The present subject matter described herein, relates to a wheel of a commercial vehicle designed in order to achieve an improved weld crack and fatigue resistance. More particularly, it relates to the tube type and/or tubeless wheel for heavy commercial vehicle and/or light commercial vehicle where weld crack and fatigue resistance of a rim and a disc contact portion of the wheel is improved by application of a laser welding at joinery site of the rim and disc.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Typically, in a wheel of a vehicle, a rim is located along an outer edge of the wheel. The rim is generally a cylindrically shaped outer edge and is primarily responsible for supporting and sealing a tire to the wheel. A disc, on the other hand, connects the rim with an axle hub of the wheel. In commercial vehicles, the rim and disc of the wheel are attached and welded together by an assembly welding as shown in Figure 1 (a).
[0003] But the common disadvantages associated with these types of welding methods is that under load conditions, the joinery site connecting the rim with the disc and being welded only by assembly welding develop gaps due to pressure created on the welded portion; also illustrated in Figure 1 (b). Consequently, the contact portion between the rim and disc opens and closes continuously under load conditions causing a continuous striking of the disc with the rim. As a result, cracks are developed in the welded area due to the phenomenon of continuous striking and this crack propagates resulting into weld failure.

PRIOR ARTS OF THE INVENTION
[0004] There are some systems or methods implemented in state of the art in order to solve the above mentioned hindrances. These are detailed as follows:
[0005] A patent EP1752311A1 titled "Method and device for welding by means of a laser beam a rim to a disc of a wheel for vehicles" discloses a laser welding method to join the rim and the disc of a wheel using laser welding. This invention discloses a laser welding method that replaces the arc welding method. This invention also is directed only towards wheels made up of steel rim and discs. The drawbacks of this invention is that this cannot be used on wheels made up of material other than steel.
[0006] In another patent US5431486A titled "Disc road wheel having gas ventilation grooves between the rim and the disc" discloses a wheel with gas ventilation grooves between the rim and the disc. These grooves help for gas ventilation produced during the welding of the materials using a laser beam. This invention again discloses a wheel with rim and disc joined by laser welding replacing the arc welding method. This helps in avoiding the blowholes in the welding bead.
[0007] In another patent DE102011121596A1 titled "Wheel for passenger car, has rim well including inner circumference, which is tapered towards welded joint such that welding4aser beam being unimpaired reaches welded joint from wheel inner side through inner contour of rim" discloses a wheel with rim and disc attached using a laser beam such that the welding is done through the inner contour. The invention herein also discloses a wheel where the laser welding replaces the traditional arc welding. The radius of tapering of the rim lies in the range of 0.8-2mm in relation to the radius. The wall thickness achieved is 2mm and less and upto 1.5mm can be achieved on the rim.

[0008] In another such application FR3102971 Al titled "Vehicle wheel made by high energy beam welding" discloses a vehicle wheel which uses high energy beam to join the metal rim and disc. The use of high energy beam produces deep welds allowing the inserts disposed material below the thickness of the rim to be welded to the rim. This leaves a stable contact bond between the rim and the disc. The invention disclosed herein also uses laser welding, which replaces the arc welding process.
[0009] In the prior art discussed above, the major drawback is that they do not offer better weld crack and fatigue resistance at the joinery site between the rim and the disc. There is a need for a wheel which has improved weld crack and fatigue resistance of the joinery site between the rim and the disc.
[0010] Moreover, all the above mentioned prior arts have disclosed only single welding i.e. laser welding to weld the rim and the disc during assembly. Further, the above mentioned prior arts are either disclosing wheel for passenger car or motor vehicle in general (depicting car wheel in diagrams). However, the present invention is specifically for commercial vehicle (CV) wheel. The load on CV wheel is much more than on passenger car wheel. Also, the existing CV wheels are assembled by welding the rim and the disc with only assembly welding, resulting weld failure under load conditions. On the contrary, the present invention tries to mitigate these drawbacks on a commercial vehicle wheel by providing an additional laser welding between the rim and the disc.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0011] It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to overcome the aforementioned and other drawbacks.
[0012] It is a principal object of the present disclosure is to provide a wheel of a commercial vehicle for improved weld crack and fatigue resistance between the rim and disc joinery site.

