CN116635648A

CN116635648A - Belt adjusting device and method, steering device and vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN116635648A
Application number: CN202180010369.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李文进; 罗毅; 李声辉
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-22
Filing date: 2021-11-22
Publication date: 2023-08-22
Also published as: WO2023087316A1

Abstract

A belt adjusting device and method for adjusting a belt tension, a steering device and a vehicle are provided, which can improve the adjustment efficiency of the belt tension. The driving belt adjusting device comprises a base (1), a movable part (3) and an elastic part (2). The elastic component (2) is arranged on the base (1), the first end (2 b) of the elastic component (2) is fixed relative to the base (1) in the circumferential direction taking the first axis (X2) as the center, and the first axis (X2) is the rotation axis of the movable component (3); the second end (2 a) of the elastic member (2) is fixed relative to the movable member (3) in the circumferential direction centered on the first axis (X2), and the eccentric position of the movable member (3) is located on the first axis (X2). Therefore, when the tension of the driving belt is regulated, the movable part (3) deflects under the action of the elastic force of the elastic part (2) so as to press against the driving belt, and repeated debugging is not needed. In addition, the consistency of the belt tensioning forces of the plurality of transmission mechanisms can be improved.

Description

Belt adjusting device and method, steering device and vehicle

Technical Field

The technology of the application can be applied to the technical field of vehicles, and particularly relates to a driving belt adjusting device and method, a steering device and a vehicle.

Background

A belt drive is a common drive mechanism that typically has two pulleys and a drive belt mounted on the two pulleys for transmitting power between the two pulleys. In order to transmit power well, a predetermined degree of tension is typically created on the belt. Conventionally, there is a scheme of adjusting the tension of a transmission belt within a preset range by fixing one of two pulleys on which the transmission belt is mounted to a housing of a transmission mechanism, adjusting the position of the other pulley to tension or release the transmission belt, and measuring the tension on the transmission belt at this time. When the measured result is within the preset range, the other pulley is fixed to the housing by a tool or the like. And then, retesting the tension, if the retested tension is within the preset range, the assembly is qualified, and if the retested tension is not within the preset range, the fixation of the other belt wheel is released, and the measurement and fixation operation is carried out again, so that repeated debugging operation is required. Therefore, the driving belt adjusting scheme has complex operation, long assembly working hours and low efficiency.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides an adjusting device and method for adjusting tension of a driving belt, a steering device and a vehicle, which can improve the adjusting efficiency of the tension of the driving belt.

A first aspect of the present application provides a transmission belt adjustment device comprising: base, movable part and elastomeric element. The elastic component is arranged on the base, the first end part of the elastic component is fixed relative to the base in the circumferential direction taking the first axis as the center, and the first axis is the rotation axis of the movable component; the second end of the elastic member is fixed relative to the movable member in a circumferential direction centered on a first axis on which an eccentric position of the movable member is located.

With the belt adjusting device having the above-described configuration, the movable member can be rotated about the first axis with respect to the base to apply a biasing force to the elastic member, and after the biasing force is applied to the movable member, the movable member can be rotated about the first axis with respect to the base. The rotation of the movable member is deflected as a result of the first axis passing through the eccentric position of the movable member.

When the tension of the driving belt is regulated, the movable part deflects under the action of the elastic force of the elastic part so as to press against the driving belt, and the driving belt generates tension. The magnitude of the applied elastic force of the elastic member may be preset so that a preset tension is generated on the belt receiving the elastic force through the movable member. Therefore, when the tension of the transmission belt is regulated, the movable part deflects under the action of the elastic force of the elastic part so as to press against the transmission belt, and repeated debugging is not needed. In addition, the uniformity of belt tension of the plurality of transmission mechanisms can be improved for the plurality of transmission mechanisms.

In addition, the belt adjusting device of the first aspect of the application can achieve a more compact structure, which is advantageous for miniaturization, than in the manner of pressing the movable member against the belt by translation.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the base is provided with a boss, and the elastic member is mounted on the boss.

In this way, the position of the elastic member can be kept stable.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the movable component is provided with a groove, and the elastic component is accommodated in the groove.

With this structure, the elastic member is accommodated in the groove, so that the belt adjusting device can be compact in structure.

The movable member may be cylindrical or tubular, for example, a cylinder or a cylinder, and the belt adjusting device may be compact compared with a structure using an arm-shaped movable member.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the movable part is sleeved with a roller.

By adopting the structure, the friction between the movable part and the driving belt can be reduced, and the resistance of the movable part to the rotation of the driving belt can be reduced.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the movable component is sleeved with a bearing, and the roller includes an outer ring of the bearing.

By adopting the structure, the roller is formed by adopting the outer ring of the bearing, so that the structural stability can be improved, and the service life of the roller can be prolonged.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the belt adjusting device further includes: and a locking mechanism capable of locking the movable member to restrict rotation (i.e., deflection) of the movable member with respect to the base about the first axis.

With the above structure, the movable member can be locked by the locking mechanism to restrict the deflection thereof, so that the operation of pre-tightening the elastic member can be completed before the belt adjusting device is mounted to the housing of the transmission mechanism, and thus, the assembly efficiency can be improved.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a first hole is provided on the base; the movable part is provided with a second hole, and the locking mechanism comprises a locking part, and the locking part is inserted into the first hole and the second hole.

With the above structure, the locking mechanism is constituted in the form of the similar pin and hole, which can make the structure simple and improve the reliability of the locking function.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a third hole is provided on the movable member, the second hole is formed on a bottom surface of the third hole, and the locking member has an operation portion, and the operation portion is accommodated in the third hole.

