Guide Ring of a Piston Pump for a Vehicle Brake System

Abstract

A guide ring for a piston pump of a vehicle brake system includes a body and a seal. The body is configured to movably support a piston of the piston pump in a cylinder liner. The seal is held on the guide ring and configured to inhibit passage of air between the piston and the guide ring during movement of the piston.

Claims

1. A guide ring for a piston pump of a vehicle brake system, comprising: a body configured to movably support a piston of the piston pump in a cylinder liner; and a seal held on the guide ring and configured to inhibit passage of air between the piston and the guide ring during movement of the piston.

2. The guide ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seal is joined to the guide ring via an injection molding connection.

3. The guide ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seal is configured so as to press-fit with the guide ring.

4. The guide ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guide ring defines an annular recess that includes a step-shaped chamfer and that receives the seal.

5. The guide ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein: an opposing side of the guide ring is arranged to face away from a pressure chamber of the piston pump that will undergo a pressure increase in response to the piston moving into the pressure chamber; and the seal is disposed on the opposing side of the guide ring.

6. The guide ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the seal includes at least one sealing lip configured to contact the piston; and in an installed state of the guide ring, the at least one sealing lip extends in an axial direction.

7. The guide ring as claimed in claim 6, wherein: the seal further includes an annular sealing element; and the at least one sealing lip is disposed on a side of the annular sealing element.

8. The guide ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the seal includes a circular sealing element having an inner surface; and in an uninstalled state of the guide ring, a diameter of the inner surface of the circular sealing element is smaller than a diameter of the piston.

9. The guide ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seal includes an elastomer having an elasticity modulus in a range from 0.30 to 30.00 N/mm.sup.2.

10. A method for using a guide ring for a piston pump of a vehicle brake system, comprising: movably supporting a piston of the piston pump in a cylinder liner with a body of the guide ring such that a seal held on the guide ring inhibits passage of air between the piston and the guide ring during movement of the piston.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Illustrative embodiments of the solution according to the disclosure are explained in greater detail below with reference to the attached schematic drawings, in which:

[0018] There are shown in:

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a partial longitudinal section through a piston pump for a vehicle brake system, having a first illustrative embodiment of a guide ring according to the disclosure with a seal;

[0020] FIG. 2 shows a detail of a first variant of the seal shown in FIG. 1;

[0021] FIG. 3 shows a detail of a second variant of the seal shown in FIG. 1;

[0022] FIG. 4 shows a detail of a third variant of the seal shown in FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 5 shows a detail of a fourth variant of the seal shown in FIG. 1;

[0024] FIG. 6 shows a partial longitudinal section through a piston pump for a vehicle brake system, having a second illustrative embodiment of a guide ring according to the disclosure with a seal;

[0025] FIG. 7 shows a detail of the seal shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] FIG. 1 shows part of a piston pump 10 for a vehicle brake system, said pump being used to produce hydraulic pressure at wheel brakes of a vehicle. The pressure is produced by means of the piston pump 10 for a vehicle brake system in that a piston 12 moves into a pressure chamber 14 and, in the process, subjects a liquid 16 to excess pressure relative to the environment. The movement of the piston 12 is produced by means of an eccentric drive in an eccentric chamber 18. In this case, the eccentric drive converts a rotary motion of a drive shaft into a translational motion of the piston 12. After this driven movement into the pressure chamber 14, the piston 12 is forced back out of the pressure chamber 14 by means of a spring. During this return movement of the piston 12, a vacuum forms in the pressure chamber 14 relative to the environment and relative to the pressure in the eccentric chamber 18.

[0027] During its backward and forward movement, the piston 12 is guided in a cylinder liner 22 of the piston pump 10 for a vehicle brake system by means of a guide ring 20 of L-shaped cross section. The guide ring 20 is inserted with an accurate fit at the outside into the cylinder liner 22 and, on the inside, surrounds the piston 12 in a ring shape. At the same time, a narrow gap in the form of an annular interspace 28 remains between the outside of the piston 12 and the inside of the guide ring 20.

[0028] A seal 24 is arranged on the guide ring 20 on the side facing the eccentric chamber 18. The seal 24 is used to prevent air 26 from flowing from the eccentric chamber 18 into the interspace 28. Thus, the seal 24 spans or closes the interspace 28 between the guide ring 20 and the piston 12 with respect to the eccentric chamber 18. The seal 24 of this kind is simultaneously used to prevent air from reaching the pressure chamber 14 from the eccentric chamber 18, especially when the piston 12 is moved out of the pressure chamber 14 and a vacuum arises in said chamber.

