JP2002219954A - Support device for propeller shaft for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a support device for a propeller shaft for a vehicle capable of suppressing passing vibration of a rolling element due to a clearance of a bearing by a simple and low-cost constitution and effectively preventing the generation of discomfort sound based on the passing vibration of the rolling element. SOLUTION: This support device for the propeller shaft for the vehicle is so formed that an intermediate part of the propeller shaft 1 disposed along the front/rear direction of a car body is born by the bearing 6 of a center bearing support 2, which has the bearing 6 retained via an insulator 8 composed of an elastic member in a central part of an annular external cylinder member 9, and the external cylinder member 9 is fitted to the lower part of the car body so that the propeller shaft 1 is rotatably supported to the lower part of the car body via the center bearing support 2. An outer race 5 of the bearing is preloaded via the insulator 8 and the outer race 5 is inclined to an inner race 3 so as to suppress the passing vibration of the rolling element 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a support device for a vehicle propeller shaft, and more particularly to a support device for rotatably supporting an intermediate portion of a vehicle propeller shaft to a lower portion of a vehicle body via a center bearing support. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a front engine / rear drive (FR) vehicle or a four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicle, a power unit having an engine and a transmission provided on a front side of a vehicle body and a rear differential provided on a vehicle rear side are provided. , The propeller shaft for transmitting torque between them is long, so that the intermediate portion of the propeller shaft 51 is rotated to the lower part of the vehicle body via the center bearing support 52 as shown in FIG. The propeller shaft 51 is freely supported, thereby preventing run-out when the propeller shaft 51 rotates at high speed.

A center bearing support 52 is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-216710, and FIG.
As shown also in a cross-sectional view, an inner race 53 bearing a propeller shaft 51, a bearing 56 having a rolling element 54 and an outer race 55, and an inner cylindrical member 57 integrally fixed to the outer periphery of the outer race 55, An outer cylinder member 59 connected to the inner cylinder member 57 via an insulator 58 made of an elastic member having a substantially C-shaped cross section in the radial direction.
And a bracket 60 for fixing the outer cylinder member 59 to a lower portion of the vehicle body.

[0004]

Conventionally, when the above-mentioned center bearing support 52 is attached to the lower part of the vehicle body, the propeller shaft 51 is rotated while the propeller shaft 51 is fitted to and supported by the inner race 53 of the bearing 56. The bracket 60 is attached to and supported on the lower part of the vehicle body by bolts 61 so that the central axis is parallel to the central axis of the outer cylinder member 59.

However, according to various experimental studies by the present inventor, when the center bearing support 52 is mounted and supported on the lower part of the vehicle body as described above, the bearing 5
6 has a bearing gap, so that the rolling element 54 of the bearing 56 is
When passing between the inner race 53 and the outer race 55 while rolling due to the rotation of the roller, vibration occurs in the rolling element 54, and the rolling element passing vibration becomes a sound and is input to the vehicle body or the rolling element passing. It has been found that the vibration causes other members to resonate, and the sound due to the resonance may be input to the vehicle body to generate unpleasant noise.

The generation of such unpleasant noise due to the vibrations passing through the rolling elements and the resonance thereof can be prevented by providing sound absorbing means, vibration isolating means, and the like, but this increases the number of parts and increases the cost. , And the configuration may be complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention made in view of the above point is that a vibration passing through a rolling element due to a bearing clearance of a bearing can be suppressed with a simple and inexpensive configuration, and the generation of unpleasant noise based on the vibration passing through a rolling element is effectively achieved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a propeller shaft support device for a vehicle that can prevent such a problem.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle propeller shaft supporting apparatus for supporting a vehicle, wherein the bearing is held at the center of an annular fixing member via an insulator made of an elastic member. A center portion of a propeller shaft disposed along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body is supported on the bearing of the center bearing support having a center member support. In a supporting device for a vehicle propeller shaft rotatably supported at a lower portion of a vehicle body, a preload is applied to an outer race of the bearing via the insulator, and the outer race is inclined with respect to the inner race. I do.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the outer race of the bearing is inclined with respect to the inner race by the preload via the insulator, the rolling elements of the bearing are almost always in contact with the outer race and the inner race during rotation of the propeller shaft. Rolling while contacting both, the rolling element passing vibration is suppressed with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle propeller shaft support device of the first aspect, the fixing member is attached to a lower portion of the vehicle body while being inclined with respect to a rotation center axis of the propeller shaft. And

