Claims:1. A wheel mounting assembly (100) for a vehicle, the assembly (100) comprising:
a mounting plate (101) integrated to at least one support member (102) of the vehicle; and
a spindle (103) connectable to the mounting plate (101), wherein a first surface (103a) of the spindle (103) comprises at least one projection (105) configured to reside in at least one provision (101a) provided in the mounting plate (101) to align the spindle (103) with the mounting plate (101).

2. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one projection (105) comprises a first provision (105a) for mounting a wheel speed sensor (106).

3. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the wheel speed sensor (106) is mounted on the spindle (103) through a bracket (106a).

4. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the spindle (103) comprises a second provision (105b) for fixing the bracket (106a).

5. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spindle (103) comprises a spindle shaft (103c) on a second surface (103b) for mounting a wheel.

6. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein shape of the at least one projection (105) on the spindle (103) corresponds to the shape of the at least one provision (101a) in the mounting plate (101).

7. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support member (102) is a trailing arm.

8. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support member (102) comprises a mounting provision (107a) for connecting a damper (107).

9. A vehicle comprising a wheel mounting assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1.
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to field of automobile engineering. Particularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a wheel mounting arrangement in a vehicle. Further, embodiments of the present disclosure disclose the wheel mounting assembly in the vehicle with a provision to accommodate a wheel speed sensor.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Generally, vehicles are provided with two or more wheels for maneuvering. Conventionally, wheels are connected to the vehicles through a wheel mounting bracket. The wheel mounting bracket is a support member which holds a wheel hub onto the vehicle support members. In some of the vehicles, such as front wheel drive vehicles, a trailing arm also referred to as trailing link is provided. In such vehicles, the trailing link/trailing arm acts as support for a vehicle suspension design and wheel assembly. The trailing arm will be typically provided on the rear axle of a vehicle. In a trailing arm suspension, one or more links are connected between the axle and a pivot point on chassis of the vehicle. The conventional trailing arm assembly consists of a number of child parts such as trailing arm, wheel mounting bracket, camber plate, weld nuts, spring seat, damper mounting bracket etc. More the number of child parts or members imply increase in weight of the trialing arm assembly. Also, since the number of child parts is high, number of parts to be welded to form a complete trialing assembly substantially increase, which in turn increases the assembly time. This would also add to the cost of assembly. Further, as the conventional trailing arm assemblies are formed by welding more number of parts, minor fault in the welding will be inherent. Such minor faults in the welding paves way for early fatigue crack formation, and hence higher chances of failure of components of trailing arm assembly. In addition, due to excessive welding of various components on the trailing arm, it leads to higher thermal and residual stresses in the trialing arm assembly and in turn leads to failure of the components of assembly.

With the evolution of automotive industry many efforts have been made to provide various safety features in the vehicles. One such safety feature includes Anti-lock Braking System (ABS). As conventionally known the ABS prevents locking of wheels of the vehicle during braking and enhances performance of the braking system in the vehicle. Typically the ABS works based on the speed of the vehicle to control the barking. The ABS receives appropriate input from the control unit of the vehicle, which takes the feedback from a wheel speed sensor. Generally, wheel speed sensors are provided in the wheel mounting assembly, and are configured to sense rotational speed of the wheel. In the conventional wheel mounting assembly, the trailing arm is connected to wheel mounting brackets and a camber plate. In the conventional wheel mounting assemblies, the camber plate will have a provision for mounting a wheel speed sensor and is fastened to a spindle. The spindle is in turn connected to wheel of the vehicle. In such wheel mounting assemblies, the spindle is connected to the camber plate during assembly and orientation of the spindle is critical to obtain accurate results from the wheel speed sensor. In the existing wheel mounting assemblies, the spindle maybe oriented in any direction and there is no mechanism to ensure proper orientation of the spindle i.e. even with slight variation in orientation of the spindle, there are possibilities of large unexpected and inaccurate variations in the output of wheel speed sensor, and sometimes the wheel speed sensor employed may fail to sense the speed accurately due to wrong orientation of the spindle. Since, the wheel speed sensor will have two sides i.e. one sensing side and other non-sensing side, and if the sensing side of the wheel speed sensor is not oriented properly then the results obtained by the wheel speed sensor would not be accurate. Due to such malfunctioning of the wheel speed sensor, the components or parts of the vehicle such as Anti-lock braking system (ABS) which depend on results of the wheel speed sensor may not operate precisely.

