JPH0764161B2 - Center wheel block device for automobile wheels - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a center wheel lock device for a vehicle wheel (hereinafter simply referred to as a center lock), and
The present invention relates to a center lock that can reliably lock the center cap to the wheel of an automobile and has high security.

[Prior Art and Problems] A certain type of automobile wheel is equipped with a so-called center cap for hiding the wheel nut in order to enhance decorativeness, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicates a wheel, and a tire is fitted in a groove portion on the outer periphery of the wheel 1. The wheel 1 is
It is connected to the axle 2 by means of bolts 3,3 and wheel nuts 4,4 planted in the flange of the axle 2. On the outer side of the wheel 1, a cup-shaped aerofan 5 with a flange that conceals the wheel nut 4 and a cylindrical spinner 6 having a male screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof are coaxial with the axle 2 by, for example, screws. A center cap 7 having a cup shape with a flange and having an internal thread portion formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof is screwed to the outer peripheral portion of the spinner 6. Although the spinner 6 is shown as a separate member from the wheel 1 in FIG. 1, there is a spinner 6 formed integrally with the wheel 1, and the center cap 7
There is also one in which the diameter of the flange is made large enough to hide the wheel nuts 4, 4 and the aerofan 5 is omitted instead.

The conventional center cap is usually provided with a screw hole which penetrates the shaft perpendicularly to the axis of the axle 2, and is set on the spinner 6 by a set screw screwed into the screw hole. Therefore, the set screw may be loosened due to vibration during traveling of the vehicle, and as a result, the center cap may be loosened or may fall off the spinner 6.
There is an inconvenience.

Also, if the set screw is loosened with a screwdriver or the like and the center cap is removed, the wheel nuts 4 and 4 are exposed, so there is the inconvenience that the wheel is unprotected against theft.

[Object of the Invention]

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a center lock which can reliably lock the center cap onto the spinner and which has a high crime prevention property.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention forms a cylindrical spinner that is coaxially and integrally coupled to the outside of a wheel and has a male thread on the outer periphery, and an internal thread that is screwed to the male thread of the spinner on the inside. And a center cap having a cup-shaped main body, the inside of the main body of the center cap is provided with a dial shaft rotatably provided along the axial direction of the axle and the main body of the center cap. An operating knob that penetrates through and is connected to the outer end of the dial shaft, is connected to the dial shaft, and has one rotating plate with a notch formed in the outer peripheral portion, and is rotatably supported around the dial shaft. Another rotary plate having a notch formed on the outer peripheral portion, and a touch provided on the mutually opposing surfaces of the one rotary plate and the other rotary plate at the same distance from the rotary shaft so as to be engageable with each other. On the outer side of the rotary plate, the guide plate is movably guided in the radial direction of the rotary plate and is urged outward, and the inner end straddles the plurality of rotary plates and the outer peripheral edge of the rotary plate. A dial lock having a latch body facing these with a gap maintained is provided, and on the other hand, at the portion of the inner peripheral surface of the spinner facing the latch body when screwing of the center cap to the spinner is completed, a bus bar of the inner peripheral surface of the spinner is provided. A locking groove having a V-shaped cross section into which the outer end portion of the latch body is engaged is formed along the above.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 7a indicates a cup-shaped main body of the center cap 7, and an internal thread portion formed on the inner periphery of the main body 7a is a spinner 6 (3rd
It is as described above that it is screwed with the male screw portion formed on the outer peripheral portion of FIG.

A so-called dial lock 8 is provided inside the main body 7a. Since the structure of the dial lock 8 has been publicly known for a long time, the dial locks 8 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are connected to each other along the axial direction of the axle 2 (see FIG. 1). It has first and second rotating plates 11 and 12 which are provided and are rotatably supported around the axles, respectively.

