UNIVERSAL JOINT

Abstract: A universal joint (10, 40) having a tripod part (12, 42) with rectangular arms (13a, 43) received by a three-lobed outer part (14, 44), and balls (16) retained by concave recesses (28, 50) in one of the parts (12, 44) and rolling on flat surfaces (29, 52) of the other part (14, 42). The ball-contacting surfaces of the recesses (28, 50) may be spherical, conical, elliptical or parabolic. The tripod part (12) may be composed of three similar elements (70, 72, 74) connected by pins (76) or bolts (78).

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention: This invention relates to a universal joint and, more particularly, to a universal joint suitable to use in a drive line of a vehicle. Description of the Prior Art: As one of universal joints used in a drive line of a vehicle, there is a so-called tripode type constant velocity universal joint, which comprises an inside part provided integrally with a first shaft and having three trunnions which are spaced apart circumferentially at equal intervals, an outside part disposed so as to surround the inside part, provided integrally with a second shaft and having three axially extending guide grooves which are spaced apart circumferentially at equal intervals and a roller rotatably supported by each of the trunnions to slide in one of the guide grooves. A portion of each guide groove in contact with each roller has an arcuated-shape in section and, on the other hand, each roller has an outer peripheral surface formed into a spherical surface. When the constant velocity universal joint is incorporated in the drive line of the vehicle for use, the first and second shafts define an angle, so that the constant velocity universal joint is rotated with a so-called joint angle condition. In this case, each of the rollers will be moved relatively in an axial direction of the outside parts and simultaneously in a radial direction thereof along with the rotation of the shafts. During rotation, vibrations are generated due to frictional resistance in the above relative movements to give an uncomfortable feeling to passengers. There are various proposals to avoid the vibrations as noted above. Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure (KOKAI) No. 62-20225 has disclosed a universal joint, in which a portion of each of guide grooves of an outside part in contact with a roller has a linear shape in section, whereas the roller is formed cylindrically. A guide ring is disposed inside the roller and the roller is supported through the guide ring by a trunnion. Each of the trunnions is formed to have a spherical surface convexly extending to the guide ring which is formed to have a spherical surface convexly extending to the trunnion, and these parts are in contact with each other through respective spherical surfaces. Japanese Patent Public Disclosure (KOKAI) No. 61-189322 has disclosed another universal joint, in which a portion of each of guide grooves of an outside part located radially outward of a roller is formed to have a linear shape in section and a roller is formed cylindrically. And, between the guide groove and the roller is interposed a parts U-shaped as viewed in a plan and formed to have an arcuate outer peripheral surface in section and a linear inner peripheral surface in section. A further universal joint is disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure (KOKAI) No. 61-114128, in which a plurality of needles for rotating a roller circumferentially are disposed between the roller and a trunnion and further a plurality of another needles for moving the roller axially of the trunnion are disposed inside the aforementioned needles. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In all of the universal joints disclosed in the above three Disclosures, the number of parts is increased and the configurations of the joints are complicated. Further, since parts newly added to constitute creative universal joints need precise working, the working is laborious to cause high cost. DE-B-2,517,967 describes a slidable constant velocity joint having the features of the preamble of Claim 1. DE-B-2,355,766 describes a slidable universal coupling having an outer member with three spaced axial grooves with a rolling member disposed in each groove and carried radially by an inner member disposed within the outer member, the rolling members being outwardly biassed into contact to engage the grooves in the outer member. An object of the present invention is to provide a universal joint which simplifies the structure to avoid high cost without increasing the number of parts. The invention provides a slidable constant velocity joint as claimed in Claim 1. A rolling body is disposed in each of the recesses so as to come into contact with the first and second holding portions, the surface of the first holding portion in contact with the rolling body constitutes a concave surface. The rolling body is held on the concave surface and has such a size to project portions of the rolling body to both sides thereof from the first holding portion, and the second holding portioned has two planes in contact with the rolling body. The inside part is preferably formed of three members disposed circumferentially and having the same configuration. Each of the three members has a holding piece provided at each of circumferential ends and each of the holding pieces is attached fixedly to another holding piece of an adjacent member to constitute the first holding portion. In this case, the holding portion of the outside part has a recess defined by two planes to receive the first holding portion. By the holding pieces of two adjacently arranged members of three members of the inside part is sandwiched the rolling body and the members are secured fixedly to each other. Thus, the rolling bodies are attached to the inside part. The inside part is incorporated in the outside part to complete a universal joint. The concave surface may be formed into a concave elliptical surface, parabolic surface, conical surface or polygonal surface other than a concave spherical surface, and, on the other hand, the rolling body being formed to have a circular profile having a uniform diameter in the equator portion of a sphere