EP0819847B1 - Starter with improved pinion drive and return structure - Google Patents

Starter with improved pinion drive and return structure Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0819847B1
EP0819847B1 EP19970108393 EP97108393A EP0819847B1 EP 0819847 B1 EP0819847 B1 EP 0819847B1 EP 19970108393 EP19970108393 EP 19970108393 EP 97108393 A EP97108393 A EP 97108393A EP 0819847 B1 EP0819847 B1 EP 0819847B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
pinion
ball
gear
output shaft
starter according
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP19970108393
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0819847A1 (en
Inventor
Sadayoshi Kajino
Masahiro Soh
Nobuyuki Hayashi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Denso Corp
Original Assignee
Denso Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Denso Corp filed Critical Denso Corp
Publication of EP0819847A1 publication Critical patent/EP0819847A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0819847B1 publication Critical patent/EP0819847B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02N—STARTING OF COMBUSTION ENGINES; STARTING AIDS FOR SUCH ENGINES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F02N15/00—Other power-operated starting apparatus; Component parts, details, or accessories, not provided for in, or of interest apart from groups F02N5/00 - F02N13/00
    • F02N15/02—Gearing between starting-engines and started engines; Engagement or disengagement thereof
    • F02N15/04—Gearing between starting-engines and started engines; Engagement or disengagement thereof the gearing including disengaging toothed gears
    • F02N15/06—Gearing between starting-engines and started engines; Engagement or disengagement thereof the gearing including disengaging toothed gears the toothed gears being moved by axial displacement
    • F02N15/062—Starter drives
    • F02N15/065—Starter drives with blocking means
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02N—STARTING OF COMBUSTION ENGINES; STARTING AIDS FOR SUCH ENGINES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F02N15/00—Other power-operated starting apparatus; Component parts, details, or accessories, not provided for in, or of interest apart from groups F02N5/00 - F02N13/00
    • F02N15/02—Gearing between starting-engines and started engines; Engagement or disengagement thereof
    • F02N15/022—Gearing between starting-engines and started engines; Engagement or disengagement thereof the starter comprising an intermediate clutch
    • F02N15/023—Gearing between starting-engines and started engines; Engagement or disengagement thereof the starter comprising an intermediate clutch of the overrunning type

