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EP-4741671-A1 - AXIAL TOLERANCE COMPENSATION ARRANGEMENT, A CONNECTION BETWEEN TWO COMPONENTS THEREWITH, AND A CONNECTION AND A PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR

EP4741671A1EP 4741671 A1EP4741671 A1EP 4741671A1EP-4741671-A1

Abstract

The present invention discloses an axial tolerance compensation arrangement 1 for automatically compensating tolerances between a first component A and a second component B, which has the following features: a nut element 10, preferably an annular nut element, with a radially outer fastening structure, in particular a bayonet structure, which can be fastened in a component opening 90, in particular a keyhole geometry, of the first component A, and an internal nut thread 22 of a first thread direction; a hollow screw 40 with a head 44 and a hollow cylindrical shaft 42, which has on a radial outer side an adjusting thread 52 matching the nut thread 22 and on a radial inner side a fastening thread 56 with a second thread direction opposite to the first, which interacts with a fastening screw 80 of a second thread direction, so that the first component A and the second component B can be fastened to one another via the tolerance compensation arrangement 1, wherein the hollow cylindrical shaft 42 has at an axial end facing away from the head a The disassembly protection 60 has a feature that prevents the hollow screw 40 from being unscrewed from the nut element 10 during the installation of the tolerance compensation arrangement 1.

Inventors

  • LINDNER, GUNNAR
  • STEFFENFAUSEWEH, SANDRA

Assignees

  • Böllhoff Verbindungstechnik GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251023

Claims (13)

  1. An axial tolerance compensation arrangement (1) for automatically compensating tolerances between a first (A) and a second component (B), which has the following features: a. a nut element (10), preferably an annular nut element, with a radially outer fastening structure (12), in particular a bayonet structure, which can be fastened in a component opening (O1), in particular a keyhole geometry (90), of the first component (A), and an internal nut thread (22) of a first thread direction, b. a hollow screw (40) with a head (44) and a hollow cylindrical shaft (42) which has an adjusting thread (52) on a radial outer side matching the nut thread (22) and a fastening thread (56) on a radial inner side with one of the first opposite second thread directions, which with c. a fastening screw (80) of second direction of rotation, so that the first (A) and the second component (B) can be fastened to each other via the tolerance compensation arrangement (1), wherein d. the hollow cylindrical shaft (42) has a disassembly protection (60) at an axial end facing away from the head, which prevents the hollow screw (40) from being unscrewed from the nut element (10) during installation of the tolerance compensation arrangement (1).
  2. The tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to claim 1, in which the annular nut element (10) and the hollow screw (40) are made of plastic and preferably have a glass fiber content in the range of 25-65%, preferably 45-55%, preferably 50%.
  3. The tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the disassembly protection (60) consists of a circumferential shaft wall (60) or at least two axial webs (64) which extend in the axial direction of the hollow screw (40) and which are thermally expandable radially, such that at least one free end of the shaft wall (60) or of the axial webs (64) extends radially beyond an inner diameter D I of the nut element (10).
  4. The tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to claim 1 or 2, in which the disassembly protection (60) consists of at least two axial webs (66) which extend conically towards a free end in the axial direction of the hollow screw (40) and each with constant or increasing radial width.
  5. The tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to claim 4, wherein at least two axial webs (66) have a radial inner and a radial outer surface, the inner surface of which extends approximately parallel and the outer surface of which is inclined radially outwards to a longitudinal axis of the hollow screw (40).
  6. The tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to claim 5, wherein at least two axial webs (66) have no thread on a radial inner side, so that the fastening screw (80) experiences rotational resistance due to the axial webs (66) and/or these are offset more radially outwards than with threads.
  7. The tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to claim 1 or 2, in which the disassembly protection (60) consists of at least two axial webs (68) which extend in the axial direction of the hollow screw (40) and each have a radial web (70) extending radially outwards on a radial outer side, preferably circumferentially extending.
  8. The tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to claim 7, in which at least two radial webs (70) are arranged in relation to each other such that they form a circumferentially extending threaded web.
  9. The tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the fastening thread (56) of the hollow screw (40) is formed in the hollow cylindrical shaft (42) in the form of an overmolded metallic thread insert (74).
  10. A connection of a first component (A) and a second component (B) spaced apart from it, with the tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to one of the preceding claims and a fastening screw.
  11. The connection according to claim 10, in which the first component (A) has a keyhole geometry (90) in which the nut element (10) is arranged.
  12. A joining method of a first component (A) with a keyhole geometry (90) with a second component (B) spaced apart from it, having a component opening (O2) with a tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to one of claims 1-9, comprising the following steps: a. Fastening (a) the nut element (10) with the hollow screw (40) pre-assembled therein in the opening (O1), preferably a keyhole geometry (90), of the first component (A), b. Arranging (b) the component opening (O2) of the second component (B) opposite the fastening thread (56) of the hollow screw (40) and screwing (c) a fastening screw (80) extending through the component opening (O2) into the fastening thread (56), c. Turning (d) the fastening screw (80) and thereby turning the hollow screw (40) until it rests against the second component (B) and d. Tighten (e) the fastening screw (80) in the fastening thread (56) when the head (44) of the hollow screw is supported against the second component (B).
  13. A manufacturing process of the tolerance compensation arrangement (1) according to any one of claims 1-9, comprising the following steps: a. Providing (S1) an injection mold for the nut element (10) and for the hollow screw (40), b. Injection molding (S2) of the nut element (10) and the hollow screw (40), c. Demolding (S3) of the nut element (10) and the hollow screw (40), and d. preferably pre-installing (S4) the hollow screw (40) in the nut element (10).

