Manufacturing method of arm member

Abstract

To provide an arm member capable of ensuring the holding strength of a ball part by means of a swaging part of a housing, and also to provide a method for manufacturing the same.SOLUTION: An arm member 1 includes a ball joint 2 and an arm section 3. The ball joint 2 has a ball stud 5 provided with a ball portion 6. The ball joint 2 has a housing 15, which is provided with a swaging part 28, the ball portion 6 being held inside of the housing by deformation of the swaging part 28. The arm section 3 has an arm section body 30 formed from a discontinuous fiber-reinforced resin and continuing to the housing 15. The arm section 3 has a cover portion 31 formed from a continuous fiber-reinforced resin and covering at least a portion of the swaging part 28.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a ball joint having a receiving member with a crimping portion and an arm portion formed connected to the receiving member. Material It relates to a manufacturing method. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in steering devices and suspension devices for vehicles such as automobiles, parts that are made partially from fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) to reduce weight have been used.

[0003] For example, there is a suspension arm formed by hot pressing discontinuous fiber reinforced resin (random chopped material). In order to ensure the strength of such a suspension arm, it is necessary to use a large amount of discontinuous fiber reinforced resin, which results in a problem that weight reduction cannot be achieved. Therefore, a suspension arm that achieves both improved strength and weight reduction by disposing continuous fiber reinforced resin on the surface of discontinuous fiber reinforced resin is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6408851 (pages 5-8, Figure 6) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the case of a suspension arm as described in Patent Document 1, a ball joint is provided at the end of the arm. When the ball joint rotatably holds a ball portion housed inside by crimping and deforming a part of the housing, which is the receiving member, it is necessary to prevent the crimped part from opening due to an external load input to the ball portion, causing the ball portion to fall out of the housing. This problem also occurs in arm members other than suspension arms.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides an arm portion capable of ensuring the holding strength of the ball portion by the crimping portion of the receiving member. Material The object is to provide a manufacturing method. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The arm member according to claim 1. Manufacturing method the ball joint includes a ball side member having a ball portion, and a receiving side member having a crimping portion and holding the ball portion therein by deformation of the crimping portion, and an arm portion including an arm main body portion formed of discontinuous fiber reinforced resin and connected to the receiving side member, and a covering portion formed of continuous fiber reinforced resin and covering at least a portion of the crimping portion. The method for manufacturing an arm member includes a crimping step of crimping and deforming the crimped portion with the ball portion inserted into the receiving member to hold the ball portion inside the receiving member, and a molding step of hot-pressing discontinuous fiber reinforced resin and continuous fiber reinforced resin to form the arm portion main body and the covering portion after the crimping step. It is something.

[0008] The arm member according to claim 2. Manufacturing method The arm member according to claim 1 Manufacturing method In The arm member is Receiving part but The receiving member further includes a cylindrical receiving member body and a blocking member for covering one end of the receiving member body. but The receiving member is formed on one end side of the receiving member main body portion and fixes the blocking member to the receiving member main body portion by crimping deformation.

[0009] The arm member according to claim 3. Manufacturing method The arm member according to claim 1 or 2 Manufacturing method In The arm member is Covering part but, which covers at least a part of the surface of the arm body adjacent to the crimping portion. 。 Effect of the Invention

[0010] The arm member according to claim 1. Manufacturing method According to The molding process of the arm body and the covering portion is not hindered by the crimping process that crimps and deforms the crimped portion, and the covering portion that covers at least a portion of the crimped portion can be easily formed.

[0011] The arm member according to claim 2. Manufacturing method According to the arm member of claim 1, Manufacturing method of In addition to this effect, the covering portion prevents the blocking member from falling off from the main body portion of the receiving member, and the ball portion can be securely held inside the receiving member.

[0012] The arm member according to claim 3. Manufacturing method According to the arm member of claim 1 or 2, Manufacturing method In addition to the above effects, since the covering portion is disposed in a continuous manner from the arm body portion to the crimping portion, the strength of the covering portion against an external load input to the ball portion can be improved, and the holding strength of the ball portion by the crimping portion of the receiving member can be improved. 。 [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an arm member according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 2] 1A is a perspective view showing an example of the same arm member, FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing another example of the same arm member, FIG. 1C is a perspective view showing yet another example of the same arm member, and FIG. 1D is a perspective view showing yet another example of the same arm member. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] In Fig. 1, 1 denotes an arm member. In this embodiment, the arm member 1 is a vehicle arm member used, for example, in a steering device or suspension device of an automobile. The arm member 1 is a ball joint device including a ball joint 2 and an arm portion 3 molded integrally with the ball joint 2. The arm member 1 may be any object, but is preferably used, for example, in a tie rod end shown in Fig. 2(a), a linear multi-link suspension arm also called an I-arm shown in Fig. 2(b), an upper arm or lower arm of a double wishbone suspension shown in Fig. 2(c), a lower arm of a MacPherson strut suspension shown in Fig. 2(d), and the like.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1, the ball joint 2 includes a ball stud 5 which is a ball-side member. The ball stud 5 is formed into an axial shape from, for example, steel or the like. The ball stud 5 has a ball portion 6 at one end, and an axial (cylindrical) stud portion 7 protrudes from the ball portion 6 to the other end. The stud portion 7 is connected to an external connected member (not shown). In the following, in this embodiment, for clarity of explanation, the ball portion 6 side will be described as one end side or lower side, and the stud portion 7 side will be described as the other end side or upper side, but the up-down direction of the arm member 1 will be set appropriately according to the orientation and angle at which it is installed.

