Ball Joint Housing Channel for Sealing Bellows Attachment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Ball joints with sealing bellows face challenges in providing adequate sealing and holding force due to the high cost and insufficient attachment of clamping or claw rings, which often fail to prevent moisture and dirt ingress effectively.
Innovation Solution
A ring-shaped channel in the ball joint housing with a housing-side connecting region and a holding element that provides a form-fit or clamping attachment for the sealing bellows, ensuring it cannot be pulled out, combined with a labyrinth seal design to enhance sealing and holding force.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If clamping rings or claw rings are used to attach the sealing bellows to the housing, then the sealing bellows can be attached to the housing, but the attachment cost increases and the holding function becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the separate clamping rings or claw rings from the attachment system. Instead, the channel itself in the housing provides the clamping function through its geometric design (narrower opening than the connecting region), eliminating the need for additional fastening components and reducing structural complexity while maintaining reliable attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The channel is designed to combine multiple functions: it serves as both the mounting structure for the sealing bellows and the clamping mechanism. The connecting region of the sealing bellows is received in the channel, and the channel's geometry (wider at the base, narrower at the opening) provides both support and retention, merging the functions of mounting and fastening into a single integrated structure.
2Reliability
If traditional attachment methods are used, then the sealing bellows can be mounted, but the effective sealing surface area is reduced and sealing performance is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The channel is designed with a tapered geometry where the outer radius at the channel bottom is greater than the outer radius at the free end. This dimensional variation creates an interference fit between the connecting region of the sealing bellows and the channel walls, increasing the sealing surface area along the tapered interface and improving sealing performance through enhanced contact in the radial dimension.
Data Source
AI summary
In a ball joint with a housing, a ball stud which includes a ball head mounted in the housing, and with a sealing bellows which includes a ring-shaped housing-side connecting region, it is provided that at the housing a ring-shaped channel is provided, in which the housing-side connecting region is accommodated, wherein the outer radius of the channel at the channel bottom is greater than the outer radius at the free edge of the channel, and on the housing-side connecting region of the sealing bellows at least one holding element made of a rigid material is provided, which in particular in a top view in longitudinal direction of the ball stud is at least partly covered by the free edge of the channel.