With the above configuration, since the operation portion is accommodated in the third hole, on the one hand, the locking member can be prevented from being accidentally released due to an erroneous operation, and on the other hand, the belt adjusting device can be made compact.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the base is provided with a first hole; a second hole is arranged on the movable part; the first hole and the second hole are arranged to lie on the same imaginary circumferential line centered on the first axis.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a fourth hole is provided on the movable part, a fifth hole is provided on the base, and the belt adjusting device further includes a bolt configured to pass through the fourth hole and the fifth hole, and take the first axis as the rotation axis.

With the above structure, on the one hand, the movable member and the base are mounted together by the bolt, and on the other hand, the portion of the bolt passing through the fifth hole can be fixed to the housing of the transmission mechanism, that is, the bolt plays a role in mounting the movable member and the base together and also plays a role in fixing the base and the like to the housing of the transmission mechanism, so that the number of structural elements can be reduced, and the structure can be simplified.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the elastic member includes a torsion spring, the torsion spring has a plurality of coil portions, the coil portions have a first axis as a central axis, and the plurality of coils are arranged along the first axis direction.

With the above structure, the size of the torsion spring in the radial direction can be reduced, and the size of the belt adjusting device in the radial direction can be reduced.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a stop portion is provided on either one of the movable member or the base, the stop portion being capable of preventing deflection.

With the above configuration, since the stopper portion is provided to prevent the movable member from being deflected, the biasing force of the elastic member can be prevented from being completely or largely lost due to the unexpected deflection of the movable member, and thus, for example, the operation load of the re-biasing operation of the elastic member can be reduced.

As a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the base is provided with a first locking portion, and the first locking portion has a long groove shape extending along the direction of the first axis, and the first end of the elastic member is locked to the first locking portion.

With the above structure, the first end of the elastic member can slide along the first locking portion of the elongated slot in the direction of the first axis, so that the elastic member can be preloaded by relative rotation even when the movable member is far from the base, and the operation flexibility is increased.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the movable component is provided with a second locking portion, the second locking portion has a long groove shape extending along the direction of the first axis, and the second end portion of the elastic component is locked to the second locking portion.

With the above structure, the second end of the elastic member can slide along the second locking portion in the first axis direction, so that the elastic member can be preloaded by relative rotation even when the movable member is far from the base, and the operation flexibility is increased.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a seventh hole is provided in the movable part, and the base has a body portion, and the body portion is accommodated in the seventh hole.

With the above structure, the structure of the belt adjusting device can be compact.

As a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the seventh hole includes an inner circumferential surface centered on a second axis, and the second axis is offset from the first axis; the body part of the base is provided with a stop part, and the distance between the stop part and the first axis is larger than the minimum distance between the first axis and the inner peripheral surface of the seventh hole.

Because the distance between the stop part and the first axis is greater than the minimum distance between the first axis and the inner peripheral surface, when the movable part rotates for a certain angle relative to the base, the stop part can be abutted with the inner peripheral surface of the seventh hole to prevent the movable part from continuing to rotate, and thus, the problem that the pretightening force of the elastic part is thoroughly or largely lost when the movable part rotates accidentally after the elastic part is pretighted can be avoided.

In particular, this implementation can be combined with the implementation described above with respect to the "first locking portion in the form of an elongated slot" or the "second locking portion in the form of an elongated slot".

A second aspect of the present application provides a steering apparatus including a belt and the belt adjusting apparatus of any one of the first aspect, wherein the movable member is pressed against the belt by an elastic force of the elastic member.

A third aspect of the application provides a vehicle that includes the steering device of any one of the structures of the second aspect.

A fourth aspect of the application provides a belt tension adjustment method comprising: fixing a base of the driving belt adjusting device on a shell, wherein two belt wheels are arranged on the shell, and a driving belt is arranged on the two belt wheels; the movable member is pressed against the belt by the elastic force of the elastic member, wherein the movable member is mounted on the base in a deflectable manner with respect to the base.

With the second, third, and fourth aspects, the same technical effects as those of the first aspect described above can be obtained, and the description thereof will not be repeated here.

As a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the pressing of the movable part against the belt under the elastic force of the elastic part specifically includes: the locking mechanism is unlocked, wherein locking refers to locking the movable member relative to the base to limit deflection.

As a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, unlocking the locking mechanism specifically includes: the locking member is pulled out of a first hole provided in the base and a second hole provided in the movable member.

These and other aspects of the application will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiment(s) described hereinafter.

Drawings

The various features of the application and the connections between the various features are further described below with reference to the figures. The figures are exemplary, some features are not shown in actual scale, and some features that are conventional in the art to which the application pertains and are not essential to the application may be omitted from some figures, or additional features that are not essential to the application may be shown, and the combination of features shown in the figures is not meant to limit the application. In addition, throughout the specification, the same reference numerals refer to the same. The specific drawings are as follows:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle to which a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application is applied;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a steering system to which the belt adjusting device according to the embodiment of the present application is applied;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a steering device applied to a belt adjusting device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is another schematic oblique view of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a belt conditioner according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a belt adjustment device according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a base of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a base provided with a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of a movable member of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a movable member of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is another perspective view of a movable member of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic view for explaining the deflection of the movable member of the belt adjusting device according to one embodiment of the present application.