[0017] The ball portion 6 is rotatably held by a bearing seat 8, which is a sliding member. The bearing seat 8 is formed in a cylindrical shape from synthetic resin. In this embodiment, the bearing seat 8 has a two-piece structure. That is, the illustrated bearing seat 8 has a first seat member 10 and a second seat member 11. The first seat member 10 rotatably holds the ball portion 6 in a range extending from the equator position E to the upper side. Here, the equator position E of the ball portion 6 is a position where the ball portion 6 has the maximum diameter in the axial direction of the ball stud 5. The second seat member 11 is inserted into the lower end side of the first seat member 10. The second seat member 11 rotatably holds the ball portion 6 in a range below the equator position E. In the illustrated example, the second seat member 11 has a lubricant reservoir 13 recessed at a position on the inner circumferential side facing the outer circumferential surface of the ball portion 6.

[0018] The bearing seat 8, together with the ball portion 6, is housed in a housing 15, which is a receiving member. The housing 15 is also called a socket, and is made of metal formed by forging or casting. In this embodiment, the housing 15 has a housing body 17, which is a cylindrical receiving member body, and a plug 18, which is a closing member that closes an end of the housing body 17. The housing body 17 and the plug 18 fit the bearing seat 8 inside the housing 15 to form an internal chamber that houses and holds the bearing seat 8.

[0019] The housing body 17 is formed in the shape of a right cylinder having constant or approximately constant inner and outer diameters. Both ends of the housing body 17 are open, the lower end is closed by a plug 18, and the upper end forms an opening 20 that communicates with the inner chamber. The stud portion 7 of the ball stud 5 protrudes upward from the opening 20. The inner circumferential surface of the housing body 17 gradually narrows toward the opening 20. The opening 20 widens upward.

[0020] The opening 20 is covered by a dust cover 22. The dust cover 22 is formed into a cylindrical shape from an elastic member. The dust cover 22 is attached across the outer circumferential surface of the housing body 17 and the stud portion 7 of the ball stud 5. The dust cover 22 has a lower end fixed to the housing body 17 and an upper end pressed against the outer circumferential surface of the stud portion 7. In the illustrated example, the lower end of the dust cover 22 is fitted into a mounting groove 23 formed on the outer circumferential surface of the housing body 17, and is fastened and fixed to the mounting groove 23 by a clip 24 such as an annular clip, which is a fixing member. In this embodiment, the mounting groove 23 is formed at a position near the upper end of the outer circumferential surface of the housing body 17.

[0021] Further, a slip-out prevention portion 26 that increases the contact area with the arm portion 3 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the housing main body 17. The slip-out prevention portion 26 is formed in a stepped shape. In the present embodiment, the slip-out prevention portion 26 is formed as a protrusion that protrudes outward from the outer peripheral surface of the housing main body 17. In the illustrated example, the slip-out prevention portion 26 is located in the center of the housing main body 17 in the up-down direction, which is the axial direction.

[0022] The plug 18 forms the bottom of the housing 15. The plug 18 holds the bearing seat 8 inside the housing 15 by closing the lower end of the housing body 17. The plug 18 is located axially opposite the ball portion 6 with the bearing seat 8 interposed between them, and is the part of the housing 15 that receives the greatest load from the ball stud 5 side.

[0023] The plug 18 is formed in an annular or disc shape (disk shape). In this embodiment, the central portion of the plug 18 is formed to be recessed downward. The lower end portion of the bearing seat 8 abuts against the plug 18. In this embodiment, the lower ends of the first seat member 10 and the second seat member 11 abut against the plug 18.

[0024] The plug 18 has an outer edge supported by a support portion 27 formed on the lower end side of the housing body 17. The support portion 27 is formed in a groove shape on the inner circumferential surface (inner chamber) of the housing body 17. The support portions 27 are formed continuously in the circumferential direction of the housing body 17. The plug 18 is held and fixed to the housing body 17 by crimping deformation of the crimping portion 28. The crimping portion 28 is formed on the lower end of the housing body 17 close to the support portion 27. The crimping portion 28 is crimped and deformed toward the central axis side to sandwich the outer edge of the plug 18 between the support portion 27 and the plug 18 from above and below.