other than a sphere. For example, the first shaft may be connected to a drive side and the second shaft is connected to a driven side for use. A drive force or rotary torque transmitted from the first shaft is transmitted through the inside part to the rolling bodies and further transmitted from the rolling bodies to the outside part to be taken out by the second shaft. When the universal joint is rotated with a joint angle, the rolling bodies roll on a plane and the rolling bodies and first or second holding portion are moved relatively to each other axially and radially. Thus, the frictional resistance in the relative movements is reduced greatly. Then the universal joint is subjected to the same constant velocity principle as a prior constant velocity universal joint for constant velocity rotation. Since the rolling body is constituted to be held in position by the concave surface provided on one of the first holding portion of the inside part and the second holding portion of the outside part to thereby be rolled on the plane provided on the other, the number of parts may be reduced greatly compared with the universal joints disclosed in the above-mentioned Disclosures and the structure of the universal joint is simplified, so that the cost reduction may be accomplished. Since the rolling bodies roll on the plane when the universal joint is rotated with a joint angle, the relative movements of the rolling bodies to the first or second holding portion will be carried out under a low frictional condition. Thus, the vibrations caused by the rotation under the presence of the joint angle may be greatly reduced. When the inside part is formed of three members, the rolling body is held by bringing the holding pieces of the adjacent members into intimate contact with each other to fix the members, so that the working of the concave surface of the inside parts is facilitated. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken along a plane orthogonal to an axis of a universal joint; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views similar to Fig. 1 but showing only portions of other embodiments of the universal joint, respectively; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along a plane orthogonal to an axis of a further embodiment of the universal joint; Fig. 6 is a plan view showing an inside parts; Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 8-8 in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 9-9 in Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 7 but showing a further embodiment of the inside parts; Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 11-11 in Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 7, but showing a still further embodiment of the inside parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A universal joint 10 comprises an inside part 12, an outside part 14 and rolling bodies 16 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The inside part 12 has three holding portions 13a arranged spacedly apart circumferentially at equal intervals of 120° from each other and extending radially. In the embodiment shown, the three holding portions 13a are united integrally with a central cylindrical boss 13b. The boss 13b is provided on an inner peripheral surface with a spline and, on the other hand, a shaft 18 having a spline on an outer peripheral surface is fitted in the boss 13b. The boss 13b is fixed by a snap ring 20 and the inside parts 12 is coupled with the shaft 18. Each holding portion 13a has a substantial rectangular parallelopiped and is formed to have an axial length L of the shaft 18 larger than a thickness D in a direction orthogonal to the axis. And the length L is set to be larger than a diameter of the rolling body 16 which will be later described and the thickness D is set to be smaller than the diameter of the rolling body 16. Each holding portion 13a is provided with a concave surface 22. In the embodiment shown, the concave surface 22 corresponds to a concave spherical surface having a radius R centering around the intersection point O₂ of a circle 24 centering around the axis O₁ of the shaft 18 and drawn on an imaginary plane orthogonal to the axis and a radius 26 extending from the axis O₁ to the center of the holding portion 13a. The outside part 14 surrounding the inside part 12 is provided at circumferential equal intervals of 120° with three second holding portions 15a having respectively recesses 28 for receiving the respective holding portions 13a of the inside parts 12. Each holding portion 15a of the outside parts 14 is configured to project radially outward from a base 15b. One axial ends of the holding portion 15a and base 15b are closed by a closure 15c and the other ends thereof are opened. A shaft 30 is coupled integrally with the closure 15c. The inside part 12 is inserted into the interior of the outside part 14 from an opening of the outside part 14. The recess 28 has on both sides two planes 29 parallel to an imaginary plane including the axis of the shaft 18 and radius 26 passing through the center of the holding portion 13a, and the planes 29 extend along the axis of the shaft 18 and a distance between the planes 29 corresponds to 2R. The rolling body 16 in the embodiment shown is a sphere having the radius R. The rolling body 16 is brought into rolling contact with the concave surface 22 of each holding portion 13a of the inside part 12 to be held in position by the concave surface 22. In order to dispose the rolling body 16 in the holding portion 13a to be held by the concave surface 22, the inside part 12 is conveniently formed of three members which will be later described. The rolling body 16 is formed to have such a size to fit loosely to the concave surface 22 of the inside part 12 and also to the two planes 29 of the outside part 14. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 the concave surface provided in the holding portion 13a of the inside part 12 is constituted from two concave conical surfaces 60,62. On the other hand, the rolling body 16 is a ball. As a result, the rolling body 16 will come into linear contact with the two concave conical surfaces 60, 62 in the circumferential direction. The other structures of this embodiment are the same as those of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2. As shown in Fig. 3, when the concave surface contacting the rolling body 16 consists of two concave conical surfaces, the manufacture of the concave surface is facilitated. When the concave surface corresponds to a concave spherical surface and further the rolling body is a ball, the surface pressure is advantageously reduced in consideration of the original function of the universal joint for transmitting the rotary torque, whereas precision in the manufacture of the concave spherical surface is required to complicate the manufacture. However, when the concave surface corresponds to the concave conical surface, it is advantageous in manufacture. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 the concave surface of the holding portion 13a of the inside part 12 consists of two concave conical surfaces 60,62 and the rolling body 16 has a circular profile surface 17a having a uniform diameter on the equater portion of a ball and the remaining portion formed into a spherical surface 17b. In the embodiment as noted above, the concave surface corresponds to a concave spherical surface or concave conical surface, while it may be alternatively formed into concave elliptical, parabolic or polygonal surface. Further, instead of the concave semispherical surface in the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, concave semi-conical, semi-elliptical, semi-parabolic or semi-polygonal surface may be used. The concave elliptical and parabolic surfaces make partial surface contact with the rolling body rather than the total surface contact therewith while the concave polygonal surface makes point contact with the rolling body. The surface pressure of the complete surface contact of the concave spherical surface with the ball is reduced rather than that of their partial surface contact, which is reduced rather than that of their linear contact, which is reduced rather than that of their point contact. However, their complete surface contact is the most difficult in working and the working becomes easier in the order of partial surface contact, linear contact and point contact. Then, whether the complete surface contact, partial surface contact, linear contact or point contact is employed according to the amount of rotary torque to be transmitted is preferably determined to select the concave surface. The concave surfaces 22 of the holding portion of the inside part 12 shown in Fig. 5 correspond to concave conical surfaces formed to be point symmetrical with respect to intersection points O₂ of a circle 24 centering around the axis O₁ of the shaft 18 and drawn on an imaginary plane orthogonal to the axis and radii 26 extending from the axis O₁ to the center in the direction of thickness of respective holding portions 13a. The intersection point O₂ is referred to as a geometrical center. The rolling body 16 is disposed such that the center thereof is aligned with the geometrical center. The inside part 12 consists of three members 70,72 and 74 arranged circonferentially. These members are preferably formed into the same configuration. Each member has a holding piece at each of the circumferential ends. The holding piece is fixed to other holding piece of an adjacent member to constitute the first holding portion 13a. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 through 8, three members 70,72 and 74 have the same configuration and each of three members includes a holding piece 71a at one circumferential end and another holding piece 71b at the other end, both holding pieces being formed integrally with each other through arcuate drums 71c. Each holding piece has a first joint surface 73a passing through the geometrical center O₂ and extending orthogonal to the axis O₁ of the shaft 18 and second and third joint surfaces 73b, 73c extending respectively orthogonal to the first joint surface 73a and parallel to an imaginary plane including the geometrical center O₂ and the axis O₁. In such configuration shown in Fig. 6, when both holding pieces 71a,71b are in contact with each other, a step is produced in the joint portion, so that relative positioning of the adjacent members is facilitated. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 9 and 10, three members 70,72 and 74 constituting the inside part 12 have the same configuration. The holding piece 71a at one circumferential end and holding piece 71b at the other circumferential end are arranged to be integral with each other by the drum 71c. The respective holding pieces include joint surfaces 73d including the geometrical center O₂ and the axis O₁. The adjacent members 70, 72 and 74 are coupled with each other by a pin 76 shown in fig. 9 or a hexagon socket head bolt 78 shown in Fig. 11 with the rolling body 16 being interposed and sandwiched between the holding piece of one member and another holding piece of the adjacent member. The adjacent members may be coupled with each other on outer peripheral surfaces by means of electronic beam or laser beam welding. The boss 13b is formed of drums of the members 70,72 and 74 and positions of drum except for the connection of the adjacent drums are provided with an inside spline, while the shaft 18 having a spline on an outer peripheral surface is fitted into the boss 13b. Each holding portion 13a of the inside part 12 is inserted into the recess 28 of the holding portion 15a of the outside part 14, grease is enclosed in the outside part 14 and the opening of the outside part 14 is covered with a boot to render the universal joint to be in a usable condition. The shaft 18 is coupled with a drive side for example while the shaft 30 is coupled with a driven side. The rotary torque transmitted from the shaft 18 is taken out by the shaft 30 through the holding portions 13a of the inside part 12, concave surfaces 22, rolling bodies 16 and holding portions 15a of the outside part 14 in the mentioned order. When the universal joint 10 is rotated with the joint angle, the rolling body 16 moves axially in the recess 28 of the outside part 14 while moving radially relative to the outside part 14. Since these movements are effected through rolling of the rolling body 16, the frictional resistance is small.

