CN111775622A

CN111775622A - Wheel end assembly of vehicle, control method and vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN111775622A
Application number: CN202010663626.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈勇平; 赵阳; 张鹏禹; 陈良平
Original assignee: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd; Zhejiang Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group Co Ltd; Geely Sichuan Commercial Vehicle Co Ltd; Zhejiang Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Development Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd; Geely Sichuan Commercial Vehicle Co Ltd; Zhejiang Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Development Co Ltd; Zhejiang Remote Commercial Vehicle R&D Co Ltd; Zhejiang Geely Remote New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-10
Filing date: 2020-07-10
Publication date: 2020-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-10
Also published as: CN111775622B

Abstract

The invention provides a wheel end assembly of a vehicle, a control method and the vehicle, and relates to the technical field of vehicle chassis. The wheel end assembly comprises a hollow wheel hub, a steering knuckle with a shaft, at least one thrust roller bearing and at least one cylindrical roller bearing, wherein the thrust roller bearing and the cylindrical roller bearing are sleeved on the shaft and are positioned in a gap, the shaft is positioned in the wheel hub and has a gap with the inner wall of the wheel hub, at least part of the outer wall of the thrust roller bearing is attached to the inner wall of the wheel hub so as to limit the radial movement of the thrust roller bearing along the shaft, the outer wall of the cylindrical roller bearing is attached to the inner wall of the wheel hub, and the inner wall of the cylindrical roller bearing is attached to the outer wall of the shaft. When the cylindrical roller bearing is seriously damaged, the condition that the hub of the wheel end assembly falls off together with the wheel under the axial support of the thrust roller bearing can not occur, and the running safety of the vehicle can be improved.

Description

Wheel end assembly of vehicle, control method and vehicle

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of vehicle chassis, in particular to a wheel end assembly of a vehicle, a control method and the vehicle.

Background

At present, under the environment that a light truck is not light, the light truck overload phenomenon is common and serious, the light truck of each host factory often has the phenomenon that a front wheel end bearing is abraded and ablated at present, normal driving of a vehicle is influenced, and when the bearing is seriously damaged, the wheel end bearing is scattered, a wheel is separated, and extremely high safety risk is brought to a user and vehicles running around a fault vehicle.

The existing light truck and other vehicles all adopt a group of oppositely arranged tapered roller bearing wheel end structures, although a certain overload coefficient is reserved for the bearing force of the wheel end when the axle wheel end is designed, under the condition of serious overload, on one hand, the axial stress of the tapered roller is increased, the clearance is reduced, the frictional resistance between the tapered roller and a retainer, and between a bearing inner ring and a bearing outer ring is increased, so that the abrasion speed between the bearing retainer and the roller is increased; on the other hand, the radial pressure of the tapered roller is increased, so that the contact pressure and the contact area between the tapered roller and the raceway are increased, and a lubricating oil film is not easily formed between the tapered roller and the raceway, so that the abrasion speed between the tapered roller and the raceway is accelerated. By combining the two reasons, under the condition of serious overload, the severe degree of the working environment of the bearing far exceeds the working environment within the bearing design range, the bearing is in the severe working environment for a long time, parts such as a bearing retainer, a roller and the like are easily damaged, abnormal sound occurs if the parts are light, the retainer is broken or the bearing is ablated if the parts are heavy, a wheel end gasket is small and thin and cannot support the axial force of the wheel end bearing after the bearing is scattered, if the bearing is broken and scattered, the hub lacks the axial force support, the hub can take the wheel to be separated together, and the road driving safety of a vehicle and the personal safety of a user are seriously influenced. Therefore, in the wheel end structure in the prior art, when the wheel end bearing is seriously damaged, the wheel hub and the wheel cannot be forcibly retained on the wheel end.

