Abstract:
A ball sleeve joint with a joint housing has a ball sleeve provided with a preferably spherically designed bearing surface. A bearing shell surrounds the bearing surface and is accommodated in a recess of the joint housing. The joint housing is formed from at least two housing parts. The housing parts have corresponding elastic toothed elements. The toothed elements are locked with one another in the assembled state of the joint housing.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention pertains to a ball sleeve joint with a joint housing, a ball sleeve provided with a preferably spherically designed bearing surface and a bearing shell, which surrounds the bearing surface and is accommodated in a recess of the joint housing.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Ball sleeve joints of the type described in the introduction are known, in principle, in the state of the art and are used in various designs in all areas of industry, especially also in the automobile industry. In such joints, the housing is usually manufactured from a one-part tube, preferably one made of steel, in which the other components of the ball sleeve joint are fitted within the framework of the manufacture. The manufacturing steps provide for the fitting in of a first closing ring in the housing, after which the assembly unit already provided with the bearing shell surrounding the ball sleeve is inserted into the housing and is finally fixed in the housing by means of a second closing ring, where the two closing rings also assume a certain sealing function against external contamination effects with respect to the bearing shell located on the inside.  
           [0003]    Even though the design of the ball sleeve joints is relatively simple, non-negligible costs arise due to the number of components to be connected to one another and the resulting number of manufacturing steps especially in case of the use of large numbers of such ball sleeve joints.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    An object of the present invention is therefore to improve a ball sleeve joint of the type of this class described in the introduction such that the cost of the components can be reduced on the whole by reducing the necessary number of components and simplifying the manufacturing process.  
           [0005]    This object is accomplished according to the present invention by the joint housing being formed by at least two housing parts, wherein the housing parts have corresponding elastic toothed elements, which can be locked with one another in the assembled state of the joint housing.  
           [0006]    The formation of the joint housing according to the present invention preferably from two housing halves substantially simplifies the assembly of the ball sleeve joint because, on the one hand, the closing rings that were previously necessary can be eliminated and, moreover, the ball sleeve to be arranged inside the joint housing can also be placed in one of the housing halves that were separated prior to the assembly substantially more easily and consequently more rapidly and more inexpensively and can be subsequently fitted together by the locking connection, which is arranged on the housing halves and is formed by the toothed elements, without applying strong forces.  
           [0007]    To further reduce the production costs, it proved to be especially advantageous to design the housing parts as symmetrical housing halves, whose plane of symmetry is arranged at right angles to the axial longitudinal axis of the joint housing. The symmetric design makes it possible to use two housing halves of identical shape for a ball sleeve joint, which reduces the variety of components, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, eliminates additional manufacturing costs for making a mold in the case in which the housing halves are advantageously manufactured from an elastic plastic material, preferably a polymer material.  
           [0008]    Furthermore, it proved to be advantageous to design the toothed elements for locking the housing halves as detents that are arranged at spaced locations from one another on the outer circumference of the housing parts and project in the axial longitudinal direction of the ball sleeve joint and as locking recesses arranged between the detents, wherein the detent of one housing part is in functional connection with a locking recess of another housing part in the assembled state of the joint housing. A finger-like toothed engagement of the housing halves is formed due to this design, as a result of which rotation of the housing halves, which would possibly lead to a relative movement between the housing and the bearing shell located on the inside, is ruled out with certainty.  
           [0009]    Furthermore, it proved to be advantageous to provide the detents on their inner side pointing toward the central longitudinal axis of the joint housing with a plurality of locking cams which extend at right angles to the central longitudinal axis, are arranged in parallel next to one another and project toward the central longitudinal axis, wherein depressions are located between the locking cams. Such a design is preferably present at the locking recesses on their outside facing away from the central longitudinal axis of the joint housing. Analogously to the design of the detents, a plurality of locking cams, which extend at right angles to the central longitudinal axis, are arranged in parallel next to one another and project toward the outside, as well as depressions located between the locking cams are provided there. As one detent of one housing halve cooperates with a corresponding locking recess of the other housing half, the arrangement of the locking cams and the corresponding depressions at the detents and locking recesses makes possible the axial clamping of the two housing halves during the assembly of the ball sleeve joint, and the permanent clamping or locking can be achieved by an extremely weak force to be applied axially. Based on empirical values, this force to be applied can be estimated to be on the order of magnitude of &lt;1 kN. At the same time, a certain axial pretension can be applied to the inner ball sleeve and the bearing shell arranged in the recess of the joint housing due to the selection of a plastic material for the housing halves.  