[0013] It is another object of the present disclosure is to provide a wheel for a commercial vehicle which has better weld crack and fatigue resistance under load conditions.
[0014] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to propose a method of laser welding that can be implemented at the joinery area between the rim and the disc of the wheel in the commercial vehicle.
[0015] It is still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a wheel of a commercial vehicle that is resistant to weld failure.
[0016] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention would be apparent to a person skilled in the art after consideration of the following detailed description taken into consideration with accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present subject matter are illustrated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to a wheel for improved weld crack and fatigue resistance. The concepts are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0018] According to the present disclosure, there is provided a wheel of a commercial vehicle. In an aspect, the wheel of the commercial vehicle comprises of a rim present along an outer edge of the wheel and a disc connecting the rim with an axle hub of the wheel.
[0019] In an aspect, the rim and the disc are welded by assembly welding at an edge of the disc.

[0020] In an aspect, the rim and the disc are additionally welded by a laser welding.
[0021] In an aspect, joinery site of the rim and the disc are additionally welded by the laser welding from outside along the entirely (360°) overlapped or segmented portion of overlapped outer circumference of the disc.
[0022] In an aspect, the welding length due to the laser welding partially or completely covers the total length of the contact portion between the rim and the disc.
[0023] In an aspect, the laser welding has a penetration depth > 1% of minimum thickness of rim and disc into rim and penetration depth > 1% of minimum thickness of rim and disc into disc.
[0024] In an aspect, the laser welding is applied between the rim and disc portion throughout (360 degree) the overlapped or segmented portion of overlapped outer circumference of the disc.
[0025] In an aspect, the rim and the disc are additionally welded by the laser welding after undergoing an assembly welding.
[0026] To further understand the characteristics and technical contents of the present subject matter, a description relating thereto will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are illustrative only but not used to limit the scope of the present subject matter.
[0027] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods or structure in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying figure in which:
[0029] Figure 1 (a)-(b) represents a conventional method of welding between a rim and a disc of a wheel in a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0030] Figure 2(a)-(b) illustrates a schematic view of the rim and disc joinery site of a wheel of a vehicle wherein the laser welding is performed in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0031] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary schematic view detailing the laser welded portion in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0032] Figure 4(a)-(b) illustrates an exemplary front view detailing the laser welded portion in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0033] The figures depict the embodiment of the present invention for the purposes of illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures

and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0034] Detailed description of various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments are described herein in such details as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of details provided herein are not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0035] It is also to be understood that various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present disclosure, as well as specific examples, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
[0036] It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may be executed concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
[0037] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning

in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
[0038] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0039] Hereinafter, a description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0040] The present disclosure proposes a wheel of a commercial vehicle which has improved weld crack and fatigue resistance of a rim and a disc at a joinery site. Conventionally, the joinery site of the rim and the disc are joined by assembly welding methods. Herein, as disclosed in the present invention, a laser welding is performed on the rim and the disc joinery site for improved weld crack and fatigue resistance. The laser welding is performed after the assembly welding; that can be a CO2 welding or MIG/MAG arc welding or submerged arc welding (SAW) or laser welding or laser hybrid welding or TIG/TAG welding or friction welding or a combination of any of these welding types or likes.
[0041] Figure 2 (a)-(b) illustrates schematic view of the rim (101), the disc (102) of the wheel of the commercial vehicle and the joinery site in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an aspect, the disc (102) is

