JP2002266840A - Ball joint and caulking device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball joint with high durability. SOLUTION: This ball joint comprises a ball stud formed of a spherical head part and a handle part protruded from the spherical head part, a holding member for enclosing the spherical head part, which has a small opening for protruding the handle part of the ball stud on one side and a large opening on the other side, and a disc-like closing plate to be caulked to the large opening of the enclosing member. The closing plate comprises a positioning recessed part formed on the anti-ball stud side.

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 vehicle suspension system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 shows a ball joint used for a connecting portion of a vehicle suspension or the like. Such a ball joint 101 includes a ball stud 102 having a spherical ball head 104 and a handle 103 projecting from the ball head 104, and a ball stud 102.
The ball head 104 is swingably and rotatably held, and one side has an opening 10.
6, a small opening 108 that includes the bearing 105 and has an inner periphery on one side that projects the handle 103 of the ball stud 102, and a large opening 109 on the other.
Substantially cylindrical housing 107 which is a holding member having
And a disk-shaped closing plate 110 as shown in FIG. 10 which is fixed by caulking to the inner periphery of the large opening 109 of the housing 107.

A process of caulking and fixing a closing plate 110 in a large opening 109 of a housing 107 of the ball joint 101 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 11 shows a caulking device 131. The caulking device 131 is a cylindrical holder and has a die space 152 into which the housing 107 is inserted.
51 and a concave caulking end face 140 facing the coaxial center G.
Movable member 1 having a disk-shaped caulking roller 139 having
32.

When the ball joint 101 is caulked using the caulking device 131, first, as shown in the left half of FIG. 11, the ball joint 101 is closed in the engraving space 152 of the holder 151 in the large opening 109 of the housing 107. The ball joint 101 on which the plate 110 is arranged is inserted and set at a predetermined position. Subsequently, the movable tool 132 is lowered in a rotating state,
The caulking end surface 140 of the caulking roller 139 is
At the same time, the crimping process is started at the same time as contacting the end of the large opening 107 on the side of the large opening 109. When the movable member 132 is continuously lowered to a predetermined position, the end of the housing 107 on the side of the large opening 109 is swaged as shown in the right half of FIG.

[0006]

The ball joint 101 as described above is in a state before the caulking and is formed in the housing 10.
7, the outer diameter of the closing plate 110 is smaller than the inner diameter of the large opening 109 of the housing 107. Therefore, the housing 1
When the closing plate 110 is inserted into the large opening 109 of the housing 107, the center of the closing plate 110 and the large opening
Are not arranged in a state where the centers of the large holes 109 are aligned with the inner peripheral surface of the large opening 109 of the housing 107, as shown in FIG.
In some cases, the gap S may be generated only in a part between the outer peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of the ten. In this case, since the forged meat 109a flows into the gap S, when the end of the large opening 109 of the housing 107 is caulked, as shown in FIG. In some cases, it was not possible to crimp uniformly over the circumference. In the above case, the large opening 109 of the housing 107 attached to the closing plate 110
Since the strength of the portion where the forged meat 109a is insufficient is weakened, the durability may be reduced.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems,
An object is to provide a ball joint having high durability.

[0008]

The ball joint according to the present invention is as follows.

1. A ball stud comprising a spherical ball head and a handle protruding from the ball head, and a holding member enclosing the ball head and having a small opening for projecting the handle portion of the ball stud on one side and a large opening on the other. In a ball joint composed of a disc-shaped closing plate fixed by caulking to a large opening of the holding member, a positioning recess is formed on the closing plate on the side opposite to the ball stud.

[0010] 2. The recess of the closing plate is located at the center of the closing plate.

3. A roller cover capable of moving back and forth with respect to the holding member, a caulking roller mounted on the roller cover for caulking and forming a large opening end of the holding member; A centering tool for engaging the concave portion of the closing plate and positioning the closing plate when caulking the holding member.

4. The engaging portion of the centering tool has a tapered shape whose diameter gradually decreases in the direction of the ball joint.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a ball joint 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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. Bearing 5 having bearing opening 6 on one side
A substantially cylindrical housing 7 which is a holding member having a small opening 8 for enclosing the bearing 5 and projecting the handle 3 of the ball stud 2 on one side and a large opening 9 on the other side;
Disk-shaped closing plate 10 caulked and fixed to the inner periphery of the large opening 9
A small dust cover 13 in which an L-shaped ring 15 having a substantially L-shaped cross section is embedded, a large dust cover 14 in which a circumferential circlip 16 is fitted around the outer periphery of the ball stud 2 handle 3. It comprises a dust cover 12 mounted on the outer periphery of the housing 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the closing plate 10 has a recess 11 formed at the center of the closing plate 10. The outer diameter of the closing plate 10 is smaller than the inner diameter of the large opening 9 of the housing 7 before the ball joint 1 is formed by caulking.