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a starter which starts an engine and, more particularly, to a starter which has a pinion pushing structure and a pinion retreat restricting structure separately for assuring engagement of a pinion gear with an engine ring gear.
  • a starter is known as disclosed in JP-U-5152647.
  • This starter is provided with a tube that is fitted on the outer periphery of an armature rotary shaft through a helical spline and a drive ring that is fitted slidably over the outer periphery of this tube.
  • a pinion gear has meshed with a ring gear
  • a ball received in the tube fits in a recess formed in an output shaft.
  • the drive ring regulates the outer periphery of this ball and thereby restricts the ball from being drawn off from the recess, whereby it is possible to restrict the retreat of the pinion.
  • the drive ring moves on and along the outer periphery of the tube and as a result ceases to regulate the ball, with the result that the ball having been regulated is drawn off from the recess due to the centrifugal force to thereby enable the retreat of the pinion gear.
  • Another conventional starter is known as disclosed in JP-A-58178865.
  • a pinion gear and a one-way clutch are separated so that only the pinion gear may move along an output shaft.
  • This starter is so constructed that, after the pinion gear is moved to the side end of a ring gear by the operational force (attraction force) of an electromagnet switch, the pinion gear is engaged with the ring gear by the reaction force stored in an engagement biasing spring force.
  • This construction greatly reduces a mass weight of a moving member which is moved by the electromagnet switch and the engagement biasing spring, in comparison with a starter having the construction in which a pinion gear and a one-way clutch are moved together.
  • the loading to the engagement biasing spring and the attraction force of the electromagnet switch can be reduced, thus advantageously reducing the electromagnet switch in size.
  • the loading to an engagement biasing spring can be reduced more greatly because the pinion gear starts to rotate slowly.
  • a pinion consists of a ring-shaped groove opened in the outer circumferential direction, radial holes opened from the groove toward the center, a clutch inner and a pair of bushes press fitted into a bore of the pinion.
  • the pinion is slided on a motor shaft for engagement with and disengagement from a ring gear.
  • the ring-shaped groove is formed at an extension of the clutch inner and has therein balls and a plate spring.
  • a locking and unlocking means for the pinion is so set that the plate spring is forced outward by the centrifugal force of the inertia of the balls and weights when the pinion is turned by the ring gear at a speed at which complete ignition of an engine is caused, the balls come out of the groove, and the entire body of a clutch is returned.
  • this known starter pinion and clutch are a unitary member.
  • This unitary construction of pinion and clutch leads to the drawback that the mass to be moved and thus inertia of the pinion is increased in a disadvantageous way. High mass and inertia necessitates a higer force for moving the pinion towards an engagement position with the ring gear and thus to the necessity of a stronger and accordingly more bulky electromagnet.
  • the present invention has an object to provide a starter which obviates the foregoing drawbacks of the conventional starter.
  • the present invention provides a starter which has a structure for restricting the insufficient return of a pinion gear after an engine start.
  • the present invention further provides a starter in which loading onto a spring for producing biasing force to engage a pinion gear with a ring gear can be reduced so that an electromagnet switch may be reduced in size.
  • a starter comprising: an electric starting motor; an output shaft driven by the starting motor through a one-way clutch provided for transmitting a rotation in only one direction; a pinion moving member movably fitted on the output shaft and engageable with an engine ring gear; an electromagnet switch; and pinion pushing means having a lever engaged with the electromagnet switch at one end thereof.
  • This known starter is furthermore characterized in that the pinion moving member is movable in an axial direction relative to the one-way clutch and in that a ball bearing is disposed to be driven by the electromagnet switch through the lever for advancing and returning the pinion moving member axially to and from the ring gear, the ball bearing including an inner ring engaged with the pinion moving member, an outer ring engaged with the lever and a bearing ball disposed between the rings to cause only the inner ring to rotate with the pinion moving member.
  • the starter is so constructed that, when a hollow cylindrical member of a pinion moving member is moved by a prescribed distance and as a result a pinion gear meshes with an engine ring gear, an engagement member engaged with a retaining portion formed on an output shaft is retained by the hollow cylindrical member that rotates integrally with the pinion gear.
  • the pinion gear is rotated at high speeds by the ring gear after the engine is started, the hollow cylindrical member also rotates at high speeds integrally with the pinion gear.
  • the centrifugal force that occurs due to the high speed rotation of the hollow cylindrical member acts on the engagement member, with the result that the engagement member can reliably be disengaged from a retaining portion.
  • the pinion gear can retreat on the output shaft along a helical spline and return to its rest position.
  • a stepped portion extends from a large diameter portion on the output shaft to a small diameter portion thereon.
  • the pinion moving member is structurally arranged to move through a ball bearing, relative rotations occur between an inner and an outer rings when the hollow cylindrical member rotates jointly with the pinion gear. That is, even when the inner ring fitted over the outer periphery of the hollow cylindrical member rotates at high speeds after the engine is started, the outer ring can stay at rest, with the result that no slide friction occurs between the outer ring and a pinion driving lever.
