Socket Joint Spacer Dimple Structure for Preload and Tolerance Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Managing stack up tolerances and maintaining a consistent preload in socket joints is challenging due to design limitations in spacers, which can lead to undesirable variations in preload and retention issues with dust boots.
Innovation Solution
A spacer with a complex dimple structure featuring alternating sets of dimples extending in opposite directions and offset waveform profiles is used to control stack up tolerances and improve telescoping crush performance, allowing for precise preload adjustment and enhanced dust boot retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a traditional spacer design is used, then the structure is simple, but stack up tolerances cannot be effectively controlled and preload precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer body is segmented into multiple dimple features (first set and second set of dimples) with different orientations and depths. This segmentation allows independent control of deformation characteristics in different regions, enabling precise adjustment of stack up tolerances and preload forces without requiring a completely complex redesign of the entire spacer structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the spacer are given different local qualities through the dimple configurations. The first set of dimples creates different deformation characteristics than the second set, allowing localized control over how the spacer compresses and distributes load. This local differentiation enables precise preload control while maintaining overall structural simplicity.
2Manufacturing precision
If the spacer uses a complex dimple structure with multiple sets of dimples, then stack up tolerances are reduced and preload control is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functional features (first set of dimples, second set of dimples, waveform profiles) are merged into a single integrated spacer body. This combining of multiple tolerance-control mechanisms into one component achieves superior stack up tolerance control while avoiding the need for multiple separate parts, thereby maintaining reasonable manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The dimples are formed with curved, waveform profiles rather than simple geometric shapes. These curved features provide gradual deformation characteristics that improve tolerance control. The curvature is achieved through standard forming processes, balancing manufacturing ease with performance requirements.
3Reliability
If the spacer compresses uniformly, then the structure is simple, but dust boot retention is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The compression function is segmented into multiple dimple features that deform at different rates and directions. This segmented compression creates a more complex deformation pattern that provides better mechanical interlocking with the dust boot, improving retention without requiring additional retention features or structures.
Data Source
AI summary
A spacer for a socket joint includes a plurality of dimples to help promote a more strategic telescoping crush when installed. The body of the spacer has a plurality of radial vectors extending radially from the inner diameter to the outer diameter. The body includes a first set of dimples with one or more dimples projecting in a first direction from the body, and a second set of dimples with one or more dimples projecting in a second direction from the body. The first direction is different from the second direction, and a first dimple from the first set of dimples and a second dimple from the second set of dimples are at least partially aligned along one radial vector of the plurality of radial vectors.