The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-106160 filed on May 11, 2011 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to vehicle drive devices including a rotating electrical machine, a through shaft placed to extend through a cylindrical rotor shaft of the rotating electrical machine in an axial direction, a power transmission mechanism that transmits power between the rotor shaft and the through shaft, a lubricant supply portion that supplies, to the inside of the rotor shaft, lubricant supplied by rotation of the power transmission mechanism, and a case that accommodates at least the rotating electrical machine and the power transmission mechanism.
For example, there is a technique described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-278319 shown below as related art of such vehicle drive devices. In the description of the section “Description of the Related Art,” reference characters or terms in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-278319 are shown in parentheses “( )” as appropriate. A vehicle drive device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-278319 (Paragraph [0024], FIGS. 1 and 2, etc.) has a configuration in which rotation of a power transmission mechanism that transmits power between a rotor shaft (rotor shaft 26) and a through shaft (right axle shaft AXR) is used to supply lubricant to a rotating electrical machine (electric motor 20) to cool the rotating electrical machine. Specifically, the lubricant in a case (housing 10) is thrown up by rotation of a differential input gear (final driven gear 53), and the lubricant thus thrown up is supplied to the inside of the rotor shaft.
In the configuration of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2005-278319, as shown in paragraph [0024] and
It is therefore desired to implement a vehicle drive device capable of easily securing the amount of lubricant to be supplied to the inside of a rotor shaft.
A vehicle drive device includes: a rotating electrical machine; a through shaft placed to extend through a cylindrical rotor shaft of the rotating electrical machine in an axial direction; a power transmission mechanism that transmits power between the rotor shaft and the through shaft; a lubricant supply portion that supplies, to inside of the rotor shaft, lubricant that is supplied by rotation of the power transmission mechanism; a case that accommodates at least the rotating electrical machine and the power transmission mechanism; a first bearing placed on an axial first direction side as one side in the axial direction with respect to the rotating electrical machine, and placed radially outward of the rotor shaft to support the rotor shaft; and a second bearing placed on the axial first direction side with respect to the first bearing, and placed radially outward of the through shaft to support the through shaft. The lubricant supply portion includes a lubricant storing portion which is located between the first bearing and the second bearing in the axial direction at a position below a rotation central axis of the through shaft, and stores the lubricant, and the lubricant storing portion is formed to have a portion that communicates in the axial direction with an opening located on the axial first direction side of the rotor shaft, at a position above a lowermost part of the opening.
As used herein, the term “rotating electrical machine” is used as a concept including all of a motor (an electric motor), a generator (an electric generator), and a motor-generator that functions both as the motor and the generator as necessary.
According to the above configuration, the lubricant stored in the lubricant storing portion can be directly supplied to the inside of the rotor shaft via the portion communicating with the opening of the rotor shaft in the axial direction. Note that since the lubricant storing portion is formed between the first bearing and the second bearing in the axial direction, the lubricant can be easily supplied to the inside of the rotor shaft via neither the first bearing nor the second bearing by using, e.g., a configuration of supplying the lubricant to the lubricant storing portion from radially outside. Thus, the amount of lubricant to be supplied to the inside of the rotor shaft can be more easily secured as compared to the case where the lubricant needs to be supplied to the inside of the rotor shaft via the first bearing and the second bearing.
Moreover, with the configuration in which only an upper part of the lubricant storing portion communicates with the opening of the rotor shaft in the axial direction, the lubricant overflowing the lubricant storing portion is supplied to the inside of the rotor shaft. This allows impurities (foreign matter etc.) contained in the lubricant to be deposited in a lower part of the lubricant storing portion, whereby circulation of the impurities can be suppressed.
The first bearing and the second bearing may be arranged to have an overlapping portion as viewed in the axial direction, and the lubricant storing portion may be formed to have a region that overlaps both the first bearing and the second bearing as viewed in the axial direction.
