Upper bearing cap for a suspension axial bearing device

Abstract

Disclosed is an upper bearing cap (1) for a suspension axial bearing device, comprising a radial section (2) providing an upper surface (8) configured to face a holder seat and an opposing lower surface (11) configured to be in contact with a rolling bearing, and an annular axial outer skirt (6) extending axially downward from an outer edge of the radial section (2) and having an outer surface (5) and an opposing inner surface (7), wherein a wall of the radial section (2) has a first thickness (d1) on an axial outer side of the radial section (2), and the annular axial outer skirt (6) has a wall with a second thickness (d2), wherein the upper bearing cap (1) comprises in the circumferential direction at least one hook section (16) comprising at least one hook (14) configuredto interact with another component of the suspension axial bearing device, wherein the at least one hook section (16) comprises at least one wall with a thickness greater than the first thickness (d1) and / or the second thickness (d2).

Description

Technical Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to an upper bearing cap for a suspension thrust bearing device.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA suspension thrust bearing device is generally provided with a rolling bearing including an upper ring and a lower ring between which rolling elements such as balls or rollers are interposed, and lower and upper caps. The lower and upper caps form housings for the rings of the rolling bearing and provide the interface between the rings and the adjacent elements.The suspension thrust bearing device is disposed in the upper part of the strut between the vehicle body and a support spring. The support spring is mounted around a damping piston rod, the end of which is connected to the body. The support spring is supported axially, directly or indirectly on the lower cap of the axial bearing device.The suspension thrust bearing device allows transmission of axial and radial forces between the support spring and the vehicle body, while allowing relative rotational movement between the lower cap and the upper cap resulting from deflection of the steered wheels of the vehicle and / or compression of the support spring.Due to the forces acting on the suspension thrust bearing device, it is necessary that the caps, in particular the upper bearing cap, are relatively robust. In order to increase the robustness of the caps, since the caps are typically made from a plastic material by a molding process, it is necessary to increase the amount of material used to form the caps. This leads to a weight increase as well as to a cost increase for each individual cap.It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a low cost upper bearing cap for a suspension thrust bearing device having improved robustness.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis object is achieved by an upper bearing cap for a suspension thrust bearing device according to claim 1.Hereinafter, an upper bearing cap for a suspension thrust bearing device is provided. The upper bearing cap includes a radial portion that provides an upper surface configured to oppose a retainer seat and an opposing lower surface configured to be in contact with a rolling bearing, and an annular axially outer skirt that extends axially downward from an outer edge of the radial portion and has an outer surface and an opposing inner surface.A wall of the radial portion has a first thickness at an axially outer side of the radial portion, and the annular axially outer skirt has a wall having a second thickness. The annular axially outer skirt may be configured to at least partially surround a lower support cap of the suspension thrust bearing.To provide a low cost upper bearing cap having improved robustness, the upper bearing cap circumferentially includes at least one hook portion including at least one hook configured to cooperate with another component of the suspension thrust bearing device, the at least one hook portion including at least one wall having a thickness greater than the first thickness and / or the second thickness.Since the at least one wall of the at least one hook portion has a greater thickness than the radial portion and / or the outer skirt, the robustness of the upper bearing cap may be increased. Thus, it is also possible to reduce the thickness of the at least one wall of the upper bearing cap without reducing the robustness of the upper bearing cap, so that the amount of material required for the upper bearing cap can be reduced, which can consequently reduce the cost of the upper bearing cap.Moreover, the radial portion of the upper bearing cap may have a stepped shape, and the outer portion of the radial portion may have a thickness less than the inner portion of the radial portion. The thickness of the outer portion of the radial portion may be equal to the thickness of the outer skirt wall.Preferably, the upper bearing cap may include a plurality of hook portions distributed in a circumferential direction of the upper bearing cap. The plurality of hooks may be disposed on the outer skirt and configured to engage a lower bearing cap of the bearing device. The hooks may form retaining means provided to axially retain the upper and lower caps relative to each other.According to a further embodiment, the at least one hook portion has a radial wall extending at least partially along the radial portion and an axial wall extending at least partially along the outer skirt, wherein a thickness of the radial wall and / or a thickness of the axial wall is greater than the first thickness and / or the second thickness. For example, the thickness of the radial wall is equal to the thickness of the axial wall. Alternatively, the thickness of the radial wall may also deviate from the thickness of the axial wall.By increasing the wall thickness of the upper bearing cap in the region of the at least one hook section, in that the at least one hook section is provided with a thicker radial and / or axial wall, the robustness of the upper bearing cap can be increased. Alternatively or additionally, the thickness of the remaining walls of the upper bearing cap can thereby be reduced, whereby the material requirement for the upper bearing cap can be reduced.Preferably, the upper bearing cap further comprises at least one reinforcing portion in the circumferential direction, wherein the at least one reinforcing portion has at least one wall having a thickness that is greater than the first thickness and / or the second thickness. In addition, the at least one reinforcing portion may be provided with at least one reinforcing rib. The addition of the at least one reinforcing portion may increase the robustness of the upper bearing cap.The thickness of the wall of the at least one reinforcing portion may be equal to or greater than the thickness of the radial wall and / or the axial wall of the at least one hook portion. For example, the at least one reinforcing portion may include a radial reinforcing wall extending at least partially along the radial portion and / or an axial reinforcing wall extending at least partially along the outer skirt.Preferably, a thickness of the radial reinforcing wall may be equal to a thickness of the axial reinforcing wall. Alternatively, the thickness of the radial reinforcing wall may vary from the thickness of the axial reinforcing wall.According to another embodiment, the upper bearing cap comprises a plurality of reinforcing portions distributed around a circumferential direction of the upper bearing cap. Preferably, the at least one reinforcing portion and the at least one hook portion are arranged alternately in the circumferential direction.For example, the at least one reinforcing section can be arranged circumferentially between two hook sections. This may further