US-20260126069-A1 - AXIAL TOLERANCE COMPENSATION ARRANGEMENT, A CONNECTION BETWEEN TWO COMPONENTS WITH SAME AS WELL AS A CONNECTION AND A MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR SAME

US20260126069A1US 20260126069 A1US20260126069 A1US 20260126069A1US-20260126069-A1

Abstract

An axial tolerance compensation arrangement for the automatic compensation of tolerances between a first and a second component including: a nut element with a radially outer fastening structure, which is fastenable in a component opening of the first component, and an inner nut thread of a first thread direction, a hollow screw with a head at a first axial end of the hollow screw and a hollow-cylindrical shaft having an adjusting thread at a radial outside matching the nut thread and at a radial inside a fastening thread with a second thread direction opposite to the first thread direction. The fastening thread interacts with a fastening screw of a second thread direction so that the first and the second component are fastenable via the tolerance compensation arrangement. The fastening thread includes a dragging element that connects the fastening screw with the hollow screw using a releasable dragging connection.

Inventors

Gunnar Lindner

Assignees

Böllhoff Verbindungstechnik GmbH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251105
Priority Date: 20241106

Claims (13)

1 . An axial tolerance compensation arrangement for the automatic compensation of tolerances between a first component and a second component, comprising: a. a nut element with a radially outer fastening structure which is fastenable in a component opening of the first component and an inner nut thread of a first thread direction, b. a hollow screw with a head at a first axial end of the hollow screw and a hollow-cylindrical shaft having an adjusting thread at a radial outside matching the nut thread and at a radial inside a fastening thread with a second thread direction opposite to the first thread direction, wherein c. the fastening thread interacts with a fastening screw of a second thread direction so that the first and the second component are fastenable to one another by means of the tolerance compensation arrangement, wherein d. the fastening thread comprises a dragging means, configured so that the fastening screw is connectable with the hollow screw via the dragging means by means of a releasable dragging connection, wherein a dragging torque is ≤0.2 Nm, so that during a rotation of the fastening screw, the hollow screw is co-rotatable and movable into abutment with the second component and the fastening screw is screwable further into the hollow screw after overcoming the dragging torque and releasing the dragging connection.
2 . The tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the dragging means adjacent to the second axial end of the hollow screw is provided by one or more of: a) a depth of the fastening thread decreasing, b) the fastening thread is configured at least partly with interruptions, or c) the radial inside of the hollow screw adjacent to the second axial end is configured circumferentially and in axial direction in part or completely even.
3 . The tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 1 , furthermore comprising a transport security, configured so that during a transport of the tolerance compensation arrangement, an unintended screwing-out of the hollow screw from the nut element is prevented.
4 . The tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein the transport security additionally comprises a first anti-counter security between the hollow screw and the nut element
5 . The tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein the nut element comprises a nose projecting in axial direction, which in combination with a transport security contour forms the transport security at a radial outside of a shaft-facing attachment surface at the head of the hollow screw.
6 . The tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 5 , wherein the transport security contour does not project beyond the head in radial direction in a first circumferential partial portion, does not project beyond a circle encompassing the head form in a second circumferential partial portion and projects beyond the encompassing circle in a third circumferential partial portion.
7 . The tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 4 , further comprising a second anti-counter security between the hollow screw and the nut element
8 . The tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 7 , wherein the second anti-counter security is configured: a) adjacent to the first axial end of the hollow screw, and the adjusting thread does not end in a continuous manner, and/or b) adjacent to a first axial end of the nut element, and the nut thread of the nut element does not end in a continuous manner.
9 . The tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 1 , in which the annular nut element and the hollow screw are made of plastic material.
10 . A connection of a first component and a second component spaced from same, using the tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 1 and a fastening screw.
11 . The connection according to claim 10 , in which the first component has a keyhole geometry in which the nut element is arranged.
12 . A connection method of a first component with a keyhole geometry with a second component having a component opening spaced from same by the tolerance compensation arrangement according to claim 1 , comprising the following steps: a. fastening the nut element, having the hollow screw preassembled in it, in the opening of the first component, b. arranging the component opening of the second component opposite to the fastening thread of the hollow screw and screwing in a fastening screw which extends through the component opening into the fastening thread, c. rotating the fastening screw and by that, corotating the hollow screw until same abuts the second component, and d. tightening the fastening screw in the fastening thread when the head of the hollow screw rests against the second component.
13 . (canceled)

