The invention is related to a bearing unit, comprising a rolling element bearing, said bearing comprising at least two rings which are each provided with at least one raceway and at least one set of rolling elements which are in contact with the raceways, as well as at least one tubular sheet metal element connected to one of said rings.
Such a bearing unit is known, for instance from U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,301. Said prior art bearing unit comprises sheet metal elements which are connected to each other. The sheet metal elements are carried out as bearing rings which enclose several rows of rolling elements.
The object of the invention is to provide sheet metal elements for the purpose of adding further mechanical features to the bearing unit, such as increasing the strength and/or stiffness of the bearing unit. Also, it is desirable to enable the transfer of forces and/or torques through such sheet metal elements.
Said object is achieved in that the sheet metal element at least partly has a mounting part with non-circular cross section, said mounting part being mounted to a counter part with a correspondingly non-circular cross section of said ring or connected to said ring.
The non-circular part of the sheet metal element may serve several functions. First of all, it may provide additional stiffness to e.g. the bearing onto which it is connected. This may in particular be so in case the sheet metal element has e.g. a triangularly shaped cross section. Furthermore, the non-circular shape may provide a torque transfer means. In this connection, the counter part may comprise a cap connected to the inner ring.
According to the invention, the sheet metal element has a circular part which is opposite tie inner surface of the inner ring, and a non-circular part which is tightly fitted within a correspondingly non-circular hollow part of the cap. Additionally, the circular part of the sheet metal element can be tightly fitted within the inner ring.
Furthermore, the sheet metal element may have an end wall which closes one end of the tubular part. In that case, the cap and the end wall of the sheet metal element can be connected to each other through e.g. a screw/nut connection.
The non-circular shape of fee sheet metal element may take several forms; preferably, the cross section of the non-circular part can comprise e.g. three rectilinear wall sections which are angled with respect to each other.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the bearing unit according to the invention may be provided with a constant velocity joint which is connected to, or comprises, the tubular sheet metal element. As will be clear, the transfer of a driving torque to the rotating ring of the bearing plays an important role in tins connection. Preferably therefore, the constant velocity joint has an axle stub provided with a non-circular cross section, said axle stub being tightly fitted within a correspondingly shaped space in the tabular sheet metal element. By means of the non-circular shapes of the axle stub of the constant velocity joint and of the sheet metal element, said torque transfer can be ascertained.
According to a particular embodiment, the axle stub has a shoulder onto which one end of the tubular sheet metal element bears. Also, the axle stub comprises a screw threaded bore and the end cap comprising aligned opening, said cap, sheet metal element and axle stub being drawn, together by means of a screw accommodated in the opening and in the screw threaded bore.
According to a further alternative embodiment, the sheet metal element forms an integrated part of the constant velocity joint, said part being of non-circular cross section and being tightly fitted within a correspondingly non-circular hollow part of the cap.
For the fixation of joining of the several components addressed before, in particular the flanges of the cap and the flanges of the rings, several possibilities exist. These encompass mechanical means, such as riveting, energy welding, laser welding, spot welding or glueing. Also, cold rolling or orbital forming techniques can be applied to lock-up the rolling bearing section or to join the bearing parts. The materials used can be metallic or non-metallic. The latter case encompasses composite materials, powder materials or combinations of these. Of course, the joining or fixation depends on the materials applied.
The invention will now be described farther with reference to several embodiments shown in the figures.
The bearing unit shown in
The inner ring 2 has an outwardly extending flange 8, onto which the cap 7 has been connected by means of rivets 9. Alternatively, energy welding, e.g. laser welding or spot welding, may be applied. This cap has a flange part 10 and a counterpart 11 of a non-circular cross section as shown, in
According to the invention, the sheet metal element 14 has bees provided, which comprises a cylindrical part 15 as well as a non-cylindrical part 16 provided with rectilinear wall parts 17 as well as bent wall parts 18. As shown in
Furthermore the cylindrical part 15 of the sheet metal element is tightly fitted within the inner ring 2. Thereby, a stiffening effect is obtained for the hearing unit.
In the embodiment shown in
In this embodiment, the sheet metal element 14 is of prismatic shape and has a triangular form, as shown in the cross sections of
By means of the screw 34, extending through hole 33 in the cap 7 and screwed into the screw threaded bore 32 in the axle stub 24, the sheet metal element 14 is firmly held between the cap 7 and the shoulder 31 surrounding the axle stub 24 of the constant velocity joint 19.
Thus, in this embodiment the sheet metal element 14 serves as a torque transfer means for transferring the driving couple from the constant velocity joint 19 to the cap 7 and inner ring 2 of the bearing unit 1.
The embodiment of
Is the embodiment of
The bearing unit according to the invention can be applied in many different fields. It is applicable in both road and off-road vehicles, railed vehicles etc. In particular the bearing unit is suitable for wheel ends for ears, trucks, trailers, trains, motorbikes and industrial applications. For instance, the bearing unit can be applied in the gears or bearing units in drive systems, water pumps etc. Moreover, a modular assembly is possible.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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04078298.9 | Dec 2004 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/NL2005/050063 | 12/6/2005 | WO | 00 | 12/12/2007 |