1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lubrication apparatus for an engine, and more particularly, to a lubrication apparatus adapted to be used in a four-stroke internal combustion engine, where appropriate lubrication can be applied to the engine no matter the engine is situated at any state of declination.
2. Description of Related Art
A comparison between a four-stroke engine and a two-stroke engine shows that the former prevails over the latter in terms of cleaner exhaust and fuel saving. Under strict environmental regulations, compact-sized apparatuses for agricultural usage or compact-sized power devices for leisure usage have been changed into four-stroke engines, such as mowers, sawing machines, and so forth. In the above-mentioned applications, since apparatuses are likely to be operated at any directions, engines are required to be maneuvered at various angles of declination. This indicates that engine lubrication systems have to satisfy such demands that lubrication needs to accurately apply to engine components when engines are operated at various angles of declination.
Currently, hand-held four-stroke engines are, mostly, lubricated in such a manner that lubricant in an oil pan is first agitated by rotation of a fork, and then the lubricant is sucked into a crankcase for lubricating components such as a crankshaft, pistons and so forth. Nevertheless, such an agitating-lubricating manner not only causes power loss and reduces power output of the engine; but also causes lubricant-level changed when engines are declined such that quantity of the lubricant to be agitated becomes less and less. As a result, lubrication becomes insufficient and fails to achieve the purpose of lubrication.
Taiwan Patent No. I242622 discloses a lubrication apparatus for a four-stroke engine, comprising a crankshaft chamber independently formed in a cylinder block of the engine, a camshaft chamber, and an oil reservoir chamber, incorporated additionally with an oil distributing chamber in communication with the above chambers. The oil reservoir chamber stores lubricants, and there is arranged with an oil-suction piping path, together with a plurality of oil-suction orifices provided on wall of the oil-suction piping path, and an air-suction vent is provided at an end of the piping path. Therefore, upon rising of a piston where a negative-pressure status is effected in the crankshaft chamber, communication between the crankshaft chamber and the oil-suction pipe in the oil reservoir chamber is achieved through the oil distributing chamber, such that the air being sucked can flow rapidly in the oil-suction piping path. As such, a pressure difference so effected will atomize the lubricant sucked through the oil-suction orifices, and eventually the lubricant flows into the crankshaft chamber. During a descending stroke of the piston, the oil distributing chamber builds communication between the crankshaft chamber and the camshaft chamber, so that the atomized lubricant is distributed to the camshaft chamber for lubricating engine components.
As mentioned above, it is undesirable for the conventional lubrication apparatus because design in the oil distributing chamber is complicated. Besides, after review and simulation, the quantity of lubricant supplied by the negative-pressure effect for lubricating the engine is found, in the overall circulation cycle, much more than what is actually required.
The object of the present invention is to provide a lubrication apparatus for an engine, comprising a crankshaft chamber, a camshaft chamber, and an oil reservoir chamber. The crankshaft chamber is in communication with a space underneath a piston, and includes a crankshaft chamber inlet and a crankshaft chamber outlet. The oil reservoir chamber is provided for storing lubricants.
An oil-suction piping path is provided in the oil reservoir chamber, and is communicated between the crankshaft chamber inlet and the oil reservoir chamber. A first one-way valve is arranged between the crankshaft chamber and the oil reservoir chamber, where a valve inlet and a valve outlet are communicated, respectively, with the crankshaft chamber outlet and the oil reservoir chamber. The oil-suction piping path includes, among others, a rotatable pipe which is pivotally arranged along an axis of a cylinder block. The rotatable pipe includes a plurality of oil-suction orifices located at wall of the rotatable pipe and an air-suction vent at an end of the rotatable pipe. No matter the engine is situated any state of declination, the air-suction vent is kept above a surface of the lubricant, and that at least one of the oil-suction orifices is kept under the surface of the lubricant.
With the help of the oil-suction piping path and of the first one-way valve, the lubrication apparatus for an engine according to the present invention can supply an appropriate amount of lubricant to corresponding chambers either at a rising stroke or at a descending stoke of the piston. Besides, even under various declination states, a four-stroke engine can be appropriately lubricated, namely, unlike the conventional fork-supply manner which has an un-predetermined quantity of lubricant, or the prior art supply manner which has an over-supply of lubricant.
A crankshaft chamber may be defined by an upper crankcase and a lower crankcase which are anchored to each other. The oil-suction piping path may further include, in sequence, an oil-pan built-in passage, a connecting pipe, and a lower-crankcase built-in passage. The oil-pan built-in passage is connected with the rotatable pipe, and that the lower-crankcase built-in passage with the crankshaft chamber inlet. The rotatable pipe may include a C-shaped tube.
