CONTROL ARM WITH WELDED-ON BEARING SLEEVE

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a transverse control arm according to the features in the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] In automotive engineering, control arms are used to guide and steer the wheels. The control arm connects the wheel to the bearing assembly on one side and to the vehicle chassis on the other.

[0003] The bearing arrangement includes, in addition to the wheel bearing and the drive shaft, a swivel bearing, a connection with the steering knuckle and with a guide joint, with the tie rod as well as other elements for the steering, the drive, the suspension and the brake of the vehicle.

[0004] During vehicle operation, the control arm is subjected to a wide range of stresses. This high stress can be met with a particularly strong and stable design. However, such a design often results in significant weight, leading to increased energy consumption. Weight-optimized design is possible through the use of materials with exceptionally high strength or the combination of different materials. In particular, the highly stressed bearing mounting areas can consist of cast or milled components connected to a sheet steel base. However, this design has the disadvantage that the individual components must be joined together, which negatively impacts production costs.

[0005] For example, corresponding wishbones are known from DE 10 2010 007 944 A1 and DE 10 2016 123 256 A1.

[0006] Furthermore, control arms are known from CN 206 416 792 U, CN 207 433 168 U and CN 109 733 139 A. Document CN 206 416 792 U discloses a control arm according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0007] In particular, the long-term durability of a control arm, and thus the safety of the vehicle, is another essential point to consider during the design and dimensioning of a control arm. Connection areas between different components of a control arm must be designed with particular care.

[0008] The object of the present invention is to provide a control arm that is lightweight and particularly easy to manufacture, while simultaneously offering high durability and improved crash performance. This object is achieved with a control arm according to the feature in claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0009] The control arm according to the invention is designed for installation on an axle of a motor vehicle. The control arm itself has a base body section, which is manufactured as a one-piece sheet metal component from a sheet metal blank. The base body section preferably has three bearing areas formed on it. The base body section is particularly L-shaped in plan view. The base body section is shell-like, i.e., a flat base body section with legs bent from it. The base body section particularly has two arms. The base body section further preferably has two vehicle-side attachment points and one wheel-side attachment point. The attachment points can also be called bearing areas.

[0010] A bearing area has a one-piece, material-uniform bearing receptacle. The bearing receptacle has a receiving opening. The receiving opening lies in an opening plane. The opening plane is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the base body. "Substantially perpendicular" preferably means at an angle between 80° and 100°, particularly between 85° and 95°, and most preferably approximately perpendicular to the plane of the base body.

[0011] The receiving opening is preferably completely round, and most preferably circular. The bearing housing is manufactured in one piece from a sheet metal blank and is thus formed relative to the base body plane by bending or folding it. A bearing sleeve is inserted into the receiving opening and positively engaged within it. The bearing sleeve is welded to the receiving opening, at least in part. The receiving opening completely surrounds the bearing sleeve. The receiving opening is therefore a hole that positively engages the bearing sleeve. This increases the service life of the control arm under continuous alternating stress. Furthermore, in the event of a weld failure, the receiving opening holds the bearing sleeve in place on the control arm.

[0012] According to the invention, the control arm is now characterized in that a guide plate is formed integrally and of the same material as the base body area or in the plane of the base body in the bearing area. The guide plate has a receiving section.

[0013] The receiving section is a contour that is adapted to the outer contour of the sleeve in sections. The adapted contour is a circular segment that partially encompasses the outer surface of the bearing sleeve and at an angle of less than 180 degrees.

[0014] Due to the design, the guide plate and the opening plane of the receiving opening are arranged essentially parallel to each other. Thus, the guide plate is also essentially perpendicular to the plane of the base body. However, it has proven advantageous according to the invention if the opening plane of the receiving opening and the guide plate are not arranged parallel to each other, but rather at an angle of more than 1 degree, and in particular more than 2 degrees, relative to each other. The angle between the guide plate and the opening plane of the receiving opening should, however, be less than 15 degrees, and preferably less than 10 degrees. According to the invention, this offers the advantage that the opening plane of the receiving opening and / or the guide plate need not be bent at an angle of less than 90 degrees relative to the plane of the base body. This already reduces the introduction of bending residual stresses.Furthermore, this optimizes the voltage profile during later use in motor vehicles, which has an impact on durability.

[0015] The contour of the guide plate fits snugly against the sleeve. The guide plate is also preferably welded to the bearing sleeve, at least partially, by spot welding or partially by radial welding.

