CRADLE BEARING AND CRADLE BEARING SUPPORT

Abstract

A cradle bearing for supporting a swashplate of a variable hydraulic axial piston. The cradle bearing is of an angular ball bearing type or comprises, with respect to the bearing axis, a tapered inner race and/or a tapered outer race. A swashplate for a variable hydraulic axial piston unit including a first and a second cradle bearing zone spaced to each other in axial direction of a swashplate tilt axis, suitable for supporting the swashplate in a housing of a variable hydraulic axial piston unit, wherein the first cradle bearing zone is inclined with respect to the swashplate tilt axis. A variable hydraulic axial piston unit of the swashplate type including a swashplate which is supported rotatable in the housing of the variable hydraulic axial piston unit at a first bearing zone by a tapered bearing and at a second bearing zone by regular cylindrical cradle bearing or a journal bearing whose axis is aligned with the swashplate tilt axis.

Claims

1. A cradle bearing for supporting a swashplate of a variable hydraulic axial piston unit, wherein the cradle bearing is of an angular ball bearing type or comprises, with respect to the bearing axis, a tapered inner race and/or a tapered outer race.

2. The cradle bearing according to claim 1, wherein the cradle bearing is of the sliding bearing type or the hydrostatic bearing type.

3. The cradle bearing according to claim 1, wherein the cradle bearing is of the roller bearing type and comprises spherical, cylindrical or conical shaped rolling elements.

4. The cradle bearing according to claim 1, wherein an inner shell carrying the tapered inner race shows a tapered inner mounting surface with respect to the bearing axis and/or wherein an outer shell carrying the tapered outer race shows a tapered outer mounting surface with respect to the bearing axis.

5. The cradle bearing according to claim 4, wherein the inner race and the outer race are made of metal, and wherein the inner shell and/or the outer shell are made of plastic or reinforced plastic material.

6. The cradle bearing according to claim 1, wherein the circumferential length of the inner race is greater than 120 degrees, preferably greater than 140 degrees.

7. The cradle bearing according to claim 1, wherein a cradle bearing cage comprises a timing-mechanism with which the cradle bearing cage is forced to follow the inner race when displaced.

8. The cradle bearing according to claim 7, wherein the cage and/or the timing mechanism is made of a metal or plastic or reinforced plastic material.

9. A swashplate for a variable hydraulic axial piston unit comprising a first and a second cradle bearing zone spaced to each other in axial direction of a swashplate tilt axis, for supporting the swashplate in a housing of the variable hydraulic axial piston unit, wherein the first cradle bearing zone is inclined with respect to the swashplate tilt axis.

10. The swashplate according to claim 9, wherein a central axis of the second cradle bearing zone is aligned with the swashplate tilt axis.

11. The swashplate according to claim 9, wherein the swashplate comprises receiving means at a distal end in direction of the swashplate tilt axis for receiving a support element.

12. The swashplate according to claim 9, wherein the first cradle bearing zone essentially faces towards the distal end comprising the receiving means.

13. The swashplate according to claim 9, wherein a distal end comprising the receiving means is arranged remote from the first cradle bearing zone.

14. A variable hydraulic axial piston unit of the swashplate type comprising a swashplate according to claim 9, which is supported rotatable in a housing of the variable hydraulic axial piston unit at a first cradle bearing zone by means of a tapered cradle bearing for supporting a swashplate of a variable hydraulic axial piston unit, wherein the cradle bearing is of an angular ball bearing type or comprises, with respect to the bearing axis, a tapered inner race and/or a tapered outer race and at a second cradle bearing zone by means of a regular cylindrical cradle bearing or a journal cradle bearing whose axis is aligned with the swashplate tilt axis.

15. The variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to claim 14, wherein at one distal end of the swashplate in direction of the swashplate tilt axis a support element is disposed between the swashplate and the housing or the housing comprises a support surface for supporting the swashplate in direction of the swashplate tilt axis.

16. The variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to claim 14, wherein the swashplate comprises a displacement pin for tilting the swashplate, wherein the first cradle bearing zone is located closer to the displacement pin than the second cradle bearing zone.

17. The variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to claim 14, wherein the swashplate comprises a displacement pin for tilting the swashplate, wherein the second cradle bearing zone is located closer to the displacement pin than the first cradle bearing zone.

18. The variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to claim 14, wherein the support element is made of bronze, plastic material or any other material capable of reducing friction forces at the distal end of the swashplate and/or capable of supporting an axial force in the direction of the swashplate tilt axis.