           [0010]    In addition, provisions are made in an advantageous embodiment of the subject of the present invention for the recess of the joint housing for accommodating the bearing shell to be provided with a plurality of projecting cams acting as a means for securing the inserted bearing shell against rotation.  
           [0011]    Moreover, the recess of the joint housing may have projecting bearing pads with depressions located between the bearing pads on its inner surface facing the bearing shell to be accommodated. The depressions arranged between the bearing shells lead to an additional weight reduction due to the plastic material missing there. It should also be pointed out that the use of plastic as a material for the joint housing according to the present invention already leads, in principle, to a substantial weight reduction. Moreover, both contact corrosion and surfaces prone to corrosion on the housing in general are avoided by the use of plastic.  
           [0012]    The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    In the drawings:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a perspective general view of the ball sleeve joint according to the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 is a sectional view through the ball sleeve joint according to FIG. 1; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a housing half of the exemplary embodiment from FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0017]    Referring to the drawings in particular, a ball sleeve joint, designated by  1  as a whole, comprises essentially a joint housing  2  and a ball sleeve  5  arranged within the joint housing. The ball sleeve  5  is usually manufactured from metal and comprises a central through hole  14 , as is apparent from FIG. 2. On its outer surface, the ball sleeve  5  is provided with a bearing surface  6 , which usually has a spherical shape. The spherical bearing surface  6  is surrounded by a bearing shell  11 , whose inner hole is adapted correspondingly to the shape of the bearing surface  6 . The bearing shell  11  itself is in turn fixed in a cylindrical recess  10  of the joint housing  2 .  
         [0018]    As is apparent especially from FIG. 1, the joint housing  2  comprises in the exemplary embodiment being shown two housing halves  3 , 4 , which are symmetrical in relation to a plane extending at right angles to the axial longitudinal axis  7 . Uniform housing halves can be used for the assembly of a ball sleeve joint due to the symmetrical design of the housing halves  3  and  4 . The design of one housing half  3  or  4  is shown specifically in FIG. 3.  
         [0019]    One housing half  3  or  4  has corresponding elastic toothed elements, which are designed in one housing half either as detents projecting in the axial direction or as locking recesses  9  arranged between the detents  8 . During the assembly of the joint housing, the detents  8  and locking recesses  9  of the housing halves are placed in relation to one another such that one detent  8  and one locking recess  9  each are located opposite each other. The housing halves  3  and  4  can this be pushed into one another in a finger-like manner and then form a closed joint housing unit.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 also shows that both the detents  8  and the locking recesses  9  are provided with mutually corresponding locking cams  12  and  13 , respectively. The locking cams  12  of the detents  8  are arranged on the inner side pointing toward the central axial longitudinal axis  7  of the joint housing  2 , a number of locking cams  12  being arranged in parallel next to one another in the axial direction. The locking cams  12  are designed as projecting cams, while a slightly recessed depression  15  is located between two adjacent locking cams  12  each. The locking recesses  9  are shaped analogously to the detents  8 , but the locking cams  13  are located here on the outer side of the locking recesses facing away from the axial central longitudinal axis  7  of the joint housing  2 , but the locking cams  13  are likewise arranged in parallel next to one another, projecting to the outside. A slight depression  16  is present between the adjacent locking cams  13  each. If the two housing halves  3 ,  4  are displaced toward one another in the axial direction after the insertion of the ball sleeve  5  within the framework of the assembly of the ball sleeve joint  1 , in which case the housing halves  3  and  4  are to be aligned such that one detent  8  and one locking recess  9  are located opposite each other, one or more locking cams  12  or  13  snap into the corresponding depressions  15  and  16  between the locking cams at the moment at which the corresponding detent has been introduced deep enough into the locking recess  9 , so that a firm connection of the housing halves  3  and  4 , which is fixed in the axial direction, is established. Due to the use of plastic material for the housing halves, the projecting detents  8  have a relatively high elasticity in the radial direction, so that the forces that are necessary for fitting together or locking the housing halves  3  and  4  are extremely weak, but stable fixation of the housing halves is nevertheless achieved.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 also shows a special design of the recess  10  of the joint housing  2 , which accommodates the bearing shell  11 . On its inner side facing the central longitudinal axis  7 , the cylindrical recess  10  has a rather large number of projecting bearing pads  17 , which support the bearing shell  11  in the assembled state. Depressions, which contribute, e.g., to an additional weight reduction of the entire housing halves because of the plastic material missing there, are located between the bearing pads  17 . Moreover, a number of projecting cams  19 , which prevent the bearing shell  11  from being able to rotate in relation to the housing  2  in the assembled state, are provided within the recess  10 .  
         [0022]    While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.