WHEEL BEARING ARRANGEMENT FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

A wheel bearing arrangement for a motor vehicle, having a wheel hub and a wheel bearing for rotatably mounting the wheel hub on a wheel carrier. The wheel bearing has an outer ring and an inner ring. A wheel flange extends from the wheel hub in a radial direction and has a brake disc receptacle which is open in the direction facing away from the outer ring and is formed by a recess in the wheel flange and has a brake disc bearing face for a brake disc. A seal-receptacle space is formed in the wheel flange on its side facing the outer ring in an axial direction, in which seal-receptacle space there is a wheel bearing seal. A rim-centering seat element extends from the wheel hub and runs in the direction opposite the brake disc bearing face with respect to the brake disc receptacle.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A wheel bearing arrangement for a motor vehicle, comprising: a wheel hub and a wheel bearing for rotatably mounting the wheel hub on a wheel carrier, wherein the wheel bearing has an outer ring and an inner ring which can rotate with respect to the outer ring about a rotational axis, which inner ring is connected to the wheel hub, wherein a wheel flange extends from the wheel hub in a radial direction and has a brake disc receptacle which, when viewed in the axial direction, is open in the direction facing away from the outer ring and is formed, when viewed in longitudinal section, by a recess in the wheel flange and has a brake disc bearing face for a brake disc, wherein a seal-receptacle space is formed in the wheel flange on its side facing the outer ring in an axial direction, in which seal-receptacle space there is a wheel bearing seal, wherein a rim-centering seat element extends from the wheel hub and runs in the direction opposite the brake disc bearing face with respect to the brake disc receptacle.

12. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 11, wherein the seal-receptacle space overlaps, in the radial direction, an outer ring end of the outer ring facing the wheel flange.

13. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 11, wherein the outer ring of the wheel bearing terminates flush with a wheel flange end face of the wheel flange facing the outer ring or at least engages with an outer ring projection in the seal-receptacle space.

14. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 11, wherein the seal-receptacle space, when viewed in longitudinal section, has a first seal-receptacle space region having a first seal-receptacle space width and a second seal-receptacle space region having a second seal-receptacle space width different from the first seal-receptacle space width, wherein the first seal-receptacle space region, when viewed in the radial direction, merges in overlap with the outer ring into the second seal-receptacle space region.

15. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 14, wherein the wheel bearing seal abuts, in the first seal-receptacle space region with at least one sealing lip, on the wheel flange to form a seal and extends out of the first seal-receptacle space region into the second seal-receptacle space region and, when viewed in longitudinal section in the radial direction, abuts on the outer ring to form a seal in overlap with at least the second seal receptacle region.

16. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the seal-receptacle space, when viewed in longitudinal section, is arranged overlapping in the radial direction with an inclined face connecting the wheel flange end face to the brake disc bearing face to form the recess.

17. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 14, wherein the seal-receptacle space width is greater than a brake disc receptacle width present in the axial direction between a wheel bearing face and the brake disc bearing face.

18. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 17, wherein the brake disc receptacle width of the brake disc receptacle is greater by a factor of at most 1.25 than a wheel bolt receptacle width present between the wheel flange end face and the brake disc bearing face of a wheel bolt receptacle formed in the wheel flange, or in that the brake disc receptacle width corresponds to the wheel bolt receptacle width or is less than it.

19. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 17, a rim-centering seat formed by the rim-centering seat element has a rim-centering seat width, which is present, when viewed in the axial direction, between the wheel bearing face and a rim-centering end face facing away from the wheel bearing face and corresponds to at least the brake disc receptacle width and/or at most the wheel bolt receptacle width.

20. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 11, wherein the rim-centering seat element has a larger internal diameter than the wheel hub.

21. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 12, wherein the outer ring of the wheel bearing terminates flush with a wheel flange end face of the wheel flange facing the outer ring or at least engages with an outer ring projection in the seal-receptacle space.

22. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 12, wherein the seal-receptacle space, when viewed in longitudinal section, has a first seal-receptacle space region having a first seal-receptacle space width and a second seal-receptacle space region having a second seal-receptacle space width different from the first seal-receptacle space width, wherein the first seal-receptacle space region, when viewed in the radial direction, merges in overlap with the outer ring into the second seal-receptacle space region.

23. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the seal-receptacle space, when viewed in longitudinal section, has a first seal-receptacle space region having a first seal-receptacle space width and a second seal-receptacle space region having a second seal-receptacle space width different from the first seal-receptacle space width, wherein the first seal-receptacle space region, when viewed in the radial direction, merges in overlap with the outer ring into the second seal-receptacle space region.

24. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 12, wherein the rim-centering seat element has a larger internal diameter than the wheel hub.

25. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 13, wherein the rim-centering seat element has a larger internal diameter than the wheel hub.

26. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 14, wherein the rim-centering seat element has a larger internal diameter than the wheel hub.

27. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 15, wherein the rim-centering seat element has a larger internal diameter than the wheel hub.

28. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 16, wherein the rim-centering seat element has a larger internal diameter than the wheel hub.

29. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 17, wherein the rim-centering seat element has a larger internal diameter than the wheel hub.

30. The wheel bearing arrangement as claimed in claim 18, wherein the rim-centering seat element has a larger internal diameter than the wheel hub.

Description

[0040] The invention is explained hereinafter on the basis of the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawing, without the invention being restricted. The single

[0041] Figure shows a schematic longitudinal sectional illustration of a wheel bearing arrangement for a motor vehicle.

[0042] The figure shows a schematic longitudinal sectional illustration through a region of a wheel bearing arrangement 1 from motor vehicle. In particular a wheel bearing 2, a wheel hub 3, a wheel flange 4, and a rim-centering seat element 5 are shown of the wheel bearing arrangement 1. The wheel bearing 2 has an outer ring 6 and an inner ring 7. It is designed as a roller bearing, so that roller bodies 8 are arranged between the outer ring 6 and the inner ring 7, which effectuate a friction reduction between the outer ring 6 and the inner ring 7. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the inner ring 7 of the wheel bearing 2 is formed integrated with the wheel hub 3, so that the wheel hub 3 itself has a running surface for one or more of the roller bodies 8. Of course, however, the inner ring 7 can also be formed separately from the wheel hub 3.

[0043] In addition to the inner ring 7, a farther inner ring 9 of the wheel bearing 2 is shown, which also forms a running surface for at least one or more of the roller bodies 8. The inner ring 9 is preferably formed separately from the inner ring 7 or the wheel hub 3. For example, it is arranged after the outer ring 6 and the roller bodies 8 or jointly with them on the inner ring 7 and/or the wheel hub 3. The further inner ring 9 is fixed on the wheel hub 3 in the axial direction, for example, by the formation of a rolling rivet shoulder on the wheel hub. The rolling rivet shoulder is produced by widening the wheel hub 3 in the radial direction.

[0044] The inner ring 7 and the wheel hub 3 arranged or fastened thereon are arranged in the outer ring 6. However, the wheel hub 3 protrudes in the axial direction out of this outer ring. At this point, both the wheel flange 4 and also the rim-centering seat element 5 extend from the wheel hub 3, namely the wheel flange 4 in the radial direction outward and the rim-centering seat element 5 in the axial direction in the direction facing away from the wheel bearing 2. The wheel flange 4 runs in the radial direction beyond the roller bodies 8 and the outer ring 6. With the aid of the wheel bearing 2, the wheel hub 3, the wheel flange 4, and the rim-centering seat element 5 are rotatably mounted around a rotational axis 10 with respect to a wheel carrier (not shown here). The wheel bearing 2 is provided as a multirow roller bearing, so that the roller bodies 8 are divided into two roller body rows 11 and 12 spaced apart from one another in the axial direction with respect to the rotational axis 10.

[0045] A brake disc (not shown here) and a wheel (also not shown here) of the motor vehicle are fastenable or fastened on the wheel flange 4. The fastening of the wheel on the wheel flange 4 is carried out by means of at least one wheel bolt (not shown), which the wheel flange 4 has a wheel bolt receptacle 13 to receive. The wheel bolt receptacle 13 extends through, on the one hand, a brake disc bearing face 14 and a wheel flange end face 15 facing away from it. The brake disc bearing face 14 delimits a brake disc receptacle 16 in the axial direction, namely in the direction of the wheel bearing 2.

[0046] In contrast, the brake disc receptacle 16 is delimited in the radial direction inward by an outer circumferential face 17 of the wheel flange 4, which is formed as an inclined face in the exemplary embodiment shown here. To form the outer circumferential face 17, the wheel hub 3 is thus embodied as conical in regions. The brake disc bearing face 14 is preferably located continuously in an imaginary plane which is preferably perpendicular to the rotational axis 10. The outer circumferential face 17 is preferably also planar when viewed in longitudinal section.

[0047] In the axial direction on the side of the brake disc receptacle 16 facing away from the brake disc bearing face 14, the wheel flange 4 has a wheel bearing face 18 on which a wheel of the motor vehicle bears after it is mounted. The wheel bearing face is preferably located continuously in an imaginary plane which furthermore is preferably perpendicular to the rotational axis 10. Overall, the wheel flange 4, when viewed in the axial direction, is delimited, on the one hand, by the wheel flange end face 15 and, on the other hand, by the wheel bearing face 18.

