Wheel bearing assembly with brake rotor

Details Wheel bearing assembly with brake rotor Wheel bearing assembly with brake rotor

1999-11-30

2001-10-30

Hannon, Thomas R. (Department: 3682)

Bearings

Rotary bearing

Antifriction bearing

C384S589000, C188S01800A, C301S105100, C301S006100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06309110

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an automotive wheel bearing assembly with a brake rotor.
Among automotive wheel bearing assemblies, there are ones for driving wheels and ones for non-driving wheels. As an example, a wheel bearing assembly for a driving wheel is shown in FIG.
12
. It comprises an outer member
3
having two raceways
3
a
,
3
b
on its inner circumferential surface, an inner member
1
having raceways
1
a
,
1
b
opposite the raceways
3
a
,
3
b
, and rolling elements
8
disposed between the outer member
3
and the inner member
1
in two rows. The inner member
1
has a wheel-mounting flange
2
. Also, in this example, the inner member
1
has a hole
9
for receiving a drive shaft in its inner circumferential surface. Of two raceways
1
a
,
1
b
on the inner member
1
, the outer raceway
1
a
is formed directly on the outer circumferential surface of the inner member
1
, while the inner raceway
1
b
is formed on a separate inner ring.
When wheel bearing assemblies are delivered to an assembling factory of a car manufacturer from a wheel bearing manufacturer, a brake rotor
20
, which has been delivered as a separate part, is fixed by bolts
18
to the side
2
a
of the wheel-mounting flange
2
at the car assembling factory. But if after assembling there is a runout on the side
21
of the brake rotor
20
, with the increasing speed of cars, brake judder may occur during braking from high speeds, or brakes may be worn unevenly. With a certain state of runout, brake vibrations may occur even at low speeds.
Heretofore, in order to prevent such runout of the side
21
of the brake rotor
20
, when the brake rotor (which has been delivered as a separate part) is mounted to the wheel mounting flange
2
of a wheel bearing assembly delivered from a wheel bearing manufacturer at a car assembling factory, adjustment of phase between the runout of the wheel mounting flange
2
and the runout of the side
21
of the brake rotor
20
was necessary. Such a method is rather troublesome and poor in workability.
Also, at a car assembling factory, due to aesthetic reasons, rust-preventive coating is usually applied to the surface of the brake rotor. If a coating is applied to the brake rotor, runout tends to grow due to uneven thickness of the coating.
An object of this invention is to prevent vibrations and uneven wear of a brake resulting from runout of the brake rotor caused by an increase in the car speed, and to provide a reliable wheel bearing assembly with a brake rotor which needs no troublesome runout adjustment at a car assembling factory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to this invention, there is provided a wheel bearing assembly with a brake rotor comprising an outer member having two raceways on inner circumferential surface thereof, an inner member having two raceways each provided opposite the two raceways on the outer member, and rolling elements arranged in two rows between the outer member and the inner member. One of the outer member and the inner member is provided with a wheel mounting flange, and the brake rotor is mounted to the wheel mounting flange. The runout variation of a side of the brake rotor is restricted within a predetermined value when measured while rotating the one member with the other of the outer member and the inner member as a reference.
Such a wheel bearing assembly is highly reliable and can be assembled at a car assembling factory. This eliminates the runout problem, and adjustment of runout at the assembling factory is not necessary any more. Restricting the runout to 50 &mgr;m or under brings good results. 30 &mgr;m or under is more preferable.
Forming raceways directly on the outer member and the inner member is advantageous because the number of parts required is less.
The present invention is applicable to both wheel bearing assemblies for a driving wheel and those for a non-driving wheel.
The restriction of runout is carried out before assembling the wheel bearing assembly. A brake rotor is mounted on one of the inner member or the outer member formed with a wheel mounting flange, and the one of these two is rotated while using the other as a datum.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3665657 (1972-05-01), Lill
patent: 3757883 (1973-09-01), Asberg
patent: 4232763 (1980-11-01), Klaue
patent: 4778286 (1988-10-01), Kadokawa
patent: 5152104 (1992-10-01), Wood et al.
patent: 5430926 (1995-07-01), Hartford
patent: 5901818 (1999-05-01), Martino
patent: 5915502 (1999-06-01), Rapisardi et al.
patent: 5975767 (1999-11-01), Mizukoshi et al.
patent: 6126322 (2000-10-01), Otsuki et al.

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