And the wheel end structure among the prior art also lacks the operation of wheel end bearing and monitors, when the wheel end begins to take place to damage, is difficult to in time discover and overhaul by the user, also can not provide wheel end trouble early warning for the user, only can discover when the wheel end abnormal sound appears or the wheel deviates from, and the wheel end has been damaged extremely serious this moment, only can change wheel end bearing or whole wheel end. The existing wheel end structure cannot allow a user to actively avoid the occurrence of wheel end failure.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a wheel end assembly of a vehicle, which solves the technical problem that in the prior art, when a wheel end bearing of a wheel end structure is seriously damaged, a hub and a wheel cannot be forcibly retained on the wheel end, so that the hub and the wheel are separated from the wheel end.

It is another object of the present invention to improve the stability of the wheel end assembly.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling a wheel end assembly of a vehicle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a vehicle.

In particular, the present invention provides a wheel end assembly for a vehicle, comprising:

a hub having a hollow interior;

a knuckle having a shaft located inside the hub with a gap from an inner wall of the hub; and

the cover is established epaxial and be in at least one thrust roller bearing and at least one cylindrical roller bearing in the clearance, thrust roller bearing's at least partial outer wall with wheel hub's inner wall is laminated mutually, in order to restrict thrust roller bearing follows the radial movement of axle, cylindrical roller bearing's outer wall with wheel hub's inner wall is laminated mutually, cylindrical roller bearing's inner wall with the outer wall of axle is laminated mutually.

Optionally, the number of the cylindrical roller bearings is one;

the number of the thrust roller bearings is two, two the thrust roller bearings are a first thrust roller bearing and a second thrust roller bearing, the first thrust roller bearing is located the cylindrical roller bearing is close to one side of the end part of the shaft, and the second thrust roller bearing is located the cylindrical roller bearing is far away from one side of the end part of the shaft.

Optionally, the wheel end assembly further comprises:

the first bearing retainer ring is sleeved on the shaft and positioned on one side of the second thrust roller bearing, which is far away from the cylindrical roller bearing, and one side wall of the first bearing retainer ring is attached to the second thrust roller bearing;

the second bearing retainer ring is sleeved on the shaft and is positioned on one side of the cylindrical roller bearing close to the end part of the shaft, the inner wall of the second bearing retainer ring is attached to the outer wall of the shaft, and the first thrust roller bearing is sleeved on the second bearing retainer ring;

and the third bearing retainer ring is sleeved on the shaft and is positioned at one side of the end part of the shaft, which is close to the first thrust roller bearing, and one side wall of the third bearing retainer ring is attached to the first thrust roller bearing.

Optionally, the wheel end assembly further comprises:

the bearing spacer bush is arranged between the second thrust roller bearing and the cylindrical roller bearing, the outer wall of the bearing spacer bush is attached to the inner wall of the hub, and the two side walls of the bearing spacer bush are respectively attached to the side wall of the second thrust roller bearing and the side wall of the cylindrical roller bearing.

Optionally, the inner wall of the hub is concave-convex, and the shaft is stepped.

Optionally, a protrusion protrudes from the inner wall of the hub in the direction toward the shaft, one side wall of the protrusion is attached to the side wall of the cylindrical roller bearing, and the other side wall of the protrusion is attached to the side wall of the first thrust roller bearing.

Optionally, the wheel end assembly further comprises:

the first oil seal is sleeved on the first bearing retainer ring, and the outer wall of the first oil seal is attached to the inner wall of the hub;

and the second oil seal is sleeved on the third bearing retainer ring, and the outer wall of the second oil seal is attached to the inner wall of the wheel hub.

Optionally, a hole is formed in the center of the shaft, and a temperature sensor is mounted in the hole.

Further, the present invention also provides a control method of a wheel end assembly of a vehicle, including:

acquiring the temperature of a wheel end assembly;

and alarming when the temperature of the wheel end assembly is higher than a preset temperature so as to remind a user of overhauling the wheel end assembly.

Further, the invention also provides a vehicle, and the vehicle is provided with the wheel end assembly.