Description of the reference numerals

1. A base; 2. an elastic member; 2a, an end (second end) of the elastic member; 2b, an end portion (first end portion) of the elastic member; 3. a movable member; 4. a bearing; 5. a bolt; 5a, head; 5b, a rod part; 5c, a rod part; 6. a locking member; 6a, a body part; 6b, an operation part; 7. a locking mechanism; 10. a body portion; 10c, a stop; 11. a hole (first hole); 12. a hole (fifth hole); 13. a positioning part; 14. a boss portion; 15. a locking portion (first locking portion); 31. a hole (second hole); 32. a hole (third hole); 33. grooves (holes, sixth holes); 34. a hole (fourth hole); 35. hole (seventh hole); 36. a locking portion (second locking portion); 41. a roller; 42. needle roller; 100. a drive belt adjustment device; 200. a steering system; 210. a steering wheel; 220. a steering tie rod; 230. a transmission mechanism; 240. a steering device; 241. a motor; 241a, output shaft; 242. a transmission mechanism; 243. a housing; 244. a belt wheel; 245. a transmission belt; 246. a belt wheel; 300. a vehicle; x1, axis; x2, axis

Detailed Description

A belt drive is a common drive mechanism that typically has two pulleys and a drive belt mounted on the two pulleys for transmitting power between the two pulleys. In order to transmit power and the like well, a predetermined degree of tension is generally generated on the transmission belt.

For example, in a belt-type electric power steering apparatus for a vehicle, the tension of a belt directly affects the driving feeling, noise vibration and harshness (Noise Vibration Harshness, NVH) performance, and running safety, and therefore, it is important to adjust the belt tension in an appropriate range.

Conventionally, there is a scheme of adjusting the tension of a transmission belt within a preset range by fixing one of two pulleys on which the transmission belt is mounted to a housing of a transmission mechanism, adjusting the position of the other pulley to tension or release the transmission belt, and measuring the tension on the transmission belt at this time. When the measured result is within the preset range, the other pulley is fixed to the housing by a tool or the like. And then, retesting the tension, if the retested tension is within the preset range, the assembly is qualified, and if the retested tension is not within the preset range, the fixation of the other belt wheel is released, and the measurement and fixation operation is carried out again. Thus, the driving belt adjusting scheme is complex to operate, long in assembly time and low in efficiency.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present application provide a belt adjusting device and method capable of simply adjusting the tension of a belt and improving the efficiency of assembly work, and a steering device, a vehicle, and the like provided with the belt adjusting device.

Before describing the specific structure of the belt adjusting device, a description will be given of the structure of a vehicle, a steering system, and a steering device to which the belt adjusting device is applied.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle to which a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application is applied; FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a steering system to which the belt adjusting device according to the embodiment of the present application is applied; fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a steering device to which the belt adjusting device according to the embodiment of the present application is applied.

As shown in fig. 1, a vehicle 300 has a steering system 200, the steering system 200 including a steering wheel 210, a tie rod 220, and an electric steering device 240. The steering wheel 210 receives a steering operation by the driver and converts the rotation into a translation of the steering rod 220 in the left-right direction of the vehicle 300 by the transmission mechanism 230. The hubs of the wheels are respectively connected to both ends of the steering link 220, and the steering operation is generated to both wheels by the translation of the steering link 220.

The type of the vehicle 300 is not particularly limited, and may be a car, a van, a passenger car, an SUV (sport utility vehicle ), or the like, and may be a fuel vehicle, an electric vehicle, or a hybrid vehicle.

In this example, as shown in fig. 2, the transmission 230 is a rack and pinion type transmission. It will be appreciated that the transmission 230 may take other forms, such as recirculating balls, worm cranks, etc.

The steering device 240 and a control device (not shown) constitute an electric power steering system (Electric Power Steering, EPS). Referring to fig. 1, when the driver performs a steering operation on steering wheel 210, steering device 240 generates an assist force, that is, a so-called steering assist force, for the driver's operation under the control of the control device. In addition, the steering device 240 may function when the vehicle 300 is in the automatic driving mode or the assisted driving mode, in addition to the function when the driver operates the steering wheel 210, that is, the steering device 240 actively performs steering of the vehicle 300 under the control of the control device.

As a specific structure, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the steering device 240 includes a motor 241 and a transmission mechanism 242, and the motor 241 and the transmission mechanism 242 may be collectively referred to as a Power Pack (PPK). The motor 241 is configured to generate rotation under the control of the control device, and the transmission mechanism 242 is configured to transmit the rotation of the motor 241 to the steering tie rod 220 and convert the rotation into translation of the steering tie rod 220 in the left-right direction. The transformation may be implemented, for example, by a ball screw structure.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the transmission 242 includes a housing 243, a pulley 244, a belt 245, and a pulley 246. The housing 243 holds the pulleys 244 and 246, and may be a single member or an assembly of a plurality of members. The pulley 244 is connected to the output shaft 241a of the motor 241, and rotates by receiving the rotational drive of the output shaft 241 a. The transmission belt 245 is attached to the pulley 244 and the pulley 246, and can transmit the rotation of the pulley 244 to the pulley 246 to rotate the pulley 246. That is, in this example, pulley 244 is a primary pulley and pulley 246 is a secondary pulley. The specific form of the belt 245 is not limited, and may be, for example, a synchronous belt, a flat belt, a V belt, or the like.

As shown in fig. 3, in this example, the diameter of the pulley 244 is smaller than the diameter of the pulley 246, and thus, rotation of the pulley 244 is transmitted to the pulley 246 at a reduced speed.

In addition, as shown in fig. 3, the steering device 240 further includes a belt adjusting device 100 mounted on the housing 243, for example, the belt adjusting device 100 being capable of applying a preset amount of force to the belt 245 such that the tension of the belt 245 is set within a preset range. The belt adjusting device 100 is only schematically shown in fig. 3, and the specific structure thereof is not shown.

