Method and apparatus for smoothing and / or hardening a surface of a ball joint

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for smoothing and / or hardening a surface (2) of a joint ball (3) of a joint inner part (4), wherein at least one smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') is pressed against the joint ball (3) and the rotational movements of the smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') and the joint inner part (4) are coordinated so that sliding and / or slippage occurs between the joint ball (4) and the at least one smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') by means of - an active acceleration or deceleration of the rotational movement of the inner joint part (4) about the central longitudinal axis (9) is generated, and / or - is produced by the use of two smoothing rollers (5, 6), wherein the two smoothing rollers (5, 6) have different diameters, and / or - is generated by the use of two smoothing rollers (5, 6, 6'), wherein the two smoothing rollers (5, 6, 6') are operated at different rotational speeds with respect to the rotational movement about the axis of rotation (7, 8) of the respective smoothing roller (5, 6, 6').

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for smoothing and / or hardening a surface of a ball joint of an inner joint part, wherein at least one smoothing roller is pressed against the ball joint, the smoothing roller rotates about an axis of rotation, and the inner joint part rotates about its central longitudinal axis, wherein the rotational movements of the smoothing roller and the inner joint part are coordinated in such a way that sliding and / or slippage is generated between the surface of the ball joint and the at least one smoothing roller.Furthermore, the invention relates to a device for smoothing and / or hardening a surface of a ball joint of an inner joint part and with at least one smoothing roller for pressing against the ball joint, wherein the smoothing roller is rotatably mounted about an axis of rotation, and the inner joint part is rotatably mounted about its central longitudinal axis, wherein the rotational movements of the smoothing roller and the inner joint part are coordinated with each other in such a way that sliding and / or slippage is generated between the surface of the ball joint and the at least one smoothing roller.

[0002] Such a method and device are known from DE 37 34 123 A1. Due to the sliding and / or slippage between the surface of the ball joint and the smoothing roller, a relative movement is achieved between the surface of the ball joint and the smoothing roller. This sliding and / or slippage allows for a higher quality of smoothing and / or hardening of the surface of the ball joint.

[0003] The object underlying the invention is to further develop a method and a device of the type mentioned above in such a way that sliding and / or slippage can be achieved in a simple and / or reproducible manner. In particular, an alternative embodiment is to be provided.

[0004] The problem underlying the invention is solved by a method according to claim 1 and by means of a device according to claim 7. Preferred embodiments of the invention are found in the dependent claims and in the following description.

[0005] The method is designed for smoothing and / or hardening the surface of a ball joint of an inner joint component. In particular, the inner joint component is designed as a ball stud or a ball sleeve. Preferably, the inner joint component is designed for a chassis or chassis component of a vehicle.

[0006] At least one smoothing roller is pressed against the ball joint. The smoothing roller rotates about an axis of rotation, and the inner part of the joint rotates about its central longitudinal axis. In particular, the axis of rotation and the central longitudinal axis are aligned parallel to each other. The smoothing roller can have a cylindrical shape. Preferably, the smoothing roller has a concave counter-profile on its outer circumference, designed to interact with and / or correspond to the surface of the convex and / or spherical surface of the ball joint.

[0007] The rotational movements of the smoothing roller and the inner joint component are coordinated in such a way that sliding and / or slippage is generated between the surface of the joint ball and the at least one smoothing roller. This enables high quality to be achieved during smoothing and / or hard rolling using the smoothing roller.

[0008] According to the invention, sliding and / or slippage is prevented by means of - generates an active acceleration or deceleration of the rotational movement of the inner joint part around the central longitudinal axis, and / or - produced by the use of two smoothing rollers, the two smoothing rollers having different diameters, and / or - produced by the use of two smoothing rollers, wherein the two smoothing rollers are operated at different rotational speeds with respect to the rotational movement around the axis of rotation of the respective smoothing roller.

[0009] It is advantageous that designs are presented by which sliding and / or slippage can be implemented in a simple and reproducible manner. The various designs can be implemented individually or in any combination. In particular, sliding and / or slippage is generated by acceleration and / or speed differences between the at least one smoothing roller and the surface of the ball joint.