The invention comprises a hub with a hollow inner part, a steering knuckle with a shaft, at least one thrust roller bearing and at least one cylindrical roller bearing, wherein the thrust roller bearing and the cylindrical roller bearing are sleeved on the shaft and positioned in a gap, the shaft is positioned in the hub and has a gap with the inner wall of the hub, at least part of the outer wall of the thrust roller bearing is attached to the inner wall of the hub so as to limit the radial movement of the thrust roller bearing along the shaft, the outer wall of the cylindrical roller bearing is attached to the inner wall of the hub, and the inner wall of the cylindrical roller bearing is attached to the outer wall of the shaft. The cylindrical roller bearing is used for bearing the radial load of the wheel end, the radial bearing capacity is stronger, the thrust roller bearing is used for bearing the axial load of the wheel end, the axial bearing capacity is stronger, if the cylindrical roller bearing is seriously damaged under the condition of serious overload of a vehicle, the situation that the wheel hub of the wheel end assembly is separated together with the wheel under the axial support of the thrust roller bearing can not occur, and even if the thrust roller bearing is seriously damaged, the wheel hub of the wheel end assembly can still be supported by the inner ring and the outer ring of the thrust roller bearing, so that the passive safety is realized, and the driving safety of the vehicle can be improved.

Furthermore, the thrust roller bearing further comprises a first bearing retainer ring, a second bearing retainer ring and a third bearing retainer ring, wherein the first bearing retainer ring is sleeved on the shaft and is positioned on one side, far away from the cylindrical roller bearing, of the second thrust roller bearing, and one side wall of the first bearing retainer ring is attached to the second thrust roller bearing. The second bearing retainer ring is sleeved on the shaft and is positioned on one side, close to the end part of the shaft, of the cylindrical roller bearing, the inner wall of the second bearing retainer ring is attached to the outer wall of the shaft, and the first thrust roller bearing is sleeved on the second bearing retainer ring. The third bearing retainer ring is sleeved on the shaft and is positioned on one side of the first thrust roller bearing close to the end part of the shaft, and one side wall of the third bearing retainer ring is attached to the first thrust roller bearing. According to the invention, the first bearing retainer ring, the second bearing retainer ring and the third bearing retainer ring are arranged, so that the axial positioning of the thrust roller bearing and the cylindrical roller bearing can be realized, the play of the thrust roller bearing and the cylindrical roller bearing is avoided, and the stability of the wheel end assembly is further improved.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter, by way of illustration and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements or components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic mounting view of a wheel end assembly on a vehicle axle according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the wheel end assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a knuckle in the wheel end assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a wheel hub of the wheel end assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a thrust roller bearing of the wheel end assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a cylindrical roller bearing in the wheel end assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a first bearing retainer of the wheel end assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a second bearing retainer of the wheel end assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a third bearing retainer ring in the wheel end assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a method of controlling a wheel end assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are illustrative and intended to be illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic mounting diagram of a wheel end assembly 100 on an axle according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the wheel end assembly 100 shown in fig. 1, fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a knuckle 2 in the wheel end assembly 100 shown in fig. 2, fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a hub 1 in the wheel end assembly 100 shown in fig. 2, fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a thrust roller bearing 4 in the wheel end assembly 100 shown in fig. 2, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a cylindrical roller bearing 3 in the wheel end assembly 100 shown in fig. 2, fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a first bearing retainer ring 5 in the wheel end assembly 100 shown in fig. 2, fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a second bearing retainer ring 6 in the wheel end assembly 100 shown in fig. 2, and fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a third bearing retainer ring 7 in the wheel end assembly 100 shown in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, in one particular embodiment, the wheel end assembly 100 may generally include a wheel hub 1 having a hollow interior, a knuckle 2 having a shaft 21, and at least one thrust roller bearing 4 and at least one cylindrical roller bearing 3 mounted on the shaft 21 in a gap, the shaft 21 being located inside the wheel hub 1 and having a gap with an inner wall of the wheel hub 1. At least part of the outer wall of the thrust roller bearing 4 is attached to the inner wall of the hub 1 to limit the radial movement of the thrust roller bearing 4 along the shaft 21, the outer wall of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 is attached to the inner wall of the hub 1, and the inner wall of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 is attached to the outer wall of the shaft 21. Here, the cylindrical roller bearing 3 may be a double row cylindrical roller bearing. In another embodiment, other types of bearings having the same bearing function may be selected to prevent the hub 1 and the wheel from coming out. The wheel end assembly 100 of the present invention is primarily suitable for light truck and other commercial vehicles, and may be applied to other vehicle types according to actual needs.

