Ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal sound and electric supporting rod comprising same

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of automobile parts, in particular to a ball socket assembly capable of reducing abnormal sound and an electric supporting rod comprising the ball socket assembly. The ball socket assembly comprises a ball socket body which is provided with a first connecting end connected with a first connecting object and a second connecting end connected with a second connecting object; the buffer part is arranged on the second connecting end; wherein the buffer piece is made of a damping material; when the second connecting object vibrates, at least one part of external force generated by the second connecting object is transmitted to the second connecting end through the buffering piece. In order to reduce the abnormal sound between the second connecting end and the second connecting object, the buffering piece made of the damping material is arranged, under the action of the buffering piece, the damping effect can be achieved, resonance between the ball socket body and the second connecting object is avoided to a great extent, and then the noise reduction effect is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of automotive parts, and more specifically, to a ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise and an electric strut including the same. Background Art

[0002] The electric strut of the vehicle tailgate is a device installed on the vehicle tailgate, mainly used for supporting and controlling the opening and closing of the tailgate. It mainly consists of a strut, a hydraulic cylinder (or pneumatic cylinder), a motor, a controller, etc. The working principle of the electric strut is mainly based on a hydraulic system or a pneumatic system driven by a motor. When the vehicle owner presses the switch, the motor drives the hydraulic cylinder or pneumatic cylinder to work through the signal of the controller. The hydraulic cylinder or pneumatic cylinder transmits the liquid or gas to the inside of the strut, causing it to extend or contract. The strut then supports or controls the movement of the tailgate through the transmission of force, thereby realizing the function of opening or closing.

[0003] The electric strut further includes: a ball socket assembly for the rotational connection between the vehicle body and the tailgate. At present, there are still some problems in the design of the ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise at the motor end of the electric strut of the vehicle tailgate on the market, such as: it is easy to generate abnormal noise during rotation and it is inconvenient to install, etc. Summary of the Utility Model

[0004] The main purpose of the utility model is to propose a ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise and an electric strut including the same, so as to solve at least one technical problem mentioned in the background art.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, on the one hand, the utility model proposes a ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise, including:

[0006] A ball socket body having a first connection end connected to a first connecting object and a second connection end connected to a second connecting object;

[0007] And a buffer member disposed on the second connection end;

[0008] Wherein, the buffer member is made of a damping material; when the second connecting object vibrates, at least a part of the external force generated by it is transmitted to the second connection end by the buffer member.

[0009] In the above technical solution, further, the buffer member is of a sheath structure and is sleeved on the second connection end.

[0010] In any of the above technical solutions, further, a first limiting portion is further included, which is disposed between the buffer member and the second connection end for restricting their relative rotation.

[0011] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the first limiting portion includes: a first rib and a first groove that cooperates with the first rib;

[0012] Among them, the first convex rib is disposed on the inner wall of the buffer member, and the first groove is disposed on the outer wall of the second connection end; or, the first convex rib is disposed on the outer wall of the second connection end, and the first groove is disposed on the inner wall of the buffer member.

[0013] In any of the above technical solutions, further, there are a plurality of first limiting portions, which are distributed on the buffer member and the second connection end along the circumferential direction.

[0014] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the first convex rib is a strip structure; the cross section of the first convex rib is triangular.

[0015] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the buffer member is made of rubber material.

[0016] On the other hand, an electric strut is also proposed, including: a housing; a strut assembly, one end of which is connected to the housing; and an actuator assembly, which is disposed in the housing, and its output end is connected to the strut assembly for driving the strut assembly to extend or contract;

[0017] Among them, it further includes the ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise as described above, and the second connection end of the ball socket body is disposed on the housing.

[0018] In any of the above technical solutions, further, there is an installation groove in the housing, and the second connection end is disposed in the installation groove;

[0019] Among them, the ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise further includes: a second limiting portion; after applying a certain rotational external force to the ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise and the external force is greater than a preset value, the second connection end and the buffer member overcome the resistance of the second limiting portion and rotate relative to the housing; conversely, the second limiting portion restricts the rotation of the second connection end and the buffer member.

