Drag link guide assembly, steering actuator and method for producing a drag link guide assembly

Abstract

A drag link guide assembly for guiding a drag link comprises a slide bushing and a housing enclosing the slide bushing. The housing comprises a socket portion, into which the slide bushing is inserted. The slide bushing comprises a locating area for the drag link having a substantially circular cylindrical periphery with at least one plane torsional locking face. The slide bushing comprises an outward-pointing structure, which interacts with a mating structure that is provided on the internal surface of the housing. A method for producing a drag link guide assembly is furthermore described.

Claims

1. A drag link guide assembly for guiding a drag link, comprising a slide bushing and a housing enclosing the slide bushing, wherein the housing comprises a socket portion into which the slide bushing is inserted, wherein the slide bushing comprises a locating area for the drag link having a substantially circular cylindrical periphery with at least one plane torsional locking face, the at least one plane torsional locking face being configured to prevent a relative rotation between the drag link and the slide bushing, and wherein the slide bushing comprises an outward-pointing structure which interacts with a mating structure which is provided on an internal surface of the housing, the outward-pointing structure being provided, at least in part, on a portion of the slide bushing projecting in an axial direction, the outward-pointing structure comprising multiple radially outward-projecting webs or projections and/or the mating structure comprising at least one depression in the internal surface of the housing, an axial stop being provided at one end of the socket portion, the mating structure being provided on the axial stop, the socket portion being of a substantially circular cylindrical formation and having a radially circumferential groove on its inside, a fixing bush, which fixes the slide bushing in an axial direction inside the socket portion, being accommodated in the socket portion, the fixing bush comprising at least one spring lug, which is provided radially outside, wherein the spring lug engages in the groove in order to secure the fixing bush in an axial direction inside the socket portion.

2. The drag link guide assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that an elastic force transmission element is provided between the fixing bush and the slide bushing.

3. The drag link guide assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the at least one plane torsional locking face prevents the relative rotation between the drag link and the slide bushing when engaged to the drag link.

4. The drag link guide assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the drag link, the drag link having a flattening that is engaged by the at least one torsional locking face to prevent the relative rotation between the drag link and the slide bushing.

5. A drag link guide assembly for guiding a drag link, the drag link guide assembly comprising: a housing having a groove and a mating structure formed therein; a slide bushing in the housing and having an outward-pointing structure that interacts with the mating structure, the slide bushing including a locating area for the drag link having a substantially circular cylindrical periphery with a plane torsional locking face; and a fixing bush in the housing and preventing movement of the slide bush in an axial direction relative to the housing, an engagement member of the fixing bush extending from an outer surface of the fixing bush into the groove to prevent axial movement of the fixing bush relative to the housing.

6. The drag link guide assembly as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the engagement member is a spring lug.

7. The drag link guide assembly as claimed in claim 5, further comprising an elastic force transmission element between the fixing bush and the slide bushing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages and characteristics of the present disclosure ensue from the following description and the drawings, to which reference is made. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a drag link guide assembly according to the present disclosure in a first embodiment,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through the drag link guide assembly in FIG. 1 in the assembled state,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view along the line X-X in FIG. 2,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a top view of the housing of the drag link guide assembly according to the present disclosure represented in FIGS. 1 to 3,

(6) FIG. 5 shows a sectional representation of the housing in FIG. 4 in a perspective view,

(7) FIG. 6 shows a perspective frontal view of the front side of the slide bushing of the drag link guide assembly according to the present disclosure, according to FIGS. 1 to 3,

(8) FIG. 7 shows a side view of the slide bushing in FIG. 6,

(9) FIG. 8 shows a perspective frontal view of the rear side of the slide bushing in FIG. 6,

(10) FIG. 9 shows a sectional representation of FIG. 8,

(11) FIG. 10 shows an exploded view of a drag link guide assembly according to the present disclosure in a second embodiment,

(12) FIG. 11 shows a longitudinal section through the drag link guide assembly in FIG. 10 in the assembled state,

(13) FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view along the line X-X in FIG. 11,

