Air Spring Bellows Clamping Ring Guide Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air spring devices with double rolling folds face challenges in securely and easily attaching an external guide, particularly when designed for long service life, as traditional methods like gluing or vulcanizing lack durability and require significant assembly effort.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an inner clamping ring with a larger outer diameter than the air spring bellows, which creates a radially outward bulge, allowing for secure attachment of the external guide using methods like shrinking, clamping, or gluing, and ensuring durability through the ring's solid shape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional attachment methods (gluing or vulcanizing) are used to attach the external guide to the air spring bellows, then the attachment can be achieved, but the durability is insufficient and assembly effort is significant
Solution Approach 1:
The inner clamping ring is pre-installed onto the air spring bellows during the bellows manufacturing process before the external guide is attached. This preliminary action creates a pre-formed clamping structure that simplifies subsequent assembly and ensures durable attachment without requiring complex assembly operations later.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner clamping ring serves as an intermediary component between the air spring bellows and the external guide. It provides a mechanical interface that enables secure attachment of the external guide while distributing forces evenly, thereby improving both durability and ease of assembly.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If thin-walled rolling bellows are used to improve suspension comfort and reduce harshness, then harshness behavior is improved, but load-bearing capacity is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The air spring system combines thin-walled elastomeric bellows with a rigid outer guide structure to create a composite system. The thin bellows provide excellent harshness characteristics while the rigid outer guide compensates for the reduced load-bearing capacity, achieving both comfort and strength requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The thin-walled bellows are used in regions where flexibility and harshness reduction are most beneficial, while the rigid outer guide provides structural support and load-bearing capacity where needed. This local differentiation of material properties optimizes both comfort and strength.
3Device complexity
If the outer guide is designed to be attached only by the air spring bellows itself, then the structure is simplified, but fastening becomes difficult and service life is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment system is segmented into three distinct components: the air spring bellows, the inner clamping ring, and the outer guide. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and assembled in a straightforward sequence, maintaining simplicity while ensuring reliable fastening through the specialized clamping ring interface.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates easy and secure attachment of the external guide to air spring devices, enhancing durability and reducing assembly complexity, suitable for various vehicle applications with thin, high-pressure capable bellows.
Implementation Method 1
the air spring bellows is expandable in a radial outward direction under an internal pressure
Implementation Method 2
the inner clamping ring creates a radially outward-pointing circumferential bulge in the unpressurized air spring bellows
Implementation Method 3
the outer guide is to be attached to the outer surface of the air spring bellows by means of the inner clamping ring in a force-fit and/or form-fit manner
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an air spring device having a free-standing air spring bellows and an outer guide which is fastened to the air spring bellows by means of an inner clamping ring, wherein the outer diameter of the inner clamping ring is greater than the outer diameter of the air spring bellows in the unpressurized state, and the inner clamping ring generates a radially outwardly pointing encircling bulge in the unpressurized air spring bellows.