Damper Bearing Alignment in Wheelhouse Shock Absorber Assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In vehicle assembly, component and manufacturing tolerances often cause misalignment of screw holes and internal threads, leading to interference issues during the screwing of the damper bearing to the vehicle body, making the process unreliable and prone to errors.
Innovation Solution
A unified positioning aid, integrated as a one-piece component with the reinforcing element, ensures precise alignment of the damper bearing, reducing the tolerance chain and allowing for interference-free screwing by using a threaded plate or weld nut with internal threads, and positioning sheet metal tabs to guide the assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If separate positioning aid and reinforcing element are used, then assembly flexibility is maintained, but alignment precision deteriorates due to tolerance accumulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the positioning aid and reinforcing element into a single integrated component. The positioning aid is formed as one piece with the reinforcing element, eliminating the need for separate components and their associated tolerance accumulations. This merging ensures precise alignment between screw holes and internal threads while reducing the number of parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated component is designed with distinct functional zones: a positioning aid portion that ensures precise alignment and a reinforcing element portion that provides structural strength. This segmentation of functions within a unified structure allows each function to be optimized independently while maintaining overall precision.
2Reliability
If traditional separate components are used, then structural simplicity is maintained, but screwing reliability deteriorates due to interference contours
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the positioning aid and reinforcing element into one component, the patent eliminates alignment errors between separate parts that cause interference contours during screwing. The integrated design ensures that the positioning aid and reinforcing element work together seamlessly, guaranteeing reliable screwing operation.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple separate components are used, then manufacturing flexibility is maintained, but tolerance chain increases leading to misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates multiple components into a single integrated part, thereby eliminating the tolerance chain that accumulates when multiple separate components are assembled. The positioning aid and reinforcing element are manufactured as one piece, ensuring consistent alignment accuracy without the compounding effects of multiple manufacturing tolerances.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a bearing arrangement for a damper bearing (17) of a shock absorber (1) in a wheelhouse (7) of a vehicle, wherein a damper receptacle (5) is formed in a wheelhouse sheet-metal part (9) delimiting the wheelhouse (7), which damper receptacle is screw-connected (S) to the damper bearing (17) of the shock absorber (1), wherein a threaded bolt is guided through a damper bearing screw hole (21) and through a screw hole (23) of the damper receptacle (5) and the bolt tip of said threaded bolt is screwed together with an internal thread of a reinforcement element (25) which is arranged on the side of the damper receptacle (5) facing away from the wheelhouse (7), wherein a positioning aid (33) is associated with the damper receptacle (5), by means of which positioning aid the damper bearing (17) of the shock absorber (1) can be pre-positioned in an assembly process up to an installation position (E), in which the screw hole (21) of the damper bearing (17), the screw hole (23) of the damper receptacle (5) and the reinforcement element internal thread are oriented flush with respect to each other in a screw direction. According to the invention, the positioning aid (33) is a material-uniform and/or integral component of the reinforcement element (25), and therefore a relative position between the positioning aid (33) and the reinforcement element internal thread is fixed, specifically independently of component and/or production tolerances in the damper receptacle (5) and/or in the wheelhouse sheet-metal part (9).