DAMPING ELEMENT WITH THREAD PORTION

Abstract

A damping element (1) has a multi-start thread on its circumferential surface (4). The damping element (1) can engage in a recess in a first body (12). To this end, the damping element (1) has a thread portion on its circumferential surface and the recess (13) in the first body (12) has in its inner lateral surface at least one mating thread portion which corresponds to the thread portion of the damping element (1). Through engagement of the thread in the mating thread, the damping element can be screwed together with the first body (12). By means of the thread, the damping element (1) can be fastened to the first body (12) and separated therefrom again with little effort. A fastening element (23) can fasten the damping element (1) to a second body in order to fasten the first (12) and the second bodies to one another in a vibration-damped manner.

Claims

1-17. (canceled)

18. A combination, comprising: a damping element, and a first body, wherein the damping element engages in a recess of the first body, wherein the damping element has a threaded section on a circumferential surface, wherein the recess of the first body has, in a inner lateral surface, at least one mating thread section which corresponds to the threaded section of the damping element so that the damping element can be screwed to the first body by engagement with a thread in the at least one mating thread section, wherein the damping element has a latching element and wherein the first body has a mating latching element which selectively fix the damping element to the first body in a state in which the damping element is screwed to the first body.

19. The combination according to claim 18 wherein the at least one mating thread section has a multi-start thread.

20. The combination according to claim 18 wherein one or more of the latching element and the mating latching element is a projection, a cut out, or a constriction.

21. The combination according to claim 18 wherein the damping element has a handling section in which at least one depression or at least one projection is arranged on a side of the damping element.

22. The combination according to claim 21 wherein the at least one depression or the at least one projection of the handling section includes a plurality of recesses or projections which are uniformly spaced in a circumferential direction on the side of damping element.

23. The combination according to claim 18 wherein the damping element is annular.

24. The combination according to claim 23 further comprising a sleeve arranged in a hole of the annular damping element.

25. The combination according to claim 24 wherein the sleeve is comprised of metal.

26. A device for the vibration-damped fastening of a first body to a second body, wherein the device has a combination according to claim 18.

27. The device according to claim 26, further comprising a fastening element which can engage in a hole of the damping element and a recess of the second body in order to connect them.

28. The device according to claim 27 wherein the fastening element is arranged in a captive manner in a sleeve.

29. The device according to claim 28 wherein the sleeve has a constriction at one end on an inner side.

30. The device according to claim 27 wherein the fastening element has a head having a chin, wherein a diameter of the head is greater than a diameter of the hole of the damping element.

31. The device according to claim 27 wherein the fastening element is a screw.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Further advantageous configurations are described in greater detail below with reference to multiple exemplary embodiments illustrated schematically in the drawings, to which the invention is however not limited and in which:

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a damping element according to the invention in (a) perspective view and (b) cross-sectional view;

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a device according to the invention comprising damping element, first body, bush and fastening element in transport position in (a) perspective view and (b) cross-sectional view;

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a device according to the invention comprising damping element, first body, bush and fastening element in fastening position in (a) perspective view and (b) cross-sectional view;

[0045] FIG. 4 shows the recess in the first body in (a) a first cross-sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the recess and (b) along the section line A-A shown in (a); and

[0046] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the device of FIGS. 2 and 3 with damping element inserted into the first body in (a) unlocked and (b) locked position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0047] In the description given below of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the same reference signs denote the same or comparable components.

[0048] A damping element 1 according to the invention has, as may best be seen in FIGS. 1a and 1b, an annular, to be precise hollow-cylindrical, shape, wherein the first 2 and the second 3 end faces are connected by a circumferential surface 4 of the damping element 1. In the circumferential surface 4 there is located a four-start thread with four thread portions 5, formed as grooves, which are open at the end directed towards the first end face 2 and closed towards the second end. The thread portions are identical to one another and, as is readily visible in FIGS. 5a and 5b, spaced uniformly from one another. Each thread portion has a latching element 10 in the form of a projection in the vicinity of its second end. The projection is made of the same material as and in one piece with the damping element 1.

