Wheel component and method for producing a wheel component

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11298973-B2
Application number	US-201816129840-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2018
Priority date	Oct 25, 2017
Publication date	Apr 12, 2022
Grant date	Apr 12, 2022

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a wheel component (1, 20) for a wheel of a vehicle, having a hub (2), which can be connected in a rotationally secure manner to a hub flange of the vehicle and which at least partially comprises a metal material, a rim (4, 21) for receiving a tire of the wheel, and spokes (7) which connect the hub (2) to the rim (4, 21). The wheel component includes at least one spoke (7) including a spoke portion (8, 24), which comprises an injection-molded thermoplastic material, and further including a spoke reinforcement element (9, 25) at least partially embedded into the spoke portion. The spoke reinforcement element at least partially comprises a fiber-reinforced plastic material.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A wheel component, comprising:
at least one spoke comprising a spoke portion and a spoke reinforcement element at least partially embedded into the spoke portion, wherein the spoke portion comprises a thermoplastic material and the spoke reinforcement element at least partially comprises a fiber-reinforced plastic material;
a hub configured to be connected to a hub flange of a vehicle, wherein the hub at least partially comprises a metal material; and
a rim configured to receive a tire, wherein the at least one spoke connects the hub to the rim,
wherein the rim has a rim portion comprising a thermoplastic material and on which a reinforcement element is at least partially arranged,
wherein the rim reinforcement element at least partially comprises a fiber-reinforced plastic material, and
wherein a loop of the spoke reinforcement element projects out of the at least one spoke at a rim side and is guided around at least a portion of the rim reinforcement element.

2. The wheel component as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
a retention element arranged on the hub; and
wherein the spoke reinforcement element includes a loop projecting at a hub side from the at least one spoke, and
wherein the loop is guided around the retention element.

3. The wheel component as recited in claim 2 , wherein the spoke reinforcement element is constructed as a flexible tape.

4. The wheel component as recited in claim 2 , wherein a rounded portion of the retention element is arranged toward of a center of the hub.

5. The wheel component as recited in claim 1 , wherein the hub is substantially cylindrical.

6. The wheel component as recited in claim 5 , wherein at least one anchor element is embedded in the spoke portion and is arranged on an outer face of the hub.

7. The wheel component as recited in claim 6 , wherein the anchor element is substantially T-shaped.

8. The wheel component as recited in claim 1 , wherein:
the spoke portion is connected in a materially engaging manner to the spoke reinforcement element, and
the rim portion is connected in a materially engaging manner to the rim reinforcement element.

9. The wheel component as recited in claim 1 , wherein the spoke portion and the rim portion are connected to one another monolithically.

10. The wheel component as recited in claim 1 , wherein the at least one spoke is one of a plurality of spokes.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Baranowski Thomas
• Broda Maik
• Franzen Markus
• Rebmann Pascal

Classifications

• B60B2310/204

  by moulding, e.g. injection moulding, i.e. casting of plastics material · CPC title

• B60B3/10

  apertured to simulate spoked wheels · CPC title

• B60B2310/329

  by splicing, e.g. of ropes · CPC title

• B60B5/02

  made of synthetic material · CPC title

• B60B2900/115

  Complexity · CPC title