Bearings – Rotary bearing – Antifriction bearing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-20
2003-07-08
Footland, Lenard A. (Department: 3682)
Bearings
Rotary bearing
Antifriction bearing
C384S448000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06588935
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a wheel bearing assembly for rotatably supporting a vehicle wheel relative to a vehicle body, and more particularly to a wheel bearing assembly comprising a hub ring, an outer member of a constant-velocity joint and a double-row wheel bearing in a modular form.
A conventional wheel bearing assembly shown in
FIG. 17
includes an outer member
1
, an inner member
2
, an inner ring
3
and rolling elements
4
arranged in two rows. The inner member
2
has at its outboard end a radially outwardly extending flange
5
for mounting a vehicle wheel, and is formed with a first raceway
6
a
on its radially outer surface. The inner ring
3
is pressed on a cut-out, small-diameter cylindrical portion
7
of the inner member
2
at its inboard end. It is formed with a second raceway
6
b
on its radially outer surface.
The outer member
1
is formed with first and second raceways
8
a
,
8
b
on its radially inner surface, opposite the first and second raceways
6
a
,
6
b
, respectively. The rolling elements
4
are mounted between opposed pairs of the raceways. The outer member
1
has on its radially outer surface a flange
9
adapted to be fastened to an unillustrated vehicle suspension.
The inner member
2
is coupled to an outer member
11
of a constant-velocity joint (CVJ)
10
. The CVJ outer member
11
comprises a cup
12
and a stem
13
. The stem is inserted into and coupled to the inner member
2
by serrations with its threaded end
14
protruding from the outboard end of the inner member. A nut
15
is threaded onto the threaded end
14
of the stem
13
and tightened to press the inner member
2
against a shoulder
16
with the inner member
2
and the inner ring
3
axially positioned relative to each other, thereby applying a preload to the rolling elements
4
. The rolling elements each have a contact angle. The abovesaid preload increases the bearing rigidity and allows the rolling elements to bear a moment load.
In the arrangement of
FIG. 18
(disclosed in Japanese patent publication 10-297208), the inner member
2
is coupled to the stem
13
of the CVJ outer member
11
by serrations
17
. The inner ring
3
is pressed both on the inner member
2
and the CVJ outer member
11
and coupled thereto by serrations
18
. Since the CVJ outer member
11
is coupled to the bearing assembly through both the serrations
17
and
18
, a larger torque can be transmitted between the CVJ and the bearing assembly than in the arrangement of FIG.
17
.
In this arrangement, because the inner ring
3
is partially pressed on the CVJ outer member
11
, the axial length of the bearing assembly is relatively short. But since the CVJ outer member has to be coupled to the bearing through the radially spaced two different sets of serrations, it is troublesome to assemble such a bearing assembly.
A first object of the present invention is to provide a wheel bearing assembly that is compact, lightweight and easy to assemble.
FIG. 19A
shows another conventional wheel bearing assembly, which comprises an outer member
1
into which is pressed an outer ring
19
formed with two annular raceways on its radially inner surface, and an inner member
2
onto which are pressed two separate inner rings
3
formed with raceways
6
a
,
6
b
on the respective radially outer surfaces thereof, opposite the raceways
8
a
,
8
b
. Rolling elements
4
are disposed between the two opposed pairs of raceways. The inner member
2
has a flange to which is adapted to be mounted a vehicle wheel.
A stem
13
of an outer member
11
of a constant-velocity joint (CVJ)
10
is inserted into a serrated bore
20
of the inner member
2
with its threaded free end protruding into a pilot portion
21
of the flange
5
. A nut
22
is threaded onto the threaded end of the stem
13
to fasten the CVJ outer member
11
to the inner member
2
.
Contrary to a wheel bearing assembly for supporting a driving wheel, a typical bearing assembly for supporting a non-driving wheel has its outer member mounted to the wheel through its flange and its inner member directly secured to the end of a stationary axle.
The wheel bearing assembly is fastened to the stationary axle or to the wheel drive shaft by e.g. threading a bolt having a polygonal head or a head with a polygonal hole into the end of the stationary shaft or the wheel drive shaft.
Such a bolt or nut tends to loosen due e.g. to vibration of the vehicle. Thus, it is desired to provide such a bolt or nut with a means for preventing it from loosening various means for preventing loosening of a nut such as the nut shown in
FIG. 19A
are known. For example, in the arrangement of
FIG. 19B
, the nut is prevented from loosing by pressing a snap ring
23
into a cutout
13
a
formed in the stem
13
near its tip by deforming (e.g. caulking) the ring
23
. Also, a pin may be inserted into the stem to prevent loosening of the nut. A double-nut arrangement is another well-known means for preventing loosening.
But there is not known any means for preventing loosening of a bolt threaded into a shaft.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a wheel bearing assembly having a means for preventing loosening of a nut threaded onto a shaft or a bolt threaded into the shaft to fasten the shaft to the bearing.
FIG. 20
shows another conventional bearing assembly for a driving wheel, comprising the bearing assembly of
FIG. 17
with a constant-velocity joint
10
including an outer member
11
and an inner ring
29
, a brake rotor
24
and a knuckle
25
assembled together in a modular form.
A pulser ring
26
for ABS is mounted on the outer surface of the cup
12
of the CVJ outer member
11
. A sensor (not shown) is mounted on a vehicle body (not shown either), opposite the pulser ring
26
.
The brake rotor
24
is mounted on a flange
5
of the inner member
2
by bolts
31
. The knuckle
25
is mounted to the flange
9
of the outer member
1
by bolts
27
.
The bearing gap defined between the inner member
2
and the outer member
1
has its outboard and inboard ends sealed by seals
28
a
and
28
b
, respectively. Rolling elements
4
are disposed in the bearing gap.
Since the inner ring
3
is pressed onto the inner member
2
and not onto the CVJ outer member
11
. Thus, even when the latter is pulled out of the inner member
2
for maintenance, the inner ring
3
will remain coupled to the inner member
2
.
Such the bearing assembly tends to be heavy because it includes many heavy parts. A lightweight bearing assembly is therefore desired. Also in these conventional arrangements, the gap between the seal
28
a
and the outboard rolling elements
4
, the gap between the outboard and inboard rolling elements
4
, and the gap between the seal
28
b
and the inboard rolling elements
4
are too small to mount the pulser ring
26
and a sensor therein.
A third object of the invention is to provide a wheel bearing assembly that is lightweight, has a sufficiently large closed space in which a pulser ring and a sensor can be mounted, and can form a bearing assembly together with other parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to this invention, in order to attain the first object, there is provided a wheel bearing assembly comprising an outer member having a flange adapted to be mounted to a vehicle body and formed with first and second raceways on inner surface thereof, an inner member having a flange on which a vehicle wheel is adapted to be mounted and formed with a first raceway on outer surface thereof, an inner ring formed with a second raceway on outer surface thereof, a plurality of rolling elements disposed between the raceways on the outer member and the first and second raceways, a constant-velocity joint having an outer member comprising a cup portion and a stem portion, the stem portion engaging the inner member through mesh engagement, the inner ring being mounted on the outer member of the constant-velocity joint with its outboard end abutting an inboard end of the inner member.
The inner ring may be coup
Tajima Eiji
Torii Akira
Footland Lenard A.
NTN Corporation
Wenderoth , Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
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