JP2002372034A - Connecting method of ball joint to arm - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connecting method of a ball joint to an arm having high axial load capacity without increasing a connecting process. SOLUTION: This connecting method of the ball joint is composed of a ball stud composed of a spherical ball head part and a handle part projecting from the ball head part, a bearing oscillatably and roatably wrapping and holding the ball head part of the ball stud, and a housing including a bearing and having an opening on its one end for projecting the handle part of the ball stud therefrom, and the arm having a cylindrical connecting part holding the housing of the ball joint. The housing of the ball joint has a circumferential groove on its outer peripheral surface in a state of being inclined to a center side with respect to an axis to be reduced from an opening side toward an opposite side, and a connecting part of the arm is inserted to an outer periphery of the housing from the opening side to be pressed and connected along the groove of the housing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for connecting a ball joint and an arm used in, for example, an automobile suspension system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a connecting portion of a suspension system of an automobile has been often connected by connecting a ball joint and an arm. The joint structure between the ball joint and the arm as described above includes, for example, a structure as shown in FIG. First, the ball joint 101 will be described. The ball joint 101 swings a ball stud 102 having a spherical ball head 104 and a handle 103 protruding from the ball head 104 and a ball head 104 of the ball stud 102. A synthetic resin bearing 105 for movably enclosing, a housing small opening 109 for enclosing the bearing 105 and projecting the handle 103 of the ball stud 102 on one side, and a housing for caulking and fixing a disc-shaped closing plate 113 on the other. A cylindrical housing 108 having a large opening 110, one small opening 115 is mounted on the outer periphery of the handle 103 of the ball stud 102, and the other large opening 116 having a metal reinforcing ring 117 embedded therein is mounted on the outer periphery of the housing 108. Dust cover 113. The arm 131 has a connecting portion 132 formed at one end thereof for holding the housing 108 of the ball joint 101. The connecting portion 132 has a cylindrical shape, and the inner diameter of the connecting portion 132 is formed to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the housing 108, and the second opening 133 opening on the arm 131 and the opposite handle portion side of the ball stud 102. It comprises a cylindrical portion 135 extending and a first opening 134 formed on the side opposite to the second opening.

[0003] Next, a method of connecting the ball joint 101 and the arm 131 will be described. First, ball stud 1
01 is inserted into a bearing 105, and the ball stud 102 fitted into the ball head 104 is pressed into the housing 108 through a small opening 110 of the housing 108.
The ball joint 101 with the closing plate 113 caulked and fixed on the inner periphery is connected to the first opening 1 of the connecting portion 132 of the arm 131.
The ball joint 101 is inserted from the handle portion 103 side of the ball stud 102 and pressed into the joint portion 132 of the arm 131 until the joint portion 132 is located at a predetermined position on the outer periphery of the housing 108, thereby joining the ball joint 101 and the arm 131.

[0004]

In the method of connecting the ball joint 101 and the arm 131 as described above, since the inner diameter of the connecting portion 132 is formed to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the housing 108, the connecting portion of the arm 131 is formed. 132
The housing 108 press-fitted into the housing receives a tightening force. The ball joint 101 is held on the arm 131 by the tightening force of the connecting portion 132 of the arm 131. In the connection structure as described above, in order to increase the load resistance in the axial direction, it is conceivable to increase the fastening force from the connection portion 132 of the arm 131 to increase the holding force. However, the inner diameter of the joint 132 of the arm 131 and the housing 1
08 even if the difference between the outer diameters is increased, the tightening force has a limit value, which will not be higher than the limit value.
When the tightening force applied to the ball joint 8 increases, the ball joint 101
Therefore, it is difficult to increase the axial load resistance. Therefore, in order to increase the axial load resistance, a recess is formed on the outer periphery of the housing,
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 56-10816 discloses a connecting method in which an end of a connecting portion of an arm is connected to a concave portion of a housing by connecting. However, according to the above-described joining method, a separate caulking step is required, which may increase the number of joining steps.

Accordingly, the present invention has solved the above-mentioned problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for connecting a ball joint and an arm having high axial load resistance without increasing the number of connection steps.

[0006]

The joining method of the present invention is as follows.

