JP5244537B2 - Wheel bearing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wheel support bearing device for rotatably supporting a wheel with respect to a suspension device of an automobile.

  The wheel bearing device used in automobiles until the 1970s was mainly designed by arranging two standard bearings conforming to the ISO standard. In the 1980's, double row angular contact ball bearings or double row tapered roller bearings integrated with the outer ring of the back-to-back bearings, called the first generation (GEN1), were adopted by automobile manufacturers for the purpose of improving assembly. It became so. By integrating the outer ring, the initial axial clearance is set to an appropriate value when the bearing is assembled, so preload adjustment is no longer necessary when assembling to the automobile. Next, a double row bearing called a second generation (GEN2) in which a flange portion is provided on the outer ring was developed. This is because there are limits to weight reduction and size reduction with standard bearings alone, and the result is a reduction in the number of parts and weight reduction by unitizing with the shaft (hub wheel) and housing (knuckle) that are peripheral parts of the bearing. It is. By changing the fixing to the knuckle from press-fitting to bolt fastening, assembly to the car body has become easier. Furthermore, in the third generation (GEN3), the shaft (hub ring) and the bearing inner ring are integrated to reduce the surplus and further improve the assembly of the line. Recently, a fourth generation (GEN4) in which a bearing and a constant velocity joint are integrated has been developed.

  In the wheel bearing device, the bearing supports the weight of the vehicle via the tire, and receives a radial, thrust and moment load from the tire contact point according to the running state of the vehicle, an impact load, etc., and relatively severe load conditions. Used in. In particular, in recent years, the weight reduction of parts for the purpose of reducing fuel consumption and driving stability has forced the wheel bearing device to be downsized, and the lubrication conditions have become severe due to increased surface pressure. Therefore, flaking due to metal fatigue is likely to occur. In addition, the bearing may be worn due to slight vibration during transportation of the freight car, and a phenomenon called fretting may occur. Problems such as fretting are common to the above-mentioned generations.

  As countermeasures against the above-mentioned problems, organic molybdenum compounds such as molybdenum dithiocarbamate have been used in the past to increase the flaking life (fatigue life of bearing materials) and lubrication life and reduce fretting. The grease used for the wheel bearing apparatus which mix | blended is developed (refer patent document 1).

However, the grease containing an organic molybdenum compound or the like as in Patent Document 1 has a problem that it leads to an increase in cost.
Also, when running and transporting vehicles in cold regions, depending on the grease characteristics used in the wheel bearing device, oil film unevenness tends to occur on the raceway surface due to an increase in base oil viscosity, etc. There is a problem that is likely to occur.
JP 2006-77056 A

  The present invention has been made to cope with such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a wheel bearing device that is inexpensive and has excellent fretting resistance even when used in a cold region.

  A wheel bearing device according to the present invention includes a stationary raceway, a rotation raceway, a plurality of rolling elements provided between a raceway surface of the stationary raceway and a raceway surface of the rotation raceway. The rolling contact portion between the raceway surface and the rolling element is lubricated with grease containing a base oil and a thickener, and the Rockwell hardness of the raceway surface is 55. Above HRC, the Rockwell hardness of the rolling element is 70 HRC or less, the difference in Rockwell hardness between the raceway surface and the rolling element is 10 HRC or less, and the base oil is mineral oil or mineral oil And a synthetic oil, the blending ratio of the mineral oil in the mixed oil is 20 wt% to 80 wt%, and the pour point of the base oil is -15 ° C or less, and a thickener. Is a urea-based compound.

  The grease is characterized in that the consistency at −20 ° C. is 120 or more and the consistency at −40 ° C. is 70 or more. Further, the mineral oil is characterized by using paraffinic mineral oil or naphthenic mineral oil alone or in combination. The base oil is a mixed oil of mineral oil and hydrocarbon synthetic oil.

  The urea compound is an alicyclic-aromatic urea compound. The urea compound is an aromatic diurea compound. The blending ratio of the thickener is 1 to 40% by weight based on the whole grease.

  The wheel bearing device of the present invention has a predetermined Rockwell hardness between the rolling contact surface and the rolling element, and the difference between the two Rockwell hardnesses is 10 HRC or less. It has friction and low wear, can reduce fretting during transportation of freight cars, and has excellent long-term durability.

  Furthermore, as the grease to be encapsulated, the use of a grease having a pour point of −15 ° C. or lower, a consistency of 120 or higher at −20 ° C., and a consistency of 70 or higher at −40 ° C., organic molybdenum compounds, etc. It is possible to maintain excellent low friction and low wear properties, especially during use / transportation in cold regions, without using expensive grease blended, and to reduce fretting and the like.

