FORM 2
THE PATENT ACT 1970 (39 of 1970)
&
The Patents Rules, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10, and rule 13)
1. TITLE OF INVENTION
JOINT AND/OR BEARING ARRANGEMENT
2. APPLICANT(S)
a) Name : ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG
b) Nationality : GERMAN Company
c) Address : 88038 FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
GERMANY
3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed : -

The invention relates to a joint and/or bearing arrangement having at least two control arms that are brought together at a receiving region according to the preamble of claim 1 or of claim 5 as well as to a motor vehicle having one or more of such joint- and/or bearing arrangements, in particular in chassis- and/or steering parts.
It is known for many applications, especially in chassis- and steering regions of motor vehicles, to provide so-called wishbones, which are either one-piece or, more advantageously for effective production, comprise a Construction of two individual control arms that converge in a V-shaped manner and run into a receiving region. This may be used to receive a joint or bearing and may be fastened for example to an axle in order to support the axle via the wishbone rnovably on a vehicle body or vehicle frame.
The converging ends of the control arms have to be held adjacent to one another, for which purpose for example according to DE 102 1.9 708 Al separate bolts are provided, which engage axially through the control arm ends and thereby secure them adjacent to one another. Such a solution is however very laborious in terms of assembly.
From DE 199 32 678 Al, on the other hand, a solution is known, in which the two control arm ends may be secured adjacent to one another by means of the joint itself, namely the housing thereof. This poses the risk that with the movement during operation the joint may wear into the wall of the receiving region, which here takes the form of a round eye, and therefore lead to rapid wear of the connection. What is more, removal of the bearing, for example to replace it because of wear, is impossible without having to undo the control arm connection. This makes it more difficult to handle such connections.
DE 42 15 195 Al discloses elastomer bearings having an inner part, which has an anti-twist device to prevent slipping relative to the elastomer as a result of positive

locking by means of lugs disposed on the inner part. The elastomer in turn is received in a non-circular housing so that by means of this positive locking a further anti-twist device is formed.
The underlying problem of the invention is to achieve an improvement here, in particular to provide, in addition to simplified assembly, a simple and effective device that prevents the control arms twisting relative to one another.
The invention solves this problem by means of a joint- and/or bearing arrangement having the features of claim 1 and/or claim 3 as well as by means of a motor vehicle having the features of claim 14. With regard to advantageous refinements and developments of the invention reference is made to the further claims 2 and 4 to 13.
In the construction according to claim 1 the anti-twist device prevents a relative movement of the holding-together joint relative to the inner walls of the receiving region, thereby preventing wear as a result of friction. The joint and the eyes of the connected control arms that are held together by the joint do not work against one another but are non-displaceable relative to one another in their connection.
In this case, according to the invention the radially outer anti-twist region of the joint and an inner portion of the receiving region interact, as a result of being configured in a complementary manner to one another; as a result of a positive interlocking of the said parts.
For this purpose - and in a manner that is simple to manufacture - flattened regions differing from a circular contour shape may be provided.
The effect achieved by the construction according to claim 3 is that, on the one hand, the converging ends of the control arms may be secured adjacent to one another without further holding means, such as for example bolts, thereby reducing the assembly- and material outlay; on the other hand, however, because of the separate

sleeve body a joint or bearing held in the receiving region remains capable of disassembly without having to undo the connection of the control arms adjacent to one another.
A particular advantage of the invention is that various sleeve bodies of different wall thicknesses may be provided, so that for example identical joints may be adapted to differently sized receiving regions of control arm ends. The actual joint, comprising pin, joint body receiver and a housing completely or partially enclosing the joint body receiver, may nevertheless remain completely unaltered and may therefore be produced cost-effectively in large quantities as a prefabricated unit.
For a strong hold, according to the invention the control arm ends facing the receiving region are held in an interference fit on the sleeve body, with the result that the sleeve body forms a stationary shell for inserting the joint In particular, here too an anti-twist device is provided in that the sleeve body is externally provided with a contour for anti-twist support of the control arm ends, for example by virtue of the sleeve body and the receiving regions each having flattened regions differing from a circular shape.
Also possible is a converse adaptation, such that the inside diameter of the sleeve bodies varies and hence, given adaptation to receiving regions of control arm ends, different joints or bearings may be inserted.
It is further advantageous if the sleeve body on its axially outer sides has retaining devices that at least in sections externally surround the control arm ends and secure them against axial movement. This results not only in anti-twist protection but also in good axial securing of the sleeve body and the joint or bearing held therein.
In this case, for an exact axial adaptation at least one of the retaining devices may be formed after insertion of the sleeve into the control arm ends by re-shaping the

