Abstract:
An object is to be mounted by two fastening elements. A fastening element comprises an inlet, which extends at an angle relative to a receptacle lodging a bearing journal, and which allows the fastening element to be placed crosswise on the bearing journal.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a pivotal fastening arrangement of a fastening element on a cylindrical bearing journal, the fastening element being joined to a unit, such as a gas spring, a shock absorber, a rod or the like. 
     2. Background Art 
     Fastening arrangements of the generic type generally comprise a so-called eye as a fastening element which the bearing journal is pushed through; the bearing journal is then united with the link member to which the unit is to be articulated. There may be cases in which the bearing journal is tightly joined to the link member, i.e. in which it is not possible to push the bearing journal through the fastening element during assembly. Further, cases are conceivable in which, for lack of space, the bearing journal cannot be encompassed entirely by the fastening element. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to embody a pivotal fastening arrangement of the type specified at the outset, which enables a fastening element to be mounted on the bearing journal even when the bearing journal is stationary and/or in the case of lack of space. 
     According to the invention, this object is attained by the features of claim  1 . The design of the fastening element ensures that, after being pivoted out of its final position, the fastening element is placed on the bearing journal at right angles to the center axis of its inlet, where it is locked in place on the bearing journal by being pivoted back into the final position so that the required pivoting motions of the fastening element about the bearing journal are possible while the fastening element is safely retained on the bearing journal at right angles to the center axis thereof. 
     Further features, advantages and details of the invention will become apparent from the description of an embodiment, taken in conjunction with the drawing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a lateral view of a piston-cylinder unit mounted by means of two fastening elements, 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of the piston-cylinder unit with fastening elements in an illustration broken away in accordance with the lines II—II in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a view of a fastening element on an enlarged scale in accordance with the arrow III of FIG. 4; and 
     FIG. 4 is a view of the fastening element in accordance with the arrow IV of FIG.  3 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a piston-cylinder unit  1 , the substantially cylindrical casing  2  of which comprises, at its closed end, a fastening element  3  of the type of a so-called eye, which is pivotally fixed to a receiving member  4  by means of a pivot  5 . A piston rod  6  is extended out of the end of the casing  2  that is turned away from the fastening element  3 ; the free end of the piston rod  6  comprises a fastening element  7  (still to be described in detail) which is to be fixed to a cylindrical bearing journal  9  disposed at right angles to the central longitudinal axis  8  of the unit  1 . The cylindrical bearing journal  9  is part of a bearing  10 , the cheeks  11  of which are mounted on a link member  12  and support the cylindrical bearing journal  9 . The unit  1  is a gas spring or a damper. 
     The fastening element  7 , details of which are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, is of the type of a claw that is open towards the surface  13  turned thereto of the link member  12 . It comprises a partially cylindrical bearing-journal receptacle  14 , the diameter d of which exceeds the diameter d′ of the cylindrical bearing journal  9  only by the clearance of 0.2 to 0.3 mm necessary for manufacturing implementation. Once the unit  1  has been mounted, the center axis  15  of this bearing-journal receptacle  14  is identical with the axis  15  of the cylindrical bearing journal  9 . 
     An inlet  16  is provided in the fastening element  7 ; it is U-shaped—as seen in FIGS.  1  and  3 —in the form of an upside-down U. The bottom  17  of the inlet  16  is semi-cylindrical, having a diameter d which is identical with the diameter d of the receptacle  14 . The limiting walls  18  of the inlet  16  are parallel to each other, extending perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis  8  and at an angle a of 5° to 10°, preferably approximately 8°, to the axis  15 . The receptacle  14  and the inlet  16  are produced in such a way that, for example, the receptacle  14  is drilled first as a fully cylindrical hole and the inlet  16  is machined subsequently by means of a cylinder milling cutter which rotates parallel to the center axis  19  of the inlet  16 , starting from the surface  13  of the associated front end  20  of the claw-type fastening element  7  and advancing into the fastening element  7  until the center axis  19  also passes through the point of intersection of the center axis  15  and the axis  8 , in which case the center axis  21  of the pivot  5 , the axis  8  and the axes  15  and  19  lie in a common plane. 
     This superposition of the inlet  16  and the bearing-journal receptacle  14  helps attain that the claw-type fastening element  7  can be slipped on a bearing journal  9  when the unit  1  is pivoted crosswise such that its central longitudinal axis  8  is pivoted by the angle a as compared to its final position seen in FIG. 2 in the plane spanned by the axes  8 ,  15 ,  19 ,  21  so that the fastening element  7  can be slipped on the bearing journal  9  from above until the bottom  17  of the fastening element  7  rests on the bearing journal  9 . When the unit  1  is again pivoted by the angle a into its final position, seen in FIG. 2, of the central longitudinal axis  8 , then the projections  22 ,  23  back up the bearing journal  9  on the side turned to the surface  13  of the link member  12 . These projections  22 ,  23  have not been removed in the vicinity of the front end  20  of the claw-type fastening element  7 . They encompass the bearing journal  9  by an amount greater than the difference of d and d′. The bearing-journal receptacle  14  is more than semi-cylindrical and less than fully cylindrical. It is not possible to pull the fastening element  7  off the surface  13  turned thereto. Pivoting motions of the unit  1  about the center axis  19  are feasible to an extent given by the distance b of the front end  20  from the surface  13 , it being possible to still influence this possibility of pivoting by the shaping of the front end  20  and the shape of the surface  13 , respectively. 
     The described embodiment is of importance in particular when the distance c of the center axis  15  from the surface  13  is smaller than the radius r from the axis  15  to the outside of the fastening element  9 . Further, this embodiment can be employed to advantage when the bearing journal  9  cannot be mounted by insertion into the fastening element  7 , but is stationary, for example on cast parts. 
     A prerequisite for the type of assembly specified resides in that the unit  1  can be deflected laterally by the angle a when the fastening element  7  is mounted on the bearing journal  9 . Installing the pivot  5  takes place after the described mounting of the fastening element  7  on the bearing journal  9 . In this way, the unit  1  is held in the shown final position of the axis  8 , whereby the mounting of the fastening element  7  on the bearing journal  9  is ensured. 
     For compensation of the mentioned play between the bearing journal  9  and the bearing-journal receptacle  14 , a groove  24 , which is open toward the receptacle  14 , is formed in parallel to the axis  15  on the bottom  17  in the fastening element  7 ; disposed in the groove  24  is a clearance-compensation strip  25  of flexibly yielding material, such as an elastomer, in particular a polyurethane foam, which may additionally be soaked with a lubricant and which, in the non-deformed condition, projects beyond the groove  24  into the receptacle  14 . This clearance-compensation strip  25  forces the fastening element  7  upwards away from the surface  13  of the link member  12  so that the bearing journal  9  bears free from play against the projections  22 ,  23 , i.e. it does not clatter.