Next, a method of manufacturing the ball joint 1 will be described. First, a bearing 5 is fitted to the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 as shown in FIG. 3, and then, as shown in FIG. And inserted into the housing 7 so as to protrude from the housing 7. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the closing plate 10 is inserted into the large opening 9 of the housing 7 so that the concave portion 11 is located on the side opposite to the ball stud.

Subsequently, after the closing plate 10 is inserted into the large opening 9 of the housing 7, the large opening 9
The end portion is formed by caulking. The process will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, a caulking device 31 for caulking the ball joint 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The caulking device 31 includes a movable member 32 including a caulking portion 33 and a centering member 41, and a holding member 51 facing the movable member 32 on a coaxial center G.

The structure of the movable member 32 will be described.
The caulking portion 33 is a caulking roller 3 having a disc-shaped caulking end surface 36 on the outer periphery with a hole 35a formed at the center.
5, a cylindrical thrust bearing 37 that is fitted in the hole 35a of the caulking roller 35 and supports the caulking roller 35 in a rotatable state, and a pole portion 34a that supports the caulking roller 35 via the thrust bearing 37. Are formed, and a roller cover 40 which supports the outer diameter side of the shaft 34 and has an opening 40a on one side for projecting the tip of the roller 35. Also,
The centering tool 41 is composed of a rod-shaped shaft portion 42, a tapered engagement portion 43 having a smaller diameter toward the holder 51 at one end of the shaft portion 42, and a nut 44 fitted to the shaft portion 42. Become
A spring member 45 is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the shaft portion 42 on the side opposite to the engagement portion. The centering tool 41 is located at the center of the roller cover 40, and the engaging portion 42 is provided at the opening 4 of the roller cover 40.
0a.

Next, the holder 51 will be described.
The holding tool 51 for holding the ball joint 1 before caulking is cylindrical and is installed at a position facing the cover opening 40 a of the roller cover 40 of the movable tool 32. The holder 51 has an inner peripheral wall 53 having substantially the same diameter as the outer peripheral diameter of the housing 7 from the upper end of the inner periphery, a peripheral seat 54 extending from the inner peripheral wall 53 to the axial center side, and a continuous from the peripheral seat 54. The ball stud 2 has an inner peripheral hole 55 extending in the axial direction and having a larger diameter than the handle portion 3 of the ball stud 2. The inner peripheral wall 53, the peripheral seat portion 54, and the
Is defined.

Next, a process of caulking the end of the large opening 9 of the housing 7 of the ball joint 1 by the caulking device 51 will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 6, the ball joint 1 is inserted into the engraving space 52 of the holder 51 of the caulking device 31, and the end of the housing 7 on the side of the small opening 8 is fitted to the peripheral seat of the holder 51. After being seated at 54, the closing plate 10 is inserted into the large housing opening 9 of the housing 7 with the concave portion 11 located on the side opposite to the ball stud. Subsequently, as shown in FIG.
Is rotated while rotating, and the tip of the engaging portion 43 of the shaft portion 42 of the centering tool 41 is engaged with the concave portion 11 of the closing plate 10.
Next, as shown in FIG. 8, when the movable tool 32 is further lowered and the concave caulking end face 36 of the caulking roller 35 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the large opening 9 of the housing 7, the caulking roller 35 is centered on the axis of the shaft 34. Starts rotating on the housing 7
The end of the large opening 9 is crimped from the outer diameter side to the inner diameter side, the end of the large opening 9 of the housing 7 is crimped to a desired state, and the caulking is completed.

The step of aligning the center of the closing plate 10 with the center of the housing 7 using the caulking device 31 will be described in further detail. Shaft 4 of centering tool 41 of movable tool 32
2, a pressure is always applied to the holder 51 side by the spring member 45. And as the movable tool 32 descends, the centering tool 4
1 also moves down, but even if the closing plate 10 is inserted into the large opening 9 of the housing 7 in a state where the center of the closing plate 10 and the center of the large opening 9 of the housing 7 do not coincide with each other, the movable member 4
The first engaging portion 43 is formed in a tapered shape having a smaller diameter toward the ball joint 1. Therefore, if a part of the tip of the engaging portion 43 is inserted into the concave portion 11 of the closing plate 10, The concave portion 11 of the closing plate 10 follows the tapered shape of the portion 43
Engages with the engagement portion 43, and the closing plate 10 is moved to a position where the center of the large opening 9 of the housing 7 and the center of the closing plate 10 coincide. At this time, since the pressure of the spring member 45 applied to the centering member 41 is applied to the closing plate 10, the closing plate 10 is fixed at a desired position in the large opening 9 of the housing 7.

