WO2000034056A1 - Hub, notably for bicycles and such like - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a hub, notably for bicycles and such like, which comprises a hub shaft (4a) and a housing (1b) which is mounted on anti-friction bearings such that it is able to rotate in relation to said shaft. The anti-friction bearings present anti-friction elements which are positioned at a defined distance from each other. For bearing-mounting two anti-friction bearings situated next to and at a short distance from each other are used. It is also possible to use a hollow hub shaft (4b) which is configured such that in a central area an internal diameter of the hollow hub shaft (4a) is greater than an external diameter of the hub in an outer area which is designed to be inserted into the open end of a bicycle frame.

Description

 Hub, especially for bicycles and the like

description

The present invention relates to a hub which is particularly suitable for bicycles. Use in bicycles is not the only possible use; such hubs can e.g. B. can also be used for wheelchairs, (bicycle) trailers and other muscle-powered or non-muscle-powered vehicles and equipment. For the sake of simplicity, however, the invention is described below in relation to the use in bicycles, this description should in no way be understood as a restriction of the application.

Hubs are used to connect the bicycle frame to the wheel. Typically, a hub has a fixed axle and a hub housing rotatably mounted thereon, on which spokes can be arranged in order to connect the hub housing to the rim of the wheel. In addition to these spokes, connections are increasingly being used today in which only three or four plastic supports are used for connection to the rim, or disks, e.g. B. carbon discs used.

In particular, but not only in the highly sporting area, the requirements for such hubs are very high. On the one hand, a bicycle hub should also be able to withstand high forces such as, for. B. occur in off-road driving with mountain bikes, record safely, on the other hand, a hub should be used in z. B. so-called racing bikes have the lowest possible weight in order to enable the highest possible speed.

Furthermore, a hub should work reliably, even over longer periods of time.

In professional and semi-professional sports, it is common to maintain such hubs before or almost every use. It is therefore still necessary that the hub can be easily disassembled and reassembled.

In recent years it has become increasingly popular to go on long tours by bike or to explore distant countries by bike and luggage. During long journeys over uneven routes or through rough terrain or also due to natural wear and tear, parts of a hub may have defects or wear.

Then it is necessary to repair the hub and replace the worn elements. It is therefore still necessary that spare parts for such hubs are available quickly and easily.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a hub for a bicycle which meets the aforementioned requirements and which, in particular, has a reliable function with good dismantling and a low weight. This object is achieved by the subject matter of claim 1, claim 2, claim 17 and claim 18.

Preferred developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The present invention provides a bicycle hub that is light in weight and has high reliability and durability, which is easy to maintain.

The hub according to the invention includes a hub axle and a hollow hub housing arranged concentrically therewith, which is rotatably mounted with at least two preferably identical or identical roller bearings with respect to this hub axle. At least two of the roller bearings are arranged adjacent to one another. These at least two adjacent roller bearings are arranged next to each other with a substantially small distance from each other.

For the purposes of this application, a short distance is understood to mean that the axial distance between the roller bearings arranged next to one another is smaller than the axial width of one of the two roller bearings. The axial distance between the two rolling bearings is preferably less than half the axial width of one of the bearings, and particularly preferably it is less than one tenth of the axial width of one of the rolling bearings, and particularly preferably the two rolling bearings are arranged so as to abut one another.

In the sense of this application, arranged essentially abutting one another means that the two bearings preferably abut one another or that a mutual one Touching the bearings is not prevented by additional measures.

The rolling bearings used for storage have rolling elements, and the rolling elements of each rolling bearing are arranged at a predetermined distance from one another. Commercial roller bearings are preferably used.

In a further embodiment of the hub according to the invention, the hub has a hollow hub axle and a hub housing which is rotatably mounted with roller bearings with respect to the hub axle. The roller bearings each have roller bodies which, as in the previous embodiment of a hub according to the invention, are each arranged at a predetermined distance from one another. Furthermore, such a hub has a first diameter section which is intended to be inserted into the dropout of a bicycle frame.

