Flexible rim, half-height rim hub and hub assembly

Abstract

The utility model relates to a flexible rim, a half-height rim hub and an assembly of the flexible rim and the half-height rim hub. The vertical edge structure of the flexible rim is provided with a special wall thickness and a convex inverted buckle structure, and can extend to a tire bead seat; the half-height rim is provided with a groove back-off and knurling structure; the flexible wheel flange and the hub assembly are matched in an inverted buckling mode and fixed through adhesive, the flexible wheel flange is made of specific components such as TPEE, and the material cost is low. The half-height rim is provided with the hollow structure through extrusion molding and then is welded into the closed ring, the production efficiency is high, and the production cost is low. According to the utility model, the reverse buckle is used for preventing falling off, increasing friction, buffering impact through a hollow structure, protecting the rim through a specific material, and ensuring braking safety through knurling; the flexible rim is good in color and luster, good in texture and more beautiful in appearance; meanwhile, after the tire is inflated, the assembly meets the GB / T 3487 boundary dimension standard, and popularization is convenient.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model belongs to the technical fields of wheels and aircraft wheels, and relates to a flexible rim, a semi-high rim hub and a hub assembly used in cooperation with pneumatic tires. Background Art

[0002] The flexible rim hub technology provided in the existing literature (2023202408683) exposes many problems in actual tests: (1) Assembly problems between the flexible rim and the semi-high rim

[0003] 1. Difficult assembly and risk of damage

[0004] There is a positive and negative deviation of about 0.25 m in the diameter direction of the semi-high rim. When the flexible rim with a skeleton structure is not easily stretched and deformed, it is extremely difficult to install the flexible rim with a skeleton structure onto the semi-high rim, and it is easy to damage the flexible rim and the semi-high rim hub, resulting in low assembly efficiency.

[0005] 2. Problem of flexible rim detachment

[0006] Similarly, in the case of the above-mentioned machining deviation in the diameter of the semi-high rim, if the flexible rim with a skeleton structure is easily stretched and deformed, the flexible rim is likely to detach and fly out when the wheel rotates and is under force; the flexible rim without a skeleton structure is more easily stretched and deformed and is also more likely to detach and fly out when the wheel rotates and is under force.

[0007] (2) Testing problems of common elastomer materials

[0008] 1. Deficiencies of common rubber materials

[0009] When the vehicle mass is large and the impact speed during the tire bulge test is high, common rubber materials are prone to fracture due to low notch tear strength, impact strength and extrusion fracture strength, resulting in tire blowout or bulge, and the wheel rim of the hub will also be damaged. Moreover, the appearance color and luster of colored rubber are poor, affecting the appearance effect. Although hydrogenated nitrile rubber performs well in terms of notch tear strength, impact strength and extrusion fracture strength, it is expensive (the material price exceeds 80 yuan per kilogram of RMB).

[0010] 2. Defects of common TPU or CPU polyurethane materials

[0011] Common TPU or CPU polyurethane materials have poor low-temperature resistance. For example, in the tire bulge test at -35°C, the TPU material is prone to fracture. Common TPU or CPU polyurethane materials will produce large creep when compressed at 80°C or 100°C, resulting in poor dimensional stability of the flexible rim.

[0012] It has been found through testing that when a flexible wheel rim is subjected to a large impact force, it will undergo elastic deformation, plastic deformation and then break in sequence, and in this process, a crack will first be generated, and then the crack will expand until it breaks completely. Studies have shown that increasing the elastic and plastic compression deformation of the flexible wheel rim, improving the material's impact strength, tear strength and extrusion fracture strength, can help protect the tire, wheel hub and flexible wheel rim from being damaged during an impact. After the tire is normally installed and inflated, the outer diameter and shape of the flexible wheel rim, half-high wheel hub and wheel hub assembly of the utility model meet the GB / T 3487 dimensional standard, making it easy to promote and use. In response to the above problems, the utility model has made a series of improvements. Utility Model Content

[0013] The utility model solves the technical problem by adopting the following technical scheme: a flexible rim, which is installed on the half-height rim of a half-height rim hub, has a vertical edge structure, and the vertical edge structure is located between the tire and the corresponding half-height rim in the direction of the hub axis; the flexible rim has at least one material, and its hardness does not exceed 30% of the hardness of the half-height hub rim material, and is characterized in that the wall thickness of the vertical edge structure of the flexible rim close to the axis center of the half-height rim is greater than the wall thickness away from the axis center, and a raised undercut structure is formed at the contact surface between the vertical edge structure and the half-height rim.