In one embodiment, according to the present invention, the lubrication apparatus for an engine may further include a rocker arm chamber which, through a first communicating passage, is communicated with the crankshaft chamber. In the first communicating passage there is provided with a second one-way valve, where an inlet and an outlet of the second one-way valve are in communication with the rocker arm chamber and the camshaft chamber, respectively. The camshaft chamber can, through a second communicating passage, be communicated with the oil reservoir chamber.
Further, in another embodiment, the camshaft chamber can, through two communicating passages, be communicated with the oil reservoir chamber and the crankshaft chamber, respectively. In one of the two communicating passages there is arranged with a one-way relief valve for pressure release, wherein a valve inlet and a valve outlet of the one-way relief valve are communicated with the oil reservoir chamber and the camshaft chamber, respectively. The two communicating passages may be two piping paths independent from each other, or both have a common path section. In this embodiment, the lubrication apparatus for an engine may further include a rocker arm chamber. A second one-way valve is arranged between the rocker arm chamber and the crankshaft chamber, such that the rocker arm chamber and the crankshaft chamber are in a one-way communication, and that a valve inlet and a valve outlet of the second one-way valve are communicated with the rocker arm chamber and the crankshaft chamber, respectively.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
According to the present invention, a crankshaft 29 is arranged in the crankshaft chamber 11, such that when the engine runs, the crankshaft 29 revolves. The cylinder block 21 is, inside, provided with a piston 25, and that the crankshaft chamber 11 is communicated with an internal space of the cylinder block 21, namely is communicated with a space underneath the piston 25. Inside the cylinder block 21, there is also provided with a camshaft chamber 12 accommodated with a cam device 28, and a rocker arm chamber 26 accommodated with a rocker arm assembly 27, where the camshaft chamber 12 and the rocker arm chamber 26 are communicated with each other directly. The rocker arm assembly 27 is, in a power-connection manner, connected with the cam device 28, and complies with the piston stroke for a timing control manner, so that air-fuel mixture and inlet/exhaust gas can be controlled.
The lubrication apparatus for an engine, according to the embodiment, comprises the crankshaft chamber 11, the camshaft chamber 12, and the oil reservoir chamber 13. The crankshaft chamber 11 includes a crankshaft chamber inlet 111 and a crankshaft chamber outlet 112. The oil reservoir chamber 13 is provided for storing lubricants, where an oil-suction piping path is provided in the oil reservoir chamber 13, and the oil reservoir chamber 13 is communicated with the crankshaft chamber 11 through the oil-suction piping path. Concretely speaking, the oil-suction piping path includes, in sequence, a rotatable pipe 15, an oil-pan built-in passage 16, a connecting pipe 17, and a lower-crankcase built-in passage 18.
According to the embodiment, the lower-crankcase built-in passage 18 is in connection with the crankshaft chamber inlet 111, and the rotatable pipe 15 is pivotally arranged along an axis X of the cylinder block 21. The rotatable pipe 15 includes three oil-suction orifices 152 located at wall of the rotatable pipe 15 and an air-suction vent 151 at an end of the rotatable pipe 15. According to various structures for the oil reservoir chamber 13 and a total amount of lubricant to be filled in the oil reservoir chamber 13, the rotatable pipe 15 is so designed that no matter the engine is situated at any state of declination, the air-suction vent 151 is kept above a surface of the lubricant and is communicated with the oil reservoir chamber 13, and that at least one of the three oil-suction orifices 152 is kept under the surface of the lubricant. Details of the rotatable pipe 15 will be described later.
Further, it should be noted that the oil-suction orifices 152 can be so arranged that under a planar visual angle, all the oil-suction orifices 152 are located at a remotest edge of the rotatable pipe 15. Preferably, this plane is constituted by the axis X of the cylinder block 21 and an axis Y of the crankshaft 29. Such a plane happens to be a plane on which the engine is posed rightly. By way of such an arrangement for the oil-suction orifices 152, the object of the present invention, i.e. “appropriate lubrication can be applied to the engine even though the engine is situated at various angles of declination” can be achieved easily.
A first one-way valve 19 is arranged between the crankshaft chamber 11 and the oil reservoir chamber 13, where a valve inlet 191 and a valve outlet 192 of the first one-way valve 19 are communicated, respectively, with the crankshaft chamber outlet 112 and the oil reservoir chamber 13, such that the lubricant can backflow from the crankshaft chamber 11, through a specific path, into the oil reservoir chamber 13.
