JP2012223832A - Method of manufacturing annular member - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing an annular member by which a window part and an inner circumferential surface recessed part can be formed by an inexpensive method in a short period of time as compared with punching press.SOLUTION: An annular material 150 is rotatably arranged around an axis X1 of the annular material 150. A cutting tool T, having one or a plurality of blade parts T2 which are projected on an outer side in a radial direction and arranged in a circumferential direction at equal intervals, is arranged rotatably around an axis X2 decentered with respect to the axis X1 of the annular member 150. A rotation speed Vw of the annular material 150 is controlled to be lower than a rotation speed Vt of the cutting tool T, and a ratio between the rotation speed Vw of the annular material 150 and the rotation speed Vt of the cutting tool T is controlled to be constant. Thereby, the window part 53 or the inner circumferential surface recessed part is cut by the blade parts T2.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an annular member in which a plurality of window portions or inner peripheral surface recesses are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, such as a constant velocity joint retainer.

  The constant velocity joint retainer has a plurality of windows in the circumferential direction for receiving balls. Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe a method for manufacturing a constant velocity joint cage. In these methods, the window portion of the cage is formed by a punching press. In addition, as a method of forming the window portion of the constant velocity joint cage, there is a method of cutting with a side surface of a cylindrical cutting tool.

JP 61-167720 A JP 2009-144829 A

  However, in forming the window portion by cutting with a punching press or a cylindrical cutting tool, the window portions are formed one by one. For this reason, there has been a problem that it takes a long time to process the window. Moreover, since a press is expensive, an inexpensive manufacturing method is desired.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an annular shape in which a window portion and an inner peripheral surface concave portion can be formed by a method that is less expensive and shorter than formation by a punching press and cutting by a cylindrical cutting tool. It aims at providing the manufacturing method of a member.

  (Claim 1) The manufacturing method of an annular member of the present invention is a manufacturing method of an annular member in which a plurality of window portions or inner peripheral surface recesses are formed in the annular material at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. A material arranging step of rotating the shaft around the axis of the annular material, and a cutting tool that protrudes radially outward and has one or a plurality of blades at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. A blade arrangement step of arranging the blade material so as to be rotatable about an eccentric axis, the rotation speed of the annular material is lower than the rotation speed of the blade material, and the ratio of the rotation speed of the annular material and the rotation speed of the blade tool is constant. And a cutting step of cutting the window portion or the inner peripheral surface concave portion with the blade portion.

(Claim 2) Moreover, you may make it the said cutting process control the rotation direction of the said cyclic | annular raw material, and the rotation direction of the said blade tool in the same direction.
(Claim 3) Further, in the cutting process, when the number of the window portions or the inner peripheral surface recesses is n and the number of the blade portions is m, the rotational speed Vw of the annular material and the blade tool The ratio Vw / Vt of the rotation speed Vt may be controlled to m / n.

  (Claim 4) In addition, the manufacturing method of the annular member is arranged between the outer ring and the inner ring of the constant velocity joint, and accommodates a plurality of balls that transmit torque between the outer ring and the inner ring. This is a method for manufacturing a constant velocity joint cage in which windows are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and when the axial width of the window is Ww and the axial width of the blade is Wt, Ww> You may make it satisfy | fill the relationship of Wt.

  (Claim 5) In addition, the manufacturing method of the annular member is arranged between the outer ring and the inner ring of the constant velocity joint, and accommodates a plurality of balls for transmitting torque between the outer ring and the inner ring. This is a method of manufacturing a constant velocity joint cage in which windows are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, where Ww is the axial width of the window and Wt is the axial width of the blade. You may make it satisfy | fill the relationship of Wt.

  (Claim 1) According to the present invention, a plurality of window portions or inner peripheral surface recesses can be formed by only one rotation of the annular material. That is, the processing time can be shortened as compared with formation by a press machine and cutting by a cylindrical cutting tool. Furthermore, since a press machine is not required, the equipment cost can be reduced. Here, the window portion is a hole penetrating in the radial direction, and the inner peripheral surface concave portion is, for example, an inner peripheral spline or an inner tooth.

(Claim 2) According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably form the window portions or the inner peripheral surface concave portions at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.
(Claim 3) According to the present invention, it is possible to form all the window portions or the inner peripheral surface concave portions only by rotating the annular material only once. Thereby, processing time can be reduced significantly.