[0014] Optionally, the size of the undercut part of the raised undercut structure is ≥0.5 mm.

[0015] Optionally, the vertical side structure extends downward to form a bead seat for fixing the tire.

[0016] Optionally, a hollow structure is provided on the flexible rim outside the outer circumference of the semi-high rim, and the flexible rim is formed by an extrusion molding process and then wound into a closed ring.

[0017] Optionally, the flexible rim is made of thermoplastic material or thermosetting material.

[0018] Optionally, the thermoplastic material contains TPEE material, or contains TPU material.

[0019] Optionally, the thermoplastic material containing TPEE is blended with at least one of fibers, silica particles, POE, and EPDM.

[0020] A half-high rim hub, a flexible rim installed on the half-high rim of the half-high rim hub, the flexible rim having a vertical edge structure, the vertical edge structure being located between the tire and the corresponding half-high rim in the direction of the hub axis, and characterized in that a groove undercut structure surrounding the hub axis is provided on the half-high rim surface in contact with the flexible rim vertical edge structure.

[0021] Optionally, there are multiple protrusions and grooves on the semi-height rim surface in contact with the vertical side structure, and the protrusions and grooves are realized by physical knurling or chemical knurling processes.

[0022] A hub assembly composed of a flexible rim and a semi-height rim hub, the hub assembly is assembled by the semi-height rim and the semi-height rim hub, characterized in that the reverse buckling structure of the vertical side structure of the flexible rim cooperates with the reverse buckling structure of the groove of the semi-height rim; the flexible rim is fixed to the semi-height rim by an adhesive.

[0023] Optionally, the size of the buckled part of the reverse buckling structure of the protrusion is set between 0.5 mm and 2 mm. In order to play an anti-disengagement role and prevent the strength of the semi-height rim from being too low, it is preferably selected between 1 mm and 1.5 mm.

[0024] Optionally, the thickness of the vertical side structure is less than the thickness of the flexible rim outside the semi-height rim.

[0025] Optionally, when the wheel is rolling, the vertical side structure will be subjected to high-frequency pressure impact. The overall compression elastic modulus of the vertical side structure material is greater than that of the flexible rim material outside the semi-height rim, which is realized by a co-extrusion process; the compression deformation is small and the internal heat generation is small (a large internal heat generation will reduce the strength of the vertical side structure material and affect the impact performance).

[0026] Optionally, the hardness of the vertical side structure material is greater than that of the flexible rim material outside the semi-height rim. Generally, a higher hardness means better wear resistance.

[0027] Optionally, the friction coefficient of the vertical side structure close to the semi-height rim > the friction coefficient of the vertical side structure close to the tire. A coating with a larger friction coefficient is sprayed on the surface of the vertical side structure close to the semi-height rim, or the material of the vertical side structure close to the semi-height rim is different from that of the vertical side structure close to the tire, which is realized by co-extrusion.

[0028] When the wheel is rolling, the vertical side structure will be subjected to high-frequency pressure impact. The thickness of the vertical side structure is less than the thickness of the flexible rim outside the semi-height rim, which can reduce the compression deformation size of the vertical side structure, with small internal heat generation and good heat dissipation due to the small thickness; the larger thickness of the flexible rim outside the semi-height rim can increase the compression deformation size, which helps to buffer the impact force.

[0029] After the flexible rim is formed by an extrusion molding process, it is wound into a closed ring. The extrusion production efficiency is high and it can be combined into products with different circumferences; the flexible rim made of a thermoplastic material can be made into a closed ring by ultrasonic welding, high-frequency welding, or hot melt welding, or the two ends can be connected by setting inserts in the hollow position, and an air vent is reserved after connection to keep the air pressure in the hollow structure consistent with the outside.

