GB2389087A

GB2389087A - Driven unit on vehicle comprising cardan shaft and gear transmission

Info

Publication number: GB2389087A
Application number: GB0305193A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans Hubert Schuebler
Original assignee: SCHUEBLER FAHRZEUGTECHNIK GmbH
Current assignee: SCHUEBLER FAHRZEUGTECHNIK GmbH
Priority date: 2003-01-22
Filing date: 2003-03-06
Publication date: 2003-12-03
Anticipated expiration: 2023-03-06
Also published as: GB0305193D0; GB2389087B; ATE309108T1; DE50301607D1; EP1440835A1; ES2256599T3; EP1440835B1

Abstract

An auxiliary unit 4 on a vehicle comprises a power take off arrangement which drives a supply aggregate 5, such as a hydraulic pump, compressor or generator. An output shaft 3, having a flange 2, rotates at 90{ to and is spaced from the rotational axis of the supply aggregate's drive shaft 19. Drive passes in sequence via gearing 1, the output shaft 3, a cardan shaft 11, an angular gear 12 and a traction gear to the driven shaft 19. The angular gear 12 comprises a flanged input unit 13, a cooling fan 15 driven by the input unit 12 and an output unit 16. The traction gear may comprise sprockets and a chain, or pulleys 17,20 connected by V-belts 21. The output shaft flange 3 is closer to the axis of the driven shaft 19 than the axis of the angular gear 12. The cardan shaft 11 lies at an angle a preferably less than 10{, preferably not protruding beyond the longitudinal extents of the auxiliary unit 4, the supply aggregate 5 lying transversely to the direction of travel (A) for compactness.

Description

POW13RED AUXILIARY ELEMENT ON A MOTOR VE HICLE

The invention relates to an auxiliary element for a motor vehicle, in particular trucks, with the features of the preamble to claim 1.

In addition to the devices generally encountered in motor vehicles, trucks must often be equipped with supply aggregates like compressors, pumps, hydraulic pumps or generators. Such devices are necessary for loading and unloading the truck, for example, and are preferably mechanically driven by the engine of the truck. An additional motor would otherwise be required. Such an additional motor would entail higher costs, and its dead weight would reduce the maximum loadable weight. For this reason, such a solution is economically unfeasible.

From the US 5,563541 it is known to connect an output flange of the transmission directly with the drive flange of a generator by means of a cardan shaft. This assembly requires a comparatively large distance between the output flange and the drive flange and thus to the drive shaft itself. In particular for tractor-trailers, the problem is that the space on the chassis of the tractor is very limited for accommodating such auxiliary elements. The space above the chassis behind the driver's cabin is taken up by the trailer, so that no auxiliary elements can be accommodated at this location.

- 2 The only remaining space is under the chassis between the front and rear axle. However, the short wheelbase as well as the centrally running drive shaft for the rear axle here also leaves only comparatively little space. This is also the case in particular because the largest possible gas tank and a lubricant tank must be accommodated in this area along with the auxiliary elements The problem of space becomes aggravated if the rear axle of the tractor is designed as a twinning axis, which is the case when the permissible overall weight of the tractor-

trailer exceeds 40 tons. The space available between the axles then diminishes further, since the overall length of the tractor remains nearly unchanged in such a case.

The auxiliary elements are usually driven in such a way that the auxiliary element has a cardan shaft that is connected with an output flange of the transmission. Among other things, such a cardan shaft is required to decouple the auxiliary element form the rest of the vehicle in terms I of vibration, and enable a comparably easy assembly or disassembly of the auxiliary element.! However, when using cardan shafts, it is absolutely essential that specific boundary conditions be observed, since the life of the cardan shafts would otherwise be drastically reduced. Care must be taken in particular to ensure that the so-called diffraction angle of the cardan shaft does not exceed a specific value as a function of the speed. This angle-related boundary condition results in the following. At a specific distance between the rotational

( - 3 axis of the output flange on the transmission and the rotational axis of the drive flange on the auxiliary element, a minimum distance is established between the output flange and the drive flange in the direction of the rotational axis of the drive flange, i.e., generally in the traveling direction of the vehicle. However, this minimum distance often conflicts with the space available under the chassis. In addition, the cardan shaft takes up additional space that could be used for other purposes instead.