[0020] In any of the above technical solutions, further, the second limiting portion includes: a plurality of second convex ribs and a plurality of third convex ribs that cooperate with the plurality of second convex ribs;

[0021] Among them, the plurality of second convex ribs are disposed on the outer wall of the buffer member along the circumferential direction, the plurality of third convex ribs are disposed on the inner wall of the installation groove along the circumferential direction, and each second convex rib abuts against each third convex rib respectively.

[0022] Beneficial effects: Compared with the prior art, in order to reduce the abnormal noise between the second connection end and the outer shell of the actuator assembly, a buffer member made of a damping material is provided. Under the action of the buffer member, it can play a damping role, and to a great extent, it can avoid resonance between the ball socket body and the actuator assembly, thereby achieving the effect of noise reduction. Description of the Drawings

[0023] 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 drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0024] Figure 1 is a schematic structural view of the ball socket assembly of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 is an exploded structural view of the ball socket assembly of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 3 is a schematic structural view of the actuator assembly and the housing of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 4 is a schematic structural view of the ball socket assembly installed on the housing of the present invention.

[0028] The description of the reference numerals is as follows:

[0029] 1. Ball socket body; 11. First connection end; 12. Second connection end; 2. Buffer member; 3. First limiting portion; 31. First rib; 4. Second limiting portion; 41. Second rib; 42. Third rib; 10. Housing; 101. Installation groove; 20. Actuator assembly. Detailed implementation manners

[0030] Next, exemplary embodiments according to the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the present application is not limited by the exemplary embodiments described herein. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] It should be noted that, as shown in the present application and the claims, unless the context clearly indicates an exceptional situation, words such as "a", "an", "one", and / or "the" are not specifically singular and may also include plural. Generally speaking, the terms "comprising" and "including" only indicate the inclusion of the clearly identified steps and elements, and these steps and elements do not constitute an exclusive list. The method or device may also include other steps or elements.

[0032] If there are directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back...) involved in the embodiments of the present utility model, then such directional indications are only used to explain the relative positional relationship, movement conditions, etc. between components in a certain specific posture (as shown in the attached drawings). If this specific posture changes, then the directional indications will also change accordingly.

[0033] In the present utility model, unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, terms such as "connection" and "fixation" shall be understood in a broad sense. For example, "fixation" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or integrated; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be the communication inside two components or the interaction relationship between two components, unless otherwise clearly defined. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present utility model can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0034] In addition, if there are descriptions involving "first", "second", etc. in the embodiments of the present utility model, then such descriptions of "first", "second", etc. are only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" can explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, the meaning of "and / or" appearing throughout the text includes three parallel scenarios. Taking "A and / or B" as an example, it includes Scenario A, or Scenario B, or the scenario where both A and B are satisfied simultaneously. In addition, the technical solutions between various embodiments can be combined with each other, but it must be based on the fact that those of ordinary skill in the art can implement it. When the combination of technical solutions results in contradictions or cannot be implemented, it should be considered that such a combination of technical solutions does not exist and is not within the protection scope required by the present utility model.

[0035] Both ends of the electric strut are respectively connected to the vehicle body and the tailgate through ball sockets. When the electric strut extends or contracts, its two ends can rotate in all directions, thereby opening or closing the tailgate.

[0036] Since the motor inside the electric strut will generate a certain degree of vibration during operation, this vibration will be transmitted to the tailgate through the ball socket near the motor end of the strut, and then may resonate with the periphery of the tailgate and generate abnormal noises that are transmitted into the vehicle. The main factor for this problem is that during the opening and closing process of the tailgate, the ball socket near the motor end of the strut has a small-angle relative rotation with respect to the radial position of the strut actuator housing, and this rotation may cause frictional abnormal noises.

[0037] The vibration and abnormal noises of the strut directly affect the vehicle quality and the subjective feelings of the passengers and drivers for electric vehicles that currently have very high requirements for in-vehicle quietness. Based on this, the present utility model proposes a ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noises and an electric strut including the same.

[0038] The following is a detailed description of a ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise and an electric strut including the same according to the present application through the following embodiments.

[0039] Embodiment 1:

[0040] As Figures 1-4 shown, in this embodiment, a ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise includes: a ball socket body 1 having a first connection end 11 connected to a first connector and a second connection end 12 connected to a second connector; and a buffer member 2 disposed on the second connection end 12.

