Information
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Patent Grant
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6834630
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Patent Number
6,834,630
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Date Filed
Wednesday, February 6, 200222 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, December 28, 200419 years ago
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Inventors
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Original Assignees
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Examiners
Agents
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
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International Classifications
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Abstract
The invention relates to a starter system for an internal combustion engine, in particular in motor vehicles, having a starter motor, a reduction gear, and a pinion-engaging assembly.The primary components of the starter system (10) are embodied as individual modules and can be expanded in variable ways to make starter systems (10) with different parameters.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a starter system for an internal combustion engine, in particular, for motor vehicles.
It is known that internal combustion engines have to be cranked until they reach the point where they run on their own. To that end, so-called starter systems are used in motor vehicles. These starter systems include a starter motor, supplied by a motor vehicle battery, a reduction gear, and a pinion-engaging assembly. For starting the engine, the starter motor is connected to the motor vehicle battery via a starter switch (ignition switch). Once the starter motor is put in operation, a pinion is made to engage a ring gear disposed on a crankshaft of the engine, so that the engine can be cranked. Since the starter motors have a substantially higher rpm than what is required to crank the engine, these different rotary speeds are adapted via a reduction gear. The reduction gear is typically embodied as a planetary gear, with the sun wheel drivable by the starter motor and the crankshaft operatively connected to the planet wheels.
A crankshaft torque required to crank the engine and a minimum crankshaft rpm depend on engine parameters, such as stroke volume, number of cylinders, compression, friction losses, temperature, and additional loads. Thus a starter system has to be adapted to the parameters of the engine. In particular, there is a need for starter systems with different starting power levels and/or different starting rotary speeds.
In the known starter systems, it is disadvantageous that for the sake of high utilization of installation space, they are embodied in a so-called inter-nested way, and that to adapt the starter power and/or the starting rotary speed of the starter, many different-sized starter systems are needed. Adapting to altered parameters of an engine can be done only by redimensioning or reconstructing the entire starter system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The starter system of the invention offers the advantage over the prior art that adaptation to engines of different parameters can be done in a simple way. Because the primary components of the starter system are embodied as individual modules and can be expanded variably into starter systems with different parameters, it is simple, beginning with the individual modules, to achieve different starter systems without having to reconstruct the entire starter system.
In a preferred feature of the invention, it is provided that the starter system includes a drive module, a gear module and an electronic module. This makes it possible for the primary components of the starter system to be optimized individually to desired starting parameters, so that the desired starter system with the requisite parameters can be assembled from the existing variously-sized individual modules. It is also preferable for a drive module to be combinable with different gear modules, so that adapting the starter system to a desired crankshaft rpm can be done solely via the gear modules. Thus the same type of drive modules can be combined with the appropriate gear modules. On the other hand, it is equally possible for different crankshaft torques to be attained via drive modules with different power level parameters but the same gear modules.
Overall, it becomes clear that by the modular design of the starter system provided for by the invention, identical component groups can be used for different starter system power level classes. By taking standard sizes into account in the individual component groups, these groups can be accordingly assembled in final form economically, thus reducing both the effort and cost of production. In particular, this also makes for high flexibility in final assembly of the starter system, especially when making a rapid adaptation to altered application requirements of different internal combustion engines.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is described in further detail below in terms of exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the associated drawings. Shown are:
FIG. 1
, a sectional view through a starter system of the invention in a first exemplary embodiment;
FIG. 2
, primary component groups of the starter system of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
, a sectional view through a starter system in a second exemplary embodiment; and
FIG. 4
, a block diagram illustrating the production of the starter systems of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1
shows a starter system, identified overall by reference numeral
10
, for an internal combustion engine, not shown. Inside a housing
12
, the starter system
10
includes a starter motor
14
and a reduction gear
16
embodied as a planetary gear. The structure and function of such starter systems
10
are known, so that these will not be addressed further in the present description.
In
FIG. 2
, sectional views of the two primary groups of the starter system are shown, in the state before final assembly. The drive motor
14
forms a drive module
18
, and the reduction gear
16
forms a gear module
20
. The starter motor
14
is a direct current motor, whose structure and function are likewise well known. An armature shaft
22
of the starter motor
14
has a pinion
24
, which is disposed on the armature shaft
22
in a manner fixed against relative rotation. The armature shaft
22
is extended past the housing
26
of the starter motor
14
and can be introduced into a guide
28
of the reduction gear
16
. When the drive module
18
is mounted to the gear module
20
, the armature shaft
22
engages the guide
28
, so that the slip-on pinion
24
meshes planet wheels
30
of the reduction gear
16
. The slip-on pinion
24
thus forms the sun wheel of the reduction gear (planetary gear)
16
. An output shaft
32
of the gear module
20
has a pinion
34
, which in a manner known per se can be made to engage a ring gear disposed on a crankshaft of the engine.