19. The variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to claim 14, wherein the support element at least in direction of the swashplate tilt axis is capable of dampening vibration forces of the hydraulic unit and/or is capable of balancing temperature dilatations or hysteresis of the swashplate, the cradle bearings, and/or the housing of the hydraulic unit.

20. The variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to claim 14, wherein the support element is manufactured as a single-part out of bronze, rubber, plastic or reinforced rubber or plastic material.

21. The variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to claim 14, wherein the support element is a hydraulic tappet.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] In the following figures, exemplary embodiments of the cradle bearing, the swashplate, and the variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to the invention are presented, as described. The presented embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention. The following figures show:

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a swashplate according to the invention in isometric view;

[0033] FIG. 2 shows the swashplate of FIG. 1 in back view;

[0034] FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of a variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to the invention in sectional view;

[0035] FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of a variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to the invention in sectional view;

[0036] FIG. 5 shows a detailed view of a first embodiment of a bearing arrangement according to the invention;

[0037] FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of a second embodiment of a bearing arrangement according to the invention;

[0038] FIG. 7 shows a detailed view of a third embodiment of a bearing arrangement according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] In FIG. 1, an isometric view of a swashplate according to the invention is shown. The swashplate 100 comprises a swashplate tilt axis 102, which is shown as a dashed-dotted line and which represents the center of rotation around which the swashplate is tilted when a (longitudinal) displacement force actuates on a displacement pin 150. The inventive swashplate 100 further comprises two bearing surfaces 110, 120, to which cradle bearings can be arranged. A first cradle bearing surface 110 is inclined with respect to the swashplate tilt axis 102. A second cradle bearing surface 120 is substantially parallel to the swashplate tilt axis 102. Furthermore, the swashplate 100 comprises receiving means 130, which is oriented in the direction of the swashplate tilt axis 102 for receiving a support element 140. See also FIG. 2, showing a back view of swashplate 100.

[0040] FIG. 2 shows a back view of the inventive swashplate 100 with a first cradle bearing surface 110, that is inclined with respect to the swashplate tilt axis 102, and a second cradle bearing surface 120 parallel to the swashplate tilt axis 102. Additionally, a support element 140 is received by the receiving means 130 such that forces acting in the direction of the swashplate tilt axis can be supported.

[0041] FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of an inventive swashplate 100 for a hydrostatic unit 200 with variable displacement, which is taken along the section line A-A in FIG. 2. Two cradle bearings 1, 2 are arranged at the first and second cradle bearing surfaces 110, 120. The vertical dashed-dotted line represents the swashplate tilt axis 102. At the first cradle bearing surface 110, a cradle bearing 1 with inclined direction of supporting force 40 is disposed, whereas the cradle bearing 2, which is arranged at the second cradle bearing surface 120, comprises a bearing axis 3, which is aligned with the swashplate tilt axis 102. The cradle bearing 2 is capable of supporting forces which are oriented in the direction of the stroke of the working pistons (horizontal in FIG. 3) and act on the swashplate sliding surface 160. For illustration purposes, the horizontal direction corresponds with the cylinder block axis and with the drive shaft axis of a hydrostatic axial piston unit of the swashplate type, respectively. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, a tapered cradle bearing 1 is assembled such that the supporting force exerted on the tapered cradle bearing 1 comprises an axial force component which is oriented in the direction of the swashplate tilt axis 102. This axial force component is supported by the housing 202 of a variable hydraulic unit via the support element 140, which is received by the receiving means 130 of the swashplate 100. The inclined supporting force 40 and the horizontal supporting force 41 include a supporting force angle 42. The greater the supporting force angle 42, the higher the vertical (axial) component of the supporting force 40 of the inclined cradle bearing 1 will be. The supporting angle 42 can therefore be seen as an indication of how high are the axial supporting or pre-tensioning forces in relation to the horizontal bearing forces for supporting the (vibration) loads occurring during running operation of a variable hydraulic axial piston unit 200 (not shown) equipped with a swashplate 100 according to the invention. The higher the axial loads are supposed to be, the higher the supporting force angle 42 should be.