The specific structure of the belt adjusting device 100 will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG. 6 is another schematic oblique view of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a belt conditioner according to an embodiment of the present application; fig. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 4 to 8, the belt adjusting device 100 includes a base 1, an elastic member 2, a movable member 3, a bearing 4, a bolt 5, and a locking member 6. In a state where the belt adjusting device 100 is mounted on the transmission mechanism 242 as shown in fig. 2, the base 1 is mounted on the housing 243. In addition, the movable member 3 is mounted on the base 1 in a deflectable manner, and the elastic member 2 applies an elastic force to the movable member 3, so that the movable member 3 can be pressed against the belt 245 by deflection, thereby causing the belt 245 to generate a tension within a preset range.

The specific configuration of each constituent element of the belt adjusting device 100 will be described in detail below.

Fig. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a base, and fig. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the base. As shown in fig. 5, 7, 9, and 10, the base 1 includes a main body 10, a positioning portion 13, and a boss 14. The body 10 has a plate shape. The positioning portion 13 protrudes from the surface 10b of the main body 10, which is one plate surface, and has a pin shape. The boss portion 14 protrudes from a surface 10a (fig. 9) of the main body portion 10, which is the other plate surface, and has a columnar shape. The base 1 is further provided with a hole 12, the hole 12 penetrates the body 10 and the boss 14, and the bolt 5 can pass through the hole 12.

The housing 243 is provided with a positioning hole and a screw hole corresponding to the structure of the positioning portion 13 and the hole 12 in the base 1, the positioning portion 13 is insertable into the positioning hole, and the bolt 5 is screwed into the screw hole in the housing 243 after passing through the hole 12, so that the base 1 and the belt adjusting device 100 can be fixed to the housing 243.

As shown in fig. 10, in the present embodiment, the hole 12 is a stepped hole including a hole portion 12a of a large diameter, a hole portion 12b of a small diameter, and a stepped end face portion 12c therebetween. The hole 12a communicates with the hole 12b, the diameter of the hole 12a is larger than the diameter of the hole 12b, the hole 12a opens on the end face of the boss 14, and the hole 12b opens on the surface 10b of the body 10. The hole 12a is inserted by a shank 5b of the bolt 5, which will be described later. A female screw is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the hole 12b, and is screwed with a male screw of a shank 5c of the bolt 5, which will be described later.

In the present embodiment, the base 1 is a single member, however, the present application is not limited to this, and may be an assembly of a plurality of members, for example.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the hole 12 has the female screw to be engaged with the bolt 5, but in other embodiments, the female screw may not be provided.

As described in detail below, the movable part 3 is able to deflect centred on the axis of the hole 12.

As shown in fig. 7 and 13, in the present embodiment, the body portion 10 has a stopper portion 10c for preventing the movable member 3 from continuing to rotate after the movable member 3 is deflected from the initial position by a second preset angle, which will be described later. In the present embodiment, the stopper portion 10c is constituted by a cam surface portion, specifically, the body portion 10 has a cam shape as seen in the plate thickness direction, that is, the outer peripheral surface thereof has a cam surface portion as the stopper portion 10 c. The term "cam surface" means that the rotation center (the axis of the hole 12) of the body 10 is not the center of the shape of the cam surface.

In addition, as another embodiment, a stopper may be provided on the movable member 3. Furthermore, other forms of stops, such as protrusions, may be employed in addition to the form of the cam surface.

As shown in fig. 9, a hole 11 is provided in a surface 10a of the body portion 10, the hole 11 being for insertion of the locking member 6, which will be described later in detail. The hole 11 may be a through hole or a blind hole. In the present embodiment, the hole 11 is a circular hole, however, as other embodiments, a hole of other shapes, for example, a square hole, may be used.

As shown in fig. 9, the boss portion 14 is provided with a locking portion 15 for locking the one end portion 2b of the elastic member 2. In the present embodiment, the locking portion 15 is a groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the boss portion 14, has a long groove shape extending in the axial direction of the boss portion 14, and penetrates the end surface of the boss portion 14.

As a structure for locking the end portion 2b of the elastic member 2 to the base 1, the structure of the locking portion 15 is not limited to this, and for example, a locking hole may be provided in the surface 10a of the body 10 instead of the boss portion 14, and the end portion of the elastic member 2 may be fitted into the locking hole to be locked.

The elastic member 2 is mounted between the base 1 and the movable member 3 in a pre-tensioned state for applying an elastic force to the movable member 3 so that the movable member 3 can deflect with respect to the base 1.

As shown in fig. 7 and 8, in the present embodiment, the elastic member 2 is a torsion spring having two end portions 2a and 2b and a plurality of coil portions 2c located between the two end portions 2a and 2b. The plurality of coil portions 2c are arranged along the axial direction of the torsion spring, and thus the radial dimension of the elastic member 2 can be reduced, and further the dimension of the belt adjusting device 100 in the radial direction of the elastic member 2 can be reduced. The coil portion 2c of the elastic member 2 is fitted over the boss portion 14. In the present embodiment, the two end portions 2a and 2b of the elastic member 2 are formed in a stem shape different from the extending direction of the coil portion 2c, wherein the end portion 2a is bent with respect to the coil portion and extends toward the outer peripheral side, and the end portion 2b is bent with respect to the coil portion and extends toward the inner peripheral side.

As shown in fig. 8, one end 2a of the two ends 2a, 2b of the elastic member 2 is locked to a locking portion 36 of the movable member 3, which will be described later, and the other end 2b is locked to the locking portion 15 of the base 1, so that the operator can pretension the elastic member 2 by rotating the movable member 3 relative to the base 1.

