Patent Application
20250187769
The present Invention relates to packaging for automotive wheels. The present invention has been developed for packaging wheels for transport and is particularly suitable for high value wheel that have facing surfaces that require protection during transport.
The discussion of the background to the invention that follows is intended to facilitate an understanding of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any aspect of the discussion was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of the application.
Wheels for automotive vehicles include basic wheels of low value that are usually made of steel. These wheels can employ decorative hub caps to overlie and hide or obscure the wheel nuts and studs that attach the wheel to the vehicle stub axle. Wheels of higher value usually include spokes that have outwardly facing surfaces that are visible when the wheel is fitted to a vehicle and that are designed add to the aesthetic appeal of wheels and to the appearance of the vehicle in general. These forms of wheels can be made from steel or aluminium alloys and are now relatively standard even on medium priced vehicles. Wheels of higher value again are made of carbon fibre. These wheels have equivalent strength and stiffness to steel or aluminium alloy wheels, but are much lighter than those metal wheels and thus are beneficial to the vehicle in lowering overall weight. These wheels are very attractive for high performance vehicles, where weight is of critical importance.
The visible facing surfaces of the wheel needs to be protected during transport so that they are not scratched or otherwise damaged during transport. This is particularly important where the wheels are expensive and where consumers will expect the visible facing surfaces to be completely free of defects or blemishes.
The manufacture of specialty wheels occurs in a small number places and countries and this is particularly the case for carbon fibre wheels, which involve highly specialised materials, equipment and processes. The manufacturers of such wheels export their wheel rims around the world. Attention to the manner in which the wheels are packaged for transport is important to reduce damage to the wheels that occurs during transport, noting that the transport of wheels is mainly by cargo ship and with multiple wheels loaded onto stacked pallets. The wheels are thus often subject to difficult transport conditions and if the packaging is not sufficiently protective, then the manufacturer can be faced with the cost of replacement and no guarantee that the replacement wheels will themselves arrive at their destination undamaged.
One form of current packaging is made from fluted cardboard and comprises top and bottom trays each of which has a base and walls extending from the base to form a square or rectangular interior for accommodating a wheel. The trays are dimensioned to be a close fit about the wheel and they include supporting inserts to engage and support a wheel that is packaged within the trays and to limit movement of the wheel within the trays. The wheel is packaged in a standing up orientation in which the axis about which the wheel will rotate when fitted to a vehicle is generally horizontal. A single wheel is first placed in the bottom tray and the walls of the tray extend upwardly about the bottom portion of the wheel to a position close to, but just short of the mid-point of the wheel. The top tray is then placed over the upper portion of the wheel, again to a position close to, but just short of the mid-point of the wheel. Facing edges of the top and bottom trays do not engage when the top and bottom trays are fitted to a wheel. This ensures that the internal supporting inserts remain in engagement with the wheel.
The above-described packaging substantially encloses the wheel within the top and bottom trays. Only a very small horizontal section of the wheel at the mid-point of the wheel is not enclosed. However, the walls of the top and bottom trays that overlie the visible facing surfaces can come into contact with those surfaces during transport and that contact can damage those surfaces.
The present invention has been developed to provide improved packaging for wheels, in particular to protect the visible facing surfaces of wheels.
The present invention relates to packaging for a vehicle wheel, in particular a wheel that is susceptible to surface damage during transport, such as a wheel that has a visible facing surface that requires protection during transport. The present invention provides packaging for a wheel in which the wheel is oriented so that the axis about which the wheel will rotate when fitted to a vehicle is generally vertical and the visible facing surface that requires protection during transport faces upward. The packaging according to the present invention includes a sleeve or work apron (hereinafter “sleeve”) that extends about the wheel in general coaxial alignment with the wheel and the sleeve has a bottom edge that rests on a loading surface on which the wheel rests, or on a flange or lip of the wheel that rests on that loading surface. The sleeve also presents an upper edge positioned above the visible facing surface of the wheel. The upper edge of the sleeve can support an object placed on the upper edge spaced from the visible facing surface of the wheel to protect the visible facing surface from contact with the object. The object might be a second packaged wheel, or a sheet on which a second packaged wheel might be placed, or a lid of a box or a container that the packaged wheel is contained or stored in.
