Patent Application
20190178287
This application claims priority to German patent application no. 10 2017 222 310.3 filed on Dec. 8, 2017, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
The disclosure is directed to a wheel bearing unit having a first inner ring and at least one second inner ring with a recess and to a preassembly method involving the wheel bearing unit.
A truck wheel bearing unit that includes two inner rings and an outer ring is known. Such a wheel bearing unit is delivered to customers with a loosely attached O-ring for sealing the wheel bearing unit to a structure on which it is mounted. When assembled, the O-ring is disposed in a recess in an axial end face of the axially inner inner-ring at a radially inner region such that, in a fully assembled state, the O-ring abuts both on the axially inner-lying inner ring and on a shoulder of a journal on which the bearing unit is applied. In this manner, the O-ring seals in a manner that substantially prevents the penetration of dirt and water onto the bearing seat.
An aspect of the present disclosure comprises achieving an efficient sealing.
The disclosure relates to a wheel bearing unit including a first inner ring and at least one second inner ring, which second inner ring includes at least one recess.
According to the present disclosure, the recess is disposed directly on a radially outer lying edge of the second inner ring. An efficient sealing can thereby be achieved. In particular it can be achieved that a seal element is preinstallable on the second inner ring.
Furthermore, it can be achieved in particular that in a final assembly the seal element is not forgotten or incorrectly mounted. In comparison to the prior art, there is furthermore the advantage that a seal element having a thinner cross-section can be used so that costs are saved. Furthermore it can be achieved in particular that an end side of the second inner ring, which end side abuts against a surface region of a journal after a final assembly, and the surface region are also protected against corrosion.
Another aspect of the present disclosure comprises a wheel bearing unit that has an outer ring having a radially inner surface and a first outwardly facing axial end and a second outwardly facing axial end; a first inner ring having a first outwardly facing axial end at the first outwardly facing axial end of the outer ring, an inwardly facing axial end and a radially outer surface; and a second inner ring having a second axially outwardly facing axial end at the second outwardly facing axial end of the outer ring, an axially inwardly facing axial end opposed to the axially inwardly facing axial end of the first inner ring and a radially outer surface. The unit includes a first plurality of rolling elements disposed between the outer ring and the first inner ring and a second plurality of rolling elements disposed between the outer ring and the second inner ring, and an annular groove is formed between an axially outer end of the radially outer surface of the first inner ring and a radially outer end of the first outwardly facing axial end of the first inner ring. An O-ring mounted in the annular groove, and the O-ring is configured and mounted such that a first portion thereof extends axially outwardly of the first axially outwardly facing axial end and a second portion thereof extends radially outwardly of the radially outer surface of the first inner ring. The unit may include an L-shaped metal bracket that extends radially outwardly from the radially outer surface of the first inner ring and that at least partially overlies the second portion of the O-ring and compressing the O-ring. Also, a bearing assembly formed by mounting the wheel bearing unit on a shaft having a shoulder such that the first portion of the O-ring is compressed between the shoulder and the groove.
Further advantages will become apparent from the following description of the drawings. An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure is depicted in the drawings. The drawings, the description, and the claims contain numerous features in combination. The person skilled in the art will also advantageously consider the features individually and in further meaningful combinations.
A seal element 22 of the wheel bearing unit is formed as an O-ring and introduced into the recess 14 over an angle of 360° with respect to the central axis. Furthermore, the wheel bearing unit includes a seal unit 30, which abuts against the second inner ring 12 and the outer ring 11 and seals therebetween. A metal-plate element 24 of the seal unit 30 presses via a rounded edge, which lies radially inward and is disposed end-side, onto the seal element 22 and deforms it.
In a final assembled state (
The wheel bearing unit is thus delivered in a state wherein the seal element 22 is already introduced into the recess and is thus pre-assembled. Here the seal element is already captive since it is attached to the second inner ring by the recess and the metal-plate element. An installation onto the journal is therefore also simplified.
The wheel bearing unit is part of a truck.
Representative, non-limiting examples of the present invention were described above in detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide improved wheel bearing units and assembly methods.
Moreover, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the above detailed description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the invention. Furthermore, various features of the above-described representative examples, as well as the various independent and dependent claims below, may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings.
All features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter, independent of the compositions of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. In addition, all value ranges or indications of groups of entities are intended to disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102017222310.3 | Dec 2017 | DE | national |