sleeve body as for example a rolled edge. A separate closure element, for example a snap ring, is then also dispensable here.
The sleeve body may further have on an axial end a radially inwardly oriented stop for a joint or bearing introducible into the sleeve body, thereby easily ensuring the correct axial alignment of the joint or bearing. On the opposite side to the stop a closure, such as for example a snap ring, may be provided for keeping the joint- or bearing cartridge axially non-displaceable in the sleeve body. Disassembly of the joint or bearing entails merely the single step of releasing this closure. The joint or bearing may then be pulled axially out of the sleeve body without exerting force.
For cost-effective assembly a respective sleeve body with the joint or bearing held therein may form a completely prefabricated unit.
A motor vehicle having at least one joint- and/or bearing arrangement according to the invention, in particular within chassis- and/or steering parts, for example also for the purpose of axle support in lorries, is separately claimed.
Further advantages and features of the invention arise from embodiments of the subject matter of the invention that are represented in the drawings and described below.
The drawings show:
Fig. 1 a perspective view of an inventive arrangement having of two control arms that are held together at a receiving region by means of a joint inserted there,
Fig. 2 a detail view, roughly corresponding to the cutout II in Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 an exploded view of the two in the front control arm ends and of the radially outer wall of the joint of Fig. 2 in as yet unassembled position,

Fig. 4 a similar view to Fig. 3 of an alternative construction of the outer edge of the housing with knurling additionally applied there as part oi an anti-twist device,
Fig. 5 a similar view to Fig. 1 but in an alternative geometry with a vertical joint axis,
Fig. 6 a diagrammatic plan view of a production unit for cast continuous wishbones,
Fig. 7 a similar view of the same production unit as in Fig. 6, but now for manufacturing individual control arms that are not to be connected till later,
Fig. 8 a similar view to Fig. 2 but of a construction according to Fig. 5, in which the joint with its housing is completely and exchangeably received by a sleeve body that connects the receiving regions of the control arms.
The joint unit 1 represented as a whole in Fig. 1 comprises two control arms 2,3 that converge at an acute angle in a wishbone arrangement and in the present case are rectilinear, this not being obligatory. They run in each case at the tip of the wishbone into a receiving unit 4, which comprises an eye for receiving a continuous joint 5. At their rear ends they may likewise be movably supported by means of joints, for example on a vehicle body or a supporting frame.
The joint 5 (a bearing would also be possible) comprises a joint body 7, which is held movably in a joint body receiver 6 and in the present case is widened spherically in its axially central region. The joint body receiver 6 may be formed by an elastomer, for example rubber, which may move jointly with the joint body 7, given a suitable connection between the parts, as a result of elastic deformation. A rubbing relative movement between the joint body 7 and the joint body receiver 6 acting as embedding is then not required. A housing 8 that receives and radially externally surrounds the joint body receiver 6 is further provided. The housing 8 is made for

