Damper mount for supporting a vibration damper on a vehicle body and method for manufacturing a damper mount

Abstract

Damper mount for supporting a vibration damper on a vehicle body, comprising: a damper bearing (3) for coupling to the vibration damper, and a housing (2) for coupling to the vehicle body, wherein the damper bearing (3) is received and fixed in the housing (2), and wherein the housing (2) is made of plastic and is injection-molded onto the damper bearing (3), thereby fixing the damper bearing (3) in the housing (2), characterized in that the damper bearing (3) is arranged between two separate covers (10, 11) and that the housing (2) is injection-molded onto the covers (10, 11).

Description

The invention relates to a damper mount for supporting a vibration damper on a vehicle body, having the features of the preamble of claim 1.Conventional damper mounts generally have a damper bearing for coupling to a vibration damper and a housing for coupling to the vehicle body. The damper bearing is accommodated and fixed in the housing. The housing is usually made of steel or aluminum and is embodied in multiple parts.Furthermore, DE 10 2004 002 811 B4 discloses a damper receptacle having a one-piece housing, into which an elastomer element having a bearing core is inserted. The elastomer element is supported on the bottom of a pot-shaped recess formed in the housing. After insertion into the recess, an edge portion of the housing is formed by rolling to fix the elastomer member in the housing.There is the problem in principle on vehicle axles that vibrational excitations on the road side are transmitted to the vehicle body via the vibration damper. To counteract this, the vibration damper is supported on the vehicle body with the interposition of a damper bearing. However, it has been found that despite the use of a damper bearing, vibrations on the road side are still introduced into the vehicle body via the connection point of the vibration damper on the vehicle body side.A damper holder for supporting a vibration damper on a vehicle body having the features of the preamble of claim 1 is known from DE 100 41 359 A1. It is proposed, on the one hand, to surround the damper bearing with two separating shells and then to injection-mould the latter with a housing. It is also alternatively proposed to dispense with the separating shells.Damper receptacles in which, in a reversal thereof, the damper element is injection-molded on the inside of the housing are known from DE 101 47 604 A1 and EP 1 270 284 A1.The invention is based on the object of further improving the production of a damper element which reduces the transmission of vibrational excitations on the road side to the vehicle body via the vibration damper.This object is achieved by a damper receptacle according to claim 1. In comparison with conventional damper mounts, the damper mount according to the invention has a higher intrinsic damping, as a result of which improved decoupling of the vehicle body from a wheel suspension or wheel axle is achieved. Ideally, noise is no longer transmitted to the vehicle body. This results in an acoustic improvement in comfort for the vehicle occupants.The damper receptacle according to the invention can be produced easily and cost-effectively in comparison with conventional damper receptacles with steel or aluminum housings. It also has a lower component weight for the same dimensions and comparable load-bearing capacity.The damper bearing is disposed between two separate covers, protecting the damper bearing. The covers can each form an axial outer wall of the damper receptacle.In addition, the housing is injection-molded onto the covers. This reduces the manufacturing cost.The above object is further achieved by manufacturing methods according to claims 12 and 13.Particular embodiments of the invention are the subject of further claims.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the covers project radially beyond the damper bearing, so that an intermediate space is formed between the covers around the damper bearing. The housing fills the intermediate space. This results in a particularly stable fixing of the damper bearing in the housing. This is important for a reliable support of the vibration damper. In addition, internal vibration excitations in the damper receptacle are counteracted.Furthermore, the covers can be formed with annular shoulders which radially surround the damper bearing. As a result, the material of the damper bearing is given better temperature protection with regard to the injection molding of the housing.In principle, the damper bearing and the covers can be designed with any desired contour transversely to the axis of the vibration damper, for example elliptical or polygonal. Due to the good adhesion between the housing and the damper bearing or between the housing and the covers, such a shaping is not absolutely necessary for reasons of possible anti-rotation protection. The covers and / or the damper bearing can be designed to be substantially rotationally symmetrical in order to achieve a compact design. For space reasons, however, other shapes can also be realized without any difficulty in production.According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the housing forms an essentially cylindrical central section and a flange section for vehicle-side fastening on the outer periphery of the central section. A correspondingly one-piece embodiment of the housing is advantageous from the manufacturing and assembly standpoint. Preferably, the damper bearing is arranged in the central portion of the housing.In addition to the housing, the covers can also be made of plastic. In particular, these can be injection-molded onto the damper bearing. Preferably, the covers are made of a plastic material whose melting point is higher than the melting point of the plastic material of the housing. As a result, the cover and the housing can be injection-molded onto the damper bearing in succession. However, it is also possible in principle to produce the cover and housing from the same material and to tip them onto the damper bearing in a single injection molding process. The damper bearing preferably comprises an elastomer body.According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the