Wheel balancing weight and method of manufacture

Abstract

A wheel balancing weight has a mass body with a groove that has a groove surface recessed to a groove depth and two groove walls that oppose one another across the groove. An attachment clip has a clip portion and an attachment portion. The clip portion is configured to attach the wheel balancing weight to a vehicle wheel. The attachment portion has two side edges that are opposite one another across the attachment portion. The attachment portion is seated in the groove against the groove surface between the two groove walls. Material of the mass body adjacent each groove wall is deformed and overlies a portion of the respective side edge on the attachment portion. Each of the two side edges has a chamfered or tapered edge profile and/or the groove has two undercuts. Each undercut is formed into the groove surface and adjacent each groove wall. The chamfered or tapered edge profile is oriented such that the two side edges are angled away from the groove walls moving away from the groove surface.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wheel balancing weight comprising:
 a mass body having a first face with a first surface and a second face opposite the first face;   a groove in the first face, the groove having a groove surface recessed to a groove depth relative to the first surface and having two groove walls that oppose one another across the groove to define lateral boundaries of the groove and that extend between the groove surface and the first surface; and   an attachment clip having a clip portion and an attachment portion, the clip portion configured to attach the wheel balancing weight to a vehicle wheel, the attachment portion having two side edges that are opposite one another across the attachment portion,   wherein the attachment portion is seated in the groove against the groove surface between the two groove walls,   wherein material of the mass body adjacent each groove wall is deformed and overlies a portion of the respective side edge on the attachment portion, and   wherein each of the two side edges has a chamfered or tapered edge profile, the chamfered or tapered edge profile oriented such that the two side edges angled away from the groove walls moving away from the groove surface.   
     
     
         2 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 two slots, each slot of the two slots formed partly into the groove surface near a respective groove wall of the two groove walls, each slot having a slot depth into the mass body greater than the groove depth; and   two protruding elements, each protruding element of the two protruding elements provided on a respective side edge of the two side edges of the attachment portion, the two protruding elements extending out of plane relative to a plane of the attachment portion,   wherein the two protruding elements extend at least partly into the two slots to a depth beyond the groove depth of the groove surface, and   wherein the deformed material of the mass body adjacent each groove wall is deformed and overlies a portion of each protruding element on the attachment portion.   
     
     
         3 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 2 , wherein the two slots are disposed only within the groove adjacent the two groove walls and wherein the two protruding elements seat in the two slots,
 wherein each slot is a blind slot and has an angled or tapered depth that decreases away from the respective groove wall and wherein each protruding element has a corresponding shape and is deeper nearer the respective side edge of the attachment portion,   wherein the two protruding elements are pyramid shaped elements that seat in the two blind slots, and   wherein the two protruding elements do not extend laterally outward beyond the two side edges of the attachment portion.   
     
     
         4 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 two slots, each slot of the two slots formed partly into the groove surface near a respective groove wall of the two groove walls, each slot having a slot depth into the mass body greater than the groove depth; and   two protruding elements, each protruding element of the two protruding elements provided on a respective side edge of the two side edges of the attachment portion, the two protruding elements extending outward from the respective side edge,   wherein the two protruding elements extend at least partly into the two slots to a depth beyond the groove depth of the groove surface, and   wherein the deformed material of the mass body adjacent each groove wall is deformed and overlies a portion of each protruding element on the attachment portion.   
     
     
         5 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 4 , wherein each slot of the two slots extends partly into the mass body laterally beyond the respective groove wall. 
     
     
         6 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 4 , wherein the first and second protruding elements are tabs aligned with and bent at least partly into the two slots. 
     
     
         7 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 4 , wherein the two protruding elements are not aligned with one another across the attachment portion. 
     
     
         8 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 7 , wherein the two protruding elements include a first protruding element and a second protruding element, wherein the attachment portion of the attachment clip has a free bottom edge extending between the two side edges, wherein the first protruding element is positioned on a first side edge of the two side edges at a first distance from the bottom edge and the second protruding element is positioned on a second side edge of the two side edges at a second distance different from the first distance. 
     
     
         9 . A wheel balancing weight according to  claim 4 , wherein the two slots are blind slots with a finite depth into the mass body. 
     
     
         10 . A wheel balancing weight according to  claim 1 , wherein the two groove walls of the groove are generally parallel to one another. 
     
     
         11 . A wheel balancing weight according to  claim 1 , wherein the first and second side edges of the attachment portion are not parallel to one another and are closer to one another nearer the clip portion and further away from one another nearer the free bottom edge. 
     
     
         12 . A wheel balancing weight according to  claim 11 , wherein the two groove walls of the groove are closer to one another across the groove nearer the clip portion and further apart from one another across the groove nearer the free bottom edge of the attachment portion. 
     
     
         13 . A wheel balancing weight according to  claim 11 , wherein the attachment portion is trapezoid shaped, and the groove is correspondingly trapezoid shaped. 
     
     
         14 . A wheel balancing weight according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 two protruding elements, each protruding element of the two protruding elements provided on a respective side edge of the two side edges of the attachment portion, wherein the two protruding elements are each an indentation that protrudes into one of the two side edges, respectively.   
     
     
         15 . A wheel balancing weight according to  claim 14 , wherein the indentations are semicircular notches or cutouts. 
     
     
         16 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 two shaped protrusions, each shaped protrusion protruding from a respective one of the groove walls, wherein each shaped protrusion is received in a corresponding one of the indentations.   
     
     
         17 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 two undercuts, each undercut formed into the groove surface and adjacent each groove wall.   
     
     
         18 . A wheel balancing weight comprising:
 an attachment clip having a clip portion configured to attach the wheel balancing weight to a vehicle wheel and having a generally flat or planar attachment portion of a trapezoidal shape with a pair of opposed side edges;   a mass body having a top side and a front side with a groove formed in the front side; and   flowed or worked mass body material that overlies the opposed side edges of the attachment portion to secure the attachment portion in the groove,   wherein the attachment portion has one end joined to an edge of the clip portion and has a free edge remote or spaced from the one end and from the edge of the clip portion, the attachment portion being wider at the free edge and being narrower at the one end, the opposed side edges being angled relative to one another and closer to one another nearer the one end and the clip portion and further apart nearer the free edge,   wherein the groove has groove walls spaced apart from one another across a width of the groove, the groove walls angled relative to one another to match the trapezoid shape of the clip attachment portion,   wherein the groove has two undercuts, each undercut formed into the groove surface and adjacent each groove wall, and   wherein each of the two opposed side edges has a chamfered or tapered edge profile, the chamfered or tapered edge profile oriented such that the two opposed side edges are angled away from the groove walls moving away from the groove surface.   
     
     
         19 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 18 , wherein the edge of the clip portion is wider than the one end of the attachment portion, creating shoulders on the ends of the edge beyond the side edges of the attachment portion, the shoulders disposed outside of the groove and bearing against the top side of the mass body laterally beyond the width of the groove and therefore preventing the attachment clip from moving parallel to the groove surface but in the opposite direction toward the bottom side. 
     
     
         20 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 18 , wherein the flowed or worked mass body material is crimped, swaged, or otherwise worked to secure the attachment portion to the mass body. 
     
     
         21 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 18 , wherein a space or gap is left between the clip portion and the top side to allow for resiliency in the clip portion during installation on a wheel rim. 
     
     
         22 . A wheel balancing weight of  claim 18 , wherein the trapezoid shape keys the attachment portion in the groove and prevents the attachment clip from pulling away from the mass body in a direction parallel to the groove surface and toward the top side.