Abstract:
A motor vehicle chassis has, on at least one axle, a control arm ( 7 ) guiding and/or carrying a wheel each and at least one wheel carrier ( 3 ) connected movably to this and to the wheel ( 5 ). A connection is provided between the control arm ( 7 ) and the wheel carrier ( 3 ) including a joint and/or bearing arrangement ( 8 ) designed such that at least one pin ( 12 ), which points rigidly upward from the wheel carrier ( 3 ), and which is held at a mount associated with the control arm ( 7 ) in an articulated manner, is associated with the wheel carrier ( 3 ).

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a United States National Phase application of International Application PCT/DE2006/001315 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of German Application 10 2005 035 913.2 filed Jul. 28, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention pertains to a motor vehicle chassis according as to a joint and/or bearing arrangement therefor. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    It is known that a joint arrangement is fixed at the wheel-side end of the suspension arm in motor vehicle chassis for connecting, for example, a lower suspension arm to the wheel carrier being held thereon, the joint arrangement being mounted for this purpose in a fixed manner on a mounting plate provided with three elongated holes. This [mounting plate] can then be screwed to the end of the suspension arm, and a possibility of adjustment is obtained by means of the elongated holes. 
         [0004]    The pivot pin projecting upward from the mounting plate passes through the wheel carrier and can be secured above same by means of a screw connection. 
         [0005]    The assembly effort is consequently great. The screw connection is poorly accessible because it is located on the side of the wheel carrier facing the hub. This is especially true in the case of driven axles, in which the drive shaft with the gasket surrounding it is in close contact with the extension arm of the wheel carrier, which said extension arm is connected to the suspension arm. In particular, a later replacement of the joint is thus made rather difficult. 
         [0006]    In addition, the extension arm of the wheel carrier, which extension arm is connected to the suspension arm, must be designed in this arrangement such that it is at a sufficiently great distance radially from the hub in order to make it possible to access the screw connection at all. Due to the extension arm being arranged at a sufficiently great distance radially, the extension arm is, however, located very closely adjacent to the wheel flange, so that space problems arise here as well. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The basic object of the present invention is to achieve an improvement of a motor vehicle chassis. 
         [0008]    Due to the fact that a rigidly outwardly pointing pin, which is held at a mount associated with the control arm, is associated with the wheel carrier, the fastening between the wheel carrier and the suspension or the wheel axle is displaced radially outwardly. No fastening means is necessary now in the space between the wheel carrier and the hub, and no intervention is needed here during the assembly or disassembly. The extension arm of the wheel carrier than thus move closer to the hub, and floating is increased relative to the wheel flange. 
         [0009]    When a fastening means, which secures the connection of the outwardly pointing end of the pin to the control arm, for example, a nut, which can be placed on the pin and braces same radially, can be attached to the outwardly pointing end of the pin, this [fastening means] is readily accessible from the outside, so that not only the assembly, but also the disassembly, performed for maintenance purposes, are facilitated. After removing the readily accessible nut, the suspension arm, if it is a lower suspension arm, which the pin faces with a downwardly pointing component from the top, drops down, so that, for example, a sleeve joint fastened to this for receiving the pin, can be replaced in a simple manner. 
         [0010]    Depending on its design, the pin may be connected rigidly to the wheel carrier or made integrally in one piece therewith. 
         [0011]    The present invention can be used especially advantageously on a McPherson axle with the wheel drive shafts passing through the wheel carrier above the pin connecting the wheel carrier to the suspension arm, where the above-mentioned problems of the conventional solution become especially apparent and the present invention therefore shows very great advantages. 
         [0012]    If the rigid pin of the wheel carrier at the suspension arm is received in a sleeve joint, the forces occurring can be absorbed. The joint can be stressed axially as well as radially on bending and it permits, moreover, an optimal orientation. 
         [0013]    The sleeve joint very advantageously has an eccentric hole, so that the transverse distance of the mount of the pin can be set variably by rotating this hole. This setting can be performed with the wheel mounted and fixed by tightening the only one fastening means securing the pin at the suspension arm. The effort needed for setting is thus minimized. 
         [0014]    Other advantages and features of the present invention appear from the exemplary embodiments of the subject of the present invention, which are shown in the drawings and will be described below. 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 preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0015]    In the drawings: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a schematic general drawing of a joint and/or bearing arrangement according to the present invention at a driven wheel of a motor vehicle chassis; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a detail view, approximately corresponding to detail II in  FIG. 1 , with the suspension arm removed; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the connection site in  FIG. 2  with the joint cut open in the suspension arm; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the joint accommodated in the suspension arm; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view of various pin shapes; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is a perspective exploded view of a suspension arm with a sleeve joint held thereon at the extending end and with a pin of the wheel carrier, which is received thereon; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is a similar perspective exploded, but simplified view, as compared to  FIG. 6 , but showing the right-hand wheel carrier; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is a comparative view of the prior-art concept and the concept according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0024]    Referring to the drawings in particular, The drawings show as an example a detail of a chassis with an axle in McPherson arrangement  1 , in which a spring strut  3  acts on the upper end of a wheel carrier  2 , and an extension arm  4  is provided at the lower end of the wheel carrier  2 , which said extension arm points with one component in the direction of the transverse center of the vehicle and via which the wheel carrier  3  is connected to a suspension arm  7 , which carries or at least guides the wheel  5 , indicated here by the rim  6 , via a joint and/or bearing arrangement  8 . The suspension arm  7  is designed here as a so-called triangular suspension arm and is articulated to the body such that it can be pivoted about an axis  9  extending at least nearly along the vehicle. 
