Wheel for a motor vehicle

Abstract

A wheel for a motor vehicle comprises a rim having an outer radius and a wheel spider including a radially inner hub and a plurality of spokes extending from said hub towards said rim. At least one through-hole extends, with respect to the wheel axis, in a circumferential direction through at least one of said spokes. A radially outer edge of said through-hole or of an outermost of said through-holes is located at maximum at 75%, preferably at maximum at , of said outer radius of the rim measured at a wheel spider side of the rim.

Claims

1. A wheel for a motor vehicle, said wheel having a wheel axis and comprising: a rim having an outer radius, a wheel spider including a radially inner hub and a plurality of spokes extending from said hub towards said rim, and at least one through-hole extending, with respect to the wheel axis, in a circumferential direction through at least one of said spokes, wherein a radially outermost edge of said at least one through-hole is located at a distance from the wheel axis at maximum of 75% of said outer radius of the rim measured at a wheel spider side of the rim, wherein at least one of said plurality of spokes has a branched shape, said branched shape having a knot point and a plurality of webs, at least two webs of the plurality of webs extending from said knot point towards said rim, at least one web of the plurality of webs extending from said knot point towards said hub, wherein the at least one through-hole is formed in at least one inner web of the plurality of webs, the at least one inner web extending from said knot point towards said hub, and further including a separate at least one second through-hole formed in at least one outer web of the plurality of webs, the at least one outer web extending from said knot point towards said rim.

2. The wheel of claim 1, wherein the branched shape is a Y-shape having the knot point, the plurality of webs including an inner web extending from the knot point towards the hub and two outer webs extending from the knot point towards the rim.

3. The wheel of claim 1, wherein the knot point is located at a distance from the wheel axis amounting to between 30% and 60% of the outer radius of the rim.

4. The wheel of claim 1, wherein a maximum extension of said at least one through-hole in a direction of the wheel axis amounts to between 20% and 60% of a corresponding extension in the direction of the wheel axis of the at least one spoke at a location of the maximum extension of said at least one through-hole.

5. The wheel of claim 1, wherein the at least one through-hole is located along a neutral fiber of the spoke.

6. The wheel of claim 1, wherein the at least one through-hole is configured according to a substantially rectangular or trapezoidal shape having rounded corners.

7. The wheel of claim 1, wherein the at least one second through-hole is configured according to a substantially oval shape.

8. The wheel of claim 1, wherein a surface of at least one spoke of the plurality of spokes facing an adjacent spoke in a circumferential direction with respect to the wheel axis is at least partially formed with an undercut.

9. The wheel of claim 1, wherein said hub, said rim and said wheel spider are integrally formed.

10. The wheel of claim 1, wherein the wheel is a hybrid wheel, said rim and said wheel spider being made from different materials.

11. The wheel of claim 10, wherein the rim is made from fiber-reinforced plastics material.

12. The wheel of claim 10, wherein the wheel spider is made from a light metal or a light metal alloy.

13. The wheel of claim 1, wherein the wheel has less than eleven spokes.

14. The wheel of claim 1, wherein the at least one through-hole and the at least one second through-hole have different shapes.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to schematic drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wheel according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a plan view of the wheel of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the wheel of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken along line III-III in FIG. 2; and

(5) FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of a spoke of the wheel of FIGS. 1 to 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) In FIGS. 1 to 4, a wheel is designated by reference numeral 10. The wheel 10 has a wheel axis A. Furthermore, the wheel 10 comprises a hub 12, a rim 14 and five Y-shaped spokes 16. The hub 12 and the spokes 16 together form a wheel spider 18 of the wheel 10. In FIGS. 1 and 3, the wheel 10 is shown with its wheel spider side 10a oriented upwards.

(7) The hub 12 of the wheel 10 according to this embodiment may be locked to a wheel carrier (not shown) of a motor vehicle (not shown) by five screw bolt which may be inserted into five corresponding bores 12a provided in the hub 12.