The packaging according to the invention can thus protect the visible facing surface of the wheel, by providing a protective space above the visible facing surface so that contact with the visible facing surface during the time the wheel is packaged is prevented. The packaging can also protect other surfaces of the wheel, such as the surface that is opposite the visible facing surface. This is relevant for wheels that consumers expect to be unmarked prior to purchase and includes carbon fibre wheels as discussed above. This applies even to surfaces that are concealed once the wheel is fitted to a vehicle, given that the consumer will often select a wheel prior to a tyre being fitted to it and prior to the wheel being fitted to a vehicle, and surface marks or other damage can result in a consumer rejecting a wheel.
The packaging according to the present invention thus can comprise a single sleeve. In other forms of the invention, the packaging according to the can comprise first and second sleeves. Accordingly, in one specific form of the present invention there is provided packaging for a wheel that has a cylindrical rim and first and second cylindrical flanges extending from opposite axial ends of the rim, the packaging comprising first and second sleeves:
Packaging according to the invention advantageously forms a support surface for supporting other objects, such as other wheels, or a substrate on which other wheels can be loaded, for example a cardboard sheet, whereby the support surface can be spaced from or above the visible facing surface of the wheel, so that the visible facing surface of the wheel can be protected by that spacing during transport. The spacing of the support surface from the visible facing surface of the wheel means that there can be movement of the wheel within the packaging without necessarily the visible facing surface coming into contact with other objects supported on the support surface so that there is a greater likelihood that the wheel will arrive at its destination with the visible facing surface undamaged.
The packaging of the present invention is intended for use (but is not exclusively for use) with the wheel in an orientation in which the axis about which the wheel will rotate when fitted to a vehicle is generally vertical. This can be termed a “lying down” orientation. In this orientation, the visible facing surface of the wheel can be the surface of the wheel which faces upwards and can be the visible faces of the spokes of a wheel that extend from the rim to a central hub. Advantageously, the spacing of the support surface from the first flange is can be spacing above the visible facing surface of the wheel, so that the visible facing surface can be protected from engagement with the packaging during transport and storage.
The packaging of the present invention can be made from any suitable materials, but it has been developed as being suitable for manufacture from corrugated or fluted cardboard. This includes double wall corrugated BC flute commonly known as “BC flute” or “twin cushion BC”.
The first and second flanges are alternatively known as inner and outer rim lips and inner surfaces of the rim lips engage with the beads of a tyre to secure the tyre to the wheel. The first and second sleeves can be of the same diameter or of different diameter, but if they are of different diameter then the difference in diameter will be small.
The first and second flanges are spaced apart from each other to suit the size of tyre that will be fitted to the wheel. The first and second flanges have inner and outer faces. One of the first and second flanges will be on the same side of the wheel as the visible facing surfaces of the wheel.
The first flange of a wheel can be the flange that is axially on the same side of the wheel as the visible facing surface of the wheel. The first sleeve will engage the first flange on an inner or underneath surface of the first flange that faces away from the visible facing surface. The first sleeve can have an engagement edge for engaging the first flange in a substantially continuous manner or it can engage the first flange in a discontinuous or interrupted manner.
The second sleeve extends through or passes through the first sleeve and in some forms of the invention, the second sleeve connects to, or alternatively interacts or engages with the first sleeve. The second sleeve presents the support surface spaced from the visible facing surface of the wheel for supporting other objects. In some forms of the invention, when the support surface of the second sleeve is loaded, the second sleeve transfers that loading, or a portion of that loading, to the first sleeve. The first sleeve will then react that load and in some forms of the invention, the first sleeve engages the surface on which the wheel rests and so the load is reacted by that engagement. The first sleeve can for example, extend about the external periphery of the second flange and rest against or on the same surface as the second flange rests, or in fact, the same surface as the wheel rests. The first sleeve will thus transfer load to that surface.
