DE102016106006B4 - Device for compensating tolerances - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for compensating tolerances between a first component (10) and a second component (12), comprising a base element (14) which defines a longitudinal central axis (A), and a compensating element (16) which is in threaded engagement with the base element (14). , which has an end face (18) facing the second component (12), which is delimited by an edge (44), characterized in that at least one embossing prong is used to increase the head friction between the compensating element (16) and the second component (12). (46) protrudes on the edge (44) over the end face (18).

Description

The present invention relates to a device for compensating tolerances between a first component and a second component, comprising a base element which defines a longitudinal central axis, and a compensating element which is in threaded engagement with the base element and which has an end face facing the second component, which is through a Edge is limited.

Such a device is from the DE 202 08 717 U1 or DE 202 09 853 U1 basically known and is used, for example, in automobile construction to determine tolerances in the distance between a first component (e.g. support structure, body or the like) and a second component to be mounted on it (e.g. roof rails, instrument panel, seat, door, hood, trunk lid) in the direction of the longitudinal central axis to compensate. Depending on the assembly specifications, the device can be pre-assembled either on the first component or on the second component. For this purpose, the device is attached to the first component via the base element, for example, and the compensating element is rotated upwards out of the base element in the direction of the second component until the end face comes into contact with the second component, thereby creating a connection between the first component and the second component will be produced. A screw is then passed through a hole in the second component, a passage in the compensating element, a hole in the first component and screwed into a lock nut. In a sense, the device forms a screw sleeve for the screw, with the longitudinal central axis of the device at least approximately coinciding with the fastening axis defined by the screw. By tightening the screw, the end face of the compensating element is pressed against the second component with a defined force, with friction between the end face and the second component preventing the compensating element resting on the second component from being able to rotate back into the base element.

In addition to such a device, the EP 0 872 619 B1 a device is known with which a distance between two components can not only be bridged, but also adjusted.

In vehicles, prestressed connections, such as screw connections of the type described above, are usually subjected to mechanically swelling loads between components, i.e. the load on the connection can fluctuate, for example due to vibrations caused while driving. Due to high mass inertia and/or wind loads, extreme loads occur, for example when fastening roof rails. However, strong load fluctuations can also occur with moving heavy components, such as seats, doors, hoods or trunk lids.

These fluctuating (amplitudical) loads on the connection as well as bending loads acting on the components can lead to microscopic movements between the base element and the compensating element. Favored by the thread pitch of the base element and compensating element, the compensating element can then gradually screw into the base element, which results in the connection being loosened.

In extreme cases, if there are particularly high tensile loads acting on the screw, the load on the screw sleeve can be completely reduced and a gap can form between the end face and the second component, the connection “releases” to a certain extent. As a result, the friction securing the connection is completely eliminated and loosening of the connection is no longer ruled out.

In order to prevent the compensating element from being screwed back into the base element, a profile structure can be provided on the end face, which is intended to press in the second component by a force caused by the screw when the end face rests on the second component. In addition to a pure frictional connection, this should result in a positive connection between the profile structure and the second component, which makes it even more difficult to screw the compensating element back into the base element. In a sense, a reset inhibition should be implemented. Alternatively or additionally, an adhesive can be provided on the end face in order to permanently fix the compensating element to the second component. However, the use of adhesives is usually complex and problematic to handle. In addition, devices with adhesive are difficult to remove after installation and can only rarely be reused.

The profile structure formed on the end face usually has large profile surfaces with partly rounded edges. However, with such a profile structure, indentation of the second component is only possible to a small extent as a result of the force that occurs when the screw is tightened in the direction of the longitudinal central axis. Rather, the profile structure then lies against the second component, so that the end-face profile structure does not contribute significantly to the reset inhibition. A frontal profile structure can therefore only prevent the compensating element from being screwed into the base element to a limited extent.

One object of the invention is to create a device of the type mentioned at the outset, which is inexpensive to produce and ensures an improved connection between the compensating element and the second component.

The object is achieved by a device with the features of claim 1 and in particular in that at least one embossing prong on the edge protrudes over the end face in order to increase the head friction between the compensating element and the second component.

The invention further relates to a method with the features of claim 8 for producing such a device.

The invention is based on the general idea of realizing increased head friction between the compensation element and the second component by forming at least one embossed prong on the edge of the compensation element and thus at a maximum possible distance from the longitudinal central axis. The embossing prong forms a tip pointing in the direction of the second component, which has a smaller contact area on the second component than a known profile structure which extends over a large area over the end face. As a result, the embossing prong exerts a higher pressure on the second component than the end face profile structure with the same force applied, which is why the embossing prong can be pressed deeper into the second component. In addition, the embossing prong formed on the edge contributes more effectively to the head friction than the end-surface profile structure, since the head friction increases with increasing radial distance from the longitudinal central axis. The embossing prong formed on the edge therefore enables improved reset inhibition than the end-surface profile structure.