The passive safety of the wheel end assembly 100 is improved, specifically, the internal structure of the wheel end assembly 100 is newly designed, a new bearing structure is adopted, the wheel end assembly 100 is composed of a cylindrical roller bearing 3 and two thrust roller bearings 4, the axial force and the radial force of the wheel end assembly 100 are borne by special bearings, the radial load of the wheel end is borne by the cylindrical roller bearing 3, the radial load bearing capacity of the wheel end is stronger, and the axial load bearing capacity of the wheel end is stronger by the thrust roller bearing 4. If the cylindrical roller bearing 3 is seriously damaged under the condition of serious overload of the wheel end assembly 100 of the invention, and the cylindrical roller bearing 3 is scattered, the condition that the wheel hub 1 and a wheel fall off together can not occur under the axial support of the thrust roller bearing 4 of the wheel end assembly 100. Even if the thrust roller bearing 4 is seriously damaged, the wheel hub 1 of the wheel end assembly 100 of the present invention can still be supported by the inner ring and the outer ring of the thrust roller bearing 4, so that passive safety is realized, and the safety of vehicle running can be improved. The problem of current wheel end technique can't force hub 1 and wheel to remain in the wheel end after the bearing serious wear destroys is solved, the condition that takes place hub 1 and wheel to deviate from the wheel end is avoided.

In one embodiment, the number of the cylindrical roller bearings 3 is one, the number of the thrust roller bearings 4 is two, and the two thrust roller bearings 4 are a first thrust roller bearing 41 and a second thrust roller bearing 42, the first thrust roller bearing 41 being located on a side of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 near the end of the shaft, and the second thrust roller bearing 42 being located on a side of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 away from the end of the shaft 21.

Further, the wheel end assembly 100 further includes a first bearing retainer ring 5, a second bearing retainer ring 6 and a third bearing retainer ring 7, the first bearing retainer ring 5 is sleeved on the shaft 21 and is located on one side of the second thrust roller bearing 42 away from the cylindrical roller bearing 3, and one side wall of the first bearing retainer ring 5 is attached to the second thrust roller bearing 42. The second bearing retainer ring 6 is sleeved on the shaft 21 and is positioned on one side of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 close to the end part of the shaft 21, the inner wall of the second bearing retainer ring 6 is attached to the outer wall of the shaft 21, and the first thrust roller bearing 41 is sleeved on the second bearing retainer ring 6. The third retainer ring 7 is sleeved on the shaft 21 and is positioned on one side of the first thrust roller bearing 41 close to the end part of the shaft 21, and one side wall of the third retainer ring 7 is attached to the first thrust roller bearing 41.

According to the invention, the first bearing retainer ring 5, the second bearing retainer ring 6 and the third bearing retainer ring 7 are arranged, so that the axial positioning of the thrust roller bearing 4 and the cylindrical roller bearing 3 can be realized, the thrust roller bearing 4 and the cylindrical roller bearing 3 are prevented from moving, and the stability of the wheel end assembly 100 is further improved.

Further, the wheel end assembly 100 further includes a bearing spacer 8 disposed between the second thrust roller bearing 42 and the cylindrical roller bearing 3, an outer wall of the bearing spacer 8 is attached to an inner wall of the wheel hub 1, and two side walls of the bearing spacer 8 are respectively attached to a side wall of the second thrust roller bearing 42 and a side wall of the cylindrical roller bearing 3.

In one embodiment, a bearing spacer 8 may also be provided between the first thrust roller bearing 41 and the cylindrical roller bearing 3. The outer ring of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 is axially positioned through the bearing spacer 8.

In another embodiment, the inner wall of the hub 1 is protruded with a protrusion 11 toward the shaft 21, one side wall of the protrusion 11 is attached to the side wall of the cylindrical roller bearing 3, and the other side wall of the protrusion 11 is attached to the side wall of the first thrust roller bearing 41. The invention can also axially position the outer ring of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 by arranging the bulge 11 on the hub 1.