In addition, as other embodiments, the end of the elastic member 2 may be fixed to the base 1 or the movable member 3 by other means, such as welding.

The structure of the elastic member 2 is not limited to the above-described form, and as other embodiments, other forms of springs may be employed, for example, one or more tension springs or compression springs are provided along the circumferential direction, and the movable member 3 can be deflected with respect to the base 1. Further, in addition to the spring, a rubber block or the like may be employed as the elastic member 2.

The movable member 3 is adapted to press against the belt 245 under the action of the elastic member 2, so that it generates a tension. FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of a movable member of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a movable member of a belt adjustment device according to an embodiment of the present application; fig. 13 is another perspective view of a movable member of a belt adjusting device according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 7, 9 to 11, in the present embodiment, the movable member 3 has a cylindrical shape as a whole. As other embodiments, the movable member 3 may have other shapes, for example, a prismatic shape, or may have a cylindrical shape (for example, a cylindrical shape or a square cylindrical shape). Alternatively, the movable member 3 may be configured in a rocker arm shape.

The movable member 3 is provided with a plurality of holes. Specifically, a hole 32 is provided in one end surface 3a of the movable member 3, and the hole 32 is configured to accommodate the operation portion 6b of the lock member 6. A hole 35 is provided in the other end face 3b of the movable member 3, the hole 35 being for receiving the body portion 10 of the base 1. The axes of the holes 32 and 35 are aligned with the axis of the movable member 3, and the three have a common axis X1 (fig. 8 and 12).

A hole 34 is provided in the bottom surface of the hole 32, and the hole 34 is provided for the bolt 5 to pass through. In addition, a groove 33 (may also be referred to as a hole) is provided on the bottom surface of the hole 35, and the groove 33 accommodates the elastic member 2 and the boss portion 14 of the base 1. As shown in fig. 8, the elastic member 2 is disposed between the inner peripheral surface of the groove 33 and the outer peripheral surface of the boss portion 14. The hole 34 communicates with the recess 33 and is coaxially arranged with the same central axis, i.e. axis X2 (see fig. 12). The recess 33 and the hole 34 are eccentrically disposed on the movable member 3, i.e., the axis X2 is offset with respect to the axis X1, by the eccentric position of the movable member 3. It is understood that the term "decentration" is understood herein to mean decentration (when the movable member 3 is cylindrical or cylindrical).

As described later, the axis X2 is the rotation axis of the movable member 3, and the movable member 3 is able to deflect with respect to the base 1 centering on the axis X2 through the center of deflection of the movable member 3. The term "deflection" is understood here to mean that the center of rotation of the cylindrical movable part 3 (i.e. the position of the axis X2) is not the center of its shape (i.e. the position of the axis X1).

A hole 31 is further provided in the bottom surface of the hole 32, the hole 31 passing through from the bottom surface of the hole 32 to the bottom surface of the hole 35, and the hole 31 is also provided eccentrically in the movable member 3, so that the body portion 6a of the lock member 6 passes through.

In this embodiment, the diameters of the holes are about the same as the diameter of the hole 32 and the hole 35, the diameter of the groove 33 is smaller than the hole 35, the diameter of the hole 34 is smaller than the groove 33, and the diameter of the hole 31 is smaller than the hole 34. It will be appreciated that the relationship of the diameters of these holes is not limited thereto and may be other, for example, the diameters of holes 32 and 35 may be different.

As shown in fig. 11 to 13, an engagement portion 36 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the groove 33, and the engagement portion 36 engages with the end 2a of the elastic member 2. In the present embodiment, the locking portion 36 is a groove provided on the inner peripheral surface of the groove 33, has a long groove shape extending along the axial direction (the direction of the axis X2) of the groove 33, and penetrates the bottom surface of the hole 35, that is, has an opening on the bottom surface of the hole 35. It will be understood that "groove provided on the inner peripheral surface of the groove 33" means that the locking portion 36 also has an opening on the inner peripheral surface of the groove 33.

As shown in fig. 8, the bearing 4 is fitted around the outer peripheral surface of the movable member 3, and includes a roller 41 as a bearing outer ring and a plurality of needle rollers 42 provided on the inner periphery of the roller 41. In this way, the movable member 3 is pressed against the belt 245 by the roller 41, and the friction between the movable member 3 and the belt 245 can be reduced. In addition, in the present embodiment, the bearing 4 is a needle bearing, so that the size of the bearing 4 in the radial direction can be reduced, and thus the size of the belt adjusting device 100 in the radial direction can be reduced.

As other embodiments, the bearing 4 may take other forms, for example, in the present embodiment, the bearing 4 does not have an inner ring, however, the bearing 4 may have an inner ring. In addition, besides the roller pin bearing, a ball bearing may be used, for example. In addition, the bearing 4 may be omitted. The form of the rollers provided between the movable member 3 and the belt 245 is not limited to the form of bearings, and, for example, one or more rollers may be attached to the movable member 3 so as not to be coaxial with the rollers.

As shown in fig. 7, 8, etc., the bolt 5 includes a head portion 5a, a rod portion 5b, and a rod portion 5c, one end of the rod portion 5b is connected to the head portion 5a, the other end of the rod portion 5b is connected to one end of the rod portion 5c, the other end of the rod portion 5c is a free end, and an external thread is provided on the rod portion 5 c. In addition, the diameter of the stem portion 5c is smaller than that of the stem portion 5b, thereby forming a stepped end face therebetween.

