JPS596260Y2 - ball joint - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an improvement of a ball joint, and more specifically, to an automatic clearance compensation type ball joint used in steering systems, suspension systems, etc. of automobiles.

Ball joints are generally known which hold the head of a pole stud in a preloaded condition within a socket.

In addition, in order to maintain the preloaded state for a long period of time, it is also known that the bearing member that supports the head of the pole stud in the socket is pressed by a coil spring or the like.

This ball joint using a coil spring is
As the pole stud head and bearing members wear out, the bearing members are pushed up by the repulsive force of the coil spring.
Although it is possible to compensate for wear on the contact surface and reduce the impact, if a force that compresses the coil spring is applied, the coil spring and bearing member will be pushed down, causing a large amount of play in the pole stud relative to the socket. There was a drawback that a hitting sound was generated as the drum was released.

In addition, when the pole stud swings with play in the pole stud, that is, with the coil spring being compressed, the center of swing of the pole stud moves downward, so the swing angle of the pole stud becomes smaller. At the same time, there were also drawbacks such as interference between the socket opening and the pole stud.

Furthermore, there is also known a bearing member in which one side of the bearing member is always pressed against the head of the pole stud by using preload of an elastic body and a wedge action by a tapered member or the like.

This type of ball joint follows the wear of the pole stud head and the bearing member and pushes up the bearing member with the preload of the elastic body, thereby compensating for the wear of the contact surface and using the wedge action of the tapered member etc. Although it is possible to reduce play, a relatively large volume is required to accommodate the elastic body and tapered member within the socket, which increases the size of the ball joint and increases its weight. The problem was that it was complicated.

Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to automatically absorb wear on the contact surface between the pole stud head and the bearing member, and to always keep the play of the pole stud to a minimum even when a force that compresses the elastic body is applied. That is, even if the bearing member wears out, the pole stud head does not move relative to the socket due to an impact load.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a ball joint that is small in size and simple in structure and automatically compensates for gaps.

The feature of this invention is that a dish-shaped washer, which has an approximately truncated conical appearance and a thin annular shape, is installed between the bearing member that supports the tip side of the head of the pole stud and the elastic body that constantly pushes the bearing member toward the socket opening. The pole stud is slightly compressed in the diametrical direction and diverges toward the bottom of the socket, and is fitted into the cylindrical wall surface on the inner circumference of the socket, and is movable toward the upper opening of the socket under the repulsive force of the elastic body. Following the wear of the head and the bearing member, the elastic body performs a wear compensating action of pushing up the dish-shaped washer and the bearing member, and the dish-shaped washer counters the downward force of the pole stud to prevent the bearing member from moving downward. The structure is designed to prevent the play of the pole stud.

The structure of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, and is a partially sectional front view of a ball joint.

The ball joint shown in FIG. 1 includes a pole stud 10, a cylindrical socket 20, an upper seat 30 that supports the load,
A lower seat 40 for absorbing wear, a dish-shaped washer 3 for preventing downward movement of the lower seat 40, an elastic body 2, and a closing plate 5.
It's starting from 0.

The pole stud 10 includes a shaft 11 and a head 12 integrally formed at the tip of the shaft 11.

The socket 20 includes an upper opening 21 through which the pole stud shaft 11 projects upward, and a substantially cylindrical wall surface 22 that accommodates an upper seat 30 and a lower seat 40 on the inner periphery continuing from the upper opening 21. Continuing below the cylindrical wall surface 22, a stepped portion 23
and a caulking portion 24 continuing below the step portion 23.

The tip of the caulking portion 24 is bent inward and functions to fix the closing plate 50 to the socket stepped portion 23.

The size of the upper opening 21 of the socket 20 is such that the upper part of the head 12 of the pole stud can fully fit into the opening 21, and the pole stud shaft 1
1 is sufficiently movable that the pole stud 10 can swing relative to the socket 20 over a fairly large angle.

The upper sheet 30 is integrally formed of a wear-resistant material such as metal or plastic.

Its inner surface is a hemispherical concave curved surface 31 and receives the upper part of the pole stud head 12, so that the head 12 can freely rotate and swing within the concave curved surface 31.

Incidentally, when a concave curved surface for receiving the pole stud head 12 is directly formed on the cylindrical wall surface 22 of the inner circumference of the socket, it is not necessary to provide the upper seat 30.

The lower sheet 40 is preferably made of a plastic having some degree of impact resistance or elasticity, such as fluororesin, nylon, polyolefin, or the like.

Of course, it can also be made of other materials, such as metals such as steel.

The inner peripheral surface of the lower seat 40 is a hemispherical concave spherical surface 41 that receives the lower part of the pole stud head 12, and the head 12 can freely rotate and swing within the concave spherical surface 41. It is possible to move.

Further, the lower seat 40 has a flat bottom surface 43 formed on its lower surface, and this bottom surface 43 is connected to the closing plate 5 during assembly.
0 in a light contact state or in a state in which they face each other with a slight gap between them.