According to the invention, the inner wall of the hub 1 is concave-convex, and the shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2 is stepped, so that the requirements of installation, clamping, limiting and the like of each part in the hub 1 can be met.

Further, the wheel end assembly 100 further comprises a first oil seal 9 and a second oil seal 10, the first oil seal 9 is sleeved on the first bearing retainer ring 5, and the outer wall of the first oil seal 9 is attached to the inner wall of the wheel hub 1. The second oil seal 10 is sleeved on the third bearing retainer ring 7, and the outer wall of the second oil seal 10 is attached to the inner wall of the hub 1. The present invention can prevent grease leakage and foreign matter from entering the interior of the wheel end assembly 100 by providing the first oil seal 9 and the second oil seal 10.

Further, a hole 20 is opened at the center of the shaft 21 of the knuckle 2, and a temperature sensor 30 is installed in the hole 20, so that the temperature of the wheel end assembly 100 can be detected by the temperature sensor 30. In order to allow the temperature sensor 30 to monitor the center temperature of the hub 1 assembly, it is necessary to control the position of the bottom of the hole 20 near the center position of the shaft 21 of the knuckle 2. A temperature sensor 30 is inserted as a wheel end monitoring device into the bore 20 to monitor the temperature inside the wheel hub 1 assembly. Specifically, the temperature sensor 30 may also be mounted at other locations of the wheel end assembly 100 to implement a wheel end temperature monitoring function.

The specific installation steps and installation details of the invention are as follows (installation from inside to outside):

install first bearing retainer ring 5 on the axle 21 of knuckle 2 with transition fit's mode earlier, be equipped with first hole 51 on the first bearing retainer ring 5, embedded first O type sealing washer in the first hole 51, the inner wall of first bearing retainer ring 5 and the axle 21 laminating of knuckle 2, first oil blanket 9 is with interference fit's mode pressure equipment in wheel hub 1's hole, the outer wall of first oil blanket 9 and wheel hub 1 and the equal laminating of first bearing retainer ring 5. And then the second thrust roller bearing 42 is installed on the shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2, the side wall of the tight ring end of the second thrust roller bearing 42 is attached to the side wall of the first bearing retainer 5, is in clearance fit with the inner wall of the hub 1 and is in transition fit with the shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2, so that the tight ring end of the second thrust roller bearing 42 is fixed on the shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2. The loose ring end of the second thrust roller bearing 42 is in interference fit with the inner wall of the hub 1, the side wall of the loose ring end of the second thrust roller bearing 42 is attached to the end surface of the inner wall of the hub 1 and the side wall of the bearing spacer 8 and is in clearance fit with the shaft 21 of the knuckle 2, so that the loose ring end of the second thrust roller bearing 42 rotates around the shaft 21 of the knuckle 2 along with the hub 1.

Further, the bearing spacer 8 and the cylindrical roller bearing 3 are sequentially installed in the inner hole of the hub 1, and in one embodiment, the cylindrical roller bearing 3 is an NN0000 type cylindrical roller bearing 3 (the outer ring has no flange and can be respectively provided with an outer ring and an inner ring assembly (with a roller and a retainer) without limiting the axial displacement of the installation shaft or the housing thereof), so that the outer ring of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 is press-fitted into the inner hole of the hub 1 in an interference fit manner, the outer end face of the outer ring is attached to the side wall of the hub 1, the side wall of the outer ring is attached to the side wall of the bearing spacer 8, the inner ring assembly is sleeved on the shaft of the knuckle 2 in a transition fit manner, the inner wall of the inner ring is attached to the outer wall of the shaft 21 of the knuckle 2, and the bearing spacer 8 is in transition fit with the inner wall of the hub.

