JPH0480779B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method of assembling a universal joint used in tilt steering of a vehicle or the like.

(Prior Art) For example, as a universal joint that connects a steering column (hereinafter referred to as an input shaft) and an intermediate shaft (hereinafter referred to as an output shaft) in a vehicle steering mechanism, etc., the present applicant proposed the Utility Model No. 59-
There are those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 122430 and Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 122431/1983.

The basic structure of this universal joint will be explained based on FIGS. 5 to 8.

The universal joint consists of yokes 1 and 2 connected to an input shaft and an output shaft, and a sphere 3 to which the yokes 1 and 2 are fitted and assembled from opposite directions. As shown in Fig. 5, it consists of a fastening part 1a connected to a shaft (not shown) and a pair of opposing claws 1b formed in an arc shape, and the sphere 3 is shown in Figs. As shown, a hemispherical ball 4 having sliding grooves 4a and 4b intersecting at the vertices and formed in an arc shape along the outer periphery is interposed on the back side with an elastic member such as a spring or rubber (not shown).
They are formed together as shown in the figure.

Then, as shown in Fig. 8, the yoke 1 of the input shaft is
The claw 1b of the output shaft and the claw 2b of the yoke 2 of the output shaft are connected to the ball 3.
By fitting into the sliding grooves 4a, 4b and rotatably assembling, a universal joint is formed that can transmit rotational torque even when the input shaft and output shaft are tilted. In addition, in this universal joint, the claws 1b and 2b of the yokes 1 and 2 are connected to the sliding groove 4 of the sphere 3.
It slides in contact with the side walls 4c and 4d of the slide grooves 4a and 4b, but does not contact the bottom surfaces of the sliding grooves 4a and 4b.

Conventionally, the method for assembling this universal joint has been to attach a spherical body 3 formed by interposing an elastic member 5 and bringing together a pair of hemispherical balls 4 on their back surfaces as shown in FIG. 10a.
Press the hemispherical ball 4 from both sides to compress the elastic member 5 and bring the hemispherical balls 4 closer together,
The sphere 3 is assembled between the claws 1b of the yoke 1 by making the thickness H of the sphere 3 smaller than the interval L between the claws 1b. Next, as shown in FIGS. 10b and 10c, one sliding groove 4a of the sphere 3 is brought into alignment with the claw 1b of the yoke 1, and the yoke 1 is rotated 90 degrees relative to the sphere 3.

Next, in this state, the other yoke 2 is assembled. In this assembly method, the yoke 2 is engaged with the sphere 3 from the direction orthogonal to the one yoke 1, and the sphere 3 is
Align the pawl 2b with the sliding groove 4b and rotate it 90 degrees.

In this way, the sphere 3 is assembled to the yoke 1 of the input shaft and the yoke 2 of the output shaft. In this universal joint, the hemispherical ball 4 is moved by the claws 1b and 2b of the yokes 1 and 2 due to the elastic force of the elastic member 5 within the sphere 3.
It is biased toward the side to prevent rattling.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional assembly method has the following problems.

First, when a pair of hemispherical balls 4 are pressed from both sides to compress the elastic member 5 and bring the hemispherical balls 4 closer together, and the thickness H of the sphere 3 is made smaller than the distance L between the claws 1b of the yoke 1, it is necessary to When the sliding grooves 4a of the pair of hemispherical balls 4 are aligned, they tend to shift in the circumferential direction, and if the claws 1b of the yoke 1 are installed in a misaligned state, the tips of the claws 1b may cause dents or scratches on the sliding grooves 4a. There was a problem in that the durability of the assembled universal joint would be significantly reduced.

Also, since the work involves pressing the pair of hemispherical balls 4 from both sides with a relatively large force and assembling them into the yoke 1,
There were also problems with high worker fatigue and low productivity.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to assemble a universal joint that can prevent dents and scratches on the sliding part of a hemispherical ball and improve productivity. Our goal is to provide the following.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As a means for solving the above problems and achieving the purpose, one of a pair of hemispherical balls having two sliding grooves formed in an arc shape along the outer circumferential surface. is installed in sliding contact with one of the sliding grooves in a pair of opposing chuck claws formed with the same diameter as the sliding groove and provided so as to be able to approach and separate, and an elastic Place the member, and then install the other hemispherical ball from above by slidingly contacting one of the sliding grooves with the chuck pawl, and then bringing the chuck pawl closer, so that the chuck pawl is in the sliding groove. After sliding in one direction and compressing the elastic member to bring the pair of hemispherical balls closer together, the claws of the yoke are fitted into the other sliding groove to assemble the pair of hemispherical balls and the yoke. It is.

(Function) In this assembly method, the chuck pawl slides into the sliding groove of the sphere, compressing the elastic member and bringing the pair of hemispherical balls closer together. The sliding grooves of the pair of hemispherical balls that are in sliding contact do not shift around the circumference, and it is possible to prevent dents or scratches from being made to the sliding grooves when fitting the claws of the yoke.