Description

1. Field of the invention The present invention relates to an axial tolerance compensation arrangement for the automatic compensation of axial tolerances between a first and a second component, a connection between these two components using the axial tolerance compensation arrangement, a corresponding joining method and a manufacturing method for the axial tolerance compensation arrangement. 2. Background of the invention Various tolerance compensation arrangements are known in the prior art, which allow two components to be attached to each other at a distance from one another. These tolerance compensation arrangements follow different technical principles. DE 10 2010 048 239 A1 This describes a first component with a hollow cylindrical mounting recess. A tolerance compensation sleeve can be inserted into this mounting recess. Subsequently, a mounting screw is screwed into this tolerance compensation sleeve through an opening in a second component. As the screw is inserted, the tolerance compensation sleeve expands radially and thus wedges itself into the mounting recess of the first component. Simultaneously, the second component is pulled against the tolerance compensation sleeve to establish the connection between the first and second components. According to the technical teaching of European patent application 0 414 162 A1 First, an anchoring element with a hollow shaft is positioned in the opening of the first component. A spacer is then screwed into this hollow shaft via a thread until it compensates for any existing gap between the first and second components. When the fastening screw passes through the opening of the second component into the spacer, the spacer expands like a dowel. This secures the second component to the spacer, anchoring it within the anchoring arrangement, and simultaneously causes the spacer to expand radially, clamping it to maintain the set tolerance between the first and second components. This design is relatively complex because, for example, there is no automatic tolerance compensation when the fastening screw is tightened. Instead, the anchoring piece must first be attached to the first component, and then the spacer must be adjusted to the required gap between the components by turning screws in the same direction as the fastening screw. Subsequently, when tightening the fastening screw, the spacer may be screwed further into the anchoring piece, thus reducing the tolerance compensation of the arrangement. Therefore, this arrangement has disadvantages not only due to the number of parts but also due to its application, which increases the cycle time for creating a connection between two components. To achieve automatic axial tolerance compensation between two components during their connection, the prior art proposes tolerance compensation arrangements in which thread pairings with different thread directions and a follower are combined. These are used, for example, in EP 2 049 807 B1 , DE 10 2020 216 324 A1 , EP 1 780 424 A1 As described. The integration of a follower arrangement into two interlocking threaded sleeves with different thread pairings increases the manufacturing effort of such axial tolerance compensation arrangements. This is because the follower is often made of a different material than the threaded sleeves being joined. Nevertheless, these arrangements have the advantage that they can be integrated into the joining process without additional installation effort, since when the spaced-apart components are fastened, the tolerance compensation arrangement automatically and subsequently provides mechanically load-bearing support to compensate for the gap between the two components. The European patent EP 1 304 489 B1 This further simplifies a known axial tolerance compensation arrangement with automatic tolerance compensation. The disclosed tolerance compensation arrangement consists solely of a screw, a nut, and a compensating bushing. The screw, nut, and compensating bushing are designed to have one right-hand thread pairing and one left-hand thread pairing. Furthermore, the compensating bushing has a clamping section that can form a frictional connection with the screw. This ensures that, during the screwing process, the screw initially rotates the compensating bushing by friction and thereby pulls it out of the nut in the opposite direction to the insertion direction. The screw is tightened until the compensating bushing, after tolerance compensation has been achieved, comes into contact with the first component. Subsequently, the screw is tightened directly or indirectly with the nut, overcoming the frictional engagement. This design has the advantage that no additional carrier, for example, made of another material, needs to be integrated into the tolerance compensation assembly during the manufacturing process. Instead, the tolerance compensation assembly consists of metal and can be manufactured in one piece. The tolerance compensation device