[0030] The utility model provides mutually matching undercut structures on the flexible wheel rim and the semi-high wheel rim, and the groove undercut structure is in a "C" shape or a ">" shape; under the squeezing of the tire and the semi-high wheel rim, the flexible wheel rim can be effectively prevented from coming out, and the contact area of the side walls of the two is increased, providing greater friction and preventing slipping. The bead seat formed by the extension of the vertical side structure fixes the tire, and the elasticity of the flexible wheel rim can reduce tire noise and improve vehicle comfort.

[0031] The flexible rim needs to maintain a small deformation when subjected to a small pressure to support the tire, reduce internal heat, and ensure the stability of the tire force; it needs to maintain a large deformation when subjected to a large impact force to buffer the impact force, which places stringent requirements on the material. The hollow structure set on the flexible rim outside the outer circumference of the semi-high rim is located in the impact force area. When the wheel passes through a pit or a raised roadblock, the hollow structure can increase the compression deformation of the flexible rim and better protect the tire, the flexible rim and the semi-high rim. The interface shape of the hollow structure can be circular or non-circular.

[0032] The semi-solid adhesive is applied to the groove structure of the half-high rim and will not flow freely, making it easy to install and solidify after installation. The solidified adhesive will soften at high temperatures, making it easy to replace the flexible rim.

[0033] The reason why TPEE is selected among thermoplastic materials is that it has strong resistance to low and high temperatures among elastomers, and the creep generated by pressure at 80℃ and 100℃ is small; at the same time, TPEE material has high notch tear strength, impact strength, and extrusion fracture strength, which can better protect the flexible rim from being broken during the test, and the material price is cheap (the price of Sinopec Yizheng chemical fiber is about RMB 20 / kg, generally not more than RMB 30 / kg), and the color TPEE material has good color, good texture, and more beautiful appearance. TPEE can be modified, such as: TPEE and fiber, silica particles, EPDM, POE blending modification.

[0034] 1. Improvement of performance by adding a specific proportion of TPEE fiber and POE material:

[0035] 1. Higher impact strength

[0036] a. Energy absorption and dispersion mechanism: POE has a unique molecular structure, and the molecular chain is soft and elastic. When POE is added to TPEE, the flexible chain segments of POE can absorb and disperse the impact energy through their own deformation when impacted. Fibers have high strength and modulus. When the material is impacted, it can bear part of the impact force like a skeleton to prevent the expansion of cracks. For example, when impacted by external force, the POE chain segments undergo deformations such as stretching and bending, while the fibers maintain the stability of the overall structure inside the material. The synergistic effect of the two improves the overall impact strength of the material.

[0037] b. Role of the toughening phase: POE acts as a toughening phase in the blend system. It forms a multiphase structure with TPEE. The POE phase can initiate crazes and shear bands in the TPEE matrix. The generation of crazes absorbs energy, while shear bands can prevent the further development of crazes into cracks. The presence of fibers can further hinder the crack propagation because when the crack encounters fibers during propagation, it will be obstructed, thereby improving the material's ability to resist impact damage.

[0038] 2. Higher notched tear strength

[0039] a. Reinforcement effect of fibers: Fibers have a high tensile strength. After being added to TPEE, they form a reinforcement network inside the material. At the notch, when subjected to a tearing force, the fibers can bear part of the tensile force and prevent the further propagation of cracks. For example, in a fabric-like structure, the fibers are like yarns. Even when the surrounding TPEE and POE matrix are subjected to a tearing force, the fibers can still maintain a certain connectivity, thereby increasing the notched tear strength.

[0040] b. Synergistic effect of POE: The toughness of POE helps to absorb energy during tearing and reduce local stress concentration. It can fill some microscopic voids in the material, making the material structure more uniform. When acting together with fibers, it improves the material's ability to resist tearing at the notch.

[0041] 3. Reduction of internal heat generation under high-frequency pressure impact

[0042] Role of POE: Under high-frequency pressure impact, friction between TPEE molecular chains generates internal heat. POE molecular chains are flexible and have a low friction coefficient. When added to TPEE, the POE chain segments are interspersed between TPEE molecular chains, acting like a lubricant, reducing the mutual friction between TPEE molecular chains, and thus reducing the generation of internal heat.

