JPH06235417A - Spherical sliding bush - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a spherical sliding bush in which sealing performance and productivity can be enhanced by fitting and fixing a boot without application of calking work to a housing side end. CONSTITUTION:In housing side ends 29, 30 of boots 21, 22, fixing rings 23, 24 are provided, consisting of outer ends 35, 36 fixed to circumferential grooves 11, 12 of a housing 10 and inner ends 37, 38 embedded in the boots 21, 22. In ball stud side ends 31, 32, outer tip parts 39, 40 fixed to outer circumferential surfaces of shaft parts 5, 6 of a ball stud 2 and inner lip parts 41, 42 are provided. In inner circumferential ends 33, 34 of the boots 21, 22, interposed thickness parts 43, 44 are provided, which are interposed between side ends 8, 9 of a bearing 7 being a part to be fixed and the inner ends 37, 38 of the fixing rings 23, 24. An elastic member 17 for elastically holding the housing 10 and a cylindrical outer pipe 18 are also provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spherical sliding bush used in, for example, suspension systems and steering systems for automobiles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In automobile suspensions, bushes are used at links between arms and links arranged between the wheels and the vehicle body in order to absorb vibrations transmitted from the wheels to the vehicle body. Often. Generally, the bush is composed of an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder which are arranged concentrically with a space therebetween, and a rubber-like elastic body which is mounted between the inner and outer cylinders. The rubber-like elastic body is vulcanized and adhered to the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder, respectively. Then, the inner cylinder is fitted and supported by a support shaft attached to the vehicle body or the wheel side, and the outer cylinder is fixed to the other side. When such a bush is used for a suspension, its inner cylinder is usually fixed to a support shaft. By doing so, when the wheel is displaced with respect to the vehicle body, the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder of the bush are relatively displaced in the radial direction or the axial direction,
Since the rubber-like elastic body is elastically deformed in accordance with the relative displacement, the elasticity absorbs vibrations in various directions.

In the bush as described above, if the rigidity of the bush in the direction perpendicular to the axial line is increased in order to improve the vibration damping performance, the torsional rigidity of the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder becomes higher, and as a result, the turning performance deteriorates, and vice versa. If the rigidity of the bush in the direction perpendicular to the axis is reduced in order to improve the turning performance of the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder, the torsional rigidity of the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder becomes low, and as a result, there is a problem that the vibration isolation performance deteriorates.

In recent years, along with the multi-linking of automobile suspensions, bushes used for linking parts of links and arms are subject to various movements such as rocking in addition to the conventional radial, circumferential or axial movements. Exercise has been demanded with a high degree of freedom. However, the bush as described above has a problem that it cannot be used in a portion requiring a high degree of freedom because of its low limit on the moving direction and the displacement amount.

As a solution to the above-mentioned problems of the bush, there is a "spherical sliding bush" which has a high vibration isolation performance and a high rotation performance and has a degree of freedom with respect to the movement direction and the displacement amount.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the elastic member 1 is provided on the outer periphery of the substantially cylindrical housing 110 (corresponding to the inner cylinder).
Intermediate assembly 1 in which 17 and outer pipe 118 are bonded
03 with the bearing 107 interposed, the ball head 104
It is mounted on the ball stud 102 composed of the two shaft portions 105 and 106, and between the inner periphery of both ends 113 and 114 of the housing 110 and the outer periphery of the shaft portions 105 and 106 of the ball stud 102. Spherical sliding bush 1
Boots 121 and 122 are attached for the purpose of preventing the entry of water, dust, etc. into 01.

[0007]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention JP-A-62-1964
No. 20, JP-A-1-126415, and the like, in the above-mentioned spherical sliding bush 101, the housing side end portions 129, 130 of the boots 121, 122 are provided.
After being inserted into the inner periphery of the housing 110, the ends 113 and 114 of the housing 110 are fixed so as not to move relative to each other by caulking, and the other ends 131 and 132 on the side of the ball stud 102 have shafts 105, It is mounted at a mounting location provided on the outer circumference of 106.

The end portion 11 of the housing 110 as described above
When the boot 121 is fixed by caulking 3,114, the housing 1 made of a hard material such as steel.
Since a strong pressure that plastically deforms 10 is applied to the portion, the boots 121 and 122 made of a soft material such as rubber are greatly damaged and a caulking jig (not shown).
The boots 121, 122 are also easily damaged by contact with the boots 121, 122. Also, since members of different materials are caulked and fixed as described above, it is not possible to expect a high degree of adhesion effect by caulking, especially when trying to minimize the above-mentioned damage on the caulked part side. Since it cannot be set high, the sealability of the housing and boot mounting part is
You can't expect the fluid-tightness level that you expect from your favorite boots. Further, in the manufacturing process of the spherical sliding bush, one process is added by the amount of "caulking" of the housing, which becomes a factor of reducing productivity during processing.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a spherical sliding bush capable of mounting and fixing a boot without caulking and improving the sealing performance and the productivity. .