In light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need for developing an improved wheel mounting assembly in a vehicle to overcome one or more limitations stated above.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One or more shortcomings of the conventional assemblies are overcome by assembly as claimed and additional advantages are provided through the provision of assembly as claimed in the present disclosure.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided a wheel mounting assembly. The wheel mounting assembly comprises a mounting plate integrated to at least one support member of the vehicle and a spindle connectable to the mounting plate. The spindle has a first surface of the comprising at least one projection configured to reside in at least one provision provided in the mounting plate to align the spindle with the mounting plate.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one projection comprises a first provision for mounting a wheel speed sensor, and the wheel speed sensor is mounted on the spindle through a bracket.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the spindle comprises a second hole for fixing the bracket and the spindle comprises a shaft on a second surface for mounting a wheel.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, shape of the at least one projection on the spindle corresponds to the shape of the at least one provision in the mounting plate.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the support member is a trailing arm.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the support member support member comprises a mounting provision for connecting a damper.

In another non-limiting embodiment of the disclosure, the vehicle comprises a wheel mounting assembly as disclosed above.

It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The disclosure itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. One or more embodiments are now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures wherein like reference numerals represent like elements and in which:

FIG.1 illustrates a perspective view of wheel mounting assembly in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates magnified view of portion A in FIG. 1.

FIG.3A and FIG.3B illustrates perspective front and rear view of the wheel mounting assembly of FIG. 1, showing orientation of spindle during assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG.4 illustrates perspective view of trailing arm and associated components of the wheel mounting assembly of FIG.1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily 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

The foregoing has broadly outlined the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description of the disclosure that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

To overcome one or more limitations mentioned in the background, the present disclosure discloses a wheel mounting assembly for a vehicle. The wheel mounting assembly disclosed in the present disclosure facilitates proper orientation of the spindle with respect to a mounting plate during assembly with ease. It is achieved through a poka-yoke design and thus prevents any mistake that could be caused during the course of assembling. This helps in accurate positioning of the wheel speed sensor in wheel mounting assembly, thereby helps in accurate functioning of the wheel speed sensor. This, results in proper results of the systems that depend on the values of the wheel speed sensor. The wheel mounting assembly disclosed also provides an integral trail arm assembly by minimizing the total number of components required for the wheel mounting assembly. Thus the assembly disclosed eliminates excessive welding. With the elimination of excessive welding there is a substantive reduction of stress levels i.e. the thermal stress and residual stress of the assembly reduces. Further, the wheel mounting assembly disclosed is light in construction and has a better stiffness compared to the conventional wheel mounting assemblies. The wheel mounting assembly disclosed also greatly improves the brake steer of the vehicle with the integral design.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the wheel mounting assembly comprises a mounting plate integrated with a support member of the vehicle. The wheel mounting assembly further comprises a spindle, wherein one of the spindle surfaces is connected to the mounting plate and the other surface comprising a spindle shaft is connected to the wheel. The wheel mounting assembly is provisioned with an arrangement to facilitate proper alignment of spindle with the mounting bracket. The arrangement comprises a projection on the spindle and a provision in the mounting plate. The projection on the spindle is adapted to reside in the provision provided in the mounting plate during assembly, and thereby ensures proper orientation of the spindle on the mounting plate. Further, the projection on the spindle comprises a provision for mounting wheel speed sensor through a bracket. This ensures that wheel speed sensor is positioned always in accurate position, and also helps to configure sensing side of the wheel speed sensor towards the wheel assembly. This ensures accurate sensing of the wheel speed by the sensor, and thereby gives accurate feedback to a control unit.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the specification, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that an assembly that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or method. In other words, one or more elements in an assembly proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the assembly.

Henceforth, the present disclosure is explained with the help of one or more figures of exemplary embodiments. However, such exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limitations of the present disclosure. The wheel mounting assembly shown in Figures is of one particular configuration, and the assembly of one of the wheels has been shown for the purpose of simplicity. It is to be noted that configuration of the wheel assembly may change from vehicle to vehicle, and mounting orientation and such variations are to be considered as part of the present disclosure. Further, in the figures neither the vehicle nor wheels have been illustrated for the purpose of simplicity.