[0025] The crimping portion 28 is not deformed at the time when the housing body portion 17 is formed, and is aligned along the axial direction of the housing body portion 17. When the plug 18 is fixed to the housing body portion 17, the crimping portion 28 is crimped and deformed so as to fall toward the central axis of the housing body portion 17.

[0026] The arm portion 3 is formed integrally with the housing 15. The arm portion 3 is molded from synthetic resin, in this embodiment from fiber reinforced resin. The arm portion 3 is formed to extend elongatedly in the direction perpendicular to the axis relative to the housing 15. In this embodiment, a ball joint 2 is formed at one end in the longitudinal direction of the arm portion 3. As shown in Figs. 2(a) to 2(d), a connection portion 29 such as a female thread portion or a bush portion may be formed at the other end in the longitudinal direction of the arm portion 3.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, the arm 3 has an arm body 30 connected to the housing 15. The arm body 30 is formed to cover a range of a predetermined vertical width including the central portion in the axial direction, i.e., the vertical direction, of the outer peripheral surface of the housing body 17 of the housing 15. In this embodiment, the arm body 30 is formed to cover a range of a predetermined vertical width including the slip-out prevention portion 26 of the housing body 17. The crimping portion 28 protrudes downward from the lower portion of the arm body 30, and the upper end side of the housing body 17 including the mounting groove 23 protrudes upward from the upper portion of the arm body 30. That is, both ends of the housing 15 of the ball joint 2 protrude from the arm body 30.

[0028] The arm body 30 is formed of discontinuous fiber reinforced resin. In this embodiment, the discontinuous fiber reinforced resin is a thermoplastic resin containing discontinuous fibers. The discontinuous fibers refer to chopped fibers in which continuous fibers are cut to a predetermined length. As the discontinuous fibers, for example, discontinuous carbon fibers are preferably used.

[0029] The covering portion 31 is integrally formed with the arm body 30. The covering portion 31 is formed in a layer shape having a thickness smaller than that of the arm body 30 in the vertical direction. The covering portion 31 covers at least a part of the crimping portion 28 of the housing 15. That is, the covering portion 31 in this embodiment is located at the lower part of the arm body 30. In this embodiment, the covering portion 31 covers at least a part of the crimping portion 28 and at least a part of the lower surface of the arm body 30 adjacent to the crimping portion 28 in a continuous manner. Preferably, the covering portion 31 covers the entire crimping portion 28, at least a part of the plug 18, and the lower surface of the arm body 30 in a continuous manner. In the illustrated example, the covering portion 31 covers the lower surface of the plug 18 including the entire crimping portion 28, and the entire lower surface and the entire side surface of the arm body 30 in a continuous manner. That is, the covering portion 31 in this embodiment continuously covers the entire surface of the arm body 30 except for the upper surface.

[0030] The covering portion 31 is formed of a sheet-shaped continuous fiber reinforced resin (prepreg). The continuous fiber reinforced resin is formed in advance into a sheet shape by impregnating continuous fibers with a thermoplastic resin. The continuous fibers may be a unidirectional material (UD prepreg) arranged so as to be continuous in one predetermined direction, or a woven material (cross prepreg) arranged so as to be continuous in two predetermined directions that intersect with each other. As the continuous fibers, for example, continuous carbon fibers are preferably used.

[0031] Next, a manufacturing method of the arm member 1 will be described.

[0032] When manufacturing the arm member 1, first, the ball joint 2 is assembled. The ball joint 2 is arranged so that the bearing seat 8 that rotatably holds the ball portion 6 is housed inside the housing 15 (arrangement process). In the arrangement process, the bearing seat 8 may be molded in advance and fitted to the outer circumferential surface of the ball portion 6, or may be injection molded using the ball portion 6 as a core. In addition, the housing 15 may have a housing main body 17 molded in advance and the ball portion 6 and the bearing seat 8 assembled inside the housing main body 17, or the housing main body 17 may be cast using the ball portion 6 and the bearing seat 8 as a core. The stud portion 7 may be molded in advance integrally with the ball portion 6, or may be connected to the ball portion 6 in a post-process such as welding.

[0033] Next, the plug 18 is placed on the support portion 27 of the housing body 17, and the crimping portion 28 is crimped and deformed to fix the plug 18 to the housing body 17 so as not to come off (crimping process).

