NL2002482C2 - Manufacturing of a vehicle axle. - Google Patents
Manufacturing of a vehicle axle. Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- NL2002482C2 NL2002482C2 NL2002482A NL2002482A NL2002482C2 NL 2002482 C2 NL2002482 C2 NL 2002482C2 NL 2002482 A NL2002482 A NL 2002482A NL 2002482 A NL2002482 A NL 2002482A NL 2002482 C2 NL2002482 C2 NL 2002482C2
- Authority
- NL
- Netherlands
- Prior art keywords
- axle body
- axle
- sawn
- bent
- bending
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
- B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
- B21D53/00—Making other particular articles
- B21D53/88—Making other particular articles other parts for vehicles, e.g. cowlings, mudguards
- B21D53/90—Making other particular articles other parts for vehicles, e.g. cowlings, mudguards axle-housings
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B23P—METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; COMBINED OPERATIONS; UNIVERSAL MACHINE TOOLS
- B23P15/00—Making specific metal objects by operations not covered by a single other subclass or a group in this subclass
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60B—VEHICLE WHEELS; CASTORS; AXLES FOR WHEELS OR CASTORS; INCREASING WHEEL ADHESION
- B60B35/00—Axle units; Parts thereof ; Arrangements for lubrication of axles
- B60B35/02—Dead axles, i.e. not transmitting torque
- B60B35/06—Dead axles, i.e. not transmitting torque cranked
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Butt Welding And Welding Of Specific Article (AREA)
Description
P29656NLOO/CHO
Title: Manufacturing of a vehicle axle
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing of a vehicle axle with a bent axle body which at the ends thereof is provided with axle spindles on which wheels can be mounted.
5 Bent axles are in the art also referred to as “drop axles” and are used in vehicles where for instance a crankshaft should cross above the axle. It is known in the art to manufacture bent vehicle axles with four bends such that the middle portion of the axle is situated at a lower level as the ends thereof such that for instance a crank shaft can pass. The spindles provided at the axle ends are aligned.
10
Providing four bends in an axle body makes that the bends have a relatively small bending radius in order to obtain a sufficiently long straight axle body portion.
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing of a vehicle axle with a bent axle body 15 which at the ends thereof is provided with axle spindles, wherein: - an axle tube is formed to a bent hollow axle body such that the center line at the location of the ends of the axle body extends at an angle a with respect to the centre line in the longitudinal middle of the axle body, - the ends of the axle body are cut off such that at the ends an end face is formed 20 which is essentially at right angles with the centre line at the longitudinal middle of the bent axle body, - an end portion of the axle body at each cut off end is pressed in a substantially circular round shape from the outside, - an axle spindle is welded against each of the end faces of the axle body by means of 25 a welding head moving around.
The method according to the invention provides the possibility to manufacture a bent axle with only two bends, which makes the manufacturing process less complicated.
Furthermore, it provides an axle which has relatively long straight portions, which is 30 favourable in view of the (dynamic) loads the axle has to bear during use.
-2-
The cut off end of the axle body, due to the bending has a non-circular shape. It has a substantially oval shape. The spindle has a cylindrical tubular portion which is engaged with the cut off end of the axle tube. As the spindle is in general a machined part, the tubular portion thereof has a circular cross section. In order to be able to get a good weld between 5 the tubular portion of the spindle and the cut off end of the axle body, the end portion of the cut off end is deformed into a circular round shape by pressing it from the outside.
It is noted that due to bending of the axle body, not only the shape of the cut off ends of the axle body is oval, but also the thickness of the axle tube is not constant anymore over the 10 circumferential direction.
During pressing of the cut off ends of the axle body to a substantially circular cross sectional shape, it is preferred to press such that the resulting inner surface of the axle body end has a circular shape, whereby the outer diameter is oval due to the changing wall thickness of 15 the axle body at its ends. This ensures that the inner diameter of the axle body end and of the spindle can be made matching, which ensures that a first weld with a good fusion is obtained.