example of metal. For securing the joint body receiver 6, axially outer stop rings 20 supported on the housing 8 are provided, by means of which an axial initial tension may also be introduced into the joint body receiver 6.
By means of the joint 5 the two control arms 2, 3 in the assembled position (Fig. 1) are connected in a fixed manner to one another without further connection, such as for example penetrating bolts or the like.
This is made possible in the first embodiment according to Figures 1 to 3 in that the housing 8 in the assembled position simultaneously engages through both receiving regions 4 of the control arms 2,3 and holds the control arms adjacent to one another.
For this purpose, the housing 8 at the outside has at least one anti-twist region 9 that differs from a circular contour. In the present example two anti-twist regions 9,10 are provided at the top and bottom, which each take the form of a flattened region of the external contour of the housing 8; The receiving regions 4 of the control arms 2, 3 are adapted in shape thereto and likewise have top and bottom flattened regions 11, 12, which interact positively with the anti-twist regions 9, 10 of the housing 8. The flattened regions 11, 12 here are formed only at the axially inner side of the receiving regions 4, so that the receiving regions 4 from the outside may have in each case a circular contour shape.
As may be seen for example in Figures 2 and 3, the housing 8 has a circumferential central web 13, on which the anti-twist regions 9,10 are oppositely arranged. This * central web 13 in engagement position (Fig. 2) keeps both control arms 2, 3 an axial distance apart so that they have no direct contact with one another and to said extent wear of the control arms 2, 3 as a result of their rubbing against one another is prevented. A rubbing of the control arms 2, 3 against the central web is likewise prevented by the anti-twist devices 9,10.

In Fig. 4 an alternative version is represented, which as a further anti-twist device additionally provides a knurling 14 on the exterior of the housing 8. This knurling 14, particularly in combination with the spacer web 13 and the anti-twist devices 9, 10, guarantees very reliable prevention of movements of the parts 5, 2, 3 relative to one another.
Fig. 8 shows a construction of the invention, in which the joint 5 together with its outer housing wall 8a is received inside a sleeve body 15, which simultaneously holds the control arms 2,3 together in their receiving regions 4.
Thus, the entire joint 5 may - for example for maintenance or exchange purposes -be pulled completely axially out of the sleeve body 15 without the holding-together of the ends of the control arms 2, 3 adjacent to one another being jeopardized. In order to achieve this, the sleeve body 15 here lies outside of the actual housing wall 8a, which in this case - unlike in the first embodiment - is of a separate construction.
Otherwise, this sleeve body 15 corresponds to the housing 8 of the first embodiment according to Figures 1 to 3 and/or 4.
Here too, the ends of the control arms 2,3 facing the receiving region 4 are held with an interference fit on the sleeve body 15 and, here too, the sleeve body 15 is provided at the outside with a contour 9, 10 for anti-twist mounting of the control arm ends that may be formed for example exactly as in Figures 1 to 3 by flattened regions 9,10 on a spacer web 13. Knurling 14 or projecting beads, ribs or the like is also possible.
Here too, the sleeve body 15 and in the first embodiment the housing 8 at its axially outer sides is provided with retaining devices that at least in sections externally surround the control arm ends and secure them against axial movement, here by means of rolled edges 16, 17 that are formed in each case by re-shaping only after insertion of the part 15 and/or 8 into the receiving regions 4 of the control arm ends (transition from Fig. 3 to Fig. 2).

The sleeve body 15 of the embodiment according to Figure 8 and/or the housing wall 8 of the first embodiment is in particular formed from steel and has a wall thickness of at least three millimetres in order to ensure the desired high stability of the axial mounting of the control arms 2,3 adjacent to one another and their inability to twist relative to one another in relation to the joint axis 7.
In particular/ with the invention it is also possible to provide an assortment of sleeve bodies 15 and/or housings 8 of different wall thicknesses in order to be able to press joints, which are as such of an identical type, into receiving regions 4 of different diameters. In this way, a high flexibility is achieved, wherein particularly as a result of the use of the in each case identical joints 5 despite different diameters of the eyes 4 a huge potential for savings exists.
It is further evident from Fig. 8 that the sleeve body 15 on an axial end has a radially inwardly oriented stop 18 for the joint 5 or bearing introducible into the sleeve body 15. On the axially opposite end to the stop 18, for example a groove or similar receiver may be provided for a closure, in particular a snap ring 19, which secures the introduced bearing or joint 5.
After release of the closure the entire joint 5 or bearing may be pulled axially out of the sleeve body 15, which may remain in its interference fit for holding the control arms 2,3 adjacent to one another.
In terms of production, it is particularly advantageous for series production if the sleeve body 15 with the joint 5 or bearing held therein forms a prefabricated unit that may then be inserted like a cartridge.
Figures 6 and 7 show for comparison purposes how the effectiveness of the control arm manufacture of wishbone control arms that converge at an acute angle may be increased by the use of individual control arms 2, 3 (Fig. 7) compared to a continuous control arm (Fig. 6) as a result of improved space utilization.