(14) FIG. 13 shows a top view of the housing of the drag link guide assembly according to the present disclosure represented in FIGS. 10 to 12,

(15) FIG. 14 shows a sectional representation of the housing in FIG. 13 in a perspective view,

(16) FIG. 15 shows a perspective frontal view of the front side of the slide bushing of the drag link guide assembly according to the present disclosure, according to FIGS. 10 to 12,

(17) FIG. 16 shows a side view of the slide bushing in FIG. 15,

(18) FIG. 17 shows a perspective frontal view of the rear side of the slide bushing in FIG. 15, and

(19) FIG. 18 shows a sectional representation of FIG. 17.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(20) FIGS. 1 to 3 show a drag link guide assembly 10 which serves for guiding a drag link 12 of a steering system, in particular a steer-by wire (SbW) steering system.

(21) The drag link guide assembly 10 comprises a housing 14, in which a slide bushing 16 and a fixing bush 18 are received.

(22) An elastic force transmission element 20, which in the embodiment shown takes the form of an O-ring, is provided between the slide bushing 16 and the fixing bush 18.

(23) The housing 14 comprises a socket portion 22, which is of substantially circular cylindrical formation. The socket portion 22 has an open end 24 and an axial stop 26, which is provided at an opposite end to the open end 24.

(24) The axial stop 26 forms the transition from the socket portion 22 to a guide portion 28 of the housing 14, in which only the drag link 12 is accommodated.

(25) As will be clear in particular from FIG. 2, the axial stop 26 is formed by a step in the housing 14, so that the diameter of the socket portion 22 is stepped down by the axial stop 26 to the diameter of the guide portion 28.

(26) It will also be seen from FIG. 2 that the slide bushing 16 bears on the axial stop 26, the slide bushing 16 being pressed against the axial stop 26 by the fixing bush 18 and the intervening force transmission element 20.

(27) A groove 30 is furthermore provided in the socket portion 22, that is to say on the inside of the housing 14. The groove 30 is of radially circumferential formation, as is also clear from FIG. 5.

(28) A spring lug 32 provided radially outside the fixing bush 18 engages in the radially circumferential groove 30, in order to fix the fixing bush 18 in an axial direction relative to the housing 14.

(29) This ensures that the fixing bush 18 is not able to move in the direction of the open end 24 of the socket portion 22.

(30) Since the fixing bush 18 is moreover supported via the force transmission element 20 on the slide bushing 16, which in turn bears directly on the axial stop 26, the fixing bush 18 is also unable to move in the other axial direction.

(31) In other words, the fixing bush 18 and the slide bushing 16 are arranged, fixed in an axial direction, inside the socket portion 22 of the housing 14.

(32) The groove 30 may have an undercut, so that when pushing the slide bushing 16 into the socket portion 22 the spring lug 32 hooks or latches behind the undercut.

(33) It is clear from FIGS. 3 to 5, moreover, that a part of a torsional lock 34 is formed on the axial stop 26. This part interacts with the slide bushing 16 to form the torsional lock 34, which prevents any torsion of the slide bushing 16 relative to the housing 14.

(34) The slide bushing 16, which is shown in various views in FIGS. 6 to 9, for this purpose comprises an outward-pointing structure 36, which is provided on a portion 40 projecting in axial direction from a body 38 of the slide bushing 16.

(35) In the embodiment shown the outward-pointing structure 36 is formed by radially outward projecting webs 42, which engage correspondingly in the mating structure 44 provided on the housing 14, which comprises depressions 46, as can be seen from FIGS. 3 to 5.

(36) In the assembled state of the drag link guide assembly 10 the structure 36 engages in the mating structure 44, which is provided on the internal surface of the housing 14. In other words, the webs 42 engage in the depressions 46, thereby ensuring that the slide bushing 16 is not able to twist relative to the housing 14.

(37) It is also apparent from FIG. 3 that the number the webs 42, which here are formed in pairs, is smaller than the number of depressions 46. In the embodiment shown the ratio is 2:1.

