Trw Fahrwerksysteme Gmbh & Co. Kg

Trw Fahrwerkesystem Gmbh & Co. Kg

Christoph Dorr

Hans-Joachim Schutt

Eugen Eberhart

Lothar Broszat

The invention relates to a ball-and-socket joint which is intended especially for vehicle chassis. The inventive ball-and-socket joint comprises a joint bolt () which is provided with a ball joint (), and a plastic joint housing () into which a bearing shell () is introduced in order to mount the ball joint () in such a way that it can turn and so that it can tilt within certain limits. The aim of the invention is to ensure that the joint can resist considerable static and dynamic loads in the direction of the joint axis (L) without increasing the cost and to enable the ball joint to be used as a radial joint and as an axial joint. To this end, a metal ring () is injected into the joint housing (). The bearing shell () is placed in the joint housing () with a positive fit using the end section () of said ring, which is radially bent inwards and which is located in the area of the opening of the joint housing ().

Ball-and-socket joint

Ball-and-socket joint includes a joint housing () and a ball head () with a ball pivot (). A bearing shell () is disposed between the ball head (), the joint housing (), and a housing cover (). A compressive force is produced between the housing cover () and at least a portion of the bearing shell (). The compressive force acts in an axial direction of the ball pivot (). The compressive force permanently acts on the portion of the bearing shell () and presses the portion of the bearing shell () into a gap between the ball head () and the joint housing ().

Ball-and-socket joint with bearing shell

A method for manufacturing a ball joint ( ) consisting of a ball-ended spindle ( ) and a socket ( ), having no bearing shell and being already assembled during the manufacture includes, placing the ball-ended spindle ( ), which comprises a ball ( ) without a flattened pole surface, into an injection molding tool ( ). The ball-ended spindle ( ) is retained by a core puller ( ) that seals a hollow space of the injection molding tool ( ) relative to the ball ( ) and simultaneously forms a clearance ( ) for realizing a maximum pivoting angle of the ball-ended spindle ( ) relative to the socket ( ), whereafter the ball ( ) is directly coated with plastic by means of injection molding so as to form the socket ( ).

Method for manufacturing a ball joint

The present invention is based on the objective of disclosing a rotary sensor arrangement in which the sensor is accessible without having to remove any assemblies, wherein said sensor arrangement also allows an economical integration into existing assemblies. According to the invention, this objective is attained with a rotary sensor arrangement for elements that can be turned relative to surrounding elements, in particular, for shafts, which consists of at least two sensor units that can be mounted separately from one another, wherein one sensor unit is arranged on the rotatable element and at least one second sensor unit is arranged on an element that is stationary relative to the rotatable element, and wherein at least the second sensor unit can be accessed and removed independently of the state of installation of the rotatable element.

Sensor for sensing rotary movement including a stationary sensor unit and a rotatable sensor unit

The invention pertains to a method for manufacturing a ball joint composed of a ball-ended spindle (1), bearing shell (2) and socket, provided with a sealing boot (4) arranged between the socket and ball-ended spindle (1), in particular for a motor vehicle, by means of extrusion coating, with plastic in a split injection mold (6) the ball-ended spindle (1) provided with a bearing shell (2) placed on the ball (11). In order to create a ball joint which can withstand high stress and limit the assembly work required to complete the same, the housing-side opening bead (41) of the sealing boot (4) is positioned on the bearing shell (2), before loading the ball-ended spindle (1) in the injection mold (6), and is located between the bearing shell (2) and housing (3) by means of an extrusion coating.

A ball joint with a ball (1a) that is arranged on a gudgeon (1) and situated in a ball socket in a rotatable and tiltable fashion. The ball socket consists of plastic and is closed on one side. The ball socket is arranged in a housing (3). The ball socket is sealed at its opening, which faces the gudgeon (1), by a sealing bellows (4) arranged between the housing (3) and the gudgeon (1). An edge (4a) of the sealing bellows (4) on the side of the ball is clamped in the axial direction between the housing (3) and an extension (2a) of the ball socket (2) on the side of the gudgeon.

Ball joint

A coupling spring element is provided for which assembly without access and with no play, and a torsion-proof transmission of shaft revolutions is possible and has superior spring elastic properties to which, a plate-shaped element is provided with an essentially central connection region for connection to one shaft and a connection region formed at the outer circumferential region for connection to one additional shaft, and has slot-like recesses between the two connection regions.

Coupling spring element for interconnecting shafts

Ball-and-socket joint with ball retention device

The invention pertains to a ball-and-socket joint, in particular, for a motor vehicle, having a ball pivot (1), the coupling ball (1b) of which is supported, by a bearing shell (2), in a joint housing (3) in a tilting sense, such that it can be twisted and tilted to a limited extent, with the bearing shell (2) being fixed in the joint housing (3) by a lock ring (6). For a simple design and a mechanizable assembly, even with the use of a plastic joint housing, for an axial tensile load on the ball pivot (1), a lock ring (6) is formed with a double-leg cross section, the radial inner leg (6a) of which forms a support surface for the section (2b) of the bearing shell (2) between the equator (1e) and the opening for the ball pivot (1) and the radial outer leg (6b) of which, in a mounted state, is supported at the edge of its free end (6d) by an approximately radial annular surface (3e) which is formed by an undercut in the joint housing (3).

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Meerbusch, Germany

Christoph Dorr