Title of Invention

SPHERICAL SLEEVE JOINT COMPRISING A SENSOR

Abstract

Disclosed is a spherical sleeve joint for a motor vehicle, comprising a housing (1), a spherical sleeve (5) which protrudes on both sides of the housing (1), is provided with a continuous bore (8) and a bearing zone (4), and is mounted in the housing (1) with the bearing zone (4) in such a way that two joint parts that are rotatable and pivotable relative to each other are formed by the spherical sleeve (5) and the housing (1). A sensor (13) which interacts with a transducer (2) located on the other joint part is disposed on one of the joint parts. Both the sensor (13) and the transducer (2) are arranged between the continuous bore (8) and the housing (1).

Full Text

FORM 2 THE PATENT ACT 197 0 (39 of 1970) The Patents Rules, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10, and rule 13) TITLE OF INVENTION SPHERICAL SLEEVE JOINT COMPRISING A SENSOR APPLICANT(S) a) Name b) Nationality c) Address ZF Friedrichshafen AG GERMAN Company 88038 Friedrichshafen, GERMANY PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed : - -1- Spherical sleeve joint Description The invention relates to a spherical sleeve joint for a motor vehicle, with a housing and a spherical sleeve extending out from either side of the housing and incorporating a continuous bore and a bearing region, 5 which is mounted in the housing with the bearing region such that two joint parts that are rotatable and pivotable relative to one another are formed by the spherical sleeve and by the housing. 10 A spherical sleeve joint of this type is known from the prior art. Patent specification DE 100 23 602 C2, for example, discloses a spherical sleeve joint with a joint housing, a spherical sleeve with a spherically shaped bearing surface and a bearing shell surrounding the 15 bearing surface accommodated in a recess of the joint housing, and the spherical sleeve is provided with a continuous bore and extends out from both sides of the housing. 20 In modern motor vehicles, for example in vehicles with gas discharge lamps (for example Xenon headlamps) and in vehicles with a level control system, the inward springing movement of the vehicle is regularly detected by means of a sensor which detects the inward spring 25 angle, which is also referred to as a height sensor. This sensor is built into the wheel housing as a separate component unit and is connected to a steering wheel by means of a rod linkage. The disadvantage of this approach is that additional components are needed which, firstly, 2 -2- occupy a large amount of fitting space and secondly, are highly susceptible to damage due to impact by stones. Thirdly, they are quite complex to fit and require calibration steps. 5 For this reason, attempts have been made more recently to replace the height sensor of the known design with a sensor which is integrated in a ball joint that is used as a matter of course in the chassis of motor vehicles. 10 Patent specification EP 0 617 260 Al discloses a ball joint with a ball pan connected to a housing and a ball head joined to a pin, which is mounted in the housing so as to be rotatable. A permanent magnet is disposed in the 15 ball head, opposite which lies a magnetic sensor disposed in the housing. The magnetic dipole of the permanent magnet is oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the ball pin and a bellows is provided in order to protect the ball joint from environmental influences. 20 When the ball head turns in the ball pan, the permanent magnet is turned as well so that the magnetic field changes with respect to the magnetically sensitive sensor and a position signal is generated. The spatial movements which occur in addition can be applied as part of an 25 appropriate evaluation for control purposes. Patent specification DE 101 10 738 CI discloses a ball joint with a housing portion and a ball bolt incorporating a bolt portion and a ball portion, which is 30 mounted so as to be rotatable and pivotable by means of its ball portion in a seating provided in the housing portion. A permanent magnet is disposed in the ball portion in a radial orientation with respect to the 3 -3- centre point of the ball portion, and a sensor element sensitive to magnetic fields is integrated in the seating. During a rotating motion of the ball portion, the permanent magnet moves relative to the sensor element 5 so that the relative rotational position of the ball portion in the seating can be detected. However, sensor/magnet arrangements of the type incorporated in a ball joint can not be used with a 10 spherical sleeve joint because the