JP4501653B2 - Wheel bearing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bearing having an easy traceability of a wheel bearing shipped from a factory. <P>SOLUTION: The bearing for wheels comprises an outer ring member 3, an inner ring member 5 arranged concentric, inside in radial direction, with the outer ring member 3, and a rolling element 6 provided between the outer ring member 3 and the inner ring member 5, with sealing parts 11 and 12 provided at both ends in axial direction of an annular space 10 formed with the outer ring member 3 and inner ring member 5. At least one of the sealing members 11 and 12 comprises a core metal 20 engaged with either the inner periphery of the outer ring member 3 or the outer periphery of the inner ring member 5, and a seal body 21 of elastic body which is bonded to the surface of core metal 20. An IC chip 22 is provided on the surface of core metal 20 to which the seal body 21 is bonded, and the IC chip 22 is covered with the seal body 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&amp;NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a wheel bearing device (hereinafter also simply referred to as a bearing device).

  The wheel bearing device is used to rotatably support the wheel on the vehicle body. This bearing device is stamped with the date of manufacture and size at the factory shipment stage to identify the product. Or marked with a laser.

By the way, for various reasons, the bearing device is inspected or replaced when it is stored as stock in a warehouse, in the distribution stage, or when it is assembled into a final product and put on the market. If necessary, the serial number of the bearing device is And lot no. However, in the current situation, as described above, only information on the date of manufacture and size is attached to the product, which may take a long time. It is also expected that there will be.
The same No. Even in the case of a lot, the production time of the parts that make up the product is different, and although it is within the allowable range in design, there may be some variation.
Furthermore, when the information of product manufacturing history (including measurement data) is not managed systematically, it is expected that a large amount of man-hour is required for quality control.
This can be improved to some extent by, for example, creating a sheet describing information such as the manufacturing history for one product, but the management of the “one item per leaf” method is complicated. Yes, and the equipment is too big to be realistic.
Note that the serial No. Is a different number assigned to each product. Is a number assigned to a group of a plurality of products manufactured in a predetermined factory during a predetermined period. In the case of a bearing device, serial no. May be assigned, but lot no. In some cases only.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and can easily trace (trace) a product shipped from a factory, and in the case where inspection or replacement is necessary, the corresponding product. Lot no. And serial no. It is another object of the present invention to provide a bearing device that can easily specify the quantity and that can perform quality control quickly and easily with a small number of man-hours.

The bearing device of the present invention includes an outer ring member, an inner ring member disposed concentrically on the radially inner side with respect to the outer ring member, and a rolling element provided between the outer ring member and the inner ring member, A wheel bearing device in which seal portions are disposed at both axial ends of an annular space formed by an outer ring member and an inner ring member,
At least one of the seal parts is a seal body made of a core metal fitted to either the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring member or the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring member, and an elastic body fixed to the surface of the core metal. And an IC chip is disposed on the surface of the core metal to which the seal body is fixed, and the IC chip is covered with the seal body.

In the bearing device of the present invention, an IC chip is provided on at least one of the seal portions provided at both ends in the axial direction of the bearing device, and this IC chip has a manufacturing date, a manufacturing factory, a serial number. And lot no. Various information such as manufacturing history can be stored. Since such an IC chip is provided at the end of the bearing device, for example, even when the bearing device is mounted on a car, it is not necessary to disassemble the bearing device and take out the tire. Data (information) stored in the IC chip can be read by a relatively simple operation such as the above. Further, as long as the IC chip is not damaged, the data (information) can be read even if the bearing device, which is a product, is damaged. Therefore, the date of manufacture of the bearing device used, serial No. Etc. can be easily identified. On the other hand, the lot number of the product including the bearing device used in reverse. And its lot No. The quantity can be easily identified. Further, the manufacturing history of the bearing device is directly read from the IC chip, or the serial No. Therefore, quality control can be performed easily and quickly.
Furthermore, since the IC chip is attached to the cored bar inside the seal portion, that is, covered with the sealing body, the IC chip can be prevented from being damaged due to splashing mud or hitting mud. The

  The IC chip is preferably disposed on the core metal surface of the seal portion at the vehicle outer side end. When the IC chip is disposed at the seal portion at the vehicle inner side end portion, when the pulsar ring is disposed in the vicinity of the seal portion and the pulsar ring is magnetized, the IC chip is adversely affected. However, the seal portion of the vehicle outer side end portion does not have such an effect and does not impair the function of the IC chip.

