JPS5828172B2 - How to protect joint boots on drive shafts - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a dry bushing shaft mainly used in a front engine/front drive vehicle (F-F vehicle) or a four-wheel independent suspension bundle. This invention relates to a method for protecting the drive shaft joint boot from external impacts during assembly work.

Conventionally, when assembling the drive shaft on an automobile manufacturing line or during repair, the joint boot of this shaft was attached to another member, such as the steering knuckle provided on the lower arm of the front suspension in F-F cars. There was a possibility that it would hit the stopper, etc.

If the edge of the knuckle stopper etc. directly hits joint boots made of materials such as rubber, the impact may cause scratches on the outer periphery of the boot, or in extreme cases, the knuckle stopper and the inside of the boot may be damaged. A part of the boot may be pinched by the joint components, and as a result, there is a risk that the inner peripheral surface of the boot may also be damaged.

In order to avoid such problems, it is conceivable to cover the joint boot with a protective cover or the like.

However, when assembling a drive shaft, it is generally necessary to form a joint at a predetermined angle.

Therefore, if the joint boot is simply covered with a protective cover or the like, it becomes difficult to provide the drive shaft with the above-mentioned joint angle, and therefore it becomes difficult to assemble the drive shaft.

In view of these conventional problems, the present invention provides joint boots that are protected by a protective cover,
Moreover, the drive shaft assembly work can be performed properly, and after the drive shaft assembly is completed,
The object of the present invention is to provide a joint boot protection method that allows the above-mentioned protective cover to be easily removed.

Next, the configuration of the present invention will be explained in detail according to embodiments shown in the drawings.

Figure 1 shows the drive shaft of a front axle in an automobile. In this drawing, numeral 1 is the joint shaft, numeral 2 is the joint on the outboard side (wheel side), and numeral 3 is the inboard side (differential side). It shows the joint of

Further, reference numerals 4 and 5 indicate joint boots of the respective joints 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of an arbitrarily selected outboard side joint 2 among the joints 2 and 3 described above.

In FIG. 2, the large diameter opening 4a of the joint boot 4 is fixed to the outer periphery of the outer member A constituting the joint 2 by a clamp 6, and the small diameter opening 4b is fixed to the outer periphery of the outer member A constituting the joint 2. 7 is fixed to a part of the joint shaft 1.

As a result, the opening of the outer member A is closed by the joint boot 4.

Now, the joint boot 4 described above is further covered from the outside with a protective cover 8 as shown in FIG.

This protective cover 8 is constructed by, for example, rolling a moderately elastic material into a substantially cylindrical shape, and joining the joined parts 9 with Velcro tape 10.

One end of this protective cover 8 (the left end in FIG. 2)
is attached to the outer periphery of the outer member A, which is formed to have a smaller diameter than other parts and constitutes the joint 2.

The other end (the right end in FIG. 2) of the protective cover 8 faces the outer periphery of the small-diameter opening 4b of the joy seat boot 4 with a sufficient distance therebetween.

Note that the material of the protective cover 8 is not particularly limited, and it is also possible to use, for example, synthetic resin, rubber, cloth, or a material with higher rigidity than these.

However, when consideration is given to optimizing the protective function of the boot 4 and the joint angle tolerance described later, the protective cover 8 is made of a material that has appropriate elasticity and is made of a material such as com. It is most preferable to use a material harder than the boot 4, such as vinyl chloride.

In the drive shaft having the joint boot 4 covered with the protective cover 8 as described above, for example, when assembling the drive shaft, the joint boot 4 is temporarily attached to the steering knuckle stopper (not shown) on the lower arm. It is assumed that a local impact is applied to the protective cover 8, such as by hitting it against a suspension member or other suspension component.

In this case, if the protective cover 8 is made of a relatively hard elastic material such as the above-mentioned vinyl chloride, the protective cover 8 may be exposed to a local impact force as shown in FIG. It elastically deforms in an arc shape over a wide range as shown in .

This prevents local impact from being applied to the joint boot 4.

At the same time, the impact force itself on the joint boot 4 is also alleviated by the protective cover 8.

For these reasons, the edges of the knuckle stopper may damage the outer peripheral surface of the boot 4, or the knuckle stopper and the inner member B of the joint 2 may damage the outer circumferential surface of the boot 4.
The fear that a part of the boot 4 will be pinched and the inner peripheral surface of the boot 4 will be damaged is eliminated.

Further, regarding the assembly procedure of the drive shaft, generally, the inboard joint 3 side is assembled to a differential (not shown), and then the outboard joint 2 side is assembled to a wheel (not shown).