That is, inside the bottom portion (vertical portion in FIG. 3) of the main body portion 7a of the center cap, the central portion was dug deeply from the outside (left side in FIG. 3) into a rectangle (see FIG. 4). The circular support block 9 and the lid plate 10 are bolted together,
A stepped dial shaft 13 coaxial with the axle 2 is rotatably supported so as to pass through the support block 9 and the cover plate 10. At the outer end of this dial shaft 13, the main body 7a
The operation knob 14 that penetrates the bottom of the
The dial shaft 13 can be rotated from the outside. Then, the rotation amount of the dial shaft 13 is determined by the index 15 (see FIG. 2) on the outer peripheral portion of the operation knob 1.
By matching the numbers marked on the outer surface of the bottom of the main body 7a, the number can be changed in 10 steps in the illustrated embodiment.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, at the inner end of the dial shaft 13 between the support block 9 and the cover plate 10, the first
The rotary plate 11 is integrally connected, and the second rotary plate 12 is rotatably fitted to the outer end of the dial shaft 13.
The first rotary plate 11 and the dial shaft 13 are coupled to each other, for example, by a shape engagement between a modified cross-section formed at the inner end of the dial shaft 13 and a modified hole formed in the first rotary plate 11. By doing.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a touch pin 16 usually called a tack is planted on the surfaces of the first and second rotary plates 11 and 12 facing each other. The respective radial distances of the touch pins 16 from the center of the dial shaft 13 are set to be equal, and the mutual rotation of the first and second rotary plates 11 and 12 enables the touch pins 16 and 16 to engage with each other. ing.

Furthermore, notches 17 are formed on the outer peripheral edge of each rotary plate 11 (12) at a predetermined angular interval from each touch pin 16. The angular interval between the notch 17 and the touch pin 16 is different for each dial lock by replacing the touch pin with the pin holes 18 and 18 having a large number (10 in FIG. 4) opened in the rotary plate 11 (12). It is connected.

With the above-described configuration, the dial lock 8 in the illustrated embodiment has the dial shaft 13 via the operation knob 14 from the outside regardless of the angular positions of the first and second rotary plates 11 and 12.
The first and second rotary plates 11 and 12 can be engaged with each other via the touch pins 16 and 16 by rotating at most one direction in one direction, and thereafter the operation knob 14 is rotated in the same direction. By aligning the index 15 (Fig. 2) with a predetermined number, the notch 17 of the second rotary plate 12 driven by the first rotary plate 11 can be arranged at a constant angular position, for example, in the upper portion in Fig. 4. . Then, when the operation knob 14 is turned in the opposite direction, the first rotary plate 11 rotates integrally with the operation knob 14 while leaving the second rotary plate 12 at the above-mentioned constant angular position, and the operation knob 14 is rotated. The notch 17 of the first rotary plate 11 can be aligned with that of the second rotary plate 12 by matching the index 15 of FIG.

On the other hand, a latch body 19 is guided outside the rotary plates 11 and 12 of the dial lock 8 so as to be movable in the radial direction of the rotary plates.

As shown in FIG. 5, the latch body 19 is, for example, a flat block body having a rectangular spring accommodating hole 19a formed in the center thereof, and the overall shape is a substantially square-shaped member. The lower end) is thinned by the meat being stolen from both sides, and the outer end has a ridge with a chevron cross section.

As shown in FIG. 4, the latch body 19 has a rectangular dial lock storage cavity 9a formed in the support block 9.
It is stored in a latch storage cavity 9b which is continuously provided via a slit portion, and is guided so as to be movable in the radial direction of the rotating plate.

In addition, a latch spring 21 as a compression coil spring is elastically mounted in the spring accommodating hole 19a (FIG. 5) of the latch body 19, and the elastic force of the latch spring 21 causes the latch body 19 to move outward. Being energized.

Furthermore, in order to prevent the latch body 19 from falling out of the latch storage cavity 9b, the latching projection 19 is provided on the inner end surface of the latch body 19.
b (Fig. 5) is integrally formed with the locking projection 19b.
Is slidably engaged with a guide slit 22 opening in the support block 9 (see FIG. 3).

When the ratchet body 19 is in the free state shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the inner end of the ratchet body 19 has the unnumbered slits that communicate the dial lock storage cavity 9a and the latch storage cavity 9b. It is slidably fitted to the portion and extends so as to straddle the first and second rotating plates 11 and 12 of the dial lock as shown in FIG. The inner end edge of the latch body 19 faces the first and second rotary plates 11 and 12 with a slight gap between them.

On the other hand, on the inner peripheral surface of the spinner 6, along the generatrix thereof, there is formed a locking groove 23 having a V-shaped cross section that engages with the outer edge of the latch body 19. The angular position of the locking groove 23 is set so as to be substantially aligned with the latch body 19 when the center cap 7 is completely screwed to the spinner 6. Although three locking grooves 23 are formed in FIG. 4, they are different from each other in consideration of an angle error at the start of thread cutting of the spinner 6 and the center cap 7, which are separate parts. Any of the locking grooves 23 can be aligned with the latch body 19 when completely screwed, and forming a plurality of locking grooves is not an essential constituent feature of the present invention. Further, the dimension of the latch body 19 in the radial direction of the rotating plate is such that when the latch body 19 is in the angular position where it is aligned with the locking groove 23 in the free state, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. body
It is desirable to set so that the outer end portion of 19 can be completely engaged with the locking groove 23.