[0010]

The spherical sliding bush of the present invention has the following constitution.

A ball stud consisting of a spherical ball head and two shafts projecting from the ball head, a bearing mounted on the outer peripheral side of the ball stud along the outer peripheral surface of the ball head, and a bearing outer periphery. A substantially cylindrical housing in which a circumferential groove for mounting one end of the boot is provided on the inner circumference, an outer end portion mounted in the circumferential groove of the housing and an inner end portion embedded in the boot. The housing side end provided with a mounting ring,
And a ball stud side end portion having an outer lip portion and an inner lip portion that are mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion of the ball stud, and a side end surface of the bearing that is the mounted portion and an inner end portion of the mounting ring. The boot comprises an inner peripheral end having a sandwiched portion, an elastic member adhered to the outer periphery of the housing to elastically hold the housing, and a cylindrical outer pipe adhered to the outer periphery of the elastic member.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a spherical sliding bush according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a ball stud, which is composed of a spherical ball head 4 and two shaft portions 5 and 6 which coaxially project from the ball head 4, and the ball stud 2 has a through hole 26 formed in its axial center. The boots 21 and 22 are formed into a hollow shape, and mounting portions for the boots 21 and 22 are formed on the outer periphery of the shaft portions 5 and 6 in a circumferential shape.

A bearing 7 is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2. The bearing 7 has an inner spherical surface 27 having substantially the same curvature as the outer peripheral surface of the ball head 4, and encloses the ball head 4 swingably and rotatably. The bearing 7 is a composite material made of a low friction material and has an extremely small coefficient of friction and excellent wear resistance.

A substantially cylindrical metal housing 10 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the bearing 7, and the inner peripheral surface of the housing 10 has housing-side end portions 29, 30 of boots 21, 22 to be described later. Circumferential grooves 11 and 12 for mounting
Is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 10 includes the outer pipe 18 arranged concentrically on the outer peripheral side of the housing 10 and the elastic member 17 arranged between the housing 10 and the outer pipe 18 to form the intermediate assembly 3 therein. Form. In the intermediate assembly 3, the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of the elastic member 17 are vulcanized and adhered to the housing 10 and the outer pipe 18, respectively, and are thereby bonded together.

A boot for preventing water, dust and the like from entering the spherical sliding bush 1 between the inner circumferences of both end portions 13 and 14 of the housing 10 and the outer circumferences of the shaft portions 5 and 6 of the ball stud 2. 21 and 22 are mounted respectively. At the housing-side end portions 29 and 30 of the boots 21 and 22, outer end portions 35 and 36 mounted in the circumferential grooves 11 and 12 of the housing 10 and inner end portions 37 embedded in the boots 21 and 22, Mounting rings 23 and 24 made of 38 are provided, and outer end portions 39 and 40 and inner lip portions that are mounted on the outer peripheral surfaces of the shaft portions 5 and 6 of the ball stud 2 are provided at the ball stud side end portions 31 and 32. 41 and 42 are provided. Also, the boots 21,
Inner peripheral end portions 33 and 34 of the side wall 22 of the bearing 7 are the side end surfaces 8 and 9 of the bearing 7 and the inner end portions 3 of the mounting rings 23 and 24.
The sandwiched portions 43 and 44 sandwiched between 7 and 38 are provided.

The housing-side end portions 29 and 30 are press-fitted into the inner circumference from the respective end portions 13 and 14 of the housing 10, and the outer end portions 35 and 36 of the mounting rings 23 and 24 are provided on the inner circumference of the housing 10. It is mounted on the housing 10 by seating it in the grooves 11, 12. Further, the ball stud side end portions 31, 32 are configured such that the outer lip portions 39, 40 and the inner lip portions 41, 42 are deformed by abutting the contact surfaces, respectively, so that the shaft portions 5, 6 of the ball stud 2 are deformed. It is attached to the outer peripheral surface, and the inner peripheral end portions 33 and 34 are the side end surfaces 8 of the bearing 7.
9, the sandwiched portions 43 and 44 are closely attached so as to be deformed.

Next, a method of manufacturing the spherical sliding bush 1 of the present invention will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate assembly 3 in which the elastic member 17 and the outer pipe 18 are previously mounted on the outer periphery of the housing 10 is attached to the ball stud 2 from one of the shaft portions 5 of the ball stud 2. With fitting
Inner spherical surface 2 that faces the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2
An annular bearing 7 having 7 is mounted along the outer peripheral surface of the ball head 4 from the side of the shafts 5, 6 of the ball stud 2. Next, the housing side end portions 29 of the boots 21 and 22,
The outer ends 35 and 36 of the mounting rings 23 and 24 of the seat 30 are seated in the circumferential grooves 11 and 12 provided on the inner circumference of the housing 10 to be mounted on the inner circumference of the housing 10, and the ball stud side end 31 is provided. , 32 are attached to the outer lip portions 39, 40 and the inner lip portions 41, 42 respectively on the outer peripheral surfaces of the shaft portions 5, 6 of the ball stud 2, and the inner peripheral end portions 33, 34 are deformed by the thinned portions 43, 44. As described above, the boot 2 is closely attached to the side end surfaces 8 and 9 of the bearing 7.
The spherical sliding bush 1 as shown in FIG. 1 is manufactured by mounting 1, 22 between the housing 10 and the ball stud 2.

