KR20210017531A - Ball joint housing and ball joint assembly including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A ball joint housing provided to a ball joint assembly for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a deformable part which defines an opening allowing a ball seat having a head part of a ball stud received therein to be inserted through the opening, wherein when the opening is closed by an end cap after the ball seat having the head part received therein is inserted through the opening and then, the deformable part prevents the separation of the head part received in the ball seat by an inward deformation process; a body part extending integrally with the deformable part and supporting the ball stud to be able to oscillate; and an oscillation range defining part extending integrally with the body part and defining a range of an oscillation angle at which the ball stud can oscillate, wherein the oscillation range defining part includes: a first contact surface coming into contact with the stud part of the ball stud, which extends from the head part, when the ball stud oscillates in a first oscillation direction, to define the range of an oscillation angle in the first oscillation direction; and a second contact surface coming into contact with the stud part when the ball stud oscillates in a second oscillation direction, to define the range of an oscillation angle in the second oscillation direction, and the inclination degree of the first contact surface is different from the inclination degree of the second contact surface.

Description

Ball joint housing and ball joint assembly including the same

The present invention relates to a ball joint housing and a ball joint assembly including the same, and more particularly, a ball for preventing damage to a ball stud, etc. due to an impact applied to a vehicle, thereby preventing a reduction in steering and/or suspension performance of a vehicle. It relates to a joint housing and a ball joint assembly including the same.

In general, a ball joint is a mechanical element that connects parts and parts in a three-dimensional relative rotation. Such a ball joint is an upper arm or an upper arm that is coupled to both ends of a vehicle body frame in a steering system and/or suspension system of a vehicle. It connects between the tip of the lower arm and the tip of the knuckle to facilitate relative motion between these parts while the vehicle is running.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional ball joint disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2017-0042926, wherein the conventional ball joint 2 is a ball stud 100, a case 200, a bearing 300, and a case Includes a cover 400 and the like.

The ball stud 100 is composed of a ball-shaped head portion 110 and a stud portion 120 for coupling with a knuckle arm, and the head portion 110 of the ball stud 100 is inside the bearing 300 Installed.

A case 200 for coupling with a lower arm or an upper arm is coupled to the outside of the bearing 300, and the lower end of the case 200 is compressed by caulking.

Here, the ball stud 100 may be rotated or swung within a predetermined swing range, thereby preventing vibrations or shocks received from the road surface from being directly transmitted to the vehicle body during driving of the vehicle.

On the other hand, if the main reason for the existence of a vehicle is to move people to their destination, safety is the most important value for a vehicle. For this purpose, a crash test is conducted during vehicle manufacturing, for example, the Small Overlap (local area) crash test of the American Highway Safety Insurance Association (IIHS).

When the small overlap impulse test is performed, a part of the vehicle is damaged due to the impact, and if the conventional ball joint 2 shown in FIG. 1 is applied to the vehicle, the ball stud 100 is also damaged. The above steering and suspension functions will be lost.

This problem means that control of the vehicle after the impact is impossible, and thus causes a problem that coping after the impact is difficult.

Therefore, even if a part of the vehicle is damaged by an impact, it is necessary to develop a technology for a ball joint that prevents the damage of the ball joint so that the vehicle can be controlled even after the impact.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a ball joint housing and a ball joint assembly including the same for preventing damage to a ball stud even when an impact is applied to a vehicle, thereby preventing a reduction in steering and/or suspension performance of the vehicle after the impact.

The ball joint housing provided in the ball joint assembly for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention defines an opening for inserting a ball seat accommodating the head of a ball stud, and the ball seat accommodating the head is inserted through the opening. Then, when the opening is closed by the end cap, the deformation portion for preventing separation of the head portion accommodated in the ball seat by a process of being deformed inward; A body portion extending integrally with the deformable portion and supporting the ball stud so as to be able to swing; And a swing range defining portion extending integrally with the body portion and defining a range of a swing angle in which the ball stud can swing; wherein the swing range defining portion includes, the ball stud in a first swing direction In the case of oscillation, a first contact surface that is in contact with the stud portion of the ball stud extending from the head portion to define a range of the oscillation angle in the first oscillation direction, and the ball stud oscillates in the second oscillation direction In the case, it has a second contact surface that is in contact with the stud and defines a range of the swing angle in the second swing direction, and the inclination of the first contact surface is different from that of the second contact surface. have.

The first swing direction and the second swing direction of the ball joint housing according to an embodiment of the present invention are opposite to each other, and the first swing direction is, when an impact is applied to the vehicle, It may be characterized in that the rotation direction of the ball stud.

The inclination of the first contact surface of the ball joint housing according to an embodiment of the present invention is formed to be smoother than that of the second contact surface, so that the range of the rotation angle of the ball stud in the first rotation direction is the first 2 It can be characterized in that it is made larger than the range of the swing angle in the swing direction.

At least a portion of the swing range defining portion provided with the second contact surface of the ball joint housing according to an embodiment of the present invention is formed to protrude from the swing range defining portion provided with the first contact surface to reinforce rigidity. It can be characterized by that.