[0041] Wherein, the buffer member 2 is made of a damping material; when the second connector vibrates, at least a part of the external force generated by it is transmitted to the second connection end 12 by the buffer member 2.

[0042] The first connector refers to a ball head installed on the tailgate, and the second connector refers to the housing of the actuator assembly 20 of the electric strut. The first connection end 11 of the ball socket body 1 is a concave portion for universal connection with the ball head, and the second connection end 12 is used to connect with the housing of the actuator assembly 20; in order to reduce the abnormal noise between the second connection end 12 and the housing of the actuator assembly 20, a buffer member 2 made of a damping material is provided. Under the action of the buffer member 2, it can play a damping role, greatly avoiding resonance between the ball socket body 1 and the actuator assembly 20, and thus achieving the effect of noise reduction.

[0043] It should be noted that the damping effect can be improved by increasing the contact area between the buffer member 2 and the second connector (i.e., the housing of the actuator assembly 20). For this purpose, the buffer member 2 can be set as a sheath structure and sleeved on the second connection end 12, so that when the second connection end 12 of the ball socket body 1 is installed on the second connector, the second connection end 12 does not directly contact the second connector. After that, the vibration generated by the second connector will all act on the buffer member 2 first, and most or all of it will be absorbed by the buffer member 2, and the remaining small part will then act on the second connection end 12, thereby playing a role in vibration isolation.

[0044] Embodiment 2:

[0045] This embodiment is a further improvement based on Embodiment 1.

[0046] As Figure 2 shown, in this embodiment, since the buffer member 2 is sleeved on the second connection end 12, in order to prevent relative rotation between the two, it further includes: a first limiting portion 3 disposed between the buffer member 2 and the second connection end 12 for restricting relative rotation between the two.

[0047] Specifically, the first limiting portion 3 includes: a first rib 31 and a first groove (not visible in the figure as it is blocked) that cooperates with the first rib 31;

[0048] Among them, the first rib 31 is provided on the inner wall of the buffer member 2, and the first groove is provided on the outer wall of the second connection end 12; or, the first rib 31 is provided on the outer wall of the second connection end 12, and the first groove is provided on the inner wall of the buffer member 2.

[0049] By adopting a snap - connection method and utilizing the mutual cooperation of the first rib 31 and the first groove, the connection between the buffer member 2 and the second connection end 12 can be achieved.

[0050] Optimally, to further improve the connection strength between the buffer member 2 and the second connection end 12, several first limiting portions 3 can be provided and distributed circumferentially on the buffer member 2 and the second connection end 12.

[0051] Furthermore, the buffer member 2 is made of rubber material and vulcanized on the second connection end 12.

[0052] It should be noted that the first rib 31 is a strip - shaped structure; the cross - section of the first rib 31 is triangular.

[0053] Embodiment Three:

[0054] As Figures 1-4 shown, this embodiment proposes an electric strut, including: a housing 10; a strut assembly (not visible in the figure), one end of which is connected to the housing 10; and an actuator assembly 20, disposed in the housing 10, whose output end is connected to the strut assembly for driving the strut assembly to extend or contract;

[0055] Among them, it further includes the ball - socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise in any of the above - mentioned embodiments, and the second connection end 12 of the ball - socket body 1 is disposed on the housing 10.

[0056] The housing 10 has an installation groove 101, and the second connection end 12 is disposed in the installation groove 101;

[0057] Among them, the ball - socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise further includes: a second limiting portion 4; when a certain rotational external force is applied to the ball - socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise and this external force is greater than a preset value, the second connection end 12 and the buffer member 2 overcome the resistance of the second limiting portion 4 and rotate relative to the housing 10; conversely, the second limiting portion 4 restricts the rotation of the second connection end 12 and the buffer member 2.

[0058] During the process of installing the ball-and-socket component in the installation groove 101 of the housing 10, it is necessary to precisely adjust the angle of the ball-and-socket body 1 to make it reach the optimal position. To facilitate the adjustment of the ball-and-socket body 1, a second limiting portion 4 is provided. By applying an external force to rotate the ball-and-socket body 1, the ball-and-socket body 1 can be rotated.

