WHEEL BEARING ARRANGEMENT HAVING A ROTATIONAL AXIS

Abstract

A wheel bearing arrangement having a rotational axis, having at least an outer ring; an inner ring which can be rotated about the rotational axis relative to the outer ring; and a bearing seal arrangement which comprises a running ring which is configured as an outer seal and a seal body which is configured as a main seal, wherein the running ring is supported on the inner ring and the seal body is supported on the outer ring, wherein the running ring is of C-shaped configuration in cross section with a radial and axial extent with a side which is open towards the rolling bodies.

Claims

1. A wheel bearing arrangement with an axis of rotation, comprising: an outer ring; an inner ring which can be rotated about the rotational axis relative to the outer ring, a bearing inner chamber being formed between the outer ring and the inner ring, in which rolling bodies are arranged such that they can roll; a wheel flange which is connected fixedly to the inner ring, wherein the wheel flange is overlapping the bearing inner chamber radially; and a bearing seal arrangement which comprises a running ring which is configured as an outer seal, and a seal body designed as a main seal, the running ring being supported on the inner ring and the seal body being supported on the outer ring, the running ring being C-shaped in cross-section with a radial and axial extent with a side which is open towards the rolling bodies, wherein the running ring is arranged radially and axially spaced apart from the wheel flange with the result that a clearance formed between the wheel flange and the running ring is configured along the radial extent of the running ring, the clearance configuring a collection chamber; wherein the sealing body comprises an axial lip which is shaped in such a way that with the wheel flange forms a radial gap labyrinth seal and the sealing body comprises an axial wall element which is arranged radially on the inside of the outer ring at least partially axially overlapping with the axial extension of the running ring such that the axial wall element and the running ring form an axial gap labyrinth seal.

2. The wheel bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the running ring comprises: an axially aligned inner ring-side wall element for a static sealing seat; an outer ring-side wall element aligned in the same axial direction as the inner ring-side wall element; and a radially bridging wall element, connecting the inner ring-side wall element and the outer ring-side wall element, which is oriented at a right angle to either or both of the inner ring-side wall element and the outer ring-side wall element.

3. The wheel bearing arrangement of claim 2, wherein the inner ring-side wall element has a first axial length and the outer ring-side wall element comprises a second axial length the first length being longer than the second length.

4. The wheel bearing arrangement (1) of claim 1, wherein the sealing body comprises two or more sealing lips formed from an elastic material, wherein the sealing lips protrude into an interior formed by the running ring and are brought into pressurized frictional contact with the running ring.

5. The wheel bearing arrangement of claim 1, wherein the sealing body, comprises a sealing bottom side, wherein the sealing bottom side is projecting from radially outside to radially inside which partially overlaps the radial extent of the running ring.

6. The wheel bearing arrangement of claim 1, wherein the sealing body is arranged to be supported on an inner side of the outer ring pointing in the direction of the inner ring.

7. The wheel bearing arrangement of claim 1, wherein the sealing body comprises a collecting lip which protrudes from the open side into the axial extension of the running ring and has a radially outwardly curved and/or an inclined shape.

8. The wheel bearing arrangement of claim 1, wherein the outer ring comprises at least one projection and the sealing body comprises at least one corresponding recess, the projection engaging in the recess preventing movement of the sealing body relative to the outer ring.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] The disclosure described above is explained in detail below based on the relevant technical background with reference to the associated drawings, which show preferred designs. The disclosure is in no way restricted by the purely schematic drawings, although it should be noted that the drawings are not dimensionally accurate and are not suitable for defining proportions. In the following

[0053] FIG. 1: shows a centrifugal plate according to the prior art;

[0054] FIG. 2: shows a C-shaped running ring;

[0055] FIG. 3: shows a sealing body with an axial wall element for internal contact in an outer ring;

[0056] FIG. 4: shows a section of a wheel bearing arrangement according to a first embodiment; and

[0057] FIG. 5: shows a section of a wheel bearing arrangement according to a second embodiment.

[0058] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, ordinal numbers used in the previous and subsequent descriptions are used only for the purposes of clear distinction and do not indicate the order or ranking of the designated components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] FIG. 1 shows a conventional centrifugal plate 32, as shown, for example, in FIG. 4 of DE 10 2013 218 635 A1. This is set up for axial contact with the wheel flange 7 (shown here purely schematically; compare FIG. 1 of DE 10 2013 218 635 A1). To form a conventional collecting space 39, a radial bracket 38 is formed, which together with the wheel flange 7 forms a comparatively small conventional collecting space 39.

