Automobile Power Steering Sensor Sliding Bearing Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automobile power steering sensors face issues with friction and wearing between the input shaft rotor and the upper housing, leading to complex assembly processes and the need for additional components like steel wire springs to maintain concentricity, which complicates manufacturing and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a sliding bearing structure within the upper housing, featuring support and elastic parts, allows for a simplified and precise mounting of the input shaft rotor, eliminating radial friction and the need for steel wire springs, while ensuring concentricity through a snapping connection between the upper and lower housings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the input shaft rotor relies on the upper housing for radial positioning, then the assembly structure is simple, but friction and wearing occur during rotation, requiring additional steel wire spring components and complex assembly processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a sliding bearing as an intermediary component between the input shaft rotor and the upper housing. This sliding bearing mediates the contact, eliminating direct friction between the rotor and housing while maintaining radial positioning. The sliding bearing with elastic parts compensates for wearing over time, ensuring long-term concentricity without requiring additional steel wire spring components.
2Reliability
If steel wire spring is embedded in the rotor to offset gap from wearing, then concentricity is maintained, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the steel wire spring component from the rotor structure and replaces it with a sliding bearing integrated into the upper housing. This extraction eliminates the need for embedding steel wire springs within the rotor, simplifying the manufacturing process while maintaining the function of compensating for wearing and maintaining concentricity.
3Strength
If the input shaft rotor is welded with gear and connected by laser welding, then the connection is secure, but positioning accuracy decreases and processes become complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the laser welding and mechanical gear connection system with a sliding bearing-based mechanical support system. The sliding bearing provides precise radial positioning through its bearing surface, achieving higher positioning accuracy than laser welding while maintaining secure connection through the elastic parts that compensate for dimensional variations.
4Strength
If PCB assembly is clamped between housings and connected by laser welding, then the assembly is secure, but the disassembly and maintenance become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic adjustability to the housing connection system. The elastic parts within the sliding bearing allow for dynamic compensation of dimensional variations and wearing, enabling the assembly to maintain security while accommodating changes over time. This dynamic characteristic facilitates easier disassembly and reassembly compared to rigid laser welding connections.
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 simplifies the assembly and maintenance of the power steering sensor by eliminating friction and wearing, ensuring precise concentric alignment without additional components, and facilitating easier disassembly, thereby improving manufacturing efficiency and reducing wear-related issues.
Implementation Method 1
embed a circle steel wire spring within the rotor, such that there is always an outwardly-supporting force which could offset the gap caused by the wearing of the input shaft rotor
Implementation Method 2
during rotation, the input shaft rotor might have friction with the upper housing
Data Source
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AI summary
An automobile power steering sensor, comprises an upper housing (2), a lower housing (4),an input shaft rotor (1), a PCB assembly (3) and an output shaft rotor (5), wherein the input shaft rotor (1) is mounted on an input shaft (6) of an automobile power steering apparatus and sleeved on an upper part of the upper housing (2); the PCB assembly (3) is mounted on the lower part of the upper housing (2), and the upper housing (2) and the lower housing (4) are securely connected, fixing the PCB assembly (3) in a space formed therebetween. The upper housing (2) is sleeved on the input shaft (6) of the automobile power steering apparatus, and the output shaft rotor (5) is mounted on the output shaft (7) thereof. When the automobile power steering apparatus operates, the input shaft rotor (1) and the input shaft (6) rotate coaxially at the same speed, the output shaft rotor (5) and the output shaft (7) rotate coaxially at the same speed, and the upper housing (2) keeps concentric and coaxial with the input shaft rotor (1). By means of improving the structure of the upper housing (2) and the input shaft (1), the present automobile power steering sensor features with simplified mounting process and improved stability, and has a bright market prospect.