SPRING SUPPORT FOR A COIL SPRING

Abstract

The invention relates to a spring support for a coil spring (15), comprising an annular receiving element (5) having a top side and a bottom side, wherein the top side is provided to receive one end of the coil spring (15), and comprising an annular damping element (3), which is in contact with the bottom side of the receiving element (5), wherein the damping element (3) furthermore has on its inside a collar which extends from the bottom side of the receiving element (5) in the direction of the coil spring (15), and wherein the collar is formed by bending from a disk-shaped basic form of the damping element (3). The invention furthermore relates to a method for producing a spring support according to the invention, in which a disk-shaped damping element (3) is first of all placed in a casting mold, and an annular receiving element (5) is then produced by being molded or injection-molded to the damping element (3), with the result that the bottom side of the receiving element (5) is in contact with the annular damping element (3).

Claims

1. A spring support for a coil spring, the spring support comprising: an annular receiving element having a top side and a bottom side, wherein the top side is provided to receive one end of the coil spring; an annular damping element, which is in contact with the bottom side of the receiving element, wherein the damping element furthermore has on its inside a collar which extends from the bottom side of the receiving element in the direction of the coil spring, and wherein the collar is formed by bending from a disk-shaped basic form of the damping element.

2. The spring support as claimed in claim 1, wherein the disk-shaped basic form of the damping element has star-shaped notches on the inside thereof.

3. The spring support as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a bottom element that has an annular portion and a tubular portion, wherein the annular portion of the bottom element is in contact with that side of the damping element which faces away from the coil spring, the tubular portion extends through the damping element in the direction of the coil spring, and the collar of the damping element rests on the outer lateral surface of the tubular portion.

4. The spring support as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiving element has on its top side at least one clamping element for receiving one end of the coil spring.

5. The spring support as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiving element has on its top side at least one sealing element, which extends radially inward from the receptacle for the coil spring.

6. The spring support as claimed in claim 1, wherein the damping element is based on a cellular polyisocyanate-polyaddition product.

7. A method for producing a spring support for the coil spring of claim 1, the method comprising: placing a disk-shaped damping element in a casting mold which has a core, with the result that the inside of the damping element is bent over along the core, and the damping element adopts an annular form with a collar on its inside; and molding or injection-molding an annular receiving element to the damping element, with the result that the bottom side of the receiving element is in contact with the annular damping element.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the disk-shaped damping element is placed on a bottom element, and the receiving element is placed on the damping element, and the receiving element is then pressed in the direction of the bottom element, with the result that the damping element is fixed between the two other elements.

Description

EXAMPLE

[0030] An embodiment of a spring support 1 according to the invention is shown in longitudinal section in FIG. 1. In this example, the component is configured so as to be rotationally symmetrical about the axis, indicated in chain-dotted lines. The spring support 1 comprises an annular receiving element 5 on the basis of a thermoplastic. In one embodiment, a material on the basis of a thermoplastic polyurethane (trade name Elastollan made by BASF Polyurethanes GmbH, Lemforde) was used while, in another embodiment, a material on the basis of polyethylene was used. The receiving element 5 has a top side and a bottom side. The top side is provided to receive one end of a coil spring. In this example, the region 7 provided to receive the spring is configured as an annular cavity formed by clamping elements 9. The clamping elements 9 are connected integrally to the main body of the receiving element 5 and, at their upper end, have a gap through which the coil spring can be pushed into the cavity 7.

[0031] The bottom side of the receiving element 5 is in contact with a disk-shaped damping element 3, which has star-shaped notches on the inside thereof. The damping element 3 was produced by first of all foaming a tube made of cellular polyisocyanate-polyaddition product (trade name Cellasto made by BASF Polyurethanes GmbH, Lemfrde), in which there was a star-shaped core in the interior of the mold, with the result that the tube removed from the mold already had star-shaped notches. The tube was clamped onto a lathe and a single damping element 3 was cut from the clamped tube. The single damping element 3 is shown in plan view in FIG. 2. The star-shaped notches comprise a concentric aperture and nine uniformly spaced slots extending from it in a radial direction to the edge. The disk-shaped damping element 3 was placed in a casting mold, and then the receiving element shown was produced by injection molding onto the damping element 3.

[0032] The receiving element 5 furthermore comprises an encircling sealing element 11 on the top side thereof, which extends radially inward from the region 7 provided to receive the coil spring. The receiving element 5 furthermore comprises a sealing element 13 on the bottom side thereof, which extends radially outward and downward, starting from the lower outer edge of the main body of the receiving element 5.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows the embodiment according to the invention, shown in FIG. 1, in the installed state. The spring support is mounted on a region of the body 17 of a vehicle which has a tubular extension 19. For mounting, the spring support was pressed onto the extension 19, thereby bending the originally disk-shaped damping element 3 into a collar which extends in the direction of the coil spring 15 from the bottom side of the receiving element 5. A coil spring 15 with a closed end was inserted by said end into the cavity 7 provided for reception in the receiving element 5 and was secured by the clamping elements 9, which surround the last spring turn over a wide area.

[0034] The sealing element 11 on the top side of the receiving element 5 is dimensioned in such a way that it rests over its full area circumferentially on the extension 19 of the body in the installed state. The sealing element 13 on the bottom side of the receiving element 5 is dimensioned in such a way that it rests over its full area circumferentially on the surface of the body 17 in the installed state. The two sealing elements 11 and 13 have the effect that the damping element 3 is protected from external influences, such as moisture and dirt, thereby extending the functioning capacity and service life thereof.

[0035] During the movement of the vehicle, the coil spring 15 is subjected both to axial loads and radial or lateral loads and excited into oscillations. All oscillation components are damped by the spring support according to the invention, thereby ensuring better damping behavior as compared with the prior art.