GB2481711A

GB2481711A - A support ring for a fluid assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2481711A
Application number: GB1111122.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Oliver Gaertner; Michael Schuessler
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 2010-06-29
Filing date: 2011-06-29
Publication date: 2012-01-04
Also published as: CN102345593B; DE102010030665A1; CN102345593A; DE102010030665B4; FR2961879A1; GB201111122D0

Abstract

A support ring 10, in particular for a fluid assembly group 12 in a vehicle, is provided. The support ring has an annular basic body 14. The basic body 14 is configured as an open ring, the free ends 16, 18 of which may be coupled by a releasable connection 20, preferably a detent connection.

Description

Support ring, in particular for a fluid assembly group in a vehicle

Background art

The invention relates to a support ring, in particular for a fluid assembly group in a vehicle according to the preamble of the independent claim 1 as well as to a fluid assembly group having such a support ring.

From DE 10 2005 046 048 Al for example a support ring, in particular for a fluid assembly group in a vehicle, having an annular basic body is known. The fluid assembly group comprises a piston assembly group, comprising a piston housing, which is not represented here and in which is disposed a piston that is accommodated in an axially displaceable manner in a piston bore. For sealing off the piston a sealing-and guide arrangement is provided, which comprises a guide ring, a support ring and a sealing element.

DE 10 2008 040 140 Al describes a piston pump having a support ring that rests without clearance against a pump piston of the piston pump, wherein the support ring is a perforated disk made of plastics material.

Disclosure of the invention

Compared to this, the support ring according to the invention having the features of the independent claim 1 has the advantage that the basic body is configured as an open ring, the free ends of which may be coupled by a releasable connection, preferably a detent connection, so as to produce a closed ring. h an advantageous manner this guarantees easy and secure mounting of the support ring on a component in that the support ring may be fastened by means of the detent connection preferably in a groove on the component. In particular, an easy feeding and mounting of the support ring for example in a vibrator system is possible because the support ring cannot become caught in other support rings. This means that low-cost manipulation of the support ring as bulk material in series production is possible. A scrapping of components is moreover avoided as the feeding and mounting of a plurality of support rings simultaneously may be reliably prevented.

By virtue of the measures and developments outlined in the dependent claims advantageous improvements of the support ring indicated in the independent claim 1 are possible.

Tn an advantageous development of the support ring according to the invention, at least one free end of the open ring has at least one coupling element that engages into at least one corresponding recess in the in each case other free end of the open ring in order to produce the releasable connection. Thus, for example a first coupling element on a first free end of the open ring may engage into a corresponding recess in a second end of the open ring and a second coupling element on the second free end of the open ring may simultaneously engage into a corresponding recess in the first end of the open ring in such a way that a closed ring and a releasable detent connection are produced. After the coupling of the two free ends the basic body has smooth surfaces. This means that at the point of connection there are no raised andlor recessed portions either at an inner or at an outer lateral surface of the closed basic body or at the upper side andlor underside of the closed basic body. In an advantageous manner the at least one coupling element extends in an axial direction, wherein the support ring after the coupling of the two free ends presents over the circumference a uniform thickness, i.e. a uniform axial extent andlor "height". This advantageously provides a way of detecting whether one or two support rings are fed during assembly. Thus, in particular during assembly a scrapping of components as a result of an incorrect feed of support rings may be reliably avoided. By means of the connection according to the invention the free ends of the support ring advantageously remain securely coupled.

In order further to simplify mounting of the support ring, the annular basic body comprises at least one hinge lying in radial direction opposite the detent connection. During mounting, the hinge allows the support ring to be easily spread and/or opened out and hence fitted on the corresponding component and/or introduced into a corresponding groove. After mounting of the opened support ring onto the corresponding component the at least one coupling element may be moved, on account of the elastic properties of the hinge, in the direction of the corresponding recess to produce the connection. The hinge is configured for example as an integral hinge.