[0016] This results in the following advantage of the invention. Firstly, the bearing sleeve can be attached to the control arm particularly easily and with high precision from a manufacturing perspective, because the bearing sleeve is already positioned by the receiving opening and the contour of the guide plate and therefore only needs to be welded. Since two receiving openings are not formed in one piece by bending the base body, as is known in the prior art, production costs are reduced, particularly the bending effort. This reduces residual stresses in the base body, which is why the durability of the control arm according to the invention is improved compared to the prior art, both in the event of a crash and under continuous cyclic loading or bending stresses.

[0017] Furthermore, the contour of the guide plate encompasses the sleeve at an angle between 90° and 180°, preferably at an angle of 120° to 160°. This ensures a positive-locking support of the sleeve in the event of a crash or weld failure. In particular, this connection is located on the vehicle side, so that a supporting force is exerted from the bearing sleeve in the direction of the contour. The positive-locking engagement of the sleeve thus serves as further stabilization, meaning that the connection is not solely determined by the weld itself.

[0018] A further advantage arises as follows: bending stresses are introduced into the guide plate area by the forming process, which is disadvantageous. Welding the guide plate to the bearing sleeve creates a heat effect, which therefore homogenizes the bending stresses in this area, or rather, homogenizes the stresses introduced by the forming process. The stress distribution, especially under alternating bending loads, is thus improved, which in turn improves the service life of the control arm according to the invention.

[0019] Preferably, the bearing sleeve is welded to the receiving opening on a side facing away from the guide plate.

[0020] It is also preferred that the bearing sleeve is welded to the guide plate on one side facing away from the receiving opening. This simplifies the production process.

[0021] The main body section of the control arm can be manufactured from a sheet steel blank by cold forming. Introduced bending stresses can be homogenized by the heat input of welding. In particular, the control arm can be manufactured from a sheet steel blank having a thickness of 1.5 mm to 5 mm, preferably 2 mm to 4 mm, and most preferably greater than 3 mm to 4 mm.

[0022] Alternatively, the base body or base body area can be manufactured from a sheet steel blank with hot-formed press hardening. This allows for tensile strengths greater than 750 MPa, while maintaining sufficient ductility.

[0023] It is also possible for the base body area to have an additional locking plate. This locking plate can contribute to stiffening the control arm by incorporating further stiffening geometries, such as beads or ribs, in the base body area. Furthermore, the locking plate can also be applied only locally in areas requiring stiffening. The locking plate can also have openings / passages, as well as a bent flange. In this case, the control arm would be designed as a two-shell structure. However, according to the invention, the connection area of ​​the bearing sleeve is specifically designed on only one shell of the control arm, so that the guide plate and the receiving opening are arranged as a single shell, in particular as a single piece and made of a single material, on one shell of the control arm.

[0024] Additional bearing areas are present. These can be, for example, a receiving opening for a ball stud or screw-on openings for a ball joint or other bearing connections. According to the invention, at least one bearing area is designed with the previously described variant of the bearing sleeve. Other bearing mounts or fastenings are conceivable.

[0025] In In the base body area itself, but also in the transition area from the base body area to the bearing area according to the invention or to the receiving opening and / or the guide plate, stiffening geometries, for example in the form of stiffening beads, can be incorporated.

[0026] Further advantages, features, properties, and aspects of the present invention are the subject of the following description. Preferred embodiments are illustrated in schematic figures. These serve to facilitate understanding of the invention. They show Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a control arm according to the invention with an inserted bearing sleeve; Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the control arm, in particular of the bearing area according to the invention without a bearing sleeve; and Figure 3 shows a schematic end view of the guide plate and the opening plane.

[0027] In the figures, the same reference symbols are used for identical or similar components, even if a repeated description is omitted for the sake of simplicity.

[0028] Figure 1Figure 1 shows a control arm 1 according to the invention in a perspective view. The control arm 1 has a base body section 2, which extends essentially in an L-shape. In the vehicle X-plane, two vehicle-side bearing sections 3, 4 are arranged, and in the vehicle transverse direction Y, a wheel-side bearing section 5 is arranged. The wheel-side bearing section 5 is shown with a bolted-on ball joint 6. The base body section 2 has a base body plane 7. In the state shown here, the base body plane 7 is formed essentially in the region of the XY-plane. Edges or flanges 8, for example, are bent from this plane with respect to the vehicle vertical direction Z. The bearing section 4 according to the invention is characterized by an inserted bearing sleeve L. A receiving opening 9 is provided for this purpose.The receiving opening 9 is manufactured in one piece and from the base body area 2 itself, and is essentially represented by an opening plane 10, here oriented in the ZY plane. Preferably, the receiving opening 9 is manufactured in one piece and from a sheet of metal, made from the same material, at the base body plane simply by bending or by prior punching.

[0029] The opening plane 10, in which the receiving opening 9 lies, is thus arranged essentially perpendicular to the XY plane or to the base body plane 7.

