JP3092476B2 - Car wheels - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile wheel having a center cap.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Wheel caps for reducing air resistance and improving appearance include a full wheel cap that covers substantially the entire wheel, a half wheel cap that covers only a wheel nut, and a center portion of a wheel, that is, an axle. There is a center cap or the like that covers only the portion corresponding to. Of these, in an automobile wheel having a center cap, as shown in FIG.
The center cap 21 is engaged with the groove 20a provided in the wheel 20 from the inside of the wheel 20, and a missing ring-shaped spring member 22 is fitted into the groove 20a as shown in FIG. What fixes the center cap 21 to the wheel 20 is known.

[0003]

In a vehicle using an automobile wheel having the above-described center cap, the wheel removed from the axle is stored in the storage portion in which the spare wheel is stored after replacing the wheel by puncturing or the like. If so, it is necessary to remove the center cap from the wheel. To remove the center cap from the wheel, as shown in FIG. 5, the spring member is elastically deformed (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 6) using the tool of the driver 23 in the direction of arrow B, and the spring member is removed from the wheel. Must be removed. For this reason, it is necessary to add a dedicated tool for removing the center cap, a driver, and the like to the vehicle-mounted tool, and there is a problem that the cost of the vehicle-mounted tool is increased and the work of removing the center cap is troublesome.

Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and provides an automobile wheel from which the center cap can be easily removed without using a dedicated tool for removing the center cap or a tool such as a driver. The purpose is to:

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a hole for fitting a wheel cap is formed at a substantially central portion, a fitting groove is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the hole, and the fitting groove is formed in the fitting groove. An automobile wheel in which an outer peripheral edge of the wheel cap and a spring member that presses the outer peripheral edge toward the outside of the hole are fitted, and the spring member curves a linear member into a substantially defective ring shape. A handle is integrally formed at a portion extending from the spring member to the outside of the fitting groove, and the spring member is elastic when the handle is pulled without using a tool. It is characterized by being formed so as to be deformed and detachable from the fitting groove.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle wheel according to the first aspect, the spring member is formed by bending a plurality of convex portions protruding outside the fitting groove.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle wheel according to the first or second aspect, the handle portion extends from the spring member toward the inside of the wheel in parallel with the axle, and has a folded portion at the tip thereof. It is characterized by having been formed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle wheel according to the first or second aspect, the handle portion is bent from the spring member, extends toward the outside of the fitting groove, and is provided at the tip thereof. A folded portion is formed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle wheel according to the second aspect, the handle portion projects a pair of opposing projections of the plurality of projections to the outside of the fitting groove. The present invention is characterized in that both convex portions are formed so as to be held by a finger.

The invention according to claim 6 is based on claim 1, claim 2,
The vehicle wheel according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein an inner wall of the inner and outer side walls forming the fitting groove is formed to be inclined toward the inner side of the wheel. Features.

[0011]

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the handle portion is formed integrally with the spring member formed by bending the linear member into a substantially defective ring shape, and the handle portion is clamped without using a tool. , The spring member can be elastically deformed, and the spring member can be removed from the fitting groove.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the plurality of projections projecting to the outside of the fitting groove are formed to be bent in the spring member, the plurality of projections can securely press and fix the wheel cap to the wheel.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the handle portion extends inward of the wheel in parallel with the axle, the handle portion and the folded portion at the tip thereof do not relatively interfere with the axle or the like. It can greatly extend inside the wheel and is easy to pinch.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the handle portion can be bent from the spring member and extend toward the outside of the fitting groove, and the folded portion can be formed at the tip thereof, so that a simple shape can be obtained. In addition, it is easy to hold the folded portion at the tip.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the handle portion is formed so that a pair of mutually protruding protrusions of the plurality of protrusions protrude to the outside of the fitting groove and can be pinched by a finger. The part is relatively simplified, it is easy to hold, and the spring member is easy to remove from the fitting groove.

According to the invention of claim 6, since the inner wall forming the fitting groove is formed to be inclined toward the inside of the wheel,
The operation of fitting and disengaging the spring member into and from the fitting groove for attaching and detaching the wheel cap to and from the wheel is facilitated.

[0018]

[0019]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a wheel. A relief hole 3 is formed at a substantially central portion of the wheel 1 so that the tip of the axle 2 does not interfere with the wheel 1. At the tip of axle 2, axle 2
A hub nut 4 for mounting a hub (not shown) is screwed together, and a split pin 5 for preventing the hub nut 4 from dropping is inserted in a direction orthogonal to the axle 2.

Escape hole 3 near the outside of wheel 1
A groove 6 concentric with the wheel 1 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the wheel. Of both side walls of the groove 6, an inner wall 6a corresponding to the inside of the wheel 1 is formed to be inclined toward the inside of the wheel 1 so as to widen the opening of the groove 6.

The outer portion of the wheel 1 in the escape hole 3 is covered with a center cap 7 as a wheel cap to improve the appearance. This center cap 7
The outer peripheral edge 7a is engaged with the groove 6. further,
A spring member 8 that presses and fixes the center cap 7 against the outer wall 6 b of the groove 6 is fitted in the groove 6. As shown in FIG. 2, the spring member 8 is formed in a missing ring shape by a linear member. Further, the spring member 8 is formed with a plurality of convex portions 8a for pressing the center cap 7 by bending the spring member 8 toward the center of the spring member 8. The projection 8a protrudes toward the center of the spring member 8 to the extent that it presses the outer peripheral edge 7a of the center cap 7.