[0060] FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of a running ring 9 which replaces the conventional centrifugal plate 32. It can be seen here that a not inconsiderable material saving 33 has been achieved with the same radial gap height 34 and the same sealing seat radius 35. In addition, the shape is significantly simplified, so that the production is simplified and/or specified. The radial gap height 34 is here related to the remaining distance to the outer ring 3 or to the axial wall element 24 of the sealing body 10.

[0061] The running ring 9 is C-shaped with an open side 11 aligned with the rolling bodies 6 (see FIG. 4 or FIG. 5). In the C-shape shown, the running ring 9 comprises an axially aligned inner ring-side wall element 13, an outer ring-side wall element 14 arranged to be parallel to the inner ring-side wall element 13, and a radially bridging wall element 15 aligned in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation 2 which connects the inner ring-side wall element 13 and the outer ring-side wall element 14, and is arranged here at a right angle thereto. The wall elements 13, 14, 15 themselves are each designed to be straight and flat in the axial direction. A 90 bend is formed only in the transition area between the wall elements 13, 14, 15 arranged adjacent to one another. As a result of this simple form, production can be carried out particularly simply and precisely, for example by means of a deep-drawing process.

[0062] With the inner ring-side wall element 13, the running ring 9 is mounted on the inner ring 4 (compare FIG. 4 or FIG. 5), in that the inner ring-side wall element 13 lies flat on the inner ring 4 over the entire (first) axial length 29 thereof and is preferably pressed thereonto in a sealing manner. The inner ring-side wall element 13 comprises a (first) axial length 29 greater than the (shorter second) axial length 30 of the outer ring-side wall element 14. The outer ring-side wall element 14 is exposed and extends parallel to an inner side 25 of the outer ring 3, the outer ring-side wall element 14 being spaced apart from the inner side 25 of the outer ring 3. With the radially bridging wall element 15, the running ring 9 limits the clearance 12 in the axial direction. The radially bridging wall element 15 is arranged at a distance from the wheel flange 7.

[0063] The running ring 9 forms an interior 19 delimited by the three wall elements 13, 14, 15. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and in FIG. 5, two sealing lips 17, 18 and a collecting lip 26 of the sealing body 10 protrude into this interior 19, so that these lips 17, 18, 26 protrude into the interior 19 from the rolling body-side open side 11 are protected by the wall elements 13, 14, 15 of the running ring 9.

[0064] FIG. 3 shows a sealing body 10 which, in interaction with the running ring 9 according to FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 4, forms a very good sealing effect. The sealing body 10 here extends radially outward beyond the outer ring 3 (cf. FIG. 4 or FIG. 5), so that the sealing body 10 projects radially outward beyond the outer ring 3. The running ring 9 is also covered (almost completely) in the radial direction from a seal bottom side 20 of the seal body 10 over the radial gap height 34 (see FIG. 4 or FIG. 5). Radially outside of the outer ring 3, the sealing body 10 comprises an axial lip 21 which delimits the clearance 12 radially on the outside in the radial direction (see FIG. 4 or FIG. 5). The axial lip 21 here also comprises an axially rearward pre-lip 31, by means of which the static sealing seat, namely the inside 25 of the outer ring 3 (see FIG. 4 or FIG. 5), of the sealing body 10 is protected against the ingress of contaminants

[0065] The sealing body 10 shown here forms an axial gap labyrinth seal 23 (see FIG. 4 or FIG. 5) by means of an axial wall element 24 together with the wall element 14 of the running ring 9 on the outer ring side (see FIG. 2). In this way, for example, radial installation space is gained.

[0066] The first sealing lip 17, here ground down with a low (radial) prestressing, is supported on a radial sealing surface 36, for example the inner ring-side wall element 13 of the running ring 9, and is oriented radially inwards to the running ring 9. The second sealing lip 18 is supported here on the radially bridging wall element 15 of the running ring 9, ground down with a slight (axial) prestressing. The collecting lip 26 is spaced apart from the wall elements 13, 14, 15 of the running ring 9 (cf. FIG. 4 or FIG. 5) and forms a collecting volume that is open to the outlet, with an axial distance between the free end of the outer ring-side wall element 14 and the sealing body 10 being axially overlapped.

