Steering Shaft Guide Tube Axial Displacement Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide tubes for motor vehicle steering shafts are complex and costly to produce, requiring multiple components and joining processes, and lack efficient axial displacement mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A guide tube designed with axially extending beads distributed over the circumference, formed from a single sheet metal part through rolling and forming, eliminating the need for separate holding elements and allowing for axially displaceable fastening via ball cages, and a method for producing it using exclusively forming processes without welding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If separate holding elements are welded to the outside of the guide tube, then axial displacement functionality is achieved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The holding elements are merged with the guide tube by forming them as integral parts of the tube wall through rolling and connecting processes. This eliminates separate components and welding operations while maintaining the axial displacement functionality through the formed structural features.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide tube wall serves multiple functions: it provides structural support, guides axial displacement, and incorporates holding elements for positioning. The single component design integrates what would traditionally require separate parts, reducing overall device complexity.
2Strength
If multiple joining processes are used to connect components, then structural integrity is achieved, but manufacturing time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The welding and joining processes are extracted from the manufacturing sequence by forming the holding elements directly as part of the guide tube structure. This eliminates the need for separate joining operations while maintaining structural integrity through the formed design.
Solution Approach 2:
The holding elements are formed during the initial rolling and connecting processes of the guide tube manufacturing, rather than being added later through joining operations. This preliminary formation approach maintains structural integrity while significantly reducing manufacturing steps.
3Ease of manufacture
If the guide tube is made from a single sheet metal section, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but achieving precise roundness tolerance becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The guide tube is formed by rolling a sheet metal section into a cylindrical shape with precise curvature control. The rolling process inherently produces roundness, and the subsequent connecting process maintains this geometric precision while keeping the manufacturing process simple and integrated.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3~4
AI summary
A guide tube (4) for the rotatable mounting of a steering spindle (2) of a motor vehicle is described, wherein the guide tube (4) is rolled cylindrically from a single sheet-metal section and is connected at an axial contact point (12), and wherein the guide tube (4) has elements (13–15) for the definably axially displaceable fastening in a bearing unit (1). The guide tube (4) is characterized in that the elements (13–15) are designed in the form of at least two beads (13) which are distributed over the circumference, run axially, are formed circumferentially on both sides by ribs (14, 15) expanding the cylinder circumference and are formed in the sheet-metal section. A production method for such a guide tube (4) is also described.