JP2002285852A - Valve device for controlling intake air for internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a valve device for controlling intake air for an internal combustion engine capable of securely and stably holding a position of a valve even when a driving force of an actuator is stopped at the operation end of the intake air control valve. SOLUTION: In this valve device for controlling intake air, a valve element 12 is turned by a drive motor 14 via a valve shaft 11 and a permanent magnet 4 provided on a partial gear 7 comes into contact with permanent magnets 5, 6 provided on positioning bolts 20, 21 on a fixed side, is attracted, and stopped when the valve element 12 turns up to the operation end. When the valve element 12 in an intake pipe receives the wind pressure or vibration and receives a force in the direction of opening or closing, moves of the valve shaft 11 and the valve element 12 are securely locked due to the contact and the attraction of the permanent magnets 4, 5, and 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a valve device for intake control of an internal combustion engine which is suitably used as a swirl control valve or an intake pipe length control valve provided in an intake system of the internal combustion engine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as an intake control valve device provided in an intake system of an internal combustion engine, a swirl (vortex) is generated in intake air into a cylinder chamber during low-speed rotation to increase a combustion speed to improve combustion efficiency. In addition, there is known an intake vortex generator for improving fuel efficiency and harmful exhaust components.

A swirl control valve used in the intake vortex generator generally forms a wider main port and a narrower swirl port in a passage downstream of a throttle valve in an intake pipe, and opens and closes the main port. The main port is closed during low-speed rotation, and the intake air flows through a narrow swirl port provided on the peripheral wall side, thereby causing a drift in the intake air in the intake pipe and generating a swirl (intake vortex). It is to let.
This swirl control valve normally controls the valve in two positions so that the main port is closed when the engine is running at low speed and opened when the engine is running at medium speed and high speed.

Conventionally, in such a swirl control valve, in order to hold the valve body at two positions of a fully closed position and a fully open position, a butterfly type valve body is provided through a worm and a worm wheel by using a worm and a worm wheel. Even when the motor is turned off by using the self-locking function of the worm (the function of locking the rotational power from the driven valve body side), the valve can be opened or closed or the valve can be fully closed or closed. The fully open position is maintained.

[0005]

However, even when a worm and a worm wheel are used for the rotation transmitting mechanism, there is a slight gap in the engagement between the worm and the worm wheel, and if the worm is in a rotatable state, the valve may not rotate. When the airbag receives wind pressure or vibration, the wind pressure or vibration may cause a problem that a closed valve opens or an open valve closes.

For this reason, when the valve is fully closed and fully opened,
After the valve hits the stopper and stops, the drive motor is energized for a short time to generate torque in the same direction, forcibly engaging the worm and worm wheel and locking them, and opening the valve in the fully open position or the fully closed position. To keep it.

However, if such a locked state of the worm and the worm wheel continues for a long time, then when the worm and the worm wheel are driven to rotate to operate the valve, a very large starting torque is required, and the motor is started. There was a problem that it was not possible to cause malfunctions.

For this reason, the spur gear rotation transmission mechanism is used without using the worm and the worm wheel. Control is also performed to keep the valve at the stop position, but there is a problem of power consumption and a shortening of the life of the motor due to long energization. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to stably and reliably hold the position of a valve at the operating end of an intake control valve even when the driving force of an actuator is stopped. An object of the present invention is to provide an intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a valve device for intake control which is rotatably opened and closed via a valve shaft in an intake pipe. And an actuator for rotating the valve shaft, the permanent magnet being attached to a member rotating with the valve shaft, and the permanent magnet being attached to the valve body together with the valve shaft. A permanent magnet or a magnet attracting body is attached to the fixed side so that the permanent magnet or magnet attracting member is brought into contact with and attracted to the permanent magnet when rotated to the working end.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intake control valve device comprising: a valve body disposed in an intake pipe via a valve shaft so as to be rotatable and openable; and an actuator for driving the valve shaft to rotate. In an intake control valve device for an engine, a magnet adsorbing body is attached to a member that rotates together with the valve shaft, and when the magnet adsorbing body rotates together with the valve shaft to an operating end of the valve body, the magnet adsorbing member is attached to the magnet adsorbing member. It is characterized in that a permanent magnet is attached to a fixed side so as to abut and attract.

[0012]

In the intake control valve device having such a configuration, the valve body is rotated by the actuator via the valve shaft, and when the valve body is rotated to the operating end, the permanent magnet provided on the rotating member is provided. The permanent magnet or magnet attracting member provided on the fixed side abuts and is attracted. Alternatively, the magnet attracting body provided on the rotating member abuts and is attracted to the permanent magnet provided on the fixed side.

