阅读说明：本技术 一种转向器间隙调节机构及调节方法及车辆 (Steering gear clearance adjusting mechanism and adjusting method and vehicle ) 是由 汪耀 高艳军 孙祖明 于 2021-09-26 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种转向器间隙调节机构及调节方法及车辆,其中转向器间隙调节机构,包括壳体以及设于壳体的齿轮和齿条,齿轮与齿条啮合,壳体设有调节孔,调节孔连接有用于调节齿轮和齿条间隙的间隙调节组件,所述间隙调节组件包括活动连接于调节孔的一端并压合于齿条的压块、螺纹连接于调节孔另一端的调整螺塞以及位于压块和调整螺塞之间的衬套；在初始状态通过调节调整螺塞的初始位置来调节转向器的初始间隙,并对衬套进行预压缩,使衬套屈曲变形；在工作状态,通过衬套变形消除齿轮和齿条的间隙。本发明可以快速响应在颠簸路况下转向器的间隙变化且过程平稳,降低了异响风险。(The invention discloses a steering gear clearance adjusting mechanism, an adjusting method and a vehicle, wherein the steering gear clearance adjusting mechanism comprises a shell, a gear and a rack which are arranged on the shell, the gear is meshed with the rack, the shell is provided with an adjusting hole, the adjusting hole is connected with a clearance adjusting assembly for adjusting the clearance between the gear and the rack, the clearance adjusting assembly comprises a pressing block which is movably connected with one end of the adjusting hole and is pressed on the rack, an adjusting screw plug which is connected with the other end of the adjusting hole in a threaded manner and a bushing which is positioned between the pressing block and the adjusting screw plug; adjusting the initial position of the adjusting screw plug to adjust the initial clearance of the steering gear in the initial state, pre-compressing the bushing and enabling the bushing to be buckled and deformed; in the working state, the clearance between the gear and the rack is eliminated through the deformation of the bushing. The steering gear clearance change under the bumpy road condition can be quickly responded, the process is stable, and the abnormal sound risk is reduced.)

1. A steering gear clearance adjusting mechanism comprises a shell, a gear and a rack which are arranged on the shell, wherein the gear is meshed with the rack, the shell is provided with an adjusting hole, and the adjusting hole is connected with a clearance adjusting assembly used for adjusting the clearance between the gear and the rack; adjusting the initial position of the adjusting screw plug to adjust the initial clearance of the steering gear in the initial state, pre-compressing the bushing and enabling the bushing to be buckled and deformed; in the working state, the clearance between the gear and the rack is eliminated through the deformation of the bushing.

2. The steering clearance adjustment mechanism of claim 1, wherein the bushing comprises a steel ring and rubber blocks connected to both ends of the steel ring.

3. The steering gear lash adjustment mechanism of claim 2 wherein the rubber block is integrated with the steel ring by a vulcanization process.

4. A steering gear lash adjustment mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the steel ring is provided with an inner ring flange at each end, the rubber block being integral with the inner ring flange.

5. The steering clearance adjustment mechanism of claim 4, wherein an outer diameter of the steel ring is smaller than an inner diameter of the adjustment bore; and/or the outer diameter of the rubber block is smaller than the inner diameter of the adjusting hole and larger than the outer diameter of the steel ring.

6. The steering clearance adjustment mechanism of any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the bushing is formed by combining two semi-circular rings.

7. The steering clearance adjustment mechanism according to claim 6, wherein an outer surface of the steel ring is provided with a reinforcing rib that protrudes radially outward and extends in a circumferential direction.

8. The steering clearance adjustment mechanism of claim 6, wherein an oil reservoir is provided on an outer surface of the steel ring.

9. A steering gear clearance adjustment method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

(1) adjusting the initial position of the screw plug to adjust the initial gap of the steering gear, pre-compressing the bushing, wherein the rubber block of the bushing is compressed and deformed, and the steel ring is buckled and deformed, so that the working force-displacement curve of the bushing is in a linear section;

(2) the gear and the rack generate a gap due to work abrasion or the rack moves back and forth along the radial direction under bumpy road conditions when a vehicle runs, so that the bushing is compressed and deformed, deformation resistance is generated, the pressing block is restrained from further moving, and the pressing block is tightly attached to the rack, so that the gap between the gear and the rack is eliminated;

(4) when the impact force of the rack on the pressing block is small, the pressing block is also small in displacement, the steel ring mainly bends and deforms at the moment, and the working force-displacement curve of the lining is still in a linear section;

(5) when the rack impact force borne by the pressing block is further increased, the pressing block displacement is also increased, the outer surface of the steel ring which is originally subjected to buckling deformation is contacted with the inner wall of the adjusting hole, the steel ring is prevented from being deformed continuously, the deformation resistance of the bushing is rapidly increased at the moment, so that the gear and rack clearance is rapidly reduced, and the working force-displacement curve of the bushing enters a nonlinear section;

(6) when the vehicle runs stably, the deformation of the bushing is recovered.

