BEARING SUPPORT COMPOSED OF FIBER-PLASTIC COMPOSITE

Abstract

A bearing support includes at least one sliding bearing defined by the bearing support and/or at least one rolling-element bearing having an outer raceway defined by the bearing support. The bearing support is formed from a fiber-plastic composite and includes an integrally formed sliding surface of the sliding bearing and/or an integrally formed raceway for rolling elements of the rolling-element bearing, and the fiber-plastic composite includes a matrix into which spatially oriented sliding fibers, for example, PTFE fibers, are embedded in a region of the sliding surface of the sliding bearing and/or a region of the raceway of the rolling-element bearing.

Claims

1. A bearing support including at least one sliding bearing defined by the bearing support and/or at least one rolling-element bearing having an outer raceway defined by the bearing support, wherein the bearing support is formed from a fiber-plastic composite, and includes an integrally formed sliding surface of the sliding bearing and/or an integrally formed raceway for rolling elements of the rolling-element bearing wherein the fiber-plastic composite comprises a matrix into which spatially oriented sliding fibers are embedded in a region of the sliding surface of the sliding bearing and/or a region of the raceway of the rolling-element bearing.

2. The bearing support according to claim 1, wherein the fiber-plastic composite furthermore includes spatially oriented reinforcing fibers embedded into the matrix.

3. The bearing support according to claim 1, wherein the spatially oriented fibers comprise a prefabricated as semi-finished structure.

4. The bearing support according to claim 1, wherein the matrix comprises a duroplast and/or an elastomer and/or a thermoplastic.

5. The bearing support according to claim 1, wherein the sliding fibers comprise PTFE fibers.

6. The bearing support according to claim 2, wherein the reinforcing fibers are glass fibers and/or carbon fibers and/or ceramic fibers and/or aramid fibers and/or boron fibers and/or basalt fibers and/or steel fibers and/or natural fibers and/or polyhexamethylene adipic acid amide fibers and/or high-strength fibers made from highly crystalline, highly-stretched, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene.

7. The bearing support according to claim 1, wherein the fiber-plastic composite comprises a carbon-fiber-reinforced fiber-plastic composite, and wherein the carbon fibers are embedded in multiple layers into the matrix, the matrix comprising an epoxy resin.

8. The bearing support according to claim 1, wherein the at least one raceway is formed by a bearing ring disposed on the bearing support by an undercut.

9 and 10. (canceled)

11. The bearing support according to claim 2, wherein the spatially oriented fibers comprise a prefabricated or semi-finished structure, wherein the matrix comprises a duroplast and/or an elastomer and/or a thermoplastic, wherein the sliding fibers comprise PTFE fibers, and wherein the reinforcing fibers are selected from the group consisting of: glass fibers and carbon fibers and ceramic fibers and aramid fibers and boron fibers and basalt fibers and steel fibers and natural fibers and polyhexamethylene adipic acid amide fibers and high-strength fibers made from highly crystalline, highly-stretched, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene.

12. A bearing support comprising: a fiber-plastic composite body comprising spatially oriented first fibers, comprising reinforcing fibers, embedded in a matrix, the body having a first through opening defined by an interior wall configured to form a slide surface of a sliding bearing and a second through opening configured to receive a rolling element bearing; and spatially oriented second fibers, comprising sliding fibers, embedded in the matrix at the slide surface and beneath the slide surface in a region around the interior wall, wherein the first fibers are selected from a group consisting of: glass fibers and carbon fibers and ceramic fibers and aramid fibers and boron fibers and basalt fibers and steel fibers and natural fibers and polyhexamethylene adipic acid amide fibers, and wherein the second fibers comprise PTFE fibers.

13. The bearing support according to claim 12, wherein the first fibers comprise carbon fibers.

14. A method of making a fiber-plastic bearing support, comprising: providing a first body of spatially oriented first fibers, the first fibers comprising reinforcing fibers, the first fibers being selected from the group consisting of: glass fibers and carbon fibers and ceramic fibers and aramid fibers and boron fibers and basalt fibers and steel fibers and natural fibers and polyhexamethylene adipic acid amide fibers; providing a second body of spatially oriented second fibers, the second fibers comprising PTFE sliding fibers; placing the second body at a location in the interior of the first body at which a sliding bearing is to be formed; impregnating the first body and the second body with a matrix material selected from the group consisting of a duroplast, an elastomer and a thermoplastic; and leaving a first opening at the location to form the sliding bearing and leaving a second opening at a second location configured to receive a roller bearing.