FIG.1 is an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure which illustrates a perspective view of wheel mounting assembly (100) of a vehicle. The wheel mounting assembly (100) mainly comprises a mounting plate (101) and a spindle (103). In an embodiment of the disclosure, the mounting plate (101) is integrated with one end of a support member (102). The mounting plate (101) is integrated to the support member (102) through joining operations such as but not limiting to welding. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the support member (102) is a trailing arm. The mounting plate (101) is configured as flat plate of predetermined geometrical shape, and is configured to hold at least one wheel onto the vehicle support member (102). In an embodiment, the number of mounting plates (101) in the vehicle can be equivalent to number of wheels provided in the vehicle. In an alternative embodiment, the vehicle can be configured with the mounting plate (101) only in the rear wheel mounting assemblies. Further, the spindle (103) of the wheel mounting assembly (100) comprises two surfaces – a first surface (103a) and a second surface (103b). The first surface (103a) of the spindle (103) configured to abut the mounting plate (101), and is connectable to the mounting plate (101) through suitable means. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the spindle (103) comprises a plurality of mounting provisions to connect the spindle (103) with mounting plate (101). The connection between the mounting plate (101) and the spindle (103) is made with the aid of fasteners such as but not limiting to nuts, bolts etc. Further, the second face (103b) of the spindle (103) comprises a spindle shaft (103c). The spindle shaft (103c) facilitates mounting of wheel hub (104) on the spindle (103). The wheel hub (104) accommodates one or more wheels [not shown] of the vehicle. The wheel mounting assembly (100) of the present disclosure is configured with an arrangement which facilities easy alignment of orientation of spindle (103) during its assembly with the mounting plate (101). The arrangement also acts as lock to the spindle (103) with the mounting plate (101), to prevent rotation of the spindle (103) with respect to the mounting plate (101). The locking and anti-rotation feature in the mounting assembly (100) ensures that the spindle (103) is oriented in the right direction and thus eases the assembly of the wheel mounting assembly (100). Further, the trailing arm (102) of the assembly (100) comprises a provision (107a) to mount a damper (107). The provision (107a) so provided is simple in design and promotes ease of assembling and welding. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the damper mounting provision (107a) is directly welded to the trailing arm (102) unlike in the conventional wheel mounting assemblies wherein a separate provision adjacent to the trailing arm (102) would be provided for mounting the damper (107).

Referring now to FIG. 2 which illustrates a magnified view of arrangement which facilitates alignment of orientation of the spindle (103) during its assembly with the mounting plate (101). The arrangement comprises at least one projection (105) provided on first surface (103a) of the spindle (103). In an embodiment of the disclosure, the projection (105) is configured in a substantially oval shaped embossed on first surface on the spindle (103). The arrangement also comprises at least one provision (101a) in the mounting plate (101). In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one provision (101a) is configured in a substantially U-shape, and this shape corresponds to the oval shaped projection (105) on the spindle (103). The projection (105) on the spindle (103) is adapted such that it resides in the at least one provision (101a) provided in the mounting plate (101). This ensures that the projection (105) on the spindle (103) always aligns with the provision (101a) in the mounting plate (101). The spindle (103) in aligned position is locked and does not rotate in its place and hence there will be no disorientation of the spindle (103) with the mounting plate (101). It is to be noted that, the projection (105) on the spindle (103) and the provision (101a) in the mounting plate (101) can be configured in any geometrical shape which serve the purpose.

Further, as shown in FIGs. 1 and 2, the wheel mounting assembly (100) comprises a wheel speed sensor (106) mounted on the projection (105) of the spindle (103). In an embodiment of the disclosure, the projection (105) comprises a first provision (105a) for configuring the wheel speed sensor (106) on the spindle (103) through a bracket (105). The bracket (105) of the wheel speed sensor is mounted to the spindle (103) through a second provision (105b) which is provided on the spindle (103). In an embodiment of the disclosure, the wheel speed sensor bracket (106a) is fastened to the spindle (103) through fasteners such as but not limiting to nuts, bolts etc. The wheel mounting assembly (100) is configured such that, sensing side of the wheel speed sensor (106) is always oriented proximal to the gear (104a) provided in the spindle (103) after assembly. This eliminates of any possibilities of wrong results from the wheel speed sensor (106). Therefore, the wheel mounting assembly (100) of the present disclosure helps the wheel speed sensor (106) to sense accurate results and hence the systems such as Anti-lock braking system (ABS) that depends on values of the wheel speed sensor (106) functions precisely.

