METHOD FOR PRODUCING A SPHERICAL BEARING AND ASSOCIATED SPHERICAL BEARING

Abstract

A spherical bearing an inner ring that can rotate and pivot with respect to an outer ring. A sliding body is placed about the inner ring and inside of the outer ring. The sliding body reduces the friction associated with the relative movement of the inner ring and outer ring. The sliding body has a concave inner surface that contacts the convex outer surface of the inner ring. The sliding body may be made of a polymer composite material to reduce the friction during movement. During assembly, the sliding body is placed about the inner ring, and then the outer ring is placed over the sliding body. To contain the sliding body, the outer ring may be bent or caulked.

Claims

1. A method for producing a spherical bearing, having an inner ring with a convex curved spherical sliding surface, and a cylindrical outer ring encompassing the inner ring, the method comprising: producing the inner ring from a metallic material; producing a one-piece or two-piece sliding body from a polymer composite material; producing the cylindrical outer ring from a metallic material; and inserting the inner ring and the sliding body into the outer ring and caulking or folding over the outer ring to contain the sliding body within the outer ring.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sliding body is a radially or axially divided two-piece sliding body or a one-piece slotted sliding body, is used.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sliding body is glued to the outer ring.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the outer ring has an inner surface and the outer ring is knurled or blasted with a blasting agent on its inner surface.

5. A spherical bearing comprising: an inner ring with a convex curved spherical sliding surface; an outer ring encompassing the inner ring; and a one-piece or two-piece sliding body made of a polymer composite material, which is inserted into the outer ring.

6. The spherical bearing according to claim 5, wherein the sliding body is two piece sliding body is divided axially or radially, or is slotted.

7. The spherical bearing according to claim 5, wherein the polymer composite material has at least one filler material from the following group: glass fibers, carbon fibers, aramid fibers, hemp fibers, flax fibers, cotton fibers.

8. The spherical bearing according to claim 5, wherein the polymer composite material has at least one filler material from the following group: MoS.sub.2, talcum, TiO.sub.2, graphite, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), silica, silicone oil, ceramic.

9. The spherical bearing according to claim 5, wherein the sliding body has at least one groove for a lubricant.

10. The spherical bearing according to claim 5, wherein the outer ring is produced through deep-drawing or forging of a tube, and is knurled on an inner surface thereof, or has a surface that has been blasted with a blasting agent.

11. A spherical bearing comprising: an inner ring having a convex outer surface; a sliding body having a concave inner surface in contacting engagement with the convex outer surface to enable pivotal movement between the inner ring and the sliding body, the sliding body including a polymer composite material; and an outer ring fixed about the sliding body.

12. The spherical bearing of claim 11, wherein the inner ring, the sliding body, and the outer ring define a common central axis, and the sliding body is a split-body that is split axially.

13. The spherical bearing of claim 11, wherein the inner ring, the sliding body, and the outer ring define a common central axis, and the sliding body is a split-body that is split radially.

14. The spherical bearing of claim 11, wherein the sliding body is single piece that is elastically deformable such that the sliding body is able to deform to fit over the inner ring during assembly.

15. The spherical bearing of claim 11, wherein the convex outer surface of the inner ring is partial-spherical in shape.

16. The spherical bearing of claim 11, wherein the sliding body includes a groove at least partially filled with lubricant.

17. The spherical bearing of claim 11, wherein the outer ring includes a first axial side having a first bent rim extending radially inwardly, and a second axial side having a second bent rim extending radially inwardly, wherein the first and second bent rims axially contain the sliding body.

18. The spherical bearing of claim 11, wherein the outer ring is fixed to the sliding body via an adhesive.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The invention shall be explained below based on exemplary embodiments, with reference to the drawings. The drawings are schematic illustrations. Therein:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows the components of a spherical bearing according to the invention, prior to assembly;

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a bisected view of the assembled spherical bearing;

[0026] FIG. 3 shows the individual components of a spherical bearing according to the invention in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment, prior to assembly;

[0027] FIG. 4 shows the spherical bearing after assembly, in a bisected view;

[0028] FIG. 5 shows the components of a spherical bearing according to the invention in accordance with third exemplary embodiment, prior to assembly; and

[0029] FIG. 6 shows the spherical bearing shown in FIG. 5, after assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] FIG. 1 shows the individual components of a spherical bearing 10, comprising an inner ring 1, a two-piece sliding body 2, 3, and an outer ring 4. The inner ring 1 has a convex curved spherical sliding surface 5, and is provided with a cylindrical bore 6 on the inside. The inner ring 1 is produced in accordance with a conventional production process, through turning.