Claims: 1. A slidable constant velocity joint (10) comprising: an inside part (12) provided integrally with a first shaft (18) and having three first holding portions (13a) disposed spacedly apart circumferentially at equal intervals and extending radially; an outside part (14) provided integrally with a second shaft (30) and having three second holding portions (15a) disposed spacedly apart circumferentially at equal intervals, each second holding portion having a recess (28) extending axially of the second shaft (30) to receive the first holding portion (13a); and a rolling body (16) disposed in each recess (28) so as to be in contact with the first holding portion (13a) of the inside part (12) and the second holding portion (15a) of the outside part (14), characterized in that each said first holding portion (13a) includes a concave surface (22) in contact with and holding in position said rolling body (16), and that said recess (28) of the second holding portion (15a) includes two planes (29) in contact with said rolling body (16) and parallel to an imaginary plane which includes an axis of the first shaft (18) and a radius extending from the axis and passing through a center of said first holding portion (13a) in the direction of thickness thereof. 2. A universal joint as claimed in Claim 1, wherein each of said first holding portions (13a) has a substantially rectangular parellelopiped shape and is formed to have an axial length (L) of the first shaft (18) larger than a thickness (D) in a direction orthogonal to the axis, the length (L) being set to be larger than a diameter (2R) of the rolling body (16) and the thickness (D) being set to be smaller than the diameter (2R) of the rolling body (16). 3. A universal joint as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said concave surface (22) is selected from the group of concave spherical, conical elliptical, parabolic and polygonal surfaces. 4. A universal joint as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said concave surface (22)is formed to be point symmetrical with respect to an intersection point (O₂) of a circle centering around an axis (O₁) of the first shaft (18) and drawn on an imaginary plane orthogonal to the axis and radius extending from the axis to the center in a direction of thickness of the first holding portion (13a). 5. A universal joint as claimed in any one of Claims 1 - 4, wherein said rolling body (16) is selected from the group of sphere and body which has a circular profile portion (17a) having a uniform diameter on the equator portion of a ball and the remaining portion formed into a spherical surface (17b). 6. A slidable constant velocity joint as claimed in Claim 1 characterized in that the inside part (12) consists of three members (70,72,74) arranged circumferentially each having holding pieces (71a,71b) at the circumferential ends thereof, each of the holding pieces (71a,71b) being secured fixedly to another holding piece of an adjacent member to constitute said first holding portion (13a). 7. A universal joint as claimed in Claim 6, wherein said concave surface (22) is selected from the group of concave spherical, conical, elliptical, parabolic and polygonal surfaces. 8. A universal joint as claimed in Claim 6 or Claim 7, wherein each of said rolling bodies (16) is selected from the group of sphere and body which has a circular profile portion having a uniform diameter on the equator portion of a ball and the remaining portion formed into a spherical surface. 9. A universal joint as claimed in any one of Claims 6 - 8, wherein said three members (70,72,74) of the inside parts (12) have the same configuration. 10. A universal joint as claimed in Claim 9, wherein each of said concave surfaces (22) is formed to be point symmetrical with respect to an intersection point (O₂) of a circle centering around an axis (O₁) of the first shaft (18) and drawn on an imaginary plane orthogonal to the axis and radius extending from the axis to the center in a direction of thickness of the first holding portion (13a), and wherein each holding piece (71a,71b) of the three members (70,72,74) has a first joint surface (73a) passing through the intersection point and extending orthogonal to the axis of the first shaft (18) and second and third joint surfaces (73b,73c) extending respectively orthogonal to the first joint surface (73a) and parallel to an imaginary plane including the intersection point and the axis of the first shaft (18). 11. A universal joint as claimed in Claim 9, wherein each of said concave surfaces (22) is formed to be point symmetrical with respect to an intersection point (O₂) of a circle centering around an axis (O₁) of the first shaft (18) and drawn on an imaginary plane orthogonal to the axis and radius extending from the axis to the center in a direction of thickness of the first holding portion (13a), and wherein each holding piece (71a,71b) of the three members (70,72,74) has joint surface including the intersection point and the axis of the first shaft.

Inventors: KOBAYASHI, KATSUYUKI
Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1989
Main classification: F16D3
IPC codes: F16D3