The consistent focus on suppliers to the automotive industry as well as the response from specialist audiences has contributed to the fact that the Supplier's Fair in Wolfsburg now has a permanent place in the diaries of its visitors. Schaeffler Group Automotive and its brands INA, LuK, and FAG will once again also be at the Suppliers' Fair from October 29 to 31, 2008 in Hall 4, booth 202.

Visitors can expect to see systems from engines, transmissions, and chassis among the exhibits at the booth.

1. Systems for the engine that contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.

a) INA camshaft phasing unit with central valve
The reaction times are considerably reduced and the timing velocity is increased by means of a central valve in INA’s hydraulic camshaft phasing unit. This facilitates optimized timing for various speeds and loads. Fuel consumption and emissions are reduced.

Using hydraulic camshaft phasing systems enables the angle of rotation of the camshaft in relation to the crankshaft to be varied ensuring optimum timing in a wide range of engine loads and speeds. Optimum valve timings directly affect driving performance and dynamics as well as fuel consumption and therefore CO2 emissions.

b) Lightweight balancer shaft with rolling bearing supports
Replacing the plain bearing supports with rolling bearing supports on balancer shafts reduces friction and enables the shaft mass to be considerably lowered. As a result, fuel savings of up to 2% can be achieved.

The use of reduced friction rolling bearings in balancer shafts enables consistent optimization of the mass distribution on these shafts. One element that was consistently optimized was the mass distribution of the balancer shaft which enabled us to reduce its mass by 20 to 40%, which can involve up to 1 kg in a four cylinder engine. In addition to the associated minimization of the shaft’s rotational inertia that is implemented in the design of the partial drive train and reduces noise generation, the oil mist supply of the bearing is improved and a pressurized oil supply is often no longer necessary.

2. Efficient systems for transmissions

a) LuK dry dual clutch for dual clutch transmissions
The LuK dual clutch is at the heart of the new DSG transmission and has made a considerable contribution to making the "nodding" of the passengers during gearshift operations a phenomenon of the past. The LuK dual clutch consists of two clutches arranged on two drive shafts. One clutch is used for the "uneven" gears one, three, five, and seven, while the second controls the disengaging and engaging of the "even" gears two, four, and six and reverse gear.

The elimination of the hydraulic support systems and the high efficiency of the dry clutch enable significant savings in fuel consumption. This means, for example, that the combined fuel consumption of the 6 gear DSG transmission is more than 10% above that of the new 7 gear DSG transmission in a 1.9 TDI engine (105 HP/77kW).

3. Chassis components

a) INA ball screw drive for electromechanical steering systems
Schaeffler KG has developed a high-precision ball screw drive whose performance density is exactly matched to the high demands of modern electromechanical steering. The delivery scope for the steering system used in the VW Tiguan includes the ball screw drive as well as toothed rack partially designed as a spindle on which the drive is arranged.

With the new steering system in the Tiguan, Volkswagen is offering one of the most powerful steering gears in the market. The demands placed on the ball screw drive are therefore especially high. It can support high dynamic loads thanks to appropriate spindle dimensions and high material strengths. Due to the low internal friction of the ball screw drive, the driver can directly feel the low-frequency changes on the wheel that are important for the drive feel when driving on asphalt.

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