Therefore, the invention is based on the technical problem of providing an auxiliary element according to the preamble of claim 1 that can be connected with the gearing at a slight distance to save as much space as possible by means of a cardan shaft, and is mechanically driven by the engine of the motor vehicle.

This technical problem is resolved by aligning the rotational axis of the output flange and the rotational axis of the drive shaft essentially perpendicular to each other, and spacing them apart, by providing an angular gear, by having the cardan shaft link the gearing with the input unit of the angular gear, that the drive shaft and the output unit of the angular gear are connected by a traction gear, that the angular gear and traction gear impart the rotational movement of the cardan shaft to the drive shaft, and that the distance between the rotational axis of the output unit of the angular gear and the output flange is greater than the distance between the rotational axis of the drive shaft from the output flange.

It was found in the invention that this arrangement of the angular gear relative to the drive shaft together with the traction gear causes the cardan shaft to run nearly

( - 4 - completely inside the space taken up by the remaining parts of the additional element, and not project laterally over or along it. This ensures that the cardan shaft will have a sufficient length to bridge the distance between the output flange and the input unit perpendicular to the rotational axis of the output flange without the diffraction angle reaching a critical range exceeding 10 , in particular exceeding 15 .

The fact that the drive shaft of the supply aggregate is arranged perpendicular to the output flange of the gearing, i.e., transverse to the rotational axis of the output flange, and hence perpendicular to the traveling direction, makes it possible to save on space when installing the supply aggregate. The space taken up by the additional element can be minimized, since the longitudinal extension of the supply aggregate is usually greater than the transverse extension.

In addition, varying the length of the drive shaft of the supply aggregate and the length of the traction mechanism (belt, chain) makes it easy to tailor the additional element to the structural characteristics of different vehicle types. Designing the traction gear as a belt gearing with a first pulley and a second pulley linked to the drive shaft initially yields a simple, and hence cost-

effective solution. Further, the additional element can be adapted to different vehicle types by changing the length of the V belt or toothed belt.

If a strong frictional connection is required between the gearing on the one side and additional element on the other

( - 5 side, the traction gear can also be designed as a chain gearing. The supply aggregate situated in the additional element can be a compressor, a pump, in particular hydraulic pump, and a generator.

In particular at high speeds, it makes sense to provide a concurrently running fan blade on the side opposite the input unit of the angular gear. This cools the gear, preventing the temperature of the gear oil from exceeding a -

critical level and the angular gear from being damaged.

To ensure sufficient cooling of the gear oil, it is also advantageous to provide the casing of the angular gear with cooling ribs.

To avoid greater loads on the drive shaft perpendicular to the direction in which it extends, in particular if this drive shaft is long, it is advantageous to provide a bearing near the traction gear.

This invention will be explained below based on a drawing showing a preferred embodiment. Shown on: Fig. 1 is a top view of an additional element according to the invention.

Fig. 1 presents a diagrammatic view of the gearing 1 of a truck, with an output flange 2 provided on the end of an output shaft 3. The output shaft 3 provided with the output flange 2 runs parallel to the traveling direction of the truck. An additional element 4 having a compressor 5 as the

( - 6 supply aggregate is laterally offset relative to the gearing 1. The supply aggregate can be a pump, hydraulic pump or a generator. The compressor 5 is arranged together with an air filter 6, a suction damper 7, a compressive sound damper 8 and an air-air cooler 9 on a compressor console 10.

The additional element 4 has a cardan shaft ll and an angular gear 12. The one end of the cardan shaft 11 is connected with the output flange 2 of the gearing 1, and the other end of the cardan shaft 11 is connected with the input unit 13 of the angular gear 12 by a flange 14, wherein the cardan shaft 11 includes a diffraction angle a with both the output shaft 3 and the input unit 13 of the angular gear 12.

The selected diffraction angle a must not exceed 15 , in particular 10 . The cardan shaft 11 decouples the additional element 4 and engine block, including gearing l, in terms of vibration. The cardan shaft 11 also makes it easy to mount the additional element 4 on a truck.

Provided on the side of the angular gear 12 lying opposite the input unit 13 is a fan blade 15, which is connected with the input unit 13 in such a way as to also rotate when the input unit 13 turns, ensuring that the angular gear 12 is cooled. In addition, the angular gear 12 also has an output unit 16 that points toward the compressor S. and is hence situated perpendicular to the output shaft 3 and the output flange 2. A first pulley 17 is provided on the output unit 16.