An example of the wheel bearing device of the present invention is shown in a sectional view in FIG. FIG. 1 shows a structure for supporting drive wheels (rear wheels of FR and RR vehicles, front wheels of FF vehicles, and all wheels of 4WD vehicles).
In the wheel bearing device shown in FIG. 1, a hub 2 that is a rotating raceway is provided on an inner diameter side of an outer ring 1 that is a stationary raceway by a plurality of balls 3 and 3 that are rolling elements, respectively. I support it. The balls 3 and 3 are held by cages 8 and 8, respectively.
Double-row outer ring rolling surfaces 1a and 1b, each of which is a stationary raceway surface, on the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring 1, and first and second inner ring rollings, each of which is a rotation side raceway surface, on the outer peripheral surface of the hub 2. Surfaces 2a and 2b are provided, respectively.

The hub 2 is a combination of a hub body 4 and an inner ring 5. Of these, the hub body 4 has a mounting flange 6 for supporting the wheel at the outer end of the outer peripheral surface, the first inner ring rolling surface 2a in the middle, and the first inner ring near the inner end. The small-diameter stepped portion 7 having a smaller diameter than the portion where the inner ring rolling surface 2a is formed is provided. And the inner ring | wheel 5 which provided the said 2nd inner ring | wheel rolling surface 2b which is circular arc-shaped in the outer peripheral surface is externally fitted by this small diameter step part 7. FIG.
A spline hole 9 is formed at the center of the hub body 4. A spline shaft (not shown) attached to the constant velocity joint is inserted into the spline hole 9 in the assembled state to the vehicle. In the assembled state to the vehicle, the outer end surface of a constant velocity joint (not shown) hits the inner end surface of the inner ring 5 to prevent the inner ring 5 from falling off the small diameter step portion 7.

  Further, seal members 10 and 10 are provided between the inner peripheral surfaces of both ends of the outer ring 1 and the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate part of the hub body 4 and the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 5, respectively. Between the inner space 11 provided with the balls 3 and 3 and the outer space. Grease is enclosed in the internal space 11 to lubricate the rolling contact portions between the outer ring rolling surfaces 1a, 1b, the inner ring rolling surfaces 2a, 2b, and the rolling surfaces of the balls 3, 3. I am doing so.

  The wheel bearing device of the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in FIG. 1 and may be any of the first to fourth generations, and the rolling elements may be balls or rollers.

  In the wheel bearing device of the present invention, the Rockwell hardness of each raceway surface is 55 HRC or more, the Rockwell hardness of the rolling element is 70 HRC or less, and the Rockwell hardness of the rolling surface and the rolling element is low. It is essential that the difference is not more than 10 HRC. Here, the raceway surfaces are the inner ring rolling surfaces 2a and 2b and the outer ring rolling surfaces 1a and 1b as shown in FIG. 1, and are the surfaces on the hub 2, the inner ring 5, and the outer ring 1. The Rockwell hardness is a value measured by a test method of JIS Z 2251.

  When the Rockwell hardness of the raceway surface is less than 55 HRC, the wear resistance of the rolling surface is insufficient, affecting the bearing life, and the difference in Rockwell hardness between the rolling surface and the rolling element. However, if it exceeds 10 HRC, the difference in the relative hardness between the rolling surface and the rolling element is large, so that the wear of the rolling surface is promoted.

  The material that can be used for the hub, inner ring, outer ring, etc. of the wheel bearing device of the present invention can include bearing steel, carburized steel, or carbon steel for machine structure, and the Rockwell hardness of the raceway surface is within the above predetermined range. It may be anything that is inside. Among these, it is preferable to use carbon steel for mechanical structure such as S53C which has good forgeability and is inexpensive.

  The base oil that can be used for the grease sealed in the wheel bearing device of the present invention includes mineral oil such as spindle oil, refrigerator oil, turbine oil, machine oil, dynamo oil, highly refined mineral oil, liquid paraffin, polybutene, Fischer-Tropsch method GTL oils, poly-α-olefin (hereinafter referred to as PAO) oils, hydrocarbon-based synthetic oils such as alkylnaphthalenes and alicyclic compounds, or natural oils, polyol ester oils, phosphate ester oils, Non-hydrocarbon synthetic oils such as polymer ester oils, aromatic ester oils, carbonate ester oils, diester oils, polyglycol oils, silicone oils, polyphenyl ether oils, alkyl diphenyl ether oils, alkyl benzene oils, and fluorinated oils can be used. .