It is also possible to press the cut off axle body end such that the outer diameter of the axle 20 body and the spindle are matching, in which case the inner surface of the axle body end is oval due to the changing wall thickness. This results in a weld which from the outside looks better.
It is also possible to press the cut off axle body end such that somewhere between the outer 25 side and the inner side of the axle body end the cross sectional shape is circular with a diameter that corresponds to the diameter of the opposing spindle. Bot the outer and inner side of the axle body end will then be slightly oval, due to the non constant thickness seen in the tangential direction.
30 A welding method is used which can handle the shape differences between the spindle with a circular shape and the axle body end which may have an oval inner surface and/or an oval outer surface due to the changing wall thickness.
Preferably a laser welding method is used in which two parts can be welded together with a 35 an interspace between the two parts of 2-6 mm is still possible.
-3-
The axle body may be bent by means of a press device with a mould which determines the shape of the bent axle body.
Furthermore the end portion of the axle body may be pressed round in a direction which 5 corresponds with the pressing direction for bending the axle body.
Alternatively, the axle body may also be bent by means of a bending device.
The ends of the axle body may be formed by cutting the ends of a straight axle tube in an 10 inclined manner and by thereafter setting the ends in a position perpendicular to the centre axis in the longitudinal middle of the bent axle body by the bending of the axle body. It is possible to press the ends of the axle body to a round shape at the same time as the axle body is bent.
15 In order to press the cut off ends to a circular shape, the end portions of the axle body may be pressed into a conical bore.
The edge of the end portion of the axle body may be chamfered by a machining operation.
20 The chamfer of the edge of the end portion takes place in the conical bore for pressing round the cut off end.
As mentioned above, the cut off end of the axle body can be pressed to a round shape, wherein the inner wall of the axle tube at that location is formed into a circle shape.
25 Preferably a core element is positioned in the cut off end of the axle tube for pressing said cut off end to a round shape.
In order to make more space for for example a crank shaft to pass the axle body, a recess or a flattened area may be pressed in a middle portion at the longitudinal middle of the axle 30 body. The recess or flattened area may be pressed in the axle body at the same time as the axle is bent.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a vehicle axle with a bent axle body which at the ends thereof is provided with axle spindles, wherein: 35 - an axle tube is formed to a bent hollow axle body such that the center line at the location of the ends of the axle body extends at an angle a with respect to the centre line in the longitudinal middle of the axle body, -4- - the ends of the axle body are cut off such that at the ends an end face is formed which is essentially at an angle Via with respect to a plane which is perpendicular to the centre line at the longitudinal middle of the bent axle body, - an axle spindle with a cylindrical portion is provided, wherein the end of the 5 cylindrical portion is cut in such a way that an end surface is formed which is under an angle Via with respect to a plane that is perpendicular to the centre line of the axle spindle - an axle spindle is welded against each of the end faces of the axle body by means of a welding head moving around, which welding head follows a path along the 10 interface between the axle body and the axle spindle, which path preferably is oval.
The invention will be elucidated in the following description with reference to the drawing, in which: 15 Fig.1 shows a front elevational view of a bent axle body wherein the ends are sawn off,
Fig. 2 shows a side elevational view of the bent axle body of Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 shows a front elevational view of the bent axle body of Fig. 1 wherein the sawn off ends are pressed to a round shape,
Fig. 4 shows shows a side elevational view of the bent axle body of Fig. 2, 20 Fig. 5 shows the bent axle body of Fig. 2 with axle spindles positioned against its ends,
Fig. 6 shows an axle body which is bent in a pressing device,
Fig. 7 shows another axle body which is bent in a pressing device,
Fig. 8 shows a front elevational view of a bent axle body with a spindle provided at each end,and 25 Fig. 9 shows a top elevantional view of the axle body of Fig. 8.