[0043] 4. Better injection molding and extrusion fluidity

[0044] a. Contribution of POE to fluidity: POE has good fluidity and its molecular chains are flexible. When blended with 40D hardness TPEE, POE can reduce the melt viscosity of the entire blend. During injection molding and extrusion, the presence of POE reduces the degree of entanglement of the molecular chains of the entire blend, and the molecular chains can slide relative to each other more easily, just like adding a diluent to a high-viscosity TPEE melt, thereby improving the injection molding and extrusion fluidity of the material.

[0045] b. Influence of fibers: If the fibers are short in length and their surfaces are properly treated, they can act like ball bearings in the blend. During the melt flow process, the fibers can slide in the TPEE and POE matrices, reducing the friction between the melt and the die wall and helping to improve fluidity.

[0046] II. Improvement of properties by adding EPDM material to TPEE

[0047] Elasticity enhancement. EPDM has high elasticity and good flexibility. When blended with TPEE, the flexible molecular chain structure of EPDM can play a role in increasing flexibility in the blend system. TPEE itself is an elastomer, but the addition of EPDM can further improve the elastic recovery ability of the material, enabling it to return to its original shape more quickly after being deformed by an external force.

[0048] When a vehicle is turning, under the action of centrifugal force, the outer wheels of the vehicle are subjected to a large force. Under the action of centrifugal force, the pressure on the inner rim of the tire on the outer side of the vehicle increases, and the pressure on the outer rim decreases. Improving the elasticity of the TPEE material can cause the TPEE to rebound when the pressure on the rim decreases, maintain good friction in close contact with the tire, be beneficial to the handling stability of the vehicle, and at the same time can play a better sealing role.

[0049] When adding POE and fibers during the blending of TPEE and EPDM, the compatibility can be improved, the interfacial bonding can be enhanced, the dispersibility can be increased, and the tear strength can be improved. The density of TPEE is greater than that of POE and EPDM. After adding POE and EPDM to TPEE, the density decreases, enabling lightweighting.

[0050] For the fibers blended with TPEE, polyester fibers, glass fibers, carbon fibers, and aramid fibers can be selected.

[0051] III. Improvement of properties by adding silica particle material to TPEE

[0052] When blending TPEE with silica particles, the microstructure of the TPEE material can be improved, and the tear strength, wear resistance, heat resistance, and aging resistance of the material can be enhanced.

[0053] If the flexible rim is black, carbon black can replace silica.

[0054] Thermal conductive materials can also be added to TPEE to enhance the heat dissipation performance, such as adding: metal powders such as aluminum powder (aluminum has a relatively small density), adding carbon fibers or ceramic particles, etc.

[0055] The maximum diameter of the flexible wheel rim and the half-high wheel rim hub assembly of the utility model conforms to the external dimension standard of GB / T 3487, which is convenient for promotion. After the tire is installed and inflated normally, the external dimension also conforms to the external dimension standard of GB / T 3487.

[0056] The flexible wheel rim of the utility model is arranged on either side or both sides of the two wheel rims of the wheel hub.

[0057] The purpose of this utility model is as follows:

[0058] 1. By arranging mutually matching undercut structures on the flexible wheel rim and the semi-high wheel rim, the flexible wheel rim is prevented from coming out under the pressure of the tire and the semi-high wheel rim.

[0059] 2. Screen and test materials with high notch tear strength, impact strength, extrusion fracture strength, low temperature resistance, high temperature compressive creep, and wear resistance (such as TPEE materials) to protect the flexible wheel rim from being broken during the test. TPEE materials are cheap.

[0060] 3. A knurled texture is provided on the half-height rim to prevent the flexible rim and the half-height rim from sliding relative to each other, thus ensuring braking safety.

[0061] 4. A hollow structure is provided on the flexible rim to increase the compression deformation when the wheel passes over a pit or a boss, effectively buffering the impact force, protecting the tire, the flexible rim and the half-high rim; and at the same time helping to reduce the weight.

