JP2005344745A - Vehicular driving force transmission device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular driving force transmission device having reduced cost by reducing wasteful raw materials when manufacturing a thrust washer 40 while effectively utilizing resources. <P>SOLUTION: A twin differential type vehicular differential gear device has a bevel gear type front differential 10 and a planetary gear type center differential 12 integrated. Its thrust washer 40 arranged between an internal gear 14 and a cap as part of a housing 8 is formed of four-split circular members 40A. An annular groove 4b is formed in the inner face of the cap 4, and four circular members 40A are arranged therein in a ring-shape. A protrusion 40Aa is provided on the outer periphery side of each of the circular members 40A, and a recessed portion 4c is formed in the annular groove 4b for receiving the protrusion 40Aa to prevent the rotation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle driving force transmission device including a thrust washer that is sandwiched between two members that rotate relative to each other and receives axial thrust force in the relative rotation.

The present applicant has proposed a twin differential type differential gear device for a vehicle having a structure in which a bevel gear type front differential and a planetary gear type center differential are integrated as an example of a vehicle driving force transmission device (Patent Literature). 1).
FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional thrust washer used in such a differential gear device for a vehicle. The thrust washer has an integral ring shape, and a plurality of outer peripheral portions (in this example, on the circumference) Are provided at four equally spaced intervals). On the other hand, the member for holding the thrust washer 30 is formed with a recess for receiving each protrusion 30a.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-118819 (pages 14-16, FIG. 5)

  A conventional thrust washer used for a vehicle driving force transmission device is manufactured by punching a plate material having a width larger than the outer diameter thereof in an integrated shape. Accordingly, the inner peripheral portion of the ring-shaped washer and the outer peripheral portion between other washers that are punched adjacent to each other are discarded, and there is a problem that a lot of material is wasted. In particular, the twin differential type differential gear device as described above has a problem that the outer diameter of the thrust washer is large and the inner diameter is large, so that the material is wasted and the cost is increased.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle driving force transmission device including a thrust washer sandwiched between two relatively rotating members and receiving an axial thrust force in the relative rotation. The thrust washer includes a plurality of thrust washers. A split groove is formed in one of the two relatively rotating members, and a fitting groove for fitting a thrust washer composed of the plurality of split members is formed in each of the split members. A rotation restricting means for restricting the rotational movement is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an internal gear in which the vehicle driving force transmission device according to the first aspect is rotatably accommodated in a housing to which torque from a driving source is transmitted. A sun gear disposed on the same inner axis of the internal gear, a planet gear disposed between the internal gear and the sun gear, and meshing with both gears, and holding the planet gear in a revolving and rotating manner. A torque-sensitive planetary gear type differential gear device that includes a planetary carrier that rotates integrally with the housing, and that each gear meshes with a helical tooth, and the thrust washer is generated when the planet gear rotates or rotates. It is characterized by receiving a thrust force.

  In the present invention, since the thrust washer is composed of a plurality of divided members obtained by dividing the ring, when the divided member is punched from a plate-shaped material, the waste of the material is reduced, the resource is effectively used, and the cost is reduced. Can be reduced.

  The thrust washer is composed of a plurality of divided members, fitted into a groove formed in the member that holds the thrust washer, and prevented from rotating by the rotation restricting means. Achieve the goal of eliminating

  An overall configuration of an embodiment of a vehicle differential gear device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this vehicle differential gear device, the bevel gear type front differential 10 and the planetary gear type center differential 12 are integrally formed in a housing 8 having a configuration in which the planetary carrier 2 and the cap 4 are abutted and connected by a bolt 6. It is assembled.

  An internal gear 14 having an inner tooth 14a formed on the inner peripheral surface is rotatably fitted inside the housing 8. A sun gear 16 that rotates about the same axis as the rotation axis L <b> 1 of the internal gear 14 is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the internal gear 14. Further, a plurality of planet gears 18 held by the planetary carrier 2 are disposed between the internal gear 14 and the sun gear 16 and meshed with both the gears 14 and 16. The planet gears 18 are respectively held in a plurality of planet gear holding portions (spaces) formed at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of the planetary carrier 2, and their tooth tips are in sliding contact with the inner surface of the planet gear holding portion. ing. The internal gear 14, the sun gear 16, the planet gear 18, the planetary carrier 2, and the like constitute a planetary gear type center differential 12.

