Zf Lemforder Metallwaren Ag

Zf Friedrichshafen Ag

Zf Friedrichshafen

Ralf Kunze

Manfred Buhl

Sören Knopp

Reinhard Buhl

Hans-Gerd Brunneke

Holger Bublies

Reinhard Richter

Matthias Gercke

Wilfried Lustig

Uwe Cossmann

Heinfried Helms

Franz-Josef Marquardt

Wolfgang Ratermann

Soeren Knopp

A joint unit such as for mounting the vehicle control arm of a motor vehicle, is provided with a control arm-side housing (), in which a pivot pin () is mounted pivotably by means of a spheroidal bearing surface (), wherein the joint unit has a securing unit against the separation of the housing () from the pivot pin (). The securing unit includes a securing bolt (), arranged within the pivot pin () essentially in parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the pivot pin () and with a blocking element () at a free end. A securing mount () is located within the housing () or the pivot pin () and in this the blocking element () is mounted in a contactless manner in the mounted state of the joint unit. The securing mount () is part of the securing unit, and the securing bolt () is fixed to the component of the joint unit (housing () or pivot pin ()) that is not provided with the securing mount (). Redundant securing of a joint unit against separation of the housing () from the pivot pin (), which is not visible from the outside and is thus advantageous from both a safety engineering viewpoint and a visual viewpoint is achieved.

Joint unit, preferably for mounting the chassis control arm of a motor vehicle

A ball and socket joint is provided, for example, for an axle system of a motor vehicle. The joint has an essentially ring-shaped or pot-shaped joint housing (). The ball () of a ball pivot () is received in the interior space of the joint housing () in a slidingly movable manner. The joint housing () includes a ball pivot-side and a housing cover-side housing half (). The two housing halves () have an essentially circumferential axial stop (). Based on the axial stop (), the housing halves () can be brought into contact with one another in the axial direction in an exactly defined manner. The reproducibility of tolerances in manufacture can be carefully controlled allowing manufacture at a low cost. The specific load-bearing capacity of the ball and socket joint can be increased or the dimensions of the ball and socket joint can be reduced.

Ball and socket joint

A four-point suspension control arm () is provided for the axle suspension of a rigid axle especially of a utility vehicle. The four-point control arm () has four bearing eyes (), wherein two bearing eyes () can be connected to the rigid axle and two bearing eyes ()are to be connected to the vehicle frame, each in an articulated manner. The four-point control arm () is designed as a one-piece hollow housing (), which can be twisted and is inscribed in the rectangle or trapezoid formed by the bearing eyes. The hollow housing () is formed essentially by a tube, which is arranged horizontally in respect to the vehicle and is open on both sides, with a cross section ranging from an essentially rounded rectangular to O-shaped.

Four-point suspension arm

A joint unit of a control arm of a wheel suspension in a motor vehicle, with a housing () and a pivot (), which is mounted slidingly in the housing by a spheroidal bearing surface (). The joint unit has a catching device () to avoid complete separation of the housing () from the pivot (). The catching device spans over part of the housing () in a contactless manner during normal operation. The catching device () has at least one flexible catching band or at least one securing strap () with a recess (), into which protrudes a catching pin () of the housing in a contactless manner during normal operation, or at least two securing straps (and).

Joint unit

A ball-and-socket joint for a motor vehicle, especially for the chassis of the motor vehicle has a ball-and-socket joint housing (i), which has a joint opening and in which a bearing shell () made of an insulating material is arranged. A ball pivot () is made of an electrically conductive material and has a joint ball () and a pivot () mounted rotatably and pivotably with its joint ball () in the bearing shell () and protrudes with its pivot () from the ball-and-socket joint housing () through the joint opening. An electrode () is arranged in the wall () of the bearing shell () at a spaced location from the joint ball (), and the electrode () and the joint ball () are electrically insulated against each other via the bearing shell ().

An elastic chassis bearing in utility vehicles is provided as a joint as such for the elastic mechanical connection of two machine parts especially in the construction of vehicles, having a claw (connection part)and a housing (). The claw () has a middle area () and two end areas (). The claw is a rotationally symmetrical turned part, and the housing () includes at least two bushesinserted concentrically one into another, which together define a hollow cylinder and an intermediate space (). The intermediate space is filled with an elastic material, so that the clawenclosed by the innermost bushis cardanically movable in relation to the bushor the other bushesof the housing

Elastic chassis bearing for utility vehicles

A housing for receiving a bearing component is presented, which has a shaft projection, which can be inserted into the recess of the end area of a hollow section and can be pressed together with the end area, wherein the shaft projection is provided with a groove profile, in which the groove profile is prepared by a deformation process or an original shaping process. Notch effect and consequently a weakening of the cross section on the highly stressed shaft projection is avoided by the said processes. The present invention pertains, moreover, to such a groove profile located at a shaft projection of a housing.

Housing for receiving a bearing component and process for manufacturing same

A steering triangle () is provided for the axle suspension of motor vehicles for the articulated connection of a vehicle axle with a vehicle chassis with two control arms (). The control arms are connected to each other in a joint housing () formed by the control arms () together for a rubber-metal bearing () for fixing the steering triangle () on the vehicle axle. The rubber-metal bearing () has a pivot axis () provided with a spherical surface and an elastomer body (), which extends around the pivot axis () at least in the area of the spherical surface and which is accommodated in a recess () located within the joint housing (), in which steering triangle two pressing rings () are arranged within the recess () of the joint housing () on the axial outer sides of the elastomer body (). The pressing rings can be moved toward each other by a tensioning device via the intermediary of stop faces () of the joint housing (). The stop faces are in contact with the outer sides of the pressing rings (), which outer sides face away from each other. The rubber-metal bearing can be pretensioned both in the axial direction and in the radial direction, so that stronger forces can be absorbed due to the higher rigidity achieved as a result.

Growing community of inventors

Bad Essen, Germany

Ralf Kunze