According to the spherical sliding bush 1 of the present invention, the mounting rings 23, 24 of the housing side end portions 29, 30 are simply mounted in the circumferential grooves 11, 12 on the inner circumference of the housing 10.
Since the boots 21 and 22 are fixed to the end portions 13 and 14 of the housing 10 so that they cannot move relative to each other, the caulking process of these parts is not required, the machining productivity is improved, and the boots 21 and 22 are processed by a jig during machining. It also avoids damage to the Further, since the mounting rings 23 and 24 and the housing 10 are in surface contact with each other by metal contact, good sealing performance can be maintained at these portions. Furthermore, the inner peripheral end portion 33,
34 are closely attached to the side end surfaces 8 and 9 of the bearing 7 so that the sandwiched portions 43 and 44 of the 34 are deformed.
Since a preload is applied to the bearing 7 at 44, the torque can be easily set and the bearing 7 does not rattle. Further, the shaft portions 5, 6 of the ball stud 2 are formed by the double lip structure of the ball stud side end portions 31, 32.
Is more reliably sealed and the swing load resistance is improved.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, a ball stud consisting of a spherical ball head and two shaft portions projecting from the ball head, and an outer circumference of the ball head on the outer peripheral side of the ball stud. A bearing mounted along the surface, a substantially cylindrical housing arranged on the outer periphery of the bearing and provided with a circumferential groove for mounting one end of the boot on the inner circumference, and an outer end portion mounted on the circumferential groove of the housing And a housing-side end provided with a mounting ring having an inner end embedded in the boot, a ball stud-side end having an outer lip portion and an inner lip portion mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion of the ball stud, and A boot including an inner peripheral end portion having a sandwiched portion sandwiched between a side end surface of a bearing, which is a mounted portion, and an inner end portion of a mounting ring, and elasticity that is adhered to an outer periphery of the housing and elastically holds the housing. Member and the outer circumference of the elastic member Because it is composed of a cylindrical outer pipe to be, because the boot is fixed immovable relative without caulking housing end,
The productivity is improved and the boot is prevented from being damaged during machining. The metal contact between the mounting ring and the housing makes a fluid-tight surface contact, so that the sealability of the part is kept good. Be drunk

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional plan view showing a spherical sliding bush according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view showing an intermediate assembly that is a component of the spherical sliding bush of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a main part of a boot that is a component of the spherical sliding bush of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional plan view showing a conventional spherical sliding bush.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spherical sliding bush 2 Ball stud 3 Intermediate assembly 4 Ball head 5 Shaft part 6 Shaft part 7 Bearing 8 Side end surface 9 Side end surface 10 Housing 11 Circular groove 12 Circular groove 17 Elastic member 18 Outer pipe 21 Boot 22 Boots 23 mounting ring 24 mounting ring 29 housing side end 30 housing side end 31 ball stud side end 32 ball stud side end 33 inner peripheral end 34 inner peripheral end 35 outer end of mounting ring 36 outside of mounting ring End portion 37 Inner end portion of mounting ring 38 Inner end portion of mounting ring 39 Outer lip portion 40 Outer lip portion 41 Inner lip portion 42 Inner lip portion 43 Neck portion 44 Neck portion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A ball stud (2) comprising a spherical ball head (4) and two shaft portions (5), (6) protruding from the ball head (4), and the ball stud ( The bearing (7) mounted on the outer peripheral side of 2) along the outer peripheral surface of the ball head (4) and the boots (21), (22) for mounting one end of the bearing (7) arranged on the outer periphery of the bearing (7). Circumferential groove (11),
(12) is a substantially cylindrical housing (1
0) and the circumferential groove (11) of the housing (10),
Outer ends (35), (36) mounted on (12) and inner ends (37) embedded in boots (21), (22),
Mounted on the housing side ends (29) and (30) provided with mounting rings (23) and (24) composed of (38), and on the outer peripheral surfaces of the shaft parts (5) and (6) of the ball stud (2). The outer lip portions (39), (40) and the inner lip portion (4)
Ball stud side end portion (3) having (1) and (42)
1), (32), and a bearing (7) which is a mounted part
Side end faces (8) and (9) of the and the mounting rings (23) and (2
Inner peripheral end portions (33) and (3) having sandwiched portions (43) and (44) sandwiched between inner end portions (37) and (38) of (4).
4) boots (21), (22) and the housing (10) adhered to the outer periphery of the housing (10)
A spherical sliding bush comprising an elastic member (17) for elastically holding the elastic member and a cylindrical outer pipe (18) adhered to the outer periphery of the elastic member (17).