Vehicle Wheel Connection Portion Thickness Gradient
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle wheels integrally molded by casting often suffer from wrinkles at the boundary between the rim and thin plate portions due to thickness differences, which can negatively impact the design by making the connection portion conspicuous.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle wheel design features a connection portion with a varying cross-sectional area that is thicker towards the spoke and rim portions and thinner towards the thin plate portion, with the end of the connection portion exposed from the window portion to minimize visual recognition and wrinkle generation, while maintaining overall design aesthetics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the connection portion thickness gradually changes from rim portion to thin plate portion, then wrinkle generation is suppressed, but the connection portion becomes conspicuous and adversely affects design
Solution Approach 1:
The connection portion is designed with non-uniform thickness distribution, being thicker at the rim portion side and thinner at the thin plate portion side. This local variation in thickness allows the connection portion to be less conspicuous when viewed through the window portion while still effectively suppressing wrinkle generation during casting by providing adequate material volume and gradual thickness transition.
2Manufacturing precision
If the connection portion is made thicker to suppress wrinkles, then casting quality improves, but the connection portion becomes more visible through the window portion
Solution Approach 1:
The connection portion employs localized thickness variation where the thicker region is positioned at the rim portion side to ensure adequate material for wrinkle suppression during casting, while the thinner region at the thin plate portion side minimizes visual conspicuousness when viewed through the window portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The thickness variation in the connection portion is implemented along the wheel axis direction, creating a three-dimensional gradient structure. This dimensional approach allows the connection portion to satisfy both casting quality requirements (adequate material volume) and aesthetic requirements (minimized visual profile) by distributing thickness appropriately along the depth dimension.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle wheel includes a hub portion, a rim portion, and a disc portion. The disc portion is arranged such that a window portion, a spoke portion, and a thin plate portion do not overlap when viewed from a wheel axis direction. The thin plate portion is connected to at least a part of the hub portion, the rim portion, and the spoke portion via a connection portion. A cross-sectional area of the connection portion that appears when the connection portion is cut in a wheel radial direction changes such that a cross-sectional area of an end of the connection portion becomes smaller than a cross-sectional area of another portion of the connection portion.