JPH08270667A - Universal joint - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A universal joint made compact by making parallel slidable at the yoke supporting the cross shaft. A pair of shaft ends 3a of a cross shaft 3 is rotatably connected to one bifurcated yoke 2 via a cup-shaped bearing casing 4, and the other housing end 6 of the cross shaft has the other shaft end 3 of the cross shaft.
The pair b is rotatably connected to the bearing slide 7. The housing yoke 6 includes a bifurcated yoke accommodation space 8, a bearing slide guide space 9 for guiding and supporting the bearing slide 7 of the pair of shaft ends 3b, and an inlet of an internal space composed of the yoke accommodation space 8 and the bearing slide guide space 9. And forked yoke 2
Housing cover 10 surrounding the neck 2a of the fork, and the inner surface of the housing cover 10 and the neck 2a of the bifurcated yoke 2.
And an annular closing boot (11) for connecting between and.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has a first yoke connected to one shaft, a second yoke connected to the other shaft, and a shaft end extending in a diametrical direction orthogonal to each other. The pair of opposed shaft ends are respectively referred to as the first and second pairs.
The universal joint having a cross shaft rotatably supported on the yoke.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such a conventional universal joint, both the first and second yokes are bifurcated yokes.

In such a universal joint for connecting a pair of bifurcated yokes to each other, in order to enable sliding in the axial direction, a shaft connected to one yoke side has a female spline sleeve or a male spline. By connecting the spline sleeve or the spline sleeve, which is formed as a shaft and is spline-fitted to the spline sleeve or the spline shaft, it is slidable in a portion separated from the yoke and apart from the yoke.

[0004]

However, in the conventional universal joint, the spline shaft has to be provided in a separate portion apart from the yoke, and therefore the mounting length must be increased.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a universal joint which does not require a spline shaft to be provided in a separate portion apart from the yoke and which can be mounted in a small length.

[0006]

To achieve this object, in the universal joint of the present invention, the first yoke is a bifurcated yoke, and one shaft end pair of the cross shaft is rotated through a cup-shaped bearing casing. Secondly connect freely
The yoke is a housing yoke, and the other pair of shaft ends of the cross shaft are rotatably connected to bearing slides, and the housing yoke has a yoke housing space for housing the first yoke and the other of the cross shaft. A bearing slide guide space for guiding and supporting the bearing slides of the shaft end pair in the axial direction, and an inlet of an inner space consisting of the yoke housing space and the bearing slide guide space, and partially surrounding the neck portion of the bifurcated yoke. A housing cover that surrounds the housing cover and an annular closing boot that connects the inner surface of the housing cover and the neck of the bifurcated yoke are provided.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the cross shaft itself slides on one of the yokes, that is, the housing yoke via the bearing slide, and the shafts rotate at an angle with each other, and a torque is applied from one shaft to the other shaft. introduce. Since the housing cover partially blocks the inlet of the bearing slide guide space, it acts as a stopper for preventing the bearing slide from slipping out of the sliding surface.

[0008]

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

In the universal joint 1 according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, one of the first yokes is a bifurcated yoke 2, and one pair of shaft ends 3a of the cross shaft 3 which are oriented in one diametrical direction are respectively needle bearings. It is rotatably connected via a cup-shaped bearing casing 4 having 4a.

One shaft 5 is provided on the one first yoke 2.
And the other shaft (not shown) is connected to the other end of the second yoke 6 on the left side of the drawing.

The other second yoke 6 is used as a housing yoke, and the other pair of diametrically oriented shaft ends 3b of the cross shaft 3 are rotatably connected to bearing slides 7 each having a needle bearing 7a.

The second yoke, that is, the housing yoke 6, includes
A yoke accommodating space 8 for accommodating the first or bifurcated yoke 2 and a bearing slide guide space 9 for guiding and supporting the bearing slides 7 of the other shaft end 3b of the cross shaft 3 in the axial direction are provided.

Further, an end portion 6b of the housing yoke 6 opposite to the end portion 6a connected to the shaft is partially covered with an inlet of an inner space composed of the yoke accommodating space 8 and the bearing slide guide space 9. A housing cover 10 is provided to surround the neck 2a of the bifurcated yoke 2, and an annular closing boot 11 is provided to connect the inner surface of the housing cover 10 and the neck 2a of the bifurcated yoke 2.

A self-lubricating coating may be applied to the sliding surface of the bearing slide in the bearing slide guide space 9 or to the engagement portion of the bearing slide 7 with the sliding surface of the bearing slide.

