Steering Column Spindle With Metal Core and Plastic Thread
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing steering column adjusting drives face complexity in production and limited long-term dimensional stability due to the use of plastic materials, which are not suitable for the variable operating conditions in motor vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A steering column adjusting drive featuring a threaded spindle with a metallic core element surrounded by a plastics threaded element, where the core element provides high strength and thermal conductivity, and the plastics threaded element offers low play and smooth operation, with effective heat dissipation to prevent material degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a threaded spindle is made entirely from plastics material, then production time is reduced and manufacturing is simplified, but long-term dimensional stability and load-bearing capability are insufficient under variable operating conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The threaded spindle is constructed as a composite component with a metallic core element providing structural strength and dimensional stability, surrounded by an overmolded plastics material that provides damping and low play. This composite structure combines the advantages of both materials to resolve the contradiction between ease of manufacture and long-term reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The plastics material is overmolded directly onto the metallic core element, creating a nested structure where the plastics layer surrounds and protects the metallic core. This nested design allows the core to provide structural integrity while the outer layer provides operational smoothness and reduces play, achieving both manufacturing efficiency and long-term stability.
2Ease of manufacture
If a threaded spindle is made entirely from plastics material, then production complexity is reduced, but load-bearing capability is insufficient for steering column adjusting drives
Solution Approach 1:
The threaded spindle combines a metallic core element with high load-bearing capability with an overmolded plastics material. The metallic core provides the necessary strength for steering column adjusting drives, while the plastics layer reduces manufacturing complexity and provides operational benefits such as low play and smooth operation.
3Productivity
If plastics material is used for the threaded spindle, then production time is reduced, but heat dissipation capability is insufficient leading to material degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The metallic core element serves as an internal heat sink that conducts heat away from the plastics material during operation. This thermal management capability prevents material degradation while maintaining the production time benefits of using plastics material for the threaded spindle.
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
The solution reduces production complexity, enhances load-bearing capability, and ensures long-term stability and reliability by using a metallic core element for strength and thermal management, while the plastics threaded element provides smooth and precise adjustment with reduced noise and vibration.
Implementation Method 1
the core element provides high strength and thermal conductivity, and the plastics threaded element offers low play and smooth operation, with effective heat dissipation to prevent material degradation
Data Source
AI summary
An adjusting drive for a steering column for a motor vehicle may include a threaded spindle that by way of an external thread engages in a spindle nut. The adjusting drive may also include a drive motor that is coupled to the threaded spindle or the spindle nut such that driving at least one of the threaded spindle or the spindle nut with the drive motor causes the threaded spindle and the spindle nut to rotate relative to one another. To reduce production complexity and improve functionality, the threaded spindle may have a core element that at least in portions is coaxially surrounded in a fixed manner by a threaded element that is configured from plastic and comprises the external thread.