housing of a spherical sleeve joint does not have a base surface or housing cover remote from the joint pin to which the sensor can be affixed. Furthermore, the point at which the magnet is affixed in the joint ball is adjoined by a flange region 15 incorporating a continuous bore in the case of a spherical housing, which means that the continuous bore would be blocked if a magnet were mounted there. However, spherical sleeve joints are being more 20 freguently used in the chassis of passenger vehicles and the objective of the invention, against the background of this prior art, is to propose a spherical sleeve joint by means of which the pivoting movement and/or rotation of the spherical sleeve relative to the housing can be 25 detected. This objective is achieved by the invention on the basis of a spherical sleeve joint incorporating the characterising features defined in claim 1. Preferred 30 embodiments are described in the dependent claims. The spherical sleeve joint for a motor vehicle proposed by the invention has a housing and a spherical sleeve 4 -4- extending out of both sides of the housing and incorporating a continuous bore and a bearing region, which is mounted in the housing with the bearing region such that two joint parts which are rotatable and 5 pivotable relative to one another are formed by the spherical sleeve and by the housing. A sensor is disposed on one of the joint parts and interacts with a signal transmitter disposed on the other joint part, and both the sensor and the signal transmitter are disposed 10 between the continuous bore and the housing or the housing wall. Together, the sensor and the signal transmitter form an angle measuring arrangement, by means of which the 15 pivoting motion and/or rotation of the spherical sleeve relative to the housing can be determined. This results in a spherical sleeve joint with an integrated angle measuring arrangement, which can be used for control and regulation purposes in the motor vehicle. Integration of 20 the angle measuring arrangement in the spherical sleeve joint is specifically made possible by the radial arrangement of the sensor and signal transmitter with respect to the longitudinal axis of the joint or non-deflected spherical sleeve. 25 The sensor may be mounted on the housing and the signal transmitter on the spherical sleeve. However, the sensor is preferably disposed in the spherical sleeve, in particular in the bearing region, whereas the signal 30 transmitter is mounted on the housing. The advantage of this is that the signal transmitter, which is usually of larger dimensions than the sensor, does not have to be integrated in the spherical sleeve, which is relatively 5* -5- thin due to the continuous bore. In terms of sensors, magnetic field sensors have proved to be particularly suitable due to their lack of 5 susceptibility to faults, in which case the signal transmitter is provided in the form of a magnet, which may be an electro-magnet or a permanent magnet. This being the case, the latter does not even need electric wiring or a power supply and is therefore easy to fit. 10 The magnet may also be ring-shaped or cylindrical and may surround the spherical sleeve, in particular in the bearing region. A magnet of this type might be a magnetic rotor, for example, in which regions with radially oriented opposite magnetic polarity alternate in the 15 casing surface of the magnet around the cylinder axis. Magneto-resistive sensors may be used for the magnetic field sensors, which are particularly suitable for detecting changes in the angle between magnet and sensor 20 The spherical sleeve may be mounted directly in the housing. However, a bearing shell is advantageously provided in the housing, in which the joint region of the spherical sleeve is mounted so that the friction properties of the joint can be improved by an appropriate 25 choice of material for the bearing shell. The bearing shell may be disposed between the magnet and the spherical sleeve, in which case the bearing shell is specifically made from a non-magnetic material so that the magnetic field induced by the magnet is not weakened 30 by the bearing shell and the magnetic force is able to reach the sensor in the spherical sleeve sufficiently well. 4' -6- The interaction between the magnet and the sensor may also be enhanced by disposing the magnet directly on the internal wall of the housing, which is made from a ferromagnetic material, for example. 