Angular ball bearing for suspension

The present invention relates to angular contact ball bearings used, for example, in vehicle suspensions.

For example, the strut suspension has a configuration in which a coil spring is mounted around the shock absorber, and the upper part is supported by the vehicle body (body) via the strut insulator and the lower part is supported by the lower arm. Bearings for such suspensions are incorporated between the strut insulator fixed to the vehicle body side and the upper seat that receives the upper end of the coil spring. As this bearing, a thrust ball bearing having a raceway ring made of a press is used. This thrust ball bearing has a configuration in which two races formed by press-molding a steel plate are arranged so as to face each other in the axial direction, and a plurality of balls are interposed between the two races in a state of being obliquely contacted (for example, Patent Document 1). reference.).

By the way, when it is used for a vehicle having a relatively heavy vehicle body weight, it is necessary to use a rolling bearing having a relatively large axial load capacity. For example, as a suspension used for a vehicle having a relatively heavy vehicle body weight, for example, there is an air suspension, and this air suspension has a configuration in which an air spring is used instead of the coil spring (see, for example, Patent Document 2). As the rolling bearing used in the upper part of such an air suspension, it is conceivable to use a solid deep groove ball bearing or an angular contact ball bearing having a raceway ring made by shaving. However, in the case of deep groove ball bearings, it is preferable to use angular contact ball bearings because a type having a larger size must be used because the axial load capacity is relatively small, which is not preferable in terms of cost and installation space. Figure 7 shows the state in which this solid angular contact ball bearing is incorporated into the air suspension. In the figure, 81 is the piston rod of the shock absorber, 82 is the insulator attached to the vehicle body, 83 is the upper seat that receives the upper end of the air spring (not shown), 84 is the angular contact ball bearing, 85 is the nut, and 86 is the collar. The angular contact ball bearing 84 has an outer ring 91 having a raceway groove, a shoulder and inner ring 92, a plurality of balls 93, and a cage 94, and has a posture in which the rotation axis 95 is substantially vertically aligned. By arranging the front of the inner ring 92 on the shoulder and the inner ring 92, the action line 96 is tilted so as to approach the rotation axis 95 from top to bottom. Further, the outer diameter of the shoulder and inner ring 92 of the shoulder and inner ring 92 is the same as the outer diameter of the minimum diameter of the outer peripheral slope 92b which is the inner ring track of the ball 93. In such an angular contact ball bearing 84, since the shoulder and inner ring 92 are separated in the axial direction, the work becomes troublesome, for example, care must be taken in handling.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-77220</text></patcit><patcit num="2"><text>Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-163025</text></patcit>

<p> Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to solve the problem of making the shoulder and inner rings non-separable so that they can be easily handled in the angular contact ball bearings for suspension.</p>

<p> The angular contact ball bearing for a suspension of the present invention has a configuration in which a plurality of balls are obliquely contacted between an outer ring and an inner ring, and an angular contact ball is used in a posture in which a rotation axis is substantially vertical along the upper part of the suspension. In the bearing, the inner ring is used as a shoulder inner ring, and the ball or a cage that holds the ball is vertically hooked on a limiting member that restricts the axial movement of the cage with respect to the inner ring. It is characterized in that a limiting member is provided.</p><p> The term "abbreviation" in the description "to make the rotation axis run along the substantially vertical direction" is used to include the case where the rotation axis coincides with the vertical direction and the case where the rotation axis is slightly tilted. For example, when the front of the inner ring of the shoulder is facing up, the working line of the angular contact ball bearing becomes inclined so as to approach the rotation axis from the top to the bottom.</p><p> According to the present invention, for example, when a downward axial load is applied to the inner ring of the shoulder and the inner ring with the front of the inner ring of the shoulder and the inner ring facing up, the limiting member of the inner ring of the shoulder and the inner ring is caught by the ball or the cage and is received. The inner ring does not separate.</p><p> Preferably, the limiting member is a retaining ring attached to the shoulder of the inner ring, and the outer diameter of the retaining ring is made larger than the inner diameter of the cage. In this case, it is possible to perform assembly work such that the retaining ring as a limiting member is finally attached to the inner ring of the shoulder and the inner ring of the shoulder in a state where the outer ring, the inner ring of the shoulder and the plurality of balls and the cage are combined. It is possible to save the trouble of shrinking and fitting.</p><p> Preferably, the limiting member is a radially outwardly raised ridge formed integrally with the shoulder pad of the inner ring, the outer ring is a shoulder pad, and the shoulder pad is a shaft of a ball with respect to the outer ring. A limiting member for restricting movement in the direction is provided, and the outer ring is assembled by shrink fitting to an assembly in which a plurality of balls held by a cage are attached to the inner ring. In this case, since the raised portion as the limiting member is formed integrally with the inner ring of the shoulder, it is possible to eliminate the work of attaching the retaining ring as in the case of using the retaining ring. In this case, unless the outer ring is a shoulder paddle wheel, the shoulder paddle wheel cannot be assembled to an assembly in which a plurality of balls held by a cage are attached to the shoulder paddle wheel and the inner ring. Therefore, the outer ring is used as a shoulder paddle wheel, and a limiting member is provided on the shoulder paddle wheel so that the outer ring can be assembled to the above assembly by shrink fitting, and the shoulder paddle wheel is prevented from separating. ..</p>

<p> According to the present invention, since the shoulder and inner ring are not separated, the installation work at the place of use can be easily performed.</p>

Hereinafter, the best mode of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one half of a solid angular contact ball bearing for, for example, an air suspension. Since the basic general configuration of the air suspension is well known, FIG. 1 shows only the configuration of the main part of the air suspension according to the present invention.

