JPH0932845A - Ball joint - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball joint provided with an integrated bearing following the movement of a ball stud by forming a thin wall part with which a bearing is formed integratedly and in which the wall thickness in the vicinity of shutoff plate side end part is formed thinly and locally. SOLUTION: When tension load of an axial line direction is applied on the ball stud 2 of a ball joint 1, the ball stud 2 is moved in a housing 11 small opening 12 side direction, the bearing opening 16 side end part of a bearing 5 follows the ball stud 2, and the tension load of the housing 11 small opening 12 side direction is applied. At this time, a thin wall part 7 formed thinly extends, and thereby, the bearing opening 16 side end part of the bearing 5 extends following with the ball stud 2. Since the ball joint 1 has the thin wall part 7 which the bearing 5 is formed in the vicinity of a shutoff plate 14 side end part and whose wall thickness is formed locally and thinly, the bearing opening 16 side end part also extends following with the ball stud 2 easily.

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 suspension system or a steering system of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ball joints have been used more frequently than ever before for connecting parts of suspension systems or steering systems of automobiles. As shown in FIG. 2, such a ball joint includes a ball stud 102 including a ball head 104 and a handle 103 coaxially protruding from the ball head 104, and a handle portion of the ball stud 102 on the ball head 104. The housing 11 includes an upper bearing 110 for enclosing the side portion and a lower bearing 109 for enclosing the portion of the ball head 104 of the ball stud 102 on the side opposite the handle.
1 is an upper bearing 110 and a lower bearing 10
9 and holds the ball stud 1 from the small opening 112 at one end.
02, the handle 103 is projected, and the other end large opening 113 is caulked at the other end so that the other end large opening 1 is formed by the closing plate 114.
It was fixed so as to block 13.

There are many ball joints provided with two bearings such as the upper bearing 110 and the lower bearing 109, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-61845 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-8645.

However, if the bearing is divided into two as described above, the number of parts increases and the number of molds for manufacturing the bearing also increases. Further, the number of manufacturing processes is increased, so that the number of work steps is also increased and the cost is increased. At present, the ball joint 2 shown in FIG.
01, an integral bearing is often used. There are many ball joints using such an integrated bearing, such as Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-28214 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-77021.

[0005]

In the ball joints 101 and 201, since the ball studs 102 and 202 and the housings 111 and 211 are both made of metal, the ball studs 102 and 202 and the housings 111 and 211 are made.
When the and are contacted with each other, the contacted part may be worn out and the durability may be deteriorated.

However, in the case of the ball joint 101 having two bearings, the upper bearing 110 follows the ball stud 102 when an axial pulling load is applied to the ball stud 102 as shown in the right half of FIG. 2 and FIG. And extend. This upper bearing 1
10 and the lower bearing 109 both have a housing 11
Although the tightening load from 1 is applied, only the upper bearing 110 follows the ball stud 102 and the lower bearing 109 does not receive a pulling load.
Ball stud 102 Ball head 104 and housing 111
The upper bearing 110 can be extended so that they do not contact each other. This extending portion 108 prevents the ball head 104 of the ball stud 102 and the housing 111 from coming into contact with each other. However, in the case of the ball joint 201 including the integral bearing 205, the bearing 205 under the entire tightening load from the housing 211 has to follow as shown in the right half of FIG. When a pulling load is applied to the bearing 205, the tightening load from the housing 211 on the bearing 205 is large, and the bearing 205 cannot follow the ball stud 202. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
The ball head 204 of the second housing 211 has a small opening 212 at one end of the housing 211.
When moving to the side, the ball head 204 of the ball stud 202
Then, the housing 211 may come into contact and be worn, resulting in a decrease in durability.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a ball joint having an integral bearing capable of following the movement of a ball stud.

[0009]

The constitution of the present invention is as follows.

A ball stud having a spherical ball head and a handle extending from the ball head, and an inner wall portion having the same curvature as the ball head, which encloses the ball head of the ball stud so as to swing and rotate. It has a substantially cylindrical bearing with a small opening at one end and a large opening at the other end, holds the bearing, projects the ball stud handle from the small opening at one end, and caulks the large opening end at the other end. In the ball joint provided with the housing which is fixed so as to close the other end large opening by the closing plate, the bearing is integrally formed, and the wall thickness in the vicinity of the closing plate side end is locally thinned. It has a thin portion.