Therefore, when assembling the outboard joint 2, it is necessary to give the joint 2 a certain joint angle (usually around 40°).

Taking this into consideration, in this embodiment, as described above, the protective cover 8 is made elastic, and at the same time, one end thereof is attached to the outer periphery of the outer member A, and the other end and the outer periphery of the joint boot 4 are attached. There is sufficient space between the surfaces.

In other words, the axis of the outer member A at the joint 2 is
Even when the joint angle is set to the position shown by the one-dot line in FIG.
will not interfere with

Furthermore, by making the joint angle large, even if a part of the protective cover 8 interferes with the boot 4 or the joint shaft 1, the interference can be tolerated by the elastic deformation of the protective cover 8.

Note that when the protective cover 8 is formed of a material such as soft rubber or cloth, the acceptability of the joint angle is naturally improved.

A protective cover made of such a material can also sufficiently protect the joint boot 4 from the suspension components, body parts, etc.

After completing the assembly of the drive shaft, the protective cover 8 is released from the Velcro 10 to unfold from a cylindrical state to a flat state, and is removed from the drive shaft side.

That is, the protective cover 8 can be easily removed with the drive shaft assembled.

As a means for joining the joint portion 9 of the protective cover 8, as shown in FIG. 5 or 6, a single-sided adhesive tape 1 is used.
10 or double-sided adhesive tape 210 may also be used.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a protrusion 11 and a corresponding hole 12 may be formed in the joint portion 9 of the protective cover 8 to connect and hold this portion as shown.

Furthermore, the protective cover 8 can also have a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG.

In this case, when a relatively hard material is used for the protective cover 8, it is conceivable to make the contact portion of the protective cover 8 with respect to the joint shaft 1 slidable to accommodate the aforementioned joint angle.

Note that the protective cover 8 shown in FIG.
The structure is such that it can be easily expanded using the joining means shown in the figure or FIGS. 5 to 8.

Further, the protective cover 8 is made of a flat plate material.
As shown in the figure, it is also possible to roll it into a cylindrical shape with a substantially uniform diameter throughout and attach one end (the left end in the figure) to the outer periphery of the large diameter opening 4a in the joint boot 4, that is, the outer periphery of the clamp 6. It is possible.

In this embodiment, the overall diameter of the protective cover 8 is smaller than, for example, the embodiment shown in FIG.

Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, vinyl chloride or the like is used as the material of the protective cover 8 to give the protective cover 8 appropriate elasticity, and although it is not shown in the drawings, the protective cover 8
By joining only one side of the central part of the joint part 9 with an adhesive tape, consideration is given to fully exhibiting the tolerance of the joint angle described above.

Although the protective cover for the joint boot 4 on the outboard side has been described above, it is of course possible to cover the joint boot 5 on the inboard side with a protective cover if necessary.

As described above, in the present invention, even if a local impact is applied to the joint boot during transport or assembly of the drive shaft, the protective cover covering the outside of the joint boot is large enough to prevent damage to the joint boot. It is elastically deformed into an arcuate shape due to the curvature, thereby alleviating the local impact force on the boot, and can prevent damage to the boot, which is particularly likely to occur when the drive shaft is assembled.

Furthermore, the present invention protects the joint boot with the protective cover as described above when assembling the drive shaft, and its elasticity allows the joint angle necessary for assembling the drive shaft. The boots can be protected without any hindrance to work, and after assembly is complete, the protective cover can be easily removed from the drive shaft side by separating the joints and unfolding it. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view of a commonly used drive shaft, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which a protective cover is installed on the outboard joint side of FIG. 1. Figure 3 is a sectional view taken from the direction of line ■-■ in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a sectional view showing a part of the protective cover receiving an external impact, and Figures 5 to 8. The figures are sectional views showing different embodiments of the joining means of the protective cover when viewed from the same direction as in Fig. 3, and Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing the second embodiment of the protective cover.
FIG. 0 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the protective cover. 2.3...Joint, 4,5...Joint boots, 8...Protective cover.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When transporting the drive shaft and assembling it to the vehicle body, in order to cover the outer member that makes up the joint of the drive shaft with the joint boot that follows this outer member, a material that is slightly harder than the material of the joint boot is used. The flat elastic material is rolled into a substantially cylindrical shape, and a protective cover is attached to the material using a means that allows the parts that are joined to each other to be easily separated, and after the drive shaft is assembled, the protective cover is removed. A method for protecting a joint boot on a drive shaft, which is characterized by expanding from a cylindrical shape to a flat plate shape and removing it.