Description

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related 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 with the help of the axial tolerance compensation arrangement, a respective connection method as well as a manufacturing method for the axial tolerance compensation arrangement. 2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the state of the art, different tolerance compensation arrangements are known, with the help of which two components are fastenable at a distance to each other. These tolerance compensation arrangements follow different technical principles. In order to realize an automatic axial tolerance compensation between two components during them being connected, the state of the art suggests tolerance compensation arrangements where thread pairings of a different thread direction and a dragging element are combined with each other. They are for example described in EP 2 049 807 B1, DE 10 2020 216 324 A1, EP 1 780 424 A1. It is particularly the integration of a dragging arrangement into two interconnected thread sleeves with different thread pairings which increases the manufacturing effort of such axial tolerance compensation arrangements, as often, the dragging element is made of another material than the thread sleeves which are to be connected with one another. Nonetheless, the advantage of these arrangements is that they are integrable into the process of connecting without any additional installation effort as when fastening the components which are spaced from each other, the tolerance compensation arrangement compensates the distance between the two components in a supportive, automatic and subsequently mechanically loadable manner. From DE 10 2007 037 242 A1, a fastening device for fastening a first component to a second component with automatic compensation of tolerances in the distance between the two components is known. This device comprises a base unit consisting of a blind rivet nut which is attachable to the first component, an adjusting thread nut and a sleeve-like cage which receives the adjusting thread nut and connects it with the blind rive nut, an adjustment unit consisting of a thread sleeve, an attachment plate and a dragging bushing which connects the thread sleeve and the attachment plate, wherein the thread sleeve of the adjustment unit is screwable into the adjusting thread nut of the base unit by means of a first thread pairing of a first thread direction, and a fastening screw which is screwable by means of a second thread pairing of an opposite second thread direction into the blind rivet nut which is attached to the component and forms a releasable dragging connection with the dragging bushing, so as to co-rotate the adjustment unit when rotating the fastening screw and by that to move the attachment plate for the purpose of tolerance compensation in abutment with the second component. A disadvantage of these arrangements is that due to the necessary dragging element as an individual component, the construction of tolerance compensation arrangements is overall complex and the manufacturing effort is increased. Therefore, in the course of an embodiment, DE 10 2020 216 324 A1 suggests that the dragging element be integrated into the inner thread of the compensation element adjacent to the attachment portion. The integration may take place by means of providing a coating of the inner thread, by means of a thread tapering in the downward direction, by means of deformation of the inner thread and/or by interruptions/defective spots in the inner thread. Finally, from EP 2 980 421 A1, an adjustment element for compensating a gap between a carrier and a part to be fastened at the carrier is known, consisting of a hollow body provided with an outer thread of a first pitch direction. The hollow body comprises an inner thread with a second pitch direction contrary to the first one, with the inner thread comprising at least two thread turns and at least one of these thread turns is deformed in order to provide a higher friction torque than that provided by the other thread turns of the inner thread. Deformed thread refers to a thread which comprises at least one part which has been deformed in order to be led closer to a neighboring thread. That means, the distance between the deformed thread and the neighboring thread is less than the pitch of the inner thread. By approaching the deformed thread to the neighboring thread, a friction torque arises which is larger than that provided by the other non-deformed thread turns of the inner thread. A disadvantage of these arrangements with integrated dragging function is that the torque for overcoming the integrated dragging function is often larger than in case of known arrangements with separate dragging element, so that a further screwing-in of a fastening screw after the effected tolerance compensation is unn