[0011]

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

The left half of FIG. 1 represents a ball joint 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a ball stud having a spherical ball head 4 and a handle portion 3, 11 is a metal housing having a small opening 12 at one end, a large opening 13 at the other end, and an end portion at the other large opening 13 Closing plate 14 by caulking
Is fixed so as to close the other end large opening 13. Reference numeral 5 is a substantially cylindrical bearing made of synthetic resin, which is the housing 1
It is held in 1. The bearing 5 encloses the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2 so as to be swingable and rotatable, has an inner wall portion 6 having the same curvature as the ball head 4 of the ball stud 2, and has a closing plate 1
A thin-walled portion 7 having a locally thin wall-thickness is provided near the four-side end portion. The bearing 5 has a slit 15 at one end and a bearing opening 16 at the other end through which the handle 3 of the ball stud 2 projects.

Next, how the ball joint 1 is subjected to a pulling load in the axial direction of the ball stud 2 will be described with reference to the right half of FIG.

When an axial pulling load is applied to the ball stud 2 of the ball joint 1, the ball stud 2
Moves toward the housing 11 small opening 12 side, and the end of the bearing 5 on the bearing opening 16 side follows the ball stud 2 and receives a pulling load in the housing 11 small opening 12 side. At this time, the thin portion 7 formed thinly extends, so that the end portion of the bearing 5 on the bearing opening 16 side extends following the ball stud 2.

Therefore, in the ball joint 1 described above, since the bearing 5 has the thin portion 7 having a locally thin wall thickness in the vicinity of the end portion on the side of the closing plate 14, the ball stud 2 extends in the pulling direction. Under load, housing 11
Since the thin-walled portion 7 of the bearing 5 can expand when it moves toward the small opening 12 side, the end of the bearing 5 on the bearing opening 16 side can also easily follow the ball stud 2 and expand.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, a ball stud having a spherical ball head and a handle portion extending from the ball head, and a ball stud of the ball stud are swingably and rotatably wrapped. It has a substantially cylindrical bearing that has an inner wall portion with the same curvature as the ball head, and has a small opening at one end and a large opening at the other end to hold the bearing, and from one small opening to the handle portion of the ball stud. In a ball joint equipped with a housing that is projected and is fixed by caulking the other end large opening end so as to close the other end large opening with a closing plate, the bearing is integrally formed, and the vicinity of the closing plate side end part Since there is a thin portion where the wall thickness is locally thin, when the ball stud is pulled in the axial direction, the ball stud moves toward the housing small opening side, and the bearing opening side end baud Following the stud receives a load tensile housing small opening side direction. At this time, since the thin-walled portion formed thinly extends, the bearing opening side end of the bearing extends following the ball stud, so that the ball head of the ball stud and the housing opening do not come into contact with each other. The durability can be increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing a state in which a left half portion shows a ball joint according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a right half portion has a pulling load applied to a ball stud toward one end opening side of a housing to move the ball stud. is there.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing a state in which a left half portion shows a ball joint according to a conventional embodiment, and a right half portion has a pulling load applied to the ball stud toward one end opening side of the housing to move the ball stud. .

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing a state in which a left half part shows a ball joint according to another conventional example, and a right half part has a pulling load applied to the ball stud toward the opening side of one end of the housing to move the ball stud. Is.

5 is an enlarged view of part B in FIG. 4 in a state where a pulling load is further applied to the ball stud from the state of the right half portion of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Ball Stud 3 Handle 4 Ball Head 5 Bearing 6 Inner Wall 7 Thin Wall 11 Housing 12 Small Opening 13 Large Opening 14 Closing Plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A spherical ball head (4) and the ball head (4)
Ball stud (2) having a handle (3) extending from
And a substantially cylindrical bearing (including a ball head (4) of the ball stud (2) swingably and rotatably, and having an inner wall portion (6) having the same curvature as the ball head (4) ( 5) and a small opening (12) at one end and a large opening (13) at the other end, which holds the bearing (5) and from one end small opening (12) to the handle portion (2) of the ball stud (2). 3) A ball joint provided with a housing (11) in which the other end large opening (13) is caulked and fixed by a closing plate (14) so as to close the other end large opening (13). 2. The ball joint according to claim 1, wherein the bearing (5) is integrally formed, and has a thin portion (7) in which the thickness near the end of the closing plate (14) is locally thin.