As shown in fig. 8, the bolt 5 is inserted into the hole 32 of the movable member 3, then passes through the hole 34 and the hole 12 of the base 1, and the rod portion 5c is passed through the hole 12 and screwed into the female screw of the screw hole in the housing 243, so that the base 1 and the belt adjusting device 100 are fixed to the housing 243, and the movable member 3 is prevented from being removed from the base 1 by the blocking of the head portion 5a to the movable member 3 in the axial direction with respect to the base 1. That is, in the present embodiment, the bolt 5 serves to prevent the movable member 3 from coming off the base 1 while the belt adjuster 100 can be mounted on the housing 243, and thus the structure of the belt adjuster 100 can be simplified, contributing to downsizing of the belt adjuster 100.

Here, it can be understood that the bolt 5 is centered on the axis X2, that is, the axis X2 is the rotation axis of the bolt 5.

In addition, as described above, in the present embodiment, the internal thread is provided in the hole 12 of the base 1, so that the bolt 5 is screwed into the hole 12, and when the movable member 3 moves in the axial direction of the base 1, the head 5a of the bolt 5 can block the movement of the movable member 3 by contact with the bottom surface of the hole 32, and thus the movable member 3 can be prevented from coming off from the base 1 when the belt adjusting device 100 is transported independently. In other embodiments, the hole 12 may not be provided with an internal thread, and in this case, the movable member 3 may be prevented from falling off the base 1 when the belt adjusting device 100 is transported independently, for example, by a package, or the movable member 3 and the base 1 may be provided with a locking portion capable of engaging with each other, so that the movable member 3 is prevented from falling off.

In addition, in order to avoid that the head 5a of the bolt 5 presses against the movable member 3 to make it impossible or difficult to deflect, a slight gap may be left between the head 5a and the bottom surface of the hole 32.

When the base 1 is mounted on the housing 243, the stepped end surface portion between the rod portion 5b and the rod portion 5c is abutted against the stepped end surface portion 12c of the hole 12, whereby the base 1 can be fastened to the housing 243.

As shown in fig. 7, the lock member 6 includes a main body portion 6a and an operation portion 6b. The body portion 6a and the operation portion 6b are made of one piece of wire, wherein the body portion 6a is in a pin shape, and the operation portion 6b is provided at one end of the body portion 6a in an open ring shape.

When the assembling work is performed, the operator can grasp the operation portion 6b to insert the body portion 6a into the hole 31 and the hole 11 in the base 1 in this order from the hole 32 side of the movable member 3, and thus the lock member 6 can lock the movable member 3 with respect to the base 1 to restrict the movable member 3 from deflecting, and thus the movable member 3 can be prevented from deflecting by the elastic member 2 before the belt adjusting device 100 is mounted on the housing 243 (fig. 3), which brings inconvenience to the adjusting operation.

After the belt adjusting device 100 is mounted to the housing 243, the operator can grasp the operation portion 6b to pull out the locking member 6 from the hole 11 of the base 1 and the hole 31 of the movable member 3, thereby releasing the locking of the movable member 3.

The locking member 6 constitutes a locking mechanism 7 capable of locking the movable member 3 to restrict its deflection. However, the lock mechanism 7 is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be configured by, for example, providing a lock screw that is screwed into a screw hole in the base 1 and is passed out, and the passed-out end portion abuts against the movable member 3, so that the rotation of the movable member 3 can be restricted. In addition, as another embodiment, the lock mechanism 7 may be omitted.

The assembling method of the belt adjusting device 100 having the above-described structure is briefly described below.

When the belt adjusting device 100 is assembled, one end portion 2b of the elastic member 2 is locked to the locking portion 15 of the base 1, so that the end portion 2b is fixed to the base 1 in the circumferential direction around the axis X2, and the other end portion 2a of the elastic member 2 is locked to the locking portion 36 of the movable member 3, so that the end portion 2a is fixed to the movable member 3 in the circumferential direction around the axis X2. In this state, the movable member 3 is rotated relative to the base 1 by a first predetermined angle, for example, 360 degrees (or other angles, for example, 270 degrees, 180 degrees, etc., or angles greater than 360 degrees), so that a predetermined pre-tightening force is applied to the elastic member 2.

After that, the base 1 is pushed into the movable member 3, specifically, the body portion 10 and the boss portion 14 of the base 1 are accommodated in the hole 35 and the groove 33 of the movable member 3, respectively. At this time, the end portion 2a of the elastic member 2 slides along the elongated groove-shaped locking portion 36 in the axial direction to a position near the bottom surface of the groove 33, and the other end portion 2b of the elastic member 2 slides along the elongated groove-shaped locking portion 15 in the axial direction to a position near the surface 10a of the body portion 10. Thus, in the axial direction, the end portions 2a and 2b of the elastic member 2 are restrained by the bottom surface of the groove 33 and the surface 10a of the body portion 10 of the base 1, and the bottom surface of the groove 33 and the surface 10a of the body portion 10 of the base 1 constitute a restraining portion.

In a state where the above-described relative rotation angle (first preset angle) of the movable member 3 and the base 1 is maintained, the body portion 6a of the lock member 6 of the lock mechanism 7 is inserted into the hole 31 of the movable member 3 and the hole 11 of the base 1, whereby the rotational position of the movable member 3 with respect to the base 1 is locked, the movable member 3 is restricted from being deflected with respect to the base 1 by the elastic member 2, the pretightening force of the elastic member 2 is prevented from being lost or reduced, and inconvenience to the tension adjustment operation is prevented.

In addition, the process of mounting the bearing 4 to the movable member 3 may be performed at any time, for example, before the movable member 3 is assembled with the base 1.