[0049] The first body has a four-start mating thread with four mating thread portions 11 in the form of ridges on the inner lateral surface of a cut-out 13 in the first body. Each of the mating thread portions 11 has a mating latching element 9 in the form of a depression in the vicinity of its end. Latching element 10 and mating latching element 9 work together to secure the damping element 1 screwed together with the first body 12 to the first body 12 in such a way that the screw connection can no longer become readily undone. To ensure that the latching element 10 can engage in the mating latching element 9, the latching element has to yield resiliently in order to enter the depression in the mating latching element.

[0050] To fasten the damping element 1 in the recess 13 in the first body 12, it is firstly inserted in the longitudinal direction into the recess 13, wherein the thread portions 5 of the damping element are screwed together with the mating thread portions 11 of the first body 12. If the mating thread portions then come into contact with the latching element 10, the resilient force of the latching element has to be overcome by the application of increased force during screwing, so that the latching element 10 can engage in the cut-out in the mating latching element 9 in order to lock the damping element together with the first body. An increased force has likewise to be applied against the resilient force of the latching element 10 in order to separate latching element 10 and mating latching element 9 again and so undo the locking connection. Damping element 1 and first body 12 can then be separated from one another again by a reversed screwing movement.

[0051] Moreover, the damping element 1 has circumferentially extending ribs 14 which pretension the damping element resiliently against the inner surface of the cut-out 13 in the first body 12 and thus ensure, jointly with thread and mating thread, that the damping element 1 sits firmly in the recess 13 in the first body 12. The recess 13 in the first body 12 is a circular cylindrical through-hole. The first body 12 is a coolant pump and in the figures is shown symbolically as a ring about its recess 13 solely for the purpose of simplification.

[0052] The damping element has a handling portion with four uniformly spaced depressions 15 on the circumferential face of the damping element. In another exemplary embodiment not shown in the figures, the handling element has just one depression. The handling portion projects, as is readily apparent in FIGS. 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b, beyond the recess 13 in the first body 12 even when the damping element 1 has been secured in the recess 13. In this way, a fitter can grasp the handling portion with their hand or with a tool in order to rotate the damping element 1 about its longitudinal direction relative to the first body 12 and in this way fasten it to the first body 12 or detach it therefrom.

[0053] A hole 16 in the damping element 1 extends from the first 2 to the second end face 3 of the damping element 1. In the hole 16 is arranged a bush 17 which spans the hole from the first end face 2 to shortly before the second end face 3. In this way, the damping element 1, as is easily visible in FIG. 3b, may be compressed in its longitudinal direction, without the bush 17 thereby exiting from the damping element 1 at an end face 2, 3, in particular the second end face 3. To secure the bush 17 in the damping element 1, it has an upper portion 18 with a somewhat larger external diameter than that of a lower portion 19, and the hole 16 in the damping element has a corresponding upper portion 20 with a somewhat larger internal diameter than that of a lower portion 21. Moreover, at the first end face 2 of the damping element 1, the bush 17 has a radially outwardly extending protrusion 22, which adjoins the first end face 2 of the damping element 1.

[0054] A screw 23 with a head 24 and a shank 25 engages as fastening element in the hole in the bush 17 and is preferably arranged captively in the bush 17. To this end, the bush 17 has an internal constriction 26 at the end pointing towards the second end face 3 of the damping element 1. The screw has an annular securing portion 27 on its shank 25, with a diameter which is of such a size that it cannot overcome the constriction 26 of the bush 17. The head 24 of the screw 23 also has a greater diameter than the constriction 26. Because the constriction 26 is located directly between head 24 and securing portion 27, the screw 23 is prevented from falling out of the damping element 1. The device comprising damping element 1, first body 12, bush 17 and captive screw 23 is shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b. The damping element 1 is secured in the recess 13 in the first body 12. The first body 12 with attached damping element 1 and screw 23 can be transported and delivered in this way for fitting to a second body (not shown), in particular an internal combustion engine.

[0055] At its end remote from the head 24, on the other side of the securing portion, the shank 25 of the screw 23 has a thread 28, with which it can engage in a recess in the second body. The recess in the second body is a blind or through-hole and is provided for this purpose with a corresponding internal thread. The fastening position with screw 23 screwed into the recess in the second body is shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b. The head 24 of the screw 23 has a chin 29, the diameter of which is of a size such it can act on the second end face 3 of the damping element 1, in order to compress the damping element 1.

[0056] The features disclosed in the above description, the claims and the drawings may be of significance for implementation of the invention in its various embodiments either individually or in any desired combination.