(Claim 4) According to the present invention, the window portion can be formed by performing a plurality of times of cutting in the axial direction. By doing in this way, even if it is a case where there exists abrasion of a blade part and a positioning error of an annular material and a blade, the opposing surface of a window part can be cut with high precision and easily.
(Claim 5) According to the present invention, one window can be cut by one cutting. Here, the accuracy of the facing surface of the window portion depends on the shape accuracy of the blade portion and the positioning accuracy of the blade, but if these can be made highly accurate, the facing surface of the window portion can be easily and very quickly formed. It can be formed with high accuracy.

It is an axial sectional view of a ball type constant velocity joint at a joint angle θ. It is a top view of a holder | retainer. It is an axial view of a cage. It is a flowchart of the manufacturing method of a holder | retainer. It is a side view of a blade. FIG. 6 is an axial view of the blade seen from the left side of FIG. 5. It is a figure which shows a reference | standard state in the manufacturing method of a holder | retainer. In the manufacturing method of a cage, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/2, the rotation angle of the cage material is 30 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 60 °. In the cage manufacturing method, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/2, the rotation angle of the cage material is 60 ° and the rotation angle of the blade is 120 °. In the cage manufacturing method, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/2, the rotation angle of the cage material is 90 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 180 °. In the cage manufacturing method, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/2, the rotation angle of the cage material is 120 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 240 °. In the cage manufacturing method, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/2, the rotation angle of the cage material is 150 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 300 °. In the cage manufacturing method, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/2, the rotation angle of the cage material is 180 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 360 °. In the cage manufacturing method, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/2, the cage material rotation angle is 210 ° and the blade rotation angle is 420 °. In the manufacturing method of a cage, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/2, the rotation angle of the cage material is 240 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 480 °. In the cage manufacturing method, the blade tip trajectory when the reference state when the rotational speed ratio is 1/2 is shifted to different phases of 0 °, 60 °, and 120 ° is shown. 2nd embodiment: It is a side view of a blade. FIG. 18 is an axial view of the cutting tool as viewed from the left side of FIG. 17. 3rd embodiment: It is a figure which shows a reference | standard state in the manufacturing method of a holder | retainer. In the cage manufacturing method, the rotation angle of the cage material when the rotation speed ratio is 1/3 is 30 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 90 °. In the cage manufacturing method, the rotation angle of the cage material when the rotation speed ratio is 1/3 is 60 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 180 °. In the manufacturing method of a cage, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/3, the rotation angle of the cage material is 90 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 270 °. In the manufacturing method of a cage, when the rotation speed ratio is 1/3, the rotation angle of the cage material is 120 °, and the rotation angle of the blade is 360 °.

<First embodiment>
(Constant velocity joint configuration)
As an annular member that is the object of the manufacturing method of the present invention, a ball type constant velocity joint cage will be described as an example. First, the configuration of the ball type constant velocity joint 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as “constant velocity joint”) will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the constant velocity joint 10 is a fixed joint centered ball type constant velocity joint (also referred to as a “Zepper type constant velocity joint”), which is suitable as an outboard joint for a front drive shaft of an automobile. It is what is used. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a rear drive shaft. In particular, in the present embodiment, an undercut free type (UF) joint center fixed ball type constant velocity joint will be described as an example.

  The constant velocity joint 10 includes an outer ring 20 having a plurality of outer ring ball grooves 21, an inner ring 30 having a plurality of inner ring ball grooves 31, and an outer ring 20 disposed so as to be able to roll in the outer ring ball groove 21 and the inner ring ball groove 31. A plurality of balls 40 that transmit torque to and from the inner ring 30; a cage 50 that is disposed between the outer ring 20 and the inner ring 30 and that includes windows 53 that respectively accommodate the plurality of balls 40; And a shaft 60 to be connected.