10. A vehicle provided with a steering gear, characterized in that the steering gear is provided with a steering gear backlash adjustment mechanism as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of automobile parts, in particular to an automobile steering system.

Background

With the increasing competition of automobile markets in China and the development of new energy automobiles, the requirements of consumers on the performance of the automobiles are more and more strict, and the comfort of the automobiles, such as vibration and noise, gradually become one of the main factors considered when the consumers buy the automobiles. Therefore, the NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) performance of automobiles will be more and more valued. In particular, the excitation of the steering gear by the road surface can be directly sensed by the driver, and the driving comfort and the steering stability of the automobile are seriously influenced.

A certain meshing gap exists between the gear rack of the steering gear, and after long-time work, the gear rack of the steering gear is worn, so that the meshing gap between the gear rack and the steering gear is enlarged. The occurrence of the gear rack meshing gap can cause the reduction of the working stability of the steering gear on one hand and can also cause abnormal noise of the steering gear on the other hand. In order to avoid the problems, clearance compensation is required to be carried out on a gear rack of the steering gear; in addition, considering that the running condition of the vehicle is complex, particularly under bumpy road conditions, the meshing clearance of the gear and the rack is changed rapidly, and a mechanism needs to respond rapidly to the change, so that the clearance is eliminated in time. The existing product generally eliminates the gap through the spring, but the response of the spring is only linear and cannot be quickly responded due to the working characteristic of the spring, so that the gap is eliminated in time.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the defects and shortcomings of the prior art, the invention aims to provide a steering gear gap adjusting mechanism which can quickly respond to the gap change of a steering gear under bumpy road conditions and has a stable process.

In order to solve the technical problems, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

on one hand, the clearance adjusting mechanism of the steering gear comprises a shell, and a gear and a rack which are arranged on the shell, wherein the gear is meshed with the rack, the shell is provided with an adjusting hole, the adjusting hole is connected with a clearance adjusting assembly for adjusting the clearance between the gear and the rack, the clearance adjusting assembly comprises a pressing block which is movably connected to one end of the adjusting hole and is pressed on the rack, an adjusting screw plug which is in threaded connection with the other end of the adjusting hole, and a bushing which is positioned between the pressing block and the adjusting screw plug; adjusting the initial position of the adjusting screw plug to adjust the initial clearance of the steering gear in the initial state, pre-compressing the bushing and enabling the bushing to be buckled and deformed; in the working state, the clearance between the gear and the rack is eliminated through the deformation of the bushing.

Preferably, the bushing comprises a steel ring and rubber blocks connected to both ends of the steel ring.

Preferably, the rubber block is integrated with the steel ring by a vulcanization process.

Preferably, the two ends of the steel ring are provided with inner ring flanges, and the rubber blocks are integrated with the inner ring flanges.

Preferably, the outer diameter of the steel ring is smaller than the inner diameter of the adjusting hole; and/or the outer diameter of the rubber block is smaller than the inner diameter of the adjusting hole and larger than the outer diameter of the steel ring.

Preferably, the bushing is formed by combining two semicircular rings.

Preferably, the outer surface of the steel ring is provided with a reinforcing rib which protrudes radially outwards and extends along the circumferential direction.

Preferably, the outer surface of the steel ring is provided with an oil storage tank.

In another aspect, a steering gear clearance adjusting method is further provided, including the steps of:

(1) adjusting the initial position of the screw plug to adjust the initial gap of the steering gear, pre-compressing the bushing, wherein the rubber block of the bushing is compressed and deformed, and the steel ring is buckled and deformed, so that the working force-displacement curve of the bushing is in a linear section;

(2) the gear and the rack generate a gap due to work abrasion or the rack moves back and forth along the radial direction under bumpy road conditions when a vehicle runs, so that the bushing is compressed and deformed, deformation resistance is generated, the pressing block is restrained from further moving, and the pressing block is tightly attached to the rack, so that the gap between the gear and the rack is eliminated;

(4) when the impact force of the rack on the pressing block is small, the pressing block is also small in displacement, the steel ring mainly bends and deforms at the moment, and the working force-displacement curve of the lining is still in a linear section;

(5) when the rack impact force borne by the pressing block is further increased, the pressing block displacement is also increased, the outer surface of the steel ring which is originally subjected to buckling deformation is contacted with the inner wall of the adjusting hole, the steel ring is prevented from being deformed continuously, the deformation resistance of the bushing is rapidly increased at the moment, so that the gear and rack clearance is rapidly reduced, and the working force-displacement curve of the bushing enters a nonlinear section; (6) when the vehicle runs stably, the deformation of the bushing is recovered.

