Steering Gear Fixed Bearing with Torsion Web Load Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Power-assisted steering systems in vehicles face issues with gear play due to construction tolerances and thermal expansion, leading to undesirable noises during alternating steering maneuvers, and existing solutions that embed torsion webs in plastics materials can cause local stresses and material failure.
Innovation Solution
A steering gear design featuring a pinion shaft mounted in a fixed bearing with a rotary bearing and a floating bearing, where the bearing sleeve is partially or fully made of plastics material with fiber reinforcement, and torsion webs extend through openings in the sleeve to avoid material overload, allowing for functional deformation without contact with delimitation faces, and a connection element transmits restoring torque from the fixed bearing to the floating bearing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If torsion webs are embedded in plastics material of the bearing sleeve, then the bearing sleeve can be produced as an integral component, but the torsion webs cannot functionally deform and the plastics material is overloaded leading to failure
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing sleeve is segmented into multiple parts: a plastics material bearing sleeve body and separate metal bearing rings (inner and outer rings) that receive the torsion webs. This segmentation allows the torsion webs to remain accessible and functionally deformable while the plastics material bearing sleeve provides structural support and can be produced using injection molding techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
Metal bearing rings are introduced as intermediary components between the plastics material bearing sleeve and the torsion webs. These bearing rings receive and support the torsion webs, allowing them to functionally deform without being embedded in or overloaded by the plastics material, while still being held in position by the plastics material bearing sleeve.
2Weight of moving object
If the bearing sleeve is made entirely of plastics material, then component weight is reduced and production is simplified, but the bearing sleeve cannot withstand the loads and experiences material failure
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing sleeve is designed as a composite structure combining plastics material and metal components. The plastics material bearing sleeve provides lightweight structural support and can be produced by injection molding, while metal bearing rings are integrated into the plastics material bearing sleeve to provide the necessary load-bearing capacity and durability for withstanding operational loads.
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 design minimizes noise and prevents material overload, enabling efficient and durable operation of the steering gear by distributing loads effectively and reducing the risk of plastics material failure, while also simplifying production and reducing component weight.
Implementation Method 1
the elastic restoring action generated on account thereof causes the spring action on the pinion shaft
Implementation Method 2
a ball bearing which receives the pinion shaft in the region of the fixed bearing
Data Source
AI summary
A steering gear for a steering system of a motor vehicle includes a casing, a toothed gear, a pinion that meshes with the toothed gear, and a pinion shaft that comprises the pinion. The pinion shaft is mounted in a fixed bearing which comprises a rotary bearing in which the pinion shaft is received and which is received in a plastic bearing sleeve. The fixed bearing includes a pivot ring, which has outer and inner rings that are pivotably connected via one or more torsion webs. The torsion webs each extend through an opening in the bearing sleeve. The opening is defined by delimiting surfaces in which at least one of those delimiting surfaces is configured to prevent mechanical overloading of the plastic in the region of said delimiting surfaces as a result of contact with the torsion webs that are functionally deformed during the operation of the steering gear.