JPH0514810B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an improved structure of a spherical sliding joint device suitably used in pillow ball bushes, ball jointed rods, etc. in vehicle suspensions. be.

(Prior art) Conventionally, as a spherical sliding joint device for a vehicle suspension, etc., a sliding member is disposed inside the socket part of a metal rod, and the outside of the ball part of the ball fitting is connected via the sliding member. Generally used is a structure in which the rod is held in the socket, and a dust cover for dustproofing and waterproofing is placed and fixed on the rod and ball fitting.

In addition, with the aim of reducing weight and improving corrosion resistance,
The ball portion of the ball fitting is covered with an integral sliding member formed by forming a sliding material layer on the inside in contact with the ball portion and a rubber elastic layer on the outside thereof, and further, on the outside of the sliding member, The rod is formed by resin injection molding, and a dust cover is attached to the rod and ball fitting.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in fixing the dust cover in a spherical sliding joint device for metal rods, after placing the dust cover on the fixing part of the metal rod, Since this was done by crimping, the dust cover was firmly fixed, but there were problems in terms of weight reduction and corrosion resistance.

On the other hand, to fix the dust cover in a spherical sliding joint device with a resin rod, an engagement groove is provided in the socket part of the resin rod, and the engagement part of the dust cover is integrated with a ring made of a rigid material such as metal. At the same time, it is molded slightly thicker than the engagement groove of the socket part,
This was done by press-fitting or a combination of press-fitting and adhesion.

This has the advantage of reducing weight and improving corrosion resistance, but it also requires high dimensional accuracy for the engagement part of the dust cover and the engagement groove of the socket part, and it also requires high dimensional accuracy when heat or load is applied. There was a problem that the dust cover easily came off, making it impossible to maintain a good sliding effect for a long period of time.

The present invention was invented in view of the above circumstances, and is a spherical sliding type that is lightweight, has good corrosion resistance, is easy to manufacture, and can maintain good sliding characteristics over a long period of time. The purpose is to provide a coupling device.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a sliding structure in which a ball part of a ball fitting is formed by integrally forming a rubber elastic layer of a predetermined thickness on the outside of a sliding material layer in contact with the ball part. A socket part is formed on the outside of the sliding member by injection molding of a predetermined resin, and spherical sliding is performed between the ball fitting and the socket part via the sliding member. On the other hand, in a spherical sliding joint device that is provided with a dust cover made of an annular elastic material, one end of which is attached to a ball fitting and the other end of which is attached to a socket, the dust cover is attached to the other end of the dust cover in the axial direction. A protruding engaging portion is provided, a ring made of a rigid member is integrated in a portion of the engaging portion close to the ball fitting, and an annular rib is formed on the outer circumferential surface of a portion of the engaging portion far from the ball fitting, The socket part is provided with an engagement groove for mounting the engagement part of the dust cover, the engagement part of the dust cover is placed in the engagement groove, and the resin near the engagement groove is partially removed. The gist of the present invention is a spherical sliding type joint device in which a dust cover is fixed to a socket portion by coating and surrounding the annular rib with molten resin.

The dust cover 31 according to the spherical sliding joint device of the present invention is formed into an annular shape from an elastic member such as rubber or resin, and is attached to the ball fitting 11 at one end and the socket portion 3 at the other end. ing.

Further, on the other end side of the dust cover 31, an engaging portion 5 protruding in the axial direction is integrally formed from an elastic member such as rubber or resin.

A ring 33 made of a rigid member such as metal or resin and having an L-shaped cross section, a rectangular shape such as a square, or a circular shape is integrated in a portion of the engaging portion 5 near the ball fitting 11. In addition, the engaging portion 5
The outer peripheral surface of the part far from the ball fitting 11 has a second
An annular rib 34 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 3 is provided.

The socket part 3 is made by setting the ball fitting 11 whose outer side is covered with a sliding member 21 into a mold, and then
It is formed by injecting thermoplastic resin into a mold. In addition, a dust cover 3 is attached to the socket part 3.
An engagement groove 4 for fixing one engagement portion 5 is provided.

