A DISC WHEEL FOR AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR APPLICATION

Abstract

The present invention provides a disc wheel with variable thickness for agricultural tractor application. According to an embodiment, a disc wheel with variable thickness includes an axle mounting area 201, an axle mounting radius area 202, a wheel weight mounting area 203 and a connection bracket mounting area 204, wherein said disc wheel includes maximum thickness at the axle mounting area 101 and at the connection bracket mounting area 204. The disc wheel 200 uses less material input for imparting high strength. Further, the disc wheel 200 with variable thickness prevents bolt hole failures by providing higher strength at a centre. The thickness from the axle mounting area 201 gradually decreases up to the end of the wheel mounting area 203 and matches the thickness at the connection bracket mounting area 204. The disc wheel 200 with variable thickness is achieved using flow forming process 402.

Claims

1. A disc wheel 200 with variable thickness for agricultural tractor and/or off road vehicle application comprising: an axle mounting area 201 having a thickness T; an axle mounting radius area 202 connecting to a wheel weight mounting area 203; a connection bracket mounting area 204 having a thickness T3 same as the thickness T of the axle mounting area 201; characterized in that, wherein said thickness of the disc wheel includes maximum thickness T at the axle mounting area 201 and T3 at the connection bracket mounting area 204; wherein said thickness T from the axle mounting area 201 gradually decreases up to the end of the wheel weight mounting area 203 and matches the thickness T3 at the connection bracket mounting area 204 using a flow form process 402; and wherein the thickness T2 of the wheel weight mounting area 203 is less than the thickness T1 of the axle mounting radius area 202 and the thickness T1 of the axle mounting radius area 202 is less than the thickness T of the axle mounting area 201.

2. The disc wheel 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said thickness T1 of the axle mounting radius area 202 is in a range of 0.65T-0.9T.

3. The disc wheel 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said thickness T2 of the wheel weight mounting area 203 is in the range of 0.4T-0.5T.

4. The disc wheel 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said disc wheel 200 with variable thickness prevents bolt hole failures by providing higher strength at the axle mounting area 201.

5. The disc wheel 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein tensile strength of the axle mounting area 201 is 300 to 800 MPa; wherein said tensile strength of a region between the axle mounting radius area 202 and the wheel weight mounting area 203 increase up to 50 MPa to 400 MPa.

6. The disc wheel 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said disc wheel is formed by flow form process and thereby provides variable thickness across disc profile without affecting the thickness T of the axle mounting area 201 and T3 the connection bracket mounting area 204.

7. A method for forming a disc wheel 200 using a flow forming process 402 comprising the steps of, spinning a square blank with or without hole in a circular mandrel 407; forming disc using flow forming process in the square blank 408; reducing thickness of the disc gradually from the axle mounting area 201 up to the end of the wheel weight mounting area 203 without affecting thickness of an axle mounting area and a connection bracket mounting area 409; and piercing and clipping edge of the formed disc 410.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures the use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical items.

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional uniform thickness disc profile, according to the prior art herein;

[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates a disc wheel profile for agricultural tractor application, according to an embodiment herein;

[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of a conventional uniform thickness disc profile and a novel disc wheel profile with variable thickness, according to an embodiment herein; and

[0025] FIG. 4 illustrates a comparison between methods for forming disc wheel using conventional process and flow forming process, according to an embodiment herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

[0027] As mentioned above, there is a need for a disc wheel with variable thickness for agricultural tractor application. The embodiments herein achieve this by providing a disc wheel with variable thickness with maximum thickness at a centre and gradually reduced thickness towards up to the mounting bracket area using flow form process. Referring now to drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown preferred embodiments.

[0028] In accordance with an embodiment, a novel disc wheel profile with variable thickness 200 for agricultural tractor application is illustrated in FIG. 2. The disc wheel profile with variable thickness includes an axle mounting area 201, an axle mounting radius area 202, a wheel weight mounting area 203 and a connection bracket mounting area 204. The novel disc wheel profile with variable thickness includes a maximum thickness at a centre (hereinafter as axle mounting area 201) and connecting bracket area 204.

