Zf Lemforder Metallwaren Ag

Zf Friedrichshafen Ag

Zf Lenförder Metallwaren Ag

Swiss Steel Ag

Jochen Kruse

Stefan Schönhoff

Frank Budde

Joachim Spratte

Jürgen Gräber

Metin Ersoy

Michael Klank

Martin Rechtien

Volker Grube

Frank Nachbar

Wolfgang Schmitt

Olaf Abels

Wolfgang Kleiner

Manfred Heidemann

Dirk Adamczyk

Manfred Bohne

Wolfgang Eulerich

Achim Möll

Klaus Pape

Horst Dötsch

Dirk Lamla

Thomas Wiegmann

Melanie Enkler

Johannes Tabor

Thomas Rösler

Rainer Jasper

Oliver Hagedorn

Ulrich Schefzyk

Stephan Hasler

Ulrich Urlau

A ball joint with a ball pin and a steel ball pin with a joint ball. The ball joint and ball pin are suitable for use when, for example, solid-on-solid friction predominates under high static pre-loading or high operational loads and with small joint movements. A portion of the surface of the ball pin has surface layer hardening in order to increase a fatigue strength of the ball pin. The ball pin and the ball joint, on portion of the ball pin without the any surface layer hardened, includes a nitrided layer as wear protection. The ball pin and the ball joint provide an advantageous combination of high fatigue strength, good corrosion protection and high wear-resistance. The nitrided layer of ball joints, previously only regarded as improving corrosion protection, also functions as a wear protection. Thus, these ball pins overcome the mutual exclusion between surface layer hardening and nitriding.

Ball pin and ball joint

A connector piece for the articulated connection of structural elements of a chassis of a motor vehicle. The connector piece has a main body, formed from at least one metal sheet, which has at least one bearing or joint and includes a housing connected to the main body and an inner part which is fitted within an inside space of the housing and can move relative to the housing. The housing comprises a housing portion that surrounds the inside space and includes at least two sheet-metal strips that are arranged adjacent one another, in a longitudinal direction, and are bent between their ends, in opposite directions transverse to the longitudinal direction, such that the metal strips partially surround the inside space on different sides.

Connector piece for the articulated connection of components located in the suspension of a vehicle

A force connection strut () of a chassis of a passenger car or utility vehicle is provided for the non-positive connection between a chassis and a wheel carrier, preferably an axle strut or a chassis control arm. An elongated basic body (G) and at least two end-side mount supports () are provided for introducing and leading out forces.

Force strut brace

A ball and socket joint () is provided, for example, for a chassis bearing, with a ball (), a pivot () originating from the ball (), a housing () accommodating the ball, and a sealing bellows (), which extends between the housing () and the pivot () and has a housing-side opening () and a pivot-side opening (). The sealing bellows () has a circumferential sealing lip () for sealing at the pivot-side opening (). The ball and socket joint () has a first guide ring (), which guides the sealing bellows (). The first guide ring () is arranged at the pivot (). An especially favorable functional separation is achieved as a result between the guiding function and the sealing function.

Ball and socket joint with sealing bellows

A mount support of a force connection strut is provided manufactured from plastic/metal composite materials for a chassis of a motor vehicle. The force connection strut has an elongated basic body and a sleeve (H) passing through the basic body. The sleeve (H) has a flange (F) on at least one side and is connected to the basic body by extrusion coating with plastic at least at one of its ends.

Bearing seat of a tension strut made of composite materials

A rotation and/or tilt angle detection device for a ball and socket joint is provided wherein at least one magnet (), especially a permanent magnet, is arranged in the joint ball (), wherein a display device () displays the magnetic field of the at least one magnet () by means of the magnetooptic effect. An image detection deice () detects the information displayed by the display device (). A data processing unit () calculates the relative position of the joint ball () and the ball socket () of the ball and socket joint on the basis of the information detected.

Rotation and/or tilt angle detection means for a ball and socket joint

A connection strut of a chassis of a passenger car or utility vehicle for the connection between the chassis and the wheel carrier, preferably an axle strut or a chassis control arm, with an elongated basic body and at least two mount supports arranged at the end for introducing and leading out forces. The basic body has a composite between a flat metal insert and a plastic structure forming the rest of the contour. The plastic structure is formed by encasement of the metal insert. The rest of the contour is defined here as the difference between the final contour of the force connection strut and the portion that is formed by the metal insert.

Force connection strut

The present invention pertains to a chassis part for connection and force transmission between a vehicle chassis of at least one wheel, consisting of fiber-reinforced plastics or plastic composite systems, preferably for a passenger car or utility vehicle. The present invention is characterized in that at least one means for measuring forces acting on the chassis parts is integrated in the plastic portions of the chassis parts.

Chassis part consisting of fiber-reinforced plastics, equipped with an integrated sensor

A ball-and-socket joint with integrated angle sensor for a motor vehicle, especially for the chassis of the motor vehicle is created. The ball-and-socket joint has a ball-and-socket joint housing () provided with a joint opening (), a ball pivot () having a joint ball () and a pin (), which is mounted, with its joint ball (), rotatably and pivotably in a hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface in the ball-and-socket joint housing (), and projects, with its pin (), through the joint opening () out of the ball-and-socket joint housing (). A two-pole field transducer () is provided at the end of the joint ball () facing away from the pin (). The poles of the field transducer () are arranged on the ball surface. In this case, at least two field sensors () are arranged at a distance from one another with respect to the meridian plane defined by the large circle on the hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface running at right angles to the bearing longitudinal axis in the area or on the ball-and-socket joint housing () facing away from the joint opening, and interact with the field produced by the field transducer ().

Ball joint with integrated angle sensor

Growing community of inventors

Osnabrück, Germany

Jochen Kruse