Patent Application
20070277751
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
With reference to the drawings and in particular to
The oil pump 4 is fixed to a crankshaft case 91 and is rotatably supported for continuous rotation to pump oil. The oil pump 4 defines securing holes 41 that receive threaded fasteners S1 to secure the oil pump 4 to the crankshaft case 91 thereby making the oil pump 4 stably positioned. The oil pump 4 is coupled to the drive shaft 5 for being driven by the drive shaft 5 for pumping operation.
The drive shaft 5 has an opposite end extending in a direction away from the oil pump 4. A stop ring 51, the support frame 6, the drive 7, and the oil collector lid 8, are mounted, in sequence, to the opposite end section of the drive shaft 5. The stop ring 51 is positioned between the oil pump 4 and the support frame 6 to protect the oil pump 4 from being interfered with by the support frame 6 due to axial displacement of the drive shaft 5 caused by the clearance between the drive shaft 5 and the oil pump 4.
The and of the drive shaft 5 forms a rectangular fitting portion 52, which is fit into the drive gear 7, and is further coupled to a shaft 401 of the cooling water pump 40 to operatively connect the water pump 40 to the oil pump 4. The support frame 6 is a semi-circular member defining a bore 61 at a center of the circular configuration of the support frame 6. The bore 61 receives the extension of the drive shaft 5. The bore 61 is supported by a web 62 connecting to a flange 63. The flange 61 defines securing holes 631 for receiving the threaded fasteners S1 to secure the support frame 6 to the crankshaft case 91 so as to stably position the support frame 6.
The drive gear 7 defines a central bore 71 that is configured corresponding to the fitting portion 52 of the drive shaft 5 so that when the drive gear 7 is driven by the drive chain 92, the drive shaft 5 is synchronously driven to rotate.
The oil collector lid 8 has a configuration corresponding to the support frame 6, and also forms a plurality of securing holes 81 which the threaded fastener S1 extend to secure both the oil collector lid 8 and the support frame 6 to the crankshaft case 91. The oil collector lid 8 has an inclined section extending from the securing holes 81 in radial and inward direction so as to define an oil collection space inside the oil collector lid 8. The space serves not only to contain oil therein, but also accommodate portions of the drive gear 7 and the drive chain 92 to ensure the drive gear 7 and the drive chain 92 to be properly lubricated during the operation thereof.
Also referring to
The feature of the present invention is the support frame 6 arranged between the oil pup 4 and the fitting portion 52, which provides an additional support point to the drive shaft 5 in addition to the support provided by the oil pump 4 that physically engages the drive shaft 5. Thus, the drive shaft 5 is supported at two spaced location, which effectively increases structural strength of the drive shaft 5, and also enhances rotational rigidity of the shaft 5. Thus, influence induced on the drive shaft 5 by the vacation of rotational speed of the engine is reduced and vibration caused thereby is alleviated and even eliminated. In other words, stability of the drive shaft 5 is enhanced and oscillation of the shaft 5 is reduced, which apparently leads to stable coupling with the drive chain 92 and thus reduces noise. Service life of the drive shaft 5 is thus extended.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to what is believed to be the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims
It will be understood that each of the element described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in annexed claim, it is intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the invention.