Furthermore, the hub or the hub axle has at least one second diameter section which is arranged essentially in a central region of the hub axle and which has an inner diameter and an outer diameter, the inner diameter of this second diameter region being equal to or larger than the outer diameter of this first Diameter range.

In another embodiment of the hub according to the invention, the hub has a hollow hub axle which, in contrast to conventional hub axles, is designed in such a way that the ratio of outside to inside diameter is small or that it has a relatively small wall thickness. In this embodiment too, roller bearings are used to support the hub housing with respect to the hub axis, which have roller bodies, which are also each at a predetermined distance from one another. are arranged differently. In a central area in the middle of the hub, the wall thickness of the hollow hub axis is between 0.5 and 3 mm, preferably between 1 and 2.5 mm and particularly preferably between 1.7 mm and 2.3 mm and is preferably about 2 mm.

The hub according to the invention has many advantages.

Through the use of rolling bearings, which have a large number of rolling elements, which are each arranged at a predetermined distance from one another, industrially manufactured or commercially available rolling bearings can be used, as a result of which a high degree of reliability and durability of the hub according to the invention is achieved.

Especially when using commercially available, industrially manufactured rolling bearings, the replacement of worn or defective rolling bearings is very easy, especially when using e.g. B. according to DIN or ISO or the like. standardized bearings that are available all over the world in a short time. This means that a rolling bearing can be replaced within a very short time, even if there is no bicycle dealer nearby or a bicycle dealer does not have a suitable bearing in stock.

The bearing of the hub housing with respect to the hub axis with two adjacent, preferably directly adjacent, and particularly preferably abutting roller bearings is particularly advantageous since the load to be borne by each bearing is smaller and therefore roller bearings with smaller external dimensions can be used, which require less space . By using two roller bearings instead of the previously common one, it is possible to build and to reduce the material volume with the same durability and resilience.

A hub with a hollow hub axle, in which an outer diameter of the hub in a first area, which is intended to be inserted into the dropout of a bicycle frame, is larger than an inner diameter in a second diameter area, which is essentially in the central area of the hub axle arranged has many advantages.

In contrast to conventional hollow hub axles, a hollow hub axle according to the invention has a particularly large inner diameter, which allows the entire hub axle to be made particularly slim or thin-walled.

In the further and other embodiment, when using a hollow hub axle, roller bearings with roller bodies are also used, the roller bodies of each roller bearing being aligned at a predetermined distance from one another.

Rigidity and strength of a hub axle depend not only on the mass or volume and the material used, but also on their geometric distribution. The bending stiffness of hubs increases with increasing diameter. Areas located radially outward contribute disproportionately to the bending stiffness. For this reason, a hub according to the invention is particularly advantageous since the large outer diameter in conjunction with the small wall thickness achieves high bending stiffness with little use of material and thus weight.

It should be pointed out that a preferred further development of all the configurations described so far also features zelner, or all of the configurations described so far can use.

In a preferred development of the hub according to the invention according to one or more previously described configurations, the hub furthermore has a rotor, on which at least one, preferably up to 10 or more, gears are to be arranged and which is rotatably mounted with at least one roller bearing with respect to the hub axis, and comprises a freewheel device which is arranged between the rotor and the hub shell.

This development is used in particular for rear wheels of bicycles, since these are usually driven. However, bicycles in which the front wheel is driven have also become known in the prior art. Of course, this development of the hub according to the invention is also suitable for such front wheels.

The use of such a hub according to the invention as a drive hub or rear wheel hub has many advantages, since the use of two adjacent roller bearings instead of one roller bearing, as has become known in the prior art, can reduce the use of material or the construction volume of the rear wheel hub and thus weight is saved.

When using a hollow hub axle according to the invention, it is also possible to save weight compared to conventional hubs.

In a preferred development of all the configurations described so far, the roller bearings have roller cages in which the roller bodies of the respective roller bearings are arranged in predetermined intervals. be held or arranged. The roller cages are preferably made of plastic or metal.

In a preferred development, the rolling bearings additionally have an inner or outer ring and particularly preferably an inner and an outer ring.