  • the lever is required merely to have only a rigidity high enough to advance and retreat the pinion through the ball bearing.
  • a pinion retreat restricting member is provided for restricting in cooperation with a plunger the pinion gear from retreating after the meshing engagement of the pinion gear with the ring gear.
  • the spring loading can be reduced greatly and the electromagnet switch can be reduced in size in comparison with a conventional starter in which retreat of a pinion gear is restricted by loading to an engagement biasing spring.
  • the starter is provided further with a speed reduction mechanism for reducing rotation of the electric starting motor to transmit the same to the output shaft.
  • a speed reduction mechanism for reducing rotation of the electric starting motor to transmit the same to the output shaft.
  • a starter 1 is composed of, as shown in Fig. 1, an electric starting motor 2 that generates a rotating force upon receipt of electric power, an output shaft 3 that rotates upon receipt of the rotating force of the motor 2, a pinion moving member 4 that is fitted onto an outer periphery of the output shaft 3 through a helical spline 3b, a planetary gear reduction mechanism (described later) for reducing the rotating speed of the motor 2 to cause an increase in the rotating torque, a one-way clutch (described later) for transmitting to the pinion 3 the rotating force of the motor 2 that has been transmitted thereto through the planetary gear reduction mechanism, pinion driving member (described later) for moving the pinion moving member 4 toward a ring gear 8 of the engine, etc.
  • the motor 2 is composed of an armature 16 that rotates integrally with an armature rotary shaft 19, fixed magnetic poles (e.g., permanent magnets) 15 that are disposed around this armature 16, a cylindrical yoke 12 that fixes the fixed magnetic poles 15 to an inner peripheral surface thereof, etc.
  • the rotary shaft 19 is rotatably supported on a forward end side of the armature 16 by a supporting member 80 through a ball bearing 19a and is rotatably supported on a rearward end side of the armature 16 by a rear casing 14 through a bearing not illustrated.
  • the supporting member 80 is provided as a partitioning wall for making a partition between the motor 2 and the planetary gear reduction mechanism and a cylindrical extended wall portion 80a that is formed on the outer periphery thereof is supported by inner peripheral surfaces of a front casing 10 and the yoke 12.
  • the output shaft 3 is disposed on the same axis as that of the rotary shaft 19 and a forward end portion thereof is rotatably supported by the front casing 10 through a bearing 33 while, on the other hand, a rearward end portion thereof rotatably supports through a bearing 28 a forward end of the rotary shaft 19 in a recess that is formed in a central part of the end face thereof.
  • This output shaft 3 is formed such that a forward side thereof, as viewed in the axial direction thereof, where the helical spline 3b is formed to be smaller in diameter than a rearward side thereof and thereby has a tapered stepped wall surface 3c that extends from a terminal end of the helical spline 3b to the outer peripheral surface of the rearward side thereof.
  • the pinion moving member 4 has integrally provided on the side of a rear end thereof a hollow cylindrical member 70 that is fitted over the outer peripheral surface of the rearward side of the output shaft 3 and is so provided as to be axially movable, along with the hollow cylindrical member 70, on the output shaft 3 along the helical spline 3b of the output shaft 3.
  • the advance or forward movement of the pinion moving member 4 is regulated by abutting against a stop collar 71 that is fixed through a snap ring 61 onto the outer periphery of the forward end side of the output shaft 3.
  • the retreat movement of the pinion moving member 4 is regulated by a tapered stepped portion 3c between an inner peripheral surface of the pinion moving member 4 and an inner peripheral surface of the hollow cylindrical member 70 abutting against the stepped wall surface 3c of the output shaft 3 (a state illustrated in Fig. 1).
  • the hollow cylindrical member 70 has openings (that may be one in number) 70a formed at a plurality of circumferential positions thereof in such a manner that these openings pass through a wall surface thereof, a ball 81 being received in each of the openings 70a.
  • the ball 81 has a diameter that is larger than the thickness of the wall surface of the hollow cylindrical member 70 and is received in the opening 70a in a state of being movable radially of the hollow cylindrical member 70.
  • the opening 70a that receives the ball 81 therein is formed at a position (hereinafter referred to as "the terminal end portion of the helical spline 3b") where when the pinion moving member 4 advances and abuts against the stop collar 71, i.e., when the pinion moving member 4 has meshed with the ring gear 8 the ball 81 drops from the outer peripheral surface of the rearward side of the output shaft 3 to the outer peripheral surface of the forward side of the output shaft 3 and thereby abuts against the stepped wall surface 3c of the output shaft 3.
  • the planetary gear reduction mechanism is composed of a sun gear 26 that is formed on the outer periphery of a forward end of the rotary shaft 19, a plurality of planetary gears 28 (e.g., three pieces) that mesh with this sun gear 26, and an internal gear 27 that meshes with each of the planetary gears 28.
  • the sun gear 26 rotates integrally with the rotary shaft 19 to thereby transmit the rotation thereof to each planetary gear 28.
  • Each planetary gear 28 is rotatably supported by a corresponding pin 31 through a bearing 32 and revolves around an outer periphery of the sun gear 26 while being meshed with both the sun gear 26 and the internal gear 27.