Further, a second bearing retainer ring 6 is sleeved on a shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2, the second bearing retainer ring 6 is attached to the outer wall of an inner ring of the cylindrical roller bearing 3, the second bearing retainer ring 6 is in transition fit with the outer wall of the shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2, a locking ring 12 is in threaded mounting fit with the outer wall of the shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2, the side wall of the locking ring 12 is attached to the side wall of the second bearing retainer ring 6, then a first thrust roller bearing 41 is sleeved on the second bearing retainer ring 6, the loose ring end of the first thrust roller bearing 41 is pressed into the inner hole of the hub 1 in an interference fit manner and is attached to the inner wall of the hub 1, and is in clearance fit with the outer wall of the second bearing retainer ring 6, so that the loose ring end of the first thrust roller bearing 41 rotates around the shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2 along with the hub 1, the tight ring end of the first thrust roller bearing 41 is in transition fit with the, the ring end of the first thrust roller bearing 41 is fixed to the shaft 21 of the knuckle 2. The end face of the tight ring end of the first thrust roller bearing 41 is attached to the end face of the small end of the third bearing retainer 7, the third bearing retainer 7 is installed on the shaft 21 of the knuckle 2 in a transition fit mode, the third bearing retainer 7 is in clearance fit with the locking ring 12, the third bearing retainer 7 is provided with a second inner hole 71 which is embedded with a second O-shaped sealing ring, the locking ring 12 is connected with the shaft 21 through threads, the second oil seal 10 is pressed in the inner hole of the hub 1 in an interference fit connection mode and attached to the end face of the inner hole, the inner wall of the second oil seal 10 is attached to the outer wall of the third bearing retainer 7, the hub end cover 15 is fixed on the end face of the hub 1 through end cover bolts, and the third O-shaped sealing ring is embedded between the connection faces of the hub 1 and the hub end cover 15.

According to the invention, through adjusting the pretightening force of the lock nut 14, the axial play of the first thrust roller bearing 41 and the second thrust roller bearing 42 in the wheel end assembly 100 is controlled by utilizing the transmission and interaction of the pretightening force among the steering knuckle 2, the first bearing retainer ring 5, the wheel hub 1 and the third bearing retainer ring 7, because the wheel end assembly 100 adopts the NN0000 type cylindrical roller bearing 3, the outer ring of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 can move axially, and the influence on the installation fit and the working operation of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 caused by the adjustment of the axial play of the first thrust roller bearing 41 and the second thrust roller bearing 42 can be avoided.

The invention realizes the axial positioning by screwing the locking ring 12 and axially pressing the inner ring assembly (with the roller and the retainer) of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 by utilizing the end surfaces of the second bearing retainer ring 6 and the shaft 21 of the steering knuckle 2.

The wheel end assembly 100 of the present invention is lubricated by grease, and a plurality of oil storage cavities are designed inside the wheel end structure to provide sufficient lubrication for the bearings inside the wheel end assembly 100, for example, the first bearing retainer ring 5, the first oil seal 9, the inner wall of the wheel hub 1, and the second thrust roller bearing 42 form the oil storage cavities to provide sufficient lubrication for the first thrust roller bearing 41.

In order to realize that the wheel end assembly 100 is convenient to disassemble, the first bearing retainer ring 5, the second bearing retainer ring 6, the third bearing retainer ring 7, the second thrust roller bearing 42 and the first thrust roller bearing 41 can be disassembled by using a puller, a puller disassembling space is reserved, and the outer ring of the cylindrical roller bearing 3 is disassembled by pulling through an oil filling hole of the cylindrical roller bearing.

