TORQUE TRANSMISSION ARRANGEMENT

Abstract

A torque transmission arrangement in a motor vehicle drive train, having a radially inner shaft and a radially outer hub, which are joined together in torque-transmitting manner by a plug-in toothed gearing with play, in which the plug-in gearing, and shaft outer teeth cooperate with hub inner teeth. In order to avoid gear teeth clattering, and to provide a freedom from play in the plug-in gearing, a spring element is provided, with which the shaft and can be braced against each other. In order to produce the freedom from play, the hub includes a support portion against which the spring element is supported with a spring force, building up a tilting moment by which the hub can tilt with respect to the shaft in the axial direction.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A torque transmission arrangement in a motor vehicle drive train, comprising: a radially inner shaft and a radially outer hub, which are joined together in torque-transmitting manner by a plug-in toothed gearing with play, in which the plug-in gearing, and shaft outer teeth cooperate with hub inner teeth, and in order to avoid gear teeth clattering and provide a freedom from play in the plug-in gearing, a spring element is provided, with which the shaft and the hub can be braced against each other, wherein in order to produce the freedom from play, the hub includes a support portion against which the spring element is supported with a spring force, building up a tilting moment by which the hub can tilt with respect to the shaft in an axial direction.

16. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the hub support portion is positioned outside of the hub inner teeth in the axial direction, and the support portion, adjoins the hub inner teeth directly in an axial prolongation with an overdimention.

17. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the hub is shoved by its inner teeth onto a shaft end piece, and the spring element is positioned on a hub end face away from a shaft end face, and/or the spring element is spaced apart from the shaft end face by an axial-lengthwise offset.

18. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the hub support portion is an encircling annular surface, especially a smooth cylindrical surface, facing the shaft.

19. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 18, wherein the hub-side annular surface is larger in diameter when compared to the hub inner teeth, especially when compared to its root diameter, and in that the hub inner teeth pass into the annular surface at an annular shoulder with shoulder surface substantially perpendicular to the axial direction.

20. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 15, wherein an annular space is formed between the shaft and the hub-side support portion, in which the spring element is arranged, and the annular space is bounded radially on the inside by the shaft outer teeth.

21. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the spring element braced between the hub support portion and the shaft has a spring washer body and at least one resilient protrusion projecting from it radially inward and outward.

22. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 21, wherein the spring washer body is fabricated from a band-shaped flat profile material, and the spring washer body has end regions which overlap each other, in a circumferential direction.

23. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 21, wherein the protrusion is a spring tongue cut out from the spring washer body, and the spring tongue is V-shaped in cross section with a radially outward spring leg.

24. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 22, wherein the protrusion is a cam-shaped formation of the spring washer body, and the cam-shaped formation is produced by overlapping end regions of the spring washer body.

25. The torque transmission arrangement according to one of claim 21, wherein the spring washer body sits on or is shoved by its inner side onto the shaft outer teeth, or the spring washer body sits or is shoved by its outer side onto the hub support portion.

26. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 25, wherein the spring washer body shoved onto the shaft outer teeth has a fixation in a circumferential direction engaging at least in one tooth gap of the outer teeth.

27. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 26, wherein the fixation is a radially inwardly projecting indentation molded in the spring washer body.

28. The torque transmission arrangement according to claim 19, wherein in a mounted state of the connection, the spring washer is positioned in the axial direction between the hub-side annular shoulder and a collar of the shaft adjacent to the outer teeth of the shaft, which is larger in diameter when compared to the spring washer.

Description

[0021] FIG. 1 an only partly represented drive device in a drive train for motor vehicles, having a shaft and a drive flange, which are coupled together by means of a plug-in gearing, and also having a ring-shaped spring element between shaft and hub;

[0022] FIG. 2 in a longitudinal section, the shaft/hub connection according to FIG. 1 and next to it the spring element used with cut-out spring tongue in individual three-dimensional representation;

[0023] FIG. 3 a shaft/hub connection modified from FIG. 2, having a V-shaped projecting spring tongue of the spring element in cross section;

[0024] FIG. 4 a shaft/hub connection alternative to FIGS. 2 and 3, having a spring element with a radially outward projecting, cam-shaped protrusion; and

[0025] FIG. 5 a spring element modified from FIG. 4 in sections, whose projection is formed by overlapping end regions of an open spring washer; and

[0026] FIG. 6 another embodiment example of the spring element in a partial view.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows in part a torque transmission arrangement between a shaft 10 and a hub 12, which are joined together to transmit torque by means of a plug-in gearing 14. The shaft 10 (for example, a gearbox drive shaft or output shaft) has for this purpose axially parallel outer teeth 14a, which engage with the inner teeth 14b of the hub 12. The hub 12 can be part of a drive flange inside a dual mass flywheel or part of a Cardan shaft in the drive train of motor vehicles.

[0028] The drive connection shown is easily assembled by shoving the hub 12 onto it or by pushing the shaft 10 into it. Even when close tolerance limits are maintained, a slight installation play is unavoidable.

[0029] In order to counteract any tooth clattering which occurs in the plug-in connection 14 especially in the torque-free drive operation, a ring-shaped spring element 16 such as one made of spring steel is provided between the hub 12 and the shaft 10, which braces shaft 10 and hub 12 against one another and furthermore exerts a tilting moment M.sub.K due to its off-center positioning.

