Socket Assembly Integrated Bearing Preload Unit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing socket assemblies for vehicle steering and suspension systems require multiple components and separate biasing elements, leading to complex assembly processes, potential misalignment, and dimensional tolerance issues.
Innovation Solution
A socket assembly with a bearing piece and a preload piece made of different materials, where the preload piece is overmolded with the bearing piece to provide a biasing force, reducing the number of parts and simplifying assembly, and utilizing a ball stud with a semi-spherically curved surface for improved contact and alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate biasing elements (washer springs) are used to preload the bearing, then the bearing can maintain surface-to-surface contact with the stud, but the assembly process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the bearing and biasing element into a single integrated bearing assembly. The bearing element and biasing element are molded together as one unit, eliminating the need for separate installation steps. This merging resolves the contradiction by maintaining the preload function (reliability) while eliminating the complexity of assembling multiple separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated bearing assembly serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides bearing support, maintains surface-to-surface contact through the biasing element, and eliminates the need for separate alignment and assembly operations. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by achieving reliability goals without the associated assembly complexity.
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate components are assembled in the housing, then each component can be optimized independently, but manufacturing time and inventory costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing element and biasing element are combined into a single molded part that can be installed as one unit. This eliminates the need to manage multiple components in inventory and reduces assembly time, directly addressing the productivity concern while maintaining manufacturing flexibility through the molding process.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing and biasing element are pre-assembled into a single integrated component during the molding process. This preliminary action eliminates the need for separate assembly operations later, reducing manufacturing time and simplifying inventory management while preserving the ability to optimize the design during the molding stage.
3Manufacturing precision
If separate bearing and preload pieces are inserted into the housing, then dimensional tolerances can be adjusted independently, but misalignment and improper installation become more likely
Solution Approach 1:
By molding the bearing element and biasing element together as a single integrated assembly, the patent eliminates alignment issues between separate components. The pre-assembled unit ensures proper positioning and orientation, resolving the contradiction by improving installation accuracy while maintaining the ability to control dimensional tolerances during the molding process.
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 reduces manufacturing time and costs, minimizes the risk of misalignment, and maintains surface-to-surface contact through elastic compression, enhancing the assembly process and performance by integrating the bearing and preload pieces as a single unit.
Implementation Method 1
a preload piece which is elastically compressed to impart a biasing force on the bearing piece, thereby preloading the bearing piece against the stud
Implementation Method 2
the overmolding connection includes a fusion of the materials of the bearing and preload pieces
Data Source
AI summary
The socket assembly includes a housing that presents an inner wall which surrounds an open bore. A stud is partially received in the open bore with a bearing interposed between the inner wall and the stud. The bearing has a bearing piece, which is in surface-to-surface contact with the stud, and a preload piece which is elastically compressed to impart a biasing force on the bearing piece, thereby preloading the bearing piece against the stud. The preload piece is in an overmolded engagement with the bearing piece to securely couple these pieces together such that the bearing can be inserted into the open bore of the housing together as a unit. The bearing and preload pieces are made of different materials with different elasticities.