Integrated control arm assembly special for heavy-duty vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to an integrated control arm assembly special for a heavy-duty vehicle. The integrated control arm assembly is composed of a control arm body (1), a self-lubricating bearing (2), a self-lubricating bush (3), a ball pin (4), a lower ball bowl (5), a screw (6), a gasket (7), a first clamp (8), a second clamp (9) and a dust cover (10). The control arm body (1) is integrally forged and formed and is a main bearing part, one side of the control arm body is connected with a vehicle body through a pin shaft, and the other side of the control arm body is connected with a steering knuckle through a ball hinge. The invention is applied to a lower cross arm of a McLewis suspension of a heavy-duty vehicle or an upper cross arm and a lower cross arm of a double-cross-arm suspension, and is suitable for effectively supporting and connecting wheels and a vehicle body when the wheeled heavy-duty vehicle passes through complex road surfaces such as desert, muddy or icy and snowy road surfaces, so that the suspension reliability of the wheeled vehicle is improved. The control arm assembly structure has the advantages of being high in bearing capacity, free of maintenance of the ball hinge, reliable in structure and convenient and fast to install.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of heavy-duty vehicles, and in particular relates to an integrated control arm assembly dedicated to heavy-duty vehicles. Background Art

[0002] The control arm assembly is mainly used in various types of wheeled vehicles to connect the wheel knuckle and the vehicle body, and mainly plays a guiding and supporting role. The control arm is a key component of the vehicle suspension system that supports the vehicle body and bears the supporting force, which directly affects the load-bearing capacity of the suspension system. After the ball joint connects the wheel knuckle to the control arm, it has a 3-degree-of-freedom rotation characteristic to ensure the steering function of the wheel.

[0003] The existing control arm assemblies used in heavy-duty vehicles mostly adopt a split structure. The ball joint assembly interface is designed on the control arm, and the ball joint is installed on the control arm. There are problems such as poor bearing capacity of the ball joint assembly, loosening prevention after installation, and obvious maintenance problems. The control arm body is made of steel plate welded or cast by a casting machine, and the overall bearing capacity is poor. Welded parts are prone to weld cracks in harsh working conditions; casting machine parts are restricted by the casting process, and there are tiny bubbles in the arm body, which reduces the overall strength of the arm body. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention provides an integrated control arm assembly dedicated to heavy-duty vehicles, and the technical problem to be solved is: to solve the problems of poor load-bearing capacity reliability and poor maintainability of the control arm assembly of ordinary heavy-duty vehicles, to meet the load-bearing function of the control arm assembly, and at the same time improve the reliability and maintenance-freeness of the ball joint.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides an integrated control arm assembly specially used for heavy-duty vehicles, characterized in that it includes a control arm body (1), a self-lubricating bearing (2), a self-lubricating bushing (3), a ball stud (4), and a lower ball bowl (5); two bearing seats are designed on one side of the control arm body (1) for installing the self-lubricating bearing (2); the ball bowl seat is directly processed on the other side, the self-lubricating bushing (3) is assembled in the ball bowl seat on the control arm body (1), the ball stud (4) is inserted into the lower ball bowl (5), the lower ball bowl (5) is threadedly connected to the control arm body (1), and the ball head of the ball stud (4) is pressed into the spherical cavity between the self-lubricating bushing (3) and the lower ball bowl (5), and the ball head can rotate flexibly in this space.

[0006] Beneficial effects: The present invention is applied to the lower cross arm of the Mai-type suspension of heavy-duty vehicles or the upper and lower cross arms of the double wishbone suspension, and is suitable for effectively supporting and connecting the wheels and the vehicle body when the wheeled heavy-duty vehicles pass through complex roads such as deserts, muddy or ice and snow, thereby improving the suspension reliability of the wheeled vehicles. The control arm assembly structure has the advantages of strong load-bearing capacity, maintenance-free ball joints, reliable structure and convenient installation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 Integrated control arm assembly cross-sectional view

[0008] Figure 2 Lower bowl diagram

[0009] Figure 3 Integrated control arm assembly diagram

[0010] Figure 4 Control arm body diagram. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] In order to make the purpose, content and advantages of the present invention more clear, the specific implementation methods of the present invention are further described in detail below.

[0012] The present invention provides an integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles, comprising a control arm body (1), a self-lubricating bearing (2), a self-lubricating bushing (3), a ball stud (4), a lower ball bowl (5), a screw (6), a washer (7), a first clamp (8), a second clamp (9), and a dust cover (10);

[0013] The control arm body (1) is integrally forged and is the main bearing member, one side of which is connected to the vehicle body by a pin shaft, and the other side is connected to the steering knuckle by a ball joint;

[0014] The control arm body (1) adopts a V-shaped structure, and two bearing seats are designed on the side connected to the vehicle body or frame for installing the self-lubricating bearing (2). The self-lubricating bearing adopts an interference fit method and is pressed into the two bearing seats of the control arm body by a cold installation process; the self-lubricating bearing (2) is pressed into the bearing seat after being cooled by liquid nitrogen, and the inner hole of the self-lubricating bearing is reamed with a reamer after returning to normal temperature to ensure that the pin shaft can move flexibly relative to the bearing. The self-lubricating bearing has a self-lubricating characteristic, and the control arm assembly does not need to be additionally designed with a lubricating oil channel during use.

