A rim for a vehicle wheel having an inner and an outer rim flange, an inner and an outer rim shoulder, a rim well with well base, inner well flank and an outer well flank, a transition section and an inner hump with a hump peak. The rim is having specific material thickness in the area of the transition section. In order to improve wheels in terms of weight minimization and noise development, the transition section comprises at least one stiffening section with a radially offset wall section, the maximum radial offset of which to the adjoining transition section is greater than the material thickness in the transition section. The stiffening section has a diameter, being equal or greater than the diameter on the well base and smaller than diameter of the hump peak.

The present invention relates to a method and to a device (10) for producing a wheel rim (1) for a vehicle wheel (3), and to a method for producing a vehicle wheel (3).

The invention relates to a method for producing a bent torsional profile comprising the following process steps: a) provision of a plate made of planar sheet metal, b) reshaping of the plate through the introduction of a bent trough oriented in the longitudinal direction of the plate in a central length portion (6) of the plate at a distance from the front edges of the plate, forming legs between the trough and the longitudinal edges of the plate, c) reshaping of the legs in such a manner that an open profile is created, d) reshaping of the legs in such a manner that a hollow profile is produced, wherein a longitudinal gap is formed between the two legs over the entire longitudinal extent thereof and wherein an air gap is created between the legs and the trough in the region of the trough, e) joining of the two legs over the entire longitudinal gap.

The present disclosure relates in general to a ball wheel, assembly and method of use for providing omni-directional rolling support to an article of manufacture such as, e.g., mechanics creepers, crates, carts, dollies, stretchers, gurneys, litters, beds, prams, transports, and luggage. One aspect of the present disclosure includes a ball wheel for a ball wheel assembly. The ball wheel comprises a roughly spherical shaped body having a plurality of features on an exterior surface of the body configured to assist the ball wheel in overcoming obstacles/debris in the surrounding environment and being used on uneven surfaces. Another aspect of the present disclosure includes a ball wheel assembly comprising the ball wheel. The ball wheel assembly may include a housing with an interior socket and shock absorber that allows the ball wheel to rotate therein while providing a cushioning effect. A still further aspect of the present disclosure includes a plurality of ball wheel assemblies mounted on an article of manufacture. Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is a method of using the ball wheel assembly on an article of manufacture. An intended purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a ball wheel and assembly for an article of manufacture that is designed to overcome obstacles/debris in the surrounding environment and being used on uneven surfaces via the combination of the cushioning effect of the shock absorber and the plurality of features of the ball wheel.

Inspection robots with swappable drive modules are described. An example inspect robot may include a first removeable interface plate on the side of a robot chassis. The first removable interface plate may couple a first drive module to an electronic board, within the chassis, where the electronic board includes a drive module interface circuit communicatively coupled to the first drive module. The example inspect robot may also include a second removeable interface plate on a side of a robot chassis. The second removable interface plate may couple a second drive module to an electronic board, within the chassis, where the electronic board includes a drive module interface circuit communicatively coupled to the second drive module.

Inspection robots and methods for inspection of curved surfaces with sensors at selected horizontal distances are described. An example of such an inspection robot includes a housing; a drive module with a wheel and a motor operatively linked to the housing, a plurality of sensor sleds, and a payload. The payload, which is coupled to the housing, may include a first and a second rail component, each with at least one connector, where the rail components are connectable at a first selected position of a plurality of discrete engagement positions. Each of the rail components may be structured to support at least one of the plurality of sleds where each of the plurality of sleds is coupled to the payload at a respective selected horizontal position such that the plurality of sleds are at selected horizontal distances from each other.

A hub for bicycles comprising a hub axle, a hub shell, a rotor, and a toothed disk freewheel including a pair of interacting freewheel components namely, a hub-side freewheel component and a rotor-side freewheel component. The freewheel components each comprise axial engagement components biased in the engagement position through a biasing device. The hub-side freewheel component is axially displaceably received in a threaded ring and non-rotatably coupled with the hub shell in the driving direction. The rotor-side freewheel component is non-rotatably provided at the rotor for transmitting rotational movement from the rotor to the hub shell in the engagement position of the two freewheel components. The threaded ring comprises a thread with a thread groove that extends along a helical line in an axial direction around a circumference of the threaded ring, where the helical line shows less than five full revolutions around the circumference of the threaded ring. The thread is screw-connected with a thread of the hub shell.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide manufacturing methods for a wheel rim, a spoke and a steel wheel and a steel wheel formed by the methods. The methods includes that: a wheel rim/a spoke blank is heated in a heating furnace, and the heated wheel rim/the heated spoke blank is transferred onto a hot press. A temperature of the wheel rim/the spoke blank being required to be kept above a required temperature in a process of transferring the heated wheel rim/the heated spoke blank to the hot press. Then the wheel rim/the spoke blank is formed in the hot press. A formed wheel rim and a formed spoke are connected to product a steel wheel.

A method for producing a drop centre rim and to a drop centre rim for vehicle wheels of commercial vehicles. The rim has a plurality of zones, which form an inner rim flange and an outer rim flange, an inner steep-tapered bead seat and an outer steep-tapered bead seat and a rim drop centre with a drop centre base, an inner drop centre flank and an outer drop centre flank between the steep-tapered bead seats, wherein one of the zones is provided as a disc attachment region for a wheel disc, and the drop centre rim has at least one partial zone with a reduced wall thickness relative to the other zones. It is envisaged that at least one of the steep-tapered bead seats, preferably both steep-tapered bead seats, has/have a section with a wall thickness reduction of more than 20% relative to the wall thickness in the zone provided as the disc attachment region, wherein the wall thickness reduction is produced during one of the profiling steps.

A hubcap for a heavy-duty duty vehicle that includes mounting structure that is formed with and cooperates with a side wall of the hubcap to provide a stiff, rigid structure that enables non-cantilevered connection to a wheel hub. The mounting structure can be a plurality of elongated bosses circumferentially spaced about the side wall that are formed with corresponding elongated bolt openings to enable the non-cantilevered attachment to the wheel hub. The elongated bosses cooperate with the hubcap side wall to provide a stiffened or rigid structure between the elongated bolt openings for increased and more uniform clamping force on a sealing gasket between the hubcap and the wheel hub. The hubcap profile provides clearance for removal of an outboard mounted disc brake rotor in heavy-duty vehicle wheel end assemblies that include such rotor configurations. The hubcap may support simple mounting of a hub odometer.