Patent Application
20080022801
The foregoing and additional features and characteristics of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to illustrations of drawing figures as follows.
According to the embodiments of the present invention, a driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus is applied to a transfer for a four-wheel drive vehicle.
A first embodiment of a driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 11 will be explained referring to
The driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 11 includes a case 2 reserving lubrication fluid in a space 20 at bottom portion thereof, an input shaft 41 (i.e., serving as a rotational shaft; serving as an input shaft) receiving supply of the lubrication fluid by an input shaft oil seal 31 (i.e., serving as a first oil seal), an output shaft 42 (i.e., serving as a second output shaft; serving as a first output shaft) arranged in parallel to the input shaft 41 so as to transmit torque to front wheels, an oil pump 5 actuated by a rotation of the input shaft 41, a lubrication fluid introducing passage 61 which directly supplies pressurized lubrication fluid outputted from the oil pump 5 to the input shaft oil seal 31, and a lubrication fluid leading passage 7 which supplies the lubrication fluid that is pushed out from the input shaft oil seal 31 to other portions, or areas.
The case 2 includes a separator 21 which divides the space 20 at the bottom portion into plural spaces.
An end of the input shaft 41 protrudes to the outside from the case 2, and is supported at an upper portion of the case 2 via a bearing 411. The output shaft 42 is supported at a bottom portion of the case 2 via a bearing 421 so as to be in parallel to the input shaft 41.
The input shaft oil seal 31 is fitted between the case 2 and the input shaft 41 in the vicinity of an end portion of the input shaft 41 protruding from the case 2.
The oil pump 5 is positioned above the input shaft 41 in the vicinity of the input shaft oil seal 31 and at the case 2 at an inner side relative to the input shaft oil seal 31. The oil pump 5 includes a main path 51, which lubricates the input shaft 41, and an outlet port 52 opening to the lubrication fluid introducing passage 61 which directly supplies the lubrication fluid to the input shaft oil seal 31. Further, a pipe which establishes the communication between a lower portion of the space 20 at the bottom portion and the oil pump 5 is provided in the system, and the lubrication fluid in the space 20 at the bottom portion is sucked toward the oil pump 5 by the actuation of the oil pump 5.
The lubrication fluid introducing passage 61 establishes the communication between the outlet port 52 of the oil pump 5 and an input shaft oil seal chamber 32 which supplies lubrication fluid to the input shaft oil seal 31.
The lubrication fluid leading passage 7 is formed at an inner wall of the case 2 to be in communication with the input shaft oil seal chamber 32 of the input shaft 42. A rib 63, which receives lubrication fluid dropped from the lubrication fluid leading passage 7 by the force of gravitation and is in communication with an output shaft lubrication fluid introducing passage 62 which supplies the lubrication fluid to an output shaft oil seal chamber 33 (i.e., serving as a second oil seal) of the output shaft 42, is formed along the inner wall of the case 2 to have a gutter shape. A diameter of the rib 63 is determined to the extent which does not affect the operation of components provided in the case 2. A depth of a groove of the rib 63 is determined so as to be able to receive lubrication fluid from the lubrication fluid leading passage 7 and the lubrication fluid flows therein. The output shaft lubrication fluid introducing passage 62 is in communication with an output shaft oil seal chamber 34 which supplies the lubrication fluid to the output shaft oil seal 33.
According to the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 11, the input shaft 41 is rotated receiving torque from a mechanism outside of the case 2, and the inputted torque is distributed to be transmitted to the output shaft 42 and/or another output shaft. Upon the rotation of the input shaft 41, the oil pump 5 is actuated to suck the lubrication fluid reserved in the space at the bottom in the case 2. The sucked lubrication fluid is drained from the oil pump 5 to the main path 51 to lubricate the input shaft 42 and is drained from the oil pump 5 to the outlet port 52 to be supplied to the input shaft oil seal chamber 32 through the lubrication fluid introducing passage 61. The lubrication fluid supplied to the input shaft oil seal chamber 32 lubricates the input shaft oil seal 31. Because the lubrication fluid is continuously supplied from the oil pump 5 to the input shaft oil seal chamber 32 via the lubrication fluid introducing passage 61, the lubrication fluid pushed out from the input shaft oil seal chamber 32 is drained to the lubrication fluid leading passage 7 which is in communication with the input shaft oil seal chamber 32. The lubrication fluid flowing in the lubrication fluid leading passage 7 flows by the force of the gravitation to the rib 63 which is formed at the inner wall of the case 2 at the bottom portion of the case 2. The lubrication fluid flowing in the rib 63 is introduced to the output shaft lubrication fluid leading passage 62 which is in communication with the output shaft oil seal chamber 34. The lubrication fluid flowed into the output shaft lubrication fluid leading passage 62 is supplied to the output shaft oil seal chamber 34 to lubricate the output shaft oil seal 33. A direction of the lubrication fluid flowing from the lubrication fluid leading passage 7 is indicated with an arrow in
According to the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 11, by providing the lubrication fluid introducing passages which supply the lubrication fluid to the input shaft oil seal 31 and the output shaft oil seal 33, oil seal portions of known apparatuses which are unlikely to be lubricated, can be securely lubricated. Particularly, the outlet port 52 which drains the lubrication fluid from the oil pump 5 is in communication with the lubrication fluid introducing passage 61, and the lubrication fluid introducing passage 61 is in communication with the input shaft oil seal chamber 32 which supplies the lubrication fluid to the input shaft oil seal 31. Namely, a path, which directly supplies the lubrication fluid outputted from the oil pump 5 to the input shaft oil seal 31, is provided. Accordingly, because the oil seal portion, which tends to lack in the lubrication fluid, can be lubricated, sticking of the oil seal is unlikely to occur.