Fig. 14 is a view for explaining the deflection of the movable member 3 with respect to the base 1, wherein the upper drawing is an initial state before the deflection, i.e., the locking member 6 is not pulled out, and the lower drawing is a state after the locking member 6 is pulled out. When the locking member 6 is pulled out from the initial state and the locking of the movable member 3 is released, the movable member 3 rotates counterclockwise in fig. 14 about the axis of the bolt 5, and thus the movable member 3 is displaced to the left in fig. 14, and when the belt adjusting device 100 is mounted on the housing 243 of the transmission mechanism, the belt 245 can be pressed against and pushed to deform in the tensioning direction.

As a belt tension adjustment method, when belt tension adjustment is performed, first, the base 1 is fixed to the housing 243 (fig. 3), and then the lock mechanism 7 is unlocked from the movable member 3, specifically, the lock member 6 is pulled out from the hole 31 and the hole 11, so that the movable member 3 is deflected relative to the base 1 by the elastic force of the elastic member 2, and is pressed against the belt 245, and the belt 245 generates a tension of a predetermined range.

Since the magnitude of the pre-tightening force of the elastic member 2 is preset, the force applied to the belt 245 by the elastic member 2 through the movable member 3 is controllable, so that the tension force generated by the belt 245 is also controllable. Therefore, with the belt tension adjusting device 100 and the belt tension adjusting method described above, the pretightening force of the elastic member 2 is set in advance, so that the movable member 3 can be freely rotated after the belt tension adjusting device 100 is mounted on the housing 243, and it is not necessary to retest the tension of the belt 245 after the belt tension adjusting device 100 is mounted, whereby the tension adjusting operation can be simplified, the work efficiency can be improved, and the uniformity of the belt tension can be improved.

When the belt adjusting device 100 does not have the locking mechanism 7, the movable member 3 may be rotated by a first predetermined angle with respect to the base 1 after the base 1 is fixed to the housing 243, and then the movable member 3 may be released to be freely rotated.

In addition, as described above, in the present embodiment, the stopper portion 10c is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the body portion 10 of the base 1, and the distance from the stopper portion 10c to the axis X2 is greater than the minimum distance between the axis X2 and the inner peripheral surface 35a (fig. 14) of the hole 35. Therefore, as shown in the lower drawing of fig. 14, when the movable member 3 is rotated from the initial state by a second preset angle (for example, 30 degrees, 20 degrees, 15 degrees, 10 degrees, etc.), the inner peripheral surface 35a of the hole 35 of the movable member 3 abuts against the stopper portion 10c (for ease of illustration, a slight gap is drawn between the stopper portion 10a and the inner peripheral surface 35a in the drawing), thereby preventing the movable member 3 from continuing to rotate, at which time the movable member 3 is offset by L, which is the limit offset of the movable member 3.

Since the stopper portion 10c is provided, for example, when the operator carelessly pulls out the lock member 6, the movable member 3 is rotated only by the second preset angle, and is not rotated so far that the pretensioning force of the elastic member 2 is completely or largely eliminated, so that the required rotation amount of the movable member 3 is small when the elastic member 2 is again caused to generate the preset pretensioning force (i.e., the re-pretensioning operation is performed), the operation amount of the operator is small, and the operation load is reduced.

As another example, the hole 35 may be formed in an irregular shape, not as a circular hole of the entire circumference, and a part of the inner circumferential surface 35a is a circumferential surface centered on the axis X1, and another part is not a circumferential surface centered on the axis X1.

In order to generate a preset pre-tightening force on the elastic member 3, parameters of the elastic member 3 and a degree of deformation (i.e., a pre-tightening degree) during pre-tightening may be preset, and specifically, in this embodiment, a material of the torsion spring, a thickness degree of the wire, a diameter of the coil portion, the rotation angle of the movable member 3 with respect to the base 1, and the like are set. In general, the tension of the belt 245 is in the range of 110 to 150N for the steering device, and the parameters of the elastic member 3 and the degree of deformation at the time of pretensioning can be set according to the range.

In order to reliably press the movable member 3 against the belt 245 to generate a predetermined tension, a limit offset distance (referred to as a limit adjustment distance) of the movable member 3 with respect to the base 1 may be set to approximately correspond to the offset amount L. Specifically, it can be understood that when the limit adjustment distance is too small, the adjustment function is not performed, and when the movable member 3 generates the limit offset amount L, the tension still cannot reach the target value; when the limit offset distance is too large (the L value is too large), it is wasteful for the device structure.

In the steering device 240, since the adjustment range of the belt 245 is generally 1.5 to 2mm, the offset L may be set to about 3mm or 2.5mm to 3.5 mm.

In addition, in the present embodiment, referring to fig. 8 and 14, the hole 31 in the movable member 3 and the hole 11 in the base 1 are arranged in parallel with the central axis X2, and the distances from the central axis to the axis X2 are equal. Thus, the hole 31 and the hole 11 are located on the same virtual circumferential line C1 centered on the axis X2. Thus, at the time of assembly, the movable member 3 is rotated about the axis X2 with respect to the base 1, so that the hole 31 is aligned with the hole 11, and the locking member 6 can be inserted.

In addition, it is understood that the embodiment of the present application provides a steering device, a steering system, and a vehicle having the belt adjusting device 100, in addition to the belt adjusting device 100.

Note that the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and the technical principle applied. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present application is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of numerous obvious changes, rearrangements and substitutions without departing from the scope of the application. Therefore, while the application has been described in connection with the above embodiments, the application is not limited to the above embodiments, but may include many other equivalent embodiments without departing from the spirit of the application, which fall within the scope of the application.