[Work]

The center lock according to the embodiment of the present invention constructed as described above, when the center cap 7 is mounted, operates the dial lock 8 as described above to operate the notches 17 of the first and second rotary plates 11 and 12. , 17 are screwed to the spinner 6 while being angularly aligned with the latch body 19.

When the center cap 7 starts to rotate, it eventually becomes a latch body.
The outer end of 19 comes to engage with the spinner 6, and by these engagements, the latch body 19 is pushed inward,
At this time, since the inner end of the latch body 19 can be engaged with the notch 17 of the rotating plate, the outer end of the latch body slides in contact with the inner surface of the spinner 6, and periodically falls into the snap groove and the locking groove 23 to spinner. When the screwing of 6 and the center cap 7 progresses and both are completely screwed, the tip of the latch body 19 falls into the locking groove 23 and engages with it. Then, the operation knob 14 of the dial lock is appropriately turned to locate the notch of the rotary plate at an angular position not aligned with the latch body 19, and the locking operation of the center cap 7 is completed.

When the center cap 7 is rotated when the center cap 7 is locked, a wedge action is generated by the mutual movement between the tip end of the latch body 19 and the slope of the locking groove 23, whereby the rat body is moved. 19 is pushed inward against the elasticity of the latch spring 21, but immediately the inner end edge of the latch body 19 comes into contact with the outer peripheral edges of the rotating plates 11 and 12 and is locked by them. After that, the center cap 7 becomes unrotatable, and not only the removal of the center cap 7 but also the looseness thereof is effectively prevented. When removing the center cap 7, the dial lock 8 may be operated to align the notches 17 and 17 of the rotary plate with the latch body 19, and the operation opposite to the mounting of the center cap may be performed.

[Effect]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention is
Since the outer end of the latch body is engaged with the locking groove formed on the inner peripheral surface of the spinner, and the movement of the latch body is restrained by the outer peripheral edge of the rotary plate of the dial lock, the center cap of the center cap is Effectively prevent mutual rotation with respect to the spinner,
Therefore, loosening of the center cap can be completely prevented.

In addition, the dial lock cannot be aligned with the notch of the rotary plate and the latch unless the dial lock is operated by the lock number, and therefore the center cap cannot be turned, so the security device It also has various effects such as being able to function as.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing an example of the structure of an automobile wheel with a center cap with parts developed, FIG. 2 is a front view of a center lock according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 and FIG. 4 are partial sectional rear views, and FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the latch body. 1 ... Wheel, 2 ... Axle, 6 ... Spinner, 7 ...
... Center cap, 7a ... Main body, 8 ... Dial lock, 11,12 ... Rotating plate, 13 ... Dial shaft, 14 ... Operation knob, 16 ... Tatch pin, 17 ... Notch, 19 ... Latch Body, 23 ... Locking groove.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical spinner that is coaxially and integrally coupled to the outside of a wheel and has an external thread formed on the outer periphery thereof.
What has a center cap provided with a cup-shaped main body formed with an internal thread portion to be screwed with a male thread portion of a spinner inside, and to rotate inside the main body portion of this center cap along the axial line direction A dial shaft that is pos- sibly provided, an operation knob that penetrates through the main body of the center cap and is connected to the outer end of the dial shaft, and a rotary plate that is connected to the dial shaft and that has a notch in the outer periphery And is rotatably supported around the dial shaft,
Touches protrudingly provided on the other rotary plate having a cutout on the outer peripheral portion and the surfaces of the one rotary plate and the other rotary plate facing each other at the same distance from the rotary shaft so as to be engageable with each other. Between the pin and the outer side of the rotary plate, the pin is guided movably in the radial direction of the rotary plate and is urged outward, and the inner end straddles the plurality of rotary plates and between the outer peripheral edge of the rotary plate. A dial lock having a latch body facing these with a gap maintained is provided.On the other hand, on the inner peripheral surface of the spinner facing the latch body when the screwing of the center cap to the spinner is completed, A center cap lock device for a vehicle wheel, characterized in that a locking groove having a V-shaped cross section is formed along the outer end portion of the latch body.