[0062] 5. Use the characteristics of colored TPEE materials, which have better color and texture than colored rubber, to improve the appearance effect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0063] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the cross section of the rim of the wheel hub assembly of the utility model;

[0064] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the flexible wheel rim and the half-height wheel rim of the utility model;

[0065] Figure 3 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the flexible wheel rim of the utility model;

[0066] Figure 4 It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a half-height wheel rim of the utility model;

[0067] Figure 5 It is another cross-sectional schematic diagram of the flexible wheel rim and the half-height wheel rim of the utility model;

[0068] Figure 6 Another cross-sectional schematic diagram of the flexible rim and the half-height rim of the utility model;

[0069] Figure 7It is a schematic diagram of the tire, the flexible wheel rim and the half-high wheel rim of the utility model;

[0070] Figure 8 It is another cross-sectional schematic diagram of the flexible wheel rim and the half-height wheel rim of the utility model;

[0071] Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of the 45° impact of the flexible rim and the half-height rim of the utility model;

[0072] Figure 10 Another schematic cross-sectional view of the flexible rim and the half-height rim of the utility model at 45° impact;

[0073] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a product of co-extrusion of different materials of the flexible wheel rim of the utility model;

[0074] The markings in the figure are as follows:

[0075] 10- hub assembly of flexible rim and semi-high rim hub, 11- semi-high rim, 12- hub assembly rim, 13- rim groove, 14- aluminum alloy bead seat; 15- semi-high rim groove structure, 16- groove undercut structure;

[0076] 20-flexible wheel rim; 21-contact surface between flexible wheel rim and tire, 22-contact surface between flexible wheel rim and half-high wheel rim, 23-height of raised undercut structure, 24-raised undercut structure, 25-flexible wheel rim raised structure, 26-hollow structure; 27-easy tearing area; 28-impact fracture area; 29-flexible wheel rim bead seat;

[0077] 30-pneumatic tire; F1-compression pressure of flexible wheel rim; F2-impact force of 45° impact; 40-impact compression deformation zone. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0078] Test Preparation

[0079] After the wheel is installed on the vehicle, the outer rim is defined as the rim on the outside of the vehicle that is easily visible to the eyes, and the inner rim is the rim on the inside of the vehicle that is invisible or not easily visible to the eyes. The tires used in the example are of the same manufacturer, specification, parameters and batch. After the tire is inflated, the wheel hub rim in the example meets the GB / T 3487 external dimension standard, the maximum diameter of the inner and outer rims is the same (within the tolerance range allowed by GB / T 3487), the wheel hub is 18X7.5J, the tire is 225 / 45R18, the tire pressure is 2.5bar, and the test vehicle weighs 1.9 tons.

[0080] The technical solution of the utility model is further described below in conjunction with the embodiments and drawings.

[0081] Example

[0082] 1. Solution 1 Wheel

[0083] Refer to the appendix Figures 1-5 and the appendix Figure 7 and the appendix Figure 10 , the flexible rim is made of TPEE elastomer material with a hardness of 40D; the hub assembly 10, the semi-high rim 11 and the rim of the hub assembly 12 of the semi-high rim hub are integrally formed, and the material is aluminum alloy.

[0084] The height 23 of the raised reverse buckle structure is 1 mm. The contact surface 21 between the flexible rim and the tire has good wear resistance. The flexible rim 20 includes the raised reverse buckle structure 24 and the hollow structure 26 on the vertical side structure. The peripheral wall thickness of the hollow structure 26 is not less than 2 mm. If the wall thickness is too thin, it is easy to be damaged during the tire bulge impact test.

[0085] Refer to Figure 10 , after the flexible rim 20 is provided with the hollow structure 26, the impact-type hollow structure 26 is beneficial to deformation. Therefore, the distance of the impact compression deformation zone 40 is larger, and the 45° impact force F2 can be effectively buffered.

[0086] Since the friction coefficient of TPEE is relatively small compared to the friction coefficient of the tire bead rubber, it is easy to slide at the contact surface 22 between the flexible rim and the semi-high rim. Therefore, a plurality of raised and grooved structures are provided on the surface of the semi-high rim in contact with the vertical side structure. These structures are realized by lathe mechanical knurling or embossing, which can greatly improve the friction force.

[0087] The raised reverse buckle structure 24 cooperates with the grooved reverse buckle structure 16 of the semi-high rim 11. The inflated tire 30 and the semi-high rim 11 squeeze the vertical side structure of the flexible rim 20 and the raised reverse buckle structure 24 in the middle, effectively preventing the flexible rim from coming out, increasing the contact area and the friction force at the same time.

