Patent Application
20100258991
The present disclosure relates generally to suspension systems for motor vehicles, and more particularly to an anti-rotation jounce bumper assembly for use in a suspension system of a motor vehicle.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Jounce bumper assemblies are often used in motor vehicle suspension systems. Jounce bumper assemblies are typically mounted on a vehicle frame portion, an axle or a suspension system component. The jounce bumper assemblies can be mounted in a free state or with a rigid cup. Jounce bumper assemblies designed to be mounted to a vehicle typically include a rigid cup with a centrally mounted fastener for securing the assembly to the vehicle. During installation, these jounce bumper assemblies can undesirably rotate relative to the vehicle when torque is applied to the fastener. In particular, the jounce bumper assembly may be designed to be positioned in a particular orientation to provide optimal performance characteristics. Accordingly, a need exists for a jounce bumper assembly with an anti-rotation feature that overcomes the aforementioned and other disadvantages.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
In one form, a jounce bumper assembly according to the teachings of the present disclosure includes a bumper and a support member for supporting the bumper and adapted to be mounted to a vehicle. The support member may include a base member having a center and a radius, and a projection extending from the base member and away from the bumper. The projection may include a length greater than the radius of the base member and may be formed from a portion of the base member having a longitudinal axis that is skewed from the center of the base member.
In another form, the jounce bumper assembly includes a bumper and a support member for supporting the bumper and adapted to be mounted to a vehicle. The support member may include a base member that may have a center and a radius, and a projection extending from the base member and away from the bumper. The projection may be formed from a portion of the base member having a longitudinal axis that is skewed from the center of the base member. The jounce bumper assembly may further include a spacer that is positioned adjacent the base member and may have an aperture for receiving the projection. The projection extends through the aperture in the spacer and may include a length greater than the radius of the base member so as to have a portion extending beyond the spacer.
In yet another form, a jounce bumper assembly according to the teachings of the present disclosure may include a bumper and a support member for supporting the bumper and adapted to be mounted to a vehicle. The support member may include a base member having a center and a radius, a sidewall extending form the base member, and a projection extending from the base member and away from the bumper. The projection may be formed from a portion of the sidewall.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.
With reference to
The bumper 12 can be supported by the generally cup-shaped support member 14. Bumper 12 may be made from any elastomeric material, including microcellular urethane, rubber, or any other commonly used bumper materials, and may be secured to the generally cup-shaped support member 14 through molding, adhesives, press fit, interference fit or by any other means known in the art. The generally cup-shaped support member 14 may also include retaining tabs formed in the generally cylindrical sidewall 18 and arranged to engage bumper 12. It should be understood that while the generally cup-shaped support member 14 is shown with a cylindrical sidewall portion 18, other geometries such as square, rectangular and oval could also be used for the sidewall portion.
Base member 16 may include a generally circular shape having a center 26 and a radius 28, as illustrated in
The anti-rotation projection 20 also includes a base member end 40 and an extended end 42 extending from base member 16. The anti-rotation projection 20 may be formed by lancing base member 16 and/or sidewall 18′ and then bending the lanced portion outward such that it extends away from a mounting surface 44 of base member 16 and is substantially orthogonal to base member 16. It should be appreciated that anti-rotation projection 20 can be formed such that it extends from base member 16 at an angle other than ninety degrees as may be required by the environment in which the jounce bumper assembly 10 would be used.
The anti-rotation projection 20 may also include an axial twist 46 about its longitudinal axis 32 to provide added strength and resistance to bending. The axial twist 46 may be formed by twisting or rotating the extended end 42 of anti-rotation projection 20 relative to the base member end 40 about longitudinal axis 32. In one exemplary configuration, the anti-rotation projection 20 has an axial twist of ninety degrees about longitudinal axis 32 between the base member end 40 and extended end 42 as best shown in
The anti-rotation projection 20 may alternatively include a double back feature 50 for added strength and resistance to bending as shown in
In an alternative configuration and referring to
The anti-rotation projection 20 would be sized in this configuration such that it extends though spacer 60 a sufficient amount that it would then extend into an aperture or other engagement feature in the vehicle arranged to receive the anti-rotation projection 20 upon mounting jounce bumper assembly 10 to the vehicle. By forming the anti-rotation projection 20 from portion 30 that is skewed from aperture 22 or along the sidewall 18′ (as shown in
In another alternative configuration and with additional reference to
In another alternative configuration and referring to
In another alternative configuration and with reference to
In operation, as the jounce bumper assembly 10 is being mounted to a vehicle, the length of anti-rotation projection 20 greater than radius 28 provides for reliably locating and positioning of the jounce bumper assembly 10 prior to securing the assembly to the vehicle via fastener 24. The extended length of anti-rotation projection 20 also provides for additional design flexibility in the vehicle such that the longer projection can be received by a vehicle aperture that may be spaced apart from or at an angle relative to mounting surface 44 of the jounce bumper assembly due to, for example, packaging constraints in the vehicle design.
In securing jounce bumper assembly 10 to the vehicle, a threaded nut or similar mating fastener component would be threaded and tightened onto fastener 24 to seat and secure the jounce bumper assembly 10 to the vehicle. During this operation, the jounce bumper assembly would tend to rotate relative to the vehicle due to the torque imparted on the assembly while securing the nut to fastener 24. The anti-rotation projection 20 prevents such rotation of the jounce bumper assembly 10 during installation and provides for a more reliable and efficient installation process. Further, the extended length anti-rotation projection 20 with the axial twist 46 or double back feature 50 provides for additional strength and resistance to bending, thereby allowing anti-rotation projection 20 to be capable of resisting more rotational torque during the assembly process.
In addition, in a configuration where the jounce bumper assembly 10 includes a spacer 60, the extended length of anti-rotation projection 20 also allows projection 20 to extend through a spacer 60 and into a vehicle aperture to prevent rotation of both the spacer 60 and the jounce bumper assembly 10 during installation to a vehicle as described above. Further, in this configuration, the extended length anti-rotation projection 20 eliminates a need for spacer 60 to have additional anti-rotation features to prevent movement of the spacer 60 relative to the jounce bumper assembly 10 and the vehicle, thereby reducing cost and complexity of the spacer assembly.
The foregoing description of the present disclosure has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention. Further, the description is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the disclosure and are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure. Such variations are not intended to depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
