JP2004027997A - Lubricant circulating structure for oil pan - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the deterioration of the oil caused by the interruption of the circulation of a lubricant in an oil pan having a plurality of tank parts. <P>SOLUTION: In this lubricant circulating structure composed of the oil pan 1 having the plurality of tank parts 1a, 1b, an oil pump 3 for circulating the lubricant from the oil pan to an engine, an oil strainer 2 for communicating one of the tank parts 1a, 1b and the oil pump 3, and a communication pipe 4 for communicating both tank parts, a bypass pipe 6 is mounted for connecting the oil strainer 2 and the communication pipe 4, so that the air can be pumped up and eliminated by the oil pump 3 through the bypass pipe 6, even when the air is filled in the communication pipe 4, whereby the normal circulation by the communication pipe 4 can be recovered. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a structure for circulating oil for engine lubrication, and more particularly to a structure for circulating lubricating oil for an oil pan having a plurality of oil tanks.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the oil pan divided into a left chamber and a right chamber, the tip of the suction oil passage for sucking the lubricating oil is branched to the left and right, and the branch tip faces the lower parts of the left and right chambers of the oil pan, respectively. By installing an oil strainer equipped with a check valve at the tip to prevent air from filling the lubricating oil passage when the tip of the suction oil passage is exposed to air due to the inclination of the left chamber, right A method of mixing and circulating the lubricating oil in a chamber is disclosed in JP-A-2000-230411.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, a check valve must be arranged at the tip of each strainer, and when the check valve is deteriorated or malfunctions, only the lubricating oil in a specific tank circulates, and There is a problem that oil deterioration is accelerated.
[0004]
The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to circulate a large amount of lubricating oil without delay and prevent deterioration of the oil by an inexpensive method.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention provides an oil pan having a plurality of tank portions, an oil pump for circulating lubricating oil from the oil pan to an engine, an oil strainer communicating one of the tank portions with the oil pump, In a lubricating oil circulation structure composed of a communication pipe communicating between tank portions, the oil strainer is connected to the communication pipe, and a bypass pipe having a minimum diameter smaller than that of the oil strainer is provided.
[0006]
[Action / Effect]
According to the present invention, even if the communication pipe is filled with air, the filled air is sucked up by the oil pump through the bypass pipe and removed from the communication pipe, so that the lubricating oil circulates through the communication pipe in the oil pan. There is no delay.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0008]
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0009]
1 is an oil pan composed of a plurality of tanks, 3 is an oil pump that sucks lubricating oil from the oil pan 1 and supplies it to an engine (not shown), 2 is a strainer that communicates the tank 1a with the oil pump 3, 6 Is a bypass pipe which connects the communication pipe 4 and the oil strainer 2.
[0010]
The oil pan 1 is divided into a main tank part 1a and a sub tank part 1b by a bulging space 5 protruding upward, and the main tank part 1a and the sub tank part 1b are communicated by a communication pipe 4. Filters 11a, 12a, and 7a for removing foreign substances in the lubricating oil are arranged at both ends 11, 12 of the communication pipe 4 and a tip 7 of the oil strainer 2 on the oil pan 1 side.
[0011]
The communication pipe 4 has both ends 11 and 12 submerged below the oil level, but is located halfway above the oil level, and the communication pipe 4 has a vertical uppermost portion 4a (uppermost portion 4a) of the bypass pipe 6 at the top. One end 6b is connected. The other end 6 a of the bypass pipe 6 is connected to an arbitrary part of the oil strainer 2.
[0012]
The minimum sectional area of the bypass pipe 6 is smaller than the minimum sectional area of the oil strainer 2 and the minimum sectional area of the communication pipe 4.
[0013]
As the viscosity of the lubricating oil increases, the ratio of the cross-sectional areas of the oil strainer 2, the communication pipe 4 and the bypass pipe 6 decreases, but when the cross-sectional area of the bypass pipe 6 is smaller than 1/25 of the cross-sectional area of the oil strainer 2. Desirably. Specifically, in the present embodiment, in the case of all circular pipes, the oil strainer 2 is φ16 to 22, the communication pipe 4 is φ10 to 20, and the bypass pipe 6 is φ2 to 3.
[0014]
Next, the operation will be described.
[0015]
The lubricating oil is sucked up from an oil strainer 2 installed in the main tank 1a, supplied to various parts of an engine (not shown) by a pump 3, and returned to the main tank 1a and the sub tank 1b of the oil pan 1 again. .
[0016]
Further, as the lubricating oil is sucked up by the oil pump 3 in the main tank portion 1a, the oil level of the main tank portion 1a decreases and becomes lower than the oil level of the sub tank portion 1b. The lubricating oil in the sub tank 1b is supplied to the main tank 1a through the communication pipe 4 by the pressure difference caused by the difference in the oil level.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 2, when the lubricating oil is biased in the oil pan 1 due to the vibration of the engine or the inclination of the vehicle body and the end 11 or 12 of the communication pipe 4 is exposed to the air, the communication pipe 4 is filled with air. However, if the bypass pipe 6 is not provided, the lubricating oil does not flow through the communication pipe 4 even if a difference in oil level occurs between the main tank portion 1a and the sub tank portion 1b.
[0018]
