A bushing for an electric strut

Abstract

The present invention discloses a bushing for an electric strut, which includes a bushing body integrally in a tubular shape. A plurality of strip-shaped grooves parallel to the axis direction of the bushing body are circumferentially and spacedly arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body. The first end of the bushing body is an open end, and the strip-shaped grooves are closed at the end of the first end to form a first elastic structure. A positioning ring is arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body, and the strip-shaped grooves are through groove structures at the end of the second end. The positioning ring includes a plurality of arc-shaped segments, and adjacent arc-shaped segments are connected by a second elastic structure. The plurality of arc-shaped segments are fixedly connected to the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of electric struts, and particularly relates to a bushing for an electric strut. Background Art

[0002] Traditionally, the opening of a vehicle tailgate is manually opened by the driver or passenger after unlocking, which is achieved by a pneumatic strut or a four-link hinge or a gooseneck tube hinge in cooperation with a torsion bar spring. In existing domestic vehicles, generally a pneumatic strut or a four-link hinge or a gooseneck tube hinge in cooperation with a torsion bar spring is used, and only higher-specification vehicles use an electric tailgate, which is achieved by an electric strut.

[0003] Most electric struts include an outer tube and an inner tube that slides in cooperation with the outer tube. A transmission mechanism for driving the inner tube to slide axially along it is provided inside the outer tube, and a motor for driving the transmission mechanism is provided at the bottom of the outer tube. In order to reduce the noise generated during the telescopic process of the inner tube, a bushing is provided between the inner tube and the outer tube.

[0004] There are two types of bushings provided between the inner tube and the outer tube in the prior art: One is a split type, which is composed of two semi-tubular parts. The bushing composed of two tubular parts is fixedly installed on the inner wall of the outer tube through fixing parts. The advantage of adopting this structure is that the dimensional accuracy requirements for single parts are not high. After being assembled into the assembly, the product function will not be reduced or invalidated due to changes in environmental temperature. However, there are the following deficiencies: 1. There are many types of parts, many molds are required, and they need to be produced separately, resulting in high costs and low efficiency. 2. The assembly of the bushing during the assembly process of the electric strut is relatively troublesome, resulting in low work efficiency. The other is a full-circumference integral type. This structure overcomes the deficiencies of the above split type structure, but has high requirements for the machining accuracy of parts. If there is a slight deviation in the product, it is easy to cause a reduction or invalidation of the product function.

[0005] However, in view of the deficiencies of the prior art, it is necessary for the developers to develop a bushing for an electric strut that is reasonably designed, has a simple structure, high production efficiency, low cost, and a long service life.

[0006] Currently, Chinese Patent Application Publication No. CN107697167A discloses a bushing for an electric strut. This patent uses an integral bushing integrated with a sealing sleeve, reducing the assembly steps. However, this patent only assembles the sealing sleeve and cannot be assembled with other parts. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a bushing for an electric strut to solve the above problems in view of the above deficiencies and defects of the prior art.

[0008] The technical problems solved by the present invention can be realized by adopting the following technical solutions:

[0009] A bushing for an electric strut, comprising a bushing body integrally tubular, characterized in that a plurality of strip grooves parallel to the axis direction of the bushing body are circumferentially and spacedly arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body, the first end of the bushing body is an open end, and the strip grooves are closed at the end position of the first end to form a first elastic structure, a positioning ring is arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body, and the strip grooves are through groove structures at the end position of the second end, the positioning ring comprises a plurality of arc segments, adjacent arc segments are connected by a second elastic structure, and the plurality of arc segments are fixedly connected to the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a bayonet structure for cooperating with a driving device component of the electric strut is arranged on each arc segment.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a positioning portion extending towards the middle of the bushing body for cooperating with a driving device component of the electric strut is further arranged at the inner end of each arc segment.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each second elastic structure corresponds to each through groove structure.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the height of the outer end surface of the positioning ring is lower than the height of the second end of the bushing body, so that a limiting step structure is formed between the outer end surface of the positioning ring and the inner end surface of the second end of the bushing body for limiting the driving device component of the electric strut to prevent the driving device component of the electric strut from radially shifting.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of guiding inclined surfaces are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the first end of the bushing body.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of notch structures for cooperating with the outer tube cap feet of the electric strut are circumferentially and spacedly arranged at the first end of the bushing body.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there are two strip grooves, symmetrically arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there are three strip grooves, circumferentially and spacedly arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body, and the included angle between adjacent two strip grooves and the axis of the bushing body is 120°.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first elastic structure is a first arc connecting edge integrally formed with the bushing body, and the second elastic structure is a second arc connecting edge integrally formed with the arc segment.

