Gkn Automotive Ag

Gkn Lobro Gmbh

Gkn Driveline Deutschland Gmbh

Wolfgang Lobel

Peter Amborn

Andrew Pollard

Russel Osborn

Sven Lehmann

Werner Dickhaut

Ludger Schachtrup

Hans Wormbsacher

Frank Pflanzer

Dieter Burghardt

A longitudinal shaft assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising at least a first shaft and a second shaft, a ball-type constant velocity joint for connecting the first shaft to the second shaft and at least one central bearing for supporting the longitudinal shaft assembly with respect to a body of the motor vehicle.

Longitudinal shaft assembly for a motor vehicle

The invention relates to a driveshaft and to a method of producing the driveshaft having three components a first attaching element and a second attaching element and a tube element arranged therebetween. The tube element is provided with a first end face and a second end face . Both attaching elements comprise cylindrical receiving faces whose diameter is smaller than that of the tube bore of the tube element . This permits a radial adjustment of the elements relative to one another with reference to a longitudinal reference axis in order to keep any out-of-balance minimized. In the axial direction, close tolerances can be observed in that a first reference face of the first attaching element is set relative to the first end face of the tube element at a fixed distance . The total nominal length is achieved by introducing the second attaching element by means of its cylindrical receiving face more or less deeply into the tube element between the first reference face and a reference face of the second attaching element, utilizing the compensating tolerance . The connections are produced by plasma welding.

Driveshaft

A joint disc made of a fiber composite material with a plurality of flexible leaf elements and a plurality of angular fixing elements which are composed of laminations of fiber composite material, with the leaf elements, at each of their ends, having an increasing thickness extending at least over 10% of their length.

Joint disc made of a fiber composite material

A constant velocity universal ball joint has an outer joint part with substantially longitudinally extending outer ball tracks and an inner joint part with substantially longitudinally extending inner ball tracks. The tracks in the outer joint part and inner joint part are positioned radially opposite one another to form a pair and, in each case, jointly receiving a torque-transmitting ball. A ball cage includes circumferentially distributed cage windows, which hold the balls in a common plane and guides them on to the angle-bisecting plane when the joint is articulated. The cage windows, if viewed in the circumferential direction, narrow at their ends. Opposed flanks of the cage windows jointly form a stop relative to the respective balls if there occurs a relative circumferential displacement between the ball cage and balls.

Constant velocity universal ball joint with noise-reducing cage stop

Growing community of inventors

Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany

Wolfgang Lobel