5 The spherical sleeve may be made as a single piece. However, the spherical sleeve preferably comprises an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve disposed concentrically with it. In this case, the outer sleeve may be adapted to 10 the desired friction properties of the joint, whereas the inner sleeve may be designed to absorb axial forces. The wall thickness of the outer sleeve may be slim. The outer sleeve may also be made by a forming process which does not involve the removal of material and may be a hydro- 15 formed part in particular, which obviates the need to process the surface of the joint region by removing material. The inner sleeve and the outer sleeve may be positively 20 joined to one another. However, the outer sleeve is preferably positively secured to the inner sleeve in the axial direction, thereby reliably preventing any axial displacement of the outer sleeve relative to the inner sleeve itself if the outer sleeve and the inner sleeve 25 are designed to have different thermal expansion properties. The inner sleeve may be made in a single piece. In order to facilitate assembly, however, the inner sleeve is preferably made in two parts, in which case a first inner sleeve part can be inserted in the 30 outer sleeves from one end and the other inner sleeve part can be inserted from the other end. A cavity may be provided in the bearing region of the 7 -7- spherical sleeve between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve, in which the sensor is disposed. In this case, the sensor is well protected from external influences. If a magnetic field sensor is used as the sensor, the outer 5 sleeve is preferably made from a non-magnetic material which weakens the magnetic field induced by the magnet as little as possible. The electric wires providing a contact with the sensor 10 may be run between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve, in which case an axial groove may be provided in the inner sleeve to make it easier to run the wiring. The wires, which are specifically run out at one end of the spherical sleeve from the region between the inner sleeve 15 and the outer sleeve, may also be provided in the form of conductor tracks in or on a circuit board, in which case the circuit board is inserted in the axial groove. An arrangement or a second housing to provide a contact with the sensor may also be provided at the end of the 20 spherical sleeve, to which the wires are run from the region between the inner sleeve and outer sleeve. A plug connection may be integrated in this arrangement, in which case the arrangement is preferably provided in the form of a plug housing. 25 If the spherical joint proposed by the invention is to be used on the chassis of a motor vehicle, for example, the angle measuring arrangement may be used for a level control system or a headlamp tracking system, amongst 30 other things. The invention will be described below on the basis of a preferred embodiment with reference to the appended 8 drawings. Of the drawings: Figure 1 is a view in section showing an embodiment of the spherical sleeve joint proposed by the 5 invention, Figure 2 is a view in section showing the magnet of the embodiment along line A-A' indicated in Figure 1 and Figure 3 is a view in section showing the circuit board 10 of the embodiment along line A-A' indicated in Figure 1. Figure 1 illustrates an embodiment of the spherical sleeve joint proposed by the invention, in which a magnet 15 2 and a bearing shell 3 are disposed in a housing 1, in which a spherical sleeve 5 extending out from both sides of the housing 1 which has a bearing region 4 is mounted with its bearing region 4 such that it can rotate and pivot. The spherical sleeve 5 in this instance is made up 20 of a two-part inner sleeve 6 and an outer sleeve 7 incorporating the spherical bearing region 4, whilst the two parts 6a and 6b of the inner sleeve 6 provided with a continuous bore 8 incorporate the two end regions or flange regions 5a and 5b of the spherical sleeve 5. 25 The two parts 6a and 6b of the inner sleeve 6 are each provided with a raised area 9 and a recess 10 on their external face outside of the housing 1, in which a raised area 11 provided on the internal face of the outer sleeve 30 7 engages, and the raised area 9 engages in a recess 12 provided on the internal face of the outer sleeve 7 so that the outer sleeve 7 is positively secured to the inner sleeve 6 in a fixed arrangement from an axial point 9 -9- of view. Between the outer sleeve 7, which is a hydro-formed part in particular, and the inner sleeve 6, a cavity 4a is 5 provided in the bearing region 4, in which a magnetic field sensor 13 in particular in the form of a magneto-resistive sensor is disposed, which interacts with the magnetic field induced by the magnet 2. The sensor 13 is connected to electric wires 14 (see Figure 3) running in 10 a circuit board 15 which is disposed in an axial groove 16 recessed into the external face of the inner sleeve 6. The axial groove 16 runs parallel with the longitudinal axis 17 of the spherical sleeve 5 and extends out of the cavity 4a as far as the end region 5a, to which a plug 15 housing 18 with contact surfaces 19 is attached, which is connected to the electric wires 14 via a circuit board 18a integrated in the plug housing 18 so that a contact can be established with the sensor 13 via the contact surfaces 19 in the plug housing 18. 