[0030] The advantage of the invention is now in Figure 2 As shown, a guide plate 11 is arranged at a distance from the receiving opening 9, which lies in an opening plane 10. This guide plate 11 has a contour 12 that corresponds to the outer contour 13. Figure 1 is adapted to the bearing sleeve L. The contour 12 corresponds at least partially around the receiving opening 9. The in Figure 1The bearing sleeve L shown lies on contour 12 in Figure 2 The bearing sleeve L is positively engaged. A force acting in the transverse direction Y of the vehicle is thus supported between the bearing sleeve L and the contour 12. Welds (not shown) secure the bearing sleeve L both in the receiving opening 9 and to the guide plate 11.

[0031] Figure 3Figure 1 schematically shows a front view of the guide plate 11 and the opening plane 10. Both the guide plate 11 and the opening plane 10 are bent relative to the base body plane 7. However, relative to a vertical in the vehicle's Z-direction, the guide plate 11 is bent at an angle α and the opening plane 10 at an angle β, not completely perpendicular to the base body plane 7. The forming bending operation can therefore be performed with less force, resulting in less bending stress. In particular, the angle α and the angle β combined are preferably greater than 1 degree, more particularly greater than 2 degrees, but less than 15 degrees, more particularly less than 10 degrees. According to the invention, the opening plane 10 can also be formed substantially perpendicular to the base body plane 7, and the guide plate 11 can be formed with a correspondingly smaller angle α relative to a vertical.It has been shown according to the invention that even in later use with the continuous alternating stress of a control arm 1, this angular position has a positive effect on the stress distribution and the durability of the control arm 1 according to the invention is thereby increased. Reference symbol:

[0032] 1 - Control arm 2 - Base body area 3 - Bearing area 4 - Bearing area 5 - Wheel-side bearing area 6 - Ball joint 7 - Base body plane 8 - Flange 9 - Mounting opening 10 - Opening plane 11 - Guide plate 12 - Contour 13 - Outer contour to L L - Bearing sleeve X - Vehicle longitudinal direction Y - Vehicle transverse direction Z - Vehicle vertical direction

Claims

1. A transverse link (1) for arranging on an axle of a motor vehicle, wherein the transverse link (1) has a base body region (2) and a bearing sleeve (L), which is produced as a one-piece sheet metal component from a sheet metal blank, and the base body region (2) has three bearing portions (3, 4, 5) formed thereon, wherein the base body region (2) has two arms and a base body plane (7) is spanned by the arms and a base body region (2) has a one-piece and material-uniform bearing receptacle in a bearing region (4), which has a receiving opening (9) lying in an opening plane (10) which is substantially perpendicular to the base body plane, wherein the bearing sleeve (L) is inserted into the receiving opening (9) and welded at least in sections, wherein the receiving opening is a hole which completely surrounds the bearing sleeve (L) in a form-fitting manner, wherein the bearing receptacle is produced by bending relative to the base body plane (7) and in the bearing area (4) a guide plate (11) is formed in one piece and of the same material as the base body area (2), wherein the guide plate (11) has a receiving section and the receiving section has a contour (12), adapted in sections to the outer contour (13) of the bearing sleeve (L), for receiving the bearing sleeve (L), characterized in that the contour (12) is a circular section which surrounds the bearing sleeve (L) on an outer circumferential surface in an angular range between 90 and less than 180 degrees.

2. The transverse link (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the bearing sleeve (L) is welded to the receiving opening (9) and to the guide plate (11).

3. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing sleeve (L) is welded to the receiving opening (9) on a side facing away from the guide plate (11).

4. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing sleeve (L) is welded to the guide plate (11) on a side facing away from the receiving opening (9).

5. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bearing sleeve (L) bears in contact with the guide plate (11).

6. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base body region (2) is produced by cold forming from a steel sheet blank.

7. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the base body is made from a steel sheet blank by means of hot forming and press hardening.

8. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the opening plane (10) is arranged at an angle between 80° and 100°, preferably between 85° and 95°, and in particular at right angles to the base body plane (7).

9. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that further bearing areas are present, in particular a ball joint (6).

10. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base body region (2) is L-shaped.

11. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transition region from the base body to the receiving opening and / or to the guide plate (11) and / or the base body region (2) has stiffening geometries, in particular in the form of stiffening beads.

12. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide plate (11) and the opening plane (10) are arranged relative to one another at an angle of greater than 1, in particular greater than 2 degrees and less than 15 degrees, preferably less than 10 degrees.

13. The transverse link (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one locking plate is coupled to the base body region (2).

14. The transverse link (1) according to claim 13, characterized in that the locking plate has stiffening geometries and / or openings.