Furthermore, the embossing prong protruding over the end face on the edge can be produced in a particularly simple and cost-effective manner, as will be explained in more detail below.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention can be found in the subclaims, the description and the accompanying drawing.

It has been shown that when the end face is pressed against the second component and with the same material hardness of the embossing prong and the second component, the embossing prong presses into the second component by approximately half of its height, with which the embossing prong protrudes above the end face, whereas the other half is plastically deformed, so to speak compressed.

The embossing prong is therefore preferably made of a harder material than the second component, which allows the embossing prong to penetrate deeper into the second component. If the material of the embossing prong is softer than the material of the second component, the embossing prong can be coated with a layer of a harder material.

Due to the increased head friction between the end face resting on the second component due to the embossing prong formed on the edge, the use of additional adhesive can be dispensed with, which saves material and thus costs. In addition, an already assembled device in which the end face rests on the second component can be detached again if necessary, which is not easily possible when using adhesive between the end face and the second component.

When viewed in the direction of the longitudinal central axis, the end face preferably has an at least approximately radially symmetrical outer contour. It goes without saying that the edge can also include any other contours, such as polygonal contours.

The embossing prong is advantageously provided on the end face of a collar of the compensating element facing the second component. The collar can be formed in one piece with the compensating element or can be formed by a separate part that is attached to a base body of the compensating element.

If the collar is formed by a separate part, it can have a hole for attachment to the base body, which defines an inner edge, which is attached to an outer lateral surface of the base body in a form-fitting and/or force-fitting and/or material-locking manner, in particular in a rotationally fixed manner, for example by a joining process such as pressing, shrinking, welding, soldering or gluing. In other words, the collar forms a ring that surrounds the base body. Alternatively or additionally, starting from the inner edge on a side of the collar facing away from the end face, a socket pointing in the direction of the base body can be formed for rotationally fixed attachment of the collar to the base body.

The base body of the compensating element and the collar can be made of the same material or of different materials, so that, for example, the base body can have a softer material and the collar can have a harder material than the material of the second component.

Advantageously, several embossing points are distributed along the edge, in particular evenly distributed. With a larger number of Embossing serrations and/or a greater indentation depth in the second component improves the positive connection between the compensating element and the second component, so that screwing in of the compensating element is counteracted more effectively. The indentation depth can be influenced by the number of embossing points. In particular, the more embossing points there are, the lower the indentation depth. By varying both parameters, the desired effect can be adapted to the existing conditions.

Each embossing point can arise from a notch in the edge. The edge preferably defines the area in which the end face merges into a lateral surface of the collar. Each notch can extend from the edge along at least part of the lateral surface. Several notches on the lateral surface can form a regular pattern, although an irregular pattern is also conceivable. The notches in the lateral surface can be used as an attack feature for twisting, in particular for manual twisting, of the compensating element.

The at least one embossing prong can be produced in a simple and cost-effective manner by expelling material from the lateral surface, i.e. the material of the lateral surface is displaced in the direction of the edge under the influence of pressure, so that an embossing prong protruding beyond the end face is formed on the edge from the displaced material .

According to one embodiment, the end face merges at the edge into a lateral surface which runs at least approximately parallel to the longitudinal central axis.

An even greater expulsion of material can be achieved if the lateral surface does not run parallel to the longitudinal central axis, but rather tapers conically starting from the end face in the direction of the base element.

In principle, any method in which material is displaced can be used to produce the at least one embossing point, for example non-cutting shaping methods. Advantageously, the at least one embossing prong is formed by a material-shaping profiling, e.g. knurling, of the lateral surface. The material-forming profiling can also include a pressure forming process, such as notches.

• 1 eine Schnittansicht einer ersten Ausführungsform einer montierten erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung mit einer ersten Variante eines Ausgleichselements;
• 2 eine perspektivische Ansicht einer zweiten Variante eines Ausgleichselements;
• 3 eine perspektivische Ansicht einer dritten Variante eines Ausgleichselements;
• 4 eine perspektivische Ansicht einer zweiten Ausführungsform einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung; und
• 5 eine Seitenansicht eines Ausgleichselements der Vorrichtung von 4.