The use of roller bearings with an inner and outer ring is particularly advantageous because the complete roller bearing can be easily replaced if one or more roller bodies are worn or destroyed.

In conventional bicycle hubs, a conical section on the hub axle often serves as the inner tread for the rolling elements, while the outer tread is formed in the hub shell. The rolling elements can be destroyed by natural wear and tear, exceeding the service life or by the penetration of foreign particles or dust, and with such conventional hubs, grooves and other damage quickly form on the inner and / or outer treads on the hub axle and the hub housing, as well as this can lead to the entire hub being unusable. Such damage is avoided when using roller bearings with inner and outer rings.

In a preferred development of the bicycle hub according to the invention, deep groove ball bearings or needle bearings are used as rolling bearings, and the bearings used preferably have seals against dust or water and are particularly preferably maintenance-free.

Such an embodiment is particularly advantageous since, in particular when using sealed and maintenance-free bearings, the reliability and readiness for use of an invented Invention hub is particularly high and the life of the bearings is increased.

If, according to the first-described configuration of the hub according to the invention, two adjacent roller bearings are used for mounting the hub housing with respect to the hub axle, similar, in particular identical deep groove ball bearings are particularly preferably used, while in particular with rear wheel hubs for mounting the rotor relative to the hub housing, needle bearings can also be used, which then preferably have only one inner or outer ring or only one needle ring in order to keep the overall height in the radial direction and thus the total weight as small as possible.

With regard to further possible configurations and in particular the design of the warehouse, reference is made to the parallel application by the same applicant (attorney file 4571P197), which was filed with the German Patent Office on the same day as the present application and which describes a freewheel hub and its description, figures and entire content is thus included in the disclosure of this application.

In a further preferred embodiment of the hub according to the invention, at least one of the roller bearings and in particular one of the roller bearings for mounting the hub housing and / or the rotor is mounted in a floating and in particular axially floating manner. The accuracy of fit of the floating bearing is between 0.02 and 0.5 mm, preferably between 0.05 and 0.15 mm and particularly preferably it is approximately 0.1 mm. The two outer roller bearings for mounting the hub housing are particularly preferably mounted in a floating manner, particularly, but not only, if two adjacent roller bearings or deep groove ball bearings are used for mounting. But it is also possible that a bearing is axially floating on only one side. In the case of rear wheel hubs, the side of the hub that is not driven is preferably floating.

If no bearings are stored in a floating position, (small) tensioning of the bearings can occur when the bearings are pressed into the hub housing, the rotor or the hub axle, which is retained in the assembled state. In the case of rear wheel hubs in particular, bracing of the individual bearings can result in the rotor having a slight angular offset, which can lead to the chain jumping. Therefore, the outermost bearings in relation to the hub center of the hub according to the invention are preferably floating.

The hub axle preferably has a substantially cylindrical shape and it can have two ring-shaped or semi-conical thickenings on the outer surface, each of which has a shoulder on the side facing away from the hub center. The latter paragraphs are used to axially fix roller bearings on the left and right side of the hub with respect to the hub axis.

The further embodiment of a hub according to the invention includes features such as those in applications by the same applicant with application number DE 197 31 451.1, filed with the German Patent Office on July 22, 1997, or under application number DE 198 47 673.6, filed with the German Patent Office on October 15. 1998. The content of these applications is therefore included in the disclosure of the present application.

A hub according to the invention preferably has sealing devices to prevent the ingress of dust or water and other to avoid contamination in the interior of the hub shell.

In the case of a configuration as a rear wheel hub, at least one sealing device is preferably arranged between the rotor and the hub axle and one between the rotor and the hub housing. The special design of the sealing devices is preferably carried out as described in the above-mentioned DE 197 31 451.1 or DE 198 47 673.6 or on the same day as the present application filed by the same applicant with the German Patent Office (attorney file 4571P197).

An elastomer seal is preferably connected downstream of a labyrinth seal on at least one sealing device.

Such a configuration of the sealing devices is particularly advantageous since a particularly high sealing effect is achieved in particular by connecting two, in particular different, sealing elements in series.