As used herein, regarding arrangement of two members, the term “overlap” as viewed in a predetermined direction means that when the predetermined direction is a viewing direction and a viewing point is shifted in each direction perpendicular to the viewing direction, the viewing point from which the two members are seen to overlap each other is present at least in some regions.
According to this configuration, the vehicle drive device including the lubricant storing portion can be implemented while suppressing an increase in size of the device in a radial direction. Moreover, in the case of using a configuration of supplying a part of the lubricant stored in the lubricant storing portion to the first bearing and the second bearing to lubricate these bearings, a configuration of supplying the lubricant to the first bearing and the second bearing can be simplified.
The vehicle drive device may further include a first annular member that is placed on the axial first direction side of the first bearing to define an axial second direction side of the lubricant storing portion, which is an opposite side from the axial first direction side, and a second annular member that is placed on the axial second direction side of the second bearing to define the axial first direction side of the lubricant storing portion. The first annular member may include a first radially extending portion formed to extend in a radial direction of the rotor shaft and having a radially inner end portion located radially inward of the opening, and an axially extending portion formed to extend from the radially inner end portion of the first radially extending portion to the axial second direction side and having a tip end located inside the rotor shaft. The second annular member may include a second radially extending portion formed to extend in the radial direction and having a radially inner end portion located radially inward of the radially inner end portion of the first radially extending portion, and a through hole extending through the second radially extending portion in the axial direction is formed below a bottom of the radially inner end portion of the first radially extending portion.
According to this configuration, since the radially inner end portion of the second radially extending portion is located radially inward of the radially inner end portion of the first radially extending portion, a large part of the lubricant overflowing the lubricant storing portion can be guided toward the first annular member, namely toward the rotor shaft. At this time, since the first annular member includes the axially extending portion having the tip end located inside the rotor shaft, the lubricant guided toward the rotor shaft can be efficiently supplied to the inside of the rotor shaft by causing the lubricant to flow along the axially extending portion.
Moreover, since the through hole extending through the second radially extending portion in the axial direction is formed below the bottom of the radially inner end portion of the first radially extending portion, a constant amount of lubricant can be actively caused to flow toward the second annular member, whereby, e.g., the second bearing can be lubricated.
The first annular member is placed on a side in the axial direction where the first bearing is provided with respect to the lubricant storing portion. The first annular member may be used to supply to the first bearing a part of the lubricant overflowing the lubricant storing portion toward the first annular member.
The power transmission mechanism may include a throwing member that throws up the lubricant in the case. The lubricant supply portion may include a lubricant receiving portion that receives the lubricant thrown up by the throwing member, and a lubricant flow passage that allows the lubricant received by the lubricant receiving portion to flow to the lubricant storing portion. The lubricant storing portion may be formed in a lower part of a circumferential continuous space that is formed between the first bearing and the second bearing in the axial direction and that is continuous in a circumferential direction of the rotor shaft. The lubricant flow passage may open at a position above the lubricant storing portion in the circumferential continuous space.
According to this configuration, the lubricant can be supplied to the lubricant storing portion by a simple configuration using gravity and surface tension. In particular, the lubricant can be supplied from the lubricant flow passage to the lubricant storing portion by merely dropping the lubricant from the opening of the lubricant flow passage.
An embodiment of a vehicle drive device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in
In the following description, the “axial direction L” is defined based on a first axis A1 (see
In the following description, the terms “above” and “below” are defined based on the vertical direction V (see
1. Overall Configuration of Drive Device
First, the overall configuration of the drive device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. As shown in
Note that as used herein, the expression “drivingly coupled” refers to the state in which two rotating elements are coupled together so as to be able to transmit a driving force therebetween, and is used as a concept including the state in which the two rotating elements are coupled together so as to rotate together, or the state in which the two rotating elements are coupled together so as to be able to transmit a driving force therebetween via one or more transmission members. Such transmission members include various members that transmit rotation at the same speed or after changing the speed of the rotation, and for example, include a shaft, a gear mechanism, a belt, a chain, etc. Such transmission members may include an engagement element that selectively transmits rotation and a driving force, such as, e.g., a friction engagement element and a meshing engagement element.