Moreover, the invention also provides a vehicle which is provided with the steering gear, and the steering gear is provided with the steering gear clearance adjusting mechanism.

The technical scheme adopted by the invention has the following beneficial effects:

the initial clearance of steering gear is adjusted through adjusting the initial position of adjustment plug screw to realize adjusting the clearance that steering gear work produced through the bush, the bush is semi-circular structure, and be in the same place by steel ring and rubber block combination, the during operation power-displacement curve has apparent nonlinearity, consequently can the quick response change in the clearance and the process of steering gear under the road conditions of jolting steady, the abnormal sound risk has been reduced, steering gear NVH performance has been improved, and simple structure, light in weight, with low costs.

The bush includes the steel ring and locates the rubber block at steel ring both ends, and the effect that sets up the rubber block mainly has 3 points: 1. when the external excitation is small, the rubber block is compressed to provide certain deformation resistance besides the deformation of the steel ring; 2. when the external excitation disappears suddenly, if the vehicle leaves a bumpy road condition, the deformation of the steel ring is recovered rapidly, the rubber block absorbs the deformation force, and possible steel-steel friction abnormal sound between the steel ring and the pressing block and between the steel ring and the adjusting screw plug is prevented; 3. the inner diameter of the rubber block is slightly smaller than the flange of the steel ring, so that the friction abnormal sound between the two semicircular steel rings is prevented.

The outer surface of the steel ring is provided with a reinforcing rib which protrudes to the outside in the radial direction and extends along the circumferential direction, so that the steel ring deforms outwards when buckling is ensured, and the buckling deformation degree of the steel ring is adjusted by controlling the gap between the reinforcing rib and the shell, so that the steel ring does not undergo irreversible plastic deformation.

The outer surface of steel ring is equipped with the oil storage tank, stores lubricating grease in the oil storage tank, provides lubricating grease when the outer surface contacts with the casing internal surface after the steel ring bucks, alleviates the wearing and tearing of steel ring and casing, prevents the friction abnormal sound of steel ring and casing simultaneously.

The following detailed description and the accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention.

Drawings

The invention is further described with reference to the accompanying drawings and the detailed description below:

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a steering gear clearance adjustment mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the bushing (semi-torus) of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view A-A of the bushing semi-torus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the bushing semi-torus of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a steel ring (semi-torus) in the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view A-A of the steel ring half torus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a top view of a half-torus of a steel ring in the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a force-displacement graph of a steering gear lash adjustment mechanism of the present invention in operation;

in the figure: 1. gear, 2, rack, 3, casing, 4, briquetting, 5, bush, 6, adjusting screw plug, 5a, rubber block, 5b, steel ring, 5b1, inner ring flange, 5c, strengthening rib, 5d, oil storage tank.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention are explained and illustrated below with reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the present invention, but the following embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the implementation, other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative effort belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that features from the examples and embodiments described below may be combined with each other without conflict.

Example one

Referring to fig. 1 to 7, a steering gear clearance adjustment mechanism includes a housing 3, a gear 1, a rack 2, a pressing block 4, a bushing 5, and an adjusting screw 6. The gear 1 and the rack 2 are meshed with each other in the shell 3, the shell is provided with an adjusting hole, and the adjusting hole is connected with a gap adjusting assembly used for adjusting the gap between the gear 1 and the rack 2. Specifically, the clearance adjusting assembly comprises a pressing block 4 movably connected to one end of the adjusting hole and pressed on the rack in a pressing mode, an adjusting screw plug 6 in threaded connection with the other end of the adjusting hole and a bushing 5 located between the pressing block 4 and the adjusting screw plug 6, and the bushing 5 acts on the pressing block 4 and is used for limiting the rack 2 to move along the radial direction of the gear 1.

As shown in fig. 2 to 4, the bushing 5 includes a steel ring 5b and two rubber blocks 5a, wherein the two rubber blocks 5a are located at two ends of the steel ring and can be integrated with the steel ring 5b through a vulcanization process. Moreover, the two ends of the steel ring are provided with the inner ring flanges 5b1, and the rubber block 5a and the inner ring flanges 5b1 are combined into a whole, so that the combination area is increased, and the two parts are more reliably combined into a whole.

Further, the bushing 5 is formed by combining two semicircular rings. More specifically, the semi-circular ring is an arc slightly smaller than the semi-circle, mainly due to cost and process considerations, and if the semi-circular ring is larger than the semi-circle, the cost will be increased dramatically due to the fact that the semi-circular ring cannot be processed by a low-cost stamping process.