In a further preferred development of the hub according to the invention, the hub can be dismantled by hand essentially without the use of tools, and furthermore the rotor can also be removed or removed by hand essentially without the use of tools.

Such a design is particularly advantageous since frequent cleaning and maintenance of the hub is required, particularly in the highly sporting field. The hub according to the invention is easy to disassemble and is preferably designed such that no essential parts, such as. B. pawls when using a ratchet freewheel or balls of ball bearings or the like. fall out of the hub. A right or left adapter ring is arranged on at least one, preferably on both ends of the hub axle, which can be screwed onto the hub axle or pushed onto the hub in order to enable particularly simple disassembly.

When using the hub according to the invention as a drive hub or rear wheel hub, the freewheel device can have two toothed disks which are arranged essentially concentrically to the hub axis and the toothed disks each have a tooth surface.

The tooth surfaces of the two toothed disks are pressed against one another by a pretensioning device and at least one or both toothed disks are kept floating, so that a tilting of at least one toothed disk with respect to a plane which is perpendicular to a center line of the hub axis is possible.

Such a freewheel is described in the above-mentioned applications by the same applicant with application numbers 198 47 673.6 and DE 197 31 451.1. Therefore, a detailed description is omitted here.

In another preferred development of the hub according to the invention for rear wheels, the freewheel device contains at least one, preferably two, three or four pawls, which are preferably arranged symmetrically along the circumference of a pawl carrier device and which are preferably in recesses, grooves or toothings for transmitting the torque of the rotor to the hub housing can engage on the inner circumferential surface of the rotor. Preferably, the hub shell and / or the hub axle made of metal, particularly preferably made of light metal or a light metal alloy such as. B. made of aluminum. The rotor is also made of metal and preferably made of an aluminum alloy or steel for particularly high loads.

Further advantages, features and possible uses of the present invention result from the following description of an exemplary embodiment with the drawing.

It shows:

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the hub according to the invention for a front wheel in section; and

FIG. 2 shows a section through the hub axis of the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1; and

Figure 3 shows another embodiment of the hub according to the invention for a rear wheel in section; and

FIG. 4 shows a section through the hub axis of the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 3.

A first embodiment of a hub 3a according to the invention, in particular for a front wheel, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The hub 3a has a hub axle 4a and a hub housing 1a.

On the left side of the hub 3a (according to the orientation of FIG. 1), two directly arranged and identical deep groove ball bearings 2 are arranged for the rotatable mounting of the hub shell relative to the hub axis 3a. The ball bearing 2 arranged towards the center of the hub is secured to the right by a shoulder 36 in a left end region of the hub housing 1 a and by shoulder 35 on the hub axis in a region of a bead 37 with a larger diameter.

The ball bearing 2 arranged to the left of this ball bearing 2 is axially floating with a fitting accuracy of approximately 0.1 mm. The ball bearings 2 are maintenance-free and have seals against dust and water. These are commercially available, high or very high quality and standardized bearings, which are often also referred to as industrial bearings because they are manufactured industrially for a wide variety of storage purposes.

A left adapter ring 13 is pushed onto the end of the hub axle 4a from the ball bearings 2 to the left, that is to say seen away from the center of the hub, which is essentially rotationally symmetrical. The adapter ring closes off the hub housing on this side of the hub. On a cylindrical end region of the adapter ring on the side oriented toward the center of the hub, an annular seal with a V-shaped cross section is arranged on the outer surface of the adapter ring. The opening of the V between the two sealing walls essentially points radially outwards.

The V-shaped seal 18 is arranged between the left adapter ring 13 and a left end region of the hub shell la. The sealing wall of the seal 18, which is arranged on the side lying towards the center of the hub, abrasively touches a groove running around in the left end region of the hub housing 1 a, so that dust or dust penetrating from the outside Water can not get to the storage area of the ball bearing 2.

The second sealing wall of the seal 18 ends in the radial direction just before the hub housing la, so that a small, axially extended gap remains in the radial direction between the first sealing wall of the seal 18 and the hub housing la in the left end region and forms a kind of upstream labyrinth seal.

