JP6050043B2 - Constant velocity universal joint - Google Patents

Description

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

  Various constant velocity universal joints are known, and can be broadly classified into a fixed type capable of only angular displacement and a sliding type capable of axial displacement (plunging). Fixed constant velocity universal joints include the Rzeppa type and the Undercut free type. Examples of the sliding type constant velocity universal joint include a double offset type, a cross groove type, and a tripod type. Except for the tripod type, the ball type uses a ball as a torque transmission member. The tripod type uses a roller as a torque transmission member.

  Patent Document 1 describes a double drum type constant velocity universal joint. The double drum type constant velocity universal joint has a structure in which the outer rings of a pair of constant velocity universal joints are coupled back to back, and has a common outer ring in which the outer ring portions of the pair of constant velocity universal joints are formed on the same axis. This is a form that should be called tandem in that a pair of constant velocity universal joints are connected in the axial direction. As a combination of a pair of constant velocity universal joints, there are a fixed type, a fixed type, a fixed type and a sliding type.

JP-A-7-269585

  Since the double drum type constant velocity universal joint uses two constant velocity universal joints, high angle operation is possible. However, in order to prevent the swing of the main body of the constant velocity universal joint during rotation, it is necessary to support the shaft extending from the inner ring of the main body portion with a bearing or the like. Moreover, since the centering operation of the rotation center of the bearing and the constant velocity universal joint is required, there is a problem that the assembly is complicated. Furthermore, since it is a tandem, the axial dimension is inevitably long.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a constant velocity universal joint that can be applied at a wide angle and has a wide range of application, easy assembly.

The present invention solves the problem by providing two constant velocity universal joints with an internal / external double structure. That is, the constant velocity universal joint of the present invention is the first etc. of the inner / outer double structure in which the second constant velocity universal joint is coaxially located outside the first constant velocity universal joint at the operating angle of 0. The first constant velocity universal joint includes an inner joint member, an outer joint member, and a torque transmission member, and the second constant velocity universal joint includes: an inner joint member, and the outer joint member has a torque transmission member, the inner joint member and the outer joint member of the first constant velocity universal joint second constant velocity universal joint Ri same component der, the same parts Has a spring that pushes toward the opening side of the outer joint member of the first constant velocity universal joint .

By using two constant velocity universal joints to form an internal / external double structure, it is possible to apply to a high operating angle range that could not be applied conventionally.
As already described, the fixed type constant velocity universal joint can take a large angle (about 50 °) but cannot slide in the axial direction. Sliding type constant velocity universal joints can slide in the axial direction but cannot take a large angle. According to this invention, for example, the first constant velocity universal joint located on the inner side is a sliding type, and the second constant velocity universal joint located on the outer side is a fixed type. The structure can slide in the axial direction.

According to the present invention, high angle operation equivalent to the double drum type is possible. That is, since the first constant velocity universal joint and the second constant velocity universal joint have an internal / external double structure, the operating angle of the first constant velocity universal joint is the same as that of the second constant velocity universal joint. This is a composite of operating angles. Moreover, the axial dimension is smaller than that of the double drum type. Further, since there is no need to support the shaft with a bearing or the like, there are few restrictions on the application location, and assembly is easy.
The present invention is based on an internal / external double structure using two constant velocity universal joints, but it is also possible to have a triple structure or more, and by doing so, a constant speed that can take a larger operating angle. A universal joint can be provided.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the constant velocity universal joint which shows the Example of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which the constant velocity universal joint of FIG. 1 took the maximum operating angle. It is a front view of the common ring in the constant velocity universal joint of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the constant velocity universal joint which shows another Example. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the constant velocity universal joint which shows another Example.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The constant velocity universal joint shown in FIG. 1 is a composite of a pair of constant velocity universal joints J1 and J2, and is coaxial with the outside of the first constant velocity universal joint J1 when the operating angle is 0 as shown in FIG. The second constant velocity universal joint J2 is located in a shape. In FIG. 1, symbol O1 indicates the joint center of the first constant velocity universal joint J1, and symbol O2 indicates the joint center of the second constant velocity universal joint J2. Here, the first constant velocity universal joint J1 is a sliding type, and the second constant velocity universal joint J2 is a fixed type. More specifically, the first constant velocity universal joint J1 is a double offset type constant velocity universal joint, and the second constant velocity universal joint J2 is a Rzeppa type constant velocity universal joint.

  The first constant velocity universal joint J1 includes an inner ring 10 as an inner joint member, an outer ring 20 as an outer joint member, a ball 30 as a torque transmission member, and a cage 32 for holding the ball 30. The inner ring 10 is coupled to the shaft 18 so that torque can be transmitted.