In Fig. 1 and Fig.2 is shown a bent axle body 1 with two bends 2 on each side of a straight middle portion 3. The axle body 1 has two ends 4 which are sawn off or cut off in another suitable way such that at the ends an end face 5 is formed which is essentially at right 30 angles with the centre line 6 at the longitudinal middle 7 of the bent axle body 1. As can be seen in Fig. 2, at the end faces 5, the axle body has a slightly oval shape with a larger inner diameter Du and a smaller inner diameter dn and with a larger outer diameter D0i and a smaller outer diameter d0i, which is due to the fact that the ends are sawn of under an angle with respect to the centre line of the axle tube at the end. The wall thickness at the end is 35 not constant and varies between a maximum thickness tmax at the top and bottom side and a minimum thickness tm!n at the front and rear side of the axle body.
-5-
In Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 the bent axle body 1 is shown with end regions 8 which are compressed such that it has a constant outer diameter D. The outer contour at the end region is thus circular. The inner wall surface 9 is oval and has a smaller inner diameter di2 and a larger 5 inner diameter Di2. The wall thickness is not constant and varies between the maximum thickness tmax and fm/n as was the case before the end was pressed to a round shape.
Just as an example the axle body may have a diameter of 127mm. The following dimensions could then be obtained: D0 = 140.1 mm, Du =108.8 mm, dn= 98.6 mm, Di2 - 105.2 mm, di2 - 102.2 mm, D = 133.6 mm, tmj„ = 14.2 mm and tmgx - 15.7 mm.
10
As can be seen the axle body 1 is bent such that the ends thereof initially are under an angle a (see Fig. 5) with respect to the centre axis 6 in the longitudinal middle 7 of the axle body 1. The angle a might be for example 25° as is shown in the figure, but could also be smaller or larger, but in general it is desirable to have bends with not a too small radius of 15 curvature. On the other hand the drop X of the axle should be sufficient to allow for instance a crankshaft to pass over the axle body 1.
After the end portions 8 of the axle body have been made round, axle spindles 10 can be positioned against the end surfaces 5 at either end of the axle body 1 as is shown in Fig. 5. 20 The axle spindle 10 has a cylindrical portion 11 which with its free end is facing the end surface 5 of the axle body. The edge 12 at the free end if the cylindrical portion 11 is chamfered, which is helpful when the cylindrical portion 11 is welded to the axle body 1. Welding preferably takes place by means of a welding apparatus, which has a welding head that moves around the interface between the axle body 1 and the cylindrical portion 11 of 25 the spindle 10. Preferably a laser welding method is used in which two parts can be welded together with a an interspace between the two parts of 2-6 mm is still possible.
The axle body 1 may be bended by a conventional bending device. However, it is also possible to bend the axle body in a press device with a mould which determines the shape 30 of the bent axle body, as is illustrated by way of example in Figs 6 and 7.
In Fig. 6 is shown schematically a cross sectional view of a press device 20 with two mould halves 21 and 22. In use a straight axle tube is positioned on the lower mould halve 22, the ends of the axle tube resting on side portions 23 of the lower mould halve 22. Next the 35 upper mould halve 21 is engaging the axle tube from above and presses the axle tube in the -6- cavity defined by the lower mould 22. The shape of the upper and lower mould halves 21 and 22 determines the resulting shape of the axle body 1.
The device 20 of Fig. 6 advantageously also presses the end portions 8 in a round shape at 5 the same time that the axle body is bended. In order to obtain an end surface 5 which is essentially perpendicular with respect to the centre axis 6 in the longitudinal middle 7 of the axle body 1, the ends are sawn off under an angle a. After shaping the axle body by the mould halves 21,22 the initially inclined end surfaces end up in a perpendicular orientation with respect to the centre axis 6. In order to obtain a circular inner wall surface 9 at the end 10 of the axle body 1, a core element 24 could be inserted in the end of the axle tube. The end portion 8 of the axle body 1 is then pressed round in a direction which corresponds to the pressing direction for bending the axle body 1.
In Fig. 6 is shown that by a protrusion 24 in the upper mould halve 21, a depression can be 15 made in the axle body in a middle portion, such that additional space can be created for a crankshaft or other part to pass.