20 The housing 1 is annular in shape and in particular is made from ferromagnetic steel, and the cylindrical magnet 2 lies with its external wall on the internal wall of the housing 1. The annular bearing shell 3 is disposed in the 25 magnet 2, and the magnet 2 and bearing shell 3 are retained between two locking rings 20 in the housing 1, each of which engages in a groove 21 provided in the internal wall of the housing 1, which may be formed by bending back the respective housing edge. Disposed 30 respectively between the locking rings 20 and the end regions of the outer ring 7 is a sealing bellows 22, which is retained on the outer ring 7 and on the locking ring 20 by means of clamping rings 23 and 24. 10 -10- Figure 2 shows a view of the cylindrical magnet 2 in section along line A-A' indicated in Figure 1, which is provided in the form of a rotor. The rotor has several 5 radially magnetised regions 25 and the magnetisation indicated by an arrow 26 of two adjacent regions is oppositely oriented from a radial point of view. Figure 3 illustrates a view in section of the circuit 10 board 15 along line A-A' indicated in Figure 1 with the electric wires 14 running inside the circuit board 15 and being isolated at the surface. The bearing shell 3 is preferably made from a non- 15 magnetic synthetic material and the outer sleeve 7 is preferably made from a non-magnetic metal so that the magnetic field induced by the magnet 2 in the region of the sensor 13 is weakened as little as possible by the bearing shell 3 and the outer sleeve 7. 20 11 -11- List of reference numbers 1 Housing 2 Magnet 3 Bearing shell 5 4 Bearing region 4a Cavity 5 Spherical sleeve 5a, 5b End regions or flange regions of the spherical sleeve 10 6 Inner sleeve 6a, 6b Parts of the inner sleeve 7 Outer sleeve 8 Continuous bore 9 Raised area in inner sleeve 15 10 Recess in inner sleeve 11 Raised area in outer sleeve 12 Recess in outer sleeve 13 Sensor 14 Electric wires 20 15 Circuit board 16 Axial groove 17 Longitudinal axis of the spherical sleeve 18 Plug housing 18a Circuit board integrated in the plug housing 25 19 Contact surface 20 Locking ring 21 Groove in housing 22 Sealing bellows 23, 24 Clamping rings 30 25 Radially magnetised region of the magnet 26 Arrow indicating magnetisation of a region 12 -12- Spherical sleeve joint Claims 1. Spherical sleeve joint for a motor vehicle, with a housing (1), a spherical sleeve (5) extending out from both sides of the housing (1) and having a continuous bore (8)and a bearing region (4), which is mounted in the 5 in the housing (1) with the bearing region (4) such that two joint parts which are rotatable and pivotable relative to one another are formed by the spherical sleeve (5) and by the housing (1), characterised in that - a sensor (13) is disposed on one of the joint 10 parts, which interacts with a signal transmitter (2) disposed on the other joint part and - both the sensor (13) and the signal transmitter (2) are disposed between the 15 continuous bore (8) and the housing (1). 2. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the sensor (13) is disposed in the spherical sleeve (5) and the signal transmitter (2) is 20 disposed in the housing (1). 3. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the sensor (13) is disposed in the bearing region (4) of the spherical sleeve (5). 25 4. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the signal transmitter (2) is a magnet and the sensor (13) is a sensor sensitive to magnetic fields. 13 -13- 5. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that the sensor (13) is a magneto- resistive sensor. 5 6. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 4 or 5, characterised in that the signal transmitter (2) is ring- shaped. 10 7. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in one of claims 4 to 6, characterised in that a bearing shell (3) made from a non-magnetic material is disposed between the signal transmitter (2) and the bearing region (4) of the spherical sleeve (5). 