[0030] In FIG. 1, the hub 12 is shoved by its inner teeth 14b onto a shaft end piece 13. The spring element 16 here is positioned on a hub end face 17, away from a shaft end face 15, that is, spaced apart from the shaft end face 15 by a length offset Δb.

[0031] In FIG. 2, the shaft/hub connection is shown at the right in longitudinal section and the spring element 16 at the left, in spatial illustration. Accordingly, the spring element 16 has a band-shaped spring washer body 20 as well as three fixations or indentations 16a projecting radially inward thereform, having a definite circumferential distribution on the outer teeth 14a so that they engage, free of play, in tooth gaps of the outer teeth 14a.

[0032] Moreover, the spring element 16 in FIG. 1 has a radially outwardly projecting protrusion or a spring tongue 16b, which lies axially outside the hub inner teeth 14b (see longitudinal section of FIG. 1) against an annular shoulder 12a and pretensions the support portion 12b of the hub 12, adjacent to the inner teeth 14b and larger in diameter, against the shaft 10 in the radial direction. The spring tongue 16b is preferably cut out from the band-shaped spring washer body 20 and exhibited accordingly. Alternatively, the spring element 16 may be fabricated not in a cutting process, but rather by bending a wire, again as an example.

[0033] The spring washer body 20 can be held axially on the shaft 10 or the outer teeth 14a by the fixations 16a. Optionally, however, a collar (not shown) adjoining the outer teeth 14a can also be provided on the shaft 10, against which the spring washer body 20 touches.

[0034] In the following, the component geometry of the torque transmission arrangement shall be described in detail: thus, the aforementioned support portion 12b is formed on the inner circumference of the hub 12, against which the spring element 16 is braced with a spring force F (FIG. 1), building up the tilting moment M.sub.K, by which the hub 12 can be tilted in the axial direction relative to the shaft 10, i.e., it can be tilted from its coaxial position. The support portion 12b is positioned outside of the hub inner teeth 14b and directly adjoins the hub inner teeth 14b in an axial prolongation with an excess dimension Δa (FIG. 2). In the exemplary embodiment shown, the support portion 12b is a smooth cylindrical and encircling annular surface, facing the shaft 10. The latter is larger in diameter when compared to the root diameter of the hub inner teeth 14b. The hub inner teeth 14b pass into the annular surface 12b at an annular shoulder 12a with shoulder surface perpendicular to the axial direction. In this way, an annular space 19 (FIG. 1) is formed between the shaft 10 and the annular surface 12b (that is, the hub-side support portion), in which the spring washer 16 is arranged. The annular space 19 is bounded radially on the inside by the shaft outer teeth 14a.

[0035] The drive connection is assembled by first shoving the spring element 16 onto the outer teeth 14a of the shaft 10 with a defined shoving force. Then the hub 12 (or conversely the shaft 10) is coupled by the plug-in connection 14 to the shaft 10. Since the spring element 16 is positioned axially outside of the inner teeth 14b, the plug-in gearing 14 can have a conventional design (that is, without any recesses for the spring element 16).

[0036] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the spring element 16 which has been modified from FIG. 2, in which the spring tongue 16b is angled with a V-shape and acts on the hub 12 by a radially outer leg 16c (see longitudinal section of FIG. 3).

[0037] The V-shape configuration of the spring tongue 16b, 16c may be advantageous when bridging large radial distances between the hub 12 and the shaft 10 and/or to facilitate the assembly process.

[0038] FIGS. 4 and 5 show embodiments of the spring element 16 that are alternatives to FIGS. 2 and 3, having a band-shaped spring washer 20, whose radially outwardly projecting protrusion is produced by a cam-shaped formation 18b (FIG. 4) or 18c (FIG. 5).

[0039] According to FIG. 4, the spring washer body 16 is provided with fixations 16a, as described above for FIGS. 2 and 3. The formation 18b is designed (compare the longitudinal section of FIG. 4) so that, by springlike application against the hub 12 or the radially widened support portion 12b, the hub 12 is clamped against the shaft 10.

[0040] FIG. 5 shows a portion of a spring washer body 16 which has been modified from FIG. 4, having an open design, and whose roughly V-shaped angled and overlapping end regions 18c shape the formation 18b. If desired, the end regions 18c can be integrally joined to each other.

[0041] With this version of the spring washer body 20 as modified from FIG. 4, an even greater clamping can be produced between the shaft 10 and the hub 12 or inside the plug-in gearing 14.

[0042] The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown. If desired, several radially projecting protrusions 16b, 18b may also be provided on the spring elements 16, being positioned in a defined circumferential distribution and acting by both friction locking (in the context of any play present in the teeth) in the circumferential direction and by force fitting in the radial direction.

[0043] The spring elements 16 may also have a different cross-sectional shape (for example, a wire shape) and can also be designed without fixations 16a by an appropriate press fit on the outer teeth 14a.

[0044] FIG. 6 shows another exemplary embodiment of a spring element 16. In contrast to the previous figures, the resilient protrusion 16b in FIG. 6 does not project radially outward, but instead radially inward. During assembly, therefore, the spring washer body 20 is shoved by its outer side onto the hub support portion 12b, so that the protrusion 16b is supported on the shaft 14.