  The inner ring 10 has a serration hole 12 formed in the axial center thereof. The serration hole 12 is coupled to the serration shaft formed at the end of the shaft 18 so as to be able to transmit torque, and is prevented by a retaining ring. . Splines or other concavo-convex connections may be employed instead of serrations, and this is true throughout the specification. The outer peripheral surface 14 of the inner ring 10 is spherical, and ball grooves 16 extending in the axial direction are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The groove bottom of the ball groove 16 is parallel to the axis as shown in the figure, and the cross section of the ball groove 16 is circular, elliptical or Gothic arched.

  The outer ring 20 has a cylindrical inner peripheral surface 22, and ball grooves 24 extending in the axial direction are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface 22. The groove bottom of the ball groove 24 is parallel to the axis as shown in the figure, and the cross section of the ball groove 24 is circular, elliptical or Gothic arched. An annular groove 26 is formed near both ends of the inner peripheral surface 22 of the outer ring 20, and a circlip 28 is attached to the annular groove 26. The circlip 28 serves to prevent the first constant velocity universal joint J1 including the ball 30 from falling out of the ball groove 24 when the constant velocity universal joint is attached / detached or when a load is applied in the axial direction.

  The ball groove 16 of the inner ring 10 and the ball groove 24 of the outer ring 20 form a pair, and one ball 30 is interposed between each pair of ball grooves 16 and 24. Each ball 30 is accommodated in a pocket 34 formed at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction of the cage 32, and all the balls 30 are held on the same plane by the cage 32. The cage 32 is interposed between the inner ring 10 and the outer ring 20, and is in spherical contact with the spherical outer peripheral surface 12 of the inner ring 10 at the spherical inner peripheral surface 36, and the cylindrical inner peripheral surface 22 of the outer ring 20 at the spherical outer peripheral surface 38. Line contact with The center of curvature of the spherical inner peripheral surface 36 of the cage 32 is located on the axis offset from the joint center O1 to the right in FIG. 1, and the center of curvature of the spherical outer peripheral surface 38 is offset from the joint center O1 to the left in FIG. In the position on the axis.

  The first constant velocity universal joint J1 can be angularly displaced between the inner ring 10 and the outer ring 20, and can be displaced in the axial direction (plunging). The maximum plunging amount is determined by the circlip 28 described above. Since the other configurations and functions of the first constant velocity universal joint J1 (double offset type constant velocity universal joint) are well known, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The second constant velocity universal joint J2 includes an inner ring 40 as an inner joint member, an outer ring 50 as an outer joint member, a ball 60 as a torque transmission member, and a cage 62 for holding the ball 60. The outer ring 50 is coupled to a rotating shaft (not shown) so that torque can be transmitted.

  The inner ring 40 has a spherical outer peripheral surface 42, and ball grooves 44 extending in the axial direction are formed on the outer peripheral surface 42 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The groove bottom of the ball groove 44 has an arc shape as shown in the drawing, and the center of curvature is located on the axis offset from the joint center O2 to the opposite side of the outer ring 50 (left side in FIG. 1). The cross section of the ball groove 44 is circular, elliptical, or Gothic arched. A disc 46 is fixed to the end face of the inner ring 40 with bolts 48. The disc 46 is provided to provide one spring seat of a compression coil spring 70 described later.

  The outer ring 50 has a recess 52 that opens toward one side in the axial direction (right side in FIG. 1), and the inner peripheral surface 54 of the recess 52 is spherical. Arc-shaped ball grooves 56 extending in the axial direction are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface 54 of the recess 52. The groove bottom of the ball groove 56 has an arc shape as shown in the drawing, and the center of curvature is located on the axis offset from the joint center O2 to the opening side of the outer ring 50 (right side in FIG. 1). The cross section of the ball groove 56 is circular, elliptical, or Gothic arched. The wall surface, that is, the bottom surface 58 on the side opposite to the opening of the recess 52 has an elliptical shape when viewed in the longitudinal section (FIG. 1).

  The ball groove 44 of the inner ring 40 and the ball groove 56 of the outer ring 50 make a pair, and one ball 60 is interposed between each pair of ball grooves 44 and 56. Each ball 60 is accommodated in a pocket 64 formed at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction of the cage 62, and all the balls 60 are held on the same plane by the cage 62. The cage 62 is interposed between the inner ring 40 and the outer ring 50, and is in spherical contact with the spherical outer peripheral surface 42 of the inner ring 40 at the spherical inner peripheral surface 66, and the spherical inner peripheral surface 54 of the outer ring 50 at the spherical outer peripheral surface 68. And spherical contact.

