JP2001116037A - Ball joint - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball joint causing no looseness by smoothing a movement of a spherical head part of a ball stud. SOLUTION: (1) In this ball joint composed of the ball stud composed of the spherical head part of a spherical shape and a handle part projecting from the spherical head part, an almost cylindrical bearing internally rotatably wrapping the spherical head part of the ball stud, forming plural grooves extending in the axial direction on an inner peripheral surface and having openings on both ends and a housing having an opening for projecting the handle part of the ball stud to one by wrapping/holding the bearing, the grooves have an inclined part inclining to the axis, an inclined pat end part is not communicated with at least a bearing one opening end part, and the grooves have parts overlapping in the circumferential direction in a plan view from an axial directional upper part. (2) An non-communicating opening of the grooves is positioned on the end part side for receiving a main load of the ball stud.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball joint used for, for example, a suspension system or a steering system of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ball joints have been frequently used for connecting parts such as suspension systems of automobiles. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a tension type ball joint 101 used mainly in a state of receiving a load in a pulling direction of a ball stud 102 generally has a spherical ball head 104 and a handle portion projecting from the ball head 104. The ball stud 102 includes a ball stud 102 and a ball head 104 of the ball stud 102.
10 having the other opening 107 on the opposite side of the bearing 10
5 and a bearing 105, one of which has a small opening 112 for projecting the handle 103 of the ball stud 102, the other having a large opening 113, and a circumferential groove 114 on the outer peripheral surface near the small opening 112. A housing 111 formed,
A closing plate 115 caulked and fixed to the end of the large opening 113 of the housing 111 and a small opening 117 in which a reinforcing ring 119 having an L-shaped cross section is embedded are provided around the outer periphery of the handle 103 of the ball stud 102. The dust cover 116 has a large opening 118 in which the clip 120 is fitted, and is mounted in the groove 114 of the housing 111.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of grooves 108 extending from the other opening 107 toward the one opening 106 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 105.

[0004]

In the above-described ball joint 101, in order to suppress wear of the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 105 due to the swing / rotation of the ball head 104 of the ball stud 102, the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 105 is reduced. Is coated with grease. The state of use of the ball joint 101 coated with grease will be described. First, an appropriate amount of grease is applied to the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 105, and then the ball head 104 of the ball stud 102 is pressed into the bearing 105. The ball head 1 of the press-fit ball stud 102
The grease pressed to the portion 04 spreads on the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 105 and is stored in the plurality of grooves 108. The grease stored in the groove 108 leaks out to the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 105 with the swinging rotation of the ball head 104 of the ball stud 102, and lubricates the swinging rotation of the ball stud 102 ball head 104. In addition, wear of the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 105 was suppressed.

[0005] In the bearing 105 of the ball joint 101, when the ball head 104 of the ball stud 102 rotates, the grease in the groove 108 leaks radially along with the rotation of the ball head 104. Sufficient lubrication can be provided between the ball head 104 of the stud 102 and the bearing 105. But ball stud 1
02, when the ball head 104 swings, the bearing 1
Since the grease leaks out only on the substantially same axis of the groove 108 of 05, the grease does not spread between the grooves 108. Therefore, sufficient lubrication is provided between the ball head 104 of the ball stud 102 and the bearing 105. There was a thing that I could not give. That is, if there is not a sufficient amount of grease between the ball head 104 and the bearing 105 of the ball stud 102, the ball stud 102
May not be able to swing smoothly. In addition, the swing resistance between the ball head 104 of the ball stud 102 and the bearing 105 increases, and the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 105 is deformed due to wear. In some cases, play may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a ball joint in which the movement of a ball head of a ball stud is smooth and no backlash occurs.

[0007]

The configuration of the present invention is as follows.

[0008] 1. A ball stud composed of a spherical ball head and a handle protruding from the ball head, and a plurality of grooves extending in the axial direction are formed on the inner peripheral surface so that the ball head of the ball stud is swingably rotatable. In a ball joint comprising a substantially cylindrical bearing having openings at both ends and a housing enclosing the bearing and projecting the handle portion of the ball stud on one side, the groove is inclined with respect to the axis. The end of the inclined portion does not communicate with at least one open end of the bearing, and has a portion where the groove overlaps in the circumferential direction in plan view from above in the axial direction.

[0009] 2. One opening, which is not connected to the groove, is located at the end of the ball stud that receives the main load.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a tension type ball joint 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention which is used mainly in a state of receiving a load in a tensile direction of a ball stud 2.
It is. The ball joint 1 includes a ball stud 2 having a spherical ball head 4 and a handle 3 projecting from the ball head 4, and a ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 swingably and rotatably included. A substantially cylindrical synthetic resin bearing 5 having one opening 6 and the other opening 7 opposite the one opening 6;
It has a small opening 12 for holding the bearing 5 and projecting the handle 3 of the ball stud 2 on one side, and a large opening 13 having a diameter larger than the small opening 12 on the other side. A housing 11 having a groove 14 formed therein;
A circlip 20 is fitted around the outer periphery of the handle 3 of the ball stud 2 with the closing plate 15 caulked and fixed to the inner periphery of the large opening 13 and the small opening 17 in which a reinforcing ring 19 having an L-shaped cross section is embedded. The dust cover 16 has the large opening 18 attached to the groove 14 of the housing 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bearing 5 has a straight portion 10 extending from the other opening 7 of the bearing 5 to the one opening 6 on the inner peripheral surface thereof, and the bearing 5 is continuous with the straight portion 10 and is inclined with respect to the axis. A groove 8 including an inclined portion 9 is formed. The straight portion 10 extends from the other opening 7 to a position before the equator line portion of the bearing 5, and the end 9 of the continuous inclined portion 9 on the one opening 6 side of the bearing 5.
a does not communicate with the one-way opening 6. The grooves 8 overlap in the circumferential direction in plan view from above in the axial direction.