15 8. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in one of claims 4 to 7, characterised in that the signal transmitter (2) lies against the internal wall of the housing (1), which is made from a ferromagnetic material. 20 9. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the spherical sleeve (5) comprises an inner sleeve (6) and an outer sleeve (7) disposed concentrically with it. 25 10. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that the outer sleeve (7) is positively secured to the inner sleeve (6) in a fixed arrangement in the axial direction. 30 11. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the inner sleeve (6) comprises two parts. 14 -14- 12. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in one of claims 9 to 11, characterised in that a cavity (4a) is provided in the bearing region (4) of the spherical sleeve (5) 5 between the inner sleeve (6) and the outer sleeve (7), in which the sensor (13) is disposed. 13. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in one of claims 9 to 12, characterised in that electric wires (14) 10 connected to the sensor (13) are run between the inner sleeve (6) and the outer sleeve (7). 14. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 13, characterised in that an axial groove(16) is provided in 15 the surface of the inner sleeve (6), in which the electric wires (14) connected to the sensor (13) run. 15. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 14, characterised in that the electric wires (14) are 20 provided in the form of conductor tracks of a circuit board (15) disposed in the axial groove (16). 16. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in one of claims 13 to 15, characterised in that the electric wires (14) run 25 out from the region between the inner sleeve (6) and the outer sleeve (7) at an end region (5a) of the spherical sleeve (5). 17. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 16, 30 characterised in that a second housing (18 for establishing a contact with the sensor (13) is disposed at the end region (5a) of the spherical sleeve (5), at which the electric wires (14) are run out from the region 15 -15- between the inner sleeve (6) and the outer sleeve (7). 18. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in one of claims 9 to 17, characterised in that the outer sleeve is made by 5 a forming process that does not involve the removal of material. 19. Spherical sleeve joint as claimed in claim 18, characterised in that the outer sleeve is a hydro-formed 10 part. Dated this 12th day of June, 2006. HIRAL CHAND&AKANT JOSHI AGENT FOR ZF Friedrichshafen AG 16 -16- Spherical sleeve joint Abstract Spherical sleeve joint for a motor vehicle, with a housing (1), a spherical sleeve (5) extending out from both sides of the housing (1) and having a continuous bore (8) and a bearing region (4), which is mounted in 5 the in the housing (1) with the bearing region (4) such that two joint parts which are rotatable and pivotable relative to one another are formed by the spherical sleeve (5) and by the housing (1), and a sensor (13) is disposed on one of the joint parts, which interacts with 10 a signal transmitter (2) disposed on the other joint part and both the sensor (13) and the signal transmitter (2) are disposed between the continuous bore (8) and the housing (1). 15 Figure 1 17

Documents:

687-mumnp-2006-abstract(12-06-2006).doc

687-mumnp-2006-abstract(12-06-2006).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-abstract.doc

687-mumnp-2006-abstract.pdf

687-mumnp-2006-cancelled pages(12-06-2006).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-claims(granted)-(12-06-2006).doc

687-mumnp-2006-claims(granted)-(12-06-2006).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-claims.doc

687-mumnp-2006-claims.pdf

687-mumnp-2006-correspondance-received.pdf

687-mumnp-2006-correspondence(05-05-2008).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-correspondence(ipo)-(10-11-2008).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-declaration(11-05-2006).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-drawing(12-06-2006).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-drawings.pdf

687-mumnp-2006-form 1(12-06-2006).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-form 2(granted)-(12-06-2006).doc

687-mumnp-2006-form 2(granted)-(12-06-2006).pdf

687-mumnp-2006-form-1.pdf

687-mumnp-2006-form-18.pdf

687-mumnp-2006-form-2.doc

687-mumnp-2006-form-2.pdf

687-mumnp-2006-form-3.pdf

687-mumnp-2006-form-5.pdf

687-MUMNP-2008-CORRESPONDENCE(30-9-2008).pdf

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