The solid angular contact ball bearing 1 shown in the figure includes an outer ring 2 and a shoulder inner ring 3 arranged concentrically in the radial direction, and a plurality of balls 4 rotatably interposed between the two wheels 2 and 3. , A cage 5 for holding a plurality of balls 4 is provided. Both the outer ring 2 and the shoulder and inner ring 3 are manufactured by shaving a metal such as bearing steel.

The outer ring 2 has a raceway groove 21 on the inner peripheral surface. The shoulder inner ring 3 has a shoulder portion 31 that bulges outward in the radial direction on one end side in the axial direction to form a curved slope 32, and the shaft is directed from the minimum diameter portion of the curved slope 32 toward the other end side in the axial direction. It has a shoulder section 33 along the direction.

The ball 4 is interposed between the raceway groove 21 of the outer ring 2 and the curved slope 32 of the inner ring 3 of the shoulder pad, and is in oblique contact with the outer ring 2 and the inner ring 3 of the shoulder pad. Specifically, the action line 10 of the ball 4 is tilted so as to approach the rotation axis 11 from top to bottom with the front of the shoulder and inner ring 3 facing up.

The cage 5 is a crown type cage, and the annular main body 51 is arranged on the shoulder and inner ring 3 on the shoulder and shoulder 33 side.

Contact seals 6 and 7 are attached to both shoulders of the outer ring 2. The contact seals 6 and 7 have a structure in which a seal lip (code omitted) such as rubber or synthetic resin is adhered to a core metal (code omitted). The seal lips (reference numerals omitted) of the contact seals 6 and 7 are brought into contact with the outer peripheral surfaces of the shoulder portion 31 and the shoulder portion 33 of the shoulder inner ring 3. The space in which the balls 4 are arranged is sealed from the outside by the contact seals 6 and 7, and a lubricant such as grease is stored in the sealed space (not shown).

Here, a retaining ring 8 is attached to the shoulder and inner ring 3 of the solid angular contact ball bearing 1 as a limiting member that restricts the axial movement of the ball 4 with respect to the shoulder and inner ring 3. The retaining ring 8 is a snap ring or the like, and is engaged with a peripheral groove 34 provided in the shoulder and inner ring 3 of the shoulder and inner ring 3. The outer diameter of the retaining ring 8 is set to be larger than the inscribed circle diameter of the plurality of balls 4 and smaller than the inner diameter of the annular main body 51 of the cage 5. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, when the front of the shoulder and inner ring 3 is facing up and a downward axial load is applied to the shoulder and inner ring 3, the retaining ring 8 of the shoulder and inner ring 3 becomes the ball 4. Since it is caught and received, the shoulder and inner ring 3 will not separate.

In the case of the solid type angular contact ball bearing 1 of this embodiment, it is necessary to assemble as follows. First, a plurality of balls 4 held by the cage 5 are attached to the outer ring 2 to form an assembly, and the shoulder and inner ring 3 to which the retaining ring 8 is not attached is attached to this assembly. After that, the retaining ring 8 is engaged with the peripheral groove 34 of the inner ring 3 of the shoulder. As described above, when the retaining ring 8 is used as the limiting member, it is not necessary to shrink-fit the outer ring 2, and the assembly process can be performed easily and quickly, which can contribute to the reduction of manufacturing cost.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the solid type angular contact ball bearing 1 having the above-described configuration is used in the upper part of the air suspension. That is, the solid angular contact ball bearing 1 is used to rotatably support the piston rod 16 of the shock absorber on the inner circumference of the insulator 15 attached to the vehicle body (not shown). Specifically, the upper sheet 17 and the collar 18 mounted on the step wall surface 16a of the piston rod 16 and the nut 19 screwed into the upper end threaded portion 16b of the piston rod 16 allow the shoulder and inner ring 3 to be axially moved. By sandwiching the piston rod 16, the solid angular contact ball bearing 1 is positioned in the axial direction. The back surface of the shoulder and inner ring 3 is in contact with the collar 18, and the front surface of the shoulder and inner ring 3 is in contact with the seating surface of the nut 19. Further, the upper end surface of the outer ring 2 of the solid type angular contact ball bearing 1 is brought into contact with the stepped portion 20a of the inner sleeve 20 provided on the inner circumference of the insulator 15, and the lower end of the inner sleeve 20 is bent to bend the solid type angular contact ball. Bearing 1 is held by insulator 15.