Therefore, even when the valve body in the intake pipe receives a wind pressure or a force in the opening direction or the closing direction due to vibration, the movement can be reliably stopped and the valve body can be held at the stop position by itself. . Also, the valve body is self-held by the magnetism and attraction of the permanent magnet, and the attraction force of the permanent magnet can be adjusted to less than the starting torque of the actuator. Therefore, it is not necessary to lock the valve to maintain the fully open and fully closed positions of the valve, and it is possible to prevent a starting failure of the actuator (motor). Further, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to continuously energize the actuator (motor) in order to maintain the fully open / fully closed position of the valve.
It is possible to prevent the life of the actuator from being shortened.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a swirl control valve of an intake eddy current generator of an internal combustion engine. FIG. 1 is a plan view with a partial cross section of the intake eddy current generator. Reference numeral 2 denotes an intake pipe block fixed on an intake port of a cylinder head. An intake passage 2a is formed in the intake pipe block 2, and a swirl control valve 10 of an intake vortex generator is provided in the intake passage 2a.

The swirl control valve 10 is formed by pivotally attaching a butterfly type valve body 12 to a valve shaft 11 and is disposed in an intake passage 2 a of the intake pipe block 2. With respect to the intake passage 2a having a circular cross section, the planar shape of the valve body 12 is formed to have a flat portion at the distal end, and when the swirl control valve 10 is fully closed, only the portion near the wall surface of the intake passage is opened. This is a structure in which intake drift is generated in the vicinity of the intake port to generate an intake vortex in the cylinder.

The valve shaft 11 passes through the intake passage 2a in the transverse direction and is rotatably supported by a bearing 13. A return spring 17 is locked at the end of the valve shaft 11, and constantly biases the swirl control valve 10 to the open side. In addition,
In the example of FIG. 1, the intake passages for the two cylinders of the internal combustion engine are controlled by one device, and the two intake passages 2a, 2a are mounted on the two cylinders of the cylinder head.
And two valve bodies 12, 12 are provided on the same valve shaft 11, and these are arranged in the respective intake passages 2a, 2a. Furthermore, a mounting base 1 is provided on the side of the intake pipe block 2.
The drive motor 14 and the gear mechanism 3 for transmitting the rotation of the drive motor 14 to the valve shaft 11 are disposed in the case 18.
A self-holding mechanism 1 for a valve using 5, 6 is provided.

The gear mechanism 3 includes a partial gear 7 mounted on an end of a valve shaft 11, a spur gear 8 rotatably supported by a gear shaft 9 and meshing with the partial gear 7, and a cushion portion And a worm wheel 16 that is connected to the gear shaft 9 via the gear shaft 9. The worm wheel 16 is engaged with a worm 15 fixed to a rotation shaft 14 a of the drive motor 14. Accordingly, the rotation of the drive motor 14 rotates the spur gear 8 via the worm 15 and the worm wheel 16, and the rotation of the spur gear 8 is transmitted to the partial gear 7, and the valve shaft 7 is driven to rotate.

The self-holding mechanism 1 is disposed around the partial gear 7 and a permanent magnet 4 attached to a part of the partial gear 7 and a permanent magnet 5 attached to the tips of the positioning bolts 20 and 21. And 6. The permanent magnet 4 is fixed to a protruding portion of a non-gear portion (a portion without a gear) of the partial gear 7, and the other permanent magnets 5 and 6 are positioning bolts screwed and arranged on the mounting base 19 so as to be position-adjustable. 20 and 21 are respectively fixed to the tips.

The permanent magnet 4 that rotates together with the partial gear 7
Different magnetic poles are arranged on both sides so as to be attracted to the permanent magnets 5 and 6 so as to be attracted to the permanent magnet 5 at one rotating end and to the permanent magnet 6 at the other rotating end. The swirl control valve 10 rotates around a valve shaft 11 in a range of, for example, about 85 °, and operates between two positions of fully open and fully closed.

When the swirl control valve 10 is in the fully closed position, the positioning bolt 20 has a permanent magnet 5 at its tip.
Is screwed into a screw hole provided in the mounting base 19 so as to be arranged at a position where it comes into contact with the permanent magnet 4 on the partial gear 7 side, and is tightened and fixed by a nut 22 in a positioned state. When the swirl control valve 10 is in the fully open position, the positioning bolt 21 is positioned at the end of the permanent magnet 6.
Is screwed into a screw hole provided in the mounting base 19 so as to be arranged at a position where it comes into contact with the permanent magnet 4 on the partial gear 7 side, and is tightened and fixed to the nut 23 in a positioned state.