The rubber block is mainly arranged at 3 points: 1. when the external excitation is small, the rubber block is compressed to provide certain deformation resistance besides the deformation of the steel ring; 2. when the external excitation disappears suddenly, if the vehicle leaves a bumpy road condition, the deformation of the steel ring is recovered rapidly, the rubber block absorbs the deformation force, and possible steel-steel friction abnormal sound between the steel ring and the pressing block and between the steel ring and the adjusting screw plug is prevented; 3. the inner diameter of the rubber block is slightly smaller than the flange of the steel ring, so that the friction abnormal sound between the two semicircular steel rings is prevented.

Preferably, the steel ring is made of spring steel, so that the steel ring has strong deformability, and of course, other alloy steels can be used. The outer diameter of the steel ring is smaller than the inner diameter of the adjusting hole, so that space is provided for deformation of the steel ring. The outer diameter of the rubber block is smaller than the inner diameter of the adjusting hole and larger than the outer diameter of the steel ring.

Further, as shown in fig. 5 to 7, the steel ring 5b is provided with ribs 5c extending in the circumferential direction and having a rib projecting direction projecting radially outward. The arrangement of the reinforcing ribs 5c ensures that the steel ring 5b deforms outwards when buckling, and the buckling deformation degree of the steel ring is adjusted by controlling the gaps between the reinforcing ribs and the shell, so that irreversible plastic deformation does not occur. The clearance between the reinforcing ribs and the shell is related to the required working force of a product, is usually about 0.5mm, is too large to generate plastic deformation, and is too small to exert the non-linear characteristic.

Further, the steel ring 5b is provided with an oil reservoir 5d, and the oil reservoir 5d is located on the outer surface of the steel ring and stores grease. Specifically, a plurality of circumferentially extending oil storage grooves can be arranged at intervals in the axial direction of the steel ring, and the oil storage grooves are positioned between two adjacent reinforcing ribs 5 c. Therefore, when the outer surface of the steel ring 5b comes into contact with the inner surface of the housing after buckling, grease is provided, which reduces wear of the steel ring 5b and the housing 3 while preventing frictional abnormal noise of the steel ring 5b and the housing 3.

The initial clearance of the steering gear is adjusted by adjusting the initial position of the adjusting screw plug, and the clearance generated by the operation of the steering gear is adjusted through the bushing. The steel ring and the rubber block are combined together, and a force-displacement curve has obvious nonlinearity in working, so that the gap change of the steering gear under a bumpy road condition can be quickly responded, the process is stable, the abnormal sound risk is reduced, and the NVH performance of the steering gear is improved.

Example two

Referring to fig. 1 and 8, the above-mentioned gap adjusting method for the steering gear gap adjusting mechanism includes the following steps:

(1) adjusting the initial position of the screw plug to adjust the initial gap of the steering gear, pre-compressing the bushing, wherein the rubber block of the bushing is compressed and deformed, and the steel ring is buckled and deformed to a certain extent, so that the working force-displacement curve of the bushing is in a linear section;

(2) the gear and the rack generate a gap due to work abrasion or the rack moves back and forth along the radial direction when the vehicle runs under a bumpy road condition;

(3) the rack moves leftwards along the radial direction (namely, the direction is far away from the gear), the pressing block is pushed to move leftwards, the bushing is compressed and deformed, axial force is generated, the pressing block is restrained from further moving leftwards, and the pressing block is tightly attached to the rack, so that the gap between the gear and the rack is eliminated;

(4) when the impact force of the rack on the pressing block is small, the pressing block moves leftwards and displaces slightly, the steel ring is mainly buckled and deformed, and the working force-displacement curve of the lining is still in a linear section;

(5) when the rack impact force borne by the pressing block is further increased (such as after a vehicle drives into a bumpy road surface), the pressing block moves leftwards and displaces, the outer surface of the steel ring which is originally subjected to buckling deformation is contacted with the inner surface of the shell to prevent the steel ring from continuously deforming, the deformation resistance of the bushing is rapidly increased at the moment, so that the gear and rack clearance is rapidly reduced, and a working force-displacement curve of the bushing enters a nonlinear section;

(6) when the vehicle runs smoothly (such as after the vehicle runs off a bumpy road), the deformation of the lining is recovered.

EXAMPLE III

A vehicle is equipped with a steering gear, and the steering gear is provided with a steering gear clearance adjustment mechanism of the first embodiment.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited thereto, and may be embodied in many different forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. Any modification which does not depart from the functional and structural principles of the present invention is intended to be included within the scope of the claims.