[0019] Due to the adoption of the above technical solution, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: By providing strip-shaped grooves on the bushing body and dividing it into two or more parts, and using the first and second elastic structures to connect the parts into a whole, the bushing body still remains as a whole, and at the same time has a certain amount of deformation adjustment. The requirement for the dimensional accuracy of parts is greatly reduced, and the manufacturability of parts is improved. In addition, due to the existence of the first and second elastic structures, the possibility of product function failure or reduction caused by environmental temperature changes and shrinkage and seizure of parts at low temperature to lock moving parts is eliminated. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a partial enlarged view of...

[0023] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 4 is Figure 3 a partial enlarged view of... DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0025] In order to make the technical means, creative features, achieved purposes and effects of the present invention easy to understand, the present invention will be further described below.

[0026] Embodiment 1

[0027] Refer to Figure 1 A bushing for an electric strut shown, including a bushing body 100 integrally in a tubular shape, and the bushing body 100 is arranged between an outer tube and an inner tube. A plurality of strip-shaped grooves 130 parallel to the axial direction of the bushing body 100 are circumferentially spaced on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body 100. In this embodiment, there are two strip-shaped grooves 130, symmetrically arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body 100.

[0028] The first end of the bushing body 100 is an open end 101, and the strip-shaped groove 130 is located at the end position of the first end and is closed to form a first elastic structure 110. A positioning ring 120 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body 100, and the strip-shaped groove 130 is a through groove structure 131 at the end position of the second end. Since one end of the strip-shaped groove 130 is a closed structure and the other end is a through groove structure, the entire bushing body 100 has a certain amount of deformation adjustment for diameter expansion or contraction, greatly reducing the requirement for the dimensional accuracy of parts and improving the manufacturability of parts. The positioning ring 120 includes a plurality of arc segments 121, and adjacent arc segments 121 are connected by a second elastic structure 122, and the plurality of arc segments 121 are fixedly connected to the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body 100. In this embodiment, the first elastic structure 110 is a first arc-shaped connecting edge integrally formed with the bushing body 100, and the second elastic structure 122 is a second arc-shaped connecting edge integrally formed with the arc segment 121.

[0029] In this embodiment, each arc segment 121 is provided with a bayonet structure 121a for cooperating with the driving device component of the electric strut. Since the lead screw of the electric strut passes through the bushing body 100, the driving device component of the electric strut may include a bearing assembly cooperating with the lead screw, and the bearing seat limiting portion of the bearing assembly can be snap-fitted with the bayonet structure 121a.

[0030] In this embodiment, the inner end of each arc segment 121 is further provided with a positioning portion 121c extending towards the middle of the bushing body 100 for cooperating with the driving device component of the electric strut.

[0031] In this embodiment, each second elastic structure 122 corresponds to each through groove structure 131, and the through groove structure 131 is used to make way for the second elastic structure 122, so that the second elastic structure 122 does not protrude from the outer surface of the bushing body 100 in the radial direction of the bushing body 100 and does not increase the outer diameter size of the entire bushing body 100.

[0032] The height of the outer end face 121b of the positioning ring 120 is lower than the height of the second end of the bushing body 100, so that a limiting step structure is formed between the outer end face 121b of the positioning ring 120 and the inner end face 102 of the second end of the bushing body 100 for limiting the driving device component of the electric strut and preventing the driving device component of the electric strut from shifting radially. The driving device component of the electric strut may include a bearing assembly cooperating with the lead screw, and the bearing seat limiting portion of the bearing assembly can be cooperatively limited with the limiting step structure to prevent the bearing assembly from shifting radially.

[0033] The outer peripheral surface of the first end of the bushing body 100 is provided with a plurality of guiding inclined surfaces 140 and concave portions 141. The guiding inclined surfaces 140 facilitate the sliding of the bushing body 100 into the inner wall of the outer tube, and the concave portions 141 facilitate the inner wall limiting of the end portion of the bushing body 100.

[0034] A number of notch structures 150 that cooperate with the clamping feet of the outer tube cover of the electric strut are circumferentially spaced at the first end of the bushing body 100, facilitating alignment.

[0035] Embodiment 2

[0036] See Figure 1 A bushing for an electric strut as shown, including a bushing body 100' that is integrally tubular, and the bushing body 100' is arranged between the outer tube and the inner tube. A number of strip-shaped grooves 130' parallel to the axial direction of the bushing body 100' are circumferentially spaced on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body 100'. In this embodiment, there are three strip-shaped grooves 130', which are circumferentially spaced on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body 100', and the included angle between two adjacent strip-shaped grooves 130' and the axis of the bushing body 100' is 120°.