  The second constant velocity universal joint J2 can be angularly displaced between the inner ring 40 and the outer ring 50 around the joint center O2. Since the other configurations and functions of the second constant velocity universal joint J2 (Zepper type constant velocity universal joint) are well known, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The outer ring 20 of the first constant velocity universal joint J1 and the inner ring 40 of the second constant velocity universal joint J2 are the same parts, and are hereinafter referred to as a common ring (20/40). As can be seen from FIG. 3, the common ring (20/40) has the structure of the outer ring 20 of the first constant velocity universal joint J1 on the inner periphery, and the inner ring 40 of the second constant velocity universal joint J2 on the outer periphery. It has the structure of and serves as both. FIG. 3 shows only the common ring (20/40) extracted from FIG. 1, wherein the first constant velocity universal joint J1 uses six balls 30 and the second constant velocity universal joint J2 has 12 pieces. The case where the ball | bowl 60 is used is illustrated.

  A compression coil spring 70 is interposed between the disk 46 fixed to the end face of the common ring (20/40) and the bottom face 58 of the recess 52 of the outer ring 50. The compression coil spring 70 acts to elastically push the common ring (20/40) toward the opening side (the right side in FIG. 1) of the outer ring 50, thereby suppressing swinging of the common ring (20/40). Play a role. In particular, it is effective as a means for suppressing the rotation of the shaft 18 when the operating angle returns to 0 °.

  Further, a cap 72 is interposed as a spring seat between the end of the compression coil spring 70 and the bottom surface 58. The seat surface 74 of the cap 72 on the side in contact with the bottom surface 58 is spherical. Since the bottom surface 58 has an elliptical shape as described above, a wedge-shaped clearance is formed between the bottom surface 58 and the seat surface 74. Thus, by making the cross-sectional shape of the bottom surface 58 of the recess 52 with which the seating surface 74 of the cap 72 comes into contact with the ellipse, the angle of the compression coil spring 70 and thus the angle of the common ring (20/40) with respect to the outer ring 50 is 0 °. The reaction force to return to can be obtained. Therefore, when the operating angle γ (FIG. 2) returns to 0 °, the angle of the common ring (20/40) with respect to the outer ring 50 also returns to approximately 0 °, and the whirling during rotation can be suppressed.

  When rotating at a medium speed or higher, the displacement (indicated by reference symbol A in FIG. 1) between the joint center O1 of the first constant velocity universal joint J1 and the joint center O2 of the second constant velocity universal joint J2 is Although it depends on the overall size, it is desirable to make it small.

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which the constant velocity universal joint of FIG. 1 has a maximum operating angle γ. The symbol α represents the operating angle of the first constant velocity universal joint J1, and the symbol β represents the operating angle of the second constant velocity universal joint J2. Since the constant velocity universal joint of this embodiment has a double structure, it operates in two stages when an angle is given. In the case of a triple structure, it operates in three stages.

  In the above-described embodiment, the first constant velocity universal joint J1 is a sliding type, and the second constant velocity universal joint J2 is a fixed type, so that a large operating angle is possible and axial sliding is also possible. is there. Both sliding type and fixed type have advantages, and can be applied to parts that require high angle operation in constant velocity universal joints for automobiles and various industrial machines. The operating angle γ shown in FIG. 2 is 60 °, but the conventional constant velocity universal joint used as a single unit generally has a limit of 50 °, so that the operating performance is greatly improved. For example, there is a flip-up function that implements a lawn mower auxiliary machine in various agricultural machines at the time of tooth maintenance. By applying this embodiment, it can be carried out without removing the joint. Further, the minimum turning radius can be reduced by applying this embodiment to the axle portion of the automobile.

  Next, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the inner ring 10 and the shaft 18 of the first constant velocity universal joint J1 are integrated. In this case, not only can the serration be eliminated, but the outer diameter d of the shaft 18 can be increased to improve the strength.

  The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is an example in which the first constant velocity universal joint J1 and the second constant velocity universal joint J2 are both slidable. Specifically, a sliding double offset constant velocity universal joint is also used for the second constant velocity universal joint J2. In this case, the axially slidable range of the first constant velocity universal joint J1 and the axially slidable range of the second constant velocity universal joint J2 are added, and the axially slidable range (plunging as a whole) Quantity).

  As for the first constant velocity universal joint J1, the rolling range of the ball 30 is regulated by the pair of circlips 28 as already described. In the second constant velocity universal joint J2, an annular groove is formed in the vicinity of the opening end of the outer ring 50 to mount a circlip in order to restrict the rolling range of the ball 60. Since the ball 60 is pushed by the compression coil spring 70 to the opening side of the outer ring 50 via the disk 46 and the cage 62, there is no need to provide a circlip on the opposite opening side.