[0031] The outer ring 4 is formed as a cylindrical sleeve, and produced from a thin-walled steel tube through deep-drawing. On one side, the outer ring has a rim 7, formed during deep-drawing. The two parts of the two-piece sliding body 2, 3 are produced from a polymer composite material. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, this is polyamide (PA66), which is reinforced with glass fibers to increase the stability. The two-piece sliding body 2, 3 is produced in an injection molding process. In addition, it comprises PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) as a filler material, by means of which the friction is reduced. The two-piece sliding body 2, 3 has inner surfaces 8, 9, which correspond to the convex curved spherical sliding surface 5. The assembly of the spherical bearing 10, shown in FIG. 2 in a bisected view, takes place in that the radially divided sliding body 2, 3 and the inner ring 1 are inserted in the sequence shown in FIG. 1 into the outer ring 4 forming a sleeve. The free end 11 of the outer ring is subsequently folded over, by means of which the rim 15 shown in FIG. 2 is formed. Prior to assembly, the two-piece sliding body 2, 3 is provided with a lubricant. Prior to inserting the sliding body 2, 3 into the outer ring 4, the knurled inner surfaces 8, 9 of the outer ring is provided with an adhesive in this exemplary embodiment, such that the two-piece sliding body 2, 3 is glued to the outer ring 4 during assembly. The assembly takes place by means of an appropriate device, that aligns all of the components with one another.

[0032] By elastically deforming the outer ring 4 or the sliding body 2, 3, the effective bearing play of the spherical bearing 10 can be adjusted in a targeted manner. A negative bearing play can be modified by a thermal treatment of the spherical bearing 10 after the assembly, through a plastic deformation of the sliding body 23, to obtain a positive bearing play.

[0033] FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second exemplary embodiment of a spherical bearing 12, which has a similar construction to the spherical bearing 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As with the first exemplary embodiment, the spherical bearing 12 includes the inner ring 1 and the outer ring 4. Deviating therefrom, the spherical bearing 12 has a two-piece, axially divided sliding body 13, 14. The two sliding bodies 13, 14 are thus formed as half-rings, each of which extends over a semicircle. The two sliding bodies 13, 14 are composed of a polymer composite material, a polyamide in this exemplary embodiment, reinforced with glass fibers. In addition, the polymer composite material comprises PTFE as a friction reducing and surface-active filler material.

[0034] For the assembly, the inner ring 1 is encompassed on the outside by the two parts of the two-piece, axially divided sliding body 13, 14, and this preassembled assembly is then inserted into the outer ring 4 formed as a sleeve. In a manner analogous to the first exemplary embodiment, the outer ring 4 is folded over after the inner ring 1 has been inserted, such that the rim 15 is obtained.

[0035] FIGS. 5 and 6 show a third exemplary embodiment of a spherical bearing 16, wherein FIG. 5 shows the individual components in a bisected view, prior to assembly, and FIG. 6 shows the spherical bearing 16 after assembly.

[0036] The spherical bearing 16 comprises the inner ring 1, the outer ring 4, andin deviating from the preceding exemplary embodimentsa one-piece, slotted sliding body 17. The sliding body 17 is thus formed as a slotted ring, such that in the drawings, the slot is schematically depicted by the lower half without crosshatchings. The tangential extension of the slot is selected such that the sliding body 17 can be elastically deformed in order to be inserted in the inner ring 1, and after it has been inserted in the inner ring 1, the one-piece sliding body 17 reassumes its original shape. Subsequently, the preassembled assembly composed of the inner ring 1 and the one-piece sliding body 17 is inserted in the outer ring 4. The outer end of the outer ring 4 is subsequently folded over, such that the rim 15 is formed. In other exemplary embodiments, in which a forged tube is used instead of the thin-walled outer ring 4 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the free end of the tube is caulked after the inner ring and sliding body have been inserted.

[0037] The exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 has the advantage that the number of required parts is reduced. The slotted sliding body 17 can be inexpensively produced through injection molding. Because this is a maintenance-free spherical bearing, the sliding body 17 does not have a groove for lubricant.

[0038] The spherical bearing 10, 12, 16 can be mass-produced inexpensively with the method described herein.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0039] 1 inner ring

[0040] 2, 3 sliding body

[0041] 4 outer ring

[0042] 5 sliding surface

[0043] 6 bore

[0044] 7 rim

[0045] 8, 9 inner surface

[0046] 10 spherical bearing

[0047] 11 end

[0048] 12 spherical bearing

[0049] 13, 14 sliding body

[0050] 15 rim

[0051] 16 spherical bearing

[0052] 17 sliding body