[0010] When accelerating or decelerating the rotational movement of the inner joint component around its central longitudinal axis, only a single smoothing roller can be provided. Specifically, this smoothing roller is not driven by its own drive, but rotates along with the driven inner joint component due to its contact with the ball joint. In this case, sliding or slippage can occur due to the inertia of the smoothing roller.

[0011] When using two smoothing rollers, they can be positioned on opposite sides of the ball joint. The ball joint is then positioned between the two smoothing rollers. The two smoothing rollers are pressed towards each other and against the opposite sides of the ball joint.

[0012] In particular, the diameter of a smoothing roller is defined as the distance between opposing sections of the roller's outer circumference, perpendicular to and intersecting the axis of rotation. This diameter may lie in a median plane of the smoothing roller. If the smoothing roller has a concave counter-profile on its outer circumference, the diameter and / or distance lying in the median plane of the smoothing roller may refer to the smallest radius of the concave counter-profile with respect to the axis of rotation.

[0013] According to a further development, at least one smoothing roller is driven by a drive to rotate about its axis of rotation. The inner joint component can be mounted to rotate freely, so that the driven smoothing roller sets the inner joint component into a rotational movement about its central longitudinal axis. Specifically, a first smoothing roller is driven by a first drive, and a second smoothing roller is driven by a second drive, each about its respective axis of rotation. The inner joint component can also be mounted to rotate freely about its central longitudinal axis. With two independently driven smoothing rollers, sliding and / or slippage can be generated by using different rotational and / or circumferential rotational speeds.

[0014] According to a further embodiment, a braking device is assigned to the at least one smoothing roller or the inner joint part. This allows the rotational speed or circumferential velocity of the at least one smoothing roller to be actively reduced. In conjunction with the adjacent ball joint, this enables a drag operation to generate sliding and / or slippage. In particular, the braking device intermittently decelerates the rotational movement of the smoothing roller around its axis of rotation or of the inner joint part around its central longitudinal axis. The braking device actively reduces the rotational velocity around the corresponding axis of the at least one smoothing roller or the inner joint part. When the braking device is released, the at least one smoothing roller or the inner joint part can be accelerated again.This acceleration can be generated by means of a drive and / or due to the contact between the rotating smoothing roller and the inner part of the joint.

[0015] In particular, a first smoothing roller is assigned a first braking device and a second smoothing roller a second braking device. Preferably, the rotational movement of the first smoothing roller and / or the second smoothing roller about their respective axes of rotation is braked intermittently. In particular, intermittent braking is understood to mean alternating active braking and subsequent release of the braking device. With two smoothing rollers with independently controllable braking devices, sliding and / or slippage can be generated by means of different braking interventions. In particular, the intermittent braking is carried out such that the smoothing roller or the inner joint part with the braking device alternates between braking and, after release of the braking device, acceleration.Preferably, the rotational speed of the smoothing roller or the inner joint part is superimposed with a wave-like, sinusoidal, or triangular function to accelerate or decelerate the rotational movement of the smoothing roller or the inner joint part. For this purpose, a constant rotational speed of the smoothing roller or the inner joint part can be superimposed with the wave-like, sinusoidal, or triangular function. Preferably, the wave-like, sinusoidal, or triangular function superimposed on the constant rotational speed has an amplitude of less than 20% or less than 10% of the constant rotational speed. Alternatively, the wave-like, sinusoidal, or triangular function can have an amplitude of 20% or more. The greater the amplitude, the longer an acceleration and / or deceleration phase can last. In particular, the braking device is designed exclusively for decelerating the rotational movement.Active propulsion or acceleration is not possible using the braking system in this case.

[0016] For example, one or both smoothing rollers may each have a braking device, with a rotary drive assigned to the inner joint part for actively rotating or driving the inner joint part around the central longitudinal axis. When the braking device is released, the smoothing roller or both smoothing rollers are set into a rotary motion by the rotating inner joint part and accelerated after a prior braking action.