The steering knuckle 2 is used for mounting other components in the wheel end assembly 100 and is mounted and connected to an axle assembly of a vehicle, the first bearing retainer ring 5, the second bearing retainer ring 6 and the third bearing retainer ring 7 are all used for axially positioning the first thrust roller bearing 41, the second thrust roller bearing 42 and the wheel hub 1 in the wheel end assembly 100, the first bearing retainer ring 5 can also prevent external impurities from entering the interior of the wheel end assembly 100 and play a role in protecting the first oil seal 9, and the third bearing retainer ring 7 also plays a role in protecting the second oil seal 10 to a certain extent. The first O-ring, the second O-ring and the third O-ring are all used to prevent grease inside the wheel end assembly 100 from leaking and external impurities from entering. The bearing spacer 8 is used for axially positioning the outer ring of the cylindrical roller bearing 3, and the hub 1 is used for mounting parts inside the wheel end assembly 100 and is connected with a wheel through a flange. The locking ring 12 is used for axial positioning of the inner ring assembly (with rollers and cage) of the cylindrical roller bearing 3. The wheel end assembly 100 further comprises a large gasket 13 which is arranged between the lock nut 14 and the third bearing retainer ring 7, the stress area of the pressing force of the lock nut 14 is increased, the axial pressing force provided by the lock nut 14 is more uniform in stress, the lock nut 14 is prevented from being scratched on the third bearing retainer ring 7 during installation and disassembly, and the large gasket 13 can be enlarged and thickened to prevent the hub 1 and the wheel from being separated. The lock nut 14 provides an axial pre-tightening force for the wheel end assembly 100, so that the first thrust roller bearing 41 and the second thrust roller bearing 42 have the axial pre-tightening force, perform axial clearance adjustment, and fix the axle of the wheel end assembly 100. The lock nut 14 is further provided with a cotter pin for locking the lock nut 14 to prevent the lock nut 14 from loosening. The wheel end cap provides protection and decoration to the wheel end assembly 100 and prevents leakage of internal grease and ingress of external contaminants. Further, a wheel cover bolt is used to fix the hub end cover 15.

In summary, even if the cylindrical roller bearing 3 breaks loose due to external reasons during driving, the wheel end assembly 100 of the present invention will not cause the wheel to fall off, because the first thrust roller bearing 41 and the second thrust roller bearing 42 will provide sufficient axial force support for the wheel end to prevent the hub 1 and the wheel from falling off, and even if the first thrust roller bearing 41 and the second thrust roller bearing 42 break loose, the inner and outer bearing rings of the thrust roller bearing 4 can provide sufficient axial support for the wheel end to prevent the hub 1 and the wheel from falling off.

The present invention also provides a vehicle incorporating the wheel end assembly 100100 of any one of the embodiments described above. The wheel end assembly 100100 is not described in detail herein.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a control method of the wheel end assembly 100 according to one embodiment of the invention. In one particular embodiment, a method of controlling a wheel end assembly 100 of a vehicle generally includes the steps of:

s100, acquiring the temperature S of the wheel end assembly 100;

s200, judging whether the temperature S of the wheel end assembly 100 is higher than a preset temperature S1, if so, executing S300;

and S300, alarming to remind a user of overhauling the wheel end assembly 100.

The measured temperature S of the wheel end assembly 100 is transmitted through the temperature sensor 30 wire harness in the form of a CAN signal, the temperature sensor 30 wire harness is connected with the chassis wire harness, so that the temperature CAN signal is transmitted to the whole vehicle controller through the chassis wire harness, the whole vehicle controller judges and identifies the wheel end fault according to the detected temperature according to the warning temperature S1 set by the system, if the wheel end fault is identified, the whole vehicle controller sends an alarm instruction, the alarm instruction is transmitted to an instrument panel of a cab through the cab wire harness in the form of the CAN signal, a wheel end fault alarm lamp on the instrument panel is enabled to be on for long-time alarming, a voice system in the cab carries out voice alarm prompt, a driver is reminded to overhaul and maintain the wheel end of the vehicle in time, the purposes of identifying and early warning the wheel end fault in advance are achieved, and the safety risk of vehicle running is reduced.

The invention increases the active safety of the wheel end assembly 100 on the basis of increasing the passive safety of the wheel end assembly 100: through add temperature sensor 30 in wheel end structure inside, real-time supervision wheel end temperature, and utilize the wheel end fault identification early warning system of autonomic design, the wheel end fault is monitored, discernment, the early warning, when the wheel end appears abnormal wear, wheel end fault identification early warning system can in time remind the user to overhaul the maintenance to the wheel end, avoid causing the condition such as the wheel is deviate from after the wheel end bearing seriously wears out, solve the technical problem that current wheel end structure bearing abnormal wear is difficult to discover and lack wheel end fault early warning.