The range of the swing angle in the first swing direction of the ball joint housing according to an embodiment of the present invention is formed to be larger than the range of the maximum swing angle for direction change that allows the vehicle to be changed to the maximum when the vehicle direction changes, When the impact occurs, the ball stud may be configured to swing beyond the range of the maximum rotation angle of the direction change.

According to the ball joint housing and the ball joint assembly including the same according to the present invention, even if an impact is applied to the vehicle, the impact caused by contact between the stud portion of the ball stud and the ball joint housing is prevented, thereby preventing damage to the ball stud, after impact. It is possible to prevent the deterioration of the steering and/or suspension performance of the vehicle.

Accordingly, it is possible to control the vehicle even after an impact is applied to the vehicle.

1 is a view for explaining a conventional ball joint assembly.
Figure 2 is a schematic side view showing a ball joint assembly according to the present invention.
Figure 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a ball joint assembly according to the present invention.
Figure 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a ball joint assembly according to the present invention.
5 and 6 are schematic perspective views showing a ball joint housing provided in the ball joint assembly according to the present invention.
7 is a schematic plan view showing a ball joint housing provided in the ball joint assembly according to the present invention.
8 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 5.
9 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the range of the swing angle according to the swing direction of the ball stud provided in the ball joint assembly according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the spirit of the present invention is not limited to the presented embodiments, and those skilled in the art who understand the spirit of the present invention can add, change, or delete other elements within the scope of the same idea. Other embodiments included within the scope of the inventive concept may be easily proposed, but this will also be said to be included within the scope of the inventive concept.

In addition, components having the same function within the scope of the same idea shown in the drawings of each embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals.

Figure 2 is a schematic side view showing a ball joint assembly according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a ball joint assembly according to the present invention, Figure 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the ball joint assembly according to the present invention to be.

2 to 4, the ball joint assembly 100 according to the present invention includes a ball joint housing 110, a ball stud 120, a dust cover 130, a ball seat 140, and an end cap 150. And it may include a cone washer 160.

The ball joint assembly 100 is accommodated in the inner space of the ball joint housing 110 with the spherical head 122 of the ball stud 120 inserted into the ball seat 140 and then the ball joint It may be implemented by a bending process such as caulking of the housing 110, and the ball stud 120 may rotate and/or swing in the inner space while being supported by the ball joint housing 110.

Due to the rotational and/or oscillating motion of the ball stud 120, vibrations or shocks received from the road surface when the vehicle is driven may not be directly transmitted to the vehicle body.

The ball seat 140 may be made of synthetic resin or the like, and a part of the inner surface may be recessed to relieve surface pressure acting on the head part 122.

On the other hand, the dust cover 130 is installed in the ball joint housing 110 to prevent the inflow of foreign matter into the inner space, one end is fixed by the clip ring 170 and the cone washer 160 The other end can be fixed by this.

The cone washer 160 may be inserted and fixed to the stud portion 124 of the ball stud 120 in a force-fitting manner, and in this process, the other end of the dust cover 130 is fixed at a predetermined position. .

The ball joint housing 110 may be made of an aluminum alloy to meet the trend of weight reduction, and the range of the swing angle according to the swing direction of the ball stud 120 can be adjusted to satisfy the "Small Overlap Crash Test" requirement of the US You can do it differently.

This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9.

5 and 6 are schematic perspective views illustrating a ball joint housing provided in a ball joint assembly according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view illustrating a ball joint housing provided in a ball joint assembly according to the present invention.

In addition, FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 5, and FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a range of a swing angle according to a swing direction of a ball stud provided in a ball joint assembly according to the present invention.

5 to 9, the ball joint housing 110 according to the present invention may include a deformable part 112, a body part 114, a swing range defining part 116, and the like.

The deformable part 112 may define an opening into which the ball seat 140 in which the head part 122 of the ball stud 120 is accommodated is inserted, and the ball in which the head part 122 is accommodated through the opening. After the seat 140 is inserted, when the opening is closed by the end cap 150, the head part 122 accommodated in the ball seat 140 may be prevented from being separated by a process of being deformed inward. It is a component.

Here, the inwardly deformed process may mean a so-called caulking process, but is not limited thereto.

The body portion 114 is a component extending integrally with the deformable portion 112 and may support the ball stud 120 so as to be able to swing.

The swing range defining part 116 is a component integrally extended with the body part 114 and may define a range (α, β) of the swing angle in which the ball stud 120 can swing. .

The swing range defining part 116 is a stud part 124 of the ball stud 120 extending from the head part 122 when the ball stud 120 swings in the first swing direction D1 A first contact surface 116a may be provided in contact with and defining a range α of the swing angle in the first swing direction D1.

In addition, when the ball stud 120 swings in the second swing direction D2, the swing range defining part 116 is in contact with the stud part 124 to swing in the second swing direction D2. A second contact surface 116b defining the angular range β may be provided.

The inclination of the first contact surface 116a is different from the inclination of the second contact surface 116b, so that the range of the rotation angle α in the first swing direction D1 and the second swing direction D2 are The range of the swing angle β can be changed.