Furthermore, an annular groove 4 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the bottom surface 43 of the lower seat.
A shoulder portion 42 is formed in an annular manner through 5.

The plate-shaped washer 3 is made of a normal steel plate or a hard elastic steel material.

As is clear from FIG. 2, which is a perspective view, this dish-shaped washer 3 has an inclined upper surface 5 and an inclined lower surface 6 (FIG. 3) which are inclined downwardly toward the outer periphery. It is shaped like a truncated cone and is shaped like a thin ring, and its outer peripheral edge 4 has a substantially right-angled edge shape.

In addition, in order to prevent the dish-shaped washer 3 from sliding downward from the socket cylindrical wall surface 22 due to a small load when it is fitted into the socket cylindrical wall surface 22, the outer diameter of the outer peripheral edge 4 in its free state is The shape is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the socket cylindrical wall surface 22 to which it is fitted.

Therefore, the dimensional tolerances of the outer diameter of the dish-shaped washer 3 and the inner diameter of the socket cylindrical wall surface 22 must be appropriately controlled so as to satisfy the above-mentioned purpose.

The elastic body 2 is made of cylindrical rubber, and is arranged between the inclined lower surface 6 of the dish-shaped washer 3 and the closing plate 50 disposed opposite thereto.
The socket is provided in a compressed state in the axial direction.

Next, the assembly of the above ball joint will be explained.

First, insert the upper seat 30 into the socket 20,
Next, from below the socket 20, the shaft part 1 of the pole stud
1 is inserted and the head 12 is brought into contact with the concave curved surface 31.

Next, the lower seat 40 is fitted to the lower part of the pole stud head 12.

Thereafter, the dish-shaped washer 3 is fitted into the socket cylindrical wall surface 22 so that the inclined upper surface 5 of the dish-shaped washer 3 comes into contact with the shoulder 42 of the lower seat 40.

By fitting the dish-shaped washer 3 into the socket cylindrical wall surface 22 in this manner, its diameter is compressed and the inclination of the inclined surfaces 5 and 6 becomes larger.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the dish-shaped washer 3 changes from the state before insertion shown by the dashed line to the state after insertion shown by the solid line.

Therefore, as a result, the outer peripheral edge 4 of the dish-shaped washer 3 fits appropriately and strongly into the socket cylindrical wall surface 22 due to its own repulsive force.

Further, at this time, the position of the dish-shaped washer 3 changes depending on the dimensional variation in the axial direction of each component within the socket 20.

At the end of the assembly, the elastic body 2 is placed on the inclined lower surface 6 of the dish-shaped washer 3, and the closure plate 50 is further stacked on the elastic body 2, and the closure plate 50 is forcibly pressed against the stepped portion of the socket 20. Then, the caulking portion 24 of the socket 20 is bent inward to encircle the closing plate 50.

In the figure, 1 indicates upper and lower sea} 30. There is a gap between 40 and 40 mm.

Next, the functions of the plate-shaped washer 3 and the like in the ball joint will be explained using FIG. 3, which shows the ball joint in an enlarged manner.

The left half of FIG. 3 shows the completed assembly, and the right half shows the pole stud head 12 and upper and lower seats 30. 40 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating the progress of wear with 40. FIG.

Before the ball joint is used, the dish-shaped washer 3 is in a position close to the closing plate 50, as shown in the left half of FIG.

Then, by using a ball joint, the pole stud head 12 and the upper and lower seats 30. 40, the dish-shaped washer 3 is pushed up by the elastic body 2 which is in a compressed state following the wear, and as shown in the right half of FIG. Press and raise it.

Therefore, the pole stud head 12 and the upper and lower seams} 3
0. 40, there is always no gap between the two.

The force exerted by the elastic body 2 on the dish-shaped washer 3 as the wear progresses acts to push up the inner circumferential side of the dish-shaped washer 3 with reference to the outer periphery 4 of the dish-shaped washer 3. Because it weakens the repulsive force that tries to spread in the direction, the plate-shaped washer 3
allows for pushing up.

However, when the wear is interrupted, the preload of the upper and lower seams 30, 40 and the repulsive force of the elastic body 2 cancel each other out, so that the repulsion that tends to spread in the direction of the outer diameter of the dish-shaped washer 3 Since the force is not weakened, the dish-shaped washer 3 does not slide on the socket cylindrical wall surface 22.

Also, while using this ball joint, please attach the pole stud 1.
When a force is applied in the direction of pushing down the plate 0, the pushing down force is transmitted from the lower seat shoulder 42 to the inclined upper surface 5 of the dish-shaped washer 3 via the lower seat 40.

At this time, the dish-shaped washer 3 changes the slope of the inclined surface of the dish-shaped washer 3 from the state before the push-down force is applied, shown by the solid line, to the state when the push-down force is applied, shown by the two-dot chain line, as shown in FIG. Exercise to reduce it.