A circumferential groove for receiving an O-ring 16 made of elastic material is provided on an inner circumferential surface of the adapter ring 13 in the right end region. The O-ring 16 seals the hub axle 4a from the left adapter ring 13 and also secures the left adapter ring 13 against axial slipping.

The hub 3a according to the invention is constructed essentially side-symmetrically. A right adapter ring 12 is arranged on the right side, which is identical in construction to the left adapter ring 13. Likewise, two identical ball bearings 2 are arranged in a right-hand region of the hub axle 4a for the rotatable mounting of the hub housing with reference to the hub axle 4a.

The inner ring with the inner running surface of the ball bearing 2 oriented towards the center of the hub on the right side of the hub 4a is axially supported by a shoulder 35 in a region of axial thickening of the hub axis 4a, while the outer ring with the outer running surface of this ball bearing axially towards the center of the hub is supported by a shoulder 36 in the hub shell la. The inner diameter 41 of the hub axle 4a according to the invention is approximately 12 mm and is larger than an outer diameter 38 of the left and right adapter rings 12, 13 in an end region of the respective adapter ring, which are intended to be pushed into the dropouts of the bicycle frame in order to Hold the hub in the frame or fork.

FIG. 2 shows a section through a hub axle 4a according to the invention of the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1. The hub axle 4a is essentially cylindrical in shape and has a section or a ring 37 with a larger diameter near the right and left end regions, respectively of the side facing away from the center of the hub each have steep drops 35.

An inner diameter 41 of the hub axle according to the invention is 12 mm, the diameter being at least 11.8 mm, but not more than 12 mm. An outer diameter 42 is 15 mm, the tolerance in the end regions where ball bearings are arranged being less than 15 μm. The maximum diameter 43 of the hub axle 4a is 17.5 mm for a front wheel hub and 18.5 mm for a rear wheel hub.

A rear wheel hub 4b according to the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The hub 3b has a hub axle 4b, a hub housing 1b, a freewheel device 6, 8 and a rotor 5.

A right adapter ring 12 with a knurled disk 17 pressed or arranged thereon closes the hub 3b to the right, while a left adapter ring 13 is arranged on the left side. As with the hub 3a according to the invention 1 and 2, the adapter rings 12, 13 each have a seal 18 and an O-ring 16.

The hub shell 1b is rotatably supported with a deep groove ball bearing 2 arranged in a left end portion of the hub and with two deep groove ball bearings 30 disposed in a right end portion of the hub shell 1b with respect to the hub axis 4b.

The freewheel device comprises two toothed disks 6 which are arranged concentrically to the hub axis 4b and which are pressed against one another by springs 8. The springs 8 serve at the same time for the floating mounting of the toothed disks 6 and thus enable the toothed disks to be tilted with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axial center line of the hub axis.

However, it is also possible that only one of the toothed disks is floating. A precise description of the structure and the mode of operation of the freewheel device with one or two floating toothed disks was made in the above-mentioned German patent applications DE 198 47 673.6 and DE 197 31 451.1, to which reference is made here. In particular, reference is made to the description of FIGS. 1, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 5c of the German patent application DE 198 47 673.6 in the precise configuration of the freewheel device and can therefore be omitted here.

The toothed disc 6 arranged towards the center of the hub is surrounded by a threaded ring 7 screwed into the hub housing 1b, which is preferably made from hardened steel.

The rotor is rotatably supported with respect to the hub axis by means of two deep groove ball bearings 2, a spacer sleeve 11 being arranged between these deep groove ball bearings 2. The inner circumferential surface of the rotor points to a central cut a groove in which a locking ring 10 is arranged.

A cover disk 14 is arranged between the right adapter ring 12 and the rotor.

At the end area of the rotor 5 oriented towards the center of the hub, a seal 9 is arranged between the rotor 5 and the hub housing 1b in order to prevent water and dust from penetrating into the interior of this hub.

