JP4742915B2 - Bearing unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a bearing unit that prevents foreign matters such as rain water and muddy water from entering a bearing and discharges foreign matters that have entered the bearing to the outside of the shaft.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various bearing units are known for rotatably supporting a vehicle wheel (for example, a disc wheel) with respect to a vehicle body (for example, a suspension device (suspension)). For example, the bearing unit shown in FIG. 4 is provided on the inner side of the outer ring 2 (stationary wheel) 2 that is fixed to the vehicle body and maintained in a non-rotating state at all times, and is connected to the wheel side. An inner ring (rotating wheel) 4 that rotates together with the wheels, and a plurality of rolling elements 6 and 8 that are rotatably incorporated in a double row (for example, two rows) between the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 are provided.

  In this case, the outer ring 2 has a hollow cylindrical shape and is disposed so as to cover the outer periphery of the inner ring 4. Between the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4, a seal member (for sealing the inside of the bearing unit) A pack seal 10a on the vehicle body side and a lip seal 10b on the wheel side are provided. In addition, although the ball | bowl is illustrated in drawing as the rolling elements 6 and 8, a roller may be applied according to the structure and kind of bearing unit.

  The outer ring (stationary ring) 2 is integrally formed with a fixing flange 2a protruding outward from its outer peripheral surface, and a fixing bolt (not shown) is inserted into the fixing hole 2b of the fixing flange 2a. By fastening to the vehicle body side, the stationary wheel 2 can be fixed to a suspension device (knuckle) (not shown).

The inner ring (rotating wheel) 4 is provided with a substantially cylindrical hub 12 that rotates, for example, while supporting a disc wheel (not shown) of an automobile, and the hub 12 is a hub flange to which the disc wheel is fixed. 12a is protrudingly provided.
The hub 12 is fitted (externally fitted) with an annular rotating wheel constituting body 16 (a member constituting the rotating wheel 4 together with the hub 12) on the vehicle body side. At this time, a predetermined preload is applied to the bearing unit. In this state, the rolling elements 6, 8 form a raceway surface (stationary raceway surface) of the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 4 with a predetermined contact angle with each other. 2s and the rotating raceway surface 4s) are in contact with each other and are rotatably incorporated.

  A drive shaft DS (see a broken line) passes through the inner periphery of the hub 12 from the vehicle body side. The drive shaft DS is provided with a screw structure in which the hub nut N can be screwed from the front end side of the drive shaft DS, and the hub nut N is screwed into the screw structure and tightened so that the wheels of the drive shaft DS and the hub 12 are tightened. The side end surface can be fixed integrally. As a result, the hub 12 can rotate together with the rotation of the drive shaft DS.

By the way, the seal members (pack seal 10a on the vehicle body side and lip seal 10b on the wheel side) are provided to prevent foreign matters such as rain water and muddy water from entering the inside of the bearing unit. In order to prevent direct exposure to foreign matter from the outside, a slinger may be provided further on the vehicle body side than the seal member.
Note that a solid accelerator shaft that does not rotate passes only on the vehicle body side of the driven wheel, and a lid member can be provided on the side surface of the seal member, but there is a drive shaft DS that rotates on the vehicle body side of the drive wheel. Therefore, it is difficult to provide a lid member like a driven wheel.

  In this case, in order to protect a seal member (for example, a pack seal) on the vehicle body side of the drive wheel, a slinger externally fitted to an inner ring that rotates together with the drive wheel is provided on the vehicle body side of the pack seal 10a. The slinger has a proximal end fixed to the inner ring, a distal end extending toward the outer ring, and is positioned in a non-contact state with respect to the outer ring. By the way, since the opening of the pack seal 10a is normally arranged toward the outer ring side, when foreign matter (rain water or muddy water) enters from the gap between the tip of the slinger and the outer ring, the opening of the pack seal 10a enters. There was a risk of direct exposure to foreign matter.

  Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a bearing unit has been proposed in which a slinger 14 is fitted into the outer ring 2 which is a stationary ring on the vehicle body side of the pack seal 10a. The slinger 14 has a base end 14 a fixed to the outer ring 2, a tip end 14 b extending toward the inner ring (rotating ring) 4, and the extending end is in sliding contact with the outer diameter of the drive shaft DS. A lip seal 14c is provided (for example, Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, and Patent Document 3).

However, since such a slinger 14 is fixed to the stationary ring (outer ring) 2 and is always kept in a non-rotating state, if foreign matter (rain water or muddy water) enters the bearing beyond the slinger 14. The slinger 14 blocks foreign matter in the bearing, making it difficult to discharge. The foreign matter remaining in the bearing without being discharged flows down the slinger 14 and the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 2 in the direction of gravity, and the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 2, the outer peripheral surface of the outer ring 3, the pack seal 10a, and the seal. It stays in the space S surrounded by the member 14. In this case, if the foreign matter (rain water or muddy water) stays for a long time, the bearing unit, the drive shaft DS, and the slinger 14 may be oxidized to generate rust, or the lubricating oil of the bearing unit may be deteriorated.
Therefore, a bearing unit that can prevent the seal member on the vehicle body side of the rotating wheel from being directly exposed to foreign matter from outside and can efficiently remove foreign matter that has entered the bearing outside the bearing in a short time. Development is desired, but no such technology is currently known.

JP 2002-327769 A JP 2003-120703 A Japanese Patent No. 3491395

  The present invention has been made to meet the above-mentioned demands, and its purpose is to prevent the seal member on the vehicle body side of the rotating wheel from being directly exposed to foreign matter from outside, and to efficiently remove foreign matter that has entered the bearing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a bearing unit that can be discharged out of the bearing in a short time.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an outer ring that is fixed to the vehicle body and maintained in a non-rotating state at all times, and an inner ring that is provided facing the inner side of the outer ring and connected to the wheel side and rotates together with the wheel. And a plurality of rolling elements that are rotatably incorporated between the outer ring and the inner ring, and are arranged on the vehicle body side of the outer ring, and the inside of the bearing unit is sealed between the outer ring and the inner ring. And a ring slinger disposed on the vehicle body side of the seal and fitted in the outer ring. The slinger has a base end fitted in the outer ring and continuously along the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring. together they are formed, the tip is extended to cover at least the seal towards the inner side.

The base end of the slinger is configured to include a cylindrical portion that is annularly continuous along the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring, and a bent portion that is bent from the cylindrical portion toward the tip, and an area that extends from the bent portion to the tip. Is provided with an annular portion extending opposite to the vehicle body side of the seal, the distal end side of the annular portion is formed close to the vehicle body side of the seal, and the base end side is the vehicle body side of the seal A plurality of holes formed at least in the bent portion of the base end of the slinger and in the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring so as to penetrate the bent portion from the wheel side to the vehicle body side. The portions are provided at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction.

In this case, the hole is opened toward the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring by penetrating from the wheel side to the vehicle body side .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the sealing member on the vehicle body side of the rotating wheel from being directly exposed to foreign matter from the outside, and to discharge foreign matter that has entered the bearing efficiently and in a short time. New bearing units can be provided.

Hereinafter, a bearing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a bearing unit as a configuration example of the present embodiment.
The configuration other than the slinger 17 disposed on the vehicle body side of the pack seal 10a of the bearing unit according to the following embodiment is the same as that of the bearing unit shown in FIG. The configuration and operational effects of the slinger 17 which is a configuration unique to the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the bearing unit according to the present embodiment prevents the pack seal 10a from being directly exposed to foreign matter (rainwater or muddy water) from the outside, and efficiently and quickly removes foreign matter that has entered the bearing. A slinger 17 is provided for discharging to the outside of the bearing.