[0015] The ball bowl seat is directly processed on the side connected to the steering knuckle. As the ball bowl seat of the ball pin assembly, it has a stronger load-bearing capacity than the traditional split integrated ball joint, and avoids the loosening problem of the ball bowl seat and the control arm;

[0016] The self-lubricating bushing (3) is installed in the ball bowl seat on the control arm body (1) and also has self-lubricating properties. The ball stud (4) is inserted into the lower ball bowl (5), and the four holes of the lower ball bowl (5) are matched with the installation tool to screw the outer thread of the lower ball bowl (5) into the inner thread of the control arm body (1), and then the ball head of the ball stud (4) is pressed into the spherical cavity between the self-lubricating bushing (3) and the lower ball bowl (5), and the ball head can rotate flexibly in this space. Within the contact plane range between the lower ball bowl (5) and the control arm body (1), 4 threaded holes are evenly processed, and screws (6) and washers (7) are installed in these threaded holes to prevent the connection thread between the lower ball bowl (5) and the control arm body (1) from loosening, thereby ensuring the connection reliability of the thread.

[0017] The dust cover (10) passes through the ball pin and is assembled in the clamping groove of the lower ball bowl (5), and is clamped by a clamp hoop (8) on one side, and is clamped by a clamp hoop (9) on the other side, thereby achieving a good dustproof effect.

[0018] like Figure 3 As shown, a pin is inserted into the self-lubricating bearing of the control arm, and the pin is connected to the vehicle body or frame in any form. After the connection, the integrated control arm assembly and the vehicle body or frame form a rotational motion pair, with the pin axis as the rotation axis, to achieve rotational motion between the control arm assembly and the vehicle body or frame. After the ball stud (4) is connected to the steering knuckle, the integrated control arm assembly and the steering knuckle form a ball joint motion pair, with the center of the ball stud (4) as the ball joint motion center, to achieve rotation in all directions between the control arm assembly and the steering knuckle.

[0019] The control arm assembly has the characteristics of strong bearing capacity. The characteristics are: the control arm body is made of high-strength alloy material, forged by a forging machine, and can withstand 600Mpa actual stress according to finite element analysis.

[0020] The control arm assembly has the characteristic of being integrated with the ball stud. The characteristic is that a ball bowl seat is designed on the control arm body, and the ball stud assembly is integrated with the control arm body to ensure the strength of the ball bowl seat, and at the same time, the reliability of the ball stud assembly is ensured through an effective anti-loosening structure.

[0021] The integrated control arm assembly has the feature of easy replacement of the dust cover. One end of the dust cover is fixed in the installation groove of the lower ball bowl through a clamp 1, and the other end is clamped with the ball pin through a clamp 2, which has a good dustproof effect. If the dust cover is damaged, the dust cover can be replaced by removing the clamp, which is convenient and easy to operate.

[0022] The integrated control arm assembly has the feature of maintenance-free ball joint. The self-lubricating bushing used has self-lubricating function, and no additional lubricant is required for auxiliary lubrication; the metal grinding debris generated during the wear of the ball joint can be adsorbed in the self-lubricating bushing to avoid accelerated wear of the ball stud, and the ball joint assembly is maintenance-free during its life cycle.

[0023] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles, characterized in that: The invention comprises a control arm body (1), a self-lubricating bearing (2), a self-lubricating bushing (3), a ball pin (4), and a lower ball bowl (5); two bearing seats are designed on one side of the control arm body (1) for installing the self-lubricating bearing (2); a ball bowl seat is directly processed on the other side, the self-lubricating bushing (3) is assembled in the ball bowl seat on the control arm body (1), the ball pin (4) is inserted into the lower ball bowl (5), the lower ball bowl (5) is threadedly connected to the control arm body (1), the ball head of the ball pin (4) is pressed into the spherical cavity between the self-lubricating bushing (3) and the lower ball bowl (5), and the ball head can flexibly rotate in this space.

2. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control arm body (1) is integrally forged.

3. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: One side of the control arm body (1) is connected to the vehicle body by a pin shaft, and the other side is connected to the steering knuckle by a ball joint.

4. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control arm body (1) adopts a V-shaped structure.

5. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The self-lubricating bearings are pressed into the two bearing seats of the control arm body using an interference fit process.

6. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The self-lubricating bearing (2) is cooled by liquid nitrogen and then press-fitted into the bearing seat. When it returns to normal temperature, the inner hole of the self-lubricating bearing is reamed with a reamer to ensure that the pin can move flexibly relative to the bearing.

7. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The self-lubricating bearing has self-lubricating properties, and the control arm assembly does not require additional lubrication channels to be designed during use.

8. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: A plurality of threaded holes are evenly processed within the contact plane range between the lower ball bowl (5) and the control arm body (1).

9. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dust cover (10) passes through the ball pin and is assembled in the clamping groove of the lower ball bowl (5), and is clamped by a clamp.

10. The integrated control arm assembly for heavy-duty vehicles according to claim 1, characterized in that: A pin is inserted into the self-lubricating bearing of the control arm, and the pin is connected to the vehicle body or frame in any form. After the connection, the integrated control arm assembly and the vehicle body or frame form a rotational motion pair, with the pin axis as the rotation axis, to achieve rotational motion between the control arm assembly and the vehicle body or frame. After the ball stud (4) is connected to the steering knuckle, the integrated control arm assembly and the steering knuckle form a ball joint motion pair, with the center of the ball stud (4) as the ball joint motion center, to achieve rotation in all directions between the control arm assembly and the steering knuckle.

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