In the present embodiment, the rotating electrical machine output gear 13 is placed on the axial second direction L2 side with respect to the rotor core 11 so as to be coaxial with the rotor shaft 12 and to rotate together with the rotor shaft 12. Specifically, the rotating electrical machine output gear 13 is fixed to the rotor shaft 12 by spline engagement so as not to be rotatable relative to the rotor shaft 12. Thus, in the present embodiment, the rotor core 11 is drivingly coupled to the rotating electrical machine output gear 13 via the rotor shaft 12 so as to rotate together with the rotating electrical machine output gear 13.
A first bearing 71, which is placed radially outward of the rotor shaft 12 to support the rotor shaft 12, is provided on the axial first direction L1 side with respect to the rotating electrical machine 10 (more specifically, the rotor core 11 of the rotating electrical machine 10), and a third bearing 73, which is placed radially outward of the rotor shaft 12 to support the rotor shaft 12, is provided on the axial second direction L2 side with respect to the rotating electrical machine 10 (more specifically, the rotor core 11 of the rotating electrical machine 10). As shown in
In the present embodiment, a radially inner portion of the rotor shaft 12 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape, and a shaft inner flow passage 67 is formed by using this hollow portion. A through flow passage 68 that allows the shaft inner flow passage 67 to communicate with the outer peripheral surface of the rotor shaft 12 in the radial direction is formed in the rotor shaft 12. As described below, the drive device 1 includes a lubricant supply portion 63 that supplies lubricant to the rotating electrical machine 10, and the lubricant supplied by the lubricant supply portion 63 is supplied via the shaft inner flow passage 67 and the through flow passage 68 to a coil end portion 15 of the stator 14 to cool the coil end portion 15.
The differential gear mechanism 20 is a mechanism (an output differential gear mechanism) having a differential input gear 21 and distributing a torque (in this example, an output torque of the rotating electrical machine 10) transmitted to the differential input gear 21 to the plurality of wheels 50 (see
A second bearing 72, which is placed radially outward of the output shaft 40 to support the output shaft 40, is provided on the axial first direction L1 side with respect to the first bearing 71. A fourth bearing 74, which is placed radially outward of the output shaft 40 to support the output shaft 40, is provided on the axial second direction L2 side with respect to the third bearing 73. Note that in this example, the output shaft 40 is indirectly supported by the fourth bearing 74 via the differential gear mechanism 20. As shown in
Although details will be omitted, a rotation shaft 51 (a drive shaft etc., see
The counter gear mechanism 30 is a mechanism that transmits an output torque of the rotating electrical machine 10 to the differential input gear 21. Specifically, the counter gear mechanism 30 has a first gear 31 that meshes with a rotating electrical machine output gear 13 to which the output torque of the rotating electrical machine 10 is transmitted, a second gear 32 that is placed on the axial second direction L2 side with respect to the first gear 31 and that meshes with the differential input gear 21, and a counter shaft 33 that couples the first gear 31 to the second gear 32. In the present embodiment, the second gear 32 is integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface of the counter shaft 33, and the first gear 31 is fixed to the counter shaft 33 by spline engagement so as not to be rotatable relative to the counter shaft 33.
In the present embodiment, the counter gear mechanism 30 is placed on the axial second direction L2 side with respect to the rotating electrical machine 10, and is also placed to have a portion that overlaps the differential gear mechanism 20 as viewed in the radial direction of the rotating electrical machine 10. The first gear 31 is placed between the rotating electrical machine 10 (more specifically, the rotor core 11 of the rotating electrical machine 10) and the differential input gear 21 in the axial direction L.
