Bearing Assembly for Supporting a Unit of a Motor Vehicle on a Structural Component of the Motor Vehicle

Abstract

A bearing assembly for supporting a unit of a motor vehicle on a structural component of the motor vehicle includes four bearings with an elastic center. The four bearings are arranged on the structural component of the motor vehicle such that the elastic centers of the bearings together define a two-dimensional surface on which the center of mass of the unit to be supported is located.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A bearing assembly for supporting a unit of a motor vehicle on a structural component of the motor vehicle, comprising: four bearings, each with an elastic center, wherein the four bearings are arrangeable on the structural component of the motor vehicle such that the elastic centers thereof together span a two-dimensional area in which a center of mass of the unit to be supported is located.

12. The bearing assembly according to claim 11, wherein the spanned two-dimensional area comprises two axes of symmetry.

13. The bearing assembly according to claim 12, wherein the two axes of symmetry run orthogonally with respect to one another and intersect at the center of mass of the unit to be supported, and the four bearings have a same bearing stiffness.

14. The bearing assembly according to claim 11, wherein the four bearings are arranged with their elastic centers spanning a two-dimensional area which comprises at least two axes of symmetry which run orthogonally with respect to one another and which intersect at the center of mass of the unit, a first bearing of the four bearings is arranged displaced in the direction of the center of mass of the unit or away from the center of mass of the unit, and the bearing stiffness of the four bearings is designed such that oscillations of the vehicle structure that are produced by forces which are introduced into the vehicle structure by way of the bearing assembly and which result from a rotational movement of the unit cancel one another out.

15. The bearing assembly according to claim 11, wherein the bearing stiffness of the four bearings is greater the closer they are to the center of mass of the unit.

16. The bearing assembly according to claim 11, wherein respective ones of the four bearings which lie opposite one another in relation to the center of mass of the unit to be supported are attached to the same structural component of the motor vehicle.

17. The bearing assembly according to claim 11, wherein the four bearings are attached to the same structural component of the motor vehicle.

18. The bearing assembly according to claim 11, further comprising at least two further bearings.

19. The bearing assembly according to claim 18, wherein a sum of the bearings is an even number.

20. The bearing assembly according to claim 11, wherein the two-dimensional area is a rectangle, a square, a rhombus or a polygon with an even number of corners.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] FIG. 1 is a side view of a schematic illustration of a bearing assembly according to an embodiment of the invention, which supports a unit of a motor vehicle on a structural component of the motor vehicle;

[0031] FIG. 2 is a front view of the schematic illustration of the bearing assembly from FIG. 1; and

[0032] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a two-dimensional area spanned by bearings of the bearing assembly from FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a bearing assembly 2 for supporting a unit 8 of a motor vehicle on a rigid longitudinal member 14 of the motor vehicle. The bearing assembly 2 comprises four bearings 4 with an elastic center 22, and also a carrier structure 6 for attaching the bearings 4 to the longitudinal member 14.

[0034] The unit 8 is an electric refrigerant compressor or an air-conditioning compressor.

[0035] The longitudinal member 14 is a rigid structural component of the vehicle body. As shown in FIG. 2, the longitudinal member 14 has a rectangular hollow profile.

[0036] The bearings 4 are arranged on the longitudinal member 14 by way of the carrier structure 6. The carrier structure 6 has a stiffness which corresponds to a stiffness of the longitudinal member 14.

[0037] The bearings 4 are sleeve bearings. The bearings 4 are connected to the unit 8 or support the unit 8 by way of projections 10 of the unit 8. The bearings 4 are attached to the longitudinal member 14 by way of the carrier structure 6 in such a way that the elastic centers 22 of the bearings 4 together span a two-dimensional area 20 in which a center of mass 12 of the supported unit 8 is located.

[0038] As is apparent in particular from FIG. 3, the spanned two-dimensional area 20 is a rectangle. The spanned two-dimensional area 20 comprises a first axis of symmetry 16 and a second axis of symmetry 18. The first axis of symmetry 16 and the second axis of symmetry 18 run orthogonally with respect one another and intersect at the center of mass 12 of the supported unit 8.

[0039] The bearings 4 which are arranged in a point-symmetrical manner or so as to lie opposite one another in relation to the center of mass 12 of the supported unit 8 have the same stiffness. In this way, the forces which are produced by rotation of the unit 8 and which are introduced into the longitudinal member 14 by way of the bearings 4 that are configured in a point-symmetrical manner with respect one another in relation to the center of mass 12 interfere with one another in such a way that they balance or cancel out. Impacts of a rotation of the unit 8 on the acoustics characteristics of the longitudinal member 14 are thus eliminated or reduced.

LIST OF REFERENCE DESIGNATIONS

[0040] 2 Bearing assembly [0041] 4 Bearing [0042] 6 Carrier structure [0043] 8 Unit of a motor vehicle [0044] 10 Projection [0045] 12 Center of mass of the unit [0046] 14 Longitudinal member [0047] 16 First axis of symmetry [0048] 18 Second axis of symmetry [0049] 20 Two-dimensional area [0050] 22 Elastic center