In Fig. 7 another press device is shown in which a bent axle body 30 is manufactured which has one bend in the longitidinal middle of the axle body. In this mould the ends of the axle 20 body are not pressed to a round shape at the same time as the axle is bent. Pressing the ends of the axle body 30 to a round shape can be done in a separate step. In order to obtain enough space between the road surface and the axle body 30 in the middle, the middle portion 31 has a flattened side 32, which is formed during the pressing of the axle body 30 into shape.
25
In Fig. 8 is shown an axle 40 comprising a bent axle body, which axle body may have one bend, which is indicated by 41’, or two bends, which is indicated by 41, as is illustrated both in the figure.
30 The axle body 41,41’ is constituded by an axle tube which is formed to a bent hollow axle body such that the center line at the location of the ends of the axle body 41,41’ extends at an angle a with respect to the centre line in the longitudinal middle of the axle body 41,41’. The ends of the axle body 41,41’ are sawn off such that at the ends an end face 42 is formed which is essentially at an angle 14a with respect to a plane which is perpendicular to 35 the centre line 46, 46’ at the longitudinal middle 47, 47’ of the bent axle body 41,41’.
-7-
An axle spindle 48 with a cylindrical portion 49 is provided. The end of the cylindrical portion 49 is sawn in such a way that an end surface 50 is formed which is under an angle Λα with respect to a plane that is perpendicular to the centre line 51 of the axle spindle 48 as is indicated in Fig. 8 on the right. The axle spindle 48 is welded against each of the end faces 5 42 of the axle body 41,41’ by means of a welding head (not shown) moving around. Since the contour of the axle body at the end face 42 is oval, the welding head follows an essentially oval path along the interface between the axle body 41,41’ and the axle spindle 48.
10
Claims (16)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
NL2002482A NL2002482C2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2009-02-03 | Manufacturing of a vehicle axle. |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
NL2002482A NL2002482C2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2009-02-03 | Manufacturing of a vehicle axle. |
NL2002482 | 2009-02-03 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
NL2002482C2 true NL2002482C2 (en) | 2010-08-04 |
Family
ID=41061267
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
NL2002482A NL2002482C2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2009-02-03 | Manufacturing of a vehicle axle. |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
NL (1) | NL2002482C2 (en) |
Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US1762407A (en) * | 1929-05-15 | 1930-06-10 | Clark Equipment Co | Method of making axles |
US1923272A (en) * | 1930-11-19 | 1933-08-22 | Taylor Forge And Pipe Works | Method and means for forming pipe elbows |
US20060158023A1 (en) * | 2005-01-14 | 2006-07-20 | The Boler Company | Continuous radius axle and fabricated spindle assembly |
WO2006096573A2 (en) * | 2005-03-04 | 2006-09-14 | Hendrickson International Corporation | Raised-center axle and process for forming |
FR2891480A1 (en) * | 2005-10-04 | 2007-04-06 | Auto Chassis Internat Snc Snc | Tooling with a die and/or punch of adaptable length for the fabrication of a crosspiece with a closed section, notably for connecting the longitudinal arms of a flexible motor vehicle axle |
-
2009
- 2009-02-03 NL NL2002482A patent/NL2002482C2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Patent Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US1762407A (en) * | 1929-05-15 | 1930-06-10 | Clark Equipment Co | Method of making axles |
US1923272A (en) * | 1930-11-19 | 1933-08-22 | Taylor Forge And Pipe Works | Method and means for forming pipe elbows |
US20060158023A1 (en) * | 2005-01-14 | 2006-07-20 | The Boler Company | Continuous radius axle and fabricated spindle assembly |
WO2006096573A2 (en) * | 2005-03-04 | 2006-09-14 | Hendrickson International Corporation | Raised-center axle and process for forming |
FR2891480A1 (en) * | 2005-10-04 | 2007-04-06 | Auto Chassis Internat Snc Snc | Tooling with a die and/or punch of adaptable length for the fabrication of a crosspiece with a closed section, notably for connecting the longitudinal arms of a flexible motor vehicle axle |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
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MM | Lapsed because of non-payment of the annual fee |
Effective date: 20190301 |