Furthermore, since the hemispherical balls can be brought closer together by moving the chuck claw, the burden on the operator is reduced.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4. Note that the same members as those described in the prior art are given the same reference numerals.

A pair of chuck claws 7 and 8 are provided on the base 6 to face each other, one chuck claw 7 is fixed to the base 6, and the other chuck claw 8 approaches the one chuck claw 7. It is attached to the base 6 so that it can be separated.

In addition, the chuck claws 7 and 8 are connected to the sliding groove 4 of the sphere 3.
It is formed with the same diameter as the diameter d of a and 4b,
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the chuck pawl 7 is formed in a shape such that it comes into contact with the bottom surface of the sliding groove 4a and the portion of the side wall 4c where the pawl 1b of the yoke 1 does not come into sliding contact. Note that A in the figure indicates that the pawl 1b of the yoke 1 is in the sliding groove 4.
This is the position of the claw 1b when it slides into contact with a.

Here, the assembly method of the present invention using the chuck claws 7 and 8 will be explained.

First, move the chuck claws 7 and 8 into the sliding groove 4a of the sphere 3.
are placed on standby at a distance greater than the diameter d of
One side of the hemispherical ball 4 is assembled by aligning the sliding groove 4a with the chuck claws 7 and 8. Next, the elastic member 5 is placed on the assembled hemispherical ball 4, and the other hemispherical ball 4 is assembled from above by aligning the sliding groove 4a with the chuck claws 7, 8. By aligning the chuck claws 7, 8 with the sliding grooves 4a in this way, the positions of the sliding grooves 4a of the pair of hemispherical balls 4 can be accurately aligned.

Next, by moving the other chuck pawl 8 and bringing the chuck pawls 7 and 8 closer together, the chuck pawls 7 and 8 slide into the sliding groove 4a, and the pair of hemispherical balls 4 move toward each other. When pressed, the elastic member 5 is compressed. Then, the chuck claw 8 is pressed until the thickness of the sphere 3 made of the hemispherical ball 4 becomes H.
If you move the claw 1 of the yoke 1 in this state,
By inserting the yoke 1 from the side and rotating it upward by 90 degrees, the claw 1b of the yoke 1 comes into sliding contact with the sliding groove 4a, and the assembly of the yoke 1 is completed.

Next, the chuck claws 7 and 8 are separated and the sphere 3 is
After removing one yoke 1 to which the universal joint is assembled, the other yoke 2 is assembled as described in the prior art to complete the assembly of the universal joint.

Note that, as in this embodiment, the chuck claws 7, 8
Since the chuck pawl 7, the chuck pawl 7 and
Even if the sliding groove 4a is dented or scratched when the yoke 8 contacts and slides, it will not adversely affect the durability of the universal joint because it is not the sliding surface of the claw 1b of the yoke 1.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, the present invention allows the chuck pawls to slide in the sliding grooves of the hemispherical balls, thereby bringing the pair of hemispherical balls close together, thereby causing the chuck pawls to move closer to each other. Since the parts are assembled together, the positions of the pair of sliding grooves do not shift, and it is possible to prevent dents and scratches caused by the claws of the yoke.

Further, since the hemispherical balls can be brought closer together simply by moving the chuck claw, the burden on the worker is reduced and productivity can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a front view of a chuck pawl according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially sectional right side view of the chuck pawl shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an operation of the chuck pawl shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a front view showing the state, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a yoke, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a sphere, and FIG. ,
A plan view of the hemispherical ball constituting the sphere in FIG. 6, FIG. 7b is a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 7a, and FIG.
is the back view of the hemispherical ball in Fig. 7a, and Fig. 8 is the back view of the hemispherical ball in Fig. 7a.
FIG. 9 is a front view showing an example of a universal joint, FIG. 9 is a side view of the sphere shown in FIG. 6, and FIGS. 10 a, b, and c are front views showing the steps of a conventional universal joint assembly method It is. 1, 2... Yoke, 1b, 2b... Claw, 4... Hemisphere ball, 4a, 4b... Sliding groove, 5... Elastic member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 One of a pair of hemispherical balls having two sliding grooves formed in an arc shape along the outer circumferential surface is connected to a pair of opposing hemispherical balls that are formed with the same diameter as the sliding grooves and that are movable toward and away from each other. One of the sliding grooves is assembled in sliding contact with the chuck pawl, an elastic member is placed on the back surface of the one hemispherical ball, and the other hemispherical ball is placed on top of the elastic member, and one of the sliding grooves is brought into sliding contact with the chuck pawl. The chuck pawls are slid into one of the sliding grooves and compressed the elastic member to bring the pair of hemispherical balls closer together, and then the chuck pawls are brought closer to each other. A method of assembling a universal joint, comprising assembling the pair of hemispherical balls and the yoke by fitting the claws of the yoke into the sliding grooves.