JP2019011834A - Constant velocity universal joint - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a constant velocity universal joint which effectively supplies a lubricant to a motion part for performing rolling movement and slide movement, and can make lubrication performance favorable more than before.SOLUTION: As an agitation part for agitating a lubricant, a constant velocity universal joint Aa comprises an agitation part 30 which is formed into a tapered shape or a flange shape having a cross section shape which protrudes to a front inside direction from a front end part of an outer race 4, or a portion which is closer to the outer race of a boot 8.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a constant velocity universal joint suitable for use in power transmission of vehicles.

A constant velocity universal joint is often used as a component of a drive shaft of a vehicle. One example is disclosed in Patent Document 1.
In the constant velocity universal joint described in the same document, an inner race connected to an end portion of a shaft is disposed in an outer race having a front opening, and torque transmission of a ball or the like is performed between the outer race and the inner race. A member is provided. The shaft can swing relative to the outer race. At the time of swinging, in addition to the rolling operation of the torque transmission member, a sliding operation between members positioned around the torque transmission member also occurs. Grease is used to lubricate such operating parts, and boots are used as means for enclosing the grease. The boot is attached in a state where both ends thereof are connected to the outer race and the shaft, and covers the front opening of the outer race.

  On the other hand, if the lubrication of the operating part is poor, the durable life of the constant velocity universal joint is shortened, the operating resistance is increased, and the fuel consumption of the vehicle is also deteriorated. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, as a means for improving the lubrication of the operating portion described above, a stirring portion is provided at a position on the small-diameter portion side of the boot (the side far from the outer race) of the shaft. According to such a configuration, it is possible to stir the grease on the small-diameter portion side of the boot and make it difficult to collect the grease in that portion.

  However, the prior art still has room for improvement as described below.

  In other words, in the constant velocity universal joint, the position where the grease should be effectively supplied is the above-described operating portion inside the outer race. On the other hand, in the prior art, the agitation unit for grease is provided at a location considerably away from the outer race, and the agitation unit only rotates in conjunction with the shaft. In this case, even if the grease existing in the vicinity of the stirring portion can be stirred, the grease cannot be efficiently and positively supplied to the position of the operating portion in the outer race. When the constant velocity universal joint rotates, most of the grease tends to accumulate in the area near the outer periphery of the boot due to the action of centrifugal force. It is difficult to let them supply. Therefore, there is still room for improvement in improving the lubricity of the constant velocity universal joint.

JP 2007-303501 A

  The present invention has been conceived under the circumstances described above, and effectively supplies a lubricant to an operating part that performs rolling or sliding when the shaft is swung. It is an object of the present invention to provide a constant velocity universal joint capable of improving lubricity.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means.

  The constant velocity universal joint provided by the present invention allows an outer race having a front opening shape, an inner race that is located inside the outer race and to which an end of the shaft is coupled, and allows the shaft to swing relative to the outer race. However, both ends are connected to the outer race and the shaft so as to cover the front opening of the outer race and a torque transmission member that transmits torque between the outer race and the inner race, and encloses a lubricant. A constant velocity universal joint comprising: a boot, and a cross-sectional shape protruding from the front end portion of the outer race or a portion closer to the outer race of the boot toward the front inner side as a stirring portion for stirring the lubricant A first stirring portion having a tapering or flange shape having a torque or the torque transmitting member is held. Provided on the front of the support member, and is characterized in that it comprises towards the tip second agitating part diameter and are tapered ring-shaped or flange-like, at least one than the base portion.

According to such a configuration, the following effects can be obtained.
That is, regardless of which of the first and second stirring portions is provided, the lubricant is stirred at a position close to the front opening of the outer race or inside the outer race when the constant velocity universal joint rotates. However, it is possible to increase the fluidity. This itself enhances the lubrication performance of the lubricant for the torque transmitting member and its surrounding working parts. Further, as will be understood from the embodiments described later, when the shaft is swung relative to the outer race, the first and second agitating portions are configured to apply the lubricant that flows by being pushed by the shaft. A pumping action that positively feeds the moving part is generated. Therefore, the lubrication performance for the above-described operating part can be greatly improved as compared with the conventional technique. According to the present invention, it is possible to suitably improve the durability of the constant velocity universal joint by improving the lubrication performance and improving the fuel efficiency of the vehicle by reducing the operating resistance.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is principal part sectional drawing which shows an example of the constant velocity universal joint which concerns on this invention. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows an example of the operation state of the constant velocity universal joint shown in FIG. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows other embodiment of this invention. (A) is principal part sectional drawing which shows the other example of the constant velocity universal joint which concerns on this invention, (b) is a perspective view of the cage used with the constant velocity universal joint shown to (a). is there. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows an example of the operation state of the constant velocity universal joint shown to Fig.4 (a).