[0007] 1. A ball stud consisting of a spherical ball head and a handle protruding from the ball head, a bearing that wraps the ball head of the ball stud so as to swing and rotate, and a bearing inside, and one of the ball studs In a method of coupling a ball joint comprising a housing having an opening for projecting a handle portion and an arm having a cylindrical coupling portion for holding the housing of the ball joint, the housing of the ball joint has an opening on an outer peripheral surface from an opening side. Has a circumferential groove inclined toward the center with respect to the axis so as to have a smaller diameter toward the side, and the connecting portion of the arm is inserted into the outer periphery of the housing from the opening side, and press-fits along the groove of the housing. A method of connecting a ball joint and an arm, characterized in that:

[0008] 2. A ball stud composed of a spherical ball head and a handle protruding from the ball head, a bearing that wraps the ball head of the ball stud in a swingable manner, and a bearing included, and one of the ball studs In a method of coupling a ball joint comprising a housing having an opening for projecting a handle and an arm having a cylindrical coupling portion for holding the housing of the ball joint, the housing of the ball joint is opened on the outer peripheral surface from the opposite opening side. Has a circumferential groove inclined toward the center with respect to the axis so as to have a smaller diameter toward the side, and is inserted into the outer periphery of the housing from the opening side opposite to the joint portion of the arm, and is pressed and coupled along the groove of the housing. A ball joint and an arm.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A method of connecting a ball joint and an arm according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a ball joint 1 and an arm 31 joined by the joining method of the present invention.
The ball joint 1 has a ball stud 2 composed of 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. A bearing 5 made of synthetic resin having a small bearing opening 6 on the other side and a large bearing opening 7 on the other side, a small opening 9 enclosing the bearing 5 and projecting the handle 3 of the ball stud 2 on one side, and a substantially disc-shaped on the other side. A substantially cylindrical housing 8 having a large opening 10 to which the closing plate 13 is fixed by caulking, and a large opening 16 in which a metal reinforcing ring 17 is embedded around the handle 3 of the ball stud 2 around the small opening 15. A dust cover 14 is attached to the outer periphery of the housing 8. Housing 8
Has a circumferential flange 11b on the outer peripheral surface of the large opening 10 and has a connecting portion 11 connecting the outer peripheral surface of the housing 8 and the flange 11b.
A groove 11 is formed so as to be inclined toward the center with respect to the axis so that the diameter becomes smaller from the direction of the small opening 9 toward the direction of the large opening 10 than the direction of the small opening 9. The arm 31 has a cylindrical connecting portion 32 formed at one end thereof. The connecting portion 32 has a second opening 33 on the arm 31, a first opening 34 on the side opposite to the second opening, and a first connecting portion 34. The cylindrical part 3 connecting the two openings 33 and the first opening 34
5, and the end on the first opening 34 side is fixed to the groove 11 of the housing 8.

Next, an assembly process of the ball joint 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 is press-fitted through the small bearing opening 6 of the bearing 5. Next, as shown in FIG. 3, with the bearing 5 fitted in the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2, the ball stud 2 is inserted into the large opening 10 of the housing 8 from the handle 3 side of the ball stud 2. The handle portion 3 of the ball stud 2 is protruded from 9, and then the closing plate 13 is caulked and fixed to the inner periphery of the large opening 10 of the housing 8.

Next, a method of manufacturing the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 as shown in FIG. 4 will be described. First, arm 3 of sheet metal
A pilot hole having a diameter smaller than a desired diameter is formed at one end. next,
When a punch having the same diameter as the desired diameter is pressed into the prepared hole, the inner peripheral portion is bent in a direction perpendicular to the axis to form the cylindrical portion 35, and the joint portion 32 is manufactured.

Next, a connection structure between the ball joint 1 and the arm 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 4, when the ball joint 1 is inserted from the handle 3 of the ball stud 2 into the first opening 34 of the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31, as shown in the left half of FIG. The end of the first opening 34 of the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 contacts the end of the flange 11 b of the housing 8. At this time, the outer diameter of the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 is equal to the flange 11b of the housing 8.
Since the diameter of the arm 31 is smaller than the outer diameter, the end of the first opening 34 of the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 is bent inward in accordance with the shape of the groove 11, and the arm 31 is inserted into the groove 11 of the housing 8.
5 is pressed, and the ball joint 1 and the arm 31 are connected as shown in the right half of FIG.

Finally, the small opening 15 of the dust cover 14 is mounted on the outer periphery of the handle 3 of the ball stud 2, and the large opening 16 is mounted on the outer periphery of the housing 8, and the manufacture of the ball joint 1 is completed.

Therefore, according to the method of connecting the ball joint 1 and the arm 31 as described above, the ball joint 1 is pressed into the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 so that the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 is inserted into the groove 11 of the housing 8. Can be engaged.

Next, a method of connecting a ball joint and an arm according to another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 6 shows a ball joint and an arm joined by a joining method according to another invention. The basic structure is the same as the ball joint 1 and the arm 31 of the above embodiment. The difference is that the housing 8 has a circumferential flange 11b on the outer peripheral surface of the small opening 9, and the connecting portion 11a connecting the outer peripheral surface of the housing 8 and the flange 11b moves in the direction of the small opening 9 from the direction of the large opening 10. There is a point where a groove 11 is formed which is inclined toward the center with respect to the axis so as to have a smaller diameter toward the axis.