Now referring to FIG.3A and FIG.3B, they are exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure illustrating front and rear perspective views of the wheel mounting assembly (100). The FIG.3A represents correct orientation of the spindle (103) with the mounting plate (101) during assembly. The spindle (103) comprises a projection (105) on the first surface (101a) which resides in at least one provision (101a) provided in the mounting plate (101). Hence, the projection (105) on the spindle (103) and the provision (101a) of the mounting plate (101) serves the purpose of an arrangement/indication mark for aligning the spindle (103) onto the mounting plate (101). Thus the assembly (100) of the present disclosure ensures correct, precise location, orientation and functions of the wheel speed sensor (106) and in turn improves the functions of features such as ABS which is an important safety feature in the vehicle. If the spindle (103) is improperly positioned or oriented during assembly as shown in FIG.3B, the projection will abut on surface of the mounting plate (101), and thereby hinders the assembly. This avoids misalignment of spindle (103) with respect to mounting plate (101). This ensures accurate positioning of the wheel speed sensor (106) in the wheel mounting assembly (100).

FIG.4 is an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure that discloses a perspective view of the trailing arm assembly or a support member (102) of the vehicle which supports wheel mounting assembly (100). The trailing arm (102) comprises of two ends, one end of the trailing arm (102) is integrated with the wheel mounting plate (101) and the other is connected to chassis of the vehicle. The trailing arm (102) also comprises a provision (107a) for mounting damper of the vehicle. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the trailing arm assembly (102) or the support member comprises of less number of parts, this reduces the number of components to be welded with the trailing arm (102) and hence avoid thermal or residual stresses that could be caused during the assembling process. Also, unlike the conventional trailing arm assembly, the present disclosure discloses a trailing arm assembly (102) which integrates two or more parts into a single component and thus reduces total number of parts of the assembly (100). In an embodiment of the disclosure, the cross beam section of the trailing arm (102) is a closed section which improves the fatigue life and the cross beam design is independent of the edge quality. With this integrated design of the camber plate and the wheel mounting bracket into a single mounting plate (101), stiffness of the mounting plate (101) vastly improves and also promotes the ease of assembling and welding. In addition with less number of child parts, processing time or the assembling time of the assembly (100) reduces. Also, since there is a reduction in components subjected to welding, fatigue life of the assembly (100) improves and hence the assembly (100) could be used for longer time periods without any failure.

Advantages of the present disclosure

The present disclosure discloses a wheel mounting assembly with reduced number of child parts, which avoids excessive welding and thus reduces thermal and residual stresses of the assembly. With reduction in number of child parts, the assembly also becomes cost efficient.

The present disclosure discloses wheel mounting assembly which is light in weight and has better stiffness compared to conventional wheel mounting assemblies. The assembly disclosed also improves brake steering of the vehicle and provides a simpler damper mounting arrangement for ease of assembling and welding.

The present disclosure discloses wheel mounting assembly which has an arrangement to avoid misalignment of orientation of spindle with respect to the mounting plate. This facilitates accurate positioning of wheel speed sensor in the wheel mounting assembly, and thereby reduces errors in speed sensing by the wheel speed sensor.

Equivalents

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, 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 description 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). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). 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, 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."

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated in the description.

Referral Numerals:
Description Reference Number
Wheel mounting assembly 100
Mounting plate 101
Provision in mounting plate 101a
Support member / Trailing arm 102
Spindle 103
First surface of the spindle 103a
Second surface of the spindle 103b
Spindle shaft 103c
Wheel hub 104
Gear 104a
Projection on the spindle 105
First provision on projection 105a
Second provision on spindle 105b
Wheel speed sensor 106
Wheel speed sensor bracket 106a
Damper 107
Provision for mounting damper 107a