FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to automotive vehicles, and more particularly to a composite wheel assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Vehicle wheel assemblies have taken on more geometric spoke shapes, multiple colors, and have been reduced in material thickness to enhance the driving performance and appearance of modern, high performance vehicles. It is known to provide wheel assemblies having steel rims including a steel central hub, a steel outer barrel, and steel spokes extending between the central hub and outer barrel. It is further known to incorporate plated surfaces or a metal plated cladding of thin plastic over outboard surfaces of the steel rims to enhance their aesthetic appearance. Although the appearance of the wheel assemblies is enhanced by these plating and cladded surfaces, the strength and bending stiffness of the wheel assemblies is generally unaffected by their presence. As such, the steel material that forms the central hub, outer barrel and spokes of the rim provides the entirety of the strength and bending resistance required for the vehicle. Although the steel rim can be formed to meet the strength and bending resistance requirements, it comes at a cost, including increased weight (static weight), increased Mass Moment of Inertia (MMOI), and increased rotating mass. By focusing on the individual functions of each portion of a wheel assembly, the portions can be optimized to provide a lighter static weight, a lower mass moment of inertial, while providing aesthetically attractive wheels. The use of lightweight rim and center spoke components fashioned from high strength forged heat treated materials is such an example.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

This section provides a general summary of the present disclosure and is not intended to be interpreted as a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features, aspects and objectives.

It is an aspect of the present disclosure to provide a composite wheel assembly that addresses at least those issues discussed above with regard to known wheel assemblies.