  • the internal gear 27 is fixed, for example, by press-fitting, to the inner peripheral surface of an extended wall portion 80a that is provided on the outer periphery of the supporting member 80 to thereby enable the revolution of each planetary gear 28.
  • the one-way clutch is composed of a clutch outer member 63, clutch inner member 62, clutch rollers 30, clutch cover 82, etc.
  • the clutch outer member 63 is provided integrally with the pins 31 and, when the revolving force of each planetary gear 28 has been transmitted thereto through the pins 31, rotates jointly with each planetary gear 28.
  • the clutch inner member 62 is one which has been provided by the rearward end portion of the output shaft 3 being radially enlarged, and is caused to rotate by the rotating force of the clutch outer member 63 being transmitted thereto through the clutch rollers 30 at the time of the torque transmission. It is to be noted that the clutch outer member 63 and the pins 31 may be provided separately from each other, after which the pin 31 is forcedly inserted into and fixed to the clutch outer member 63 or the both members are bonded together.
  • the pinion driving mechanism is composed of an electromagnet switch 5, a lever 90 and the ball bearing 91.
  • the electromagnet switch 5 is provided with an attraction coil (not illustrated) that generates a magnetic force upon receipt of electric current and a plunger 40 that is disposed in the hollow interior of the coil.
  • an attraction coil not illustrated
  • the electromagnet switch 5 attracts the plunger 40 by the magnetic force that generates in the coil.
  • the electromagnet switch 5 generates a force of pushing the pinion moving member 4 forward.
  • the lever 90 has one end that is connected to the joint 40a and the other end that is engaged with an outer ring 91a from right and left sides of the ball bearing 91 (Figs. 2 and 3), whereby the lever 90 is provided so as to be swingable about a pin 93 as a fulcrum that is supported by the front casing 10.
  • the ball bearing 91 is provided so as to be slidable (between the position at which a forward end surface of the ball bearing 91 abuts on a rearward end surface of the pinion moving member 4 and the position at which a rearward end surface of the ball bearing 91 abuts on a snap ring 94 that is mounted on the rearward end portion of the hollow cylindrical member 70) on and along the outer peripheral surface of the hollow cylindrical member 70 in the axial direction thereof.
  • the ball bearing 91 not only forms a part of the pinion driving mechanism but also forms a part of the pinion disengagement restriction mechanism or pinion retreat restricting mechanism together with the hollow cylindrical member 70, ball 81 and stepped wall surface 3c of the output shaft 3.
  • the embodiment operates as follows.
  • the plunger 40 When the starter switch is turned on whereby electric current is supplied to the coil of the electromagnet switch 5, the plunger 40 is attracted by the magnetic force of the coil (moved to the right side in Fig. 1). When this plunger attraction force is transmitted to the ball bearing 91 through the lever 90, it is transmitted to the hollow cylindrical member 70 as the pinion pushing-forward force through the ball 81 that is retained by the recess 91c of the ball bearing 91 (inner ring 91b) and the opening 70a of the hollow cylindrical member 70. As a result, the pinion moving member 4 that is integrated with the hollow cylindrical member 70 is caused to advance on the output shaft 3 along the helical spline 3b together with the hollow cylindrical member 70.
  • the ball 81 drops onto the terminal end portion of the helical spline 3b in synchronism with this intermeshing engagement of the pinion moving member 4 with the ring gear 8. Since the engagement between the ball 81 and the recess 91c formed in the inner ring 91b of the ball bearing 91 is released, the ball bearing 91 that is kept receiving the pinion pushing-forward force further advances on and along the outer peripheral surface of the hollow cylindrical surface until it abuts against the rearward end surface of the pinion gear 7 and stops. At this time, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the open surface of the opening 70a that is formed in the hollow cylindrical member 70 is closed by the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring 91b.
  • the starter 1 of this embodiment is provided with the pinion disengagement restriction means on the pinion moving member side from the one-way clutch. That is, the ball 81 is received in the opening 70a of the hollow cylindrical member 70 that is provided integrally with the pinion moving member 4. For this reason, since after the start of the engine the hollow cylindrical member 70 also rotates at high speeds integrally with the pinion moving member 4 that is rotated by the ring gear 8, if the ball bearing 91 is moved whereby the ball 81 can pop out, the centrifugal force resulting from the high speed rotation of the hollow cylindrical member 70 acts on the ball 81, with the result that the ball 81 can reliably be released from the terminal end portion of the helical spline 3b. As a result of this, after the engine is started, the pinion moving member 4 can retreat on the output shaft 3 along the helical spline 3b and thus can be returned to its rest position.
  • the pinion moving member 4 when the pinion moving member 4 has been meshed with the ring gear 8, for the ball 81 to drop onto the terminal end portion of the helical spline 3b, i.e., the stepped wall surface 3c, it may be arranged to form in the output shaft 3 the fitting hole in which the ball 81 is fitted.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Connection Of Motors, Electrical Generators, Mechanical Devices, And The Like (AREA)
EP19970108393 1996-07-16 1997-05-23 Starter with improved pinion drive and return structure Expired - Lifetime EP0819847B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP18568096 1996-07-16
JP18568096A JP3603486B2 (ja) 1996-07-16 1996-07-16 スタータ
JP185680/96 1996-07-16