[0037] The first end of the bushing body 100' is an open end 101', and the strip-shaped groove 130' is closed at the end position of the first end to form a first elastic structure 110'. A positioning ring 120' is arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body 100', and the strip-shaped groove 130' is a through groove structure 131' at the end position of the second end. Since one end of the strip-shaped groove 130' is a closed structure and the other end is a through groove structure, the entire bushing body 100' has a certain amount of deformation adjustment for expansion or contraction in diameter, greatly reducing the requirement for the dimensional accuracy of the parts and improving the manufacturability of the parts. The positioning ring 120' includes a number of arc segments 121', and adjacent arc segments 121' are connected by a second elastic structure 122', and a number of arc segments 121' are fixedly connected to the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body 100'. In this embodiment, the first elastic structure 110' is a first trapezoidal connecting edge integrally formed with the bushing body 100', and the second elastic structure 122' is a second arc-shaped connecting edge integrally formed with the arc segment 121'.

[0038] In this embodiment, a bayonet structure 121a' that cooperates with the driving device component of the electric strut is arranged on each arc segment 121'. Since the lead screw of the electric strut passes through the bushing body 100', the driving device component of the electric strut may include a bearing assembly that cooperates with the lead screw, and the bearing seat limiting portion of the bearing assembly can be clamped and cooperated with the bayonet structure 121a'.

[0039] The inner end of each arc segment 121' in this embodiment is also provided with a positioning portion 121c' that extends towards the middle of the bushing body 100' for cooperating with the driving device component of the electric strut.

[0040] In each of the embodiments, each second elastic structure 122' corresponds to each through slot structure 131'. By using the through slot structure 131' to make way for the second elastic structure 122', the second elastic structure 122' will not protrude from the outer surface of the bushing body 100' in the radial direction of the bushing body 100', and will not increase the outer diameter size of the entire bushing body 100'.

[0041] The height of the outer end surface 121b' of the positioning ring 120' is lower than the height of the second end of the bushing body 100', so that a limiting step structure is formed between the outer end surface 121b' of the positioning ring 120' and the inner end surface 102' of the second end of the bushing body 100' for limiting the driving device components of the electric strut and preventing the driving device components of the electric strut from shifting radially. The driving device components of the electric strut may include a bearing assembly that cooperates with the lead screw, and the bearing seat limiting portion of the bearing assembly may cooperate with the limiting step structure to limit the bearing assembly to prevent radial displacement.

[0042] A plurality of guiding inclined surfaces 140' and concave portions 141' are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the first end of the bushing body 100'. The guiding inclined surfaces 140' facilitate the sliding of the bushing body 100' into the inner wall of the outer tube, and the concave portions 141' facilitate the inner wall limiting of the end of the bushing body 100'.

[0043] A plurality of notch structures 150' that cooperate with the outer tube cap feet of the electric strut are circumferentially spaced apart at the first end of the bushing body 100' to facilitate alignment.

[0044] The foregoing has shown and described the basic principles, main features and advantages of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present invention is not limited by the above embodiments. The above embodiments and the descriptions in the specification only illustrate the principles of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the present invention will have various changes and improvements, and these changes and improvements all fall within the scope of the present invention claimed. The scope of protection claimed by the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A bushing for an electric strut, comprising a bushing body integrally tubular, characterized in that, A plurality of strip-shaped grooves parallel to the axial direction of the bushing body are circumferentially spaced on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body. The first end of the bushing body is an open end, and the strip-shaped grooves are closed at the end positions of the first end to form a first elastic structure. A positioning ring is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body, and the strip-shaped grooves are through groove structures at the end positions of the second end. The positioning ring includes a plurality of arc-shaped segments, and adjacent arc-shaped segments are connected by a second elastic structure. The plurality of arc-shaped segments are fixedly connected to the inner peripheral surface of the second end of the bushing body.

2. The bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, wherein, A bayonet structure for cooperating with the driving device component of the electric strut is provided on each arc-shaped segment.

3. A bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, characterized in that, A positioning portion extending toward the middle of the bushing body for cooperating with the driving device component of the electric strut is further provided at the inner end of each arc-shaped segment.

4. A bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each second elastic structure corresponds to each through groove structure.

5. A bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outer end surface height of the positioning ring is lower than the height of the second end of the bushing body, so that a limiting step structure is formed between the outer end surface of the positioning ring and the inner end surface of the second end of the bushing body for limiting the driving device component of the electric strut to prevent the driving device component of the electric strut from radially shifting.

6. The bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, wherein A plurality of guiding inclined surfaces are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the first end of the bushing body.

7. The bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, characterized in that, A plurality of notch structures for cooperating with the outer tube cap feet of the electric strut are circumferentially spaced on the first end of the bushing body.

8. The bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, characterized in that, There are two strip-shaped grooves, symmetrically arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body.

9. The bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, characterized in that, There are three strip-shaped grooves, circumferentially spaced on the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body, and the included angle between the adjacent two strip-shaped grooves and the axis of the bushing body is 120°.

10. A bushing for an electric strut according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first elastic structure is a first arc-shaped connecting edge integrally formed with the bushing body, and the second elastic structure is a second arc-shaped connecting edge integrally formed with the arc-shaped segment.

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