[0029] In the axial direction of the piston 12, a flexible sealing ring 30 of substantially H-shaped cross section is arranged between the cylinder liner 22 and the piston 12 on that side of the guide ring 20 which faces the pressure chamber 14. On this sealing ring 30, each of the edge regions is rounded.

[0030] In this arrangement, there is also a disk-shaped, radially oriented backing ring 32 between the guide ring 20 and the sealing ring 30. On the outside, the backing ring 32 extends as far as the cylinder liner 22 and, on the inside, it extends as far as the piston 12 and thereby prevents wear on the sealing ring 30 in the edge regions thereof facing the guide ring 20.

[0031] The sealing ring 30 separates the liquid 16 contained in the pressure chamber 14 from the guide ring 20 and from the eccentric chamber 18 in a manner known per se, especially when the piston 12 is moved into the pressure chamber 14 and a vacuum arises in said chamber.

[0032] Thus, the interspace 28 is delimited with respect to the eccentric chamber 18 by means of the seal 24 and, at the same time, with respect to the pressure chamber 14 by means of the sealing ring 30. In this way, the tasks of sealing against air passing out of the eccentric chamber 18 into the pressure chamber 14 and of sealing against liquid passing out of the pressure chamber 14 into the eccentric chamber 18 are separated from one another at the guide ring 20. Overall, a particularly advantageous sealing assembly is thereby created.

[0033] According to FIG. 1, the guide ring 20 has a recess 34 of rectangular cross section on the side facing away from the pressure chamber 14 and facing the eccentric chamber 18. The recess 34 faces the piston 12 and forms a step-shaped chamfer, into which the seal 24 is press-fitted as an annular sealing element that can be installed separately. Like the sealing ring 30, the seal 24 here rests on an outside 36 of the piston 12. As an alternative, the seal 24 is molded into said recess 34 and onto the guide ring 20 so as to be fixed thereon by means of an injection molding process.

[0034] FIGS. 2 to 5 show variants of the seal 24, in each case in cross section. The seals 24 shown can each be press-fitted into the recess 34 of the guide ring 20 or molded on by means of an injection molding process. In FIGS. 2 to 5, the seals 24 are in each case shown before installation in the associated assembly. In particular, therefore, the seals 24 are shown without deformation relative to the piston 12, which is then adjacent thereto. The outside 36 of the piston 12 is in each case illustrated by a dashed line 38 in FIGS. 2 to 5 for the installed state of the seals 24.

[0035] FIG. 2 shows a seal 24 of substantially rectangular cross section with straight lateral edges. The seal 24 has a seal surface 40 in the direction of the piston 12. The seal surface 40 is embodied as a surface which is curved convexly outward in cross section. According to FIG. 3, the seal 24 shown there is embodied at the seal surface 40 as a surface which is curved concavely inward in cross section. During installation on the piston 12, the seal is compressed in the region of the seal surface 40. In the installed state of the piston 12, the compressed seal 24 then hugs the piston 12, preferably completely, by means of its seal surface 40, as shown in FIG. 1.

[0036] FIG. 4 shows a seal 24 on which a sealing lip 42 is integrally molded. The sealing lip 42 is formed on the seal 24 on the edge facing the eccentric chamber 18 and the piston 12 and, in cross section, extends substantially axially into the eccentric chamber 18. During installation of the seal 24, the sealing lip 42 is placed against the piston 12 and, during this process, is aligned in a fully axial orientation. Owing to its elastic restoring force 44, the sealing lip 42 then hugs the outside 36 of the piston 12 by means of its lateral surface, which is at the bottom in FIG. 4.

[0037] In addition, the seal 24 can be designed in such a way that, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, it also hugs the outside 36 of the piston 12 by means of its seal surface 40. FIG. 5 shows a variant thereof, in which the seal surface 40 is embodied as an undulating surface in cross section.

[0038] FIG. 6 shows another illustrative embodiment of a piston pump 10 for a vehicle brake system.

[0039] There, the associated guide ring 20 does not have a recess 34. On the contrary, the associated seal 24 is of L-shaped cross section and one leg of its L shape, the radially oriented leg, is molded directly, in a fixed manner, onto the guide ring 20 by means of an injection molding process at that end of the guide ring 20 which faces the eccentric chamber 18. The second, axially oriented leg of the L shape forms a sealing lip 42 which, like the sealing lip shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, comes to rest against the outside 36 of the piston 12.

[0040] FIG. 7 illustrates how the seal 24 of this kind appears in the uninstalled state. In cross section, the sealing lip 42 of the seal 24 then extends slightly obliquely inward in a radial direction, with the result that, after installation, it likewise gives rise to a restoring force 44 acting against the outside 36 of the piston 12 owing to its elasticity.