Ball joint with integrated angle sensor

• US 6,879,240 B2
• Filed: 06/19/2002
• Issued: 04/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ZF Lemforder Metallwaren AG
• Original Assignee: ZF Lemforder Metallwaren AG
• Inventors: Kruse, Jochen
• Primary Examiner(s): Easthom, Karl D.
• Application Number:
  US10/380,613
• Publication Number:
  US 20040100357A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,028 Days
• Field of Search: 338/12, 338/128
• US Class Current: 338/12
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/019 characterised by the type of sensor or the arrangement thereof B60G17/01941 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2204/11 Mounting of sensors thereon
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2204/116 Sensors coupled to the suspension arm
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2204/416 Ball or spherical joints
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/05162 the element being a suspension arm
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2401/172 Hall effect
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 7/005 Ball joints B60G7/006 takes precedence; for steering linkage B62D7/16; ball joints per se F16C11/06
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 11/0604 Construction of the male part
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 11/0633 the linings being made of plastics
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 11/0642 Special features of the plug or cover on the blind end of the socket
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 2233/00 Monitoring condition, e.g. temperature, load, vibration
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 2326/05 Vehicle suspensions, e.g. bearings, pivots or connecting rods used therein
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 41/00 Other accessories, e.g. devices integrated in the bearing not relating to the bearing function as such
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 41/007 Encoders, e.g. parts with a plurality of alternating magnetic poles

Abstract

A ball-and-socket joint with integrated angle sensor for a motor vehicle, especially for the chassis of the motor vehicle is created. The ball-and-socket joint has a ball-and-socket joint housing (6) provided with a joint opening (7), a ball pivot (1) having a joint ball (2) and a pin (3), which is mounted, with its joint ball (2), rotatably and pivotably in a hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface in the ball-and-socket joint housing (6), and projects, with its pin (3), through the joint opening (7) out of the ball-and-socket joint housing (6). A two-pole field transducer (5) is provided at the end of the joint ball (2) facing away from the pin (3). The poles of the field transducer (5) are arranged on the ball surface. In this case, at least two field sensors (13) are arranged at a distance from one another with respect to the meridian plane defined by the large circle on the hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface running at right angles to the bearing longitudinal axis in the area or on the ball-and-socket joint housing (6) facing away from the joint opening, and interact with the field produced by the field transducer (5).

Claims

1. A ball-and-socket joint for a motor vehicle, the ball-and-socket joint comprising:

a ball-and-socket joint housing provided with a joint opening;

a ball pivot having a joint ball and a pin, said ball pivot being mounted with said joint ball rotatably and pivotably in a hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface in said ball-and-socket joint housing and projecting with said pin through said joint opening out of said ball-and-socket joint housing along a ball pivot central axis and said joint ball having an antipodal surface opposite of said projecting pin;

a two-pole field transducer provided with two poles along a line perpendicular to said ball pivot central axis and directly on said antipodal surface, so as to pivot and rotate with the joint ball;

at least two field sensors arranged in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing at a distance from one another at least on a plane which is one of parallel and equal with respect to a meridian plane defined by a large circle on the hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface running at right angles to a bearing longitudinal axis running central along the length of said ball-and-socket joint housing and interacting with the field produced by said field transducer.

2. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a third field sensor arranged with respect to said meridian plane in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing facing away from said joint opening at a distance from the other two field sensors and not lying on a straight line with same, and interacting with the field that is produced by said field transducer.

3. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 2, wherein, with respect to a circle defined by the three field sensors, two adjacent field sensors together with the central point of the circle each define a circle sector with a central angle of 120°

, whereby said central point of this circle, which runs parallel to said meridian plane lies on said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing.

4. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 1, wherein a straight line running through one of said sensors and a central point of the hollow ball forms an angle (a) with said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing, said angle (a) being greater than or equal to another angle (b) formed by said ball pivot central axis of said ball pivot with said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing in case of a maximum excursion of said ball pivot limited by said ball-and-socket joint housing.

5. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 1, wherein said field transducer is designed as a permanent magnet and said field sensors are designed as magnetic field sensors, which send an electrical signal characterizing the magnetic field of said permanent magnet to an evaluation device.

6. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 5, wherein said permanent magnet is made of SmCo₅, Sm₂Co₁₇ or Nd₂Fe₁₄B.

7. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 6, wherein said ball-and-socket joint housing is made of a paramagnetic material.

8. A ball-and-socket joint for a motor vehicle chassis, the ball-and-socket joint comprising:

a ball-and-socket joint housing provided with a joint opening;

a ball pivot having a joint ball and a pin, said ball pivot being mounted with said joint ball rotatably and pivotably in a hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface in said ball-and-socket joint housing and said pin projecting through said joint opening out of said ball-and-socket joint housing along a ball pivot central axis;

a two-pole field transducer provided with two poles along a line perpendicular to said ball pivot central axis and directly on an antipodal surface of said joint ball, so as to pivot and rotate with the joint ball;

a first field sensor and a second field sensor arranged in the area in of on said ball-and-socket joint housing, said first field sensor and said second field sensor being spaced a distance from one another on a field plane at least one of parallel and equal with respect to a meridian plane defined by a circle on the hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface running at right angles to a bearing longitudinal axis running central along the length of said ball-and-socket joint housing and interacting with the field produced by said field transducer.

9. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 8, further comprising a third field sensor arranged with respect to said meridian plane in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing facing away from said joint opening at a distance from the other two field sensors and not lying on a straight line with same, and interacting with the field that is produced by said field transducer.

10. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 8, wherein, with respect to a circle defined by the three field sensors, two adjacent field sensors together with the central point of the circle each define a circle sector with a central angle of 120°

, whereby said central point of this circle, which rus parallel to said meridian plane lies on said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing.

11. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 8, wherein a straight line running through one of said sensors and a central point of the hollow ball forms an angle (α

) with said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing, said angle (α

) being greater than or equal to another angle (β

) formed by said ball pivot central axis of said ball pivot with said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing in case of a maximum excursion of said ball pivot limited by said ball-and-socket joint housing.

12. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 8, wherein said field transducer is designed as a permanent magnet and said field sensors are designed as magnetic field sensors, which send an electrical signal characterizing the magnetic field of said permanent magnet to an evaluation device.

13. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 12, wherein said permanent magnet is made of SmCo₅, Sm₂Co₁₇ or Nd₂Fe₁₄B.

14. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 13, wherein said ball-and-socket joint housing is made of a paramagnetic material.

15. A ball-and-socket joint comprising:

a ball-and-socket joint housing including a joint opening;

a ball pivot including a joint ball and a pin, said joint ball being mounted rotatably and pivotably in a hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface in said ball-and-socket joint housing and said pin projecting along a ball pivot central axis through said joint opening out of said ball-and-socket joint housing;

a two-pole field transducer provided with two poles along a line perpendicular to said ball pivot central axis and directly on an antipodal surface of said joint ball facing away from said pin, poles of said field transducer being arranged on the ball surface;

a first field sensor and a second field sensor arranged in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing, said first field sensor and said second field sensor being spaced a distance from one another on a field plane at least one of parallel and equal with respect to a meridian plane defined by a circle on the hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface running at right angles to a bearing longitudinal axis running central along the length of said ball-and-socket joint housing and interacting with the field produced by said field transducer;

a straight line running through one of said sensors and a central point of the hollow ball forms an angle (α

) with said bearing longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing, said angle (α

) being equal to another angle (β

) formed by said ball pivot central axis of said ball pivot with said bearing longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing in case of a maximum excursion of said ball pivot limited by said ball-and-socket joint housing.

16. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 15, wherein said joint ball, at its end facing away from pin, has a flattened area, in the center of which said two-pole field transducer is mounted in a recess provided in said joint ball.

17. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 15, wherein said marked direction of detection of each of the sensors forms the angle α

with the longitudinal axis of the ball-and-socket joint.

18. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 15, wherein said hollow ball-shaped bearing surface is formed by the inner surface of a bearing shell made of plastic, the bearing shell being arranged between the joint ball and the ball-and-socket joint housing.

19. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 15, wherein said field transducer is designed as a permanent magnet.

20. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 19, wherein said field sensors are formed by Hall effect sensors.

21. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 15, wherein only one field transducer is directly connected with the joint ball.

22. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 15, wherein recesses are provided in the ball-and-socket joint housing, the sensors are introduced into said recesses.

23. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 15, wherein said excursion of said ball pivot in relation to said ball-and-socket joint housing is limited by said joint opening formed by said ball and socket joint housing.

24. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 15, further comprising a third field sensor arranged with respect to said meridian plane in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing facing away from said joint opening at a distance from the other two field sensors and not lying on a straight line with same, and interacting with the field that is produced by said field transducer.

25. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 15, wherein, with respect to a circle defined by the three field sensors, two adjacent field sensors together with the central point of the circle each define a circle sector with a central angle of 120°

, whereby said central point of this circle, which runs parallel to said meridian plane lies on said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing.

26. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 15, wherein said field transducer is designed as a permanent magnet and said field sensors are designed as magnetic field sensors, which send an electrical signal characterizing the magnetic field of said permanent magnet to an evaluation device.

27. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 15, wherein said permanent magnet is at least one of SmCo₅, Sm₂Co₁₇ and Nd₂Fe₁₄B.

28. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 19, wherein said ball-and-socket joint housing is made of a paramagnetic material.

29. A ball-and-socket joint for a motor vehicle chassis, the ball-and-socket joint comprising:

a ball-and-socket joint housing provided with a joint opening;

a ball pivot having a joint ball and a pin, said ball pivot being mounted with said joint ball rotatably and pivotably in a hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface in said ball-and-socket joint housing and said pin projecting through said joint opening out of said ball-and-socket joint housing along a longitudinal axis;

a two-pole field transducer provided with a first pole and a second pole along a line perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and directly on an antipodal surface of said joint ball, so as to pivot and rotate with the joint ball;

a first field sensor and a second field sensor arranged in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing, said first field sensor and said second field sensor being spaced a distance from one another on a field plane at least one of parallel and equal with respect to a meridian plane defined by a circle on the hollow-ball-shaped bearing surface running at right angles to a bearing longitudinal axis running central along the length of said ball-and-socket joint housing and interacting with the field produced by said field transducer;

the ball-and-socket joint further comprising a third field sensor arranged with respect to said meridian plane in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing at a distance from the other two field sensors and not lying on a straight line with same, and interacting with the field that is produced by said field transducer;

said three field sensors further defining a circle, two adjacent field sensors together with the central point of the circle each define a circle sector with a central angle of 120°

, whereby said central point of this circle, which runs parallel to said meridian plane lies on said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing.

30. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 29, wherein said field transducer is a permanent magnet.

31. A ball-and-socket joint according to claim 29, wherein said field sensors are formed by Hall effect sensors.

32. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 29, further comprising a third field sensor arranged with respect to said meridian plane in the area in or on said ball-and-socket joint housing facing away from said joint opening at a distance from the other two field sensors and not lying on a straight line with same, and interacting with the field that is produced by said field transducer.

33. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 29, wherein, with respect to a circle defined by the three field sensors, two adjacent field sensors together with the central point of the circle each define a circle sector with a central angle of 120°

, whereby said central point of this circle, which runs parallel to said meridian plane lies on said longitudinal axis of said ball-and-socket joint housing.

34. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 29, wherein said field transducer is designed as a permanent magnet and said field sensors are designed as magnetic field sensors, which send an electrical signal characterizing the magnetic field of said permanent magnet to an evaluation device.

35. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 29, wherein said permanent magnet is at least one of SmCo₅, Sm₂CO₁₇ and Nd₂Fe₁₄B.

36. A ball-and-socket joint in accordance with claim 29, wherein said ball-and-socket joint housing is made of a paramagnetic material.