Inclined Housing Assembly Alignment With Conical Guide Sleeves
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Solution Overview
Problem
The accurate alignment of housing parts with inclined interface planes is challenging due to shear forces, leading to misalignment and deformation, which affects the performance of mass balance systems in internal combustion engines, particularly in the fitting of bearings and their bore holes.
Innovation Solution
The use of conical guide sleeves in assembly holes of one housing part to guide and imprint on the contact surface of the other housing part, ensuring precise alignment and maintaining the roundness of bore holes during assembly and disassembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If straight sleeves are used to fit in assembly holes of both housing parts, then alignment of structures in housing parts is intended to be achieved, but tolerance requirements are difficult to overcome and simultaneous fitting is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs conical guide sleeves with a tapered geometry instead of straight cylindrical sleeves. The conical shape allows the sleeves to be inserted at an angle and gradually self-align as they are driven home, eliminating the need for extremely tight tolerances required by straight sleeves. The converging walls of the cone guide the assembly process and accommodate minor misalignments, making the assembly process significantly easier while maintaining precise alignment of the housing parts.
2Strength
If housing parts are assembled with inclined interface plane, then connection between housing parts is achieved, but shear force causes housing halves to slide and misalign structures
Solution Approach 1:
The conical guide sleeves act as intermediary elements between the two housing parts. During assembly, these sleeves transmit and distribute the assembly forces through their tapered geometry, mediating the interaction between the inclined interface planes. The conical shape allows the sleeves to accommodate the sliding tendency caused by shear forces while maintaining the intended alignment of structures, effectively decoupling the connection function from the alignment function.
3Ease of repair
If housing parts are disassembled and reassembled, then maintenance and repair are enabled, but alignment accuracy is lost without permanent deformation marking
Solution Approach 1:
The conical guide sleeves perform the alignment action preliminarily during the assembly process. As the sleeves are inserted into the assembly holes and driven home, they automatically establish the correct relative position and orientation of the housing parts before final tightening occurs. This preliminary alignment action ensures that even after disassembly and reassembly, the housing parts return to their precise original alignment without requiring permanent deformation markings or complex alignment procedures.
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
This solution improves the alignment and roundness of bore holes, reducing vibration-induced noise and extending the lifespan of engine parts by maintaining the accuracy of the housing assembly even after disassembly and reassembly.
Implementation Method 1
the conical portion of the conical guide sleeve imprint on a contact surface on a contact surface of a respective assembly though-hole of the other housing part. The imprint is a permanent deformation on the contact surface.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a housing assembly (1;100) comprising a first housing part (3;104) and a second housing part (5;106) separable from each other, and adapted to be mounted together at an inclined connecting plane (7;155); The invention further relates to a mass balance system for an internal combustion engine of a vehicle, and to a method for manufacturing a housing assembly configured to accommodate a bearing.