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the outer race of the bearing can be preloaded through the insulator with a simple configuration in which the fixing member is inclined with respect to the propeller shaft and attached to the lower part of the vehicle body. The race can be tilted in the same direction as the fixing member with respect to the inner race.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle propeller shaft support device of the first aspect, when the propeller shaft is not supported by the bearing, the bearing is connected to the fixing member via the insulator. The center bearing support is configured to be held at an angle.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the propeller shaft is supported by the bearing, and, for example, the fixing member is attached to the lower portion of the vehicle body such that the center axis thereof is parallel to the rotation axis of the propeller shaft. By preloading the outer race of the bearing, the outer race can be inclined with respect to the inner race.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle propeller shaft support device according to the third aspect, an elastic constant is varied between arbitrary axially symmetric regions of the insulator.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the propeller shaft is not supported, the bearing can be tilted and held on the fixed member via the insulator due to the difference in elastic constant between the axially symmetric regions of the insulator. Therefore, if the propeller shaft is supported by the bearing and the fixed member is attached to the lower part of the vehicle body so that its center axis is parallel to the rotation center axis of the propeller shaft, for example, preload is applied to the outer race of the bearing via the insulator. Thus, the outer race can be inclined with respect to the inner race.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle propeller shaft support device according to the third aspect, the insulator is constituted by a double insulator having a bellows structure, and an arbitrary one of the one insulator and the other insulator is provided. It is characterized in that the thickness of the point symmetric region is substantially the same and is larger than the thicknesses of the other regions.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the propeller shaft is not supported, the bearing is tilted and held on the fixed member via the insulator by the elastic constant of the point symmetric region where the thickness of both insulators is large. Therefore, if the propeller shaft is supported by the bearing, and the fixed member is attached to the lower part of the vehicle body so that its center axis is parallel to the rotation center axis of the propeller shaft, for example, it can be attached to the outer race of the bearing via the insulator. It is possible to tilt the outer race with respect to the inner race by preloading in the opposite directions.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a vehicle propeller shaft support device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a main part of a first embodiment. This vehicle propeller shaft support device is similar to that described with reference to FIGS.
Propeller shaft 1 arranged along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body
Is rotatably supported on the lower part of the vehicle body via a center bearing support 2. The center bearing support 2 includes a bearing 6 having an inner race 3, a rolling element 4 and an outer race 5 for bearing a propeller shaft 1. An inner cylindrical member 7 integrally fixed to the outer periphery of the outer race 5, and a fixed member connected to the inner cylindrical member 7 via an annular insulator 8 having an elastic member having a substantially C-shaped cross section in a radial direction. And a bracket 10 for fixing the outer cylindrical member 9 to a lower portion of the vehicle body.

In the present embodiment, the propeller shaft 1 is fitted to the inner race 3 and is supported by the bearing 6, and the outer cylindrical member 9 is inclined with respect to the propeller shaft 1 via the bracket 10 so that the outer cylindrical member 9 is located below the vehicle body. Attach. Thereby, according to the mounting state of the bracket 10 to the lower part of the vehicle body, the arrow P in FIG.
As shown by, the upper and lower directions through the insulator 8,
The outer race 5 is inclined with respect to the inner race 3 in the same direction as the arrow a with respect to the inner race 3 by applying a preload in the opposite direction at the axially symmetric portion such as the left and right opposite direction. Note that the inclination angle α of the outer race 5 due to the preload is
The angle is preferably set to 2 degrees or more in consideration of the variation in the bearing gap of the bearing 6.