In other forms of the invention, the second sleeve can be configured for bearing against or resting on the same surface as the second flange rests, or as above, the same surface as the wheel rests. In this arrangement, when the support surface of the second sleeve is loaded the second sleeve will then react that load by engagement with the surface on which the wheel rests. The second sleeve can for example, extend about the external periphery of the second flange to rest against or on the same surface as the second flange rests, or on the same surface as the wheel rests. In this arrangement, each of the first and second sleeves can extend about the external periphery of the second flange and rest against or on the same surface as the second flange rests, or in fact, the same surface as the wheel rests.
The preferred arrangement at this stage however is that the second sleeve is configured for bearing against a facing surface of the second flange when it is connected to the first sleeve. In this form of the invention, the first sleeve bears against the first flange and the second sleeve bears against the second flange so that when the support surface of the second sleeve is loaded, the second sleeve transfers loading to the second flange, noting that the connection between the first and second sleeves can result in some form of load transfer between them.
In the preferred arrangement described above, the first sleeve can be a generally cylindrical sleeve of a greater diameter than the cylindrical rim of the wheel, but having a slight incline or conical or tapered shape so that one edge of the first sleeve can engage the inside of the first flange but the opposite edge can. The slight incline or conical shape of the first sleeve will allow the first sleeve to engage the inside of the first flange and extend past the second flange given that the first and second flanges typically have the same outer diameter. The first sleeve could rest on the inside of the second flange, but in the preferred arrangement, there may be insufficient room for each of the first and second sleeves to rest on the inside of the second flange.
In some forms of the invention, the first sleeve extends past the second flange so as to elevate the wheel, or suspend the wheel above a loading surface on which the packaged wheel is placed. The bottom edge of the first sleeve thus rests or bears against the loading surface and the second flange is spaced from the loading surface. This also elevates the wheel surface that is adjacent the second flange, or in other words, the inside wheel surface that is opposite the visible facing surface, above the loading surface and thus protects the inside wheel surface from surface damage during transport in a similar manner to the protection provided to the visible facing surface. The first sleeve can be formed from sheet material, such as sheet cardboard, and so the first sleeve can be cut from a sheet blank, such as a cardboard blank. The first sleeve can be formed with suitable creases or slits to enable it to be easily formed to a cylindrical sleeve with suitable end engagements at each end of the blank to connect opposite ends together. Likewise, the second sleeve can be formed from sheet material, such as sheet cardboard, and so the second sleeve can be cut from a sheet blank, such as a cardboard blank. The second sleeve can be formed with suitable creases or slits to enable it to be easily formed to a cylindrical sleeve with suitable end engagements at each end of the blank to connect opposite ends together. The end engagements can be quite simple and in some forms of the invention, can be simple slot engagements.
The second sleeve has been described above as extending through the first sleeve. Alternatively, it could be said that the first sleeve extends through the second sleeve. Regardless, the first and second sleeves interact so that both sleeves can engage a respective flange of the wheel while still extending at their opposite ends to the required position, which for the first sleeve can be to the second flange, or to the loading surface. For the second sleeve, this is to the position above the visible facing surface.
In some forms of the present invention, the first and second sleeves interact so that there is bearing engagement between the first and second sleeves such that when the support surface of the second sleeve is loaded, there is a load transfer of at least some of that load to the first sleeve. For this, the first and second sleeves can include bearing surfaces that cooperate when the support surface of the second sleeve is loaded, so that load from the second sleeve can be transferred to the first sleeve via the cooperating bearing surfaces.
In some forms of the invention, one of the first and second sleeves includes an opening and the other of the first and second sleeves includes an engagement member suitable to enter the opening and to extend though the first sleeve. This can connect the first sleeve to the second sleeve. The engagement member can enter the opening axially simply by the second sleeve being lowered over the wheel relative to the first sleeve. This can advantageously facilitate easy connection of the first and second sleeves.
While a single engagement member can be provided, the first sleeve can alternatively include at least a pair of openings. These can be diametrically opposed to each other. Alternatively, the first sleeve can include three, four or more openings and can for example, include a ring of openings.