The PAO oil is usually an α-olefin or a mixture of isomerized α-olefin oligomers or polymers. Specific examples of α-olefins include 1-octene, 1-nonene, 1-decene, 1-dodecene, 1-tridecene, 1-tetradecene, 1-pentadecene, 1-hexadecene, 1-heptadecene, 1-octadecene, -Nonadecene, 1-eicosene, 1-docosene, 1-tetracocene and the like can be mentioned, and usually a mixture thereof is used. Moreover, as mineral oil, what is normally used in the field | areas of normal lubricating oil and grease, such as a paraffinic mineral oil and a naphthenic mineral oil, can be used, for example. These can be used alone or in combination of two or more.
Among these, it is preferable to use paraffinic mineral oil and naphthenic mineral oil which are relatively inexpensive and have little influence on the bearing sealing device and the cage.

  The pour point of the base oil that can be used for the grease sealed in the wheel bearing device of the present invention is −15 ° C. or lower. When the pour point is higher than −15 ° C., oil film unevenness is likely to occur on the raceway surface due to an increase in viscosity when used in a cold region.

（Ｒ² は、炭素原子数 6〜15 の芳香族炭化水素基を、Ｒ¹ およびＲ³ は、炭素原子数 6〜12 の炭化水素基をそれぞれ示す。Ｒ¹ およびＲ³ は同一であっても異なっていてもよい。） The grease encapsulated in the wheel bearing device of the present invention uses a urea compound as a thickener. The urea compound that can be used in the present invention is represented, for example, by the following formula (1).

(R ² represents an aromatic hydrocarbon group having 6 to 15 carbon atoms, and R ¹ and R ³ represent a hydrocarbon group having 6 to 12 carbon atoms. R ¹ and R ³ are the same. May be different.)

The urea compound is obtained by reacting an isocyanate compound with an amine compound. In order not to leave a reactive free radical, the isocyanate group of the isocyanate compound and the amino group of the amine compound are preferably blended so as to be approximately equivalent.
For example, the reaction is carried out by sufficiently reacting monoamine acid and diisocyanate in a base oil of about 70 to 110 ° C., then increasing the temperature and holding at 120 to 180 ° C. for about 1 to 2 hours, and then cooling and homogenizer This is done by homogenizing using a three-roll mill or the like.

The diurea compound represented by the formula (1) can be obtained, for example, by reaction of diisocyanate and monoamine. Diisocyanates include phenylene diisocyanate, diphenyl diisocyanate, diphenylmethane diisocyanate, 1,5-naphthylene diisocyanate, 2,4-tolylene diisocyanate, 3,3-dimethyl-4,4-biphenylene diisocyanate, octadecane diisocyanate, decane diisocyanate, hexane diisocyanate. Examples of the monoamine include octylamine, dodecylamine, hexadecylamine, stearylamine, oleylamine, aniline, p-toluidine, cyclohexylamine and the like.
In the present invention, alicyclic-aromatic urea compounds obtained by reaction of aromatic diisocyanates with alicyclic monoamines and aromatic monoamines are preferred.

  The blending ratio of the thickener used in the present invention is preferably 1 to 40% by weight, more preferably 3 to 25% by weight, based on the entire base grease. If the blending amount of the thickener is less than 1% by weight, the thickening effect is reduced and it becomes difficult to make a grease. If it exceeds 40% by weight, the grease becomes too hard and the desired effect is difficult to obtain.

  The consistency of the grease used in the present invention is preferably 120 or more at -20 ° C and 70 or more at -40 ° C. If the consistency at −20 ° C. is less than 120 or the consistency at −40 ° C. is less than 70, there is a problem that the grease becomes too hard and the desired effect cannot be obtained.

  The grease to be sealed in the wheel bearing device of the present invention can be added with known additives as needed within a range not impairing the function. Examples of additives include antioxidants such as organic zinc compounds, amines, phenols, and sulfur compounds, wear inhibitors such as sulfur and phosphorus compounds, and rust inhibitors such as metal sulfonates and polyhydric alcohol esters. And detergent dispersants such as metal sulfonates and metal phosphates. These can be added alone or in combination of two or more.

Reference Example 1 to Reference Example 6
Six types of rolling elements having a Rockwell hardness of 0.4, 1.5, 2.4, 3.9, 4.9, and 8.9 were prepared for a SUJ2 flat plate having a certain Rockwell hardness. It was used as Reference Example 1 to Reference Example 6 in order from the smallest to the largest in the Rockwell hardness difference. The grease of Comparative Example 1 shown below was applied to the prepared test piece. Using the test piece coated with grease, the fine wear test shown below was performed, and the fretting wear depth (μm) was measured. The measurement results are shown in FIG.