  Further, the outer ring 50 of the second constant velocity universal joint J <b> 2 is a flange type, and a separate spherical seat 76 is attached to the end of the outer ring 50. The spherical seat 76 is a member for providing the bottom surface 78 of the concave portion 52 of the outer ring 50 in the above-described embodiment as the outer ring 50 is of a flange type. By adopting the spherical seat 76 that is separate from the outer ring 50 as described above, not only can the manufacturing cost be reduced as compared with the one-piece outer ring, but also the ease of assembling the internal parts is improved.

  Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, a disk 46 corresponding to one spring seat of the compression coil spring 70 is attached to the cage 62 of the second constant velocity universal joint J2. Here, the disc 46 is fitted into an annular recess formed in the inner periphery of the end of the cage 62 without using a bolt, and is fixed by a retaining ring 49.

  Although not shown, the first constant velocity universal joint may be a fixed type constant velocity universal joint, and the second constant velocity universal joint may be a sliding type constant velocity universal joint. Further, both the first constant velocity universal joint J1 and the second constant velocity universal joint J2 may be of a sliding type. Furthermore, both the first constant velocity universal joint J1 and the second constant velocity universal joint J2 may be fixed, and in this case, the operable angle can be further increased.

As described above, the Rzeppa type is used as the fixed type constant velocity universal joint, and the double offset type is used as the sliding type constant velocity universal joint, but the present invention is not limited to this. Of course, it is possible to adopt a sliding type constant velocity universal joint other than the double offset type, and the combination thereof is also arbitrary.
In addition, the present invention is based on an internal / external double structure using two constant velocity universal joints, but it is also possible to have a triple or more structure, and thereby a larger operating angle can be obtained. A constant velocity universal joint can be provided.

J1 First constant velocity universal joint 10 Inner ring (inner joint member)
12 Serration hole 14 Outer peripheral surface 16 Ball groove 18 Shaft 20 Outer ring (common ring)
22 inner peripheral surface 24 ball groove 26 annular groove 28 circlip 30 ball 32 cage 34 pocket 36 inner peripheral surface 38 outer peripheral surface J2 second constant velocity universal joint 40 inner ring (common ring)
42 outer peripheral surface 44 ball groove 46 disc 48 bolt 49 retaining ring 50 outer ring (outer joint member)
52 concave portion 54 inner peripheral surface 56 ball groove 58 bottom surface 60 ball 62 cage 64 pocket 66 inner peripheral surface 68 outer peripheral surface 70 compression coil spring 72 cap 74 seating surface 76 spherical seat 78 bottom surface

Claims (9)

A first constant velocity universal joint and a second constant velocity universal joint having an inner / outer double structure in which a second constant velocity universal joint is coaxially positioned outside the first constant velocity universal joint in a state of an operating angle of 0. Have
The first constant velocity universal joint has an inner joint member, an outer joint member, and a torque transmission member,
The second constant velocity universal joint has an inner joint member, an outer joint member, and a torque transmission member,
An outer joint member of the first constant velocity joint and the second constant velocity universal joint of the inner joint member Ri same component der, toward the same part on the opening side of the outer joint member of the first constant velocity joint Constant velocity universal joint with a spring to push .   The constant velocity universal joint according to claim 1, wherein the first constant velocity universal joint is a sliding type constant velocity universal joint, and the second constant velocity universal joint is a fixed type constant velocity universal joint.   The constant velocity universal joint according to claim 1, wherein the first constant velocity universal joint is a fixed type constant velocity universal joint, and the second constant velocity universal joint is a sliding type constant velocity universal joint.   The constant velocity universal joint according to claim 1, wherein the first constant velocity universal joint and the second constant velocity universal joint are sliding type constant velocity universal joints.   The constant velocity universal joint according to claim 1, wherein the first constant velocity universal joint and the second constant velocity universal joint are fixed constant velocity universal joints. The constant velocity universal joint according to claim 1 , wherein a compression coil spring is disposed between the outer joint member of the second constant velocity universal joint and the same component. The constant velocity universal joint according to claim 1 , wherein a compression coil spring is disposed between an outer joint member of the second constant velocity universal joint and a cage of the second constant velocity universal joint. The constant velocity universal joint according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein a separate spherical seat is attached to the outer joint member of the second constant velocity universal joint. The constant velocity universal joint according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein the inner joint member of the first constant velocity universal joint and the shaft are the same part.

Images