This means that the hinge is realized by a thin wall of plastics material that is entirely adequate for single use up to retention for example on a piston of a piston pump.

In a further advantageous development of the support ring according to the invention, the annular basic body has a substantially rectangular cross section. This leads advantageously to good contact surfaces with the adjoining components. It moreover provides an adequate stability against twisting of the support ring.

In a further advantageous development of the support ring according to the invention, the basic body is manufactured from a plastics material or a composite plastics material, wherein the basic body is manufactured preferably by injection moulding. This advantageously enables low-cost manufacture of a support ring of an optimized weight, wherein in particular manufacture of the components of a detent connection is easy to realize.

A fluid assembly group according to the invention for a vehicle comprises a piston assembly group, which comprises a movable piston and a filter screen element, wherein a support ring according to the invention as described above is used to support the piston against the filter screen element.

An advantageous form of implementation of the invention is represented in the drawings and described below. In the drawings identical reference characters denote components and/or elements that perform identical and/or analogous functions.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic sectional view of a fluid assembly group having a support ring according to the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the support ring according to the invention of Fig. 1.

Forms of implementation of the invention As is evident from Fig. 1, an example of a fluid assembly group 12 in a vehicle comprises a piston pump 50, which is used for example as a feed-and/or return pump of a hydraulic pumping system of a vehicle. The described piston pump 50 is used for example in pumping systems of modern automotive engineering that relate for example to safety technologies such as ABS (antilock braking system), ESP (electronic stability program), EHB (electrohydraulic brake), TCS (traction control system) or ASR (anti-spin control).

As the construction and function of such piston pumps are known as such, for the sake of clear disclosure of the invention the drawings and description are restricted to the part of the piston pump 50 that is relevant to the invention. The piston pump 50 comprises a piston assembly group, comprising a piston housing, which is not represented here and in which is disposed a piston 46 that is accommodated in an axially displaceable manner in a piston bore 52. The piston 46 is set in an axially reciprocating stroke motion in the piston bore 52 that brings about a feed of fluid in a manner known as such from piston pumps.

A seal 54 seals off the moving piston 46 guided in the piston bore 52 from the non-represented piston housing. The piston 46 is moved in a first medium 56, for example in brake fluid, engine oil etc., and in a second medium 58, such as for example air. The seal 54 seals off the moving piston 46 and the piston housing in such a way that the two media 56, 58 do not mix. In the region of the first medium 56 the piston 46 is surrounded by a sleeve-shaped filter screen element 48 that is inserted into the piston bore 52.

The piston 46 is supported against the filter screen element 48 by a support ring 10 that is slipped onto the piston 46. In a particularly preferred manner the support ring 10 is configured as a groove ring, which may be fastened in a groove 44 that is formed between piston 46 and filter screen element 48.

As is evident from Fig. 2, the support ring 10 comprises an annular basic body 14. By means of the support ring 10 the pump piston elements may be held together as an assembly group in that the assembly group is supported, under a resetting action of a resetting spring that is not represented here, via the support ring 10 against the filter screen element 48.

To simplify assembly of the piston pump 50, the basic body 14 of the support ring 10 is configured as an open ring, the free ends 16, 18 of which may be coupled by a detent connection 20. To realize the detent connection 20, at least one free end 16, 18 has at least one coupling element 22, 24 that engages into at least one corresponding recess 26, 28 on the in each case other free end 18, 16 of the open ring in order to produce the releasable connection, preferably the detent connection. In the present embodiment, a coupling element 22, 24 and a recess 26, 28 are provided on each free end 16, 18. In the present case, the coupling elements 22, 24 are configured as detent lugs with lead-in bevels, by means of which the two coupling elements 22, 24 are moved along one another in order to latch in the corresponding receivers 26, 28, wherein the coupling element 22 engages behind the coupling element 24 into the receiver 26 and the coupling element 24 simultaneously engages behind the coupling element 22 into the receiver 28. For this purpose the coupling elements 22, 24 extend in an axial direction 30, wherein the coupling elements 22, 24 and the corresponding receivers 26, 28 are adapted to one another in such a way that the basic body 14 afler the coupling of the two free ends 16, 18 has smooth surfaces 32, 34, 36, 38 the same height all round. This means that at the point of connection there are no raised-and/or recessed portions either at an inner or at an outer lateral surface 36, 38 of the closed basic body 14 or at the upper side 32 and/or underside 34 of the closed basic body 14.