However, in the present embodiment, by providing the bypass pipe 6 communicating the communication pipe 4 and the oil strainer 2, the filled air is sucked up by the oil pump 3 from the bypass pipe 6 via the oil strainer 2, and the inside of the communication pipe 4 is Therefore, the circulation of the lubricating oil through the communication pipe 4 returns to the normal circulation shown in FIG.
[0019]
In normal circulation, the flow of the bypass pipe 6 is small because the pipe diameter is small and the resistance due to the viscosity of the lubricating oil is large, and the original circulation function of the communication pipe 4 is not impaired.
[0020]
As described above, the lubricating oil sucked up from the main tank 1a to the oil strainer 2 communicates not only the lubricating oil returned from the engine (not shown) to the main tank 1a, but also the lubricating oil returned to the sub tank 1b. The lubricant is supplied to the main tank 1a via the pipe 4 and circulates from the main tank 1a to the engine (not shown) again. Therefore, only the lubricating oil returned to the main tank 1a is sent to the engine (not shown). And the oil pan 1 can be prevented from being accelerated.
[0021]
By providing the communication pipe 4, lubricating oil can be supplied from the plurality of tanks to the main tank 1a, so that the number of tanks and the degree of freedom of the shape of the oil pan 1 are increased, and the lubricating oil capacity can be increased. Will be possible. When the lubricating oil capacity is increased, the time required for the lubricating oil circulating inside the engine (not shown) and having a high temperature to return to the oil pan 1 and be returned to the engine (not shown) becomes longer. Therefore, after the temperature is sufficiently lowered in the oil pan 1, the oil circulates again in the engine (not shown), thereby improving the lubricating oil oil temperature stability, preventing deterioration, and extending the lubricating oil exchange cycle. Is obtained.
[0022]
Since the bypass pipe 6 is joined to the uppermost part 4a of the communication pipe 4, the air collected in the communication pipe 4 collects at the uppermost part 4a, and is sucked into the oil strainer 2 via the bypass pipe 6 from there. The air in 4 can be reliably eliminated.
[0023]
By making the cross-sectional area of the bypass pipe 6 smaller than the cross-sectional area of the oil strainer 2 and the cross-sectional area of the communication pipe 4, lubrication sucked up from the sub tank portion 1 b to the oil strainer 2 via the communication pipe 4 and the bypass pipe 6. Since the amount of oil is reduced, the lubricating oil in the sub tank portion 1b is supplied from the communication pipe 4 to the main tank portion 1a, and is drawn from the main tank portion 1a to the oil pump 3 via the oil strainer 2, which is inherent in the circulation structure. Flow is maintained.
[0024]
A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
[0025]
In the present embodiment, the bottom portion 21 of the main tank portion 1a is arranged at the lowest position in the oil pan 1, and the communication pipe 4 has the main tank portion side end 30 lower than the sub tank portion side end 31. It is further arranged so that it becomes the position. Further, the drain plug 13a is arranged at the lowest position 13 in the bottom 21.
[0026]
When the drain plug 13a is opened, the oil level of the main tank 1a decreases, and lubricating oil is supplied from the sub tank 1b through the communication pipe 4. The bottom 22 of the sub tank 1b is located higher than the bottom 21 of the main tank 1a, and the end 30 of the communication pipe 4 is located lower than the end 31, so that the sub tank 1b is emptied first. Become.
[0027]
Accordingly, it is not necessary to arrange a drain plug in the sub tank portion 1b for lubricating oil removal work at the time of lubricating oil exchange, and it is sufficient to arrange one drain plug 13a in the main tank portion 1a, and the operation efficiency is improved. Will be better.
[0028]
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the inside of an oil pan when an oil level is inclined.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of air filled in a communication pipe.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Oil pan 1a Main tank part 1b Sub tank part 2 Oil strainer 3 Oil pump 4 Communication pipe 4a Communication pipe uppermost part 5 Expansion space 6 Bypass pipe 6a Bypass pipe uppermost part 6b Bypass pipe lowest part 7 Oil strainer main tank part side end Portions 7a, 11a, 12a Filter 11 Connecting pipe sub-tank side end 12 Communication pipe main tank side end 13 Main tank bottom 13a Drain plug 21 Main tank bottom 22 Sub-tank bottom

Claims (4)

An oil pan having a plurality of tank parts,
An oil pump for circulating lubricating oil from the oil pan to the engine;
An oil strainer that communicates the oil pump with any one of the tank portions,
In a lubricating oil circulation structure composed of a communication pipe communicating between the tank portions,
A lubricating oil circulation structure for an oil pan, comprising: a bypass pipe connecting the oil strainer and the communication pipe and having a minimum diameter smaller than that of the oil strainer. 2. The lubricating oil circulation structure for an oil pan according to claim 1, wherein the bypass pipe is arranged to communicate with the oil strainer from a vertically uppermost portion of the communication pipe. 3. The lubricating oil circulation structure for an oil pan according to claim 1, wherein a minimum diameter of the bypass pipe is smaller than a diameter of the communication pipe. The oil pan is composed of a main tank part and a sub tank part, the bottom of the main tank part is lower than the bottom part of the sub tank part, and the end of the communication pipe on the main tank part side is closer to the sub tank part end. The lubricating oil circulation structure for an oil pan according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a drain plug is provided at a lowest position of a bottom of the main tank portion.

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