The oil pump 5 is actuated by the rotation of the input shaft 41, and the oil pump 5 sucks the lubrication fluid from the space 20 at the bottom portion during the rotation of the input shaft 41 to push out the lubrication fluid to the main path 51 and the outlet port 52. Accordingly, even when the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 11 is tilted, the oil pump 5 is actuated as long as the input shaft 41 is rotating, thus the lubrication fluid can be supplied to the input shaft oil seal 31. Accordingly, the lubrication fluid is supplied to the input shaft oil seal 31 without being affected by the tilt of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 11, for example, when the vehicle drives off road. Further, because the oil pump 5 does not require an additional drive source, it is not required to provide an additional control device for the oil pump 5.
Further, because the rib 63 is formed along the inner wall of the case 2, large space is not required and also strength of the case 2 can be ensured.
Referring to
As shown in
With the construction of the rib 63 applied to the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 12, a portion of the rib 63 is formed at the separator 21 which divides the space 20 at the bottom portion into plural spaces. In other words, the rib 63 includes an inner wall passage 631 which is formed along the inner wall of the case 2 and a separator passage 632 which is formed along the separator 21.
The lubrication fluid dropped from the lubrication fluid leading passage 7 is received by the inner wall passage 631 to flow therethrough and flows into the separator passage 632 which is in communication with the inner wall passage 631, and is introduced to the output shaft lubrication fluid introducing passage 62 from the separator passage 632.
According to the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 12 of the second embodiment, by forming a part of the rib 63 at the separator 21, the strength of the separator 21 can be ensured. Further, even when the passage cannot be formed at the inner wall of the case 2, a path to supply the lubrication fluid to the output shaft oil seal 33 can be ensured.
A third embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
With a construction of a driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 13 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the oil pump 5 of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 11 of the first embodiment is actuated by the rotation of an output shaft 43 (i.e., serving as a rotational shaft; serving as a first output shaft; serving as a second output shaft) transmitting torque to rear wheels. Because only the operation for the actuation of the oil pump is different from the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 11 of the first embodiment and the constructions are common, the explanation will not be repeated.
As shown in
According to the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 13 of the third embodiment, the lubrication fluid is sucked from the space 20 at the bottom portion to be supplied to the oil pump 9 by means of the oil pump 9, and the lubrication fluid is outputted to a main path 91, which supplies the lubrication fluid from the oil pump 9 to the input shaft 41, and to an outlet port 92, which supplies the lubrication fluid to the main path 91 and the input shaft oil seal 31.
According to the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 13 of the third embodiment, because the oil pump 9 is actuated by the rotation of the output shaft 43, the actuation of the oil pump 9 is not affected by the tile of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus 13, for example, when the vehicle drives off road. Further, the lubrication fluid can be sucked from the space 20 at the bottom portion by the rotations of gears of the oil pump 9 because of the rotation of the output shaft 43, and thus the input shaft oil seal 31 and the output shaft oil seal 33 can be lubricated.
The features of the present invention is not limited to the construction of the foregoing embodiments. For example, the rib 63 may be diverged to form a path other than a passage which is in communication with the output shaft lubrication introducing passage 62, thus to lubricate portions other than the output shaft oil seal 33. Further, by recessing a part of the passage, the vicinity of the rib 63 can be lubricated. In addition, by changing a diameter of the rib 63 to be smaller and/or shallower, the lubrication fluid may be spilled by an appropriate volume to lubricate the vicinity of the rib 63.