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0819847A1 EP0819847A1 (en) 1998-01-21
EP0819847B1 true EP0819847B1 (en) 2001-02-21

Family

ID=16174998

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19970108393 Expired - Lifetime EP0819847B1 (en) 1996-07-16 1997-05-23 Starter with improved pinion drive and return structure

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0819847B1 (ja)
JP (1) JP3603486B2 (ja)
DE (1) DE69704094T2 (ja)

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2000026533A1 (en) * 1998-11-03 2000-05-11 Delco Remy America, Inc. Engine starter having an axially stationary overrun clutch
JP4683018B2 (ja) * 2007-07-24 2011-05-11 株式会社デンソー スタータ
DE102009027859B4 (de) * 2009-07-21 2019-12-24 Seg Automotive Germany Gmbh Elektrische Maschine mit kommutatorseitigem Lager
DE102011003200B4 (de) 2011-01-26 2020-06-18 Seg Automotive Germany Gmbh Startvorrichtung für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen
DE102012223688A1 (de) 2012-12-19 2014-06-26 Robert Bosch Gmbh Verschmutzungssicherung für elektrische Maschinen
DE102013212296B4 (de) * 2013-06-26 2021-07-01 Seg Automotive Germany Gmbh Startvorrichtung für eine Brennkraftmaschine
DE102019130044A1 (de) * 2019-11-07 2021-05-12 Seg Automotive Germany Gmbh Startvorrichtung für eine Brennkraftmaschine

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS58178867A (ja) * 1982-04-13 1983-10-19 Nippon Denso Co Ltd 慣性飛込式スタ−タ
JPS58178865A (ja) * 1982-04-13 1983-10-19 Hitachi Ltd スタ−タのピニオン噛込み機構

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0819847A1 (en) 1998-01-21
JPH1030533A (ja) 1998-02-03
DE69704094T2 (de) 2001-09-27
DE69704094D1 (de) 2001-03-29
JP3603486B2 (ja) 2004-12-22

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