Roller for a pod joint

Abstract

A roller bearing for a pod joint comprising an inner race, an outer ring assembly, a race that runs along a bell section and is disposed on the outer surface of the outer ring assembly, a plurality of rolling elements, wherein the plurality of rolling elements are disposed between the inner race and the outer ring assembly and are formed as rollers, and a cage assembly, wherein the rolling elements are disposed in the cage assembly, wherein the cage assembly is formed as a central cage, wherein the rollers pass through the central cage in a middle area, and the running areas thereof project outward from both sides of the central cage.

Claims

1. A roller bearing for a pod joint, comprising: an inner race; an outer ring assembly; a race that runs along a bell section coupled to a gearbox output, and is disposed on an outer surface of the outer ring assembly; a plurality of rolling elements, wherein the rolling elements are disposed between the inner race and the outer ring assembly and are formed as rollers; and a cage assembly, wherein the rolling elements are disposed in the cage assembly, wherein the cage assembly is formed as a central cage, wherein the rollers pass through the central cage in a middle area, and running areas thereof project outward from both sides of the central cage.

2. The roller bearing of claim 1, wherein the inner race is formed on an inner ring assembly for receiving a journal of a shaft stump section.

3. The roller bearing of claim 2, wherein the central cage is formed as a circumferential web that has receivers for the rollers.

4. The roller bearing of claim 3, wherein the central cage has at least one separation.

5. The roller bearing of claim 4, wherein the central cage is formed as a segmented cage and has more than one separation.

6. The roller bearing of claim 1, wherein the plurality of rolling elements are formed as needles.

7. The roller bearing of claim 1, wherein the outer ring assembly has a circumferential race groove for the rolling elements.

8. The roller bearing of claim 1, wherein at least one lateral securing ring is disposed in the outer ring assembly, and secures the rolling elements in an axial direction.

9. The roller bearing of claim 1, wherein the roller bearing includes an inner ring assembly that has a single piece design, and an outer race for the rolling elements in the outer ring assembly.

10. A roller bearing comprising: a roller bearing axis with an axis of rotation; an inner race; an outer race; a cage device; and one or more rolling elements, wherein the rolling elements are arranged between an inner ring assembly and an outer ring assembly, and the rolling elements are arranged in the cage device and the rolling elements are guided in a central region by the cage device and protrude from both sides of the central region in running regions, wherein the roller bearing is disposed in a drive train of a vehicle between a gearbox output and an intermediate shaft.

11. The roller bearing of claim 10, wherein the intermediate shaft is a drive train shaft.

12. A pod joint comprising: a bell section that is coupled to a gearbox output and provides a race for one or more roller bearings, wherein the one or more roller bearings include: an inner ring assembly for holding a journal of a shaft stump section; an outer ring assembly; a raceway for running on the bell section that is arranged on an outside of the outer ring assembly; a cage device; and a plurality of rolling elements, wherein the rolling elements are arranged between the inner ring assembly and the outer ring assembly, and the plurality of rolling elements are arranged in the cage device and the rolling elements are guided in a central region by the cage device and protrude from both sides of the cage device in running regions.

13. The pod joint of claim 12, wherein the inner ring assembly includes a hollow cylindrical receiver for a journal.

14. The pod joint of claim 12, wherein the cage device includes receivers that open radially inward and are parallel to a roller bearing axis.

15. The pod joint of claim 12, wherein the plurality of rolling elements are configured to roll over an outer race of the inner ring assembly and an inner race of the outer ring assembly.

16. The pod joint of claim 12, wherein the cage device is configured to separate the rolling elements over a roller bearing axis in a circumferential direction.

17. The pod joint of claim 12, wherein the roller bearing further includes one or more lateral securing rings placed in circumferential annular grooves formed in the outer ring assembly.

18. The pod joint of claim 17, wherein an outer race of the outer ring assembly includes a hollow cylindrical design and extends to the lateral securing rings via an extension.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further features, advantages and effects of the disclosure can be derived from the following description of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, and the attached drawings. Therein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a strongly schematized illustration of a pod joint as an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure;

(3) FIGS. 2a, b show schematic longitudinal sections of two different embodiments of roller bearings for the pod joint shown in FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a three-dimensional illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a cage assembly for the roller bearings in FIGS. 2a, b, or in the pod joint according to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) FIG. 1 shows a pod joint 1 in a strongly schematized illustration for a vehicle 2, shown merely as a block, as one exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

(6) The pod joint 1 is disposed in the drive train between a gearbox output 3, in particular a differential gearbox, and an intermediate shaft 4, in particular a wheel driveshaft or axle. The gearbox output 3 defines an output shaft 5, the intermediate shaft 4 defines a shaft axis 6. The pod joint 1 is designed to transfer a rotation, and thus a drive torque, from the output 3 to the intermediate shaft 4, and at the same time enable a swiveling or change in angle between the output shaft 5 and the shaft axis 6, as may take place, for example, when the driven wheel connected to the intermediate shaft 4 is deflected. The intermediate shaft 4 has a shaft stump section 7, on which numerous journals 8 are disposed, there being three journals 8 in this exemplary embodiment, which extend radially in relation to the shaft axis 6. The journals 8 are disposed evenly over the circumference of the shaft axis 6, such that they form a pod star, a tripod star in this example. Only one of the journals 8 is illustrated in FIG. 1. A roller bearing 9 is disposed on each journal 8, which has a roller bearing axis 30 serving as the axis of rotation, which is oriented radially to the shaft axis 6.

