Appeal No. 1998-1289
Application 07/906,492
Adams, the primary reference in these rejections,
discloses “a method of manufacturing a wheel having a
load supporting disc portion and at least a part of a rim
portion formed together as a seamless unitary structure
from a single metal blank” (column 1, lines 44 through
47). Of particular interest are the process steps
depicted in Figures 4a through 4f whereby
[a] blank 60 is formed by circling a band of
even gauge hot rolled strip and joining the ends
by electric butt welding. The ends of the blank
are flared by conventional methods and pressed
in two stages as shown in FIGURES 4b and 4c to
form the flanges 61 of a channel section. The
base 62 and the outside of the flanges are
supported by formers 63 and 63a (FIGURE 4c) and
a contoured roller 64 is brought into contact
with the blank to apply pressure to the outer
peripheral edges of the flanges 61 to thicken up
the junctions of the flanges 61 with the base
62, and to radius the edges of the flanges. The
roller 64 also produces a circumferentially
extending groove 65 (see FIGURE 4d) suitably
positioned for subsequent parting of the blank
into a rim part 67 with a tyre-retaining flange
intergal [sic] with it and a loose flange 68.
The formers 63, 63a may move axially during the
rolling operation. The parting operation may be
carried out with punches 66 as indicated in
FIGURE 4d. The final shapes of the flanges are
imposed by pressing the separate parts 67 and 68
as shown in FIGURE 4e, between formers 69, 69a
the final form of the parts 67, 68 being shown
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