Land vehicles – Wheeled – Running gear
Patent
1993-10-13
1995-05-09
Focarino, Margaret A.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Running gear
280 93, B60G 2500
Patent
active
054133653
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a steering knuckle device for a non-driven steerable vehicle wheel for motor vehicles, comprising a knuckle unit with upper and lower axially spaced and axially aligned bores for rotatable mounting of a king pin and with means disposed to support a brake yoke for a disk brake and a stub axle unit which is joined to the knuckle unit and on which a wheel hub is designed to be mounted.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Brake yokes for disk brakes are usually fixed asymmetrically on the steering knuckle relative to the swing axis of the knuckle, e.g. at the "rear edge" of the disk. The reason for this is there is often no space above the disk in order to mount the brake yoke directly above the axis of rotation of the knuckle. The disadvantage of an asymmetric placement is not significant for lighter brakes, e.g. disk brakes for passenger cars, but the heavier the vehicle is, the heavier the entire brake equipment will be and the heavier the brake yoke will be. In the heaviest class of trucks the brake yokes will be so heavy that placement of a brake yoke at the rear edge of the brake disk for example would involve significant problems with installation and service, since the yoke must be held up while its screws are inserted into the mounting flanges on the steering knuckle. In the heavier class of vehicles, the king pin is traditionally mounted in an upper thrust bearing which is built-up vertically and limits the space so that the brake yoke cannot be given the ideal placement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the present invention is to achieve a steering knuckle device of the type described by way of introduction which is arranged so that the brake yoke can be placed at the upper edge of the disk, e.g. above the axis of rotation of the steering knuckle to thereby, inter alia facilitate installation and service.
This is achieved according to the invention by virtue of the fact that the king pin is so mounted in the upper bore in bearing means for absorbing at least radial forces, that its upper end with associated bearing means lies essentially co-planar with or below the upper edge of the bore, and that the king pin is mounted in the lower bore in a bearing or a bearing combination disposed to absorb both axial and radial forces and that the brake yoke is arranged so that at least a portion thereof lies above the upper end of the king pin. By absorbing, in contrast to present practice, axial forces on the king pin at the lower bearing, it has proved possible to reduce the height of the bearing so much that a brake yoke can be placed directly above the king pin. Installation of the yoke is thereby facilitated appreciably. It is sufficient to bring down the yoke from above so that it straddles the disk. The yoke thus rests in place without any need for extra support when inserting the screws into the mounting flanges.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described below in more detail with reference to examples shown in the accompanying drawings, where
FIG. 1 shows a schematic prospective view of one embodiment of a steering knuckle device according to the invention,
FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through a conventional king pin bearing,
FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal section through a steering knuckle device corresponding to that in FIG. 1 and
FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section corresponding to FIG. 3 through an additional embodiment of the steering knuckle device.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1, 1 designates the distal end of a rigid front axle of a truck. The end of the axle is joined to a king pin which is mounted in bearings in a steering knuckle with the general designation 2, in a manner which will be described below with reference to FIG. 3. The steering knuckle 2 comprises a knuckle unit 3 with a pair of mounting flanges 4 (one shown) mounted symmetrically relative to the axis of rotation of the knuckle and to which a brake yoke 5 is mounted. The yoke 5 straddles a brake disk 6 which is no
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Bodin Jan-Olof
Dagh Ingemar
AB Volvo
Ellis Christopher P.
Focarino Margaret A.
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