a wheel cover | |
| US4511183A (en) | Steel wheel with decorative cover | |
| CN100398341C (en) | Wheel cover for automotive vehicles | |
| US5340201A (en) | Snap-on dress wheel simulator | |
| US20240010027A1 (en) | Vehicle wheel having multi-gloss finish | |
| CA1118015A (en) | Plastic and metal wheel trim assembly_ | |
| US6036280A (en) | Two piece vehicle wheel with press fit rim | |
| GB2051693A (en) | Vehicle wheel trims |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |