TRIPOD TYPE CONSTANT VELOCITY UNIVERSAL JOINT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a tripod type constant velocity universal joint used for power transmission of automobiles and various industrial machines.

BACKGROUND ART

In a drive shaft used in a power transmission system of an automobile, a plunging type constant velocity universal joint is coupled to an inboard side (center side in a vehicle width direction) of an intermediate shaft, and a fixed type constant velocity universal joint is coupled to an outboard side (end portion side in the vehicle width direction) in many cases. The plunging type constant velocity universal joint herein allows both angular displacement and relative movement in an axial direction between two shafts, and the fixed type constant velocity universal joint allows the angular displacement between the two shafts but does not allow the relative movement in the axial direction between the two shafts.

A tripod type constant velocity universal joint is known as a plunging type constant velocity universal joint. As the tripod type constant velocity universal joint, there are a single roller type and a double roller type. In the single roller type, a roller inserted into a track groove of an outer joint member is rotatably attached to a leg shaft of a tripod member via a plurality of needle rollers. The double roller type includes a roller inserted into a track groove of an outer joint member, and an inner ring externally fitted to a leg shaft of a tripod member to rotatably support the roller. The double roller type allows the roller to swing with respect to the leg shaft, and thus, has an advantage that each of induced thrust (shaft force induced by friction between parts inside the joint) and slide resistance can be reduced as compared with the single roller type.

Patent Literature 1 below discloses an example of the tripod type constant velocity universal joint of the double roller type. In such a tripod type constant velocity universal joint of a double roller type described, an outer peripheral surface of a leg shaft of a tripod member and an inner peripheral surface of an inner ring are in point contact with each other or in contact with each other in a form close to a point on a torque load side. Therefore, in this type of tripod type constant velocity universal joint, a surface pressure at a contact portion between the outer peripheral surface of each shaft and the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring is high particularly when a load torque is high. Therefore, the durability of the contact portion of the leg shaft outer peripheral surface is likely to be affected.

In order to solve this problem, Patent Literature 1 below discloses the tripod type constant velocity universal joint of the double roller type in which a hardened layer is formed on the leg shaft by carburizing, quenching, and tempering, the tripod member is made of a steel material having a carbon content of 0.23 to 0.44%, and an effective hardened layer having a limit hardness of 600 Hv is provided.

CITATIONS LIST
Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: JP 2020-106087 A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problems

The tripod type constant velocity universal joint of the double roller type described in Patent Literature 1 is obtained, for example, by carburizing and quenching chromium-molybdenum steel having the amount of carbon of 0.34% and then performing high-temperature tempering. In this configuration, the amount of carbon in the steel material can be increased as compared with the related art, and thus, the durability of the leg shaft at the contact portion can be improved even when the contact surface pressure at the contact portion between the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft and the inner ring increases due to the load of the excessive torque.

On the other hand, an inventor of the present application has further studied the tripod type constant velocity universal joint described in Patent Literature 1, and found that there is a difficulty in strength of a root portion of the leg shaft in exchange for the fact that the durability at the contact portion of the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft when the torque load is applied can be secured as described above. A tensile load repeatedly acts on the root portion of the leg shaft along with transmission of the torque, but the fatigue strength at the root portion decreases, resulting in insufficient torsion strength at the root portion of the leg shaft.

Therefore, an object of the present invention to improve strength of a root portion of a leg shaft of a tripod member.

Solutions to Problems

The present invention made based on the above findings provides a tripod type constant velocity universal joint including: an outer joint member including track grooves, which extend in a joint axial direction, at three locations in a circumferential direction, each of the track grooves having a pair of roller guide surfaces arranged to face each other in a joint circumferential direction; a tripod member including a body portion having a central hole, three leg shafts projecting in a radial direction of the body portion, and an intermediate portion located between the body portion and the leg shafts and having a cross section formed in a curve shape, the cross section including an axial line of each of the leg shafts, the tripod member made of a steel material; a roller mounted on each of the leg shafts; and an inner ring that is externally fitted to each of the leg shafts and rotatably supports the roller, the roller being movable in an axial direction of the outer joint member along the roller guide surfaces, the roller and the inner ring forming a roller unit swingable with respect to the leg shafts, the tripod member having a carbon content of 0.23 to 0.44% at a core portion, each of the leg shafts being provided with a hardened layer of a carburized layer on the surface of each of the leg shafts, in which a first region having a radius of curvature Ra in a cross section, which includes the axial line of each of the leg shafts, in a direction orthogonal to the joint axial direction and a second region having a radius of curvature Rb in a cross section, which includes the axial line of each of the leg shafts, in the joint axial direction are provided in the intermediate portion of the tripod member, and Ra>Rb is satisfied.

With such a configuration, stress concentration can be reduced in the first region where the torque mainly acts. Therefore, it is possible to enhance torsion strength at a root portion of the leg shaft where a tensile load repeatedly acts with torque transmission. Thus, carburizing and quenching performed on the steel material with the amount of carbon increased to 0.23% or more can increase an internal hardness of the tripod member and increase a depth of the hardened layer on the surface, and it is possible to enhance durability of the tripod member even in a situation where a decrease in the torsion strength of the tripod member is concerned due to a decrease in toughness caused by the increase in the internal hardness.

It is preferable to provide a connection region S between the first region and the second region, the connection region S being smoothly connected to both the first region and the second region.

It is preferable that Ra/PCD≥0.0850 where PCD is a pitch circle diameter of the roller guide surfaces of the outer joint member. Since Ra/PCD≥0.0850 in this manner, a thickness of the first region, that is, a minimum distance t between a large-diameter portion of a spline and the first region can be increased. Since the thickness of the first region is increased in this manner, strength, particularly fatigue strength, of the root portion of the leg shaft can be enhanced even if the depth of the hardened layer increases and the toughness of the tripod member decreases.

In this case, it is preferable that t/PCD≥0.145 where t is the minimum distance from the large-diameter portion of the spline formed on an inner peripheral surface of the body portion of the tripod member to the first region.

A surface hardness of each of the leg shafts of the tripod member is preferably 653 HV or more. Thus, it is possible to enhance durability of an outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft when a high torque load is applied, particularly durability of a contact portion with an inner peripheral surface of the inner ring.

An internal hardness of the tripod member is preferably 513 HV or more. When the internal hardness is set to 513 HV or more, an effective hardened layer depth required for the tripod member can be obtained.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the durability at the root portion of the leg shaft of the tripod member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in a joint axial direction illustrating a tripod type constant velocity universal joint of a double roller type.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line K-K in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line L-L in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the tripod type constant velocity universal joint of FIG. 1 takes an operating angle.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a hardened layer formed on a tripod member.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a hardness distribution on a leg shaft of a conventional product.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a hardness distribution on a leg shaft of an improved product.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the tripod member as viewed from the joint axial direction.

FIG. 9 is a side view (a partial cross-sectional view) of the tripod member.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line M-M in FIG. 8.

FIG. 11A is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a first region.

FIG. 11B is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a second region.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the first region of the tripod member in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

An embodiment of a tripod type constant velocity universal joint according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12.

A tripod type constant velocity universal joint 1 of the present embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 is a double roller type. Note that FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in an axial direction of the tripod type constant velocity universal joint of the double roller type, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line K-K in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line L-L in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in the axial direction of the tripod type constant velocity universal joint at an operating angle. Note that the joint axial direction and a joint circumferential direction in the following description respectively mean an axial direction and a circumferential direction of the tripod type constant velocity universal joint when the operating angle is set to 0°.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tripod type constant velocity universal joint 1 has a main part including an outer joint member 2, a tripod member 3 as an inner joint member, and a roller unit 4 as a torque transmitting member. The outer joint member 2 has a cup shape whose one end is open, and includes three linear track grooves 5 extending in the joint axial direction and formed on an inner peripheral surface at equal intervals in the joint circumferential direction. In each of the track grooves 5, roller guide surfaces 6 arranged to face each other in the joint circumferential direction of the outer joint member 2 and extending in the joint axial direction are formed. The tripod member 3 and the roller unit 4 are accommodated inside the outer joint member 2.

The tripod member 3 integrally includes: a body portion 31 (trunnion body portion) having a central hole 30; three leg shafts 32 (trunnion journals) projecting in a radial direction from trisection positions in the joint circumferential direction of an outer peripheral surface of the body portion 31; and an intermediate portion 33 connecting the outer peripheral surface of the body portion 31 and outer peripheral surfaces of the leg shafts 32. The tripod member 3 is coupled to a shaft 8 as an axis, by fitting a male spline 81 formed on the shaft 8 to a female spline 34 formed in the central hole 30 of the trunnion body portion 31 such that a torque can be transmitted. An end surface on one side of the tripod member 3 in the joint axial direction is engaged with a shoulder portion 82 provided on the shaft 8, and a retaining ring 10 mounted on a distal end of the shaft 8 is engaged with an end surface on the other side of the tripod member 3 in the joint axial direction, whereby the tripod member 3 is fixed to the shaft 8 in the joint axial direction.

The roller unit 4 has a main part including an outer ring 11 which an annular roller having an axial line of the leg shaft 32 as the center, an annular inner ring 12 arranged on an inner diameter side of the outer ring 11 and externally fitted to the leg shaft 32, and a large number of needle rollers 13 interposed between the outer ring 11 and the inner ring 12. The roller unit 4 is accommodated in the track groove 5 of the outer joint member 2. The roller unit 4 including the outer ring 11, the inner ring 12, and the needle rollers 13 has a structure that is not separated due to the presence of washers 14 and 15.

In this embodiment, an outer peripheral surface 11a (see FIG. 2) of the outer ring 11 is a convex curved surface with an arc having a center of curvature on the axial line of the leg shaft 32 as a generatrix. The outer peripheral surface 11a of the outer ring 11 is in angular contact with the roller guide surface 6.

The needle rollers 13 are arranged between a cylindrical inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 11 as an outer raceway surface and a cylindrical outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 12 as an inner raceway surface, and can freely roll between the outer raceway surface and the inner raceway surface.

The outer peripheral surface of each of the leg shafts 32 of the tripod member 3 has a straight shape in the axial direction of the leg shaft 32 in a cross section along any direction including the axial line of the leg shaft 32. Further, the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 has a substantially elliptical shape in a cross section orthogonal to the axial line of the leg shaft 32 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 is in contact with an inner peripheral surface 12a of the inner ring 12 in a direction orthogonal to the joint axial direction, that is, in a direction of a major axis a. In the joint axial direction, that is, in a direction of a minor axis b, a gap m is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 and the inner peripheral surface 12a of the inner ring 12.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the intermediate portion 33 between the body portion 31 of the tripod member 3 and the leg shaft 32 is formed so as to draw a concave curve in any cross section including the axial line of the leg shaft 32.

The inner peripheral surface 12a of the inner ring 12 has a convex arc shape in any cross section including an axial line of the inner ring 12. Since a traverse cross-sectional shape of the leg shaft 32 is substantially elliptical as described above and the predetermined gap m is provided between the leg shaft 32 and the inner ring 12, the inner ring 12 can swing with respect to the leg shaft 32. Since the inner ring 12 and the outer ring 11 are assembled to be relatively rotatable via the needle rollers 13 as described above, the outer ring 11 can swing with respect to the leg shaft 32 integrally with the inner ring 12. That is, in a plane including the axial line of the leg shaft 32, the axial lines of the outer ring 11 and the inner ring 12 can tilt with respect to the axial line of the leg shaft 32 (see FIG. 4).

As illustrated in FIG. 4, when the tripod type constant velocity universal joint 1 rotates at the operating angle, the axial line of the tripod member 3 tilts with respect to the axial line of the outer joint member 2. However, since the roller unit 4 can swing, it is possible to avoid a state in which the outer ring 11 and the roller guide surface 6 obliquely cross each other. Thus, the outer ring 11 rolls horizontally with respect to the roller guide surface 6, induced thrust and slide resistance can be reduced, and low vibration of the tripod type constant velocity universal joint I can be achieved.

Further, since the cross section (a transverse cross section) of the leg shaft 32 is substantially elliptical and the cross section (a longitudinal cross section) of the inner peripheral surface 12a of the inner ring 12 is the arc-shaped convex cross section as described above, the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 on the torque load side and the inner peripheral surface 12a of the inner ring 12 come into point contact with each other or come into contact with each other in a narrow area close to point contact. Thus, a force to tilt the roller unit 4 is decreased, and stability of a posture of the outer ring 11 is improved.

The above-described tripod member 3 is manufactured by using a steel material through main processes such as forging (cold forging)→machining (turning)→broaching of the spline 34→a heat treatment→grinding of the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32. The outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 can be finished by quenched steel cutting instead of the grinding process. Further, a spheroidizing annealing process and a bonding treatment process can be added before the cold forging. The spheroidizing annealing process can be omitted if there is no problem in forging properties during the cold forging due to circumstances such as use of a material having a small amount of carbon. As the heat treatment, carburizing, quenching, and tempering are performed.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a hardened layer 16 formed by the heat treatment with respect to the tripod member 3. The hardened layer 16 is formed by hardening a carburized layer by quenching. The hardened layer 16 is formed on the entire surface of the tripod member 3 including the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32, the outer peripheral surface of the body portion 31, the surface of the intermediate portion 33, and the surface of the female spline 34. In the tripod member 3 as a finished product, the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 is finished by grinding (or quenched steel cutting), and thus, a depth of the hardened layer 16 on the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 is shallower than that in the other regions by an allowance caused by the grinding or the like. Note that this allowance is usually as small as about 0.1 mm, and thus, a thickness of the hardened layer 16 is uniformly drawn on the entire surface in FIG. 5.

As described above, in the tripod type constant velocity universal joint of the double roller type, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 and the inner peripheral surface 12a of the inner ring 12 come into point contact with each other in a region X on the torque load side, or come into contact with each other in a form close to the point. Thus, there is a problem that a surface pressure at such a contact portion is high when a high torque load is applied. When the surface pressure is excessive, durability of the leg shaft 32 at the above contact portion X may be affected.

In order to solve this problem, the present inventors conducted the following verification.

In general, the hardened layer 16 is formed on the surface of the tripod member 3 by performing forging using chromium-molybdenum steel, which is a type of case-hardened steel, as a material, and then performing carburizing, quenching, and tempering as the heat treatment. FIG. 6 illustrates a hardness distribution from the surface of the leg shaft 32 to a core portion when a material (examples thereof include chromium-molybdenum steel according to JIS G 4052, and equivalent materials having the amount of carbon of less than about 0.23%) of the tripod member 3 of the related art is used and subjected to carburizing, quenching, and tempering (with a quenching temperature at 860° C. and a tempering temperature at 180° C.). In this case, as is clear from FIG. 6, the hardness of the surface is more than 513 HV, but the hardness is less than 513 HV in a region very shallow from the surface. Thus, the durability of the contact portion of the leg shaft 32 is affected when an excessive torque is loaded. Therefore, in order to solve the above problem, it is necessary to form the hardened layer 16 as deep as possible.

Note that an effective hardened layer depth means a distance from a surface of the steel material to a position of a limit hardness. According to JIS G 0557, the limit hardness of the effective hardened layer is 550 HV, but it is also specified that “when the hardness of the hardened layer at a distance of 3 times from the surface exceeds the Vickers hardness of 450 HV, the limit hardness exceeding 550 HV may be used by agreement between the parties”. In the present embodiment, an internal hardness (a hardness of a non-quenched region) of the tripod member 3 is 513 HV or more as will be described later. Thus, the limit hardness of the effective hardened layer depth is specified to be 600 HV in the present embodiment as an exception example. Note that it is more preferable from the viewpoint of the durability of the leg shaft 32 as the hardness of the hardened layer 16 becomes harder, and thus, it is preferable to specify the limit hardness of the effective hardened layer depth to be 653 HV or more.

In order to deepen the hardened layer 16, the simplest method is to increase a depth of a carburized layer. However, the formation of a deep carburized layer requires an enormous carburizing time, which leads to an increase in manufacturing cost. It is conceivable that a steel material having a high carbon content, for example, carbon steel for machine structure such as S50C to S55C, is used as a material, and a heat treatment method is changed to high-frequency quenching capable of performing quenching deeper than carburizing and quenching. In this case, however, the material becomes harder as the amount of carbon increases, and thus, there is a problem that a processing load at the time of forging the tripod member 3 increases, which leads to an increase in a size of forging equipment or the like.

Based on the above consideration, the present inventors have verified the effectiveness of using case-hardened steel having a larger amount of carbon than the related art while setting conditions of a carburizing treatment and conditions of quenching and tempering to be similar to those in the related art. FIG. 7 illustrates a hardness distribution when carburizing, quenching, and tempering were performed using chromium-molybdenum steel as a material, the material equivalent to the amount of carbon of about 0.34%. A quenching temperature is 850° C., and a tempering temperature is 180° C. Note that the horizontal axis (“Depth from surface”) in FIG. 7 is illustrated at the same scale as that in FIG. 6.

As is clear from results in FIG. 7, it has been found that the depth of the hardened layer 16 can be increased as intended by increasing the amount of carbon of the case-hardened steel. It can also be understood that the internal hardness becomes 513 HV or more as a result of increasing the depth of the hardened layer 16 in this manner. On the other hand, the hardness (internal hardness) of the core portion after carburizing, quenching, and tempering reaches about 550 HV, there is a possibility that toughness of the leg shaft 32 may decrease, and repeated fatigue strength of the tripod member 3 may decrease. A countermeasure for this problem will be described later.

Note that the case where the material equivalent to the amount of carbon of about 0.34% is used as the material of the tripod member 3 has been exemplified in the above description, a type of material that can be used is not limited. For example, in the case of chromium-molybdenum steel, SCM440 or the like can be used in addition to SCM435. Further, it is also possible to use so-called H-steel (for example, SCM435H, SCM440H, or the like: specified in JIS G 4052) whose hardenability is guaranteed. Other types of steel materials can also be used as long as the steel material is case-hardened steel, and for example, chromium steel (for example, SCr435, SCr440, or the like) specified in JIS G 4053 can also be used as a material. As the chromium steel, for example, H-steel such as SCr435H or SCr440H can also be used. Carbon steel for machine structure (specified in JIS G 4051) such as S10C to S35C can also be used as a material without being limited to case-hardened steel such as chromium-molybdenum steel or chromium steel.

It is preferable to use a steel material having the amount of carbon of 0.44% or less in consideration of moldability in cold forging of the tripod member 3. Note that, when the moldability during forging does not cause a problem as in the case of hot forging or the like, for example, a steel material having the amount of carbon exceeding 0.44% can also be used. In the case of case-hardened steel having the amount of carbon of 1% or less, no particular defect occurs even in the hot forging.

In an improved product described above, it has been found that there is a difficulty in strength of a root portion (the intermediate portion 33) of the leg shaft 32 as described above. It is presumed that this is because an increase in the hardness of the entire tripod member 3 from the surface to the deep region leads to a decrease in the toughness of the tripod member 3, and as a result, the fatigue strength of the tripod member 3 decreases at the intermediate portion 33 where a tensile load repeatedly acts with torque transmission, affecting the strength of the intermediate portion 33. When it is attempted to solve this problem by reviewing a material surface and a heat treatment method, the durability at the contact portion X of the leg shaft 32 is likely to deteriorate, so that it is desired to solve the problem from another viewpoint.

Based on the above verification, the tripod member 3 has been reviewed from a shape surface in order to improve the strength of the root portion of the leg shaft 32 in the present invention.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10, the intermediate portion 33 is formed such that a cross section including the axial line of the leg shaft 32 forms a concave curve over the entire circumference of the leg shaft 32. As illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the intermediate portion 33 is formed in an arc shape with a radius of curvature Ra in a cross section in a direction (a major axis direction of an ellipse formed by the cross section of the leg shaft 32) orthogonal to the joint axial direction including the axial line of the leg shaft 32, and is formed in an arc shape with a radius of curvature Rb in a cross section in the joint axial direction (a minor axis direction of the ellipse formed by the cross section of the leg shaft 32) including the axial line of the leg shaft 32. The radius of curvature Ra is larger than the radius of curvature Rb (Ra>Rb).

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 10, in the intermediate portion 33, a first region P having the radius of curvature Ra and a second region Q having the radius of curvature Rb are each formed with a width in the circumferential direction of the leg shaft 32. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the first region P can be formed in a partial region in the circumferential direction of the leg shaft 32 with a plane, which includes the axial line of the leg shaft 32, orthogonal to the joint axial direction as the center. Further, the second region Q can be formed in a partial region in the circumferential direction of the leg shaft 32 with a plane, which includes the axial line of the leg shaft 32, in the joint axial direction as the center. In the circumferential direction of the leg shaft 32, two first regions P are arranged to face each other in a direction orthogonal to the joint axial direction, and two second regions Q are arranged to face each other in the joint axial direction.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 10, in the intermediate portion 33, a connection region S smoothly connected to each of the first region P and the second region Q is formed in a portion sandwiched between the first region P and the second region Q adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction of the leg shaft 32. In the connection region S, the radius of curvature is gradually changed in the circumferential direction of the leg shaft 32.

In this manner, the intermediate portion 33 is formed of any of the first region P, the second region Q, and the connection region S. The respective regions P, Q, and S may be formed of not only a single arc but also a plurality of arcs having different radii of curvature in the longitudinal cross section including the axial line of the leg shaft 32. In the latter case, the shape of the intermediate portion 33 is determined such that Ra>Rb where Ra is a minimum radius of curvature in the cross section including the axial line of the leg shaft 32 in the first region P, and Rb is a maximum radius of curvature in the cross section including the axial line of the leg shaft 32 in the second region P. Any one or two regions of the regions P, Q, and S may be formed of a single arc, and the remaining regions may be formed of a plurality of arcs.

Since the radius of curvature Ra of the first region P larger than the radius of curvature Rb of the second region Q in this manner, stress concentration can be reduced in the first region P where a torque mainly acts. Therefore, it is possible to enhance torsion strength at the root portion of the leg shaft 32 where a tensile load repeatedly acts with torque transmission. Thus, carburizing and quenching performed on the case-hardened steel with the amount of carbon increased to 0.23% or more can increase the internal hardness of the tripod member 3 and increase the depth of the hardened layer on the surface, and it is possible to enhance the durability of the tripod member 3 even in a situation where a decrease in the torsion strength of the tripod member is concerned due to the decrease in the toughness caused by the increase in the internal hardness.

Further, the second region Q is a portion having a low contribution to the torque transmission. Therefore, a decrease in the radius of curvature Rb of the second region Q enables more material removal to be performed at the time of processing, and it is possible to reduce the weight while avoiding a decrease in the strength of the tripod member 3. This effect can be more remarkably obtained by setting an angle β of a formation range of the second region Q having the axial line of the leg shaft 32 as the center to be larger than an angle o of a formation range of the first region P having the axial line of the leg shaft 32 as the center as illustrated in FIG. 10.

In the tripod member 3 of the double roller type as in the present embodiment, the needle rollers 13 do not roll on the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32, and thus, it is not necessary to provide a thinned portion (relief portion) configured to avoid interference with the needle rollers 13 in a region from the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 to the surface of the intermediate portion 33. Therefore, an edge due to the relief portion is not formed in the region from the surface of the intermediate portion 33 to the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32, and the region from the intermediate portion 33 to the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 is smoothly continued. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently obtain an effect of alleviating the stress concentration by providing a difference between the radii of curvature Ra and Rb.

The radius of curvature Ra in the first region P of the intermediate portion 33 is preferably set such that Ra/PCD≥0.0850 where PCD (see FIG. 2) is a pitch circle diameter of the roller guide surfaces 6 of the outer joint member 2. Further, it is preferable to set t/PCD≥0.145 where t is a minimum distance from a large-diameter portion 34a of the spline 34 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the body portion 31 of the tripod member 3 to the first region P (see FIG. 5). Note that PCD, Ra, and t are all set in the same unit (mm).

The reason for defining these numerical ranges is as follows.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the intermediate portion 33 (first region P) of the tripod member 3. As indicated by a solid line in FIG. 12, an inner diameter side of the first region P is smoothly connected to the outer peripheral surface of the body portion 31 while drawing a tangent line. On the other hand, an outer diameter side of the first region P is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 with a minute step Z. The step Z is caused by retraction of the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 by a grinding allowance when the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 is ground after the cold forging of the tripod member 3. When a radius of curvature of an intermediate portion 33′ (first region) is increased as indicated by a two-dot chain line, the arc-shaped intermediate portion 33′ reaches a planned grinding region G before grinding on an outer diameter side of the intermediate portion 33′, and a grinding allowance Y increases. The increase in the grinding allowance Y adversely affects grinding accuracy. From the viewpoint of preventing a decrease in the grinding accuracy, R/PCD<0.0850 is set in a conventional product. Note that the term “conventional product” as used herein means a product in which the intermediate portion 33 has a uniform radius of curvature R over the entire circumference.

In the present invention, Ra/PCD≥0.0850, and thus, the thickness of the first region P, that is, the minimum distance t (see FIG. 12: thickness) between the large-diameter portion 34a (see FIG. 5) of the spline 34 and the first region P can be increased. Specifically, it is possible to set t/PCD≥0.145. Since the thickness of the first region P is increased in this manner, strength, particularly fatigue strength, of the first region P in the intermediate portion 33 of the leg shaft 32 can be enhanced even if the depth of the hardened layer 16 increases and the toughness of the tripod member 3 decreases. Therefore, the torsion strength of the leg shaft 32 can be enhanced, and the degree of freedom in designing the tripod member 3 can be improved.

Although the grinding allowance Y increases on the outer diameter side of the first region P when the radius of curvature Ra of the first region P increases in this manner, it has been confirmed through the verification of the present inventors that the grinding accuracy at the time of grinding the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 is not adversely affected if Ra/PCD≤0.20. Therefore, an upper limit value of Ra/PCD is preferably 0.20. That is, it is preferable to set 0.0850 23 Ra/PCD≤0.20. Further, if a value of t/PCD is too large, the tripod member 3 is unnecessarily increased in size, leading to an increase in weight. Thus, the upper limit of the value of t/PCD is preferably 0.20 (t/PCD≤0.20).

Further, the radius of curvature Rb of the second region Q is preferably in a range of 0.0550≤Rb/PCD≤0.0820. As described above, more material removal is performed at the time of processing when Ra>Rb, but it is difficult to obtain a clear material reduction effect when Ra and Rb are close to each other. Therefore, it is preferable that Rb/PCD≤0.0820. Further, if Rb/PCD is too small, there is a possibility that moldability deteriorates and molding into a predetermined shape is not possible when the second region Q is molded by forging. Therefore, it is preferable that 0.0550≤Rb/PCD.

The embodiment of the present invention described above can also be applied to a tripod type constant velocity universal joint of a double roller type that has another configuration.

For example, it is also possible to form the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 into a convex curved surface (for example, a convex arc shape in a cross section), and form the inner peripheral surface 12a of the inner ring 12 into a cylindrical surface. Further, it is also possible to form the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft 32 into a convex curved surface (for example, a convex arc shape in a cross section), and form the inner peripheral surface 12a of the inner ring 12 into a concave spherical surface to be fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the leg shaft. At this time, it is also possible to provide flanges at both inner diameter end portions of the outer ring to make the washers 14 and 15 unnecessary.

The tripod type constant velocity universal joint I described above is not limitedly applied to a drive shaft of an automobile, and can be widely used for power transmission paths of an automobile, industrial equipment, and the like.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1 Tripod type constant velocity universal joint

2 Outer joint member

3 Tripod member

4 Roller unit

5 Track groove

6 Roller guide surface

8 Axis (shaft)

11 Roller (outer ring)

12 Inner ring

13 Needle roller

16 Hardened layer

30 Central hole

31 Body portion

32 Leg shaft

33 Intermediate portion

34 Female spline

P First region

Q Second region

TRIPOD TYPE CONSTANT VELOCITY UNIVERSAL JOINT

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