Here, it should be noted that the inclination is a comprehensive concept that means the degree of rounding or the radius of curvature.

When describing the first and second shaking directions D1 and D2, the first and second shaking directions D1 and D2 may be opposite to each other. 1 The rotation direction (D1) is the ball stud 120 due to the impact when an impact is applied to the vehicle generated during the "Small Overlap Crash Test" or when an impact is applied to the vehicle that may occur in an actual situation. It may be the direction of rotation.

In general, when an impact is applied to a vehicle, the ball stud 120 is unlikely to swing in the second swing direction (D2), and it is generally swinging in the first swing direction (D1). In the case where 120 is damaged, it is generally generated by contacting the ball stud 120 with the first contact surface 116a.

Here, in the ball joint housing 110 according to the present invention, the inclination of the first contact surface 116a is smoother than that of the second contact surface 116b, so that the first rotation direction D1 of the ball stud 120 It is possible to make the range of the swing angle to be larger than the range of the swing angle in the second swing direction D2.

When an impact occurs on the vehicle, due to the difference in inclination as described above, the range of the swing angle α that can be swinged in the first swing direction D1 increases, so that the first contact surface The possibility of contact with (116a) is reduced by that amount, and thus, the possibility of damage due to contact impact is significantly reduced.

The range α of the rotation angle in the first rotation direction D1 may be formed to be larger than the range of the maximum rotation angle for direction change that allows the vehicle to be converted to the maximum when the vehicle direction is changed. If it does not occur, the possibility that the ball stud 120 will swing exceeding the maximum swing angle for direction change is slim.

However, when an unmoved impact occurs on the vehicle, the ball stud 120 may swing beyond the range of the maximum rotation angle of the direction change, and thus the first contact surface 116a may be moved as described above. The possibility of contact is reduced that much, so that the possibility of breakage can be minimized.

Meanwhile, the first rotation direction D1 does not mean only one specific direction, but may mean all directions included in a predetermined range R as shown in FIG. 7.

Of course, the second swing direction also does not mean only one specific direction.

The swing range defining portion 116 has a non-uniform upper surface and a partial region 118 protrudes, thereby reinforcing rigidity.

Specifically, at least a portion 118 of the swing range defining portion 116 provided with the second contact surface 116b may be formed to protrude from the swing range defining portion 116 provided with the first contact surface 116a. .

Since the first contact surface 116a has a relatively gentle inclination than the second contact surface, it is difficult to implement a protruding area for reinforcing rigidity in the swing range defining portion 116 provided with the first contact surface 116a. Therefore, in the present invention, at least a portion of the swing range defining portion 116 provided with the second contact surface 116b is formed to protrude.

In the above, the configuration and features of the present invention have been described based on the embodiments according to the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and various changes or modifications can be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and therefore, such changes or modifications are found to belong to the appended claims.

100: ball joint assembly
110: ball joint housing
120: ball stud
130: dust cover
140: ball seat
150: end cap
160: cone washer
170: clip ring

Claims (5)

In the ball joint housing provided in the vehicle ball joint assembly,
Defines an opening into which the ball seat receiving the head portion of the ball stud is inserted, and after the ball seat receiving the head portion is inserted through the opening, when the opening is closed by an end cap, it is deformed inward. A deformable part for preventing separation of the head part accommodated in the ball seat;
A body portion extending integrally with the deformable portion and supporting the ball stud so as to be able to swing; And
Including; a swing range defining portion extending integrally with the body portion and defining a range of a swing angle in which the ball stud can swing,
The swing range regulation unit,
When the ball stud swings in the first swing direction, a first contact surface that is in contact with the stud portion of the ball stud extending from the head portion and defines a range of the swing angle in the first swing direction, and
When the ball stud swings in the second swing direction, it comes into contact with the stud portion and includes a second contact surface defining a range of the swing angle in the second swing direction,
The slope of the first contact surface is,
Ball joint housing, characterized in that different from the inclination of the second contact surface.
The method of claim 1,
The first swing direction and the second swing direction are,
Are in opposite directions,
The first swing direction is,
When an impact is applied to the vehicle, a ball joint housing, characterized in that the rotation direction of the ball stud due to the impact.
The method of claim 2,
The slope of the first contact surface is,
A ball joint housing, characterized in that it is formed more gently than a slope of the second contact surface so that a range of a swing angle of the ball stud in the first swing direction is larger than a range of a swing angle in the second swing direction. .
The method of claim 3,
At least a portion of the swing range defining portion provided with the second contact surface,
Ball joint housing, characterized in that the first contact surface is formed to protrude from the swing range defining portion provided to reinforce rigidity.
The method of claim 2,
The range of the swing angle in the first swing direction is,
It is formed larger than the range of the maximum rotation angle for direction change that allows the vehicle to be changed to the maximum when the vehicle is changed, so that when the impact occurs, the ball stud may swing beyond the range of the maximum direction change rotation angle. Ball joint housing, characterized in that.

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