In particular, the control arms 2, 3 may also be of a completely identical type of construction. There is then no need during assembly to differentiate between various control arms. In the assembled state the control arms 2, 3 converge at an acute angle (Fig. 1). In practice, opening angles of 40° to 60° are customary.
Such joint- and/or bearing units 1, as represented in Fig. 1, may be disposed for example longitudinally in the vehicle to support an axle - particularly in lorries. The joint 5 in the receiver 4 then lies transversely of the vehicle and may movably support the axle.
Other arrangements particularly in chassis- and/or steering parts are also feasible. For instance, it is also possible (see Fig. 5) to position the receiving regions vertically in order in this way to be able to provide the assembly of a joint 5 with a vertical axis.

List of reference characters
1 joint- or bearing arrangement
2 control arm
3 control arm
4 receiving region
5 joint
6 joint body receiver
7 joint body
8 housing 8a housing
9 anti-twist device (flattened region)
10 anti-twist device (flattened region)
11 adapted region of control arm end
12 adapted region of control arm end
13 spacer web
14 knurling
15 sleeve body
16 rolled edge
17 rolled edge
18 stop
19 snap ring
20 stop rings

WE CLAIM:
1. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) having at least two control arms 2; 3) that are brought together at a receiving region (4) and receive a joint (5) or bearing in their receiving regions (4), wherein the joint or bearing (5) comprises a joint body (7) held in a joint body receiver (6) as well as a housing (8) that receives and radially externally surrounds the joint body receiver (6), characterized in that said housing (8) at the outside has at least one anti-twist region (9; 10; 14) differing from a circular contour and that the receiving region (4) of the control arms (2, 3) is adapted (11; 12) in shape to the anti-twist region (9; 10; 14) of the housing (8) so that the anti-twist region (9; 10) engages positively into the receiving region (4) of the control arms (2; 3).
2. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the anti-twist region (9; 10) comprises a flattened region of the radial external contour of the housing (8).
3. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) having at least two control arms (2; 3) that are brought together at a receiving region (4) and receive a joint (5) or bearing in their receiving region (4), wherein the joint or bearing (5) comprises a joint body (7) held movably in a joint body receiver (6) as well as a housing (8a) that receives and radially surrounds the joint body receiver (6), characterized in that said joint or bearing (5) is held in a sleeve body (15), which holds the control arms (2; 3) together and on which the control arm ends facing the receiving region (4) are on the one hand held in an interference fit and on the other hand held secured against twisting by means of a contour (9; 10; 14) provided on the outside of the sleeve body (15).
4. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the sleeve body (15) on its axially outer sides is provided with retaining devices (16; 17), which at least in sections externally surround

the control arm ends and secure them against axial movement.
5. Joint- and/ or bearing arrangement (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one of the retaining devices (16; 17) is formed after insertion of the sleeve (15) into the control arm ends by re-shaping the sleeve body.
6. Joint- and/ or bearing arrangement (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the at least one retaining device (16; 17) formed by reshaping takes the form of a rolled edge.
7. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the sleeve body (15) is formed from steel and has a wall thickness of at least three millimetres.
8. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that an assortment of sleeve bodies (15) of different wall thicknesses is provided.
9. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to one of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that the sleeve body (15) on an axial end has a radially inwardly oriented stop (18) for a joint or bearing (5) introducible into the sleeve body (15).
10. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that the sleeve body (15) on its end axially opposite the stop (18) has a groove or similar receiver for a closure, in particular a snap ring (19), that secures the introduced bearing or joint (5).

11. Joint- and/ or bearing arrangement (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that after release of the closure (19) the joint (5) or bearing may be pulled or pushed axially out of the sleeve body (15).
12. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to one of claims 3 to 11, characterized in that the sleeve body (15) with a joint (5) or bearing held therein forms a prefabricated unit.
13. Joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the control arms (2; 3) that are held together form a wishbone that converges in the receiving region (4).
14. Motor vehicle having at least one joint- and/or bearing arrangement (1) according to one of claims 1 to 13, in particular within chassis- and/or steering parts.