Specifically, the base end of the slinger 17 is fitted into the outer ring 2 and includes a cylindrical portion 17 a that is annularly continuous along the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 2.
The cylindrical portion 17a is provided with a bent portion 17e that is bent from the cylindrical portion 17a toward the distal end. In the region extending from the bent portion 17e to the distal end, the inner ring 4 side is opposed to the vehicle body side of the pack seal 10a. An annular portion 17b extending toward is extended.
The annular portion 17b is positioned so that at least its tip 17f extends over the pack seal 10a. Note that the extension amount (extension length) of the annular portion 17b is arbitrarily set depending on the size and shape of the pack seal 10a, for example, and is not specifically limited here.

In this case, holes 17c are provided in the bent portions 17e at predetermined intervals (for example, at equal intervals) along the circumferential direction, and each hole 17c penetrates the bent portions 17e from the wheel side to the vehicle body side. An opening is formed toward the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 2. Further, each hole 17c is formed in the bent portion 17e so that it is positioned in a region closest to the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 2 of the slinger 17.
Thus, by providing the holes 17c at predetermined intervals (equal intervals) along the circumferential direction, the slinger 17 can be fitted into the outer ring 2 in any direction (direction in the rotational direction). The hole 17c is positioned on the bearing lower side. Here, the bearing lower side is a direction in which foreign matter flows down due to gravity, and refers to the lower side in a posture in which a drive shaft DS and a disc wheel (not shown) of an automobile are fixed to the bearing unit.

In this case, the foreign substance flows down in the direction of gravity, and is a space S (FIG. 1 (FIG. 1 () a) (see reference S), it does not stay in the space S for a long time, but is discharged in a short time from the opening of the hole 17c on the lower side of the bearing toward the open space on the vehicle body side. Therefore, since the bearing unit and the drive shaft DS are released from contact with foreign matter in a short time, rust is not generated on the slinger and the lubricating oil of the bearing unit is not deteriorated.
Further, by opening the hole portion 17c toward the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 2 and positioning it in the region closest to the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 2 of the slinger 17, foreign matter enters the outer ring 2 from the drive shaft DS side. Even if it bounces toward it, the foreign matter does not enter from the opening of the hole 17c.

Further, since the hole portions 17c are provided at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction, the hole portion 17c is disposed on the bearing lower side of the slinger 17 in the operation of fitting the slinger 17 into the outer ring 2. There is no need to match. That is, even when the holes 17c of the slinger 17 are fitted without being aligned, any one of the holes 17c provided at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction is likely to accumulate foreign matter. Since it is located on the side, the foreign matter can be easily discharged in a short time. Therefore, the labor of work can be saved and work efficiency can be increased.
Further, when the annular portion 17b of the slinger 17 is arranged close to the vehicle body side of the pack seal 10a, the interval between the annular portion 17b and the pack seal 10a is narrowed, and a labyrinth clearance is formed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent foreign matters from entering the inside of the bearing unit.

In the above-described embodiment, as a modification of the slinger 17, the annular portion 17b may be configured as shown in FIG. That is, the distal end region 17h in the vicinity of the distal end 17f may be formed close to the pack seal 10a, and the proximal end side 17g may be formed away from the pack seal 10a.
Thus, by separating the base end side 17g from the pack seal 10a, the space S surrounded by the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 2, the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 4, the pack seal 10a, and the annular portion 17b of the slinger 17. The volume of the space S1 on the outer ring side is larger than the volume of the space S2 on the inner ring side. In this case, since the water pressure in the large volume space S1 is lower than that in the space S2, the foreign matter is more smoothly discharged from the hole portion 17c. Since other configurations and operational effects are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  Further, in the slinger 17 described above, the shape of each hole 17c is not particularly mentioned, but the shape of the hole 17c is not particularly limited, provided that foreign matter (rainwater or muddy water) can be discharged. Any shape is acceptable. For example, the hole 17c may be a circle, rectangle, triangle, or ellipse. Moreover, you may extend the axial direction along the cylindrical part 17a so that the hole part 17c may become slit shape. For example, in the slinger 17 shown in FIG. 1C, the hole 17c is extended to the vehicle body side. Moreover, in the slinger 17 shown by FIG.2 (c), the hole 17c is extended to the wheel side.

