Arrangement of a roll stabilization system and a steering system on a motor vehicle

An arrangement of a roll stabilization system equipped with a split lateral stabilizer and an arrangement of a steering system on a double track motor vehicle is provided. A gear of the roll stabilization system is arranged essentially coaxially between two halves of the lateral stabilizer rotatable with respect to one another, and a motor for introducing a stabilization torque is arranged at the side of this gear and the lateral stabilizer. The steering system has, in addition to a steering gear, with which steering arms can be moved essentially in the transverse direction of the vehicle, a motor, which is arranged at the side of the steering gear and a movement axis defined by the movable steering arms. The motor of the roll stabilization system and the motor of the steering system lie in essence one behind the other, as viewed in the transverse direction of the vehicle, and may preferably be electric motors with essentially coinciding axes of rotation that run in the transverse direction of the vehicle and are arranged inside an axle carrier so as to lie essentially in the plane thereof.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an arrangement of a roll stabilization system equipped with a split lateral stabilizer and to an arrangement of a steering system on a double track motor vehicle, wherein a gear of the roll stabilization system is arranged essentially coaxially between the two halves of the lateral stabilizer. The two halves of the lateral stabilizer can be rotated with respect to one another. A motor for introducing a stabilization torque is arranged at the side of the gear and the lateral stabilizer. The steering system has, in addition to a steering gear, with which steering arms, which ultimately act on the steerable wheels of the vehicle, can be moved essentially in the transverse direction of the vehicle, a motor, which is arranged at the side of the steering gear and a movement axis, which is described by the movable steering arms, and has the purpose of introducing a torque which assists or brings about such a movement. With respect to the technical background reference is made, for example, to DE 102 33 499 A1 and to DE 10 2006 001 821 A1.

Apart from the arrangement of an actuator motor, chosen by the assignee of the present invention at that time for mass production of a roll stabilization system and positioned coaxially to the split lateral stabilizer, the arrangement of this actuator motor away from the lateral stabilizer is already well-known from the prior art. Furthermore, it is possible to arrange in a comparable way a steering assist motor, for example, a gear rack, which extends in the transverse direction of the vehicle on a rack and pinion steering gear and to the ends of which are connected in a well-known manner the steering arms or steering tie rods that act ultimately on the steerable wheels. At the same time, the torque can be transmitted from the respective motor, of which the axis of rotation runs preferably in the transverse direction of the vehicle, to the respective gear, that is, to the gear “inside” the split lateral stabilizer and/or to, for example, the rack and pinion steering gear via a toothed gearing or an endless traction gear.

There is needed an advantageous arrangement of a roll stabilization system equipped with a split lateral stabilizer and an arrangement of a steering system on a motor vehicle.

This and other needs are met by an arrangement of a roll stabilization system equipped with a split lateral stabilizer and an arrangement of a steering system on a double track motor vehicle, wherein a gear of the roll stabilization system is arranged essentially coaxially between the two halves of the lateral stabilizer that can be rotated with respect to one another, and a motor for introducing a stabilization torque is arranged at the side of this gear and the lateral stabilizer. The steering system has, in addition to a steering gear, with which steering arms, ultimately acting on the steerable wheels of the vehicle, can be moved essentially in the transverse direction of the vehicle, a motor, which is arranged at the side of the steering gear and a movement axis, which is defined by the movable steering arms and has the purpose of introducing a torque which assists or brings about such a movement. The motor of the roll stabilization system and the motor of the steering system lie, essentially, one behind the other, as viewed in the transverse direction of the vehicle.

Advantageous embodiments and further developments are described herein.

The arrangement provides maximum compactness. That is, the available free space can be used optimally in this way. It is especially advantageous that in so-called right hand drive vehicles, in which a steering spindle, which transmits the driver's steering request from the steering wheel to the steering gear, runs in the right half of the vehicle, this entire arrangement can be configured in a simple way (with respect to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle) so as to be mirror symmetrical to the so-called left hand drive vehicles. Ideally, even a motor of identical design can be used for both the steering system and also the roll stabilization system, especially if in this case it involves electric motors with essentially coinciding axes of rotation that run preferably in the transverse direction of the vehicle.

The arrangement inside an axle carrier, which forms preferably a pre-assembly unit, has advantages during the assembly of the vehicle. In advantageous further developments, the motors or motor gear units, which units are formed by an assembly of the motor, the gear of the respective system (roll stabilization system, steering system) and an intermediate gear for transmitting the torque from the motor to the so-called system transmission, can serve to reinforce the axle carrier, for example, even with respect to a vehicle crash, by providing at least one suitable support.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Referring to the FIGURE, the reference numeral1denotes a so-called axle carrier in its entirety. The axle carrier1is provided for the front axle of a passenger vehicle and consists, in essence, of two longitudinal members1aof the carrier that extend in the longitudinal direction on both sides of the vehicle, and also a front cross member1band a rear cross member1c, both of which are supported between the two longitudinal members1aof the carrier. The central longitudinal axis of the vehicle is marked with the reference numeral2, and the vehicle's direction of travel is indicated by the arrow FR. In addition, behind the rear cross member1c, the seats1d, which run symmetrically to the longitudinal axis2and are provided for the motor mount, are supported between the rear cross member1cand the respective longitudinal member1aof the carrier. The latter is cut off and, therefore, not completely visible in the FIGURE.

A lateral stabilizer4is provided in a manner that is well-known from the prior art. The lateral stabilizer4is arranged between the wheels, which are mounted on the left side (not shown in the FIGURE) and on the right side outside the front axle carrier1and are guided by conventional wheel control elements (also not shown in the FIGURE), which are supported to some extent on the front axle carrier1. The left and the right side of the lateral stabilizer4is supported on one of the so-called wheel control elements or on a pivot bearing of the respective wheel that is well-known from the prior art by way of a pendulum support3.