damper receptacle consists exclusively of the damper bearing, two covers and a one-piece, injection-molded housing made of plastic.Preferably, the covers are injection molded from a plastic material, the melting point of which is higher than that of the plastic material of the housing.The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing. The drawing shows in: FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional, partially cut-away illustration of a damper receptacle according to a first exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of an injection molding tool for illustrating a first production method, and FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a further injection molding tool for illustrating a second production method.The first embodiment shows a damper holder 1 for supporting a vibration damper on a vehicle body.The damper receptacle 1 has a housing 2 and a damper bearing 3, the latter being received and fixed in the housing 2.The damper bearing 3 serves for coupling to the vibration damper, not shown in detail here. For this purpose, it has a central through-opening 4, in which an end section of a piston rod of the vibration damper is fastened. However, the vibration damper may also be coupled to the damper bearing 3 in another manner.In the exemplary embodiment shown, the damper bearing 3 has an elastomer body 5, which enables elastic support of the vibration damper in the housing 2.The housing 2 to be fastened on the vehicle body side is embodied in one piece and consists of plastic. It has a substantially circular cylindrical central section 6, in which the damper bearing 3 is arranged, and a flange section 7 for vehicle-side fastening, which is formed on the outer periphery of the central section 6. On the flange section 7 there are a plurality of openings 8, via which the damper receptacle 1 can be screwed to the vehicle body. The damper bearing 3 is located in an axial end region of the central section 6 Material of the housing 2 is injection-molded around it and is thereby fixed in the housing 2. At the opposite end, the central section 6 forms a pot-like recess 9 pointing in the direction of the vibration damper.As FIG. 1 further shows, the damper receptacle 1 comprises an upper cover 10 and a lower cover 11, between which the damper bearing 3 is arranged. Each cover 10 or 11 has an opening 12 or 13 coaxial with the through-opening 4 of the damper bearing. The covers 10 and 11 each form an axial outer wall of the damper receptacle 1. In addition, the damper bearing 3 extends with a section 15 into the opening 12 of the upper cover 10.The separate covers 10 and 11 bear axially against the damper bearing 3 and are likewise fixed in the housing 2, which is radially injection-molded onto the covers 10 and 11. Optionally, the housing 2 may overlap somewhat the axial outer walls of the lids 10 and 11 to effect a stable location of the lids 10 and 11 within the housing 2.Furthermore, the covers 10 and 11 project radially somewhat beyond the damper bearing 3, so that an intermediate space 16 is formed between the covers 10 and 11 around the damper bearing 3. This intermediate space 16 is filled by an annular inner projection 17 of the housing 2.The covers 10 and 11 and the damper bearing 3 are shown in the present case rotationally symmetrical, but can also have a different outer contour. In addition, the covers 10 and 11 can be injection-molded onto the damper bearing 3. It is also possible to effect the connection between the covers 10 and 11 and the damper bearing 3 solely by fixing in the injection-molded housing 2.The damper receptacle 1 explained above enables good decoupling of the vehicle body with respect to vibrational excitations on the road side, which are introduced via a piston rod. This is aided by the high inherent damping of the plastic housing 2. In addition, the acoustic problems existing in multi-part bearing housings made of steel and aluminum are avoided. As a result, the overall acoustics of a rear axle of the vehicle can be improved in an advantageous manner for the vehicle occupants.In addition, the damper receptacle 1 explained above can be produced cost-effectively with a low component weight, which is to be explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In both cases, the damper bearing 3 is inserted into an injection molding tool and injection molded with plastic material, which forms the housing 2. As a result, the damper bearing 3 is fixed simultaneously in the housing 2.The covers 10 and 11 can either be inserted together with the damper bearing 3 into the injection molding tool or be injection molded onto the damper bearing 3 before the housing 2 is injection molded.FIG. 2 shows an injection mold 20, the mold cavity of which constitutes a negative image of the housing 2. The damper bearing 3 and the covers 10 and 11 are inserted into the injection mold 20 in a stacked arrangement. After closing the tool, the cover-damper bearing-cover arrangement fixed in the mold cavity is encapsulated with plastic, so that the individual components are held in position relative to one another. The finished damper receptacle 1 can then be removed.FIG. 3 shows a further injection molding tool 30, which makes it possible to injection mold one or both covers 10 and 11 from plastic, before the damper bearing 3 and the two covers 10 and 11 are subsequently encapsulated by the housing 2 by injection molding in the same injection molding tool. In this case, the covers 10 and 11 are injection-molded from a plastic material, the melting point of which is higher than that of the material of the housing 2, in a two-component injection molding process.The invention has been explained in more detail above with reference to exemplary embodiments. However, it is not limited to this exemplary embodiment, but rather comprises all the configurations defined by the patent claims.List of reference characters1 Damper receptacle 2 Housing 3 Damper bearing 4 Central through-opening 5 Elastomer body 6 Central section 7 Flange section 8 Opening 9 Pot-shaped recess 10 Cover 11 Cover 12 Opening 13 Opening 14 Collar 15 Section of the damper bearing 16 Intermediate space 17 Inner projection 20 Injection molding tool 30 Injection molding tool