In this case, as the extension amount of the hole 17c, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), it may be set before the middle of the cylindrical portion 17a, or for example, as shown in FIG. 3 (b). You may set over the whole 17a. By doing so, residual foreign matter blocked by the thickness of the slinger 17 can be completely and smoothly discharged.
In the above-described embodiment, the number of the holes 17c is not mentioned. However, as long as a number of the holes 17c are positioned at least on the bearing lower side (a region where foreign matter is easily accumulated), The number of parts 17c is not particularly limited.

  Further, since the operating environment of the slinger 17 is exposed to foreign matter (rain water or muddy water), it is preferable to use a plate material having corrosion resistance as the material. In this case, for example, a stainless steel plate such as SUS430 or SUS304 may be used.

Further, since the hole portion 17c of the slinger 17 is arranged in the bent portion 17e, the hole portion 17c is formed before the slinger 17 is manufactured before the cylindrical portion 17a and the annular portion 17b are formed by bending the plate material. It is preferable. That is, the manufacturing cost of the slinger 17 can be reduced at a low cost by punching and forming the hole 17c in the state of the plate material before bending.
The diameter of the hole portion 17c is preferably formed as small as possible considering that foreign matter enters from the hole portion 17c. However, when the hole portion 17c is formed to have an extremely small diameter, the burden on the punching tool is increased, and the tool life is shortened, so that the manufacturing cost of the slinger 17 is increased. Therefore, in consideration of the balance between them, the hole 17c is preferably formed with a diameter of 2 to 3 times the plate thickness.

(A) is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the bearing unit which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (b) is a figure which shows the structure of the slinger used for a bearing unit, Comprising: The top view seen from the wheel direction, (C) is sectional drawing which follows the XX line of the same figure (b). (A) is sectional drawing which shows a part of structure of the bearing unit which concerns on the modification of this invention, (b) is a figure which shows the structure of the slinger used for a bearing unit, Comprising: The plane seen from the wheel direction FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the hole part of a slinger, Comprising: (a) shows the state which extended the hole part to the middle of a cylindrical part, (b) extended the hole part over the whole cylindrical part. Indicates the state. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the conventional bearing unit.

Explanation of symbols

2 Outer ring 4 Inner ring 6, 8 Rolling element 10a Pack seal 10b Lip seal 17 Slinger 17a Cylindrical portion 17b Ring portion 17c Hole portion 17e Bending portion

Claims (2)

An outer ring that is fixed to the vehicle body and maintained in a non-rotating state at all times;
An inner ring provided facing the inner side of the outer ring and connected to the wheel side and rotating together with the wheel;
A bearing unit comprising a plurality of rolling elements that are rotatably incorporated between an outer ring and an inner ring,
A seal that is arranged on the vehicle body side of the outer ring and seals the inside of the bearing unit between the outer ring and the inner ring;
An annular slinger arranged on the vehicle body side than the seal and fitted inside the outer ring,
The slinger has a base end fitted into the outer ring, is formed continuously along the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring, and its tip extends toward the inner ring so as to cover at least the seal ,
The base end of the slinger is configured to include a cylindrical portion that is annularly continuous along the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring, and a bent portion that is bent from the cylindrical portion toward the tip.
A region extending from the bent portion to the tip is provided with an annular portion extending opposite to the vehicle body side of the seal, the tip side of the annular portion is formed close to the vehicle body side of the seal, and The proximal side is formed away from the vehicle body side of the seal,
A plurality of holes formed through the bent portion from the wheel side to the vehicle body side are provided along the circumferential direction at least at the bent portion of the base end of the slinger and in the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring. The bearing unit is provided at intervals. The bearing unit according to claim 1, wherein the hole portion is opened toward the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring by penetrating from the wheel side to the vehicle body side .

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