[0067] FIG. 4 shows a section of a wheel bearing arrangement 1 with an axis of rotation 2, for example for a motor vehicle (not shown here). This comprises an outer ring 3 and an inner ring 4 which can be rotated relatively thereto and is here integrally connected to a wheel flange 7. In the diagram, the inner ring 4 is set off from the rest of the wheel flange 7 by means of a crosshatching, but in the embodiment shown the inner ring 4 and the wheel flange 7 are formed in one piece. In an installed state, the outer ring 3 is connected, for example, to a wheel carrier (not shown here) or at least partially formed integrally therewith. Rolling bodies 6, here optionally with a bearing cage 37, are arranged between the outer ring 3 and the inner ring 4. The rolling bearing thus formed is, for example, an angular contact ball bearing, for example, a stressed bearing in an O arrangement.

[0068] The wheel bearing arrangement 1 comprises a bearing seal arrangement 8, the bearing seal arrangement 8 comprising, among other things, a running ring 9 designed as an outer seal. The running ring 9 is produced, for example, from a metal sheet by means of a, preferably one-step, stamping process.

[0069] The running ring 9 is positioned in the wheel bearing arrangement 1 such that the running ring 9 is only in contact with the inner ring 4. There is no contact between the running ring 9 and the outer ring 3 or with the wheel flange 7. The running ring 9 is supported on the surface of the inner ring 4 in the axial direction, here solely by means of the axial frictional force resulting from the pressing on. The running ring 9 forms a static sealing seat 16 with the sealing seat radius 35.

[0070] The running ring 9 is spaced from the wheel flange 7 in the axial direction, so that a clearance 12 is formed between the wheel flange 7 and the running ring 9 along the entire radially oriented length of the running ring 9. This clearance 12 forms a collecting space for collecting contaminants. In the axial direction, the clearance 12 is delimited on one side by the wheel flange 7 and on the other side by the running ring 9. A limitation of the clearance 12 is formed here radially inward by means of the wheel flange 7 or by means of the inner ring 4. A radially outward boundary is formed here by means of an axial lip 21 of the sealing body 10 of the bearing seal arrangement 8, which is formed by elastic material reinforced therewith.

[0071] The running ring 9 is arranged in an axially overlapping region with an extension of the outer ring 3, here optionally completely, or in an extension of the bearing inner chamber 5. The running ring 9 extends in the radial direction in a region between the outer ring 3 and the inner ring 4. The running ring 9 is spaced radially outward from the outer ring 3 or the sealing body 10 and forms there an axial gap labyrinth seal 23.

[0072] The sealing body 10 forms an input gap in the axial direction between the axial lip 21 thereof and the wheel bearing flange 7. Only through this entrance gap can contaminants enter the large clearance 12 and thus the collecting space. This inlet gap forms a radial gap labyrinth seal 22. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a wheel bearing arrangement 1 which, for the sake of clarity, corresponds to the wheel bearing arrangement 1 shown in FIG. 4. The only difference is that the sealing body 10 comprises a recess 28 into which is engaged a (here end-face) projection 27 of the outer ring 3, thus preventing the sealing body 10 from migrating around. Irrespective thereof, another variant of the axial lip 21 (see FIG. 3) in the radial gap labyrinth seal 22 is shown here.

[0073] The proposed wheel bearing arrangement creates an inexpensive and reliable seal.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0074] 1 Wheel bearing arrangement [0075] 2 Axis of rotation [0076] 3 Outer ring [0077] 4 Inner ring [0078] 5 Bearing inner chamber [0079] 6 Rolling bodies [0080] 7 Wheel flange [0081] 8 Bearing seal arrangement [0082] 9 Running ring [0083] 10 Sealing body [0084] 11 Open side [0085] 12 Clearance [0086] 13 Inner ring-side wall element [0087] 14 Outer ring-side wall element [0088] 15 Radially bridging wall element [0089] 16 Static sealing seat [0090] 17 First sealing lip [0091] 18 Second sealing lip [0092] 19 Interior [0093] 20 Seal bottom side [0094] 21 Axial lip [0095] 22 Radial gap labyrinth seal [0096] 23 Axial gap labyrinth seal [0097] 24 Axial wall element [0098] 25 Inner side [0099] 26 Collecting lip [0100] 27 Projection [0101] 28 Recess [0102] 29 First axial length [0103] 30 Second axial length [0104] 31 Pre-lip [0105] 32 Conventional centrifugal plate [0106] 33 Material savings [0107] 34 Radial gap height [0108] 35 Sealing seat radius [0109] 36 Radial sealing surface [0110] 37 Bearing cage