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  A constant velocity universal joint Aa shown in FIG. 1 is used as a component of a drive shaft of a vehicle, and one end of the shaft 1 is drivingly connected to a wheel 2. Although only a part of the wheel 2 is shown in FIG. 1, the wheel 2 is connected to a hub 20, and the hub 20 is rotatably held by a knuckle 21 via a bearing 22. Yes. Although not shown in the drawings, the other end of the shaft 1 is coupled to the output shaft of a differential device connected to the terminal end of the transmission via another constant velocity universal joint.

  The constant velocity universal joint Aa includes an auxiliary member 3 that constitutes the stirring unit 30. The stirring unit 30 corresponds to a specific example of the “first stirring unit” in the present invention. Except for the configuration related to the auxiliary member 3 provided with the stirring unit 30, it is the same as the conventionally known one.

The constant velocity universal joint Aa includes a cup-shaped outer race 4 having a front opening 40, an inner race 5 that is arranged inside the outer race 4 and is connected to an end of the shaft 1 so as to be relatively rotatable, and a cage 6. Are provided with a plurality of balls 7 (corresponding to an example of a torque transmission member) and a boot 8. A rotating shaft 48 is integrally or separately provided on the rear side of the outer race 4 (on the right side in the drawing and in the vehicle width direction in the present embodiment). The rotating shaft 48 is provided with means such as spline coupling. Via the hub 20 so as to be capable of interlocking rotation. The plurality of balls 7 corresponds to an example of a torque transmission member referred to in the present invention, and is positioned between the outer race 4 and the inner race 5 and is responsible for torque transmission between them, and with respect to the outer race 4. The shaft 1 is allowed to relatively swing in various directions. The swing of the shaft 1 occurs as the wheel 2 moves up and down and the direction changes. The boot 8 has a bellows shape, and both ends thereof are attached to the front end portion of the outer race 4 and a portion in the middle of the shaft 1 in the longitudinal direction so as to cover the front opening 40 of the outer race 4. The boots 8 and the outer race 4 are filled with grease as a lubricant.

  The auxiliary member 3 has a substantially circular ring shape, and includes a mounting base 31 and a stirring unit 30 integrally connected to the mounting base 31. The attachment base 31 is fixedly attached to the front end portion of the outer race 4. The stirring portion 30 has a cross-sectional shape that protrudes in the forward inner direction from the front end portion of the outer race 4, and has a tapered shape or a flange shape that decreases in diameter toward the front end side.

  Next, the operation of the constant velocity universal joint Aa will be described.

  First, when the constant velocity universal joint Aa is rotated, the stirring unit 30 is also rotated along with the outer race 4. For this reason, the stirring unit 30 stirs a lot of grease existing in the vicinity of the front opening 40 of the outer race 4 and improves its fluidity. As a result, the grease lubrication performance can be improved with respect to the operation parts that cause rolling and sliding, such as the ball 7, the cage 6, the inner wall surface of the outer race 4, and the outer surface of the inner race 5.

  Next, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the shaft 1 swings, the shaft 1 approaches the tip of the stirring unit 30. In this operation process, the grease pushed by the shaft 1 is compressed between the agitating unit 30 and the pumping action guided in the direction indicated by the arrow Da by the agitating unit 30 is obtained. It is forcibly sent toward the inner side. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the lubrication performance of the operating part.

  3 to 5 show other embodiments of the present invention. In these drawings, elements that are the same as or similar to those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the above embodiment, and redundant description is omitted.

  In the constant velocity universal joint Ab shown in FIG. 3, a stirring portion 80 is integrally formed at a position near the front end portion of the outer race 4 in the boot 8. Like the stirring unit 30, the stirring unit 80 corresponds to a specific example of the “first stirring unit” in the present invention.

