Method of manufacturing outer joint member of constant velocity universal joint, and outer joint member

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9605715-B2
Application number	US-201414911348-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2014
Priority date	Aug 29, 2013
Publication date	Mar 28, 2017
Grant date	Mar 28, 2017

Abstract

A method of manufacturing an outer joint member of a constant velocity universal joint includes forming cup and shaft members of medium carbon steel, forging the cup member to have integrally formed cylindrical and bottom portions, and machining a joining end surface on an outer surface of the bottom portion after the forging. The method also includes preparing the shaft member to have a joining end surface to be joined to the bottom portion of the cup member, which is formed by machining, bringing the joining end surfaces of the cup and shaft members into abutment against each other and welding the cup and shaft members by radiating a beam from an outer side of the cup member to an abutment portion between the cup and shaft members in a radial direction of the cup member.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a plurality of outer joint members for a plurality of constant velocity universal joints which vary in joint size and joint type, each of the outer joint members comprising a cup member and a shaft member, the cup member having track grooves formed at an inner periphery thereof to be engageable with torque transmitting elements, and the shaft member being welded to a bottom portion of the cup member,
the method comprising, for each of the outer joint members:
forming the cup member of medium carbon steel through steps including a forging step comprising forging
the cup member to have a cylindrical portion with the track grooves and the bottom portion integrally, and a machining step comprising forming a joining end surface on an outer surface of the bottom portion;
forming the shaft member of medium carbon steel through steps including a machining step comprising forming a joining end surface on an end portion of the shaft member to be joined to the bottom portion of the cup member, and a machining step comprising forming a bearing mounting surface on an outer periphery of the shaft member, wherein the shaft member is one of a plurality of shaft members prepared with respect to the cup member, each of the shaft members having a particular specification depending on a type of a vehicle in which the shaft member is to be assembled;
abutting the joining end surface of the cup member and the joining end surface of the one of the plurality of shaft members against each other; and
welding the cup member and the one of the plurality of shaft members to each other by radiating a beam from an outer side of the cup member to an abutment portion between the joining end surface of the cup member and the joining end surface of the one of the plurality of shaft members in a radial direction of the cup member,
wherein an outer diameter of the joining end surface of the cup member of each of the outer joint members and an outer diameter of the joining end surface of each of the shaft members of each of the outer joint members are set so that the outer diameters of the joining end surfaces of the cup members are equal to each other among the outer joint members for the constant velocity universal joints having the same joint size, and the outer diameters of the joining end surfaces of the shaft members are equal to each other among the outer joint members for the constant velocity universal joints having the same joint size, irrespective of the joint type and the particular specification of the shaft member.

2. The method of manufacturing a plurality of outer joint members for a plurality of constant velocity universal joints according to claim 1 , wherein one or both of the cup member and the shaft member before the welding is prepared as an intermediate component which has not been subjected to heat treatment.

3. The method of manufacturing a plurality of outer joint members for a plurality of constant velocity universal joints according to claim 1 , wherein one or both of the cup member and the shaft member before the welding is prepared as a finished component which has been subjected to heat treatment.

4. The method of manufacturing a plurality of outer joint members for a plurality of constant velocity universal joints according to claim 1 , wherein the welding comprises electron beam welding.

5. The method of manufacturing a plurality of outer joint members for a plurality of constant velocity universal joints according to claim 1 , wherein the welding comprises welding the cup member and the shaft member under a state in which the cup member and the shaft member are placed in a sealed space to keep a pressure equal to or less than an atmospheric pressure.

6. The method of manufacturing a plurality of outer joint members for a plurality of constant velocity universal joints according to claim 1 , wherein a hardness of a welded portion between the cup member and the shaft member ranges from 200 Hv to 500 Hv.

Assignees

• Osugi Masafumi
• Kobayashi Masazumi
• Wada Morihiro
• Ueno Tsuyoshi
• Sugiyama Tatsuro
• Ntn Toyo Bearing Co Ltd

Inventors

• Osugi Masafumi
• Kobayashi Masazumi
• Wada Morihiro
• Ueno Tsuyoshi
• Sugiyama Tatsuro

Classifications

• B23K15/0006

  specially adapted for particular articles or work · CPC title

• B23K26/21

  by welding · CPC title

• Y10S464/905

  Torque transmitted via radially extending pin · CPC title

• B23K15/0046

  Welding · CPC title

• F16D2003/22326

  Attachments to the outer joint member, i.e. attachments to the exterior of the outer joint member or to the shaft of the outer joint member · CPC title