In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a composite wheel assembly having a lightweight, aesthetically pleasing appearance whereby the center spoke portion is economical to change, and the design exhibits a long and useful life is provided.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a composite wheel assembly is provided including an annular fiber-reinforced barrel extending about a central axis about which the composite wheel assembly rotates. The annular fiber-reinforced barrel has a barrel inner surface facing the central axis and a barrel outer surface facing away from the central axis with at least one flange extending radially inwardly from the barrel inner surface. The annular fiber-reinforced barrel further has a metal central hub assembly having a central hub portion with a through opening that extends about the central axis and a plurality of support spokes extending radially outwardly from the central hub portion. The metal central hub assembly is attached to the at least one flange of the fiber-reinforced barrel. A wheel cladding is fixedly bonded to at least a portion of an outwardly facing surface of the metal central hub assembly.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the annular fiber-reinforced barrel is formed of a material including at least one carbon fiber, fiber-glass fiber, a basalt fiber.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the metal central hub assembly is formed from one of cast aluminum, forged aluminum, stamped aluminum, hydro-formed aluminum, cast magnesium, forged magnesium.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the at least one flange has a plurality of flange through openings and the metal central hub assembly has a plurality of hub openings configured in alignment with the flange through openings, and further including a plurality of fasteners extending into the flange through openings and into the hub openings and fixing the metal central hub assembly to the annular fiber-reinforced barrel.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the hub openings can be threaded blind openings.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the threaded blind openings can extend into a brake side of at least some of the support spokes.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the flange through openings can be provided having counter-bores and the fasteners can have threaded shanks configured for threaded engagement in the blind openings and enlarged tool receiving heads sized for receipt in the counter-bores.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an adhesive can be disposed in the counter-bores to block access (tamper resistant) to the enlarged tool receiving heads.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the hub openings can be provided as through openings.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a plurality of threaded nuts can be threaded onto threaded shanks of the fasteners, wherein the threaded nuts can be disposed between the metal central hub assembly and the wheel cladding.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the support spokes can extend radially outwardly from the central hub portion to free ends.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the support spokes can extend radially outwardly from the central hub portion to an annular band, wherein the annular band and the support spokes bound a plurality of turbine openings and the annular band abuts the at least one flange.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the wheel cladding can be permanently bonded to at least some of the support spokes.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the wheel cladding can be permanently bonded to at least a portion of the central hub portion.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the wheel cladding can cover a substantial entirety of the outwardly facing surface of the metal central hub assembly.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, cavities can be provided between the support spokes and the wheel cladding, and inserts formed of a light weight foamed material can be disposed within the cavities to eliminate mud and water entrapment.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the inserts can be permanently bonded to the metal central hub assembly using an adhesive selected from at least one of the following: 1K RTV, 2K RTV, 1K hot melt, epoxy, and 2K urethane.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a plurality of decorative members can be bonded to an outer surface of the wheel cladding.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the decorative members can be permanently bonded to the outer surface of the wheel cladding using an adhesive selected from at least one of the following: 1K RTV, 2K RTV, 1K hot melt, epoxy, and 2K urethane.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the wheel cladding has cladding spokes which can be permanently bonded to at least some of the support spokes, and wherein at least some of the plurality of decorative members can be bonded to the cladding spokes.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, at least some of the cladding spokes can have recessed pockets and at least some of the plurality of decorative members can be bonded in the recessed pockets.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the wheel cladding can be formed from one of a thermoplastic material, a thermosetting material, a carbon fiber or carbon fiber reinforced material, a fiber-glass material, a material reinforced with an aramid fiber, other fiber reinforced thermoplastic.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the wheel cladding has an outer surface and can include at least one of an ultraviolet light protectant, a metalizing treatment, texturing treatment, a paint over-coating, and a selective paint coating thereon.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the color of the outwardly facing surface of the wheel cladding can be different than a color of the barrel inner surface of the annular fiber-reinforced barrel.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the wheel cladding can be permanently bonded to the metal central hub assembly using an adhesive selected from at least one of the following: 1K RTV, 2K RTV, 1K hot melt, epoxy, and 2K urethane.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of constructing a composite wheel assembly is provided. The method includes providing an annular fiber-reinforced barrel extending about a central axis about which the composite wheel assembly rotates, with the annular fiber-reinforced barrel having a barrel inner surface facing the central axis and a barrel outer surface facing away from the central axis with at least one flange extending radially inwardly from the barrel inner surface. Further, providing a metal central hub assembly having a central hub portion with a through opening extending about the central axis and a plurality of support spokes extending radially outwardly from the central hub portion. Further yet, attaching the metal central hub assembly to the at least one flange of the fiber-reinforced barrel; and fixedly bonding a wheel cladding to at least a portion of an outwardly facing surface of the metal central hub assembly.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the annular fiber-reinforced barrel including at least one of: carbon fibers, fiber-glass fibers, or basalt fibers.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the wheel cladding being formed of one of a thermoplastic material, a thermosetting material, a carbon fiber material, a carbon fiber reinforced material, a fiberglass material, an aramid fiber reinforced material, a fiber reinforced thermoplastic material, a fiber reinforced thermoset material.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the metal central hub assembly being formed via one of the following: forging aluminum, stamping aluminum, hydro-forming aluminum, casting magnesium, forging magnesium.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the wheel cladding having at least one of a color and surface finish that contrasts with a color and surface finish of at least one of the annular fiber reinforced barrel and metal central hub assembly.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include bonding a plurality of decorative members on an outer surface of the wheel cladding.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the wheel cladding having a plurality of cladding spokes and providing recessed pockets in at least some of the cladding spokes and bonding decorative members in the recessed pockets.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include forming cavities between at least some of the support spokes and the wheel cladding and providing gap filling inserts in the cavities.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include injecting foam material in situ to form the vibration dampening inserts in the cavities.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include pre-forming foam material to form the vibration dampening inserts and then subsequently disposing the pre-formed inserts in the cavities.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the at least one flange having a plurality of flange through openings and the metal central hub assembly having a plurality of hub openings configured in alignment with the flange through openings, and further including extending a plurality of fasteners into the flange through openings and into the hub openings and fixing the metal central hub assembly to the annular fiber-reinforced barrel.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the hub openings as threaded blind openings.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the threaded blind openings in a brake side of at least some of the support spokes.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the flange through openings having counter-bores and providing the fasteners having threaded shanks configured for threaded engagement in the blind openings and having enlarged fastener receiving heads sized for receipt in the counter-bores.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include disposing an adhesive in the counter-bores to block access to the enlarged fastener receiving heads.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include providing the hub openings as through openings.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, the method can further include threading a plurality of threaded nuts on the threaded shanks of the fasteners, with the threaded nuts being disposed between the metal central hub assembly and the wheel cladding.

These and other objects, aspects and areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purpose of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

