AIR SPRING

Abstract

An air spring with an air spring rolling bellows made of elastomer material with reinforcing layers embedded within the rolling bellows wall, the air spring being clamped in between a sprung and an unsprung mass, and the air spring rolling bellows, at least at one of its two open ends, having a bead ring or a reinforced end region and being fastened in an airtight manner to an air spring cover connected to the sprung mass, the rolling bellows being fastened in an airtight manner by way of its other open end to a connection part connected to the unsprung mass, and the cover, connection part and rolling bellows delimiting a working space filled with compressed air, wherein at least the airtight connection between the air spring rolling bellows and the air spring cover is effected by means of a connecting element which is fastened to the bead ring or to the reinforced end region in a materially bonded and/or positively locking manner.

Claims

1.-8. (canceled)

9. An air spring comprising: a plurality of air spring rolling bellows made of elastomer material with reinforcing layers embedded within the rolling bellows wall; the air spring clamped in between a sprung and an unsprung mass; the air spring rolling bellows comprises two open ends, at least at one of its two open ends, having a bead ring and fastened in an airtight manner to an air spring cover connected to the sprung mass; the rolling bellows fastened in an airtight manner by way of its other open end to a connection part connected to the unsprung mass; the air spring cover, connection part and rolling bellows delimiting a working space (6) filled with compressed air, wherein at least the airtight connection between the air spring rolling bellows and the air spring cover is effected by means of a connecting element fastened to the bead ring or to the reinforced end region in a materially bonded and/or positively locking manner.

10. The air spring of claim 9, in which the connecting element is configured in the form of a screw ring (7) which is provided with an external thread (8) and which can be screwed into a complementary internal thread (9) provided in the air spring cover.

11. The air spring of claim 10, in which the screw ring (7) is composed of plastic or plastics resin and is adhesively bonded to, or vulcanized with, the bead ring.

12. The air spring of claim 9, in which the bead ring (5, 17) is configured such that, during the screwing operation, parts of the bead ring or of the air spring bellows bear against the air spring cover (4, 11) and are deformed in a sealing manner.

13. The air spring of claim 10, in which the air spring cover has a sealing surface and an associated sealing element which is activated by the screwing-in operation.

14. The air spring of claim 9, in which the connecting element is configured in the form of a part of a snap-fit or latching connection (14) which interacts with the air spring cover.

15. The air spring of claim 14, in which the connecting element (7, 14) is composed of plastic or plastics resin and is adhesively bonded to, or vulcanized on, the outer circumference of the bead ring.

16. The air spring of claim 9, in which the connecting element (7, 14) is connected to the air spring bellows during the vulcanization thereof.

Description

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT/DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The invention will be explained in more detail on the basis of an exemplary embodiment. In the figures:

[0018] FIG. 1 shows the upper part of an air spring according to the invention in cross section,

[0019] FIG. 2 shows a detail A from FIG. 1 in enlarged form,

[0020] FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment of the air spring according to the invention,

[0021] FIG. 4 shows a detail B from FIG. 2 in enlarged form,

[0022] FIG. 5 shows a connection between the air spring bellows and the air spring cover from the prior art.

[0023] FIG. 1 shows the upper part of an air spring 1 in cross section with an air spring rolling bellows 2 made of elastomer material. Reinforcing layers, not illustrated in any more detail here, are embedded within the rolling bellows wall 3. The air spring is clamped in between a sprung and an unsprung mass, specifically is connected to the vehicle body via the air spring cover 4 and is connected, at the lower end of said air spring which is not illustrated here, to the chassis via an air spring piston. Such a fundamental embodiment and clamping is also shown by the illustration of an air spring from the prior art, as is shown in FIG. 5.

[0024] The air spring rolling bellows 2 has, at its upper end, a bead ring 5, as can best be seen in FIG. 2 which illustrates the detail A shown in FIG. 1 in enlarged form. The bead ring 5 is used for the airtight fastening of the air spring rolling bellows to the air spring cover 4, such that the air spring cover, air spring piston and rolling bellows delimit a working space 6 filled with compressed air.

[0025] The airtight connection between the air spring rolling bellows 2 and the air spring cover 4 is effected in this case by means of a connecting element which is fastened to the bead ring in a materially bonded and positively locking manner, specifically here by means of a screw ring 7 which is provided with an external thread 8 and which can be screwed into a complementary internal thread 9 provided in the air spring cover 4. Here, the screw ring is composed of plastic and is adhesively bonded to the bead ring at the surfaces where it contacts said bead ring. The bead ring 5 is configured in the form of an end-side thickening of the rolling bellows wall 3. The bead ring 5 is in this case configured such that, during the screwing operation, the axially upper horizontal surface of the bead ring bears against the air spring cover 4 and is deformed in a sealing manner.

[0026] FIGS. 3 and 4 show a further embodiment of the air spring according to the invention, in which the connecting element is configured in the form of a part of a snap-fit or latching connection which interacts with the air spring cover. Similarly to FIG. 1, FIG. 3 here shows the upper part of an air spring 10 with an air spring cover 11 and an air spring rolling bellows 12 made of elastomer material in cross section, and FIG. 4 shows the enlarged detail B marked in FIG. 3.

[0027] The airtight connection between the air spring rolling bellows 12 and the air spring cover 11 is effected here by means of a connecting element which is connected to a bead ring 17 in a materially bonded and positively locking manner and which is configured in the form of a snap-fit ring 14. Here, the bead ring 17 is also configured in the form of an end-side thickening of the rolling bellows wall 13 but is additionally provided with a core. The snap-fit ring 14 is provided with a spring 15 which can be latched into a groove 16 provided in the air spring cover 11. Here, the snap-fit ring 14 is composed of plastic and is likewise adhesively bonded to the bead ring at the surfaces where it contacts said bead ring.

[0028] For comparison purposes, FIG. 5 shows a conventional connection between an air spring bellows and an air spring cover from the prior art, in which a bead ring provided on the end side of the air spring bellows is flanged with the outer regions of the metallic cover.

LIST OF REFERENCE DESIGNATIONS

Part of the Description

[0029] 1 Air spring [0030] 2 Air spring rolling bellows [0031] 3 Rolling bellows wall [0032] 4 Air spring cover [0033] 4 Bead ring [0034] 6 Working space [0035] 7 Screw ring [0036] 8 External thread on the screw ring [0037] 9 Internal thread on the air spring cover [0038] 10 Air spring [0039] 11 Air spring cover [0040] 12 Air spring rolling bellows [0041] 13 Rolling bellows wall [0042] 14 Snap-fit ring [0043] 15 Spring on the snap-fit ring [0044] 16 Groove in the air spring cover 11 [0045] 17 Bead ring