With such a configuration as described above, a torque in the same direction as the rotation direction of the rotating electrical machine 10 is transmitted to the wheels 50 during running of the vehicle 100. Since the first gear 31 is always drivingly coupled to the output shaft 40 via the counter gear mechanism 30 and the differential gear mechanism 20, the first gear 31 rotates with rotation of the output shaft 40 (that is, running of the vehicle). As described below, the first gear 31 is configured to throw up the lubricant (oil) stored in the case 90 when rotating, and the lubricant thrown up by the first gear 31 is supplied to the rotating electrical machine 10 via the lubricant supply portion 63. In the present embodiment, the first gear 31 corresponds to the “throwing member” in the present invention.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the drive device 1 is configured to drive the rear wheels of the vehicle 100. In this example, as shown in
The case 90 is configured to accommodate the rotating electrical machine 10, the differential gear mechanism 20, and the counter gear mechanism 30. In this example, a part of the output shaft 40 and the rotor shaft 12 are also accommodated in the case 90. Specifically, the case 90 includes the end wall 92 defining a space on the axial first direction L1 side of a case inner space T formed inside the case 90, and also includes the partition wall 91 partitioning the case inner space T in the axial direction L. This partition wall 91 divides the case inner space T into a first accommodating chamber T1 as an accommodating space on the axial second direction L2 side and a second accommodating chamber T2 as an accommodating space on the axial first direction L1 side. Both the differential gear mechanism 20 and the counter gear mechanism 30 are accommodated in the first accommodating chamber T1, and the rotating electrical machine 10 is accommodated in the second accommodating chamber T2.
In the present embodiment, the rotating electrical machine 10 and the differential gear mechanism 20 are coaxially placed in the case 90. In order to implement this arrangement configuration, in the present embodiment, the rotor shaft 12 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape, and the output shaft 40 is placed to extend through the rotor shaft 12. The differential input gear 21 is placed coaxially with the differential gear mechanism 20. Thus, in this example, the rotating electrical machine 10, the differential input gear 21, and the output shaft 40 are placed coaxially.
In the present embodiment, the counter gear mechanism 30 is placed in the case 90 on an axis (a second axis A2) different from an axis (the first axis A1) on which the rotating electrical machine 10 and the differential gear mechanism 20 are placed. In this example, the first axis A1 and the second axis A2 are placed parallel to each other, and the second axis A2 is placed below the first axis A1 (see
In the present embodiment, as schematically shown in
2. Configuration of Supplying Lubricant
A configuration of supplying the lubricant as a main part of the drive device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to
Note that in order to properly throw up the lubricant by the first gear 31, it is preferable to set the amount of lubricant to be accommodated in the case 90 so that the lowermost portion of the first gear 31 is located below the liquid height (the liquid level) of the lubricant in the first lubricant storing portion 61 in the entire rotational speed range in which the rotating electrical machine 10 is used, or in a large part of this rotational speed range.
The lubricant in the first lubricant storing portion 61 thrown up by the first gear 31 is supplied to the rotating electrical machine 10 via the lubricant supply portion 63. Note that in
The lubricant receiving portion 64 has a function to receive the lubricant thrown up by the first gear 31. As shown in
As shown in
Specifically, the lubricant receiving portion 64 has a bottom portion 64b that covers a lower part of a lubricant storing space as a space where the lubricant is stored, a side wall portion 64c that laterally surrounds the lubricant storing space, and an opening 64a that opens to the first accommodating chamber T1. Above the lubricant storing space is covered a peripheral wall of the ease 90. Thus, the lubricant thrown up by the first gear 31 and flowing along and dropping from the inner surface of the case 90 is supplied to the inside (the lubricant storing space) of the lubricant receiving portion 64 via the opening 64a.
The lubricant flow passages 65, 66 are flow passages that allow the lubricant received by the lubricant receiving portion 64 to flow to the rotating electrical machine 10 (more precisely, the second lubricant storing portion 62). In the present embodiment, the lubricant flow passages 65, 66 are formed by holes formed in the wall portion (inside the wall) of the case 90. In the present embodiment, the lubricant flow passages 65, 66 are formed by the first lubricant flow passage 66 extending in the axial direction L, and the second lubricant flow passage 65 extending in the radial direction of the rotating electrical machine 10.