  According to the wheel bearing device of the present invention, the product shipped from the factory can be easily traced, and the product including the wheel bearing device in the case where it is necessary to inspect or replace the product. Lot no. In addition, the quantity can be easily specified, and furthermore, quality control can be performed easily and quickly. In addition, since the IC chip is covered with the seal body of the seal portion, the IC chip is prevented from being damaged by muddy water or the like.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a bearing device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a bearing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is a wheel bearing device on a driven wheel side in a vehicle. The bearing device is fixed to the vehicle body side via a vehicle body mounting flange 1 and has an outer ring member 3 having double-row outer ring raceway surfaces 2 on the inner peripheral surface thereof, and the outer ring member on the inner diameter side of the outer ring member 3. 3 and an inner ring member 5 having a double-row inner ring raceway surface 4 on the outer circumferential surface thereof, and a rollable interposition between the raceway surfaces 2 and 4 of the outer ring member 3 and the inner ring member 5. And a ball 6 which is a double row rolling element. The inner ring member 5 includes an inner shaft 7 and a separate inner ring component member 8 fitted to the outer diameter of the inner end of the inner shaft 7 on the vehicle inner side (left side in FIG. 1). The inner ring member 5 is rotatably supported by the outer ring member 3 via double rows of balls 6.

  Of the double row balls 6, one row of balls 6a has an inner ring raceway surface 4a on the outer peripheral surface of the inner shaft 7 on the vehicle outer side (right side in FIG. 1), and the other row of balls 6b The outer peripheral surface of the component member 8 is an inner ring raceway surface 4b. The balls 6 a and 6 b in each row are held at equal intervals in the circumferential direction by a holder 9. Further, between the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring member 3 and the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring member 5 including the inner shaft 7 and the inner ring constituting member 8, an annular bearing space 10 between both members is provided on the vehicle outer side and the vehicle inner side. Seal portions 11 and 12 are provided for sealing on the sides.

  An inrow portion 7a to which a wheel is attached is formed on the end surface of the inner shaft 7 on the vehicle outer side, and a recess 13 is formed in the central portion of the inrow portion 7a, and an outer peripheral surface of the inner shaft 7 on the vehicle outer side is formed. A hub flange 14 is formed which is expanded radially outward. A brake disc rotor and wheels (not shown) are attached to the hub flange 14 via hub bolts 15 that are press-fitted into a plurality of bolt holes 14 a formed in the hub flange 14.

  A bottomed short cylindrical cover 16 is fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the vehicle inner side end portion of the outer ring member 3, and a sensor for attaching a sensor 17 for detecting the rotational speed of the wheel to the cover 16. A mounting hole 18 is formed. The sensor 17 detects the magnetic body of the pulsar ring 19 which is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring constituent member 8 at the vehicle inner side end and rotates together with the inner ring constituent member 8 to detect the rotational speed of the wheel. It is like that.

  A feature of the present invention is that an IC chip is provided in at least one of seal portions provided at both axial ends of an annular space formed by the outer ring member and the inner ring member. Then, an IC chip is provided on the seal portion 11 at the vehicle outer side end portion. More specifically, the seal portion 11 is a cored bar 20 fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring member 3, and is fixed to the surface of the cored bar 20, and is made of an elastic body such as rubber or synthetic resin. The IC chip 22 is disposed on the surface of the cored bar 20 to which the seal body 21 is fixed. In other words, the IC chip 22 is covered with the seal body 21, and after the IC chip 22 is attached to a predetermined portion of the surface of the core metal 20 with an adhesive or the like, a seal is formed with a rubber material. The IC chip 22 can be disposed in the seal portion 11. Thus, since the IC chip 22 is attached to the inside of the seal portion 11, that is, the surface of the cored bar 20 in a state of being covered with the seal body 21, the IC chip is damaged due to muddy water splashing or mud. Is prevented.