In order further to simplify mounting of the support ring 10, the annular basic body 14 comprises at least one hinge 42, preferably configured as an integral hinge, which lies in radial direction 40 opposite the detent connection 20.

In the present embodiment the annular basic body 14 has a substantially rectangular cross section. The basic body 14 is manufactured by injection moulding from a plastics material or a composite plastics material.

Claims

Claims: 1. Support ring, in particular for a fluid assembly group (12) in a vehicle, having an annular basic body (14), characterized in that the basic body (14) is configured as an open ring, the free ends (16, 18) of which may be coupled by a releasable connection (20), preferably a detent connection.
2. Support ring according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one free end (16, 18) of the open ring has at least one coupling element (22, 24) that engages into at least one corresponding recess (26, 28) in the in each case other free end of the open ring in order to produce the releasable connection.
3. Support ring according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the basic body (14) after the coupling of the two free ends (16, 18) has smooth surfaces (32, 34, 36, 38).
4. Support ring according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the at least one coupling element (22, 24) extends in an axial direction (30), wherein the support ring after the coupling of the free ends (16, 18) has a uniform thickness over the circumference.
5. Support ring according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the annular basic body (14) has at least one hinge (42) lying in radial direction (40) opposite the detent connection (20).
6. Support ring according to claim 5, characterized in that the hinge (42) is configured as an integral hinge.
7. Support ring according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the annular basic body (14) has a substantially rectangular cross section.
8. Support ring according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the basic body (14) is manufactured from a plastics material or a composite plastics material, wherein the basic body (14) is manufactured preferably by injection moulding.
9. Support ring according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by a configuration as a groove ring that may be fastened in a groove (44).
10. Fluid assembly group for a vehicle having a piston assembly group (50) that comprises a movable piston (46) and a filter screen element (48), characterized by a support ring (10) according to one of claims 1 to 9 for supporting the piston (46) against the filter screen element (48).
11. Support ring substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
12. Fluid assembly group substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.*::r: INTELLECTUAL 8 . ... PROPERTY OFFICE Application No: GB 1111122.6 Examiner: Mr Kevin Hewitt Claims searched: ito 12 Date of search: 11 October 2011 Patents Act 1977: Search Report under Section 17 Documents considered to be relevant: Category Relevant Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance to claims X,Y X: 1-4,7-9 DE 2356349 Al Y: 10 (STEFA INDUSTRI) See especially the Abstract and Figures 1-4.X 1-4,7 WO 2010/023205 Al (SNECMA) See especially Figures 2 & 4.X 1-4,7 GB 1198596 A (GREENE TWEED) See especially support ring 14 in Figure 1.Y 10 DE102008040140A1 (ROBERT BOSCH) See especially the Abstract and Figures.Categories: X Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive A Document indicating technological background and/or state step of the art.Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if P Document published on or after the declared priority date but combined with one or more other documents of before the filing date of this invention.same category.& Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after. hut with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Field of Search:Search of GB, EP. WO & US patent dociinients classified in the following areas of the 1JKCX Worldwide search of patent documents classified in the following areas of the IPC FO4D; F16J The following online and other databases have been used in the preparation of this search report WPI; EPODOC International Classification: Subclass Subgroup Valid From F16J 0015/16 01/01/2006 FO4D 0029/08 01/01/2006 F16J 0015/32 01/01/2006 Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office www.ipo.gov.uk