[0048] The rim-centering seat element 5 forms a rim-centering seat 19, which extends, when viewed in the axial direction, from the wheel bearing face 18 up to a rim-centering seat end face 20. It can be provided that at least one radial projection 21, which can be formed to be continuous or interrupted in the circumferential direction, extends from the rim-centering seat element 5.

[0049] At least one wheel bearing seal (not shown here) is provided to seal off the wheel bearing 2 from external influences. This seal is arranged at least in regions in a seal-receptacle space 22, which is formed in the wheel flange 4. In the exemplary embodiment of the wheel bearing arrangement 1 shown here, the outer ring 6 engages with an outer ring end 23 in the seal-receptacle space 22, so that thus, when viewed in the axial direction, the outer ring 6 and the wheel flange 4 are provided in overlap with one another. A particularly compact design of the wheel bearing arrangement 1 in the axial direction is implemented in this way.

[0050] In any case, however, it is provided that the seal-receptacle space 22 overlaps the outer ring 6 or at least its outer ring end 23 in the radial direction to the outside, so that the seal-receptacle space 22 thus extends farther outward in the radial direction than the outer ring 6 or at least the outer ring end 23. This enables at least an extremely close arrangement of the outer ring 6 on the wheel flange 4, so that, for example, the outer ring 6 and the wheel flange 4 terminate flush with one another.

[0051] It is recognizable that the seal-receptacle space 22 is formed stepped and thus has a first seal-receptacle space region 24 and a second seal-receptacle space region 25, which are distinguished by different seal-receptacle space widths. The seal-receptacle space width of the first seal-receptacle space region 24 can be identified as first seal-receptacle space width B.sub.DR1 and the seal-receptacle space width of the second seal-receptacle space region 25 as the second seal-receptacle space width B.sub.DR2.

[0052] As further dimensions, the wheel bolt receptacle 13 has a wheel bolt receptacle width B.sub.RA, the brake disc receptacle 16 has a brake disc receptacle width B.sub.BA, and the rim-centering seat 19 has a rim-centering seat width B.sub.FS. Furthermore, the wheel flange 4 has a wheel flange width B.sub.RF, which is composed of the wheel bolt receptacle width B.sub.RA and the brake disc receptacle width B.sub.BA. A sum of the wheel flange width B.sub.RF and the rim-centering seat width B.sub.FS is denoted as the total width B.sub.G. Furthermore, a bearing unit width B.sub.BS is indicated, which denotes the distance in the axial direction between the brake disc bearing face 14 and an end face of the outer ring 6 facing away from the wheel flange 4. The extension of the outer ring 6 in the axial direction is denoted as the outer ring width B.sub.RL.

[0053] It is furthermore recognizable that the wheel hub 3 and the rim-centering seat element 5 have a common interior 26, which has an internal diameter D.sub.1 in the region of the wheel hub 3 and an internal diameter D.sub.2 in the region of the rim-centering seat element 5. In this case, the diameter D.sub.2 is greater than the diameter D.sub.1. The widening of the interior 6 starting from the wheel hub 3 toward the rim-centering seat element 5 is preferably effectuated by an internal diameter jump 27, by which a step 27 is formed. The interior 26 is thus provided as a stepped interior.

[0054] The described design of the wheel bearing arrangement 1 is distinguished, on the one hand, by simple mounting of the wheel, namely due to the rim-centering seat element 5 or the rim-centering seat 19. On the other hand, it has an extremely compact structure in the axial direction.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0055] 1 wheel bearing arrangement [0056] 2 wheel bearing [0057] 3 wheel hub [0058] 4 wheel flange [0059] 5 rim-centering seat element [0060] 6 outer ring [0061] 7 inner ring [0062] 8 roller body [0063] 9 inner ring [0064] 10 rotational axis [0065] 11 roller body row [0066] 12 roller body row [0067] 13 wheel bolt receptacle [0068] 14 brake disc bearing face [0069] 15 wheel flange end face [0070] 16 brake disc receptacle [0071] 17 outer circumferential surface [0072] 18 wheel bearing face [0073] 19 rim-centering seat [0074] 20 rim-centering seat end face [0075] 21 radial projection [0076] 22 seal-receptacle space [0077] 23 outer ring end [0078] 24 first seal-receptacle space region [0079] 24 second seal-receptacle space region [0080] 26 interior [0081] 27 step