[0042] The inclined/tapered cradle bearing 1 according to the invention, which is shown in FIG. 3, comprises an inclined inner race 5 that is mounted on an inner mounting surface 22 of an inner shell 20. In contrast, the outer mounting surface 27 of shell 25 of the inclined bearing 1 is substantially parallel to the swashplate tilting axis 102. The inventive inclined cradle bearing 1 comprises cylindrical or conical roller elements 10, which run on the inner race 5 and the outer race 7. As the inner race 5 and the outer race 7 are separated from the inner shell 20 and the outer shell 25, it is possible to choose different materials for races and shells, so that the material properties can be specifically tailored to the desired bearing characteristics, e.g., dampening and/or low wear. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the bearing 2 with horizontal supporting force vector 41 is designed as a standard cradle bearing with cylindrical shape and preferably with cylindrical roller elements 10, however, it could also be designed with spherical roller elements or as a journal or hydrostatic bearing, just to provide examples.

[0043] FIG. 4 shows a different bearing arrangement, by the aid of which the swashplate 100 is rotatable accommodated in the housing 202 of an inventive variable hydraulic axial piston unit 200. The inclined bearing 1 is accommodated on the first bearing surface 110, which is inclined and is designed as journal bearing, also called sliding bearing, such that it does not comprise any roller elements 10, since a sliding element 12 is suitable to lower friction forces and/or to avoid steel-iron contact. Preferably, the sliding element is designed to compensate the inclination of bearing surface 110 to the outer mounting surface 27 which is parallel to the swashplate tilt axis 102 or the sliding surface 160, respectively. The non-angular bearing 2 is exemplarily designed as common cradle bearing with cylindrical roller elements. The swashplate 100 is axially (vertically) supported at the housing 202 via supporting means 140 that are held by receiving means 130 at one distal end of the swashplate 100, in this embodiment the lower distal end. Preferably, all sliding/bearing elements that can be moved relative to the swashplate are manufactured from a material providing a low friction coefficient in order to maintain a high degree of efficiency when the swashplate 100 is tilted. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the specific arrangement of bearings, comprising roller elements and/or frictional bearing can be interchanged. For example, the inclined bearing 1 could be designed as a roller bearing, whereas the non-angular bearing 2 could be designed as a sliding bearing. Similarly, both or neither of the bearings could be designed as sliding bearings.

[0044] The FIGS. 5 to 7 show detailed views of further embodiments of inclined bearings 1 according to the invention. FIG. 5 shows an inclined bearing 1 comprising an inclined inner race Sand a separate inner shell 20. The outer race 7 is simultaneously designed as outer shell 25 and comprises an inclined race in combination with a substantially non-inclined outer mounting face 27. The outer shell 25 abuts against the housing 202 of the inventive variable hydraulic axial piston unit 200. The bearing 1 comprises cylindrical roller elements 10.

[0045] FIG. 6 depicts an angular ball bearing 1, which exerts a supporting force 40 with an inclined force vector. In contrast to FIGS. 5 and 7, the angular ball bearing 1 according to FIG. 6 is disposed on a non-inclined cylindrical bearing surface 110 of the swashplate 100.

[0046] FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of an inventive cradle bearing 1 which is designed as a hydrostatic bearing. An external pressure source 220 feeds pressurized fluid to the inclined first cradle bearing surface 110. The pressurized fluid serves as a lubricant and a support film which distances the adjacent and relatively moving surfaces of the bearing 1 and the swashplate 100. Generally, the system or charge pressure of the hydrostatic unit 200 itself could be used as a pressure source for the hydrostatic bearing 1. Especially during the startup process of the hydraulic axial piston unit 200 or other periods—when no or a low pressure difference is generated by the hydrostatic unit 200—however, it may be preferential to use an external pressure source 220 for providing pressurized fluid to the cradle bearing surface 110 according to the invention. It is covered by the scope of the invention that a hydrostatic bearing could also serve as non-angular bearing 2.

[0047] From the above disclosure and the accompanying figures and claims, it will be appreciated that the cradle bearing according to the invention, the swashplate according to the invention and the variable hydraulic axial piston unit according to the invention offer many possibilities and advantages over the prior art. It will be appreciated further by a person skilled in the relevant art that further modifications and changes to cradle bearings, swashplates and variable hydraulic axial piston units known in the art could be made to the aforementioned 10 inventive concepts without parting from the spirit and scope of this invention; therefore, all these modifications and changes fall within the scope of the claims and are covered by them. It should be further understood that the examples and embodiments described above are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications, changes or combinations of embodiments in the light thereof, which will be suggested to a person skilled in the relevant 15 art, are included in the spirit and purview of this application.