JPS6035795Y2 - thrust bearing - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a thrust bearing, particularly a thrust bearing incorporated in a front suspension mechanism (front axle suspension mechanism) of an automobile or the like.

In the front suspension mechanism, which is generally referred to as the MacPherson strut type, one end of the cylinder of the shock absorber that makes up the mechanism is fixed to the steering wheel, and the rod is fixed to the body.
The cylinder also rotates within a certain angle as the steering wheel is operated.

For this reason, the MacPherson strut type suspension mechanism requires a bearing between the body and the cylinder of the absorber in order to allow the shock absorber to rotate smoothly. is used.

However, with the former type of rolling bearing, there is a risk of fatigue failure of the balls or needles due to minute vibrations and vibration loads during running, and with the latter type of synthetic resin sliding bearing, plastic deformation occurs over time, so-called creep deformation. This has the disadvantage that smooth steering operation cannot be performed in any case.

In addition, these bearings are equipped with seal rings to prevent foreign matter such as dust from entering the sliding support surface, but this is far from perfect, and foreign matter that enters may cause galling. Since a seal ring is attached, the bearing area cannot be large, so there is a limit to the load it can support, and its use was limited to light vehicles.

In order to solve these drawbacks, one of the inventors of the present invention first developed a thrust bearing (Jetgen Showa) in which a synthetic resin bearing body was fitted into a holder, and the holder was fitted into a cylindrical casing. No. 54-81678), but the creep resistance was still unsatisfactory.

As a result of various experiments, we found that if the synthetic resin bearing body is made extremely thin, the creep resistance properties can be significantly improved. It is troublesome to handle during work.

The present invention improves creep resistance and solves the above-mentioned operational problems by forming the bearing body in close contact with the holder as a thin synthetic resin coating layer.

That is, the present invention is arranged between a body to which a piston rod of a shock absorber is fixed and a spring retainer loosely inserted into the piston rod, a casing fixed to the body side, and a spring retainer held by the casing. In a thrust bearing having a holder fitted on the side, and a synthetic resin sliding surface formed between the casing and the holder and between the holder and the piston rod, the holder has a cylindrical part and one end of the cylindrical part. a truncated conical part formed in the cylindrical part, a through hole formed in the center of the cylindrical part, and an annular protrusion formed on an end surface of the truncated conical part surrounding the through hole, and the cylindrical part. A synthetic resin coating layer is integrally formed on the truncated conical section, the cylindrical section end surface, and the inner circumferential surface of the through hole, and the holder integrally provided with the synthetic resin coating layer has a synthetic resin coating layer integrally formed on the cylindrical section end surface. The synthetic resin coating layer of the casing is brought into contact with the inner surface of the bottom part of the casing, and the synthetic resin coating layer of the cylindrical part and the truncated conical part is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical part of the casing which is caulked inwardly along the truncated conical part. The casing holding the holder is fixed to the body side by fitting the piston rod into the through hole of the holder, and the annular protrusion of the holder has the piston rod inserted into the casing. The present invention provides a thrust bearing characterized in that a spring retainer is fitted, and the synthetic resin coating layer of the holder, the inner circumferential surface of the casing, and the outer circumferential surface of the piston rod are used as sliding surfaces.

Hereinafter, the thrust bearing of the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings of the embodiments.

Figure 1 shows how the thrust bearing of the present invention is used. In the figure, A is a shock absorber, B is a suspension spring, and C is a thrust bearing. The bearing C is a cylinder of shock absorber A during steering. D and spring B should be allowed to swing smoothly (,
The rod R of the absorber A is supported by being interposed between the spring retainer E and a rubber mount G fixed to the body F.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, 1 is a metal cylindrical casing constituting the thrust bearing C. An opening 12 is formed at one end of the cylindrical portion 11 of the casing 1, and a through hole is formed at the other end. A bottom part 14 with holes 13 is integrally formed.

2 is a holder housed within the casing 1;

The holder 2 consists of a cylindrical portion 21 and a truncated conical portion 22 that is continuous with the cylindrical portion 21 and tapers in the axial direction, and has a through hole 23 formed in the center thereof.
An annular protrusion 24 is formed on the end surface of 2 to surround the through hole 23.

3 is a synthetic resin coating layer formed to cover the outer circumferential surfaces of the cylindrical portion 21 and the truncated conical portion 22, the end surface of the cylindrical portion 21, and the inner circumferential surface of the through hole 23 of the holder 2.

By forming the synthetic resin coating layer 3 on the holder 2, the sliding surface comes into sliding contact between the metal and the synthetic resin, providing good sliding characteristics and making the creep deformation described above negligible.

As a result of experiments, it was confirmed that the coating layer 3 exhibited extremely good creep resistance in the range of 0.2 to 1.0.