One end of the spring member 8 projects outside the groove 6 so that the spring member 8 does not interfere with the axle 2, the hub nut 4 and the split pin 5 when the spring member 8 is fitted into the groove 6, A handle portion 9 is formed extending substantially in parallel with the axle 2 toward the inside of the wheel 1 (see FIG. 1). The handle portion 9 has its folded end formed with a folded portion 9a to facilitate clamping. The other end has its tip bent back when the spring member 8 is fitted in the groove 6.

Next, attachment and detachment of the center cap 7 will be described. First, remove wheel 1 from axle 2,
The handle 9 is gripped by hand from the inside of the wheel 1 and pulled in the direction of the center of the wheel 1 (the direction of arrow A in the figure) to be elastically deformed. Further, when the handle portion 9 is pulled, since the slope is formed on the inner wall 6a, the spring member 8 can be easily removed from the groove 6. When the spring member 8 can be removed, the center cap 7 can also be removed from the wheel 1. When the center cap 7 is attached to the wheel 1, the outer cap 7 is engaged with the outer wall 6 b of the groove 6, and the spring member 8 is fitted into the groove 6. To fix the center cap 7.

Next, modified examples of the spring member are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. 3 and 4, the same members as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those used in FIG. 2, and the description thereof will be omitted. The main difference from the spring member of the above embodiment is that the shape of the handle portion is different.

As shown in FIG. 3, the handle portion 10 is formed by extending one end of the spring member 8 toward the center of the spring member 8 in a plane including the ring. The folded portion 1 is folded in the same manner as the above-described handle portion 9.
0a is formed. When the spring member 8 thus formed is removed from the groove 6, the handle portion 10 is gripped by hand and pulled toward the center of the wheel 1 to be elastically deformed. 6, the spring member 8 can be easily removed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the handle 12 is
It is formed by increasing the curvature of the convex portions 13 facing each other. The curvature of the projection 13 is such that the two projections 1
3 is set large enough to hold it with a finger. When the spring member 14 thus formed is removed from the groove 6, the two convex portions 13 are respectively held by fingers, and the respective convex portions 13, 13
Are elastically deformed in the direction of the center of the wheel 1 (the direction of arrow C in the figure), so that the spring member 1
4 can be easily removed. In the above-described embodiment, the handle portion may be formed by integrally providing a separate member which is easily held at the tip of the spring member.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the handle portion is integrally formed with the spring member formed by bending the linear member into a substantially defective ring shape. The spring member can be elastically deformed by pinching and pulling without using a tool, and this spring member can be easily removed from the fitting groove. For this reason, the spring member and the wheel cap can be easily removed only by using the hand of an operator without using a dedicated tool or a driver, and the handle portion is held and detached, so that the spring member is removed. A sudden jump can be prevented, and the safety is improved. In addition, since there is no need for a dedicated tool or driver for removing the wheel cap, there is no need to add a dedicated tool or driver to the vehicle-mounted tool, so that the vehicle-mounted tool can be rationalized and the cost can be reduced. Can also. The inventions of claims 2 to 6 also have the same effects as claim 1. In particular, claim 2 is that a plurality of protrusions can securely press and fix the wheel cap to the wheel. The spring member can be easily removed from the fitting groove because the spring member can largely extend to the inside of the wheel. Claim 4 allows the handle portion to have a simple shape and allows the spring member to be easily removed from the fitting groove. The spring member can be easily removed from the fitting groove because the inner wall is formed to be inclined toward the inside of the wheel. Therefore, the operation of fitting and detaching the spring member from the fitting groove is facilitated. You.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a central portion of a wheel showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a spring member.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a modification of a spring member.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a modified example of a spring member.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a central portion of a conventional automobile wheel.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a conventional spring member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 wheel 2 axle 3 relief hole 6 groove 7 center cap 8,14 spring member 9,10,12 handle 9a, 10a folded back

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A Sho 53-118247 (JP, U) JP-A 3-88901 (JP, U) JP-A 3-7002 (JP, U) JP-A 3-67201 (JP) (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60B ^7/ 00-7/06

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] A hole for fitting a wheel cap is formed at a substantially central portion, a fitting groove is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the hole, and an outer peripheral edge and an outer peripheral edge of the wheel cap are formed in the fitting groove. An automobile wheel fitted with a spring member that presses toward the outside of the hole, wherein the spring member is formed by bending a linear member into a substantially missing ring shape, and the fitting groove extends from the spring member. A handle portion is formed integrally with a portion extending to the outside of the device, and when the handle portion is pulled without using a tool, the spring member is elastically deformed and is detachable from the fitting groove. An automotive wheel characterized by being formed. 2. The spring member according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of convex portions protruding outside the fitting groove are formed to be bent.
An automotive wheel as described. 3. The vehicle wheel according to claim 1, wherein the handle extends from the spring member inwardly of the wheel in parallel with the axle, and has a folded portion formed at the tip thereof. . 4. The handle according to claim 1, wherein the handle is bent from the spring member, extends toward the outside of the fitting groove, and has a folded portion formed at the end thereof. Automotive wheels. 5. The handle portion is formed so that a pair of opposing protrusions of the plurality of protrusions are respectively protruded to the outside of the fitting groove, and the both protrusions can be pinched by a finger. The vehicle wheel according to claim 2, wherein 6. The wheel according to claim 1, wherein the inner side wall of the inner side wall and the outer side wall forming the fitting groove is formed to be inclined toward the inner side of the wheel. Or the vehicle wheel according to claim 5.