Claims

Damper holder for supporting a vibration damper on a vehicle body, comprising: a damper bearing (3) for coupling to the vibration damper, and a housing (2) for coupling to the vehicle body, wherein the damper bearing (3) is accommodated and fixed in the housing (2), and wherein the housing (2) consists of plastic and is injection-molded onto the damper bearing (3), as a result of which the damper bearing (3) is fixed in the housing (2), characterized in that the damper bearing (3) is arranged between two separate covers (10, 11), and in that the housing (2) is injection-molded onto the covers (10, 11).Damper receptacle according to Claim 1, characterized in that the covers (10, 11) each form an axial outer wall of the damper receptacle (1).Damper holder according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the covers (10, 11) project radially beyond the damper bearing (3), with the result that an intermediate space (16) is formed between the covers (10, 11) around the damper bearing (3), and in that the housing (2) fills the intermediate space (16).Damper receptacle according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the covers (10, 11) are rotationally symmetrical.Damper receptacle according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the covers (10, 11) are injection-moulded onto the damper bearing (3).Damper receptacle according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the covers (10, 11) consist of a plastic, the melting point of which is higher than the melting point of the plastic of the housing (2).Damper receptacle according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the covers (10, 11) each have an annular shoulder (18, 19) which radially surrounds the damper bearing 3.Damper holder according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the damper bearing (3) is rotationally symmetrical.Damper holder according to one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the damper bearing (3) comprises an elastomer body (5).Damper holder according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the housing (2) forms a cylindrical central section (6) and a flange section (7) on the outer periphery of the central section (6) for fastening on the vehicle side, and in that the damper bearing (3) is arranged in the central section (6).Damper holder according to one of Claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it consists of a one-piece housing (2), the damper bearing (3) and two covers (10, 11).Method for producing a damper holder (1) having a damper bearing (3) which is held and fixed between two covers (10, 11) in a housing (2), in which the damper bearing (3) with the covers (10, 11) is inserted into an injection mould (20), the mould cavity of which forms a negative image on the housing (2), and the damper bearing (3) with the covers (10, 11) is subsequently injection-moulded with plastic in the injection mould (20), characterized in that, during injection-moulding, the housing (2) is injection-moulded both on the damper bearing (3) and on the covers (10, 11).Method for producing a damper holder with a damper bearing (3) which is held and fixed between two covers (10, 11) in a housing (2), in which the damper bearing (3) is inserted into an injection mould (30), in which injection mould (30) at least one cover (10, 11) is initially injection-moulded onto the damper bearing (3), and subsequently in the same mould the housing (2) is injection-moulded onto the damper bearing (3) and the covers (10, 11).Method according to claim 13, characterised in that, in the case that a cover is inserted into the injection mould (30), this cover (10, 11) is injection moulded from a plastics material whose melting point is higher than that of the plastics material of the housing (2), and in the case that two covers (10, 11) are inserted into the injection mould (30), these are injection moulded from a plastics material whose melting point is higher than that of the plastics material of the housing (2).

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