Next, a process of connecting the ball joint 1 and the arm 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the ball joint 1 is moved from the side of the large opening 10 of the housing 8 to the first opening 34 of the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31.
8, the arm 31 is attached to the end of the flange 11b of the housing 8 of the ball joint 1 as shown in the left half of FIG.
The end of the first opening 34 of the connecting portion 32 abuts. At this time, since the outer diameter of the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 is formed to be smaller than the outer diameter of the flange portion 11b of the housing 8, the first opening 34 of the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 as shown in the right half of FIG.
The end is bent inward in accordance with the shape of the groove 11, and the end of the first opening 34 of the arm 31 is pressed into the groove 11 of the housing 8, so that the ball joint 1 and the arm 31 are joined. .

Accordingly, the ball joint 1 and the arm 31 can be connected in the same manner as described above.
Is pressed into the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 so that the connecting portion 32 of the arm 31 can be engaged with the groove 11 of the housing 8.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, a ball stud composed of a spherical ball head and a handle protruding from the ball head, and a ball head of the ball stud are slidably and rotatably wrapped. For connecting a ball joint comprising a bearing to be held, a housing enclosing the bearing, and having on one side an opening for projecting a handle portion of a ball stud, and an arm having a cylindrical joint for holding the housing of the ball joint , The housing of the ball joint has a circumferential groove inclined to the center side with respect to the axis so that the diameter decreases from the opening side to the opposite opening side on the outer peripheral surface, and the joint portion of the arm is provided on the outer periphery of the housing. The ball joint is inserted into the opening of the arm and press-fitted along the groove of the housing. It is possible to engage, it is possible to perform press-fitting and the pressing binding to arm ball joint at the same time, without binding step is increased, it is possible to increase the axial load bearing.

A ball stud having a spherical ball head and a handle protruding from the ball head; a bearing for swingably and rotatably enclosing the ball head of the ball stud; On the other hand, in a method of coupling a ball joint comprising a housing having an opening for projecting a handle portion of a ball stud and an arm having a cylindrical coupling portion for holding the housing of the ball joint, the housing of the ball joint is provided on an outer peripheral surface. A circumferential groove inclined toward the center with respect to the axis so as to have a smaller diameter from the opposite opening side toward the opening side; an arm connecting portion inserted into the outer periphery of the housing from the opposite opening side to form a groove in the housing; By pressing the ball joint into the joint of the arm, the joint of the arm can be engaged with the groove of the housing. Therefore, similarly since the press-fit and press bonded to the arm of the ball joint can be carried out simultaneously, without coupling step is increased, it is possible to increase the axial load bearing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a joint structure of a ball joint and an arm joined by a joint method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a first step of manufacturing a ball joint according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a second step of manufacturing the ball joint according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing a state before a ball joint and an arm are joined according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a process of connecting a ball joint and an arm according to an embodiment of the present invention, where a left half portion is in the middle of connection and a right half portion is in a state where the connection is completed.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional plan view illustrating a joint structure of a ball joint and an arm joined by a joining method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional plan view showing a state before a ball joint and an arm are joined according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing a step of connecting a ball joint and an arm according to another embodiment of the present invention, where the left half shows the start of the connection and the right half shows the state during the connection.

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional plan view showing a conventional joint structure between a ball joint and an arm.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 ball joint 2 ball stud 3 handle 4 ball head 5 bearing 8 housing 9 (housing) opening 11 groove 31 arm 32 joint

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A ball stud 2 comprising a spherical ball head 4 and a handle 3 protruding from the ball head 4, and a ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 being swingably and rotatably held. A ball joint 1 including a bearing 5, a housing 8 including the bearing 5, and having on one side an opening 9 for projecting the handle 3 of the ball stud 2, and a cylindrical shape for holding the housing 8 of the ball joint 1 In the method of connecting the ball joint 1 to the arm 31 having the connecting portion 32, the housing 8 of the ball joint 1 is inclined toward the center with respect to the axis so as to have a smaller diameter from the opening 8 side to the opposite opening side on the outer peripheral surface. Connecting portion 32 of the arm 31
Is inserted into the outer periphery of the housing 8 from the opening 9 side, and is pressed and joined along the groove 11 of the housing 8, wherein the ball joint and the arm are joined together. 2. A ball stud 2 comprising a spherical ball head 4 and a handle 3 protruding from the ball head 4, and a bearing for swingably rotating the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2. 5
And a housing 8 including the bearing 5 and having an opening 9 on one side for projecting the handle 3 of the ball stud 2.
And the arm 31 having a cylindrical coupling portion 32 for holding the housing 8 of the ball joint 1, the housing 8 of the ball joint 1 is opened from the opposite opening side to the outer peripheral surface. 9 has a circumferential groove 11 inclined toward the center with respect to the axis so as to have a smaller diameter toward the 9 side, and the coupling portion 32 of the arm 31 is inserted into the outer periphery of the housing 8 from the opposite opening side. A method for connecting a ball joint and an arm, wherein the ball joint and the arm are pressed and connected along the groove 11 of the housing 8.