[0088] The raised structure 25 of the flexible rim cooperates with the grooved structure 15 of the semi-high rim for positioning. An adhesive is provided in the grooved structure 14 and is bonded and cured with the raised structure 25 of the flexible rim.

[0089] Refer to the appendix Figure 8 , when the tire is running normally, the flexible rim is under pressure F1. The 40D hardness TPEE material has a relatively large hardness and compression elastic modulus, is not easy to produce large deformation, reduces the internal heat generation, and can maintain the stability of the tire force. Compared with the aluminum alloy rim, the flexible rim fits more closely with the tire bead rubber, the pressure distribution is more uniform and the contact area is larger. The friction force between the tire bead rubber and the TPEE flexible rim 20 is greater than the friction force between the tire bead rubber and the surface coating of the traditional aluminum alloy rim, which helps to improve the vehicle's handling performance. And the elasticity of the TPEE material can improve the driving comfort and reduce the wheel noise.

[0090] 2. Option 2 Wheel

[0091] The difference from the wheel of Scheme 1 is that the flexible rim 20 uses 40D TPEE to add a specific proportion of POE material and fiber, with the proportion of POE being 10%-30% and the proportion of fiber being 3%-10%.

[0092] The materials used in this test plan are: 40D TPEE: 80%, POE: 13%, fiber: 5%, and other additives about 2%.

[0093] 3. Option 3 Wheel

[0094] refer to Figure 9 , which is different from the wheel of Scheme 1 in that the flexible rim 20 has no hollow structure 26 and is made of natural rubber with a hardness of 85A.

[0095] Due to the characteristics of natural rubber, the contact surface 22 between the flexible rim and the half-high rim is not easy to slip, and there is no pattern on the surface of the half-high rim in contact with the vertical edge structure. The wear resistance of TPEE material is better than that of natural rubber.

[0096] 4. Option 4 Wheel

[0097] refer to Figure 9 , which is different from the wheel of Scheme 1 in that the flexible rim 20 has no hollow structure 26.

[0098] 5. Plan 5 Wheel

[0099] refer to Figure 8 , Figure 9 and Figure 11 The difference from the wheel in Scheme 1 is that the flexible wheel rim 20 does not have a hollow structure 26 and is formed by co-extrusion of two TPEE materials with different properties.

[0100] Material A is TPEE with a hardness of 40D, and material B is a blended material of TPEE with 3%-10% fiber, 10%-30% POE and 10%-30% EPDM added thereto. The elastic deformation of material B is greater than that of material A.

[0101] Material A has a higher hardness than material B, has a larger compression elastic modulus and tensile elastic modulus, small tensile and compression deformation, and good wear resistance. Material B has a large compression deformation, a relatively small compression elastic modulus, high impact strength, high tear strength, and high compressive fracture strength.

[0102] In this test plan, material B uses: 35D TPEE: 55%, POE, 23%, EPDM: 14%, fiber: 5%, and other additives about 3%.

[0103] refer to Figure 9, Material B has a large amount of compressive deformation. The hollow structure 26 is beneficial to deformation when impacted. Therefore, the distance of the impact compression deformation zone 40 is relatively large, which can effectively buffer the 45° impact force F2.

[0104] Durability test

[0105] 1. Wear condition of the flexible rim: For the wheel of Scheme 3, the natural rubber has a large friction coefficient, and the flexible rim 20 of natural rubber has the largest wear, while the wear of the other schemes is relatively small.

[0106] 2. Tear condition of the flexible rim: Refer to Figure 11 , for the wheel of Scheme 3, the flexible rim 20 of natural rubber is in the easy-to-tear area

[0107] At the 27 position, due to the relatively low tear strength of natural rubber, tearing occurred, while the other schemes were not torn.