Specifically, the first lubricant flow passage 66 is formed so that one end of the first lubricant flow passage 66 opens into the lubricant receiving portion 64 via a hole formed in the side wall portion 64c of the lubricant receiving portion 64, and that the other end of the first lubricant flow passage 66 communicates with the second lubricant flow passage 65. The first lubricant flow passage 66 is located above a circumferential continuous space S (described below). Note that the first lubricant flow passage 66 may be formed to extend in a direction parallel to the horizontal direction as in the example shown in
The second lubricant flow passage 65 has an opening 65a at its end (a radially inner end portion) located on the opposite side from the portion (a radially outer end) communicating with the first lubricant flow passage 66, and the opening 65a opens to the circumferential continuous space S. The circumferential continuous space S is a space that is formed between the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72 in the axial direction L and that is continuous in the circumferential direction of the rotor shaft 12.
The communicating portion between the first lubricant flow passage 66 and the second lubricant flow passage 65 is located above the opening 65a.
The second lubricant storing portion 62 is formed in a lower part of the circumferential continuous space S. The opening 65a of the second lubricant flow passage 65 is placed above the second lubricant storing portion 62 in the circumferential continuous space S (in this example, in the uppermost part of the circumferential continuous space S). This allows the lubricant to be properly supplied from the second lubricant flow passage 65 to the second lubricant storing portion 62 by a simple configuration of dropping the lubricant from the opening 65a by gravity to cause the lubricant to flow downward on the outer peripheral surface of the output shaft 40.
Thus, the lubricant received by the lubricant receiving portion 64 flows downstream through the lubricant flow passages 65, 66 due to gravity, is supplied to the second lubricant storing portion 62, and is stored in the second lubricant storing portion 62. As described in the following section “3. Configuration of Second Lubricant Storing Portion,” the lubricant stored in the second lubricant storing portion 62 is supplied to the shaft inner flow passage 67. The lubricant supplied to the shaft inner flow passage 67 is injected radially outside of the rotor shaft 12 via the through flow passage 68 due to a centrifugal force associated with rotation of the rotor shaft 12, and the lubricant thus blown onto the coil end portion 15 of the stator 14 cools the coil end portion 15.
3. Configuration of Second Lubricant Storing Portion The configuration of the second lubricant storing portion 62 included in the drive device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to
The second lubricant storing portion 62 is formed below the rotation central axis (the first axis A1) of the output shaft 40 in the circumferential continuous space S. Note that in the present embodiment, the circumferential continuous space S is a space that is continuous along the entire region in the circumferential direction (the entire circumference) of the rotor shaft 12. The second lubricant storing portion 62 is provided in a portion including the lowermost part of the circumferential continuous space S. As described above, the opening 65a of the second lubricant flow passage 65 is formed in the uppermost part of the circumferential continuous space S.
As shown in
In this example, both the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72 are rolling bearings including an inner race, an outer race, and a rolling element (a spherical element in the illustrated example). The outer peripheral surface of the rotor shaft 12 has a stepped cylindrical portion having a larger diameter on the axial second direction L2 side and having a smaller diameter on the axial first direction L1 side, and the first bearing 71 is fittingly placed on (fitted around) the smaller diameter part of the stepped cylindrical portion, and supports the rotor shaft 12 from radially outside and from the axial first direction L1 side. The outer peripheral surface of a hub member 40a included in the output shaft 40 has a stepped cylindrical portion having a larger diameter on the axial first direction L1 side and having a smaller diameter on the axial second direction L2 side, and the second bearing 72 is fittingly placed on (fitted around) the smaller diameter part of the stepped cylindrical portion, and supports the output shaft 40 from radially outside and from the axial second direction L2 side. Note that the hub member 40a spline engages with a main body portion (a columnar portion) of the output shaft 40, and is fixed by a retaining member so that movement of the hub member 40a in the axial direction L relative to the main body portion is restricted.
