EP1055803B1

EP1055803B1 - Engine device

Info

Publication number: EP1055803B1
Application number: EP20000111178
Authority: EP
Inventors: Katsuhiro Suzuki
Original assignee: Yamaha Motor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Yamaha Motor Co Ltd
Priority date: 1999-05-24
Filing date: 2000-05-24
Publication date: 2007-09-12
Anticipated expiration: 2020-05-24
Also published as: EP1055803A1; DE60036324D1; JP2000337123A

Description

The present invention relates to an engine device according to the preamble part of independent claim 1.
In engine devices equipped in vehicles, for example, some of the engine devices comprise an oil pan, wherein the oil pan and a strainer are separated. The strainer is fixed on an oil pump and a cylinder block.
In such structure, since the strainer is fixed on the oil pump and the cylinder block, a recess is silhouetted, as the strainer is provided to the baffle plate mounted on the oil pan, and the oil pan is assembled not to be interfered by the baffle plate in the strainer with the recess, so that assembly work has been complicated. Furthermore, it has the problem that an oil surface is easily affected by air flow caused by a vertical movement of pistons due to the large size of the recess of the baffle plate, and that the oil is agitated which results in loss of engine power.
US 3 653 464 discloses an engine device, comprising an oil pan, mounted at the bottom of an engine body, and providing an oil sump at a lower portion of the oil pan. The oil pan further provides a baffle plate and a strainer connected to a lower end of an oil piping.
FR 2427472 discloses an engine device according to the preamble part of claim 1, wherein a baffle plate is fixed to the inside of an oil pan. A strainer is integrated into a housing which is fixed on one side to the baffle plate and on an opposite side to a wall of the oil pan by a fixing plate. In an upper portion of the oil pan, a delivery passage leads to a supply pump.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an engine device having improved producibility.
According to the present invention, said objective is solved by an engine device having the features of independent claim 1.
Accordingly, integrally fixing to utilize the oil pan with the strainer and the baffle plate makes a strainer assembly recess onto the baffle plate unnecessary, reduces affect of air flow caused by the vertical movement of the pistons to the oil surface, and improves the engine performance at high engine speed region. Also, integrally fixing to utilize the oil pan with the strainer and the baffle plate reduces number of assembling man-hour at production line, and improves the assembling ability.
Preferably, the baffle plate provides an assembly recess for the oil piping to be inserted into said assembly recess.
Accordingly, a strainer assembly recess onto the baffle plate can be unnecessary, and affect of air flow caused by the vertical movement of the pistons to the oil surface can be reduced further.
Preferably, a guide ring provided at the upper end of the oil piping facilitates the insertion of the upper end of the oil piping into the recess provided by the engine body.
Accordingly, a reduction of load onto the sealing member and a simple and reliable connection can be achieved without any loss of sealing ability.
Other preferred embodiments of the present invention are laid down in further dependent claims.
In the following, the present invention is explained in greater detail with respect to several embodiments thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the front and side part of the vehicle equipped with the engine device;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the engine device;
Fig. 3 is a side view of the engine device illustrated with the engine cover being removed;
Fig. 4 is a side view of the oil pan;
Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the oil pan;
Fig. 6 is a front view of the oil pan; and
Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the connecting portion.