Here, in a normal use state of a vehicle in which the wheels of a vehicle (not shown) are in contact with the road surface, the vehicle body weight acts as a downward axial load on the outer ring 2 as shown by the arrow X in FIG. Since the reaction force acts as an upward axial load on the shoulder and inner ring 3 as shown by the arrow Y in FIG. 1, the solid angular contact ball bearing 1 bears the axial load without separating the shoulder and inner ring 3.

However, for example, when the vehicle is lifted up and the wheels are lifted from the road surface, the weight of the shock absorber (not shown) acts as a downward axial load on the inner ring 3 as shown by the arrow Z in FIG. The inner ring 3 is lowered together with the shock absorber. In that case, as described above, since the retaining ring 8 attached to the shoulder and inner ring 3 of the shoulder and inner ring 3 is caught by the ball 4, the separation of the shoulder and inner ring 3 can be prevented and the shock absorber can be supported. ..

As described above, since the solid angular contact ball bearing 1 has a non-separable structure, it is preferable because it can be easily handled when it is transported by itself or when it is attached to or detached from the place of use. Moreover, even when the solid type angular contact ball bearing 1 having this non-separable structure is used in the upper part of the air suspension, the insulator 15 and the shock absorber are non-separable, so that the handling becomes easy. (Other Embodiments) Other embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The outer diameter of the retaining ring 8 is made larger than the inner diameter of the annular main body 51 of the cage 5. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, when the front of the shoulder inner ring 3 is facing up and a downward axial load is applied to the shoulder inner ring 3, the retaining ring 8 of the shoulder inner ring 3 is the cage 5 The inner ring 3 does not separate because it is caught by the shoulder ring. In this embodiment, when a downward axial load is applied to the inner ring 3 of the shoulder, the retaining ring 8 abuts on the cage 5 and does not abut on the ball 4, so that the ball 4 is not damaged. (Other embodiments) Other embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The shoulder and inner ring 3 of the shoulder and inner ring 3 is provided with a raised portion 35 that rises outward in the radial direction as a limiting member that restricts the axial movement of the ball 4 with respect to the shoulder and inner ring 3. The outer diameter of the raised portion 35 is larger than the inscribed circle diameter of the plurality of balls 4 and smaller than the inner diameter of the annular main body 51 of the cage 5. Further, the inner surface of the raised portion 35 is a curved slope 35a, and the curvature of the curved slope 35a is almost the same as the curvature of the ball 4. As a result, the ball 4 is less likely to be damaged when the raised portion 35 comes into contact with the ball 4. Further, the outer ring 2 is used as the outer ring, and the back surface of the shoulder outer ring 2 is arranged on the upper side. The shoulder paddle portion 23 of the shoulder paddle wheel 2 is a limiting member that catches the shoulder paddle wheel 23 itself with respect to the ball 4 in the axial direction by making the inner diameter dimension slightly larger than the minimum diameter portion of the outer ring track portion 21. It is supposed to be. When using this shoulder paddle outer ring 2, the procedure for assembling the solid type angular contact ball bearing 1 is as follows: First, a plurality of balls 4 held by the cage 5 are attached to the shoulder paddle wheel inner ring 3 to form an assembly. On the other hand, it is necessary to assemble the shoulder and outer ring 2 by shrink fitting.

In the solid type angular contact ball bearing 1 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the front of the shoulder and inner ring 3 is facing up, and the back of the shoulder and outer ring 2 is facing up, and the shoulder and inner ring 2 are facing downward. When the axial load of the shoulder and inner ring 3 is applied, the raised portion 35 of the shoulder and inner ring 3 is caught by the ball 4 and received, so that the shoulder and inner ring 3 is not separated. The shoulder paddle outer ring 2 is not separated from the shoulder paddle wheel 2 because the shoulder paddle wheel 22 and the shoulder paddle wheel 23 are caught in the axial direction with respect to the ball 4.

The solid type angular contact ball bearing 1 of the present invention can be used for an appropriate strut type suspension in addition to the air suspension.

<figref num="1">Sectional drawing which shows one half of the solid type angular contact ball bearing which concerns on the best form of this invention.</figref><figref num="2">Explanatory drawing showing how the inner ring of the shoulder and the inner ring of FIG. 1 does not separate.</figref><figref num="3">Cross-sectional view showing one half of a solid type angular contact ball bearing according to another embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="4">Explanatory drawing showing how the inner ring of the shoulder and the inner ring of FIG. 3 does not separate.</figref><figref num="5">Cross-sectional view showing one half of a solid type angular contact ball bearing according to still another embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="6">Explanatory drawing showing how the inner ring of the shoulder and the inner ring of FIG. 5 does not separate.</figref><figref num="7">Cross-sectional view showing one half of a conventional angular contact ball bearing</figref>

Code description

1 ... Solid type angular contact ball bearing, 2 ... Outer ring, 3 ... Shoulder rod inner ring, 4 ... Ball, 5 ... Cage, 8 ... Retaining ring (restricting member), 15. ..Insulator, 16 ... Piston rod, 17 ... Upper seat, 31 ... Shoulder and inner ring shoulder, 32 ... Shoulder and inner ring curved slope, 33 ... Shoulder and inner ring shoulder Department.