As shown in
Thus, in the present embodiment, the second lubricant storing portion 62 is formed to have a portion that communicates with the shaft inner flow passage 67 of the rotor shaft 12 in the axial direction L at a position above the lowermost part of the inner peripheral surface of the end on the axial first direction L1 side of the rotor shaft 12.
In the present embodiment, only an upper part of the second lubricant storing portion 62 communicates with the opening 12a (the shaft inner flow passage 67) of the rotor shaft 12 in the axial direction L. Thus, if the liquid height in the second lubricant storing portion 62 becomes higher than the lowermost part of the portion communicating with the opening 12a, the amount of lubricant corresponding to the liquid height is supplied to the inside (the shaft inner flow passage 67) of the rotor shaft 12 via the opening 12a. That is, the lubricant overflowing the second lubricant storing portion 62 is supplied to the inside of the rotor shaft 12. This allows impurities (foreign matter etc.) contained in the lubricant to be deposited in the lower part of the second lubricant storing portion 62, whereby at least a part of the impurities can be removed from the lubricant.
If an excess amount of lubricant is supplied to the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72, a sufficient amount of lubricant may not be able to be supplied to the rotating electrical machine 10 or excessive drag loss may be caused in the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72. In order to avoid such problems, as shown in
Specifically, as shown in
In order to allow the lubricant guided to the side of the axial second direction L2 to efficiently flow into the shaft inner flow passage 67, the present embodiment uses a configuration in which the first annular member 81 includes an axially extending portion 81b in addition to the first radially extending portion 81a. As shown in
Note that in the present embodiment, as shown in
Moreover, in order to allow the second bearing 72 to be lubricated as well, the present embodiment uses a configuration in which the second annular member 82 includes one or more (in this example, one) through holes 83. This through hole 83 is formed to extend through the second radially extending portion 82a in the axial direction L below the bottom of the radially inner end portion of the first radially extending portion 81a. This allows the amount of lubricant according to a diameter of the through hole 83 to actively flow out of the second lubricant storing portion 62 to the side of the axial first direction L1 and to be supplied to the second bearing 72. Note that the lubricant that has lubricated the second bearing 72 is returned to the first lubricant storing portion 61 via a flow passage (not shown).
4. Other Embodiments
Lastly, other embodiments according to the present invention will be described. Note that the characteristics described in each of the following embodiments are not applicable only in that embodiment, but are applicable to the other embodiments as long as no inconsistency arises.
(1) In the embodiment described above, as an example, the first annular member 81 includes the axially extending portion 81b, and the second annular member 82 includes the through hole 83. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this example, and the second annular member 82 may not include the through hole 83. The first annular member 81 may not include the axially extending portion 81b, depending on the separation distance in the axial direction L between the first radially extending portion 81 a and the opening 12a of the rotor shaft 12. The above embodiment is described with respect to an example configuration in which the first annular member 81 is a separate part from the case 90, and the second annular member 82 is formed integrally with the case 90. However, the first annular member 81 may be formed integrally with the case 90, and the second annular member 82 may be a separate part from the case 90. Alternatively, both the first annular member 81 and the second annular member 82 are separate parts from the case 90, or both the first annular member 81 and the second annular member 82 may be formed integrally with the case 90.
(2) In the embodiment described above, as an example, both the first annular member 81 and the second annular member 82 are provided. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this example. That is, only one of the first annular member 81 and the second annular member 82 may be provided, or neither the first annular member 81 nor the second annular member 82 may be provided.