Therefore, according to the ball joint 1,
The closing plate 10 has a positioning recess 1 on the side opposite to the ball stud.
Since the housing 1 is formed, the closing plate 10 can be positioned before the housing 7 is caulked. Further, the caulking device 31 engages with the concave portion 11 of the closing plate 10 before the engaging portion 43 at the tip of the shaft portion 42 of the centering tool 41 is formed by caulking the housing 7.
Since the center of the large opening 9 of the housing 7 and the center of the closing plate 10 coincide with each other, the inner peripheral surface of the large opening 9 of the housing 7 and the outer periphery of the closing plate 10 A uniform gap is generated between the surface and the entire circumference.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, a ball stud having a spherical ball head and a handle protruding from the ball head is included, and the ball head is included. And a holding member having a large opening in the other,
In a ball joint consisting of a disc-shaped closing plate that is caulked and fixed to the large opening of the holding member, the closing plate has a positioning recess formed on the side opposite to the ball stud,
The closing plate can be positioned before the holding member is swaged, and a uniform gap is created over the entire circumference between the inner peripheral surface of the large opening of the holding member and the outer peripheral surface of the large opening of the closing plate. And
The volume of the forged meat flowing in the gap is constant over the entire circumference and the volume of the forged meat at the large opening end of the holding member attached to the closing plate becomes uniform, so it is possible to caulk with uniform strength over the entire circumference And the durability is improved. In addition, when the concave portion of the closing plate is located at the center of the closing plate, it is easy to engage the concave portion with the tip of the centering tool of the caulking device. In addition, the caulking device is a roller cover that can advance and retreat with respect to the holding member, a caulking roller that is attached to the roller cover and caulks a large opening end of the holding member, and is located at the center of the roller cover, The engaging portion of the core engaging member engages with the concave portion of the closing plate when caulking and molding the holding member, so that the tip of the core engaging member engages with the concave portion of the closing plate. By doing so, the closing plate is arranged at a predetermined position in the large opening of the housing, and the manufacture of the ball joint can be realized. If the engaging portion of the core-adjusting tool of the caulking device has a tapered shape with a gradually decreasing diameter in the direction of the ball joint, the engaging portion of the core-adjusting tool and the recess of the closing plate can be easily engaged, so that workability is improved. improves.

[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.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a closing plate of a ball joint according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a first assembly process of the ball joint according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a second assembly process of the ball joint according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional plan view showing a third assembling step of the ball joint according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a state before swaging of a ball joint according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a first caulking process of the ball joint according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a second caulking process of the ball joint according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional plan view showing a conventional ball joint.

FIG. 10 shows a conventional ball joint closing plate;
(A) is a plan view, (A) is a front view.

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing a caulking process of a conventional ball joint, in which a left half portion shows a state before caulking and a right half portion shows a state after caulking.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of a main part showing a state before caulking of a conventional ball joint.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of a main part showing a state after swaging of a conventional ball joint.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 ball joint 2 ball stud 3 handle 4 ball head 7 wrapping member 8 small opening 9 large opening 10 closing plate 11 concave portion 31 caulking device 41 core seeking tool 42 engaging portion

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A ball stud (2) comprising a spherical ball head (4) and a handle (3) projecting from the ball head (4).
And a holding member (7) including the ball head (4) and having a small opening (8) on one side for projecting the handle (3) of the ball stud (2) and a large opening (9) on the other side. And a disc-shaped closing plate (10) fixed by caulking to the large opening (9) of the holding member (7), the closing plate (10) is positioned on the side opposite to the ball stud. A ball joint having a positioning recess (11). 2. The ball joint according to claim 1, wherein the recess (11) of the closing plate (10) is located at the center of the closing plate (10). 3. A roller cover (40) which can be advanced and retracted with respect to the holding member (7), and an end of the large opening (9) of the holding member (7) attached to the roller cover (40). The caulking roller (35) to be caulked and the engaging portion (43) located at the center of the roller cover (40) and having the leading end engaged with the caulking member (7) when the caulking member (7) is caulked. A caulking device for a ball joint, comprising: a centering tool (43) for engaging with the recess (11) to position the closing plate (10). 4. The ball joint according to claim 3, wherein the engaging portion (43) of the centering tool (41) has a tapered shape whose diameter gradually decreases toward the ball joint (1). Caulking device.