Rotary shafts – gudgeons – housings – and flexible couplings for ro – Coupling accommodates drive between members having... – Coupling transmits torque via radially spaced ball
Patent
1995-11-07
1997-12-02
Stodola, Daniel P.
Rotary shafts, gudgeons, housings, and flexible couplings for ro
Coupling accommodates drive between members having...
Coupling transmits torque via radially spaced ball
464906, F16D 3226
Patent
active
056929617
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to universal joints, of the kind which comprises an outer joint member of hollow configuration: an inner joint member disposed at least partially within the outer joint member; a number of straight grooves provided in the interior of the outer joint member, circumferentially spaced about an axis of rotation of the outer joint member and extending lengthwise of the member: a number of straight grooves provided on the exterior of the inner joint member circumferentially spaced about the axis of rotation of the inner joint member and facing the grooves in the outer joint member in pairs: and a plurality of balls disposed one in each facing pair of grooves in the joint members, for torque transmission between the members. Such a joint will hereafter be referred to as a universal joint of the kind specified.
The joint may be a constant velocity ratio universal joint having a cage of annular configuration disposed between the two joint members and which has window which accommodate the balls and which maintain the balls with their centres in a single plane there being provided means for causing the balls when the joint is articulated (i.e. when the axes of rotation of the inner and outer joint members are inclined to one another) to be guided to assume positions such that the plane of the centres of the balls bisects the angle between the axes of rotation of the outer and inner joint members.
In one form of constant velocity ratio universal joint, the grooves extending lengthwise of the joint members are inclined (skewed) relative to the axes of rotation of the joint members. In each pair of grooves receiving a torque-transmitting ball the groove in the outer joint member is oppositely inclined to the groove in the inner joint member so that if such grooves could be viewed together in the direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the aligned (non-articulated) joint they would appear to cross one another with the ball constrained to be positioned where they cross. When the joint is articulated, such groove configurations cause the ball centres to lie in the bisector plane as above referred to.
The invention has been devised however in relation to a constant velocity ratio universal joint of the type which is commonly, and will herein be, referred to as a double offset joint. Wherein the means which guides the balls takes the form of offset part-spherical surfaces provided on the cage, co-operating with surfaces associated with the joint members. In one form of double offset joint the grooves in the outer and inner joint members extend parallel to the axes of rotation of the respective joint members and between the grooves in the outer joint member the internal surface of such member is cylindrical. The cage of the joint has an external part-spherical surface which engages the internal cylindrical surface of the outer joint member between the grooves thereof and further has an internal part-spherical surface which engages an external part-spherical surface associated with the inner joint member. The internal and external part-spherical surfaces of the cage are arranged such that their centres of curvature are offset by substantially equal distances on opposite sides of the plane in which the centres of the balls lie.
When such a double offset joint is articulated the offset of the part-spherical internal and external surfaces of the cage has the effect of steering the cage so that the ball centre plane is caused to bisect the angle between the axes of rotation of the joint members, thereby imparting the required constant velocity ratio operating characteristics to the joint. Further, since the grooves in which the torque transmitting balls are received are parallel to the axes of the respective joint members in which they are provided, and the cage is not axially constrained relative to the outer joint member, the joint is able to accommodate plunge, i.e. relative axial movement between the joint members.
The joint may be one in which the external part-spherical surface associated w
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Dunn Eileen A.
GKN Automotive AG
Stodola Daniel P.
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