The second sleeve can include the same number of engagement members as the first sleeve includes openings, for example two, three, four or more engagement members. Alternatively, the second sleeve can include a lesser number of engagement members compared to the number of openings of the first sleeve. In this arrangement, the greater number of openings compared to the number of engagement members may make fitting of the second sleeve to the first sleeve easier by not requiring alignment of each engagement member with an opening.
In some forms of the invention, the first sleeve includes a ring of openings, such as 10 openings and the second sleeve includes the same number of engagement members.
The engagement members can extend from shoulders and the openings can have a facing edge so that with the engagement members inserted through the openings, the shoulders can engage the facing edge to bring the first and second sleeves into bearing engagement so that the shoulders and the facing edge become cooperating bearing surfaces. This bearing engagement can facilitate load from the second sleeve being transferred to the first sleeve as discussed above. The engagement members can take any suitable form. The second sleeve can for example comprise a continuous sleeve portion and the engagement members can extend from a bottom edge of the sleeve portion. The engagement members can be individual members so that each engagement member is spaced apart from an adjacent engagement member. The spacing between adjacent engagement members will be dependent on the spacing of the openings formed in the first sleeve.
The second sleeve can be formed to have a conical shape so that it can bear against a facing surface of the second flange and so that it can extend past the first flange to form a support surface spaced from the first flange and usually spaced above the first flange.
The present invention also provides a method of packaging a wheel and this can involve placing a wheel on a loading surface so that the axis of the wheel about which the wheel will rotate when fitted to a vehicle is generally vertical, and fitting a sleeve about the wheel in general coaxial alignment with the wheel so that a bottom edge of the sleeve that rests on a loading surface on which the wheel rests, or on a flange or lip of the wheel that rests on that loading surface. The sleeve presents an upper edge positioned above the visible facing surface of the wheel so that the upper edge of the sleeve can support an object placed on the upper edge spaced from the visible facing surface of the wheel to protect the visible facing surface from contact with the object.
The method of packaging a wheel can include first and second sleeves, the method including fitting the first sleeve about the cylindrical rim so that it bears against a facing surface of the first flange of the wheel, fitting a second sleeve about the rim so that the second sleeve extends past the first flange to form a support surface above the first flange. The first and second sleeves can be fitted to interact as described above.
It is envisaged that if the first sleeve is formed as a blank, such as a cardboard blank, the blank will be curved about the cylindrical rim and once in position about the cylindrical rim, the opposite ends of the first sleeve can be connected together. The second sleeve can also be formed as a blank and curved about the cylindrical rim and then the opposite ends of the connected together. Alternatively, the opposite ends of the second sleeve can be connected together and then the second sleeve can be placed into position about the cylindrical rim. For example, where the first sleeve includes openings for engagement members of the second sleeve to enter, if entry to the openings of the first sleeve is at a position that is outside the diameter of the first flange the second sleeve can alternatively be formed as a sleeve before application to the wheel and before connection to the first sleeve.
The present invention thus also provides a packaged wheel in which the wheel has a cylindrical rim and first and second axially spaced flanges extending from opposite edges of the rim, the packaging comprising first and second sleeves:
The packaging for the packaged wheel described above can be of any of the kinds discussed above. Importantly, the wheel that is packaged can be suspended above a loading surface on which the packaged wheel is loaded. This can be by the first sleeve extending past the second flange so as to elevate the wheel, or suspend the wheel above the loading surface on which the packaged wheel is placed in the manner described previously herein.
The packaged wheel described above can be a single package that is shipped in isolation. This might happen when a wheel of a vehicle is damaged and the packaged wheel is sent as a replacement for the damaged wheel.
