Wheel Hub Air Passageway Cast to Avoid Intersecting Drilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wheel hub designs for commercial vehicles are unsuitable for drive wheels due to the complexity and difficulty of drilling intersecting holes for compressed air conduits, which is challenging for mass production and accurate alignment.
Innovation Solution
A wheel hub with a unitary, one-piece body and a passageway that allows pressurized air to travel through, formed by casting with a tube establishing at least a portion of the conduit, eliminating the need for intersecting drilled holes and simplifying the manufacturing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If two intersecting drill holes are used to create compressed air conduits, then compressed air can be delivered to the tire, but the drilling operations become difficult and time-consuming with alignment accuracy issues
Solution Approach 1:
The passageway is formed during the casting process itself, before final assembly. A hollow axle stud is positioned in the desired location during casting, and the molten metal flows around it to create the passageway. This preliminary formation of the conduit eliminates the need for subsequent complex intersecting drilling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The hollow axle stud serves as an intermediary tool during manufacturing. It is temporarily positioned in the mold cavity to define the passageway shape, then remains as part of the final assembly. This intermediary object simplifies the creation of the complex intersecting conduit geometry.
2Reliability
If intersecting drill holes are used for compressed air conduits, then air flow path is achieved, but manufacturing time and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The formation of the compressed air passageway is merged with the wheel hub casting process itself. Instead of creating the conduit as a separate operation after casting, the passageway is formed simultaneously with the hub body during the same manufacturing cycle, significantly improving productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The conduit geometry is preliminarily established by positioning the hollow axle stud during the casting setup phase. This preliminary action ensures the passageway is ready before the casting completes, eliminating the need for time-consuming post-casting drilling operations.
3Reliability
If drill holes are advanced into the curved radially inner surface, then compressed air conduit is formed, but accurate drilling becomes difficult due to surface curvature
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow axle stud is preliminarily positioned in the exact desired location before casting. This preliminary positioning ensures that the passageway will be formed with precise geometry and correct alignment, eliminating the difficulty of drilling accurately into curved surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The hollow axle stud acts as a precision intermediary that defines the exact geometry of the passageway. By using this physical template during casting, the complex curved surface drilling problem is transformed into a simple positioning operation that achieves high precision.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect of the present disclosure, a wheel hub is provided that includes a wheel hub body having an inboard end and an outboard end. The wheel hub body has a wheel mounting portion, such as a flange, intermediate the inboard and outboard ends. The wheel hub body has a central opening, an interior surface extending about the central opening, and an exterior surface opposite the interior surface. The wheel hub includes a passageway having an interior port at the interior surface of the wheel hub body and an exterior port at the exterior surface of the wheel hub body. The interior port is outboard of the inboard end of the wheel hub body. The exterior port is intermediate the wheel mounting portion and the outboard end of the wheel hub body.