The wheel end assembly 100 has high axial bearing capacity, can effectively prevent wheels from falling off, monitors wheel end faults through the wheel end fault identification early warning system, can enable a user to find out the wheel end abnormity in time, implements effective inspection and maintenance, and greatly improves the driving safety level.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. A wheel end assembly for a vehicle, comprising:

a hub (1) which is hollow inside;

a steering knuckle (2) having a shaft (21), said shaft (21) being located inside said hub (1) with a clearance from the inner wall of said hub (1); and

the cover is established on axle (21) and be in at least one thrust roller bearing (4) and at least one cylindrical roller bearing (3) in the clearance, at least partial outer wall of thrust roller bearing (4) with the inner wall of wheel hub (1) is laminated mutually, in order to restrict thrust roller bearing (4) are followed the radial movement of axle (21), the outer wall of cylindrical roller bearing (3) with the inner wall of wheel hub (1) is laminated mutually, the inner wall of cylindrical roller bearing (3) with the outer wall of axle (21) is laminated mutually.

2. The wheel end assembly of claim 1,

the number of the cylindrical roller bearings (3) is one;

the number of the thrust roller bearings (4) is two, two the thrust roller bearings (4) are a first thrust roller bearing (41) and a second thrust roller bearing (42), the first thrust roller bearing (41) is located the cylindrical roller bearing (3) is close to one side of the end portion of the shaft (21), and the second thrust roller bearing (42) is located the cylindrical roller bearing (3) is far away from one side of the end portion of the shaft (21).

3. The wheel end assembly of claim 2, further comprising:

the first bearing retainer ring (5) is sleeved on the shaft (21) and is positioned on one side, away from the cylindrical roller bearing (3), of the second thrust roller bearing (42), and one side wall of the first bearing retainer ring (5) is attached to the second thrust roller bearing (42);

the second bearing retainer ring (6) is sleeved on the shaft (21) and is positioned on one side, close to the end part of the shaft (21), of the cylindrical roller bearing (3), the inner wall of the second bearing retainer ring (6) is attached to the outer wall of the shaft (21), and the first thrust roller bearing (41) is sleeved on the second bearing retainer ring (6);

and the third bearing retainer ring (7) is sleeved on the shaft (21) and is positioned on the first thrust roller bearing (41) close to one side of the end part of the shaft (21), and one side wall of the third bearing retainer ring (7) is attached to the first thrust roller bearing (41).

4. The wheel end assembly of claim 2, further comprising:

bearing spacer (8), set up second thrust roller bearing (42) with between cylindrical roller bearing (3), the outer wall of bearing spacer (8) with the inner wall of wheel hub (1) is laminated mutually, two lateral walls of bearing spacer (8) respectively with the lateral wall of second thrust roller bearing (42) the lateral wall of cylindrical roller bearing (3) is laminated mutually.

5. The wheel end assembly of claim 1,

the inner wall of the hub (1) is concave-convex, and the shaft (21) is in a step shape.

6. The wheel end assembly of claim 5,

the inner wall of wheel hub (1) orientation the direction protrusion of axle (21) has arch (11), a lateral wall of arch (11) with the lateral wall of cylindrical roller bearing (3) is laminated mutually, another lateral wall of arch (11) with the lateral wall of first thrust roller bearing (41) is laminated mutually.

7. The wheel end assembly of claim 3, further comprising:

the first oil seal (9) is sleeved on the first bearing retainer ring (5), and the outer wall of the first oil seal (9) is attached to the inner wall of the hub (1);

and the second oil seal (10) is sleeved on the third bearing retainer ring (7), and the outer wall of the second oil seal (10) is attached to the inner wall of the wheel hub (1).

8. The wheel end assembly of claim 1,

a hole (20) is formed in the center of the shaft (21), and a temperature sensor (30) is installed in the hole (20).

9. A control method applied to a wheel end assembly of a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by comprising:

acquiring the temperature of a wheel end assembly;

10. A vehicle fitted with a wheel end assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 8.