[0108] 45° Bulge impact test of the tire

[0109] In the 45° bulge impact test of the tire, the vehicle travels at an initial speed of 25 km / h, causing the wheel to impact a raised roadblock with a height of 100 m and an angle of 45° with the vehicle's traveling direction (the outer rim near the rim groove 13 will be impacted first, so the outer rim mainly bears the impact force). Each speed is tested 4 times, and the speed is gradually increased; as the vehicle speed increases, the 45° impact force F2 gradually increases. When damage is caused by the impact, the 45° impact force F2 reaches more than 5 times the pressure F1 on the flexible rim. Refer to the impact force Figure 9 and Figure 10 .

[0110] a. Wheel of Scheme 3

[0111] Refer to Figure 5 , during the test, the tire in the wheel of Scheme 3 first showed a bulge phenomenon. For the flexible rim 20 made of natural rubber in this scheme, it was first impacted and fractured in the impact fracture zone 28. Through the analysis of the fracture situation, it can be seen that the position in contact with the aluminum alloy wheel hub below the impact fracture zone 28 was first impacted and cracked, and then the crack gradually spread until it was completely fractured, resulting in the failure of the test. This result shows that choosing a flexible rim with higher tear strength helps to improve the impact resistance.

[0112] b. Wheel of Scheme 4

[0113] After the test of the wheel of Scheme 3 failed, as the vehicle speed increased, the flexible rim 20 first showed plastic deformation; when the vehicle speed further increased, the flexible rim 20 first fractured and the tire bulged, resulting in the failure of the test.

[0114] c. Comparative test between the wheel of Scheme 1 and the wheel of Scheme 2

[0115] In Solution 1, the flexible wheel rim 20 of the wheel fractured first, and the tire bulge test failed.

[0116] d. Comparative test of the wheels of Solution 1 and Solution 5

[0117] After the wheel test of Solution 4 failed, as the vehicle speed increased, by optimizing the position, shape, and size of the hollow structure of the wheel of Solution 1, and by optimizing the material formula of Solution 5, the protection performance of the two solutions for the tire, flexible wheel rim, and semi-high wheel rim was close, and the performance was significantly better than that of the wheel of Solution 4.

[0118] Other tests

[0119] Reference appendix Figure 6 , the aluminum alloy bead seat 14 was replaced with a flexible wheel rim bead seat 29, with the best comfort and the lowest wheel noise.

[0120] The flexible wheel rim 20 with the middle hole structure 26 is suitable for production by the extrusion process. The flexible wheel rim 20 without the middle hole structure 26 can be produced by either the extrusion process or the injection molding process. Compared with the extrusion production process, the injection molding has high dimensional stability, can be directly injection molded into a closed ring without further butt joint, the production process is simple, and the appearance is flatter without the butt joint process. According to the test, the materials of TPEE, TPEE blended with fiber and POE are more suitable for use on the flexible wheel rim 2 with the middle hole structure 26 and are produced by the extrusion process. The middle hole structure 26 can provide better compression deformation. The materials of TPEE blended with fiber, POE, and EPDM, and the high elasticity of EPDM can buffer the impact force, are suitable for use on the flexible wheel rim 2 without the middle hole structure 26 and are produced by the injection molding process, and are also suitable for use on the flexible wheel rim 2 with the middle hole structure 26 and are produced by the extrusion process.

[0121] Although the tear strength of the flexible wheel rim 20 increases after adding fiber, the dyeing effect and surface quality are not as good as those of the TPEE material. Therefore, the TPEE material without adding fiber is more suitable for occasions with high color requirements.

[0122] According to tests, the hardness of the flexible rim material affects vehicle comfort, handling, and the impact resistance of the wheel (tire, flexible rim, semi-high rim). Depending on the positioning of the automotive consumer group, the hardness range of the flexible rim material is selected between 70A (Shore hardness) and 50D (Shore hardness). Generally, when the material hardness is low, the comfort is good, but the tire will produce a large lateral deformation under the action of lateral force, and a softer material may not be able to provide enough support force to resist this lateral deformation, which will have a negative impact on the handling stability of the vehicle. Those with low hardness adopt a non-hollow structure, and those with high hardness adopt a hollow structure to cope with wheel impacts, both of which can play a good buffering role, and high and low hardness each have their own advantages. Therefore, different materials and structures can be selected according to the performance requirements of the vehicle (whether it is pursuing comfort or handling stability).