<Fine wear test>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of the fine wear test. As shown in FIG. 3, using a fine wear tester 12, a steel ball 14 loaded with a radial load 15 is placed on a test piece 13 coated with grease 16, and reciprocated in the horizontal direction AB under the following conditions. The fretting wear depth of the test piece 13 is measured.

[Measurement condition]
Test piece: SUJ2 flat plate coated with grease Steel ball weight: 7.9375 g
Radial load: 10 kgf
Reciprocating amplitude / count: 0.47 mm / 30 Hz
Test time: 8 hours

  The fretting wear depth in the fine wear test increased in proportion to the hardness difference between the rolling element and the raceway, as shown in FIG. Taking into account manufacturing tolerances, the hardness difference between the rolling elements and the raceway is limited to 10 HRC or less.

Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Example 1
A thickener shown in Table 1 was added to the base oil shown in Table 1 to produce a grease. The blending ratio of the thickener to the entire grease was in the range of 10 to 15% by weight. The ratio of the mineral oil to the mixed oil of the mineral oil and the synthetic hydrocarbon oil used in Example 2 is 60% by weight. The consistency of the obtained grease was measured according to JIS K2220.

  A bearing (model number: 51204J) incorporating a bearing ring having Rockwell hardness of 60 to 64 HRC and rolling elements having 62 to 67 HRC was prepared. The difference in Rockwell hardness between this race and the rolling element is 7 at maximum. The prepared grease was sealed in the prepared bearing to obtain a bearing test piece. The fretting resistance shown below was performed using the obtained bearing test piece, and the fretting resistance was evaluated. The evaluation results are also shown in Table 1.

<Fretting test>
The fretting wear in the Fafnir test (compliance) was used, and the result was expressed as a wear amount. That is, based on ASTM D 4170, the test conditions are measured for the wear amount of the rolling surface and rolling element when the bearing (model number: 51204J) test piece is rotated for 2 hours as the test time.
Specimens with a wear amount of 1.2 mg or less were evaluated as “excellent” and “◎”, and those with a wear amount exceeding 1.2 mg and less than 1.5 mg were evaluated as “good” and “○” exceeded 1.5 mg Record 2.5 mg or less as “Yes” and record “△”, and exceed 2.5 mg as “Not” and record “X”.

  In Table 1, the Rockwell hardness of the raceway raceway and the rolling element is in a predetermined range, and Examples 1 to 3 using a predetermined grease showed excellent fretting resistance.

  The wheel bearing device of the present invention is inexpensive and excellent in fretting resistance and long-term durability, and therefore can be suitably used as a wheel bearing device that receives radial, thrust and moment loads, impact loads, and the like. . Also, fretting problems are unlikely to occur during transportation in cold regions.

It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the wheel bearing apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the influence of the hardness difference of a rolling element and a rolling surface on a fretting wear depth. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of a fine abrasion test.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outer ring 2 Hub 3 Ball 4 Hub body 5 Inner ring 6 Flange 7 Small diameter step part 8 Cage 9 Spline hole 10 Seal member 11 Internal space 12 Fine wear test machine 13 Flat plate 14 Steel ball 15 Radial load 16 Grease

Claims (5)

A stationary side raceway, a rotation side raceway, and a plurality of rolling elements provided between a raceway surface of the stationary side raceway and a raceway surface of the rotation side raceway, the raceway surface and the In a wheel bearing device for lubricating a rolling contact portion with a rolling element with grease containing a base oil and a thickener,
The Rockwell hardness of the raceway surface is 55 HRC or more, the Rockwell hardness of the rolling element is 70 HRC or less, and the difference in Rockwell hardness between the raceway surface and the rolling element is 10 HRC or less. ,
The base oil is mineral oil or a mixed oil of mineral oil and synthetic oil, the blending ratio of the mineral oil in the mixed oil is 20 to 80% by weight, and the pour point of the base oil is −15 ° C. And
The wheel bearing device according to claim 1, wherein the thickener is an alicyclic-aromatic urea compound or an aromatic diurea compound .   2. The wheel bearing device according to claim 1, wherein the grease has a consistency of 120 or more at −20 ° C. and a consistency of 70 or more at −40 ° C. 3.   The wheel bearing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mineral oil is a paraffinic mineral oil or a naphthenic mineral oil used alone or in combination.   The wheel bearing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the base oil is a mixed oil of mineral oil and hydrocarbon-based synthetic oil. The wheel bearing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein a blending ratio of the thickener is 1 to 40% by weight with respect to the whole grease.

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