The stirrer 80 has the same form as the stirrer 30 described above, has a cross-sectional shape that protrudes from the position near the outer race 4 of the boot 8 toward the front inner side, and the diameter becomes smaller toward the front end side. Tapered ring or flange shape.
Also in this embodiment, the same operation as the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

In FIG. 3, a chamfered portion 49 is provided at the front end portion of the outer race 4, and a magnetic force is applied to this portion. According to such a configuration, when the grease flows to the outer peripheral side along the stirring unit 80 due to centrifugal force or the like, the iron-based mixed foreign matter existing in the grease is magnetically adsorbed to the chamfered portion 49 and appropriately It is possible to capture. Although illustration explanation is omitted, for example, when the inner race 5 is fixed to the shaft 1 using a stopper such as a so-called C-clip, a means for capturing a foreign substance by applying a magnetic force to the stopper is employed. Is also possible.

In the constant velocity universal joint Ac shown in FIG. 4, a stirring portion 60 is provided at the front portion of the cage 6. The stirring unit 60 corresponds to a specific example of the “second stirring unit” in the present invention.
As shown well in FIG. 4B, the stirring unit 60 is integrally formed on one end side of the cage body 61 in which the hole 62 for accommodating the ball of the cage 6 is formed. In FIG. 4A, the stirring portion 60 has a cross-sectional shape protruding in the front outer direction, and has a tapered or flange shape having a larger diameter on the tip side than the base portion. In the present embodiment, the stirring unit 60 is integrally formed with the cage 6, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is configured by attaching a member formed of a member different from the cage 6 to the cage 6. May be.

  According to this embodiment, when the constant velocity universal joint Ac rotates, the grease stirring action by the stirring unit 60 is obtained. Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the constant velocity universal joint Ac rotates with an appropriate joint angle, a grease stirring action different from the above-described embodiment is obtained. That is, in the state shown in FIG. 5, the rotation center axis of the stirring unit 60 is in a non-horizontal state. Therefore, when the stirring unit 60 is rotated, each part of the stirring unit 60 rotates while causing reciprocation with a predetermined stroke in the horizontal direction. Such a reciprocating operation of the stirring unit 60 causes a pumping action that forcibly causes the grease to flow in the front-rear direction.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in the process in which the shaft 1 swings at an angle as shown in FIG. 5, the stirring unit 60 removes the grease pushed by the shaft 1 in the same manner as the stirring units 30 and 80 described above. The pumping action which guides to the back side in the outer race 4 is generated while being compressed between each other. For this reason, also in the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the lubrication performance of the operating portion inside the outer race 4.

  The present invention is not limited to the contents of the above-described embodiment. The specific configuration of each part of the constant velocity universal joint according to the present invention can be varied in design in various ways within the intended scope of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the fixed type constant velocity universal joint has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, a sliding type constant velocity universal joint using a roller as a torque transmission member. .
The first stirring portion referred to in the present invention may be a tapering or flange shape having a cross-sectional shape protruding in the forward inner direction from a front end portion of the outer race or a portion closer to the outer race of the boot. The protrusion angle (tilt angle) and the like are not limited.
The second stirring portion referred to in the present invention is a taper ring that is provided integrally or separately at the front portion of a holding member that holds a torque transmission member such as a ball, and whose tip portion has a larger diameter than the base portion. Any shape or flange shape may be used. The second stirring portion does not necessarily have a tapered peripheral wall portion. For example, the second stirring portion may have a substantially disk-like flange shape spreading outward in the radial direction from the front portion of the holding member. Good.
In the present invention, it is sufficient that at least one of the first and second stirring units is provided.

Aa to Aca constant velocity universal joint 1 shaft 3 auxiliary member 30 stirring portion (first stirring portion)
4 Outer race 40 Front opening 5 Inner race 6 Cage (torque transmission member holding member)
60 Stirrer (second stirrer)
7 Ball (torque transmission member)
8 Boot 80 Stirrer (first stirrer)

Claims (1)

A front opening outer race,
An inner race that is located inside the outer race and to which the end of the shaft is connected;
A torque transmission member that transmits torque between the outer race and the inner race, while allowing the shaft to swing relative to the outer race;
Both ends of the outer race are connected to the outer race and the shaft so as to cover the front opening of the outer race, and the boot encloses a lubricant,
A constant velocity universal joint comprising:
As an agitation part for agitating the lubricant,
A tapered or flange-shaped first stirring portion having a cross-sectional shape protruding in a front inner direction from a front end portion of the outer race or a portion closer to the outer race of the boot
Or
A second stirring portion having a tapered or flange shape provided at a front portion of the holding member for holding the torque transmitting member and having a tip portion larger in diameter than the base portion;
A constant velocity universal joint comprising at least one of the above.

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