[0029] According to an embodiment, the axle mounting area 201 extends to the wheel axis. The axle mounting radius area 202 is connected to the wheel weight mounting area 203. Further, the axle mounting radius area 202 has a same thickness as the connection bracket mounting area 204.

[0030] According to a preferred embodiment, the thickness from the axle mounting area 201 gradually decreases up to the end of the wheel weight mounting area 203 and matches the thickness at the connection bracket mounting area 204 using flow form process 402. The thickness of the wheel weight mounting area 203 is less than the thickness of the axle mounting radius area 202 and the thickness of the axle mounting radius area 202 is less than the thickness of the connection bracket mounting area 204. The disc wheel 200 with variable thickness uses less material input for imparting high strength. The disc wheel 200 with variable thickness prevents bolt hole failures by providing higher strength at the axle mounting area 201. The disc wheel 200 with variable thickness provides good stress distribution and reduces wheel weight.

[0031] According to an embodiment, the thickness of the disc wheel 200 includes a maximum thickness at the axle mounting area 201 and at the connection bracket mounting area 204. According to an embodiment, the thickness of the axle mounting radius area 202 is in a range of (0.65 to 0.9) T. According to an embodiment, the tensile strength of the axle mounting area 201 is 300 Mpa to 800 Mpa.

[0032] According to an embodiment, the thickness of the wheel weight mounting area 203 is 40% of the thickness of the axle mounting area 201 and the tensile strength may be increased due to flow forming process. Therefore, thickness of the wheel weight mounting area 203 is in a range of (0.4 to 0.5) T.

[0033] In an embodiment, the tensile strength of a region between the axle mounting radius area 202 and the wheel weight mounting area 203 can be increased 50 MPa to 400 MPa from raw materials strength.

[0034] In accordance with an embodiment, FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of a conventional uniform thickness disc profile 300 and a novel disc wheel profile with variable thickness. The thickness of the axle mounting area 101 is T. The thickness from the axle mounting area 201 gradually decreases up to the end of the wheel weight mounting area 203 and matches the thickness at the connection bracket mounting area 204 using flow form process 402.

[0035] According to an embodiment, thickness ratio from the axle mounting area 201 to the axle mounting radius area 202 is T to (0.65 to 0.9) T. The thickness ratio from the axle mounting area 201 to the wheel weight mounting area 203 is T up to (0.4 to 0.5) T.

[0036] The input material for the spinning operation is in square form with less width than the final component. Spinning process achieves the thickness reduction and as well as increases its width and length to the final dimension.

[0037] FIG. 4 illustrates a comparison 400 between methods for forming disc wheel using conventional process and flow forming process, according to an embodiment. The disc wheel 200 with variable thickness is formed by flow form process and thereby provides non-uniform thickness across disc profile. The method for forming a disc wheel in a conventional process 401 comprising the steps of, spinning a round blank 403/a obtained from square blank 403, the circular disc 403/a is spinned to achieve the profile in a circular mandrel 404, forming a shape for the wheel disc using disc forming 405, piercing and clipping edge of the disc formed during disc forming 406. Conventionally for spinning the disc, round shaped blanks are taken to spin the material and extend the diameter in outward direction. The square shaped disc such as agricultural wheel may result in huge material waste in getting the final product by this conventional process. The present invention paves the way for innovative process design to achieve the variable thickness disc by almost negligible material waste.

[0038] According to an embodiment, the method for forming a disc wheel using a flow forming process 402 comprising the steps of, spinning a square blank with or without hole in a circular mandrel 407; forming disc using flow forming process in the square blank 408; reducing thickness of the disc gradually from the axle mounting area 201 up to the end of the wheel weight mounting area 203 without affecting thickness of an axle mounting area and a connection bracket mounting area 409; and piercing and clipping edge of the formed disc 410.

[0039] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.