In a front and side part of a vehicle 1, an engine room 3 is disposed in front of a front wheel 2, an engine 4 is equipped within the engine room 3, and a radiator 5 is located in the front side of the engine 4. This engine 4 is a 2-cylinder, 4-stroke engine and disposes an oil pan 700 at the bottom of an engine body 6. A crankshaft 7 is disposed within the engine body 6 along the vehicle's width direction, and balancer shafts 8, 9 are disposed in the front and rear side of the crankshaft along the width direction.
In a cylinder head 10 configuring the engine body 6, branch exhaust passages 11, 12 and branch intake passages 13, 14 for each cylinder are formed. The branch exhaust passages 11, 12 are opened and closed by the corresponding exhaust valve 15 disposed in respectively, and the branch intake passages 13, 14 are opened and closed by the corresponding intake valve 16 disposed in respectively. The exhaust valve 15 and the intake valve 16 are driven by cams 19, 20 disposed on camshafts 17, 18.
The branch exhaust passages 11, 12 are collected, and an exhaust pipe 22 is connected to this collected exhaust passage 21. The exhaust pipe 22 connected to each cylinder is collected, and the collected exhaust pipe 23 passes from the front-side of the engine body 6 through the underneath and extends rearward. In addition, to the exhaust pipe 23 is provided a catalyst 24.
The branch intake passages 13, 14 are collected, and in this collected intake passage 25 is provided a throttle body 26 to the cylinder head 10. The throttle body 26 has an intake passage 28 connecting to the intake passage 25 of each cylinder, and furthermore, an intake manifold 30 is connected to the throttle body 26.
On the cylinder head 10, an injector 35 is disposed. To the throttle body 26, a throttle valve 40 controlling a flow rate of the respective intake passage 28 is provided. This throttle valve 40 is controlled in accordance with information of engine speed and throttle openings.
In a cylinder block 50 configuring the engine body 6, the crankshaft 7 is rotatably supported on bearings 50a. A balancer shaft 8 is arranged such that one end portion 8a is rotatably supported through a needle bearing 51 and another end portion 8b is rotatably supported through a ball bearing 52. A balancer shaft 9 is also arranged in the same manner such that one end portion 9a is rotatably supported through a needle bearing 53 and another end portion 9b is rotatably supported through a ball bearing 52. Each of the balancers' 8, 9 end portions 8a, 9a is inserted into an opening 50b, 50c of the cylinder block 50 so as to assemble the ball bearing 52, 54 to the opening 50b, 50c.
A gear 55 is provided to the crankshaft 7, and gears 56, 57 are respectively engaged with the gear 55. The balancer shafts 8, 9 are interlocked to rotate by rotating of the crankshaft 7 through the gear mechanisms such as the gear 55 and the gears 56, 57. The ball bearings 52, 54 of the balancer shafts 8, 9 and the gear mechanisms such as the gear 55 and the gears 56, 57 can be assembled from the same side, so that assembly may be made easily.
One side of the cylinder block is covered with the engine cover 58, such that the engine cover 58 forms a cam chain chamber 59. A cam gear 60 is disposed on the crankshaft 7, and a cam chain 61 is fitted over between the cam gear 60 and a gear disposed on the camshafts 17, 18 (not shown). The camshafts 17, 18 are interlocked to rotate by rotating of the crankshaft 7 through the cam chain 61, and the exhaust valve 15 and the intake valve 16 are opened and closed with a predetermined timing.
An end portion 7a of the crankshaft 7 is protruded from an opening 58a of the engine cover 58, and a driving pulley 62 is mounted on the protruding end portion 7a with a locking bolt 63. Between a shaft 62a of the driving pulley 62 and the opening 58a, said opening 58a is sealed with a sealing member 64. A driving belt 66 is fitted between the driving pulley 62 and a steering pump 65 disposed on the front side of the engine, and a driving belt 68 is fitted between the driving pulley 62 and an alternator 67 disposed on the rear side of the engine.
An oil pump 70 and a water pump 80 are integrally incorporated in the engine cover 58. That is to say, the oil pump 70 is integrally formed so that the pump housing 71 is one part of the engine cover 58, and assembling the pump housing 71 with a cover housing 72 forms a pump chamber 73. A pump shaft 75 with blades 74 is rotatably supported between the pump housing 71 and the cover housing 72. An engaging protrusion 75a is formed on a tip of the pump shaft 75. An engaging recess 8c is formed on a tip of the balancer shaft 8 positioned opposite to the pump shaft 75. The engaging protrusion 75a of the pump shaft 75 is engaged with the engaging recess 8c of the balancer shaft 8, and the balancer shaft 8 and the pump shaft 75 are coupled integrally and rotatably. Oil is supplied to each part of the engine 4 by rotating of the pump shaft 75.
However, it is also possible to only arrange the water pump 80 integrally with the engine cover 58.
The water pump 80 is also formed integrally so that its pump housing 81 is one part of the engine cover 58, and assembling the pump housing 81 with a cover housing 82 forms a pump chamber 83. In the pump housing 81, a pump shaft 85 with blades 84 is rotatably supported through the ball bearing 86.
An engaging protrusion 85a is formed on a tip of the pump shaft 85. An engaging recess 9c is formed on a tip of the balancer shaft 9 positioned opposite to the pump shaft 85. The engaging protrusion 85a of the pump shaft 85 is engaged with the engaging recess 9c of the balancer shaft 9, and the balancer shaft 9 and the pump shaft 85 are coupled integrally and rotatably.