(38) The webs 42 and the depressions 46 are however spaced at uniform intervals over the circumference of the outer surface of the portion 40 of the slide bushing 16 projecting in an axial direction, and the internal surface of the housing 14.

(39) It can moreover be seen from FIG. 5 that the depressions 46 widen out towards the socket portion 22, so that the slide bushing 16 can easily be inserted by its structure 36 into the housing 14, since the structure 36 need not be precisely aligned with the mating structure 44. In other words, when inserting the slide bushing 16 a centering of the slide bushing 16 occurs relative to the housing 14.

(40) In addition, it can be seen from FIGS. 8 and 9 that the slide bushing 16 comprises an inner ring portion 48, which defines a locating area 50 for the drag link 12 and the portion 40 projecting in an axial direction.

(41) In addition, the slide bushing 16 comprises an outer ring portion 52, which bears on the internal surface of the housing 14, as is clear from FIG. 2.

(42) The inner ring portion 48 and the outer ring portion 52 are connected to one another at an end face 54 of the slide bushing 16, which is shown in FIG. 6. To put it another way, the inner ring portion 48 and the outer ring portion 52 merge into one another via the end face 54.

(43) In addition, the slide bushing 16 comprises multiple braces 56, which extend from the inner ring portion 48 to the outer ring portion 52, thereby ensuring the stability of the slide bushing 16. At the same time this structure results in a relatively low weight of the slide bushing 16.

(44) It can be seen from FIGS. 8 and 9 that a pair of webs 42 is arranged between each two adjacent braces 56.

(45) The slide bushing 16 is in particular formed from a plastic material, in particular integrally formed.

(46) The slide bushing 16 moreover comprises a locating area 58 for the drag link 12 having a substantially circular cylindrical periphery with at least one plane torsional locking face 60. The drag link 12 has a flattening 62, which corresponds to the plane torsional locking face 60, as can be seen from FIG. 1.

(47) The corresponding formation of the locating area 40, that is to say the plane torsional locking face 60, serves to ensure that a torsional lock is formed between the drag link 12 and the slide bushing 16.

(48) In addition, the slide bushing 16 is received so that it cannot twist in the housing 14, since the slide bushing 16 comprises an outward-pointing structure 36 which interacts with the mating structure 44 provided on the housing 14 to form a corresponding torsional lock.

(49) FIGS. 10 to 18 show a second embodiment of the drag link guide assembly 10 which differs from the first embodiment in the configurations of the outward-pointing structure 36 of the slide bushing 16 and the mating structure 44, which is provided on the internal surface of the housing 14. These differences can be seen, in particular, from FIGS. 11 to 18.

(50) Only the ways in which the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment are examined below, reference otherwise being made to the description above.

(51) In the second embodiment the outward-pointing structure 36 of the slide bushing 16 comprises multiple radially outward-pointing projections 64.

(52) The projections 64 each comprise two radially outward projecting webs 66, which are connected to one another by means of a cross-web 68 at their radially outward-pointing ends.

(53) The radially outward projecting webs 66 and the cross-web 68 define a cavity 70.

(54) The cavity 70 may afford a resilient effect, since the radially outward projecting webs 66 are pushed into the cavity 70.

(55) With the slide bushing 16 according to the second embodiment the formation of the projections 64 makes it possible to transmit a high torque, in particular a higher torque than with the slide bushing 16 according to the first embodiment. Moreover, the structure of the projections 64 results in a greater radial rigidity compared to the webs 42.

(56) This is due, in particular, to the cross-web 68, which joins the two radially outward projecting webs 66, which substantially correspond to the webs 42 of the slide bushing 16 according to the first embodiment. As a result, the forces are better distributed, so that overall a higher torque can be transmitted and a greater radial rigidity is achieved.

(57) In the embodiment shown the slide bushing 16 comprises a total of six projections 64, which are arranged uniformly distributed over the outer circumference of the slide bushing 16.

(58) For this purpose, the internal surface of the housing 14 comprises correspondingly formed depressions 46, in which in the assembled state the projections 64 are received.