Alternatively, the packaged wheel can be one of a plurality of packaged wheels that are transported in bulk. The packaging of the present invention has been developed with bulk transport in mind and with the possibility that wheels can be packaged within standard shipping containers at greater density and thus provide greater efficiency. Prototype packaging according to the invention can allow for six wheels to be packed in one layer on a pallet and for three layers to be stacked on each pallet. In a standard shipping container, two pallets stacked in this manner can be stacked on top of each other. Each pallet thus contains 18 wheels and the shipping container can accept 18 pallets stacked 2 high. The container thus has capacity to accept 324 wheels. This compares to existing arrangements in which containers have capacity to accept 160-240 wheels.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a bulk package for shipping comprising:
The bulk package thus forms three layers of packaged wheels, with each layer comprising six packaged wheels and dividers being supported on the support surfaces of the second sleeves of the packaged wheels. As indicated above, a standard shipping container can accept eight pallets along its length and two pallets high.
The divider between layers of packaged wheels can be a sheet, although it can alternatively be a lid that closes a tray within which the 3×2 packaged wheels are contained. The tray can accept the six packaged wheels for placement onto the pallet and the lid can be placed over the tray. The lid can still be supported on the support surfaces of the second sleeves of the packaged wheels, but the benefit of the lid and tray arrangement is the confinement of the packaged wheels against movement off the pallet. In alternative arrangements, the stacked pallet could be shrink-wrapped but the use of the lid and tray arrangement will provide improved protection for the packaged wheels by further enclosing them within a protective container.
Further protection can be provided by the use of inserts within the lid and tray arrangement to fit between the packaged wheels, such as between adjacent pairs of packaged wheels. Insert could alternatively be employed between each adjacent packaged wheel so in the 3×2 configuration, there are two inserts positioned between the three sets of two pairs of packaged wheels and there is a single insert positioned between the two sets of three packaged wheels so that the respective inserts are perpendicular to each other.
It is to be noted that it is within the scope of the present invention that a bulk package for shipping comprises just the first set of six packaged wheels, or just the first and second sets of six packaged wheels as described above. Moreover, where transport regulations allow, additional sets of six packaged wheels could be added subject to the second sleeves of the packaged wheels being sufficiently strong to support the load of the additional layers.
An alternative a bulk package can have a bulk sleeve that extends about the full height of the stacked sets of packaged wheels so that each layer of packaged wheels does not have its own tray and lid. The stacked sets of packaged wheels can still be separated by dividers and in some forms of the invention, a tray is placed on the pallet and packaged wheels are assembled within the tray and dividers are placed between stacked sets of packaged wheels. Inserts can be positioned between the packaged wheels in each stack of packaged wheels. A lid can be placed over the uppermost set of packaged wheels and supported on the support surfaces of the second sleeves of the uppermost set of packaged wheels and the bulk sleeve can extend fully about the stacked sets of packaged wheels and upper and lower edges can be secured within the tray and lid, interposed between the walls of the tray and lid and the packaging of the adjacent packaged wheels of the lowermost and uppermost sets of packaged wheels.
Where the packaged wheels are stacked on a pallet according to the arrangements discussed above, the bulk package can be strapped or shrink wrapped to hold all of the components together.
Reference hereinbefore to a loading surface on which a wheel can be loaded is to be understood to be a transport tray, such as the tray of a truck, or a surface of a pallet, or on another packaged wheel, or on a sheet or lid overlying a packaged wheel or a set of packaged wheels, such as described above in relation to bulk packaging for transport. The packaging of the present invention is very suitable for stacking as would be apparent from the discussion above and so a lower packaged wheel can form a loading surface for an upper packaged wheel although typically, a substrate or panel would be interposed between vertically adjacent packaged wheels.
In order that the invention may be more fully understood, some embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures in which:
The respective first and second flanges 12 and 13 have approximately the same outer diameter and each flange has inner surfaces 14 and 15 against which a tyre which is fitted to the wheel 10 presses. A person skilled in the art would be familiar with the fitting of a tyre to the wheel 10.
The second flange 13 is largely obscured from view when the wheel 10 is fitted to a vehicle as it is positioned well inside the wheel well of the vehicle. Accordingly, there is little concern about the aesthetic appearance of the flange 13 and so protection of the flange 13 during transport is not a primary consideration.