The pump housing 81 is protruded into the cam chain chamber 59, and it is configured to be small in size so that the pump shaft 85 is sealed in this pump housing 81 with a mechanical sealing member 98 and an oil-sealing member 99. The mechanical sealing member 98 and the oil-sealing member 99 shut out the cooling water and oil, and a weep hole 81a is formed between the mechanical sealing member 98 and the oil-sealing member 99.
In a cover housing 82, a cooling water intake passage 90 is provided, and the cooling water from the radiator 5 is supplied to the pump chamber 83 through a cooling water intake passage 90. By driving of the water pump 80, the cooling water is supplied from a cooling water discharging passage 91 formed in the cover housing 82 and the engine cover 58 to each part of the engine.
In an oil pan 700 mounted on the cylinder block 50 of the engine body 6, a strainer 701 and a baffle plate 702 are fixed integrally. That is to say, the strainer 701 is fixed with fixtures 703 in a deep portion 700a of the bottom of the oil pan 700. A bottom surface of the deep portion 700a of the bottom of the oil pan 700 is flat, and the baffle plate 702 is placed in parallel with the bottom surface of the deep portion 700a at the bottom.
The strainer 701 is connected with an oil piping 704, and the oil piping 704 is fixed on the inner wall of the oil pan 700 with fixture 705. An assembly groove 702a is formed in the baffle plate 702. Within the assembly groove 702a, the oil piping 704 is inserted. A front part 702b, a rear part 702c and a right side part 702d of the baffle plate 702 are fixed on the inner wall of the oil pan 700 by welding, and a left side part 702e is fixed in a shallow portion 700b of the bottom of the oil pan 700 by welding.
The baffle plate 702 is arranged such that an opening 721 is provided between the front part 702b, rear part 702c and right side part 702d connected with the baffle plate and the inner wall of the oil pan 700, and such that another opening 722 is provided between the left side part 702e and the shallow portion 700b of the bottom of the oil pan 700, so that dropping oil on the baffle plate 702 would run down from the opening 721,722.
A connection 740 on the oil piping side disposed in the oil piping 704 is, as shown in Fig. 7, is configured to be capable of inserting and connecting to another connection 750 on the side of the oil pump disposed on the cylinder block 50 of the engine body 6. More specifically, an inserting recess 751 is formed in the other connection 750 on the oil pump side, and an inserting protrusion 741 is formed in the connection 740 on the oil piping side. The inserting recess 751 is formed by expanding the diameter of a tapped hole of a mounting screw to the cylinder block 50. A sealing member 742 and a guiding member 743 are provided to the inserting protrusion 741, and the sealing member 742 is comprised of an 0-ring fitted into an annular recess 744.
Since the inserting protrusion 741 disposed in the connection 740 on the oil pump side is guided with the guiding member 743 to be inserted into the inserting recess 751 disposed in the other connection 750 on the oil pump side and to be positioned between the oil pan 700 and the cylinder block 50 with the guiding member 743, a reduction of load onto the sealing member 742 and a simple and reliable connection can be achieved without any loss of sealing ability.
Fixing integrally to unitize the oil pan 700 with the strainer 701 and the baffle plate 702 enables the strainer assembly recess onto the baffle plate 702 to be unnecessary, affect of air flow caused by vertical movement of pistons to the oil surface to be reduced, and the engine performance to be improved at high engine speed region. Also, fixing integrally to utilize the oil pan 700 with the strainer 701 and the baffle plate 702 enables number of assembling man-hour at production line to be reduced, and the assembling ability to be improved.
Since the oil piping 704 is inserted into the assembly hole 702a of the baffle plate 702 to be fixed on the oil pan 700, a strainer assembly recess onto the baffle plate 702 can be unnecessary, and affect of air flow caused by the vertical movement of the pistons to the oil surface can be reduced.
As described above, fixing integrally to unitize the oil pan with the strainer and the baffle plate enables the strainer assembly recess onto the baffle plate to be unnecessary, affect of air flow caused by the vertical movement of the pistons to the oil surface to be reduced, and the engine performance to be improved at high engine speed region. Also, fixing integrally to utilize the oil pan with the strainer and the baffle plate enables number of assembling man-hour at production line to be reduced, and the assembling ability to be improved.
Further, since the oil piping is inserted into the assembling recess of the baffle plate to be fixed on the oil pan, the strainer assembly recess onto the baffle plate can be unnecessary, and affect of air flow caused by the vertical movement of the pistons to the oil surface can be reduced.
Further, since the inserting protrusion disposed in the connection on the oil pump side is guided with the guiding member to be inserted into the inserting recess disposed in the other connection on the oil pump side and to be positioned between the oil pan and the cylinder block with the guiding member, a reduction of load onto the sealing member and a simple and reliable connection can be achieved without any loss of sealing ability.