  The IC chip 22 can be disposed in the seal portion 12 at the end portion on the vehicle inner side. However, if the IC chip 22 is disposed on the seal portion 12 at the end portion on the vehicle inner side, the vicinity of the seal portion 12 is provided. When the pulsar ring is magnetized, the IC chip 22 is adversely affected and the contents stored in the IC chip 22 may not be read accurately. It is preferable to arrange on the surface.

  The IC chip 22 includes a manufacturing date, a manufacturing factory, a serial number. In addition, various information such as manufacturing history can be stored, and thereby the product shipped from the factory can be easily traced. Then, when it is necessary to inspect or replace the wheel bearing device after the wheel bearing device is mounted on the vehicle, the information on the IC chip 22 is read using an appropriate reader to be mounted on the vehicle. Serial No. of wheel bearing device And lot no. And the same lot number. The quantity can be easily identified. As a result, the wheel bearing device can be inspected or replaced (including parts replacement) quickly and accurately. Further, the manufacturing history of the wheel bearing device is directly read from the IC chip, or the read serial number is read. Or lot no. Therefore, quality control can be performed quickly and easily. In addition, since the IC chip 22 is provided in the seal portion 11 at the vehicle outer side end, it is not necessary to disassemble and take out the bearing device even in a situation where the bearing device is mounted on a vehicle. Data (information) stored in the IC chip 22 can be read by a relatively simple operation such as removing a tire. Further, as long as the IC chip 22 is not damaged, the data (information) can be read even if the bearing device, which is a product, is damaged.

  In the present specification, the manufacturing history can include any information related to the manufacture of the product, and examples thereof include component (part) information and overall information. More specifically, the component (part) information is information related to each part constituting the bearing device, for example, information on each design value, actual measurement value, serial number, material, etc. of the inner ring member, outer ring member, ball, etc. Such component (part) information relates to the type and amount of lubricating oil used in the bearing device, as well as the material of the seal portion that seals the annular space between the inner ring member and the outer ring member, etc. Information is also included. In addition, the overall information is information on the bearing device as a finished product, and manufacturing of each dimension data such as bearing width and clearance at the time of manufacture, flange runout accuracy, caulking conditions, sound inspection data, sensor output inspection data, etc. Data of various measurements performed in the process.

  Thus, by making it possible to easily obtain a manufacturing history including part information, for example, when parts of the same type are used in a plurality of types of wheel bearing devices, other parts including this part are included. Models can also be quickly inspected, repaired or replaced.

  The embodiment described above is a wheel bearing device on the driven wheel side, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the embodiment can be applied to a bearing device on the driving wheel side. . The illustrated example is an inner ring rotation type bearing device, but can also be applied to an outer ring rotation type bearing device. In this case, the metal core of the seal portion is fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring member. Further, it can be applied to a type using a tapered roller as a rolling element. Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment belongs to a so-called third generation bearing device, the present invention can also be applied to other generation bearing devices such as the second generation.

It is a section explanatory view of one embodiment of a bearing device of the present invention. It is an enlarged view of the seal part of the vehicle outer side edge part in the bearing apparatus shown by FIG.

Explanation of symbols

3 outer ring member 5 inner ring member 6 ball (rolling element)
7 inner shaft 11 vehicle outer side end seal portion 20 cored bar 21 seal body 22 IC chip

Claims (2)

An outer ring member, an inner ring member disposed concentrically on the radially inner side with respect to the outer ring member, and a rolling element provided between the outer ring member and the inner ring member, and the outer ring member and the inner ring member A wheel bearing device in which seal portions are disposed at both axial ends of an annular space formed,
At least one of the seal portions is a seal body made of a core metal fitted to either the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring member or the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring member, and an elastic body fixed to the surface of the core metal. And an IC chip is disposed on the surface of the metal core to which the seal body is fixed, and the IC chip is covered with the seal body.   The wheel bearing device according to claim 1, wherein an IC chip is disposed on a core metal surface of a seal portion at a vehicle outer side end.

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