It is preferable to fill a lubricant, for example, grease or oil, into the internal space consisting of the yoke housing space 8 and the bearing slide guide space 9. In this case, since the internal space is closed by the closing seal 11, it is not necessary to provide a lubricant seal between the shaft ends 3a and 3b of the cross shaft 3 and the cup-shaped bearing casing and the bearing slide. According to the present invention, an opening can be provided at the center of the bottom surface of the cup-shaped bearing casing 4.

The bearing slide 7 may be in the form of a circular roller, but may be in the form of a rectangular plate having a rounded portion that engages with the side wall portion of the sliding surface as shown in FIG. 2 (a). Further, in order to enable a parallel movement without backlash, as shown in FIG. 2B, the rectangular bar-shaped bearing slides 7 facing each other in the diametrical direction are connected to each other by the crossbar 1.
Suitably interconnected by two.

If the end surface of the shaft end 3b on which the bearing slide 7 of the cross shaft 3 is mounted is spherical as shown in FIG. 1, the contact resistance of the bearing slide guide space 9 to the sliding surface can be reduced, which is preferable. is there.

Since the housing cover 10 partially blocks the inlet of the bearing slide guide space 9, it functions as a stopper for preventing the bearing slide 7 from slipping out of the sliding surface.

FIG. 3 shows the bearing slide 7 in a neutral state at an intermediate position on the sliding surface of the bearing slide guide space 9.

It is possible to slide from the neutral state of FIG. 3 to the fully contracted state shown in FIG. 4 (a) and the fully extended state shown in FIG. 5 (a). 4B and FIG. 5B show the angled state in the most contracted state and the most extended state, respectively.

[0021]

According to the present invention, since the universal joint portion itself slides in parallel, it is possible to eliminate the conventional spline shaft, and thus to reduce the cost.

Further, since the universal joint of the present invention has a compact design with a short mounting length, it can be applied to a limited space.

Further, when the yoke housing space and the bearing slide guide space are sealed by the housing cover and the closing boot and filled with the lubricant, the space between the shaft end of the cross shaft and the cup-shaped bearing casing is conventionally formed. There is no need to provide a lubricant seal.

Furthermore, since the bearing portion at each shaft end of the cross shaft is not isolated as in the conventional case, grease lubrication can be performed at the same level, and there is an effect that there is no variation in the life of each shaft end. .

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show an embodiment of a universal joint according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a side view with a partial cross section, FIG. 1B is a cross sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1A, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view in which a quarter of the housing yoke is cut away in FIG.

2A and 2B are perspective views of a bearing slide guided and supported by a housing yoke of a universal joint according to the present invention. FIG. 2A is a single bearing slide, and FIG. 2B is an embodiment in which two bearing slides are connected to each other by a crossbar. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of a universal joint according to the present invention in a central neutral state.

FIG. 4 shows the most contracted state, which is the most contracted state from the state of FIG.
(A) is a state where there is no angle between the shafts, (b)
[Fig. 3] is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which shafts are angled.

FIG. 5 shows the most stretched state from the state of FIG.
(A) is a state where there is no angle between the shafts, (b)
[Fig. 3] is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which shafts are angled.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 universal joint 2 first yoke (bifurcated yoke) 2a neck 3 cross shaft 3a, 3b shaft end 4 cup-shaped bearing casing 4a, 7a needle bearing 4b opening 5 shaft 6 second yoke (housing yoke) 7 bearing slide 8 yoke accommodation space 9 Bearing slide guide space 10 Housing cover 11 Blocking boot 12 Crossbar

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first yoke connected to one shaft, a second yoke connected to the other shaft, and a shaft end extending in the diametrical direction orthogonal to each other, and a pair of shaft ends facing each other in the diametrical direction. In a universal joint having a cross shaft rotatably supported by the first and second yokes, the first yoke is a bifurcated yoke, and one pair of shaft ends of the cross shaft is provided with a cup-shaped bearing casing. Rotatably connected to each other, the second yoke serves as a housing yoke, and the other pair of shaft ends of the cross shaft is rotatably connected to a bearing slide, and the housing yoke accommodates the first yoke. A yoke accommodating space, a bearing slide guide space for guiding and supporting the bearing slide of the other shaft end pair of the cross shaft in the axial direction, the yoke accommodating space, and a bearing slide proposal. A housing cover that partially closes the entrance of the inner space consisting of the inner space and surrounds the periphery of the neck portion of the bifurcated yoke, and an annular blocking boot that connects the inner surface of the housing cover and the neck portion of the bifurcated yoke. A universal joint characterized by being provided. 2. The universal joint according to claim 1, wherein the yoke housing space and the bearing slide guide space are filled with a lubricant. 3. The universal joint according to claim 2, wherein the lubricant is oil. 4. The universal joint according to claim 1, wherein the pair of bearing slides are connected by a crossbar.