increase the robustness of the upper bearing cap, such that the material requirement for the upper bearing cap may be reduced, thereby reducing the weight of the upper bearing cap and / or the cost of the upper bearing cap. Furthermore, the at least one hook portion and the at least one reinforcement portion may be arranged alternately.Furthermore, an extension in the circumferential direction of the at least one hook portion can be equal to an extension in the circumferential direction of the at least one reinforcing portion. Alternatively, the extension in the circumferential direction of the at least one hook portion may be different from the extension in the circumferential direction of the at least one reinforcing portion. For example, the extension in the circumferential direction of the at least one hook section and / or reinforcing section can depend on the thickness of the respective section.According to another aspect, there is provided a suspension thrust bearing device including a lower support cap, an upper bearing cap as described above, and at least one bearing disposed between the caps.Further preferred embodiments are defined in the dependent claims as well as in the description and in the figures. Here, elements described or shown in combination with other elements may be present alone or in combination with other elements without departing from the scope thereof.Brief Description of the DrawingsPreferred embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, wherein the drawings are only exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope thereof. The scope of protection is defined solely by the appended claims.The figures show: FIG. 1 : a perspective view of an upper side of an upper bearing cap according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 : a perspective view of an underside of the upper bearing cap from FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a top view of the upper bearing cap of FIG. 1 , FIG. 4 is a cross-section through the upper bearing cap along the line A-A in FIG. 3 , FIG. 5 is a cross-section through the upper bearing cap along the line B-B in FIG. 3 ; and FIG. 6 is a cross-section through the upper bearing cap along the line C-C in FIG. 3DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONIn the following, identical or similar functional elements are denoted by the same reference numerals.Referring to Figs. 1 to 6, an upper bearing cap 1 for a suspension thrust bearing device will be described. The suspension thrust bearing device is configured to be installed between an upper bracket, which may rest directly or indirectly in a member of the chassis of a motor vehicle, and a suspension spring.The suspension thrust bearing device 1 includes the upper bearing cap 1, a lower support cap (not illustrated), and a rolling bearing (not illustrated) axially interposed between the caps. The caps may be fixed in direct contact with the rolling bearing without interposing an intermediate member or in indirect contact with the rolling bearing with interposing an intermediate member.The upper bearing cap 1 can be manufactured in one piece, e.g. from plastic, such as polyamide PA 6.6, which can be reinforced or not with fibers, e.g. glass fibers.The upper bearing cap 1 comprises a radial portion 2, an annular axial inner skirt 4 and an annular axial outer skirt 6 radially surrounding the inner skirt 4. The radial portion 2 has an upper surface 8 facing the upper seat of the holder and an opposite lower surface 10 having a region 11 formed for contact with the rolling bearing.In the example shown, the radial portion 2 has a stepped shape with an inner portion 13 and an outer portion 12. At the outer portion 12, a wall thickness of the radial portion is defined by the upper surface 8 and an opposite lower surface 10, wherein the outer portion 12 has a thickness d 1 that is smaller than the inner portion 13 of the radial portion 2.The outer skirt 6 radially surrounds the lower support cap (not shown). The inner and outer skirts 4, 6 extend axially downwardly from the outer portion 12 of the radial portion 2, the outer skirt 6 having an outer surface 5 and an opposing inner surface 7. In the example shown, the outer skirt 6 extends an edge of the large-diameter radial portion 2. The inner skirt 4 extends an edge of the small-diameter radial portion 2. The outer and inner surfaces 5, 7 define the thickness d2 of the outer shell 6.The upper bearing cap 1 comprises a plurality of circumferentially distributed hook portions 16. Each hook portion 16 comprises at least one hook 14 configured to cooperate with a further component of the suspension thrust bearing device, e.g. the lower cap. Each of the hook portions 16 comprises a radial wall 18 extending at least partially along the radial portion 2 and an axial wall 20 extending at least partially along the outer skirt 6.As can be seen from the comparison between FIGS. 4 and 6, a thickness of the radial wall 18 and a thickness of the axial wall 20 are greater than the first thickness d 1 and the second thickness d 2. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the thickness of the radial wall 18 is equal to the thickness of the axial wall. Alternatively, the thickness of the radial wall may vary from the thickness of the axial wall.Furthermore, the upper bearing cap 1 comprises a plurality of reinforcing portions 22 in the circumferential direction. As can be seen from FIG. 5, each reinforcing portion 22 has a radial reinforcing wall 24 which extends at least partially along the radial portion 2 and an axial reinforcing wall 26 which extends at least partially along the outer skirt 6. Preferably, a thickness of the radial reinforcing wall 24 is equal to a thickness of the axial reinforcing wall 26, as seen in FIG. 5. Alternatively, the thickness of the radial reinforcing wall 24 may vary from the thickness of the axial reinforcing wall 26.As can be seen from the figures, both the reinforcement sections 22 and the hook sections 16 are distributed in the circumferential direction of the upper bearing cap 1, such that a reinforcement section 22 is arranged between two hook sections 16 and vice versa. Alternatively, more than one reinforcing portion 22, for example two, can also be arranged between two hook portions 16. Note also that the reinforcing portion 22 may be omitted. If, for example, the required robustness of the upper bearing cap 1 can already be achieved with the hook portions 16, the reinforcing portions 22 can be dispensed with in order to further reduce the material requirement for the upper bearing cap 1.An extension in the circumferential direction of the hook portions 16 differs from the extension in the circumferential direction of the at least one reinforcing portion 22. Alternatively, the circumferential extension of the hook portions 16 and the reinforcement portions 22 may be the same, or the circumferential extension of the hook portions 16 may be smaller than the circumferential extension of the reinforcement portions 22.In summary, the robustness of the upper bearing cap can be increased by providing at least one hook portion 16 and / or at least one reinforcing portion 22, each having at least one wall with a partially increased thickness. In this way, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the remaining walls of the upper bearing cap without reducing the robustness of the upper bearing cap, so that the amount of material required for the upper bearing cap can be reduced, which can consequently reduce the cost of the upper bearing cap.List of reference characters1 Upper bearing cap 2 Radial portion 4 Inner skirt 6 Outer skirt 8 Upper surface 10 Lower surface 11 Bearing region 12 Outer portion 13 Inner portion 14 Hook 16 Hook portion 18 Radial wall 20 Axial wall 22 Reinforcing portion 24 Radial reinforcing wall 26 Axial reinforcing wall d 1 First thickness d 2 Second thickness