linked to the rim (101) through an assembly welding (103). As already mentioned, assembly welding (103) can be CO2 welding or MIG/MAG arc welding or submerged arc welding (SAW) or laser welding or laser hybrid welding or TIG/TAG welding or friction welding or a combination of any of these welding types. In an aspect, in addition to the standard assembly welding, the rim (101) and the disc (102) are further attached to each other by the laser welding (105). The laser welding (105) is applied from outside between the connecting area of the rim (101) and the disc (102). The laser welding (105) at the joinery site of the rim (101) and the disc (102) eliminates a gap (104) that is caused otherwise; and enhances the robustness of the arrangement.
[0042] In an aspect, in the process of the laser welding (105), laser beam is used as a source of energy in order to melt the materials to be welded at the joinery site. Laser welding, being a high density beam process produces deep and narrow welds that not only enhances the welding performance but also eliminates any sort of gap at the joinery site.
[0043] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary schematic view of the laser welding performed on the joinery site of the wheel in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0044] In an aspect, the application of the laser welding (105) resulted into penetration depth > 1% of minimum thickness of rim and disc into the rim (101) and penetration depth approximately > 1% of minimum thickness of rim and disc into the disc (102). Also, in a preferred embodiment, the welding length due to the laser welding (105) partially or completely covers total length of the contact portion between the rim (101) and the disc (102). The laser welding (105) is done from outside of the contact portion of the rim (101) and the disc (102) for improved welding performance.

[0045] Figure 4 (a) and (b) illustrates an exemplary front view detailing the laser welded portion in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In an aspect, the laser welding process comprises of the following steps:
[0046] Step 1. The disc (102) is press fitted into the rim (101)
[0047] Step 2. The rim (101) and the disc (102) are welded by the assembly welding (103) from inside at an end portion of the disc (102)
[0048] Step 3. The rim (101) and the disc (102) portion are additionally welded by the laser welding (5) by imparting a concentrated laser beam at the contact portion of the rim (101) and the disc (102) from outside. In an aspect, the laser welding (105) may be applied before or after or along the assembly welding (103). The laser welding (105) is applied between the rim (101) and the disc (102) portion along entirely (360°) overlapped or segmented portion of overlapped outer circumference of the disc (102). In this manner, the laser welded portion partially or completely covers the total length of the contact portion between the rim (101) and the disc (102) (as shown in Figure 4 (a) and (b)).
[0049] Advantages of the invention
All in all, the invention disclosed in the present subject matter is having the following advantages:
i) Enhanced welding performance
ii) Enhanced rigidity of the structure
iii) Offers better weld crack and fatigue resistance under loaded conditions
iv) Enhance robustness in the structure

v) Reduce weld crack propagation
[0050] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either

of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B."
[0051] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present invention contemplates all of these combinations. Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the invention, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. In addition, while a feature of the present invention may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of "comprising" or "including" also contemplates embodiments that "consist essentially of or "consist of the recited feature.
[0052] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/component of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations, which fall within the scope of the present subject matter

We Claim:

1. A commercial vehicle wheel (100) of a vehicle comprising:
- a rim (101) present along an outer edge of the wheel (100); and
- a disc (102) connecting the rim (101) with an axle hub of the wheel (100), wherein the rim (101) and the disc (102) are welded by an assembly welding (103) at an end portion of the disc (102), characterized in that
- the rim (101) and the disc (102) are additionally welded by a laser welding (105).
2. The commercial vehicle wheel (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein joinery site
of the rim (101) and the disc (102) are welded by the laser welding (105) from
outside.
3. The commercial vehicle wheel (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the laser
welding (105) is applied throughout (360 degree)/segmented portion of overlapped
outer circumference of the disc (102).
4. The commercial vehicle wheel (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the laser welding (105) is applied before/after/along the assembly welding (103).
5. The commercial vehicle wheel (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein length of the laser welded portion covers total length of the contact portion between the rim (101) and the disc (102) in a partial/complete manner.
6. The commercial vehicle wheel (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the laser
welding (105) has a penetration depth > 1% of minimum thickness of the rim (101)
and the disc (102) into the rim (101) and penetration depth > 1% of minimum
thickness of the rim (101) and the disc (102) into the disc (102).

7. The commercial vehicle wheel (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the commercial vehicle wheel includes a tube type wheel and/or tubeless wheel for a heavy commercial vehicle and/or a light commercial vehicle.