Now referring to
Now referring to
Further, referring to
Referring to
As shown in
On the other hand, the lubricant in the camshaft chamber 12 and in the rocker arm chamber 26, due to a positive pressure difference against the oil reservoir chamber 13, can flow back into the oil reservoir chamber 13 through the second communication passage 30 and the side opening 155, relating to a recycle for the lubricant. In
It should be noted that at this stage, there still is a positive pressure difference for the rocker arm chamber 26 against the crankshaft chamber 11, part of the lubricant in the rocker arm chamber 26 will flow into the crankshaft chamber 11 through the first communicating passage 14 and the second one-way valve 31. In other words, the rocker arm chamber 26 can use the first communicating passage 14 as a path for flowing the lubricant back into the crankshaft chamber 11 for purpose of appropriate oil discharge. Further, when the engine stands at a normal angle of use, the lubricant in the rocker arm chamber 26 and the camshaft chamber 12, at this stage, is still possible to flow back into the oil reservoir chamber 13, due to gravity, through the second communicating passage 30.
Now referring to
On the other hand, the lubricant in the oil reservoir chamber 13, due to a negative pressure difference for the camshaft chamber 12 and the rocker arm chamber 26 against the oil reservoir chamber 13, can flow to the camshaft chamber 12 and the rocker arm chamber 26 through the side opening 155, the upper portion 154, and the second communicating passage 30 so as to lubricate the cam device 28 and the rocker arm assembly 27. In the meantime, the second one-way valve 31 in the first communicating passage 14 will stop the lubricant flowing from the crankshaft chamber 11 to the rocker arm chamber 26. Arrows in
In the present invention, a forced lubrication is applied. That is to say, the negative-pressure effect is used to bring the lubricant, during the rising stroke of the piston 25, to the crankshaft chamber 11 for lubrication; while during the descending stroke of the piston 25, to bring the lubricant to the camshaft chamber 12 for lubrication. In the meantime, recycle of the lubricant is carried out during the two strokes so as to solve, effectively, the problem of the prior art where quantity of lubricant supplied by the negative-pressure effect for lubricating the engine is much more than what is actually required.
Further, referring to
In the second embodiment of the present invention, as described for the first embodiment, the rocker arm chamber 26 is, through the first communicating passage 14, communicated with the crankshaft chamber 11. The second one-way valve 31 is arranged in the first communicating passage 14, such that the second one-way valve 31 opens toward the crankshaft chamber 11, namely, the valve inlet 311 is communicated with the rocker arm chamber 26 and the valve outlet 312 with the crankshaft chamber 11. For clear understanding purpose, position P and position Q shown in
Now referring to
When the piston 25 is under a descending stroke, the crankshaft chamber 11 has a pressure greater than that of the camshaft 12. After lubricating relevant components of the crankshaft chamber 11, the lubricant, on the one hand, through the first one-way valve 19, flows back into the oil reservoir chamber 13 in a great amount; and on the other, a little amount of the lubricant is delivered, through the fourth communicating passage 113a, to the camshaft chamber 12 to lubricate relevant components.
In the meantime, the positive pressure of the crankshaft chamber 11 exerting on the oil reservoir chamber 13 will force and release the pressure of the oil reservoir chamber 13 to the camshaft chamber 12 through the upper portion 154 of the rotatable pipe 15, the one-way relief valve 32, and the third communicating passage 30a.
At this stage, the second one-way valve 31 (see
Further referring to
Further, at this moment the camshaft chamber 12 has a pressure greater than that of the crankshaft chamber 11, and because the lubricant in the camshaft chamber 12 cannot flow reversely back to the oil reservoir chamber 13 through the one-way relief valve 32, the lubricant in the camshaft chamber 12, due to a pressure difference, is sucked back to the crankshaft chamber 11 through the fourth communicating passage 113a.
At this stage, the rocker arm chamber 26, relative to the crankshaft chamber 11, has a positive pressure difference. As such, part of the lubricant in the rocker arm chamber 26 will flow into the crankshaft chamber 11 through the first communicating passage 14 and the second one-way valve 31. In other words, the rocker arm chamber 26 can use the first communicating passage 14 as a path for flowing the lubricant back to the crankshaft chamber 11 so as to discharge the lubricant effectively.
References may be made to
Referring to
Therefore, the camshaft chamber 12 and the oil reservoir chamber 13 are communicated with each other through the second path section P2 and the third path section P3 which constitute a fifth communicating passage 30b; whereas the camshaft chamber 12 and the crankshaft chamber 11 are communicated with each other through the first path section P1 and the second path section P2 which constitute a sixth communicating passage 113b. The third one-way valve 32 of the fifth communicating passage 30b is arranged in the third path section P3. Both the fifth and the sixth communicating passages 30b, 113b have a common path section, i.e. the second path section P2.
Of course, the path for pressure release can alternatively be an external piping path, and it is not intended to limit it to the built-in version in the embodiment.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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097110015 | Mar 2008 | TW | national |
097141849 | Oct 2008 | TW | national |
098101479 | Jan 2009 | TW | national |