Depending on a demand for rotary speed and/or torque for starting (cranking) the engine, the starter system
10
can be dimensioned accordingly by a suitable choice of the drive module
18
and/or gear module
20
. The torque can be achieved by choosing a power level of the starter motor, which can range between 0.7 kW and 2.3 kW, for instance. The adaptation to a required rotary speed can be done by means of a gear ratio of the reduction gear
20
, and by the choice of a suitable slip-on pinion
24
, the gear ratio can be varied, with otherwise the same drive module
18
and gear module
20
. It becomes clear that at little effort or expense, starter systems
10
for different requirements can thus be furnished in a simple way, for instance with regard to a crankshaft torque and/or a crankshaft rpm. The various basic components of the starter system
10
can be made economically by mass production, since a specific adaptation is possible either by selecting the drive module
18
and/or selecting the slip-on pinion
24
and/or the gear module
20
.
A free-wheel mechanism of the starter system
10
is integrated with the reduction gear
20
. This free-wheel mechanism disconnects the starter motor
14
from the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine once this engine is at a minimum rpm. This averts the possibility of damage to the drive motor
14
when the armature rpm is exceeded by the crankshaft rpm.
FIG. 3
shows a modified starter system
10
, in which in addition to the drive module
18
and the gear module
20
, an electronic module
36
is integrated. The electronic module
36
takes on control functions for the starter system
10
, such as a start/stop function, current clocking and/or an immobilizer function. Such functions are likewise known. Of interest to the present invention is the fact that the electronic module
36
is integrated as a compact module into the housing
12
of the starter system
10
. The electronic module
36
can for instance be flanged to the drive module
18
. To span the axial length of the electronic module
36
, the armature shaft
22
is embodied as correspondingly longer, so that it can engage the guide portion
28
of the gear module
20
. It is quite clear from
FIG. 3
that by replacing the electronic module
36
, different functions of the starter system
10
can easily be incorporated into the starter system
10
as desired by the user. The other components, the drive module
18
and the gear module
20
, remain untouched by such an adaptation.
Overall, it can be stated that each of the individual modules, that is, the drive module
18
, the electronic module
36
and/or the gear module
20
, can be optimized on its own. These modules are standardized in the sense that in the final assembly of starter systems
10
, various drive modules
18
, electronic modules
36
and gear modules
20
that are in stock can be combined selectively with one another. The sole decisive factor is what the user of the starter system
10
requires.
FIG. 4
, in a block circuit diagram, illustrates the final assembly of starter systems
10
from different modules. Block
40
indicates the production of the drive modules
18
, block
42
the production of the gear modules
20
, and block
44
the production of the electronic modules
36
. For producing the drive modules
18
, it is shown in suggested form inside the complex
40
for instance that the armature shaft is furnished in a step
46
, the armature assembly is done in a step
48
, the pole housing assembly is done in a step
50
, and finally the assembly of the drive module
18
is done in a step
52
.
Depending on the application demand made of the starter system
10
, the appropriate drive module
18
, the appropriate gear module
20
and the appropriate electronic module
36
are then completed in a final step
54
to make the desired starter system
10
. By means of the modular construction explained, in which the individual modules are compatible with one another even given different power level parameters and speed-increase parameters, the production of starter systems
10
can be simplified considerably and thus made more economical.
Claims
- 1. A unitized starter construction system for an internal combustion engine, comprising a plurality of sets of modules of different types including a set of modules of a first type each being formed as a drive module having a starter motor and a set of modules of a second type each being formed as a gear module having a reduction gear, at least a set of modules of one type having at least two modules of said one type, said drive module including a first utilized interface embodied as a pinion gear while said gear module including a second unitized interface comprising a receiving area for the pinion gear, so that said drive module and said gear module are operatively connectable with one another by bringing together said first and second interface, and at least one module of another type is operatively connectable with any of the at least two modules of said one type.
- 2. The unitized starter construction system of claim 1, wherein said sets of modules include at least one electronic module.
- 3. The unitized starter construction system of claim 1, wherein the at least one gear module includes a planetary gear.
- 4. The unitized starter construction system of claim 3, wherein a sun wheel of the planetary gear is a slip-on pinion of a drive shaft of the drive module.
- 5. The unitized starter construction system of claim 1, wherein the at least one gear module includes an integrated free-wheel mechanism.
- 6. The unitized starter construction system of claim 2, wherein the at least one electronic module is disposed between the at least one drive module and the least one gear module.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
199 55 061 |
Nov 1999 |
DE |
|
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/DE00/04009 |
|
WO |
00 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO01/36815 |
5/25/2001 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
39 28 407 |
Jan 1994 |
DE |