(Detailed configuration of cage)
Here, the cage 50 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The cage 50 is formed in an annular shape. The outer peripheral surface 51 of the cage 50 is formed in a partial spherical shape substantially corresponding to the concave spherical inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 20, that is, a convex spherical shape. On the other hand, the inner peripheral surface 52 of the cage 50 is formed into a partial spherical shape that substantially corresponds to the convex spherical outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 30, that is, a concave spherical shape. The cage 50 is disposed between the concave spherical inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 20 and the convex spherical outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 30. The cage 50 includes a plurality of window portions 53 that are substantially rectangular through holes arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction (the circumferential direction of the cage axis). The number of window portions 53 of the cage 50 is the same as the number of balls 40. One ball 40 is accommodated in each window 53. The window portion 53 has a facing surface 53a that faces substantially parallel to the axial direction of the cage 50. The facing surface 53a is a portion where the ball 40 can roll.

(Outline of cage manufacturing method)
Next, a method for manufacturing the cage 50 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The method for manufacturing the cage 50 described here is a method for forming the window portion 53 of the cage 50.

  First, a cage material (annular material) is prepared (step S1). The cage material has a shape before the window portion 53 is formed with respect to the cage 50 described above. This cage material is formed by forging, for example. Subsequently, the cage material is placed on the cutting machine (step S2). Specifically, the cage material is gripped by a rotating chuck or the like, and the cage material is arranged so as to be rotatable around the axis of the cage material.

  Subsequently, the cutting tool T is placed on the cutting machine (step S3). Here, the cutting tool T will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The cutting tool T is a rotary tool, and includes, for example, a holder T1 that can be mounted on a spindle of a machining center, and a blade portion T2 that is provided on the tip side of the holder T1 and protrudes radially outward. Here, in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the blade T includes a single blade portion T2. The blade portion T2 can cut a workpiece by rotating the cutting tool T about the cutting tool axis. Furthermore, the outer diameter of the blade portion T2 is smaller than the inner diameter of the cage material. Further, the axial width Wt of the blade portion T <b> 2 is the same as the separation distance Ww between the facing surfaces 53 a of the window portion 53 of the cage 50. That is, the axial width Wt of the blade portion T2 is set so as to satisfy the relationship of Ww = Wt. As will be described later, a plurality of blade portions T2 may be provided. In this case, a plurality of blade portions T2 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. When the cutting tool T is disposed in the cutting machine, the axis of the cutting tool T is set to a position that is eccentric with respect to the axis of the cage material. That is, the cutting tool T is disposed in the cutting machine so as to be rotatable about an axis eccentric with respect to the axis of the cage material. Further, the blade portion T2 is disposed inside the cage material.

  Subsequently, the cage material is rotated about the axis of the cage material and the blade T is rotated about an axis eccentric from the axis of the cage material, whereby the window portion 53 is cut by the blade portion T2. (Step S4). Here, during the cutting process, the rotation direction of the cage material and the rotation direction of the blade T are controlled to be the same direction. Further, the rotational speed Vw of the cage material is lower than the rotational speed Vt of the blade T, and the ratio (Vw / Vt) between the rotational speed Vw of the cage material and the rotational speed Vt of the blade T is controlled to be constant.

(Details of cage manufacturing method)
Next, the manufacturing method of the cage 50 described above will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. Here, in the example described below, the blade T is provided with one blade portion T2, and the rotation speed ratio (Vw / Vt) is 1/2. In this case, the blade T rotates twice while the cage material 150 rotates once. As a result of this operation, two opposing window portions 53 are formed with respect to the cage material 150. Here, FIGS. 7-16 has shown the state which changes with progress of time. Moreover, in FIGS. 7-16, the dashed-two dotted line shows the front-end | tip locus | trajectory R of the blade part T2. In the lower part of each figure, the rotation angle θw of the cage material 150 and the rotation angle θt of the cutting tool T are shown with reference to the state of FIG. This will be described in detail below.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the cage material 150 is disposed so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis X1. Here, A is a reference point in the circumferential direction of the cage material 150. Further, the cutting tool T is disposed so as to be rotatable around the eccentric axis X2. At this time, the portion of the blade portion T2 of the cutting tool T is disposed so as to be accommodated inside the cage material 150 so as not to contact the inner peripheral surface of the cage material 150.