The invention is described below purely by way of example using possible embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

• 1 a sectional view of a first embodiment of an assembled device according to the invention with a first variant of a compensating element;
• 2 a perspective view of a second variant of a compensation element;
• 3 a perspective view of a third variant of a compensation element;
• 4 a perspective view of a second embodiment of a device according to the invention; and
• 5 a side view of a compensating element of the device 4 .

1 shows a sectional view of an assembled device for compensating tolerances between a first component 10 and a second component 12 spaced therefrom, which is arranged here above the first component 10. In principle, the components 10, 12 can also be arranged differently to one another.

The device comprises a hollow cylindrical base element 14, which defines a longitudinal central axis A and is in threaded engagement via an internal thread with an external thread of a hollow cylindrical compensating element 16. By rotating the compensating element 16 about the longitudinal central axis A, the compensating element 16 can be rotated upwards from the base element 14 in the direction of the second component 12 in order to rest there with an end face 18 facing the second component 12 on a contact surface 20 of the second component 12 reach. Furthermore, holding means 22 for holding the base element 14 on the first component 10 are provided on the base element 14.

To assemble the device, the holding means 22 are first inserted into openings 24 of the first component 10 in order to clip the base element 14 to the first component 10, i.e. the holding means 22 now engage behind an underside 26 of the first component 10 facing away from the second component 12. Then a threaded shaft 28 of a screw 30 is passed from above through an intermediate washer 32, a bore 34 of the second component 12, a passage 36 of the compensating element 16 and a bore 38 of the first component 10 and into a lock nut provided on the underside 26 of the first component 10 40 screwed in.

The base element 14 and the compensating element 16 are in threaded engagement in such a way that screwing the screw 30 into the lock nut 40 results in the compensating element 16 being unscrewed from the base element 14 in the direction of the second Component 12 causes. For this purpose, the base element 14 and the compensating element 16 are, for example, in left-hand thread engagement if the thread of the screw 30 is clockwise, or vice versa. In order to transmit the rotational movement of the screw 30 to the compensating element 16 when it is screwed into the lock nut 40, a friction driving means 42 formed, for example, from a spring plate is mounted in the passage 36 of the compensating element 16, which is located both on the thread of the screw 30 and on an inner surface of the compensation element 16 is supported. In principle, the compensating element 16 can also be unscrewed from the base element 14 without transmitting the rotational movement of the screw 30 to the compensating element 16, for example manually. In this case, no frictional driving means 42 needs to be provided in the passage 36.

On an edge 44 of the compensating element 16 delimiting the end face 18, embossing prongs 46 are formed, which, after the end face 18 rests on the contact surface 20, are pressed into the contact surface 20 of the second component 12 by the force generated when the screw 30 is tightened in the direction of the longitudinal central axis A . As a result, the second component 12 and the compensating element 16 are connected to one another in both a non-positive and positive manner, whereby an unintentional rotation of the compensating element 16 back into the base element 14 is more effectively prevented.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the end face 18 is formed on a collar 48, which is formed by an annular disk which is attached in a rotationally fixed manner to an end of a base body 49 of the compensating element 16 facing the second component 12, for example by pressing on, shrinking on, welding or gluing. Alternatively, the collar 48 can also be formed in one piece with the base body 49, as is the case in FIG 2 and 3 illustrated variants of the compensation element 16 is the case.

Based on 2 and 3 It can be seen that the embossing points 46 emerge from notches 50, which are made in the lateral surface 52 in the manner of a knurl. In other words, the embossing prongs 46 are formed directly next to one another and are also arranged along the edge 44 without interruption. In principle, knurling with at least one interruption is also conceivable.

According to the in 2 In the variant of the compensating element 16 shown, the end face 18 merges into a lateral surface 52 running parallel to the longitudinal central axis A. The notches 50 extend here away from the end face 18 over the entire height of the lateral surface 52.

In the 3 The variant of the compensation element 16 shown differs from that in 2 illustrated embodiment of the compensating element 16 in that the lateral surface 52 does not run parallel to the longitudinal central axis A, but tapers starting from the end face 18 in the direction of the base element 14, not shown. Thus, the lateral surface 52 together with the end face 18 forms a truncated cone, the wider base of which is in 3 points upwards and faces the second component 12. In addition, the variant differs from 3 thereby from the variant of 2 that the notches 50 extend from the edge 44 only over part of the height of the lateral surface 52.

The embossing teeth 46 are formed by a profiling tool (not shown), such as a knurling tool, exerting pressure on the lateral surface 52 in such a way that the material of the lateral surface 52 is displaced at least in the direction of the end face 18 and beyond it.