The dust cover 31 is fixed by
The engaging part 5 is placed in the engaging groove 4 of the socket part 3, and the resin near the engaging groove 4 of the socket part 3 is partially melted so as to cover the annular rib 34 of the engaging part 5. This is done by cooling and solidifying.

The resin near the engagement groove 4 of the socket portion 3 is usually melted by heating, but other methods such as high frequency, ultrasonic, etc. are also possible.

(Function) Since the spherical sliding joint device of the present invention is formed from a resin rod, it is lighter in weight and has improved corrosion resistance compared to conventional metal rods.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an annular rib 34 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the engagement portion 5 of the dust cover 31 on the side far from the ball fitting 11, and the fixation with the socket portion 3 is After arranging the engaging part 5 of the dust cover 31 having the annular rib 34 in the engaging groove 4 of the socket part 3, partially remove the resin near the engaging groove 4 of the socket part 3 so as to cover the annular rib 34. It is done by melting it.

In the case of a conventional spherical sliding joint device without an annular rib, as shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10, the fixing of the dust cover 31 and the socket portion 3 relies only on the elastic force of the rubber. Because it is attached, the resistance to pulling out is weak.

In contrast, in the spherical sliding joint device of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the dust cover 31 and the socket part 3 are fixed not only by the elastic force of the rubber but also by the dust cover 31's elastic force. Since the resin of the socket portion 3 is also engaged with the annular rib 34, the resistance against pulling out is strong, and good sliding characteristics can be maintained for a long period of time.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to Examples.
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main part of a spherical sliding joint device as an embodiment of the present invention.

In this figure, a substantially cylindrical ball fitting 11
includes a ball portion 13 having a spherical convex surface 15 on the outer circumferential surface of an intermediate portion in the axial direction, and a shaft portion 1 connected to the ball portion.
4, and has an inner hole 12 through which another member to which the rod 1 is to be connected can be inserted.

The sliding member 21 is attached to the ball fitting 1 by sewing or the like.
A rubber sheet 23 is obtained by injecting a rubber material into a ring-shaped sliding cloth 22 having a diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of the ball portion 13 in a predetermined mold. The sliding member 21 has a rubber sheet 23 integrally fixed to the outside of a sliding cloth 22.

With the rod 1 covering the outside of the ball part 13 of the ball fitting 11 with the sliding member 21,
It is obtained by setting the ball fitting 11 in a predetermined mold and injection molding a predetermined resin material into the product cavity of the mold. The main body of the rod 1 has an approximately H-shaped cross section, and
A socket portion 3 having a spherical concave surface 2 approximately corresponding to the spherical convex surface 15 of the ball portion 13 of the ball fitting 11 is provided at one end thereof.

Further, an annular sliding member 21 is interposed between the spherical concave surface 2 of the socket portion 3 of the rod 1 and the spherical convex surface 15 of the ball portion 13 of the ball fitting 11 accommodated therein. This sliding member 2
1 is a ball portion 13 housed in the socket portion 3;
It is integrally constituted by a sliding cloth 22 disposed so as to cover substantially the entire surface of the spherical convex surface 15, and a rubber sheet 23 disposed on the outside of the sliding cloth 22.

Note that the mold for injection molding the above-mentioned rod is provided with a protrusion in advance at a portion corresponding to the engagement groove 4 of the socket portion 3, and a predetermined resin material is injected into the product cavity of the mold. By doing so, it is possible to obtain a rod having an engagement groove 4 for fixing the dust cover 31 in the socket portion 3.

The dust cover 31 is made of rubber and has an annular shape.
One end is attached to the ball fitting 11 and the other end is attached to the socket part 3. Further, an engaging portion 5 protruding in the axial direction is provided on the other end side of the dust cover 31, and a metal ring 33 having an L-shaped cross section is integrally formed in a portion of the engaging portion 5 near the ball fitting. has been made into

The ring 33 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the engagement groove 4 and is formed to have a width that is approximately 1/2 of the width of the engagement groove 4 . By injecting a rubber material with the ring 33 subjected to adhesive treatment set in a predetermined mold, a dust cover 31 in which the ring 33 is vulcanized and adhered to a portion of the engaging portion 5 near the ball fitting is obtained.