(8) The rim 14 has a rim well 14a and two rim flanges 14b and 14c. The upper or wheel spider side rim flange 14b has an outer diameter D (see FIG. 2)

(9) As already mentioned, the spokes 16 are formed according to a substantial Y-shape having a branch or knot point 16a, a radially inner web 16b extending from the knot point 16a towards the hub 12 and two branch webs 16c extending from the knot point 16a towards the rim 14. The circumferentially outer surfaces 16d of the spokes 16, i.e. the radially inner web 16b and the branch webs 16c, are formed with an undercut 16e, whereas the circumferentially inner surfaces 16f of the two branch webs 16c of the spokes 16 are free of any undercut.

(10) Moreover, through-holes 16g and 16h are formed in the radially inner web 16b and the two branch webs 16c, respectively. These through-holes 16g and 16h, on the one hand, provide a resistance to the flow of heat generated by a breaking action from the hub 12 to the rim 14 and, on the other hand, provides an enlarged contact surface for heat exchange between the wheel 10, in particular the spokes 16, and the ambient air. Both effects contribute to protecting the bead seating 14d and the tire material from overheating.

(11) It should be noted that the through-holes 16g and 16h have a different shape. Whereas the radially inner through-holes 16g are configured according to a substantially rectangular or trapezoidal shape having rounded corners, the radially outer through-holes 16h are configured according to a substantially oval shape.

(12) Referring to FIG. 4, the radially outer corners 16g1 and the radially inner corners 16g2 of the radially inner through-holes 16g are rounded independently from each other. Moreover, the radially outer short edge 16g3 of the rectangle is located in close vicinity to the knot point 16a of the Y-shaped spoke 16.

(13) With respect to the radially outer through-holes 16h, it should be noted that the oval shape may have a rounded radially outer edge 16h1 and a rounded radially inner edge 16h2, the radially outer edge 16h1 being narrower than the radially inner edge 16h2, i.e. the tip of the oval form is oriented towards the rim 14. Moreover, the radially outer edge 16h1 is located at a distance d1 from the wheel axis A, which amounts at maximum to about 37.5, preferably at maximum to about , of the outer diameter D of the rim 12. Furthermore, the radially outer edge 16h1 is located on the neutral fiber F of the corresponding branch web 16c.

(14) Furthermore, the maximum extension x1 of the through-holes 16g and 16h (shown in FIG. 3 only for through-holes 16h) amounts to between about 20% and about 60% of the width x2 of the corresponding web 16b and 16c, respectively, at the place of the maximum extension of the through-hole.

(15) In this context, it should be added that the knot point 16a is located at a distance d2 from the wheel axis A amounting to between about 15% and about 30% of the outer diameter D of the rim 12.

(16) Although in the above-discussed embodiment, all spokes 16 are provided with a radially inner through-hole 16g and two radially outer through-holes 16h, it is also conceivable to design wheels in which at least some of the spokes have a smaller number of through-holes or even no through-holes at all.

(17) Although in the above-discussed embodiment, the wheel 10 is an integrally formed wheel in which the hub 12, the spokes 16 and the rim 14 are integrally formed, it is also conceivable that the wheel is a hybrid wheel in which the wheel spider comprising the hub and the spokes, on the one hand, and the rim, on the other hand, are made from different materials.

(18) Although in the above-discussed embodiment, the wheel 10 is adapted to be locked to a wheel carrier of the motor vehicle by five fastening bolts, it is also conceivable to design wheels which may be locked to the wheel carrier by a different number of fastening bolts, e.g. four fastening bolt, or by a center lock assembly.

(19) Although a wheel for a motor vehicle has been described above in particularity, modifications and alterations will occur to those upon reading and understanding the above description. The invention, however, is not limited to only the embodiments described above. Instead, the invention is broadly defined by the appended claims and the equivalents thereof.