That is, it moves so as to push down the inner circumferential side with reference to the outer circumferential edge 4 of the plate-shaped washer 3 fitted to the socket cylindrical wall surface 22.

Therefore, the force that tends to spread the dish-shaped washer 3 in the outer radial direction is strengthened, and the outer peripheral edge 4 of the dish-shaped washer 3 is more strongly fitted into the socket cylindrical wall surface 22 and does not move downward, allowing the pole stud 10 and the lower shaft to Even one button 40 is not pushed down.

Note that if the force in the direction of pushing down the pole stud 10 is removed, the dish-shaped washer 3 will return to its original shape.

Next, FIG. 6 showing another embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described.

It should be noted that the symbols in the figures are as similar as possible to those of the above embodiment, and the shapes of each part are also almost the same as those of the above embodiment except for the following points.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the ball joint, with the left half showing the completed assembly and the right half showing the state where the pole stud head 12 and the upper and lower seams 30, 40 are wearing out.

In this ball joint, a coil spring is used as the elastic body 2a, and a concave portion 51 protruding outward is formed in the center of the closing plate 50 in order to stably seat the elastic body 2.

Further, as is clear from FIG. 7, which is a perspective view, the dish-shaped washer 3a used in this ball joint has a flat upper surface 7 and a flat lower surface 8 on the inner peripheral side, and the flat portion It has a generally truncated conical external appearance and a thin plate ring shape with an inclined upper surface 5a and an inclined lower surface 6a which are inclined downwardly toward the outer periphery.

In addition, several thin grooves 9 may be formed in the inclined portion of the dish-shaped washer 3 from the outer circumferential edge 4a toward the inner circumference.

Furthermore, in this ball joint, the flat upper surface 7 of the dish-shaped washer 3 is in contact with the shoulder portion 42 of the lower seat 40, and the flat lower surface 8 is in contact with the upper end of the elastic body 2a.

As described above, the present invention provides a thin annular plate-like structure with an approximately truncated conical appearance between the bearing member that supports the tip side of the head of the pole stud and the elastic body that constantly pushes the bearing member toward the socket opening. The washer is slightly compressed in the diametrical direction and is fitted to the cylindrical wall surface on the inner circumference of the socket in a state where it diverges toward the bottom of the socket, and is interposed so that it can move toward the upper opening of the socket under the repulsion of the elastic body. hand,
As the pole stud head wears and the bearing member wears, the elastic body performs a wear-compensating action of pushing up the dish-shaped washer and the bearing member, and the dish-shaped washer counteracts the downward force of the pole stud and lifts the bearing member. Since the pole stud has an anti-play function that prevents the pole stud from moving downward, it automatically absorbs wear on the contact surface between the pole stud head and the bearing member, and provides elasticity even when the bearing member wears out. Since the dish-shaped washer supports the impact load that compresses the body, the head of the pole stud will not move relative to the socket due to the impact load, and this type of ball joint with automatic gap compensation It has the advantage of being small and simple in structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional front view of a ball joint, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a dish-shaped washer used in the ball joint of FIG. 1, and FIG. This is an enlarged view of a part of the ball joint shown in the figure. The left half is an explanatory partial cross-sectional view showing when assembly is completed, and the right half is when wear is progressing. Figure 4 shows the dish-shaped washer. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the state before and after the socket is fitted to the cylindrical wall surface. FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the ball joint, the left half is an explanatory enlarged partial sectional view showing the completed assembly and the right half shows wear. FIG. 7 is used for the ball joint shown in FIG. 6. It is a perspective view of a dish-shaped washer. (Explanation of symbols), 2...Elastic body, 3...
・Dish-shaped washer, 10...Pole stud, 11.
...Shaft, 12...Head, 20...
...Socket, 21...Socket opening, 22
......Cylindrical wall surface, 30...Top sheet,
40...Lower sheet, 50...Closing plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A substantially cylindrical socket 20 and an upper opening 21 of the socket
A pole stud 10 with a shaft 11 protruding from the shaft and a head 12 formed at the tip of the shaft 11 located in a socket 20, and a bearing that supports at least the tip side of the pole stud head 12 within the socket 20. A ball joint including a member 40 and an elastic body 2 located at the inner bottom of the socket 20 on the tip end side of the pole stud head and constantly pushing up the bearing member 40 toward the socket upper opening 21 side. A dish-shaped washer 3 having an approximately truncated conical appearance and a thin annular shape is fitted between the body 2 and the cylindrical wall surface 22 of the inner periphery of the socket 20 in a state in which it is slightly compressed in the diametrical direction and diverges toward the bottom of the socket. Elastic body 2
The pole stud is interposed so as to be movable toward the socket upper opening 21 in response to the repulsive force of the pole stud, so that even if the bearing member wears out, the head of the pole stud will not move relative to the socket due to an impact load. A ball joint characterized by a plate-shaped washer that supports an impactful load that compresses an elastic body.