The first flange 12 is positioned adjacent to the spokes 16 and it is the spokes 16 which are largely visible when the wheel 10 is fitted to a vehicle. The spokes 16 form a decorative feature of the wheel 10 and the vehicle itself and it is therefore important that the visible surfaces of the spokes 16 (hereinafter referred to as the “visible facing surfaces”), are protected from defects or blemishes until the wheel is fitted to a vehicle and the vehicle owner takes responsibility for the condition of the wheel 10. The visible facing surfaces of the spokes 16 are often highly polished and scratches and marks are easily visible.
The spokes 16 have outward facing visible surfaces 17 and inclined or perpendicular facing surfaces 18, all of which are visible to an outside observer of a vehicle to which the wheel 10 is fitted. It is these surfaces that are the prime concern for protection during transport and storage by the packaging of the present invention.
It is to be noted that the visible facing surfaces of the wheel 10 could be other than formed on spokes, although spokes are a very common in the types of wheels that the present invention has been developed for. Other examples of visible facing surfaces include disc surfaces in which the circular area between the flange 12 and the hub 19 is formed solid with a pattern applied to the outwardly facing surface. The pattern could be a series of openings formed in the disc.
Each of the spokes 16 extends from the rim 11, or the first flange 12 (or a combination of the two), inwardly to the hub 19 and in
The packaging according to the present invention comprises first and second sleeves that connect together to surround the wheel 10 about the rim 11 and to protect the visible facing surfaces of the wheel 10. The first and second sleeves can be formed of any suitable material, but they have been designed in prototypes to be made from corrugated or fluted cardboard and to be die cut from cardboard blanks.
The first sleeve 22 includes a first edge 24, a second edge 26 and connectable opposite ends 28 and 30. The sleeve 22 includes a series of vertical slits 32 and between adjacent slits, ten rectangular openings 34 are provided. The vertical slits facilitate folding of the sleeve 22 in the manner shown in
The ends 28 and 30 are formed with cooperating connectors 36 and 38 and it will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art, that the groove 40 formed in the connector 36 can cooperate with the groove 42 formed in the connector 38 to connect the connectors 36 and 38 together and thus to form the sleeve 22 into a circular sleeve.
A second sleeve of the packaging according to the present invention is illustrated in
Further, it can be seen that the edge 66 of the sleeve 44 is positioned above the surfaces 17 and 18 of the spokes 16 of the wheel 10, so that a load can therefore be supported on the edge 66 spaced away from or above the surfaces 17 and 18. By this arrangement, the surfaces 17 and 18 can be protected during transport and storage.
It can be seen from
The packaged wheel 68 as shown in
With respect to
The upper edges 66 of the panels 44 thus support the lid 78 and the lid 78 is located on the tray 72. The tray 72 confines the packaged wheels 68 to the pattern shown in
Several layers of packaged wheels 68 can be loaded onto the pallet 70 as shown in
In a shipping container, the layered stack shown in
Once the sleeves 108 have been positioned, the lid 112 can be fitted over the upper level of packaged wheels 68 to rest on the edges 66 of those packaged wheels 68 and then the stacked pallet can be strapped or shrink wrapped. Again, a second pallet having the same stacked arrangement as shown in
The wheel 120 has a protective foam wrap 125 that extends about the rim 121 and the first and second flanges 122, 123. The foam is a thin flexible foam that can be wrapped around the wheel 120 and secured by tape (not shown).
First and second sleeves 126 and 128 are shown in place against the wheel 120 in a similar manner to the first and second sleeves 22 and 44 shown in
The bottom edge 132 of the first sleeve 126 engages the inner facing surface of the second flange 123 so that load placed on the first sleeve 126 is transferred to the second flange 123.
The top edge of the second sleeve 128 engages the inner facing surface of the first flange 122 while the bottom edge 140 of the second sleeve 128 extends below the bottom face 134 of the wheel 120 and engages the loading surface 136 to create a gap G2 so that the bottom edge 140 suspends the wheel 120 above the loading surface 136.
Moreover, testing has established that the arrangement of
Where any or all of the terms “comprise”, “comprises”, “comprised” or “comprising” are used in this specification (including the claims) they are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components, but not precluding the presence of one or more other features, integers, steps or components.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It is understood that the invention includes all such variations and modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