Claims

An upper bearing cap (1) for a suspension thrust bearing device, comprising a radial portion (2) providing an upper surface (8) configured to oppose a retainer seat and an opposing lower surface (11) configured to be in contact with a rolling bearing, and an annular axially outer skirt (6) extending axially downward from an outer edge of the radial portion (2) and having an outer surface (5) and an opposing inner surface (7), wherein a wall of the radial portion (2) has a first thickness (d1) at an axially outer side of the radial portion (2) and the annular axially outer skirt (6) has a wall having a second thickness (d2), characterized in that the upper bearing cap (1) comprises at least one hook portion (16) comprising at least one hook (14) configured in the circumferential direction, to cooperate with another component of the suspension thrust bearing device, wherein the at least one hook portion (16) comprises at least one wall having a thickness greater than the first thickness (d1) and / or the second thickness (d2).The upper bearing cap (1) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one hook portion (16) comprises a radial wall (18) extending at least partially along the radial portion (2) and an axial wall (20) extending at least partially along the outer skirt (6), wherein a thickness of the radial wall (18) and / or a thickness of the axial wall (20) is greater than the first thickness (d1) and / or the second thickness (d2).The upper bearing cap (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper bearing cap (1) comprises a plurality of hook portions (16) distributed around a circumferential direction of the upper bearing cap (1).The upper bearing cap (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the upper bearing cap (1) comprises at least one reinforcing portion (22) in the circumferential direction, wherein the at least one reinforcing portion (22) comprises at least one wall having a thickness that is greater than the first thickness (d1) and / or the second thickness (d2).The upper bearing cap (1) according to claim 4, wherein the thickness of the wall of the at least one reinforcement portion (22) is equal to or greater than the thickness of the radial wall (18) and / or the axial wall (20) of the at least one hook portion.Upper bearing cap (1) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein said at least one reinforcing portion (22) has a radial reinforcing wall (24) extending at least partially along said radial portion (2) and / or an axial reinforcing wall (26) extending at least partially along said outer skirt (6).The upper bearing cap (1) according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein a thickness of the radial reinforcing wall (24) is equal to a thickness of the axial reinforcing wall (26).The upper bearing cap (1) according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein a thickness of the radial reinforcing wall (24) is different from a thickness of the axial reinforcing wall (26).The upper bearing cap (1) according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein the upper bearing cap (1) comprises a plurality of reinforcing portions (22) distributed in the circumferential direction of the upper bearing cap (1).The upper bearing cap (1) according to any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein the at least one reinforcing portion (22) and the at least one hook portion are alternately arranged in the circumferential direction.A suspension thrust bearing device comprising a lower bearing cap, an upper bearing cap (1) according to any preceding claim, and at least one bearing disposed between the caps.

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