For example, the description above has been made taking an example in which the belt is mounted on two pulleys, however, the embodiment of the application may also be applied to a structure in which the belt is mounted on three or more pulleys.

In addition, the description has been made above taking the example in which the belt adjusting device presses the outer peripheral surface of the belt, however, the tension may be adjusted by the belt adjusting device pressing the inner peripheral surface of the belt to the outer peripheral side.

Claims

A belt adjustment device, comprising: a base (1), a movable part (3) and an elastic part (2);

the elastic component (2) is arranged on the base (1), a first end (2 b) of the elastic component (2) is fixed relative to the base (1) in the circumferential direction taking a first axis (X2) as a center, and the first axis (X2) is an axis of rotation of the movable component (3);

the second end (2 a) of the elastic member (2) is fixed relative to the movable member (3) in a circumferential direction centering around the first axis (X2), and the eccentric position of the movable member (3) is located on the first axis (X2).
Belt adjustment device according to claim 1, characterized in that the base (1) is provided with a boss (14), the elastic member (2) being mounted on the boss (14).
Belt adjusting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the movable part (3) is provided with a recess (33), the elastic part (2) being accommodated in the recess (33).
A drive belt adjustment device according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the movable part (3) is cylindrical or tubular, and that a roller (41) is fitted over the movable part (3).
Belt adjusting device according to claim 4, characterized in that a bearing (4) is fitted over the movable part (3), the roller (41) comprising the outer ring of the bearing (4).
Belt adjusting device according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the movable part (3) is cylindrical or cylindrical.
The belt adjustment device of any one of claims 1-6, further comprising:

and a locking mechanism (7) capable of locking the movable member (3) to restrict rotation of the movable member (3) with respect to the base (1) about the first axis (X2).
The belt adjustment device of claim 7, wherein,

a first hole (11) is arranged on the base (1);

a second hole (31) is arranged on the movable part (3);

The locking mechanism (7) comprises a locking member (6), the locking member (6) being inserted into the first hole (11) and the second hole (31).
Belt adjustment device according to claim 8, characterized in that a third hole (32) is provided in the movable part (3), the second hole (31) being formed in the bottom surface of the third hole (32);

the locking member (6) has an operation portion (6 b), and the operation portion (6 b) is accommodated in the third hole (32).
The belt adjustment device as claimed in any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that,

a first hole (11) is arranged on the base (1);

a second hole (31) is arranged on the movable part (3);

the first hole (11) and the second hole (31) are arranged to be located on the same virtual circumferential line (C1) centered on the first axis (X2).
Belt adjustment device according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that a fourth hole (34) is provided in the movable part (3);

a fifth hole (12) is arranged on the base (1);

the belt adjustment device further comprises a bolt (5), the bolt (5) being configured to pass through the fourth hole (34) and the fifth hole (12) and having the first axis (X1) as a rotation axis.
Belt adjusting device according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that the elastic member (2) comprises a torsion spring having a plurality of coil parts (2 c), the coil parts (2 c) being centered on the first axis (X1), and the plurality of coil parts (2 c) being arranged in the direction of the first axis (X1).
Belt adjustment device according to any one of claims 1-12, characterized in that a stop (10 c) is provided on either the movable part (3) or the base (1), which stop (10 c) is capable of preventing the movable part (3) from rotating relative to the base (1).
Belt adjusting device according to any one of claims 1-13, characterized in that a first locking part (15) is provided on the base (1), the first locking part (15) having a long groove extending in the direction of the first axis (X2), the first end (2 b) of the elastic member (2) being locked to the first locking part (15).
Belt adjusting device according to any one of claims 1-14, characterized in that a second locking part (36) is provided on the movable part (3), the second locking part (36) having a long groove extending in the direction of the first axis (X2), the second end (2 a) of the elastic part (2) being locked to the second locking part (36).
Belt adjustment device according to any one of claims 1-15, characterized in that a seventh hole (35) is provided in the movable part (3);

the base (1) has a body portion (10), the body portion (10) being received within the seventh aperture (35).
Belt adjustment device according to claim 16, characterized in that said seventh hole (35) comprises an inner peripheral surface (35 a) centred on a second axis (X1), said second axis (X1) being offset from said first axis (X2);

a stop part (10 c) is arranged on the body part (10) of the base (1), and the distance between the stop part (10 c) and the first axis (X2) is larger than the minimum distance between the first axis (X2) and the inner peripheral surface (35 a).
A steering device comprising a drive belt (245) and a drive belt adjustment device according to any one of claims 1-17, wherein the movable part (3) is pressed against the drive belt (245) under the influence of the elastic force of the elastic part (2).
A vehicle comprising a belt adjustment device according to any one of claims 1 to 17 or a steering device according to claim 18.
A method of adjusting belt tension, comprising:

Fixing a base (1) of a belt adjusting device to a housing, wherein two pulleys (244, 246) are mounted on the housing, and a belt (245) is mounted on the two pulleys (244, 246);

the movable part (3) is pressed against the drive belt (245) by the elastic force of the elastic part (2), wherein the movable part (3) is mounted on the base (1) in a deflectable manner relative to the base (1).
Belt tension adjusting method according to claim 20, characterized in that the said pressing of the movable part (3) against the said belt (245) under the action of the elastic force of the elastic part (2) comprises in particular: unlocking the locking mechanism, wherein the locking means locking the movable part (3) relative to the base (1) to limit the deflection.
The belt tension adjustment method as recited in claim 21, wherein the unlocking of the locking mechanism comprises: the locking member (6) is pulled out from a first hole (11) provided in the base (1) and a second hole (31) provided in the movable member (3).