Claims

An engine device, comprising an oil pan (700), mounted at the bottom of an engine body (6), providing an oil sump (700a) at a lower portion of the oil pan (700),
the oil pan (700) further providing a baffle plate (702) and a strainer (701) connected to a lower end of an oil piping (704), and
the oil piping (704), the strainer and the baffle plate (702) being integrally fixed to the oil pan (700) to form a unit before mounting said unit to the engine body (6),
characterized in that
the strainer (701) is fixed to a bottom of the oil sump (700a) at the lower portion of the oil pan (700) with a first fixture (703), and at an upper end of the oil piping (704) a connecting member (740), having a sealing member (742), is inserted into a recess (750) provided by the engine body (6) and connected to an intake of an oil pump (70) in accordance with mounting said unit to the engine body (6).
An engine device according to claim 1, characterized in that the baffle plate (702) provides an assembly recess (702a) for the oil piping 704 to be inserted into said assembly recess (702a).
An engine device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a guide ring (743) provided at the upper end of the oil piping (704) facilitates the insertion of the upper end of the oil piping (704) into the recess (750) provided by the engine body (6).
An engine device according to at least one of the preceding claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a bottom surface of the oil sump (700a) is flat, and the baffle plate (702) is aligned parallel to the bottom surface of the oil sump (700a).
An engine device according to at least one of the preceding claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the oil piping (704) is connected with a second fixture (705) to an inner wall of the oil pan (700), and a front part (702b), a rear part (702c), and a right side part (702d) of the baffle plate (702) are connected to the inner wall of the oil pan (700), and a left side part (702e) of the baffle plate (702) is connected to a higher portion (700b) of the bottom surface of the oil pan (700).
An engine device according to claim 5, characterized in that openings (721) are provided between each of the front, rear and right side part (702b, 702c, 702d) of the baffle plate (702) and the inner wall of the oil pan (702e) of the baffle plate (702) and the higher portion (700b) of the bottom surface of the oil pan (700).
An engine device according to at least one of the preceding claims 1 to 6, characterized in that engine auxiliaries are integrally formed with an engine cover (58).
An engine device according to claim 7, characterized in that the oil pump (70) and/or a water pump (80) are integrally formed with the engine cover (58).
An engine device according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that engine auxiliaries and two balancer shafts (8, 9) are disposed integrally and rotatably to the left and to the right of a crank shaft (7) to form a center shaft direct drive system.