As described above, by preloading the outer race 5 via the insulator 8 and inclining the outer race 5 with respect to the inner race 3, the rolling elements 4 of the bearing 6 are rotated during the rotation of the propeller shaft 1. Is almost always rolling while being in contact with both the outer race 5 and the inner race 3, so that vibrations passing through the rolling elements due to the bearing clearance of the bearing 6 can be effectively suppressed, and discomfort due to the vibrations passing through the rolling elements Generation of sound can be prevented. In addition, since the outer cylinder member 9 may be simply attached to the propeller shaft 1 at an angle without using extra parts such as sound absorbing means and vibration isolating means, the configuration can be made simple and inexpensive.

The inclination of the outer race 5 can be easily achieved by tilting and deforming a conventional mounting member at the lower part of the vehicle body to which the bracket is mounted, or by simply deforming the mounting part of the bracket at the lower part of the vehicle body.

(Second Embodiment) FIGS. 2 and 3 show a second embodiment. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a center bearing support, and FIG. 3 is a main view showing a state where a propeller shaft is supported. It is a fragmentary sectional view. 2 and 3, members having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the center bearing support 2 is mounted on the bearing 6 with the propeller shaft not supported by the bearing 6.
Is held by the outer cylinder member 9 at an inclination angle α via the insulator 8, and the center bearing support 2 is supported by the propeller shaft 1 on the bearing 6 as shown in FIG. The outer cylinder member 9 is attached to the lower part of the vehicle body with its inclination corrected so that the center axis thereof is parallel to the rotation center axis of the propeller shaft 1.

With this configuration, the center axis of the outer cylinder member 9 and the rotation center axis of the propeller shaft 1 are parallel to each other. As shown, the outer races 5 can be inclined with respect to the inner races 3 by preloading in opposite directions.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained with a simple and inexpensive configuration in which the holding state of the bearing 6 via the insulator 8 with respect to the outer cylinder member 9 is changed. be able to.

(Third Embodiment) FIGS. 4 and 5 show a third embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of a center bearing support, and FIG. 5 is a main view showing a state where a propeller shaft is supported. It is a fragmentary sectional view. 4 and 5, members having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, the insulator 8 is
The thickness of one area 8a divided into two by the diameter is changed to the other area 8b.
To provide a difference in the elastic constant between the region 8a and the region 8b.
The center bearing support 2 is configured to hold the bearing 6 at a fixed angle 9 via the insulator 8 at a tilt angle α in a state where the bearing 6 is not bearing.
As shown in FIG. 5, the center bearing support 2 is supported by the propeller shaft 1 on a bearing 6.
For example, the outer cylinder member 9 is attached to the lower part of the vehicle body such that the center axis thereof is parallel to the rotation center axis of the propeller shaft 1.

With this configuration, the center axis of the outer cylinder member 9 and the rotation center axis of the propeller shaft 1 are parallel to each other, and the outer region of the bearing 6 is formed by the elastic action of the thick region 8a of the insulator 8. Figure 5 on Race 5
The outer race 5 can be inclined with respect to the inner race 3 by preloading in the opposite directions as shown by the arrow P in FIG.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained with a simple and inexpensive configuration in which the thickness of the insulator 8 is made different between the regions 8a and 8b divided by two in diameter. be able to. Note that, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the insulator 8 is divided into two regions 8 in diameter.
a, 8b, but the outer lace 5 is similarly tilted with respect to the inner lace 3 even if the thickness of some regions is thicker or thinner than the thickness of the other portions. The propeller shaft 1 can be rotatably supported on the lower part of the vehicle body via the center bearing support 2.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIGS. 6 and 7 show a fourth embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of a center bearing support, and FIG. 5 is a main view showing a state where a propeller shaft is supported. It is a fragmentary sectional view. 6 and 7, members having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the insulator is constituted by a double insulator having a bellows structure, and one of the insulators 8--
1, the thickness of the region 8-1a is made larger than the thickness of the region 8-1b so that the elastic constants are different between the region 8-1a and the region 8-1b divided by two in diameter. The insulator 8-2 has the thickness of the region 8-2a divided into two by the diameter so that the insulator 8-2 is point-symmetric with the one insulator 8-1.
-2b, the region 8-2a and the region 8-
2b with the elastic constant, so that the propeller shaft 1 is not supported on the bearing 6,
The center bearing support 2 is configured to hold the bearing 6 at a fixed angle 9 to the fixing member 9 via the insulator 8.

