Bi-Material Socket Joint Bearing With Lattice Grease Grooves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Socket joints with metal Belleville washers are costly due to the expense of metal materials, and the movement of the stud ball into grease grooves can cause undesirable jarring and pinching.
Innovation Solution
A bearing with a bi-material design, featuring a metal inner shell surface and plastic outer shell portion, incorporates grease grooves that intersect and form a lattice pattern, eliminating the need for a Belleville washer and enhancing grease distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If metal Belleville washers are used for preload, then adequate preload capability is achieved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing shell is constructed with a composite structure: a metal inner shell surface (for durability and preload function) and a plastic outer shell portion (for cost reduction and corrosion resistance). This composite design eliminates the need for separate metal Belleville washers while maintaining adequate preload capability through the metal inner shell surface that directly contacts the stud.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the functions of the bearing shell and the Belleville washer preload element into a single integrated bearing structure. The metal inner shell surface performs both the bearing function and the preload function that would otherwise require a separate washer, simplifying the assembly and reducing part count.
2Ease of operation
If traditional grease groove design is used, then grease distribution is provided, but stud ball movement into grease grooves causes jarring and pinching
Solution Approach 1:
The grease grooves are designed to follow geodesic paths on the curved inner shell surface, creating a three-dimensional groove pattern that distributes grease across multiple dimensions. The grooves intersect to form a lattice structure with junction points, ensuring grease reaches all areas without creating deep channels that could trap the stud ball.
Solution Approach 2:
The grease groove pattern is designed as a lattice structure with multiple intersecting grooves that create redundant pathways for grease distribution. This lattice pattern ensures that grease is distributed uniformly across the bearing surface through multiple routes, preventing concentration in single areas that could cause ball movement.
Data Source
AI summary
A bearing for a socket joint incorporates an internal grease groove pattern which may help to interlock an outer shell portion that is also used as a preload. The bearing includes a first grease groove extends along an inner shell surface and a second grease groove extends along the inner shell surface. At least one of the first grease groove or the second grease groove extend between one or more of the end side and the exit side of the inner shell surface, and the first grease groove and the second grease groove at least partially intersect at a groove junction. In one implementation, one or more grease grooves at least partially follow a geodesic path, and in another implementation, one or more grease grooves fluidly cooperate with a grease channel located in an overhanging retention lip of an outer shell portion.