Further, the oil pump 5, 9 may be provided outside the case 2 as long as the rotational force of the input shaft 41 or the output shaft 43 is transmitted to actuate the oil pump 5, 9. Any types of pump can be applied as the pump 5, 9 as long as the lubrication fluid is sucked from the space 20 at the bottom portion by actuation, on the basis of the operation of the input shaft 41 or the output shaft 42, and as long as pressurizing and outputting the lubrication fluid from the pump. An electric pump actuated by an electric power may also be applied.
According to the disclosed subject matter of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus, the oil pump actuated by the rotation of the input shaft or output shaft outputs pressurized lubrication fluid, and the lubrication fluid outputted from the oil pump is directly supplied from the lubrication fluid introducing passage to the oil seal. Because the lubrication fluid is continuously supplied to the oil seal by the pressurization at the oil pump, the lubrication fluid lubricating the oil seal is pushed out, and the lubrication fluid pushed out from the oil seal flows from the lubrication fluid leading passage to a component to be lubricated.
According to the disclosed subject matter of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus, because the lubrication fluid is directly supplied to the oil seal from the lubrication fluid introducing passage, which is directly connected to the oil pump, the lubrication fluid constantly lubricates the oil seal during the actuation of the oil pump, and thus the fluid is unlikely to run out and the sticking of the oil seal is unlikely to occur. Further, because the pump is actuated in response to the rotation of the input shaft or output shaft, the lubrication fluid is outputted from the oil pump during the rotation of the input shaft or output shaft. Because being pressurized by the oil pump, the lubrication fluid is continuously pushed out from the oil seal to a component to be lubricated after lubricating the oil seal, the oil seal and the component to be lubricated can be lubricated without being affected by the tilt of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus.
According to the disclosed subject matter of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus, the lubrication fluid introducing passage can be structured as a portion of a passage which supplies the lubrication fluid to the oil seal of the output shaft. Because the passage which directly supplies the lubrication fluid to the oil seal at the output shaft is arranged, the oil seal at the output shaft is unlikely lack of lubrication fluid. The lubrication fluid outputted from the oil pump is supplied to the oil seal at the output shaft via the lubrication fluid leading passage after passing by the oil seal at the input shaft.
According to the disclosed subject matter of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus, the lubrication fluid leading passage may be structured as a portion of a passage which supplies the lubrication fluid from the oil seal of the output shaft to other portions. By arranging the lubrication fluid leading passage in order to lubricate the other portion other than the oil seal of the output shaft with the lubrication fluid which has lubricated the oil seal of the output shaft, the pressurized lubrication fluid outputted from the oil pump can be applied so as to lubricate each portion of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus.
According to the disclosed subject matter of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus, the gutter shaped rib is provided along either the inner wall of the case or the separator which divides the space at the bottom portion of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus in the plural spaces. In those constructions, when the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus is, for example, mounted on a vehicle, the passage can be securely ensured when the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus is tilted, for example, when the vehicle drives off road and/or when lateral gravity is generated when the vehicle makes turns.
With the construction of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, because the lubrication fluid is directly supplied to the oil seal, which is likely to lack in the lubrication fluid, from the lubrication fluid introducing passage which introduces the discharge of the oil pump, the oil seal is unlikely to lack in the lubrication fluid, and thus is unlikely to stick. Further, because being pressurized by the oil pump, the lubrication fluid lubricates the oil seal and is continuously pushed out to be supplied to a component to be lubricated from the oil seal, and thus the lubrication fluid can lubricates the oil seal and the above-mentioned component to be lubricated.
With the construction of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, by configuring a portion of the lubrication fluid leading passage applied in the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus as the gutter shaped rib provided in the case, a fluid passage can be ensured even in a narrow space. Further, with the construction of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, passage can be readily diverged and lubrication passages can be relatively freely determined.
With the construction of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, by providing the gutter shaped rib along either the inner wall of the case or the separator which divides the space at the bottom of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus into the plural spaces, the gutter shaped rib can be fixed either at the inner wall of the case or the separator, and thus the passage can be securely ensured.
With the construction of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, because the oil pump includes the gear pump, the gear pump is actuated in response to the actuation of the driving force distributing and transmitting apparatus, thus an additional control device for actuating and stopping the pump is not required.
The principles, preferred embodiment and mode of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification. However, the invention which is intended to be protected is not to be construed as limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. Further, the embodiments described herein are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Variations and changes may be made by others, and equivalents employed, without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, it is expressly intended that all such variations, changes and equivalents which fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the claims, be embraced thereby.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-206471 | Jul 2006 | JP | national |