The two permanent magnets 5 and 6 are connected to each other by changing the screwing lengths of the respective positioning bolts 20 and 21.
By adjusting the position, the swirl control valve 10 can be adjusted not only from the fully closed position to the fully open position, but also from any fully-operated end position of the swirl control valve 10.

The drive motor 14 is connected to a controller (not shown). The controller controls the drive motor 14 to close the swirl control valve 10 in a low-speed rotation range such as when the internal combustion engine is started or idling. Is closed, a vortex is generated in the cylinder, and control is performed so as to secure an intake amount necessary for low-speed rotation of the engine. Further, in the middle / high speed rotation range of the internal combustion engine, the swirl control valve 10 is kept in a fully open state to stop the generation of swirl,
Control so that the intake air amount required for medium and high speed rotation of the engine is secured.

Next, the operation of the intake vortex generator having the above configuration will be described. The controller controls the drive motor 14 so that the swirl control valve 10 is fully closed at the time of starting the internal combustion engine and at the time of low-speed rotation such as at the time of idling.

The rotation of the drive motor 14 is controlled by its rotation shaft 14a.
Is transmitted to the worm wheel 16 via the worm 15, and the rotation of the worm wheel 16 rotates the spur gear 8, and the rotation is transmitted to the valve shaft 11 of the swirl control valve 10 via the partial gear 7, The partial gear 7 rotates to the position shown in FIG. 2, and the valve body 12 is fully closed. At this time, when the partial gear 7 rotates to the fully closed position of the valve element, the permanent magnet 4 protruding from the non-gear part is provided.
Is brought into contact with and attracted to the permanent magnet 5 on the fully closed side. By the attraction of the permanent magnets 4 and 5, the swirl control valve 1
The zero valve element 12 is held in its fully closed position.

When the swirl control valve 10 is in the fully closed state, the intake air flowing through the intake passage 2a flows only through the portion of the valve body 12 that is open toward the front wall surface. As a result, intake drift occurs near the intake port,
An intake vortex is generated in the cylinder. Due to the generation of the vortex, the combustion speed in the cylinder 4 is promoted, the combustion efficiency is improved, and the fuel consumption and harmful exhaust components at the time of low-speed rotation such as idling are improved.

On the other hand, when the controller controls the drive motor 14 so that the swirl control valve 10 is fully opened at the time of medium / high speed rotation of the internal combustion engine, the drive motor 14 rotates in the opposite direction to the above, and The rotation is transmitted from the rotation shaft 14a to the worm wheel 16 via the worm 15, and when the worm wheel 16 rotates, the spur gear 8 rotates, and the rotation is transmitted through the partial gear 7 to the valve of the swirl control valve 10. Axis 11
The partial gear 7 rotates to the position shown in FIG. 3, and the valve body 12 is fully opened.

At this time, when the partial gear 7 is rotated to the fully open position of the valve body 12, the permanent magnet 4 protruding from the non-gear portion comes into contact with and attracts the fully opened permanent magnet 6. By the attraction of the permanent magnets 4 and 6, the valve body 12 of the swirl control valve 10 is held at its fully open position. When the swirl control valve 10 is fully open, the generation of the intake vortex is stopped, and the intake air required for medium / high-speed rotation of the internal combustion engine is sufficiently supplied through the intake pipe.

As described above, when the valve element 12 of the swirl control valve 10 reaches the working ends on both sides, the permanent magnets 4 and 5 or the permanent magnets 4 and 6 are attracted, and the partial gear 7
And the rotation of the valve shaft 11 is held at that position, so that even if the power supply to the drive motor 14 is stopped, the valve body 12 can be reliably held at the working end positions on both sides thereof, and the valve body 12 Even when wind pressure or vibration is received, the valve body can be prevented from fluttering or opening and closing.

Further, the permanent magnets 4 and 5 or the permanent magnets 4 and 6
In order to hold the valve body 12 at the working end by suction, compared with the conventional case where the worm and the worm wheel are forcibly engaged and locked, when the drive motor is started next and the valve body 12 is moved, The motor does not require a large starting torque, can start the motor reliably, and does not malfunction. In addition, since the valve is held at its working end without continuing to energize the motor as in the related art, the life of the motor is not shortened by the continuation of energization.