[0123] According to tests, since the vehicle weights are different, in order to better buffer the impact force, the shapes and sizes of the hollow structures 26 are also different. For example: for vehicles with a smaller mass, the impact force at the same speed is smaller, and a relatively larger size of the hollow structure is beneficial to the deformation and buffering of the impact force of the hollow structure 26; for vehicles with a larger mass, the impact force at the same speed is larger, and a relatively smaller size of the hollow structure is beneficial to the buffering of the impact force of the hollow structure 26, and setting multiple hollow structures is also beneficial to buffering a larger impact force.

[0124] Given the use environment of the flexible rim 20, the tear strength is a very important indicator. In addition to being modified by the above-mentioned scheme, the flexible rim 20 can also be modified by adding ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene or other materials that can improve the tear strength.

[0125] For ordinary aluminum alloy wheels, when the vehicle turns at a relatively high speed, the centrifugal force causes the body to tilt outward. The wheel on the side far from the center of the curve (the outside of the vehicle) bears a greater load, and the tire is laterally deflected toward the inner rim side, which causes the force state of the wheel hub to change: a. The lateral pressure on the inner rim of the wheel hub increases, and the downward pressure on the top of the inner rim of the wheel hub increases; b. The lateral pressure on the outer rim of the wheel hub decreases, and the downward pressure on the top of the outer rim also decreases accordingly. Based on such characteristics, a. Only set the flexible rim on the outer rim of the wheel hub, and do not set it on the inner rim of the wheel hub (the probability of flat tire and bulging of the outer rim is much higher than that of the inner rim). b. The hardness of the flexible rim set on the outer rim of the wheel hub < the hardness of the flexible rim set on the inner rim of the wheel hub, and the compression deformation amount of the flexible rim set on the outer rim of the wheel hub > the compression deformation amount of the flexible rim set on the inner rim of the wheel hub; in this way, the flexible rim on the outer rim side can play a good buffering role; the flexible rim on the inner rim side can ensure the dimensional stability and at the same time help reduce the probability of flat tire and bulging of the inner rim of the wheel hub.

Claims

1. A flexible rim that is mounted on the semi-height rim of a semi-height rim hub, has a vertical side structure, and the vertical side structure is located between the tire and the corresponding semi-height rim in the hub axis direction; the flexible rim is made of at least one material whose hardness does not exceed 30% of the hardness of the semi-height hub rim material, characterized in that, The wall thickness of the vertical side structure of the flexible rim near the axis of the half-height rim is greater than the wall thickness away from the axis, and a raised undercut structure is formed at the contact surface between the vertical side structure and the half-height rim.

2. A flexible rim according to claim 1, characterized in that, The size of the undercut part of the raised undercut structure is ≥0.5 mm.

3. A flexible rim according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vertical side structure extends downward to form a bead seat for fixing the tire.

4. A flexible rim according to claim 1, wherein, A hollow structure is arranged on the flexible wheel rim outside the outer circumference of the semi-high wheel rim, and the flexible wheel rim is formed by an extrusion molding process and then wound into a closed ring.

5. A flexible rim according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4, characterized in that, The material of the flexible rim is a thermoplastic material or a thermosetting material.

6. A flexible rim according to claim 5, characterized in that, The thermoplastic material includes TPEE material or TPU material.

7. A semi-high flange hub, with a flexible flange mounted on the semi-high flange of the semi-high flange hub. The flexible flange has a vertical edge structure, and the vertical edge structure is located between the tire and the corresponding semi-high flange in the hub axis direction. It is characterized in that, A groove undercut structure surrounding the axis of the hub is arranged on the half-high rim surface contacting with the flexible rim vertical edge structure.

8. A semi-high rim wheel hub according to claim 7, characterized in that, A plurality of protrusion and groove structures are arranged on the surface of the half-height rim in contact with the vertical edge structure, and the protrusion and groove structures are realized by physical knurling or chemical knurling process.

9. A hub assembly composed of a flexible rim and a semi-high rim hub, the hub assembly being assembled from a semi-high rim and a semi-high rim hub, characterized in that, The undercut structure of the vertical side structure of the flexible wheel rim cooperates with the undercut structure of the groove of the half-height wheel rim; the flexible wheel rim is fixed to the half-height wheel rim by an adhesive.

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