As shown in FIG. 7, the center bearing support 2 supports the propeller shaft 1 on the bearing 6 and, as in the above embodiment, for example, attaches the outer cylinder member 9 to the center axis of the propeller shaft 1. It is attached to the lower part of the vehicle body so as to be parallel to the rotation center axis.

With this configuration, the center axis of the outer cylinder member 9 and the rotation center axis of the propeller shaft 1 are parallel to each other, so that the point-symmetric regions 8 where the insulators 8-1 and 8-2 have a large thickness are formed. By preloading the outer race 5 of the bearing 6 in directions opposite to each other as shown by an arrow P in FIG. 7 by the elastic action of -1a and 8-2b, the outer race 5 is inclined with respect to the inner race 3. it can.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the insulator 8 is constituted by a double insulator having a bellows structure, and each insulator 8-
A simple and inexpensive configuration in which the thickness is made different between the regions where the diameters 1 and 8-2 are divided into two by the diameter and the thickness distribution is arranged so as to be point-symmetric between the insulators 8-1 and 8-2. Thus, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.
In the present embodiment, the insulators 8-1, 8-
Although the thickness of 2 is made different between the regions divided into two by the diameter, the same effect can be obtained even if the thickness of some regions that are point-symmetric is thicker or thinner than the thickness of the other portions. be able to.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in each of the above embodiments, the insulator 8 is fixed integrally to the outer race 5 of the bearing 6.
Although the inner cylinder member 7 for supporting the inner peripheral end side of the inner cylinder member 7 is provided, a structure in which the bearing 6 is fitted and fixed to the inner cylinder member 7 may be used.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the intermediate portion of the propeller shaft is provided via the center bearing support having the bearing which is held at the center of the annular fixing member via the insulator made of the elastic member. In a vehicle propeller shaft support device that is rotatably supported at the lower part of the vehicle body, a preload is applied to the outer race of the bearing via an insulator,
Since the outer race was tilted with respect to the inner race,
During the rotation of the propeller shaft, the rolling elements of the bearing can be almost always rolled while being in contact with both the outer race and the inner race. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of unpleasant noise based on the rolling element passing vibration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a first embodiment of a vehicle propeller shaft support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a center bearing support in a second embodiment of a vehicle propeller shaft support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part showing a state where a propeller shaft is supported.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of a center bearing support in a third embodiment of a vehicle propeller shaft support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part showing a state where the propeller shaft is supported.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a main part of a center bearing support in a fourth embodiment of a vehicle propeller shaft support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state where the propeller shaft is supported.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional propeller shaft support device for a vehicle.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a center bearing support portion shown in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 propeller shaft 2 center bearing support 3 inner race 4 rolling element 5 outer race 6 bearing 7 inner cylinder member 8, 8-1, 8-2 insulator 9 outer cylinder member 10 bracket

Claims (5)

[Claims] An intermediate portion of a propeller shaft disposed along the longitudinal direction of a vehicle body on the bearing of a center bearing support having a bearing held at the center of an annular fixing member via an insulator made of an elastic member. A propeller shaft support device for a vehicle, wherein the propeller shaft is rotatably supported on the lower portion of the vehicle body via the center bearing support by mounting the fixed member on the lower portion of the vehicle body, wherein the bearing is provided via the insulator. A vehicle propeller shaft support device, wherein a preload is applied to an outer race of the vehicle, and the outer race is inclined with respect to the inner race. 2. The propeller shaft support device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member is attached to a lower part of the vehicle body while being inclined with respect to a rotation center axis of the propeller shaft. 3. The center bearing support is configured so that, when the propeller shaft is not supported by the bearing, the bearing is tilted and held by the fixing member via the insulator. The support device for a propeller shaft for a vehicle according to claim 1. 4. The propeller shaft support device for a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein elastic constants are varied between arbitrary axially symmetric regions of the insulator. 5. An insulator comprising a double insulator having a bellows structure, wherein the thickness of an arbitrary point-symmetric region between one insulator and the other insulator is substantially the same as that of the other region. The supporting device for a propeller shaft for a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the supporting device is thickened.