[0017] In an alternative embodiment, a braking device is assigned to the inner joint part, and a drive for rotating the smoothing roller or rollers about their axis of rotation is assigned to the smoothing roller(s). When the braking device is released, the rotating smoothing roller(s) sets the inner joint part into a rotational motion and thus accelerates it after a prior braking action.

[0018] According to a further embodiment, the rotational movement of the inner joint part about the central longitudinal axis can be generated by means of a rotary drive, in particular one associated with the inner joint part. Here, the active acceleration or deceleration of the rotational movement of the inner joint part about the central longitudinal axis can be achieved by means of the rotary drive itself and a modulated rotational speed.

[0019] Preferably, the rotational speed of the rotary drive is superimposed with a wave-like, sinusoidal, or triangular function to accelerate or decelerate the rotary motion. In particular, the function is a velocity function. A constant rotational speed of the rotary drive can be superimposed with the wave-like, sinusoidal, or triangular function or velocity function. The wave-like, sinusoidal, or triangular function or velocity function superimposed on the constant rotational speed can have an amplitude of less than 20% or less than 10% of the constant rotational speed. Such an amplitude is particularly conceivable when two smoothing rollers are used that are operated at different rotational speeds or peripheral speeds.Alternatively, the wave-like, sinusoidal, or triangular function or velocity function can have an amplitude of 20% or more, particularly 50% or more. This is especially conceivable when using a single smoothing roller.

[0020] According to further training and when using two smoothing rollers with different diameters, the smoothing roller with the smaller diameter can rotate around its axis of rotation at a lower circumferential speed than the smoothing roller with the larger diameter.

[0021] A device for smoothing and / or hardening the surface of the ball joint of the inner joint part is particularly advantageous, especially according to the method of the invention. The device comprises at least one smoothing roller for pressing against the ball joint, the smoothing roller being rotatably mounted about its axis of rotation. The inner joint part is rotatably mounted about its central longitudinal axis, the rotational movements of the smoothing roller and the inner joint part being coordinated such that sliding and / or slippage is generated between the surface of the ball joint and the at least one smoothing roller. According to the invention, the sliding and / or slippage is achieved by means of - achieved by actively accelerating or decelerating the rotational movement of the inner joint part around the central longitudinal axis, and / or - achieved by using two smoothing rollers, the two smoothing rollers having different diameters, and / or - realized by the use of two smoothing rollers, whereby the two smoothing rollers are operated at different rotational speeds with respect to the rotational movement around the axis of rotation of the respective smoothing roller.

[0022] In this device, a single smoothing roller can be assigned a drive, or, if two smoothing rollers are used, each smoothing roller can be assigned its own drive. The drive enables the respective smoothing roller to rotate around its associated axis of rotation. By means of suitable control of the drive, alternating acceleration and deceleration of the rotational movement of the respective smoothing roller can be generated, thereby achieving the desired sliding and / or slippage between the at least one smoothing roller and the surface of the ball joint.

[0023] In a further embodiment, the device can have at least one braking device. In particular, a braking device is assigned to the at least one smoothing roller or to the inner part of the joint. When using two smoothing rollers, a first braking device can be assigned to a first smoothing roller and a second braking device to a second smoothing roller.

[0024] Preferably, the method is further developed according to the embodiments described in connection with the device according to the invention described herein. Furthermore, the device described herein can be further developed according to the embodiments described in connection with the methods.

[0025] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the figures. Reference numerals refer to identical, similar, or functionally equivalent components or elements. The figures show: Fig. 1 a schematic side view of a first device according to the invention in the upper part of the Fig. 1 and a partially cut cross-section of the first device according to the invention in the lower part of the Fig. 1, and Fig. 2 a schematic side view of a further device according to the invention in the upper part of the Fig. 2 and a partially cut cross-section of the further device according to the invention in the lower part of the Fig. 2.