Further, an annular rib 34 having a shape shown in FIG. 2 is provided on the outer circumferential surface of a portion of the engaging portion 5 of the dust cover 31 far from the ball fitting, and is positioned in the engaging groove 4 of the socket portion 3.

The socket portion 3 and the dust cover 31 are fixed by the method described below.

First, the spherical sliding type joint device to which the dust cover 31 is not attached is set in a prefabricated fixing jig so that the spherical sliding type joint device does not move. Next, the engaging portion 5 including the ring 33 and the annular rib 34 of the dust cover 31 is fitted into the engaging groove 4 of the socket portion 3. Further, while applying a guide 41 made larger than the engaging groove 4, a jig 42 whose tip is heated to a temperature higher than the melting temperature of the resin in the socket part 3 is applied to the socket part 3, and is lowered a predetermined distance to close the engaging groove 4. After the resin in the vicinity is partially melted to cover the annular rib 34, the jig 42 is raised, and the resin in the vicinity of the engagement groove 4 is cooled and solidified.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of main parts showing the state before the dust cover 31 is fixed in this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of main parts showing the state after the dust cover 31 is fixed in this embodiment.

Moreover, FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the dust cover 31 of yet another embodiment, and FIGS. 6 and 7 show the state before and after the dust cover 31 of FIG. 3 is fixed, respectively. FIG.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of main parts showing the state before the dust cover 31 is fixed in the conventional example, and FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of main parts showing the state after the dust cover 31 is fixed in the conventional example. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, in this embodiment, the resin near the engagement groove 4 of the socket portion 3 covers the annular rib 34 and is fixed, so that the socket portion 3 and the dust cover 31 are fixed.
has a strong fixing force.

(Effects of the Invention) The spherical sliding joint device of the present invention has a socket portion formed by injection molding of resin, so it is lightweight and has excellent corrosion resistance. By melting and fixing the resin near the engagement groove of the socket part, high dimensional accuracy is not required for the engagement groove of the dust cover and socket part, and the dust cover and socket part are strong. Since it can be fixed, it has the advantage of being easy to manufacture and maintaining good sliding characteristics for a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part of the spherical sliding joint device of the present invention. 2 and 3 are partially enlarged views showing an embodiment of a dust cover constituting the spherical sliding joint device of the present invention. Figures 4 and 6 are enlarged views of the main parts of the embodiment before fixing the dust cover and socket fittings, and Figures 5 and 7 are
The figures are enlarged views of the main parts after fixing. Furthermore, FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view showing the dust cover of the conventional spherical sliding joint device, and FIGS.
The figures are enlarged views of essential parts of a dust cover and a socket fitting in a conventional spherical sliding joint device before and after fixing, respectively. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Rod, 2... Spherical concave surface, 3... Socket part, 4... Engaging groove, 5... Engaging part, 11... Ball fitting, 12... Inner hole, 13... Ball part, 1
4... Shaft portion, 15... Spherical convex surface, 21... Sliding member, 22... Sliding cloth, 23... Rubber sheet, 31
...Dust cover, 33...Ring, 34...Annular rib, 41...Guide, 42...Jig.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Covering the ball part of the ball fitting with a sliding member having a rubber elastic layer of a predetermined thickness integrally formed on the outside of a sliding material layer in contact with the ball part, and
A socket portion is formed on the outside of the sliding member by injection molding of a predetermined resin, and spherical sliding is performed between the ball metal fitting and the socket portion via the sliding member, while one end side is formed with a ball metal fitting. To,
In a spherical sliding joint device comprising a dust cover made of an annular elastic member, the other end of which is attached to each socket portion, an engaging portion protruding in the axial direction is provided at the other end of the dust cover, A ring made of a rigid member is integrated in a portion of the engaging portion close to the ball fitting, and an annular rib is formed on the outer peripheral surface of a portion of the engaging portion far from the ball fitting, while the dust cover is attached to the socket portion. An engaging groove for attaching the engaging part of the dust cover is provided, the engaging part of the dust cover is arranged in the engaging groove, the resin near the engaging groove is partially melted, and the molten resin is used to attach the engaging part of the dust cover. A spherical sliding joint device characterized in that a dust cover is fixed to a socket portion by covering an annular rib.