         [0025]    A drive shaft  10 , which is in turn surrounded by a gasket  11 , passes through the wheel carrier  3 . 
         [0026]    Instead of a McPherson arrangement, it is possible to use other geometries as well. For example, it is also possible to provide an arrangement with an upper suspension arm  7  and a lower suspension arm  7 . An exemplary embodiment with only one lower suspension arm  7  will be described below. 
         [0027]    At least one pin  12 , and exactly one pin in the drawing, which points rigidly outwardly from the wheel carrier, and which points with one component downwardly towards the suspension arm  7  and is received at this in the joint arrangement  8 , is associated with the wheel carrier  3 . 
         [0028]    The pin  12  may be rigidly connected to the wheel carrier, for example, secured via a press fit or weld seam in a recess made there. As an alternative, the pin  12  may also be made integrally in one piece with the wheel carrier  3 . In any case, the unit comprising the wheel carrier  3  and the pin  12  can be delivered to the assembly line in a completely mounted state. 
         [0029]    Depending on the geometry, the pin  12  may have a cross-sectional shape deviating from a symmetry of rotation, for example, as is shown in  FIG. 5 , an elliptical or triangular cross section, to counteract a preferred direction of the stress. Also, unlike as shown in  FIG. 1 , the pin  12  does not have to have a uniform cross section over its entire length but it may, for example, also taper conically, hyperbolically or parabolically or be stepped. The pin  12  typically has a length of 4 to 7 cm, depending on the joint arrangement  8  to be accommodated. 
         [0030]    In any case, a fastening means  14 , which secures the connection of the pin  12  to the suspension arm  7 , can be attached to the outwardly pointing end  13  of the pin  12 . An external thread, which can be secured by means of the nut  14 , is provided here at the pin end  13 . 
         [0031]    In the mounted state, the pin  12  passes through the suspension arm,  7 , so that the fastening element  14  can be attached to the pin  12  on the side located on the other side of the suspension arm  7 , i.e., on the underside of the suspension arm  7  here. A fastening means, which would have to be introduced into the space between the extension arm  4  and the drive shaft  11 , can thus be done away with altogether. The extension arm  4  can thus be moved closer to the wheel hub by several mm compared to prior versions, as a result of which the floating is increased by the corresponding amount in relation to the wheel flange. 
         [0032]    Since the nut  14  is attached radially on the outside in relation to the wheel axle, it is accessible in a simple manner. This also facilitates the disassembly, during which the suspension arm  7  pivots downward about its axis  9  under its own weight after removing the nut  14  and must be correspondingly pivoted upward in the direction of arrow P for mounting and must be secured from below by means of the readily accessible nut  14  ( FIG. 2 ). 
         [0033]    As can be determined, for example, from  FIG. 3 , the pin  12  can be accommodated at the suspension arm  7  in a joint arrangement  8  designed as a sleeve joint  15 , whose joint shell  17  is pressed into the suspension arm  7  or is welded in, for example, with a circular weld seam. In the embodiment according to  FIG. 6 , the sleeve joint  15  is located between the wheel carrier  3  and the suspension arm  7  and is also secured under it by a union nut  14 . The exact arrangement of the sleeve joint therefore depends on the particular geometries in the vehicle. It is also possible, for example, to mount the sleeve joint  15  on an adapter, which is to be screwed, for example, to the suspension arm  7  by means of elongated holes. In any case, the joint  15  is rigidly connected to the suspension arm  7  after it has been mounted. 
         [0034]    To make it possible to compensate manufacturing tolerances of the suspension arm, of its articulation, of the body or of other parts, the sleeve joint  15  has an eccentric through hole  18  with a central axis Al for receiving the pin  12 . The central axis Al is offset in parallel by the eccentricity e in relation to the central axis A 2  of the joint body  16 . As a result, it becomes possible during mounting to connect the wheel carrier  3  first to the suspension arm  7  by passing the pin  12  through the hole  18  and subsequently performing a fine adjustment, especially in the transverse direction of the vehicle, in this connected position, in which the orientation of the wheel can be easily checked by inspection. The joint body  16  of the sleeve joint  15  has for this, at its lower end here, a hexagon insert bit  19  or another possibility of attachment for a tool, with which the joint body  16  can be rotated until the set camber corresponds to the preset set value. This position can then be fixed by attaching the nut or another fastening means  14  to the pin end  13  passing through downwardly and tightening it, as a result of which the lower edge  20  of the extension arm  4  is rigidly braced with the upper edge  21  of the joint body  16 . 
         [0035]    The use of an eccentric and settable joint arrangement  8  facilitates mounting and makes it possible, despite the possibility of setting, to tighten only one fastening means  14  or to remove only one fastening means  14  for disassembly, which means a considerable facilitation of work, for example, compared to an adapter solution with a plurality of elongated holes and, moreover, a weight reduction. 
         [0036]    The joint  15  can be stressed both axially and radially on bending. 
         [0037]    While specific embodiments of the invention have 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.