  Subsequently, in FIG. 7, the cage material 150 is rotated counterclockwise, and at the same time, the cutting tool T is rotated counterclockwise at a speed twice that of the cage material 150. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, with respect to the reference state of FIG. 7, the cage material 150 rotates 30 degrees counterclockwise, and the cutting tool T rotates counterclockwise up to 60 degrees. At this time, a part of the cage material 150 is cut by the blade part T2, and a part of the window part 53 is formed.

  When further rotated counterclockwise, as shown in FIG. 9, the cage material 150 rotates 60 ° counterclockwise with respect to the reference state of FIG. 7, and the blade T rotates counterclockwise up to 120 °. At this time, a part of the cage material 150 is cut by the blade portion T2, and the processing of one window portion 53 is completed.

  When further rotated counterclockwise, as shown in FIG. 10, the cage material 150 rotates 90 ° counterclockwise and the cutting tool T rotates counterclockwise up to 180 ° with respect to the reference state of FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the cage material 150 rotates 120 ° counterclockwise with respect to the reference state of FIG. 7, and the blade T rotates counterclockwise up to 240 °. As shown in FIG. 12, with respect to the reference state of FIG. 7, the cage material 150 rotates counterclockwise by 150 °, and the cutting tool T rotates counterclockwise up to 300 °. During these periods, the blade portion T2 is not in contact with the cage material 150. That is, cutting is not performed.

  When further rotated counterclockwise, as shown in FIG. 13, the cage material 150 rotates 180 ° counterclockwise with respect to the reference state of FIG. 7, and the blade T rotates counterclockwise up to 360 °. That is, the cage material 150 rotates halfway and the cutting tool T returns to the reference state shown in FIG. Thereafter, when further rotated counterclockwise, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the cage material 150 rotates counterclockwise by 210 ° and 240 ° counterclockwise with respect to the reference state of FIG. Rotate counterclockwise to 4200 °, 480 °.

  At this time, similarly to FIGS. 8 and 9 described above, the window portion 53 is cut by the blade portion T2. However, the window part 53 cut in FIGS. 14 and 15 is the position of the axis object (position rotated 180 °) of the window part 53 cut in FIGS. 8 and 9. Thus, the two window portions 53 can be formed by rotating the blade T twice while rotating the cage material 150 once. And as shown in FIG. 16, the window part 53 of six places is formed by performing from FIG. 7 to FIG. 15, respectively in the state which shifted the relative phase of the holder raw material 150 and the blade tool T by 60 degrees and 120 degrees. be able to. In FIG. 16, the three two-dot chain lines are the tip locus R of the blade portion T <b> 2 in each phase.

  By the way, the circumferential shape of the window part 53 is the diameter of the blade part T2 (distance from the axial center of the blade tool T to the tip of the blade part T2), the eccentricity of the rotation center X2 of the blade tool T with respect to the axial center X1 of the cage material 150. The amount varies depending on the ratio (Vw / Vt) between the rotational speed Vw of the cage material 150 and the rotational speed Vt of the blade T. Therefore, in order to obtain a desired shape of the window 53, the above parameters are changed as appropriate.

  According to the manufacturing method of the cage 50 described above, a plurality of window portions 53 can be formed by only rotating the cage material once. That is, the processing time can be shortened. Furthermore, since a punching press is not required, the equipment cost can be reduced. Moreover, the window part 53 can be reliably formed in the circumferential direction at equal intervals by making the rotation direction of the cage | basket material 150 and the rotation direction of the blade tool T into the same direction.

  Furthermore, by making the axial width Wt of the blade portion T2 the same as the axial width Ww of the window portion 53, one window portion 53 can be cut by one cutting operation. Here, the facing surface accuracy of the window portion 53 depends on the shape accuracy of the blade portion T2 and the positioning accuracy of the blade T, but if these can be made highly accurate, the window portion 53 can be easily formed in a very short time. Can be formed with high accuracy.

<Second embodiment>
In the said embodiment, the blade tool T shall be provided with one blade part T2. In addition to this, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the cutting tool T may be provided with a plurality of blade portions T2, T2, T2 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Here, the blade tool T includes three blade portions T2.