Since the ball joint 1 is a tension type ball joint, it mainly receives a load in the tensile direction. That is, the portion of the bearing 5 closer to the opening 6 than the equator is a portion that mainly receives the load from the ball stud 2.

Next, the usage of the ball joint 1 will be described. First, when manufacturing the ball joint 1, grease is applied to the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 5. Next, the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 is pressed into the bearing 5. The grease spreads over the entire inner peripheral surface of the bearing 5 by the pressure received from the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 and is stored in the groove 8 of the bearing 5. The grease stored in the groove 8 of the bearing 5 leaks out of the groove 8 to the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 5 as the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 swings.

In the above-described ball joint 1, grease leaks radially from the groove 8 of the bearing 5 in response to the rotation of the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2, and grease flows between the grooves 8 of the bearing 5. In this way, sufficient lubrication can be provided between the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 and the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 5. In addition, with respect to the swing of the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2, the inclined portion 9 of the groove 8 of the bearing 5 overlaps with the adjacent groove 8 in the circumferential direction in plan view from above in the axial direction. Since grease leaks from the groove 8 of the bearing 5 in the axial direction, the grease can be spread over the entire inner peripheral surface of the bearing 5.

In the above embodiment, the groove 8 of the bearing 5 is used.
Is a straight part 10 extending from the other opening 7 toward the one opening 6 from the equator line to a position on the other opening 7 side.
And an inclined portion 9 which is continuous from the straight portion 10 and is inclined with respect to the axis. The ball joint 1 in the above embodiment is a tension type ball joint. Since the bearing 5 receives a load in the pulling direction, the portion of the bearing 5 on one side of the opening 6 from the equator line is a position where the main load from the ball stud 2 is received. In particular, it is necessary to lubricate the portion receiving the main load with grease. Although the inclined portion 9 of the groove 8 is formed on one side of the opening 6 from the equator line of the bearing 5, the groove 8 may be inclined with respect to an axis having no straight portion 10 depending on the use state of the ball joint.

Further, in the ball joint 1, since the groove 8 continuous from the other opening 7 of the bearing 5 is not communicated with the one opening 6, the groove 8 is mainly formed near the one opening 6 of the bearing 5 which receives a load. Since it is not formed, it can be formed thicker than the portion where the groove 8 is formed.

In the above embodiment, the tension type ball joint is used. However, the present invention is not limited to the tension type ball joint, and the compression type ball joint is mainly used in a state of receiving a load in the compression direction of the ball stud. Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained with the ball joint. In the case of compression-type ball joints, since the bearing is mainly subjected to compressive load, the bearing is the part that receives the load mainly on the other opening side from the equator line of the bearing, and the groove does not communicate with the opening on the side receiving the main load .

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, a ball stud having a spherical ball head and a handle protruding from the ball head, and the ball head of the ball stud are swingably and rotatably contained. A plurality of grooves extending in the axial direction are formed on the inner peripheral surface, a substantially cylindrical bearing having openings at both ends, and a housing having an opening for enclosing the bearing and projecting the handle portion of the ball stud on one side. In the ball joint, the groove has an inclined portion inclined with respect to the axis, and the end of the inclined portion does not communicate with at least one open end of the bearing, and the groove overlaps in the circumferential direction in plan view from above in the axial direction. Grease leaks from the groove of the bearing in the axial direction because it has a part, so that the grease can spread all over the inner peripheral surface of the bearing. Between grayed inner peripheral surface is sufficiently lubricated,
The ball stud can move smoothly. In addition, since the sliding resistance between the ball head of the ball stud and the bearing can be prevented from increasing, the inner peripheral surface of the bearing is deformed due to wear, and play occurs between the ball head of the ball stud and the bearing. Can be prevented. In addition, since the opening that does not communicate with the groove is located on the end side receiving the main load of the ball stud, the part receiving the main load of the bearing is not formed with a groove, so the wall thickness is greater than the part where the groove is formed. Since it can be formed thick, the strength is increased and the tensile load of the ball stud can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a ball joint according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a bearing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional plan view showing a conventional bearing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Ball stud 3 Handle 4 Ball head 5 Bearing 6 (Bearing) opening 7 (Bearing) opening 8 Groove 9 Slope 9a (Slope) end 11 Housing 12 (Housing) opening

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A ball stud (2) comprising a spherical ball head (4) and a handle (3) projecting from the ball head (4).
And a plurality of grooves (8) extending in the axial direction are formed in the inner peripheral surface of the ball head (4) of the ball stud (2) so as to swing and rotate. And a housing (11) having an opening (12) for enclosing the bearing (5) and projecting the handle (3) of the ball stud (2) on one side. In the ball joint, the groove (8) has an inclined portion (9) inclined with respect to the axis, and an end (9a) of the inclined portion (9) is at least one end of the bearing (5) and one end of the opening (6). A ball joint having a portion that does not communicate with the portion and that has a portion in which the groove (8) overlaps in a circumferential direction in plan view from above in the axial direction. 2. The ball joint as claimed in claim 1, wherein the non-communicating opening of the groove is located at an end of the ball stud receiving a main load.