[0034] Thereafter, the housing 15 deformed by crimping the crimped portion 28 is set in a mold, and the discontinuous fiber reinforced resin and the continuous fiber reinforced resin are set in the mold and heated and pressurized to hot press mold the arm portion 3 into a predetermined shape that covers at least a part of the crimped portion 28 (molding process). In the case of the arm member 1 having a connection portion 29 such as a bush portion, the bush portion or the like is also set in the mold when the housing 15 is set in the mold.

[0035] Then, the dust cover 22 is attached from the housing 15 to the stud portion 7 and fastened and fixed by the clip 24 (attaching step), and the arm member 1 is completed.

[0036] In the arm member 1 manufactured in this manner, the arm portion 3 is composed of an arm portion main body 30 formed from discontinuous fiber reinforced resin and a covering portion 31 formed from continuous fiber reinforced resin, and covering portion 31 covers at least a part of crimped portion 28, so that the strength (tensile strength) of covering portion 31 acts as a resistance force against the return deformation of crimped portion 28 against a downward load from the outside input to ball portion 6, i.e., a load that attempts to return the crimped deformation of crimped portion 28, and therefore it is possible to ensure the holding strength of ball portion 6 by crimped portion 28 of housing 15. In other words, it is possible to prevent crimped portion 28 from opening due to an external load input to ball portion 6, and it is possible to reliably hold ball portion 6 inside housing 15.

[0037] In particular, when manufacturing the arm member 1, first, with the ball portion 6 inserted into the housing 15, the crimping portion 28 is crimped and deformed to retain the ball portion 6 inside the housing 15, and then the discontinuous fiber reinforced resin and the continuous fiber reinforced resin are hot press molded to form the arm portion main body portion 30 and the covering portion 31. Therefore, the molding process of the arm portion main body portion 30 and the covering portion 31 is not hindered by the crimping process of crimping and deforming the crimping portion 28, and the covering portion 31 that covers at least a portion of the crimping portion 28 can be easily formed.

[0038] The housing 15 is formed of a housing main body 17 and a plug 18 covering one end side of the housing main body 17, and a crimping portion 28 is formed on one end side of the housing main body 17. The plug 18 is fixed to the housing main body 17 by crimping deformation of the crimping portion 28. This configuration prevents the plug 18 from falling off the housing main body 17 by the covering portion 31, and makes it possible to securely hold the ball portion 6 inside the housing 15.

[0039] Since the covering portion 31 covers at least a portion of the surface of the arm portion main body portion 30 adjacent to the crimping portion 28, the covering portion 31 is arranged in a continuous manner from the arm portion main body portion 30 to the crimping portion 28, thereby improving the strength of the covering portion 31 against a downward external load input into the ball portion 6, i.e., a load that attempts to restore the crimped deformation of the crimping portion 28, and improving the holding strength of the ball portion 6 by the crimping portion 28 of the housing 15.

[0040] In the above embodiment, the housing 15 is not limited to a configuration consisting of a housing main body 17 and a plug 18, but may be similarly applied to a configuration in which the housing 15 is formed in advance into a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and the opening side of the housing 15 is crimped and deformed into a crimping portion 28.

[0041] Furthermore, the arm member 1 may be used in any device, not limited to a steering device or a suspension device of a vehicle. [Industrial Applicability]

[0042] The present invention is suitably used in, for example, steering devices or suspension devices of automobiles. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 1 Arm member 2 Ball joint 3 Arm section 5 Ball stud, which is the ball side component 6 Ball section 15 Housing which is the receiving member 17 Housing body portion which is the receiving member body portion 18 Plug as a blocking member 28 Crimping part 30 Arm body 31 Covering section

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing an arm member comprising: a ball joint having a ball side member having a ball portion, and a receiving side member having a crimping portion and holding the ball portion therein by deformation of the crimping portion; an arm portion having an arm portion main body portion formed from discontinuous fiber reinforced resin and connected to the receiving side member, and a covering portion formed from continuous fiber reinforced resin and covering at least a portion of the crimping portion, a crimping step of crimping and deforming the crimping portion while the ball portion is inserted into the receiving member, thereby holding the ball portion inside the receiving member; a molding step of forming the arm body and the covering portion by hot press molding the discontinuous fiber reinforced resin and the continuous fiber reinforced resin after the crimping step; A manufacturing method of an arm member comprising:

2. The arm member further comprises a receiving side member having a cylindrical receiving side member main body portion and a blocking member covering one end side of the receiving side member main body portion, and a crimping portion is formed on one end side of the receiving side member main body portion, and the blocking member is fixed to the receiving side member main body portion by crimping deformation. The method for manufacturing an arm member according to claim 1 .

3. The arm member has a covering portion that covers at least a portion of the surface of the arm body portion adjacent to the crimping portion.

3. The method for manufacturing an arm member according to claim 1 or 2.

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