[0059] Specifically, the second limiting portion 4 includes: a plurality of second ribs 41 and a plurality of third ribs 42 that cooperate with the plurality of second ribs 41;

[0060] Among them, the plurality of second ribs 41 are arranged on the outer wall of the buffer member 2 in the circumferential direction, and the plurality of third ribs 42 are arranged on the inner wall of the installation groove 101 in the circumferential direction, and each second rib 41 abuts against each third rib 42 respectively.

[0061] Since the buffer member 2 is made of rubber material and is clamped in the installation groove 101 of the housing 10, after applying an external force to rotate the ball-and-socket body 1, when the external force is greater than the force that can deform the buffer member 2, the buffer member 2 will deform and rotate along the circumferential direction. To accurately control the rotation angle of the ball-and-socket body 1, the second ribs 41 are arranged at equal intervals. For example, if 18 second ribs 41 are arranged, then each time it rotates, the rotation angle of the ball-and-socket body 1 is 20°. After this setting, the OEM vehicle assembly efficiency can be effectively improved.

[0062] It should be noted that the housing 10 is assembled by two half-shells. After the second connection end 12 of the ball-and-socket body 1 is sleeved with the buffer member 2, it is installed in the cavity formed by the two half-shells.

[0063] The above has described the embodiments of the present disclosure. The above description is exemplary and not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations are obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art in the technical field without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The selection of the terms used herein is intended to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or the improvement of the technology in the market, or to enable other ordinary technical personnel in the technical field to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise, characterized in that: include: A ball and socket body (1) having a first connection end (11) connected to a first connection object and a second connection end (12) connected to a second connection object; and a buffer member (2) disposed on the second connecting end (12); Wherein, the buffer component (2) is made of a vibration-damping material; when the second connection object vibrates, at least a portion of the external force generated by it is transmitted to the second connection end (12) by the buffer component (2).

2. The ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise according to claim 1, characterized in that: The buffer component (2) is a sheath structure and is sleeved on the second connecting end (12).

3. The ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise according to claim 2, characterized in that: It also includes a first limiting portion (3) disposed between the buffer component (2) and the second connecting end (12) and used to limit the mutual rotation of the two.

4. The ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first limiting portion (3) comprises: a first convex rib (31) and a first groove matched with the first convex rib (31); The first rib (31) is arranged on the inner wall of the buffer (2), and the first groove is arranged on the outer wall of the second connecting end (12); or the first rib (31) is arranged on the outer wall of the second connecting end (12), and the first groove is arranged on the inner wall of the buffer (2).

5. The ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise according to claim 4, characterized in that: There are a plurality of first limiting portions (3), which are distributed on the buffer component (2) and the second connecting end (12) along the circumferential direction.

6. The ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first convex rib (31) is a strip-shaped structure; the cross section of the first convex rib (31) is a triangle.

7. The ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The buffer component (2) is made of rubber material.

8. An electric support rod, comprising: Housing (10); A support rod assembly, one end of which is connected to the housing (10); and an actuator assembly (20), which is disposed in the housing (10) and has an output end connected to the strut assembly and is used to drive the strut assembly to extend or retract; It is characterized in that it also comprises a ball socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, and the second connecting end (12) of the ball socket body (1) is arranged on the shell (10).

9. The electric strut according to claim 8, characterized in that: The housing (10) has a mounting groove (101) therein, and the second connecting end (12) is arranged in the mounting groove (101); Wherein, the ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise further comprises: a second limiting portion (4); when a certain rotational external force is applied to the ball and socket assembly for reducing abnormal noise, and the external force is greater than a preset value, the second connecting end (12) and the buffer component (2) overcome the resistance of the second limiting portion (4) and rotate relative to the shell (10); conversely, the second limiting portion (4) limits the rotation of the second connecting end (12) and the buffer component (2).

10. The electric strut according to claim 9, characterized in that: The second limiting portion (4) comprises: a plurality of second convex ribs (41) and a plurality of third convex ribs (42) matched with the plurality of second convex ribs (41); A plurality of the second convex ribs (41) are arranged on the outer wall of the buffer member (2) along the circumferential direction, a plurality of the third convex ribs (42) are arranged on the inner wall of the mounting groove (101) along the circumferential direction, and each of the second convex ribs (41) is respectively abutted against each of the third convex ribs (42).

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