The lateral stabilizer4is split in the middle and, as a result, consists of a right-sided and a left-sided stabilizer half4aand4brespectively, both of which are connected together by a gear5asuch that these two stabilizer halves4a,4b, which are mounted at bearing points6so as to be rotatable about the axle carrier1, can be rotated with their sections, extending over a common transverse axis4c, in relation to each other by a certain angular amount about this transverse axis4c. Consequently, it is possible to counteract a rolling of the vehicle chassis that is supported on the wheels in a manner that is well-known from the prior art. In this case the corresponding torque, which is called the stabilization torque and with which the stabilizer halves4a,4bare rotated in relation to each other, is introduced into the gear5afrom a motor5b. Hence, the above described, split lateral stabilizer4forms, together with the gear5aand the motor5b, which may be an electric motor in this case, a so-called roll stabilization system5.

In this respect, the FIGURE shows that the motor5bof the roll stabilization system5is mounted at the side of the transverse axis4cof the lateral stabilizer4and at the side of the gear5a, and there is a suitable intermediate gear5e, for example, in the form of a toothed gearing or an endless traction gear, for the purpose of transmitting the torque from the motor5binto the gear5a. In this context the term “at the side” that is used in the preceding sentence does not mean that the motor5bis mounted at the side next to the gear5a, but rather expresses that the axis of rotation of the motor5band the input or output axis of rotation of the gear5ado not coincide.

Since the aforementioned wheels are the front wheels of the vehicle, they can be steered by way of a steering system7. At this point it must be emphasized that a corresponding (inventive) arrangement of a roll stabilization system5as well as a steering system7(to be described briefly below) can also be provided for the rear wheels of a double track vehicle, that is, on its rear axle, if its rear wheels can be steered at least slightly. Furthermore, it must be pointed out that even though a power steering system equipped with a support torque that can be introduced into the power steering gear is described below, this invention can also be applied to a steer-by-wire system, in which only a motor induced movement torque is applied.

In the present case the steering system7(front axle) is designed as a rack and pinion steering system that is well-known from the prior art. That is, there is a rack and pinion steering gear7a, which extends in the transverse direction of the vehicle and in which a steering angle, desired by the driver of the vehicle, can be introduced by way of a steering spindle connection7cby way of a so-called steering spindle (not illustrated). Moreover, a support torque can be introduced by way of a motor7b, which is also designed as an electric motor. A steering angle, which is introduced by the steering spindle, and/or a support torque, which is introduced by the motor7b, bring(s) about movement of the steering arms or steering tie rods (not shown in the FIGURE) with their gear rack articulated points in the transverse direction of the vehicle. The steering arms or steering tie rods are linked on both sides of the rack and pinion steering gear7ato the ends of its gear rack in a manner that is well-known from the prior art, and the other ends of the steering arms or steering tie rods are ultimately connected to the aforementioned pivot bearing of the respective wheel.

The corresponding so-called movement axis7d, which extends in the transverse direction of the vehicle and is a component of the steering arms or the steering arms' articulated points on the rack and pinion steering gear7a, is defined, as well-known, by the longitudinal direction of the gear rack of the rack and pinion steering gear7a. Furthermore, it is clear from the FIGURE that the motor7bof the steering system7is arranged at the side of the movement axis7dand at the side of the rack and pinion steering gear7a. In this context the phrase “at the side” can also stand for the concept “at the side next to.” To transmit the torque of the motor7binto the rack and pinion steering gear7athere is a suitable intermediate gear7e, for example, in the form of a toothed gearing.

Inside the frame, defined by the axle carrier1, that is, inside the space, defined by the two longitudinal members1aof the carrier and the cross members1b,1c, as well as, essentially, in the plane described by this axle carrier1, the two motors5b,7b, that is, the electric motor5bof the roll stabilization system5and the electric motor7bof the steering system7, are arranged so as to lie one behind the other in the transverse direction of the vehicle such that their axes of rotation essentially coincide, that is, lie essentially on a common motor rotational axis8. This motor rotational axis8extends perpendicular to the longitudinal axis2of the vehicle in the transverse direction of the vehicle in a horizontal plane, lying parallel to the road. The result is an extremely compact configuration that does not require a lot of design space.

The rack and pinion steering gear7abears the associated motor7band is secured on each end respectively to the left and the right front corner area of the front axle carrier1by a support point9. The FIGURE shows only one of these support points9, because the other support point, which is mirror symmetrical to the longitudinal axis2, is located behind the motor5bin this view. By means of the two support points10, provided in the central region of the housing of the rack and pinion steering gear7a, the steering gear7atogether with the associated motor7bis supported on the cross member1cby way of the flange lugs, provided on the rear cross member1c. In this way, the steering system7contributes to the reinforcement of the axle carrier1. In an analogous manner, the motor5bof the roll stabilization system5and/or its gear5acan be supported (a feature that is not evident from the accompanying FIGURE), on the one hand, between a corner region of the axle carrier1and, on the other hand, a cross member1bor1cof the axle carrier1. Similarly, the FIGURE does not show another possible support of the two motors5band7band/or their motors5b,7b, associated gear5a,7a, and/or the respective intermediate gear5e,7ein relation to each other, so that the steering system5(naturally with the exception of the steering arms) and the roll stabilization system7(naturally with the exception of the lateral stabilizer4) are ultimately supported on each other and, thus, can enhance the rigidity of the entire arrangement and the axle carrier1. Yet this feature as well as many other details relating especially to the design can be configured differently from the above explanations by one of skill in the art.