( - 7 - A drive shaft 19 is linked with the compressor S by means of a coupling 18, wherein the drive shaft 19 can impart a rotational movement to the compressor 5. The rotational axis of the drive shaft 19 is perpendicular to the output shaft 3, and hence also perpendicular to the rotational axis of the output flange 2. In addition, the output flange 2, output unit 16 of the angular gear 12 and drive shaft 19 are arranged relative to each other in such a way that the distance a between the rotational axis of the output unit 16 and the output flange 2 exceeds the distance b between the rotational axis of the drive shaft 19 and the output flange 2.

A second pulley 20 is provided on the end of the drive shaft 19 facing away from the compressor 5, wherein the first pulley 17 and the second pulley 20 are connected with each other by three V belts 21. The first and second pulleys 17 and 20 and the V belts 21 hence form a traction gear that connects the output unit 16 and the drive shaft 19. As an alternative, the traction gear can also be designed as a chain gearing, wherein chain wheels linked together by at least one chain are provided in place of the pulleys 17, 20.

The traction gear makes it possible to adjust the distance between the output flange and drive shaft 19 to various types of vehicles in such a way as to vary the length of the traction mechanism (V-belt 21).

The output unit 16 lies behind the drive shaft 19 viewed from the gearing 1. In this arrangement of the angular gear 12 relative to the drive shaft 19 along with the traction gear comprised of the pulleys 17, 20 and Vbelts 21, the

( - 8 cardan shaft 11 runs nearly completely inside the space taken up by the remaining parts of the additional element 4. Further, the cardan shaft 11 is long enough to bridge the distance between the output flange 2 and the input unit 13 perpendicular to the output shaft 3 without the diffraction angle reaching a critical range exceeding 10 . The angular gear 12 and traction gear allow the shaft 22 of the compressor 5 to run perpendicular to the output shaft, and hence perpendicular to the traveling direction (arrow A). This makes it possible to install the compressor 5 perpendicular to the traveling direction A, which leads to an additional savings in space, since the longitudinal extension of the compressor 5 is less than the transverse extension. The compressor console 10 also has a bearing 23 for the drive shaft 19, with which the drive shaft 19 is mounted near the second pulley 20 so as to avoid loads perpendicular to the drive shaft 19 owing to the tensioning of the Vbelts 21.

When the gear 1 is actuated in such a way that the output shaft 3 and output flange 2 turn, the cardan shaft 11 imparts the rotational movement to the angular gear 12, whose output unit 15 is also made to rotate. The traction gear comprised of the pulleys 17, 20 and V-belt 21 conveys the rotational movement to the drive shaft 19, and hence drives the compressor S.

Claims

( CLAM 1, An additional element for a motor vehicle, which has an engine

and a gearing with an output flange.

- with a supply aggregate, - with a cardan shaft Add - with a drive shaft, - wherein the drive shaft imparts a rotational movement to the supply aggregate, -

characterized in that - the rotational axis of the output flange and 3 the rotational axis of the output shaft are aligned essentially perpendicular to each other and spaced apart, - an angular gearin provided, - the cardan shaftlinks the gearing with the input unitof the angular gear, - the drive shaftand the output unit of the angular gear are linked together by a traction gear,

I I lair ! - the angular gear and the traction gear.

impart the rotational movement of the I cardan shaft to the drive shaft and - the distance between the rotational axis of the output unit of the angular gear and the output flange is greater than the distance between the rotate anal axis of the drive shaft and the output flange,
2. The additional element according to claim 1, characterized in that the traction gear is designed as a belt gearing.
3. The additional element According to claim 2, characterized in that the belt gearing on the output unit. of the angular gear has a first pulley while a second pulley is accommodated on the drive shaft,
4. The additional element according to claim 3, characterized in that the first and second pulleys are linked together with at least one V-belL
5. The additional element according to claim 3, characterized in that the first and second pulleys are licked together with at least cue toothed belt