In each of the above-mentioned components, a holder 2 is provided in the casing 1, and the end face of the cylindrical portion 21 is connected to the casing bottom 1.
After that, the cylindrical part 11 of the casing 1 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the frusto-conical part 22 with an appropriate tightening force so that the holder 2 can slide relative to the casing 1. It is caulked by an appropriate means along the line.

As a result, the holder 2 and the casing 1 are held integrally with each other, and the thrust bearing C of the present invention in which the sliding surface 4 is formed by the casing 1 and the coating layer 3 is obtained.

Since the bearing of the present invention is used under relatively harsh conditions, that is, it is easy to receive muddy water and is subjected to minute vibrations, vibration loads, etc., the casing 1 and the holder are the materials constituting the bearing. 2 is preferably a metal with excellent corrosion resistance and impact resistance, such as stainless steel, and the coating layer 3 is preferably made of a synthetic resin with excellent wear resistance and self-lubricating properties, such as polycarbonate resin or polyamide resin. .

The coating layer 3 may be formed by an appropriate method such as a fluidized dipping method or a thermal spraying method.

In the thrust bearing configured as described above, the rod R of the shock absorber A is inserted into the through hole 23 of the holder 2, and the tip of the rod R is inserted through the through hole 13 of the casing 1 and attached to a rubber mount by a nut H. G
Fixed.

A spring presser E is press-fitted into the annular protrusion 24 of the holder 2.

In this state, when rotational force is applied to the cylinder D and spring B of the shock absorber A by steering operation, the cylinder D and spring B can be easily rotated because the holder 2 can rotate and slide relative to the casing 1. can move.

Furthermore, since the cylindrical portion 11 of the casing 1 and the coating layer 3 formed on the holder 2 are in close sliding contact with each other, extremely smooth rotation can be obtained without dust entering the sliding surface 4. .

Figures 4 and 5 show the holder 2 in the bearing of the present invention.
This shows another example.

In the figure, 25 is a hemispherical recess;
For example, the wear resistance can be further improved by filling it with grease to form a lubricant reservoir.

As described above, in the thrust bearing of the present invention, since a thin synthetic resin coating layer is formed on the holder, a sliding surface made of metal and synthetic resin is formed, and extremely good sliding characteristics can be obtained.

Moreover, the coating layer is extremely resistant to creep deformation,
Stable performance can be obtained over a long period of time.

In addition, the cylindrical part of the casing is configured to come into close sliding contact with the coating layer of the bearing body over its entire circumference.
The sliding contact portion performs a sealing function, preventing foreign matter such as dust from entering the sliding surface.

Unlike conventional plain bearings as shown in Figure 6, the bearing of the present invention is constructed as a single bearing unit, which eliminates the complexity of work when assembling the suspension mechanism. It has a great performance advantage in that it does not require the seal ring S, which is indispensable in the bearings of 2000 and 2000, and the bearing area can be increased accordingly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing how the thrust bearing of the present invention is used, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the bearing, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of each part constituting the bearing, and Figs. 4 and 5 are A longitudinal sectional view and a plan view showing another embodiment of the holder, and FIG. 6 are explanatory diagrams showing the structure of a conventional bearing. 1... Cylindrical casing, 2... Holder 3... Synthetic resin coating layer, 4...
sliding surface.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A casing arranged between a body F to which a piston rod R of a shock absorber A is fixed and a spring retainer E loosely inserted into the piston rod R, and a casing fixed to the body F side; A thrust bearing having a holder held in a casing and fitted on the spring presser E side, and a synthetic resin sliding surface formed between the casing and the holder and the holder and the piston rod R, the holder 2 A cylindrical portion 21 , a truncated conical portion 22 formed at one end of the cylindrical portion 21 , a through hole 23 formed in the center of the cylindrical portion 21 , and a through hole in the end surface of the truncated conical portion 22 . 23, and an annular protrusion 24 formed to surround the cylindrical portion 21, the truncated conical portion 22, and the cylindrical portion 21.
A synthetic resin coating layer 3 is integrally formed on the end face and the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 23, and the holder 2 integrally provided with the synthetic resin coating layer 3 has a synthetic resin coating on the end face of the cylindrical portion 21. Bottom 14 of casing layer 1
The synthetic resin coating layer of the cylindrical portion 21 and the truncated conical portion is brought into sliding contact with the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 11 of the casing 1 which is caulked inwardly along the truncated conical portion 22. The casing 1 holding the holder 2 is fixed to the body F side by inserting the piston rod R into the through hole 23 of the holder 2, and the casing 1 holds the holder 2. The spring retainer E is fitted into the portion 24, and the synthetic resin coating layer 3 of the holder 2, the inner circumferential surface of the casing 1, and the piston rod R
A thrust bearing characterized by having an outer peripheral surface as a sliding surface.