In the above embodiment, the permanent magnets 4, 5, and 5 are attached to both the partial gear 7 and the positioning bolts 20 and 21.
Although the permanent magnet 4 is provided on the partial gear 7 side, the positioning bolts 20 and 21 may be provided with a ferromagnetic material (magnet attracting body) such as steel that can be attracted to the permanent magnet. . Further, the permanent magnets 5 and 6 are fixed to the positioning bolts 20,
When provided on the 21 side, a ferromagnetic material (magnet attracting body) such as steel that can be attracted to the partial gear 7 can also be provided on the partial gear 7 side.

In the above embodiment, the self-holding mechanism 1
Is arranged around the partial gear 7, but the self-holding mechanism 1 can be arranged around the rotating member as long as the rotating member performs the same rotation as the valve shaft 11.

In the above embodiment, the worm 15 and the worm wheel 16 are used for the gear mechanism 3. However, since the self-holding mechanism 1 using a permanent magnet is used, the gear mechanism 3 may be constituted only by a combination of spur gears.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the invention is applied to the swirl control valve 10 provided in the intake system of the internal combustion engine has been described, but the frequency is adjusted to the frequency of the pulsating flow of the intake air which changes according to the rotation speed of the engine. The present invention can also be applied to an intake pipe length control valve of an intake pipe length control device that switches the intake pipe length between two stages. The intake pipe length control valve of this intake pipe length control device is an intake control valve device provided near the intake manifold of the intake pipe, and closes so as to increase the effective intake pipe length when the engine is running at low speed and medium speed. When the engine is running at high speed, the valve can be opened so as to shorten the effective intake pipe length, and the above-described configuration can be adopted for the self-holding mechanism of the stop position of the valve.

[0034]

As described above, according to the intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine of the present invention, when the valve body in the intake pipe receives a wind pressure or a force in the opening or closing direction due to vibration. However, the movement can be surely stopped and the valve body can be held at the stop position by itself. In addition, the valve element is self-held by the magnetism and attraction of the permanent magnet, and the attraction force of the permanent magnet can be adjusted to be less than the starting torque of the actuator. Thus, it is not necessary to lock the valve to maintain the fully open / fully closed position of the valve, and it is possible to prevent a failure in starting the actuator. Further, unlike the related art, it is not necessary to continuously energize the actuator (motor) in order to maintain the fully open / fully closed position of the valve, which can prevent the life of the actuator from being shortened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view with a partial cross section of an intake eddy current generator showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the self-holding mechanism provided at the end of the valve shaft 11 of the swirl control valve 10 when the valve is fully closed.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the self-holding mechanism provided at the end of the valve shaft 11 of the swirl control valve 10 when the valve is fully opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-self-holding mechanism 2-intake pipe block 3-gear mechanism 4,5,6-permanent magnet 7-partial gear 10-swirl control valve 11-valve shaft 12-valve body 14-drive motor 15-worm 16-worm wheel 20, 21-Positioning bolt

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a valve body rotatably opened and closed via a valve shaft in an intake pipe; and an actuator for rotating the valve shaft. A permanent magnet is attached to a member that rotates with the shaft,
An internal combustion engine, wherein a permanent magnet or a magnet attracting body is mounted on a fixed side so that the permanent magnet contacts and attracts the permanent magnet when the permanent magnet rotates together with the valve shaft to the operating end of the valve body. Intake control valve device. 2. An intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a valve body rotatably opened and closed via a valve shaft in an intake pipe; and an actuator for rotating the valve shaft. A magnet attracting body is attached to a member that rotates with the shaft, and a permanent magnet is fixed so that the magnet attracting body contacts and attracts the magnet attracting body when the magnet attracting body rotates with the valve shaft to the operating end of the valve body. An intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine, the valve device being mounted on the side. 3. The permanent magnet according to claim 1, wherein the permanent magnet is attached to a part of a partial gear that rotates together with a valve shaft.
An intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine according to the above. 4. The intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine according to claim 2, wherein the magnet attracting member is attached to a part of a partial gear that rotates together with the valve shaft. 5. The intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein a permanent magnet or a magnet attracting member attached to the fixed side is attached to a tip of a positioning bolt so as to be adjustable. 6. The intake control valve device for an internal combustion engine according to claim 2, wherein the permanent magnet attached to the fixed side is attached to a tip of a positioning bolt so as to be adjustable in position.