Description

[0016] In the following the invention shall be described in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments depicted in the drawings. Here the exemplary embodiments are of a purely exemplary nature and are not intended to establish the scope of the application. This scope is defined solely by the pending claims.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a preferred design of the inventive bearing support;

[0018] FIG. 2 shows a schematic sectional view along a line B-B of the bearing support from FIG. 1; and

[0019] FIG. 3 shows a schematic spatial view through the bearing support from FIG. 1 with a section along the line B-B.

[0020] In the following identical or functionally equivalent elements are designated by the same reference numbers.

[0021] FIGS. 1 to 3 show different views of an inventive bearing support 1 that is usually used in manual transmissions of motor vehicles. Here FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of the bearing support 1. The bearing support 1 includes a bearing support plate 2 wherein a sliding bearing 4 for a guiding of a shift linkage (not depicted) is formed. Furthermore rolling-element bearing assemblies 6, 8 are provided in the bearing support 1, which rolling-element bearing assemblies 6, 8 serve for the supporting of the transmission shafts.

[0022] The bearing support 1 itself, as schematically depicted in the sectional views of FIGS. 2 and 3, is manufactured from a fiber-plastic composite 10 with spatially oriented fibers. In a fiber-plastic composite, spatially oriented fibers, for example, of a semi-finished fiber, for example as a woven fabric, knitted fabric, scrim, mesh, fleece or as a mat are usually embedded in a plastic matrix that is formed, for example, for a duroplast, an elastomer, and/or a thermoplastic. These reinforcing fibers can be, for example, glass fibers and/or carbon fibers and/or ceramic fibers and serve to form a bearing support 1 with a high tensile strength but a low mass. As can furthermore be seen from the sectional views of FIGS. 2 and 3, a sliding surface 12 of the sliding bearing 4 is integrally produced from the fiber-plastic composite 10, i.e., integrally with the bearing support, wherein in the region of the sliding surface 12 spatially oriented sliding fibers 14 are embedded in the plastic matrix. The sliding fibers 14 can also be configured in the form of a semi-finished fiber, for example, as woven fabric, knitted fabric, scrim, or as mesh, or prefabricated shapes, such as, for example, a bushing shape. Similarly a raceway 16 for a rolling element 18 can be formed integrally with the bearing support 1.

[0023] In order to form a sliding surface 12 and/or the raceway 16 here with particularly good sliding properties for the to-be-supported element, in particular the to-be-supported shift linkage or the rolling element 18, PTFE fibers are embedded in the matrix plastic in the region of the sliding bearing 4 and/or the rolling elements 6, which PTFE, fibers ensure a low-friction supporting and simultaneously a lubricating of the sliding bearing 4 or rolling-element bearing 6.

[0024] Here the sliding fibers 14 in the fiber composite material 10 are embedded in the matrix plastic during the manufacturing of the bearing support 2 in the same was as the reinforcing fibers.

[0025] The embedding or a subsequent attaching of sliding bearing bushings or ball sleeves for forming the sliding bearing 4 can be omitted with the result that costs and also weight can be saved, and the assembly process can be simplified overall. The attaching of a bearing ring for the rolling-element bearing 6 can thereby also be omitted.

[0026] However, if an introducing of a rolling-element bearing 8 including a separately formed bearing ring 20 is nonetheless desired, it is thus advantageous in particular to introduce the bearing ring 20 directly into the fiber-reinforced plastic material during the manufacturing process of the bearing carrier 1. For this purpose it is preferred in particular if an undercut is formed on the bearing ring 20, which undercut makes possible an interference-fit attaching of the bearing ring during the forming of the fiber-reinforced plastic matrix of the bearing support 1.

[0027] Overall with the integral forming of the sliding bearing surface and/or raceway in the bearing carrier, in particular with the use of PTFE fibers in the region of the sliding bearing, a bearing support with an integral sliding bearing and/or integral rolling-element bearing can be provided, wherein the integrally formed sliding bearing or the integrally formed rolling-element bearing ensures a stable supporting of the to-be-supported elements and simultaneously their lubrication.

REFERENCE NUMBER LIST

[0028] 1 Bearing support [0029] 2 Bearing support plate [0030] 4 Sliding bearing [0031] 6, 8 Rolling-element bearing [0032] 10 Fiber-reinforced plastic [0033] 12 Sliding bearing surface [0034] 14 Sliding fibers [0035] 16 Raceway [0036] 18 Rolling element [0037] 20 Bearing ring