Annular Wheel Cover Structure for Bolt Access and Lower Drag
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle wheel covers block access to wheel bolts, making maintenance difficult and creating aerodynamic disadvantages due to their design.
Innovation Solution
A cover with an annular element featuring recesses and projections that allow easy access to wheel bolts while reducing aerodynamic drag, designed with a U-shaped cross-section and flexible materials to enhance rigidity and integration with spoke elements, ensuring the cover does not hinder bolt access and minimizes turbulence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a wheel cover is used to create an aerodynamically advantageous surface, then aerodynamic drag is reduced, but access to wheel bolts is blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel cover is divided into multiple segments or sections, with certain areas removed or open to provide access paths to wheel bolts. This segmentation allows the cover to maintain its aerodynamic function while creating openings for maintenance access without requiring complete removal of the cover.
2Loss of energy
If a solid cover design is used to reduce turbulence, then aerodynamic efficiency is improved, but maintenance effort increases due to blocked bolt access
Solution Approach 1:
Specific portions or sections are extracted or removed from the solid cover structure at strategic locations where wheel bolts are positioned. This creates access channels or openings that allow maintenance personnel to reach and service wheel bolts while the remaining solid portions continue to provide aerodynamic benefits by reducing turbulence.
3Loss of energy
If a cover spans the cavities in the transition area to improve aerodynamics, then aerodynamic drag is reduced, but the cover structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The cover structure implements local quality variations where specific areas have different properties - solid portions span the cavities to reduce drag while other areas have openings or reduced material for bolt access. This localized differentiation allows the cover to address multiple requirements simultaneously without requiring complex overall structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
A cover for a vehicle wheel, in particular for passenger cars (PCs), has an annular element having a circular outer edge and an inner circle located radially inside the outer edge, wherein the circular outer edge has a diameter of 35 cm to 60 cm and the inner circle has a diameter of 11 cm to 40 cm, and the annular element has recesses extending radially outwards from the inner circle and circumferentially around the annular element, such that the annular element has projections whose radially inner ends lie on the inner circle.