[0026] Fig. Figure 1 shows a schematic side view of a first device 1 according to the invention in the upper part of the Fig. 1 and a partially cut cross-section of the first device 1 according to the invention in the lower part of the Fig. 1.

[0027] The device 1 is designed for smoothing and / or hardening a surface 2 of a ball joint 3 of an inner joint part 4. In this embodiment, the inner joint part 4 is designed as a ball stud.

[0028] In this embodiment, the device 1 has a first smoothing roller 5 and a second smoothing roller 6. The first smoothing roller 5 is rotatably mounted about an axis of rotation 7, and the second smoothing roller 6 is rotatably mounted about an axis of rotation 8. The inner joint part 4 is rotatably mounted about its central longitudinal axis 9. The axes of rotation 7 and 8, as well as the central longitudinal axis 9, are parallel to each other and arranged or aligned in a common plane.

[0029] The two smoothing rollers 5, 6 are arranged on opposite sides of the joint ball 3. Thus, the joint ball 3 is positioned between the two smoothing rollers 5, 6. As schematically indicated by arrows 10, 11, the two smoothing rollers 5, 6 are pressed towards each other and onto the opposite sides of the joint ball 3.

[0030] The smoothing roller 5 or 6 has a cylindrical basic shape. The smoothing roller 5 or 6 each has a concave counter-profile 12 on its outer circumference, which is designed to interact with and correspond to the convex surface 2 of the joint ball 3.

[0031] The rotational movements of the smoothing rollers 5, 6 and the inner part of the joint 4 are coordinated in such a way that a sliding and / or slippage is generated between the surface 2 of the joint ball 3 and the smoothing rollers 5, 6 which are in contact with or pressed against the surface 2.

[0032] To generate sliding and / or slippage, the two smoothing rollers 5, 6 in this embodiment are designed with different diameters. Furthermore, in this example, the first smoothing roller 5 has a larger diameter than the second smoothing roller 6. In this embodiment, the second smoothing roller 6 with the smaller diameter rotates about its axis of rotation 8 at a lower peripheral speed than the first smoothing roller 5 with the larger diameter rotates about its axis of rotation 7.

[0033] According to this example, the first smoothing roller 5 is assigned a first drive 14 (shown only schematically here), and the second smoothing roller is assigned a second drive 15 (also shown only schematically). The smoothing rollers 5 and 6 are driven about their respective axes of rotation 7 and 8 by means of the respective drives 14 and 15. In this example, the inner joint part 4 is mounted to rotate freely about its central longitudinal axis 9. The two smoothing rollers 5 and 6 can be driven independently of each other by means of the two drives 14 and 15, which allows sliding and / or slippage to be generated by different rotational and / or circumferential speeds of the smoothing rollers 5 and 6.

[0034] Fig. Figure 2 shows a schematic side view of a further device 13 according to the invention in the upper part of the Fig. 2 and a partially cut cross-section of the further device 13 according to the invention in the lower part of the Fig. 2. Identical features use the same reference symbols as before. To avoid repetition, reference is made to the preceding description.

[0035] In contrast to device 1 according to Fig. 1 The device 13 shown here has a second smoothing roller 6', wherein the first smoothing roller 5 and the second smoothing roller 6' have the same diameter.

[0036] In this embodiment, the sliding and / or slippage between the surface 2 of the ball joint 3 and the smoothing rollers 5, 6' bearing against or pressed against the surface 2 is achieved by accelerating or decelerating the rotational movement of the inner joint part 4 about the central longitudinal axis 9. For this purpose, the inner joint part in this example is assigned a drive 16, shown only schematically here. The inner joint part 9 can be accelerated and / or decelerated with respect to its rotational movement about the central longitudinal axis 9 by means of the drive 16.