The inner diameter 51 of the hub axle 4a according to the invention is approximately 12 mm and is larger than an outer diameter 38 of the left and right adapter rings 12, 13.

Fig. 4 shows a section through the hub axis 4b. The hub axle 4b is essentially cylindrical in shape and has two regions with a larger diameter or rings 37.

The inside diameter 51 of the hub axle 4b corresponds to the inside diameter 41 of the hub axle 4a, and the outside diameter 52 of the hub axle 4b corresponds to the outside diameter 42 of the hub axle 4a. The wall thickness 54 is 3 mm, just like the wall thickness 44 of the hub axle 4a.

Reference list

la hub shell lb hub shell

2 deep groove ball bearings

3a hub

3b hub

4a hub axle

4b hub axle

5 rotor

6 tooth lock washer

7 threaded ring

8 spring

9 seal

10 circlip

11 spacer sleeve

12 adapter ring

13 adapter ring

14 cover plate

16 O-ring

17 rim washer

18 seal

19 fitting washer

30 deep groove ball bearings

35 paragraph

36 paragraph

37 bead

38 diameter Diameter diameter diameter wall thickness diameter diameter wall thickness

Claims

Expectations 1. Hub, in particular for bicycles and the like, with: a hub axle, a hub housing which is rotatably supported with at least two roller bearings with respect to this hub axis, wherein at least two of these roller bearings are arranged next to one another with a substantially small distance, and wherein these rolling bearings each have rolling elements which are each arranged at a predetermined distance from one another. 2. Hub, in particular for bicycles and the like, with: a hollow hub axle, a hub housing rotatably mounted with roller bearings with respect to this hub axis, these rolling bearings each have rolling elements which are each arranged at a predetermined distance from one another; and said hub axle having a first diameter section which is intended to be inserted into the dropout of a bicycle frame; and wherein this hub axis further has a second diameter region which is arranged substantially in the central region of the hub axis, wherein this second diameter region has an outer diameter and an inner diameter and wherein the inner diameter of this second diameter region is equal to or larger than or as the outer diameter of this first diameter region . 3. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, in particular for rear wheels of bicycles and the like, additionally with: a rotor which is rotatably mounted with at least one roller bearing with respect to this hub axis, a freewheel device which is arranged between this rotor and this hub housing. 4. Hub, according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rolling elements of all rolling bearings with roller cages are arranged at predetermined intervals. 5. Hub, according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that these roller bearings are deep groove ball bearings and / or needle bearings, which preferably seals against dust and / or Have water, and which are particularly preferably maintenance-free. 6. Hub, according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of these bearings, preferably two or more of these bearings, and particularly preferably the two outer bearings for mounting this hub housing, is / are floating, this accuracy of fit of this floating Storage (s) is between 0.02 and 0.5 mm and particularly preferably between 0.05 and 0.15 mm. 7. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that this hollow hub axle has a substantially cylindrical shape, and that an outer surface of this hollow hub axle can have at least one shoulder, which abuts directly on one of these rolling bearings. 8. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that this hub can be dismantled (by hand) essentially without the use of tools. 9. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that this rotor can be removed or removed essentially without the use of tools (by hand). 10. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least at one end, preferably at both ends of this hollow hub axis, a right or left ad Atering is arranged, which is screwed or pushed onto this hub axle. 11. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one sealing device is arranged between this hub axle and this hub housing. 12. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that this freewheel device has two toothed disks which are arranged essentially concentrically to this hub axis and the tooth surfaces of which are pressed against one another by a pretensioning device, one or both toothed disks being held in a floating manner. 13. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that this freewheel device comprises at least one, preferably two, three or four pawls. 14. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one sealing device is arranged between this rotor and this hub housing. 15. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one sealing device comprises at least one elastomer sealing element. 16. Hub according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that that at least one sealing device comprises at least one labyrinth seal. 17. Impeller, in particular for bicycles and the like, with a hub according to at least one of claims 1 to 16. 18. Multi-wheel, preferably two-wheeler, preferably bicycle, with at least one hub according to at least one of claims 1 to 16.