(7) The pod joint 1 also has a bell section 10, which is coupled to the output 3 for conjoint rotation therewith, and which provides races for the roller bearings 9.

(8) Although an exemplary embodiment is shown in FIG. 1 in which the bell section 10 is coupled to the output 3 for conjoint rotation therewith, and the shaft stump section 7 is coupled for conjoint rotation with the intermediate shaft 4, it is also possible in other exemplary embodiments for the shaft stump section 7 to be coupled for conjoint rotation with the output 3, and the bell section to be coupled for conjoint rotation with the intermediate shaft 4. It is also possible for the bell section 10 to have a closed circumference, or for it to have open regions.

(9) Longitudinal sections of two exemplary embodiments of the roller bearing 9 are shown in FIGS. 2a, b. The roller bearings 9 each have an inner ring assembly 11 and an outer ring assembly 12, which are disposed coaxially and concentrically to the roller bearing axis 30.

(10) The inner ring assembly is an inner ring formed as a single piece and/or from a single material, and has a hollow cylindrical receiver 13 for the journal 8 on its inner radial surface. The outer radial surface forms a cylindrical surface functioning as the inner race 14.

(11) The outer ring assembly 12 is formed as a single piece and/or from a single material, and has a race 15 on the outer radial surface that runs along an inner region of the bell section 10. The race 15 is spherical in the longitudinal section shown here, and is spherical in relation to the race roller axis 10 in this exemplary embodiment. The outer ring assembly 12 has an outer race 16 on its inner radial surface.

(12) Numerous rolling elements 17 are disposed between the inner ring assembly 11 and the outer ring assembly 12. The rolling elements 16 are formed as rollers, in particular cylindrical rollers, and implemented as needle rollers in both exemplary embodiments, wherein their longitudinal extension in the axial direction to the race axis 30 is more than five times the diameter of the rolling elements 17. The rolling elements 17 roll along the inner race 14 on one side and the outer race 16 on the other side. The inner ring assembly 11 can thus rotate in relation to the outer ring assembly 12 over the rolling elements 17, wherein the inner ring assembly 11 and the outer ring assembly 12 rotate in opposite directions over the rolling elements 17.

(13) The rolling elements 17 are disposed in a cage assembly 18, which is described in reference to FIG. 3.

(14) The roller bearing 9 also has two lateral securing rings 19, 20, which secure the rolling elements 17 in the axial direction. The lateral securing rings 19, 20 are placed in circumferential annular grooves 21, 22, which are formed in the outer ring assembly 12. The lateral rings 19, 20 extend radially inward, such that they overlap the inner ring assembly 11 when seen axially from above, thus likewise securing the inner ring assembly 11 against axial displacement.

(15) In FIG. 2a, the outer race 16 has a hollow cylindrical design, and extends to the lateral securing rings 19, 20 via an extension. In FIG. 2b, in contrast, the outer ring assembly 12 has a circumferential race groove 23, which is axially wide enough that the rolling elements 17 pass axially between the lateral walls of the race groove 23. There is a circumferential groove 24 in the outer ring assembly 12 in both of the exemplary embodiments shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b.

(16) FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a cage assembly 18 with the rolling elements 17 placed therein. The cage assembly 18 is formed as a central cage. The cage assembly 18, or the central cage, is implemented as a circumferential web that has a rectangular cross section in this example. The cage assembly is made of plastic. The cage assembly 18 has receivers that are parallel to the roller bearing axis 30, and open radially inward. One rolling element 17 is placed in each receiver 25, wherein the rolling element 17 in the form of a roller extends in the axial direction. The rolling elements 17 are placed in receivers 25 in the cage assembly 18, and may be snapped in place, such that they are retained in a form-fitting manner, at least in the radial direction with respect to the roller bearing axis 30. The rolling elements 17 each have a middle area 26 and an adjacent running area 27a, 27b on each side thereof. The cage assembly 18 is designed structurally such that the rolling elements 17 extend radially inward, over the cage assembly 18, and the rolling elements 17 roll along the inner race 14 in a straight line along the middle area and the two running areas 27a, b. In contrast, only the two running areas 27a, b are in contact with the outer race 16. The outer race 16 is divided into two sub-regions by the groove 18, wherein one of the running areas 27a, b rolls along each of the sub-regions.

(17) The cage assembly 18 does not have a closed circumference about the roller bearing axis 30, instead exhibiting a separation 28, such that the circumference of the cage assembly 18 is fully interrupted once. The cage assembly 18 can be more easily assembled as a result of the separation 28. The diameter of the cage assembly 18 in FIG. 3 can thus be altered by expanding or constricting it. In other exemplary embodiments, it is also possible for the central cage to be formed by segments, comprising numerous central cage segments.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(18) 1 pod joint

(19) 2 vehicle

(20) 3 gearbox output

(21) 4 intermediate shaft

(22) 5 output shaft

(23) 6 shaft axis

(24) 7 shaft stump section

(25) 8 journal

(26) 9 roller bearing

(27) 10 bell section

(28) 11 inner ring assembly

(29) 12 outer ring assembly

(30) 13 hollow cylindrical receiver

(31) 14 inner race

(32) 15 race

(33) 16 outer race

(34) 17 rolling element

(35) 18 cage assembly

(36) 19 lateral securing ring

(37) 20 lateral securing ring

(38) 21 annular groove

(39) 22 annular groove

(40) 23 race groove

(41) 24 groove

(42) 25 receivers

(43) 26 middle area

(44) 27a, b lateral areas

(45) 30 roller bearing axis