[0037] The two smoothing rollers 5, 6' can be mounted to rotate freely about their respective axes of rotation 7 and 8, respectively. Alternatively, at least one of the two smoothing rollers 5 or 6' can be assigned its own drive (not shown here), or, similar to the design according to Fig.1, the first smoothing roller 5 is assigned a first drive 14 and the second smoothing roller 6' is assigned a second drive 15. Reference sign 1 Device 2 Surface 3 ball joints 4 inner joint part 5 first smoothing roller 6.6' second smoothing roller 7 axis of rotation 8 axis of rotation 9 Central longitudinal axis 10 Arrow 11 Arrow 12 Counter-profile 13 Device 14 first drive 15 second drive 16 Drive

Claims

Method for smoothing and / or hardening a surface (2) of a joint ball (3) of a joint inner part (4), wherein at least one smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') is pressed against the joint ball (3), the smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') rotates about an axis of rotation (7, 8), and the joint inner part (4) rotates about its central longitudinal axis (9), wherein the rotational movements of the smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') and the joint inner part (4) are coordinated such that sliding and / or slippage is generated between the surface (2) of the joint ball (4) and the at least one smoothing roller (5, 6, 6'), characterized in that the sliding and / or slippage is generated by actively accelerating or decelerating the rotational movement of the joint inner part (4) about the central longitudinal axis (9), and / or by using two smoothing rollers (5, 6) are produced, wherein the two smoothing rollers (5, 6) have different diameters, and / or - the use of two smoothing rollers (5, 6,6') is generated, wherein the two smoothing rollers (5, 6, 6') are operated at different rotational speeds with respect to the rotational movement about the axis of rotation (7, 8) of the respective smoothing roller (5, 6, 6'). Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') is driven by means of a drive (14, 15) to rotate about the axis of rotation (7, 8) of the smoothing roller (5, 6, 6'), in particular a first smoothing roller (5) is driven by means of a first drive (14) and a second smoothing roller (6, 6') is driven by means of a second drive (15) each about the associated axis of rotation (7, 8). Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a braking device is assigned to the at least one smoothing roller (5, 6, 6'), preferably a rotational movement of the smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') about the axis of rotation (7, 8) is braked intermittently, in particular a first braking device is assigned to a first smoothing roller (5) and a second braking device is assigned to a second smoothing roller (6, 6'). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rotational movement of the inner joint part (4) about the central longitudinal axis (9) is generated by means of a rotary drive, wherein the active acceleration or braking of the rotational movement of the inner joint part (4) about the central longitudinal axis (9) is realized by means of the rotary drive and a modulated rotational speed of the rotary movement. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that a rotational speed of the rotary drive for accelerating or braking the rotary motion is superimposed with a wave-like, sinusoidal or triangular function, in particular a constant rotational speed of the rotary drive is superimposed with the wave-like, sinusoidal or triangular function, preferably the wave-like, sinusoidal or triangular function superimposed on the constant rotational speed has an amplitude of less than 20% or less than 10% of the constant rotational speed. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when using two smoothing rollers (5, 6) with different diameters, the smoothing roller (6) with the smaller diameter rotates about its axis of rotation (8) at a lower circumferential speed than the smoothing roller (5) with the larger diameter about its axis of rotation (7). Device for smoothing and / or hardening a surface (2) of a joint ball (3) of a joint inner part (4) and with at least one smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') for pressing against the surface (2) of the joint ball (3), wherein the smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') is rotatably mounted about an axis of rotation (7, 8), and the joint inner part (4) is rotatably mounted about its central longitudinal axis (9), wherein the rotational movements of the smoothing roller (5, 6, 6') and the joint inner part (4) are coordinated such that sliding and / or slippage is generated between the surface (2) of the joint ball (3) and the at least one smoothing roller (5, 6, 6'), characterized in that the sliding and / or slippage is achieved by actively accelerating or decelerating the rotational movement of the joint inner part (4) about the central longitudinal axis (9). is realized, and / or- the use of two smoothing rollers (5, 6) is realized, wherein the two smoothing rollers (5, 6) have different diameters,and / or- is realized by the use of two smoothing rollers (5, 6, 6'), wherein the two smoothing rollers (5, 6, 6') are operated at different rotational speeds with respect to the rotational movement about the axis of rotation (7, 8) of the respective smoothing roller (5, 6, 6').

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