Multi-hub wheel assembly for motor vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9994070-B2
Application number	US-201615217175-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2016
Priority date	Jul 22, 2016
Publication date	Jun 12, 2018
Grant date	Jun 12, 2018

Abstract

Disclosed are wheel assemblies for motor vehicle powertrains, methods for making and methods for using wheel assemblies, and motor vehicles with wheel units each composed of a tire and a wheel assembly. For example, a multi-hub wheel assembly for a motor vehicle is disclosed. The motor vehicle includes a tire and a suspension component, such as a hub-and-bearing assembly, mounted to the vehicle body. The wheel assembly includes an outer wheel with an annular rim well attached to a central hub. The central hub mounts onto the vehicle's suspension component, e.g., via lugs and bolts, while the tire mounts onto the rim well. The wheel assembly also includes an intermediate hub with a deflection annular rim attached to a mounting base. The mounting base is attached to the outer wheel. The intermediate hub mounts inside a hollow core of the outer wheel, interposed between the central hub and the suspension component.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A wheel assembly for a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle including a vehicle body, a tire, and a suspension component mounted to the vehicle body, the wheel assembly comprising:
an outer wheel with a rim well attached to a central hub to define a hollow core, the central hub being configured to mount on the suspension component of the motor vehicle, and the rim well being configured to mount thereon the tire; and
an intermediate hub attached to the outer wheel and including a deflection rim attached to a mounting base, the intermediate hub being configured to mount inside the hollow core of the outer wheel interposed between the central hub and the suspension component, the deflection rim being configured to at least partially circumscribe the suspension component of the motor vehicle.

2. The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the deflection rim of the intermediate hub projects at an oblique angle from the mounting base.

3. The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the suspension component includes a steering knuckle, a control arm attaching the steering knuckle to the vehicle body, and a hub-and-bearing assembly configured to attach the steering knuckle to the outer wheel and the intermediate hub, and wherein the deflection rim of the intermediate hub is configured to circumscribe the hub-and-bearing assembly.

4. The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the mounting base of the intermediate hub is a disk-shaped toroid or a concave toroid.

5. The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the suspension component includes a hub-and-bearing assembly with a plurality of lugs onto which mounts the central hub of the outer wheel, and wherein the mounting base includes a plurality of apertures each configured to receive therethrough a respective one of the lugs and thereby mount the intermediate hub to the suspension component.

6. The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the rim well is attached to the central hub via a rim star, the rim well projecting inboard from the outer periphery of the rim star.

7. The wheel assembly of claim 6 , wherein the rim well, the central hub and the rim star are integrally formed as a single-piece unitary structure.

8. The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the deflection rim and the mounting base of the intermediate hub are integrally formed as a single-piece unitary structure.

9. The wheel assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outer wheel and the intermediate hub are integrally formed as a single-piece unitary structure.

10. A wheel assembly for a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle including a vehicle body, a tire, and a suspension component mounted to the vehicle body, the wheel assembly comprising:
an outer wheel with a rim well attached to a central hub to define a hollow core, the central hub being configured to mount on the suspension component of the motor vehicle, and the rim well being configured to mount thereon the tire; and
an intermediate hub attached to the outer wheel and including a deflection rim attached to a mounting base, the intermediate hub being configured to mount inside the hollow core of the outer wheel interposed between the central hub and the suspension component, wherein the deflection rim is annular and extends continuously around an outer periphery of the mounting base.

11. The wheel assembly of claim 10 , wherein the deflection rim of the intermediate hub projects at an oblique angle from the mounting base.

12. The wheel assembly of claim 10 , wherein the mounting base of the intermediate hub is a disk-shaped toroid or a concave toroid.

13. The wheel assembly of claim 10 , wherein the rim well and the central hub of the outer wheel are integrally formed as a single-piece unitary structure.

14. The wheel assembly of claim 10 , wherein the deflection rim and the mounting base of the intermediate hub are integrally formed as a single-piece unitary structure.

15. The wheel assembly of claim 10 , wherein the outer wheel and the intermediate hub are integrally formed as a single-piece unitary structure.

16. A wheel assembly for a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle including a vehicle body, a tire, and a suspension component mounted to the vehicle body, the wheel assembly comprising:
an outer wheel with a rim well attached to a central hub to define a hollow core, the central hub being configured to mount on the suspension component of the motor vehicle, and the rim well being configured to mount thereon the tire; and
an intermediate hub attached to the outer wheel and including a deflection rim attached to a mounting base, the intermediate hub being configured to mount inside the hollow core of the outer wheel interposed between the central hub and the suspension component,
wherein the outer wheel is fabricated from a first material having a first material strength property, and the intermediate hub is fabricated from a second material having a second material strength property that is greater than the first material strength property.

17. The wheel assembly of claim 16 , wherein the deflection rim of the intermediate hub projects at an oblique angle from the mounting base.

18. The wheel assembly of claim 16 , wherein the mounting base of the intermediate hub is a disk-shaped toroid or a concave toroid.

19. The wheel assembly of claim 16 , wherein the rim well and the central hub of the outer wheel are integrally formed as a single-piece unitary structure.

20. The wheel assembly of claim 16 , wherein the deflection rim and the mounting base of the intermediate hub are integrally formed as a single-piece unitary structure.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Saje Robert N
• Quigley Michael E
• Bryer Giles D

Classifications

• B60B2900/112

  Costs · CPC title

• B60B27/00 Primary

  Hubs (non-metallic B60B5/00; of high resiliency B60B9/00) · CPC title

• B60B3/004

  in the hub section · CPC title

• B60B3/02

  with a single disc body integral with rim · CPC title

• B60B2320/10

  Assembling; disassembling · CPC title