  In this case, by setting the ratio (Vw / Vt) between the rotational speed Vw of the cage material 150 and the rotational speed Vt of the blade T to 1/2, all the window portions can be obtained by rotating the cage material 150 only once. 53 can be formed. Generalizing this relationship is as follows. When the number of window parts 53 is n and the number of blade parts T2 is m, the rotational speed ratio Vw / Vt is m / n. By doing in this way, all the window parts 53 can be formed only by rotating the retainer raw material 150 once. Thereby, processing time can be reduced significantly.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 17, the axial width Wt of the blade portion T <b> 2 is made smaller than the axial width Ww of the window portion 53. Therefore, the above-described cutting process is performed at two locations where the cutting tool T is shifted in the axial direction with respect to the cage material 150. By doing in this way, even if there is abrasion of blade part T2 or a positioning error of cage material 150 and blade tool T, facing surface 53a of window part 53 can be cut with high accuracy and easily.

<Third embodiment>
Next, the case where the rotational speed ratio (Vw / Vt) is 1/3 is described with reference to FIGS. 19 to 23 using the cutting tool T having one blade portion T2 as in the first embodiment. To do. From the reference state of FIG. 19, the state sequentially changes to the states of FIGS. 20, 21, 22, and 23. During this time, the cage material 150 rotates counterclockwise by 120 °, and the cutting tool T rotates counterclockwise by 360 °. Thereby, one window part 53 is formed. Further, by continuously rotating the cage material 150 by 360 ° from the reference state of FIG. 19, three window portions 53 are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Then, by performing each of FIG. 19 to FIG. 23 in a state where the relative phase of the cage material 150 and the cutting tool T is shifted by 60 °, six window portions 53 can be formed.

  Here, in the third embodiment, when the blade T has two blade portions T2 in a phase shifted by 180 °, six window portions 53 can be formed by only rotating the cage material 150 once. it can. In the above-described embodiment, the cutting process of the window portion 53 penetrating in the radial direction has been described as an example.

10: Ball type constant velocity joint, 20: Outer ring, 21: Outer ring ball groove 30: Inner ring, 31: Inner ring ball groove, 40: Ball 50: Cage, 51: Outer peripheral surface, 52: Inner peripheral surface, 53: Window 53a: opposing surface 60: shaft 150: cage material R: tip locus, T: cutting tool, T1: holder, T2: blade

Claims (5)

A method for manufacturing an annular member in which a plurality of window portions or inner peripheral surface concave portions are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction in an annular material,
A material arranging step of arranging the annular material so as to be rotatable around an axis of the annular material;
A blade arrangement step of arranging a blade tool that is formed to protrude radially outward and includes a plurality of blade portions at equal intervals in the circumferential direction so as to be rotatable around an axis that is eccentric with respect to the axis of the annular material;
The rotational speed of the annular material is lower than the rotational speed of the blade and the ratio of the rotational speed of the annular material and the rotational speed of the blade is controlled to be constant so that the blade or the inner circumference is controlled by the blade. A cutting process for cutting the surface recess;
The manufacturing method of an annular member provided with. In claim 1,
The said cutting process is a manufacturing method of the annular member which controls the rotation direction of the said cyclic | annular raw material, and the rotation direction of the said blade tool in the same direction. In claim 1 or 2,
In the cutting process, when the number of the window portions or the inner peripheral surface recesses is n and the number of the blade portions is m, the ratio Vw between the rotational speed Vw of the annular material and the rotational speed Vt of the blade tool. A method of manufacturing an annular member that controls / Vt to be m / n. In any one of Claims 1-3,
The manufacturing method of the annular member is arranged between an outer ring and an inner ring of a constant velocity joint, and a plurality of window portions for accommodating a plurality of balls transmitting torque between the outer ring and the inner ring are arranged in the circumferential direction, etc. It is a manufacturing method of a constant velocity joint cage formed at intervals,
When the axial width of the window is Ww and the axial width of the blade is Wt,
A method for manufacturing an annular member that satisfies a relationship of Ww> Wt. In any one of Claims 1-3,
The manufacturing method of the annular member is arranged between an outer ring and an inner ring of a constant velocity joint, and a plurality of window portions for accommodating a plurality of balls transmitting torque between the outer ring and the inner ring are arranged in the circumferential direction, etc. It is a manufacturing method of a constant velocity joint cage formed at intervals,
When the axial width of the window is Ww and the axial width of the blade is Wt,
A method of manufacturing an annular member that satisfies the relationship of Ww = Wt.

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