An example of the latter configuration is shown in
Note that in the example shown in
(3) In the embodiment described above, as an example, the second lubricant storing portion 62 is formed to have a region that overlaps both the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72 as viewed in the axial direction L. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this example, and the second lubricant storing portion 62 may be formed to have a region that overlaps only one of the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72 as viewed in the axial direction L, or the second lubricant storing portion 62 may be formed so as not to have a region that overlaps the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72 as viewed in the axial direction L.
The above embodiment is described with respect to an example configuration in which the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72 are arranged to have an overlapping portion as viewed in the axial direction L, but the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72 may be arranged so as not to have an overlapping portion as viewed in the axial direction L.
(4) In the embodiment described above, as an example, the second lubricant storing portion 62 is formed on the axial first direction L1 side with respect to the rotating electrical machine 10 (more specifically, the rotor core 11 of the rotating electrical machine 10). However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this example, and the second lubricant storing portion 62 may be formed on the axial second direction L2 side (the rotating electrical machine output gear 13 side) with respect to the rotating electrical machine 10 (more specifically, the rotor core 11 of the rotating electrical machine 10). In this case, the third bearing 73 may be the “first bearing” in the present invention, the fourth bearing 74 may be the “second bearing” in the present invention, and the second lubricant storing portion 62 may be formed between the third bearing 73 as the first bearing and the fourth bearing 74 as the second bearing in the axial direction L. Note that in the example shown in
(5) In the embodiment described above, as an example, the lubricant thrown up by the first gear 31 is supplied to the second lubricant storing portion 62. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this example, and the lubricant may be thrown up by a gear (e.g., the differential input gear 21) other than the first gear 31, which rotates with rotation of the output shaft 40. In such a configuration, unlike the above embodiment, the rotation central axis of the counter shaft 33 may be placed at the same height as the rotation central axis of the rotating electrical machine 10, or the rotation central axis of the counter shaft 33 may be placed above the rotation central axis of the rotating electrical machine 10. In the embodiment described above, as an example, the lubricant thrown up by the throwing member is supplied to the second lubricant storing portion 62. However, a pump that is driven by rotation of the power transmission mechanism may be provided so that the lubricant discharged from the pump is supplied to the second lubricant storing portion 62.
(6) In the embodiment described above, as an example, the circumferential continuous space S is a space that is continuous along the entire region in the circumferential direction (the entire circumference) of the rotor shaft 12. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this example, and the circumferential continuous space S may be formed to be continuous only in a part (e.g., half the circumference) of the circumference of the rotor shaft 12 instead of the entire circumference of the rotor shaft 12.
(7) In the embodiment described above, as an example, the lubricant flow passages 65, 66 are holes formed in the wall portion of the case 90. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this example, and at least a part of lubricant flow passage 65, 66 may be formed by a groove etc. formed in the wall surface of the case 90, or may be formed by a pipe-shaped member, a gutter-shaped member, etc. placed inside or outside the case 90.
(8) In the embodiment described above, as an example, both the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72 are rolling bearings having a spherical element as a rolling element. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this example, and bearings in other forms, such as a roll bearing having as a rolling element an element (e.g., a columnar element, a conical element, etc.) other than a spherical element or a slide bearing, may be used as one or both of the first bearing 71 and the second bearing 72.
(9) Regarding other configurations as well, the embodiments disclosed in the specification are by way of example only in all respects, and embodiments of the present invention are not limited to them. That is, it is to be understood that configurations obtained by partially modifying as appropriate the configurations that are not described in the claims of the present application also fall in the technical scope of the present invention, as long as these configurations include the configurations described in the claims and the configurations equivalent thereto.
The present invention can be preferably used for vehicle drive devices including a rotating electrical machine, a through shaft placed to extend through a cylindrical rotor shaft of the rotating electrical machine in the axial direction, a power transmission mechanism that transmits power between the rotor shaft and the through shaft, a lubricant supply portion that supplies, to the inside of the rotor shaft, lubricant that is supplied by rotation of the power transmission mechanism, and a case that accommodates at least the rotating electrical machine and the power transmission mechanism.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2011-106160 | May 2011 | JP | national |