Since the lateral surface 52 of the in 3 illustrated variant does not run parallel to the longitudinal central axis A, the force exerted by the profiling tool perpendicular to the longitudinal central axis A is divided according to the course of the lateral surface 52 into a force component oriented perpendicular to the lateral surface 52 and a force component directed parallel to the longitudinal central axis A. The force component parallel to the longitudinal central axis A causes a greater expulsion of material in the direction of the end face 18, so that the embossing teeth 46 protrude further beyond the end face 18. The embossing teeth 46 can therefore press deeper into the second component 12 and thus bring about a stronger positive connection between the end face 18 and the contact surface 20, whereby the compensating element 16 resting on the second component 12 is more effectively prevented from turning back into the base element 14.

4 shows a second embodiment of the device, which differs from the first embodiment described above essentially in the design of the collar 48 of the compensating element 16. According to the second embodiment, the embossing prongs 46 are not located directly next to one another, but are discrete and arranged at a distance from one another along the edge 44, in particular with an angular distance of greater than 10°, preferably greater than 30°. It is irrelevant whether the embossing teeth 46 are arranged equidistantly or at different distances from one another. Furthermore, it is conceivable that groups of people can be trained next to each other th discrete embossing prongs 46 can be arranged spaced apart from one another.

In the in 4 In the exemplary embodiment shown, six embossing prongs 46 are formed on the edge 44, although the number of embossing prongs can in principle differ.

The embossing prongs 46 of the device according to the second embodiment are formed in that a notching tool, not shown, exerts pressure on the lateral surface 52, so that, while forming a notch 50 in the lateral surface 52, material of the collar 48 to form an embossing prong 46 upwards over the end face 18 is pushed out. Since the lateral surface 52 of the illustrated embodiment is oriented parallel to the longitudinal central axis A, material is simultaneously expelled from a side of the collar 48 facing away from the end face 18.

Furthermore, the in 4 illustrated second embodiment of the in 1 illustrated first embodiment in that on a side of the collar 48 facing away from the end face 18, a socket 54 is formed for non-rotatably attaching the collar 48 to the base body 49 of the compensating element 16 ( 5 ). Here the connector 54 is received in the passage 36 of the base body 49, but in principle the connector 54 could also surround the base body 49 radially.

Reference symbol list

10

first component

12

second component

14

basic element

16

Compensating element

18

face

20

investment area

22

Holding means

24

opening

26

bottom

28

Threaded shaft

30

screw

32

Intermediate washer

34

drilling

36

passage

38

drilling

40

Lock nut

42

Frictional driving means

44

Edge

46

embossing point

48

collar

49

Basic body

50

notch

52

Lateral surface

54

Support

A

Longitudinal center axis

Claims (10)

Device for compensating tolerances between a first component (10) and a second component (12), comprising a base element (14) which defines a longitudinal central axis (A), and a compensating element (16) which is in threaded engagement with the base element (14). which has an end face (18) facing the second component (12) and which is delimited by an edge (44), characterized in that at least one embossing prong is used to increase the head friction between the compensating element (16) and the second component (12). (46) protrudes on the edge (44) over the end face (18). Device according to Claim 1 , characterized in that a plurality of embossing prongs (46) are arranged distributed along the edge (44). Device according to Claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the embossing prong (46) emerges from a notch (50) in the edge (44). Device according to Claim 3 , characterized in that the end face (18) merges into a lateral surface (52) at the edge (44), the notch (50) extending from the edge (44) along at least part of the lateral surface (52). Device according to at least one of the Claims 2 until 4 , characterized in that the at least one embossing prong (46) is formed by a material-forming profiling of the lateral surface (52). Device according to Claim 4 or 5 , characterized in that the lateral surface (52) runs at least approximately parallel to the longitudinal central axis (A). Device according to Claim 4 or 5 , characterized in that the lateral surface (52) tapers conically starting from the end face (18) in the direction of the base element (14). Method for producing a device for compensating tolerances between a first component (10) and a second component (12), comprising a base element (14) which defines a longitudinal central axis (A), and a base element (14) which is in threaded engagement with the base element (14). Compensating element (16), which has an end face (18) facing the second component (12), which is delimited by an edge (44), characterized in that in order to increase the head friction between the compensating element (16) and the second component (12 ) at least one embossing prong (46) is formed on the edge (44), which protrudes beyond the end face (18). Procedure according to Claim 8 , characterized in that the end face (18) merges into a lateral surface (52) at the edge (44) and the at least one embossing prong (46) is produced by expelling material from the lateral surface (52). Procedure according to Claim 9 , characterized in that the at least one embossing prong (46) is formed by a material-forming profiling of the lateral surface (52).

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