1 1
6. The additional element according to claim 1, characterized in that the traction gear is designed as chain gearing.
j 7, Me additional element according to claim 6, characterized in that the chain gearing has first chain wheel on the output unit af the angular i gear and a second chain wheel on the drive shaft.
B. Tile additiazLa1 element acocrdins to claim 7, characterized in that Me first "d second chain wheel are linked together with at least one chain.
9. =e additional element according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the supply aggregate is designed as a corrector.
10. The additional element according to one of claims 1 to 8. characterized in that the supply aggregate is designed as pump, in particular a hydraulic pump.
11. The additional element according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the supply aggregate is designed as a generator.
12. The additional element according to one of claims 1 to 1l, characterized in that the angular gear has a fan blade on the side lying opposite the input unit.

l
13. Me additional element according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the angular gear has cooling ribs.
14. The additional element according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the diffraction angle a of I the cardan shaft is smaller than 15 , preferably smaller than 10 .
15. The additione1 element according to one of claims 1 to; 14, characterized in that a bearing is provided for the drive shaft near the traction gear.
16. An additional element for the motor vehicle, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the clalme have been filed as follows CLAIMS

1. An auxiliary element when used in a motor vehicle, which has an engine and a gearing having an output flange, the auxiliary element comprising: a supply for an auxiliary, - a cardan shaft, and - a drive shaft, wherein the drive shaft imparts a rotational movement to the supply for an auxiliary, characterized in that - - - the rotational axis of the output flange and the rotational axis of the drive shaft are aligned essentially perpendicular to each other and spaced apart, an angular gear is provided, the cardan shaft links the gearing with an input unit of the angular gear, - the drive shaft and an output unit of the angular gear are linked together by a traction gear, the angular gear and the traction gear impart the rotational movement of the cardan shaft to the drive shaft and

1< ( the distance between the rotational axis of the output unit of the angular gear and the output flange is greater than the distance between the rotational axis of the drive shaft and the output flange.

2. The auxiliary element according to claim 1, characterized in that the traction gear is a belt gearing. The auxiliary element according to claim 2, characterized in that the belt gearing on the output unit of the angular gear has a first pulley while a second pulley in accommodated on the drive shaft.

4. The auxiliary element according to claim 3, characterized in that the first and second pulleys are linked together with at least one V-belt.

5. The auxiliary element according to claim 3, characterized in that the first and second pulleys are linked together with at least one toothed belt.

6. The auxiliary element according to claim 2., characterized in that the traction gear is a chain gearing. The auxiliary element according to claim 6, characterized in that the chain gearing has a first chain wheel on the output unit of the angular gear and a second chain wheel on the drive shaft.

us 8. The auxiliary element according to claim 7, characterized in that the first and second chain wheel are linked together with at least one chain.

9. The auxiliary element according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the supply for an auxiliary is a compressor.

10. The auxiliary element according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the supply for an auxiliary is a pump.

11. The auxiliary element as claimed in claim 10, wherein the pump is a hydraulic pump.

12. The auxiliary element according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the supply for an auxiliary is a generator.

13. The auxiliary element according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the angular gear has a fan blade on the side lying opposite the input unit.

14. The auxiliary element according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the angular gear has cooling ribs 15. The auxiliary element according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in t hat the diffraction angle a of the cardan shaft is smaller than 15 .

(C / 16. The auxiliary element as claimed in claim 15 wherein the diffraction angle a of the cardan shaft is smaller than 10 .
17. The auxiliary element according to one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that a bearing is provided for the drive shaft near the traction gear.
18. The auxiliary element for a motor vehicle, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
19. An auxiliary element for a motor vehicle, which motor vehicle has an engine and a gearing having an output flange, the auxiliary element comprising: a supply for an auxiliary; a cardan shaft, and a drive shaft, wherein the drive shaft imparts a rotational movement to the supply for an auxiliary, wherein an angular gear is provided and the auxiliary element may be mounted so that, in use, the rotational axis of the output flange and the rotational axis of the drive shaft are aligned essentially perpendicular to each other and spaced apart, the cardan shaft links the gearing with an input unit of the angular gear, the drive shaft and an output unit of the angular gear are linked together by a traction gear, the angular gear and the traction gear impart the rotational movement of the cardan shaft to the drive shaft and the distance between the rotational axis of the output unit of the angular gear and the output flange is

greater than the distance between the rotational axis of the drive shaft and the output flange.