  The planetary carrier 2 rotates around the rotation axis L1 of the internal gear 14 and the sun gear 16, and the planetary gear 18 held by the planetary carrier 2 has its central axis L2 set by the rotation of the planetary carrier 2. The planetary carrier 2 rotates or revolves around the rotation axis L <b> 1, and can rotate (rotate) around its own axis L <b> 2 in the planet gear holding portion of the planetary carrier 2. In this example, the internal gear 14, the sun gear 16 and the planet gear 18 all have helical teeth, and each planet gear 18 is connected to the outer peripheral side internal gear 14 and the inner peripheral side sun gear 16, respectively. I'm engaged.

  The internal gear 14 has a cylindrical portion 14b in which inner teeth 14a are formed, and an inward flange portion 14c formed at one end thereof (the right end portion in FIG. 1). The spline 14a formed on the outer peripheral surface of the coupling 20 is engaged with the spline 14d formed on the inner peripheral side of 14c to transmit the rotation. A small-diameter cylindrical portion 20b is formed on the inner peripheral side of the coupling 20 and extends to the outside from the cap 4 constituting the housing 8, and a rear axle (not shown) is connected to the cylindrical portion 20b. Has been.

  A case 22 having a spherical inner surface is connected to the inner peripheral side of the sun gear 16 via splines 16a and 22a. The case 22 is formed with two circular holes 22b (one not shown) penetrating the cylindrical wall surface in the diameter direction, and both ends of the pinion pin 24 are inserted into the upper and lower circular holes 22b.

  Pinion gears 26 are fitted on the outer circumferences of the pinion pins 24 near both ends. The pair of pinion gears 26 mesh with a pair of side gears 28 arranged on the left and right sides of the planetary gear type center differential 12 around the internal gear 14 and the rotation axis L1 of the sun gear 16. A bevel gear type front differential is constituted by a pinion pin 24 inserted through the circular hole 22b of the case 22, a pair of pinion gears 26 fitted to the pinion pin 24, a pair of side gears 28 arranged on the left and right sides and meshing with the pinion gear 26, and the like. 10, left and right side gears 28 are connected to front left and right axles (not shown), respectively.

  A coupling 20 connected between the outer surface of the inward flange portion 14c of the internal gear 14 (the right surface in FIG. 1) and the inner surface of the cap 4 near the outer peripheral portion, and to the internal gear 14 by splines 14d and 20a. Thrust washers 40 and 32 are respectively disposed between the outer surface of the cap 4 and the inner surface of the cap 4 near the inner periphery. A thrust washer 34 is disposed between the inner surface of the inward flange portion 14c of the internal gear 14 (the left surface in FIG. 1) and the tip surface of the planet gear 18, and one end surface of the sun gear 16 (see FIG. Thrust washers 36 and 38 are also interposed between the other end surface of the sun gear 16 and the bottom of the planetary carrier 2, respectively. Has been. In this vehicle differential gear device, since the internal gear 14, the planet gear 18 and the sun gear 16 are engaged with each other by helical teeth, the axial thrust force when these gears 14, 18, 16 rotate. Will occur. This thrust force is applied to the thrust washers 40, 32, 34, 36, and 38 disposed in the respective parts, and the differential limiting function (torque distribution) is caused by the frictional force with the thrust washers 30, 32, 34, 36, and 38. Function). In addition, lattice grooves are provided on the sliding surfaces of these thrust washers in order to stabilize the frictional force.

  Next, the thrust washer 40 used in this vehicle driving force transmission device will be described in detail. 2 is a plan view of a thrust washer 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a front view of a cap 4 that is a member for holding the thrust washer 40, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cap 4. is there.

  The thrust washer 40 is composed of four arc-shaped members 40A (corresponding to “divided members” in the invention described in claim 1) having a shape obtained by dividing the ring into four parts. Each arcuate member 40A has a positioning projection 40Aa at the center of the outer peripheral surface. When the thrust washer 40 is configured by combining these four arc-shaped members 40A (arranged in the state shown in FIG. 2), a slight gap C is formed between the arc-shaped members 40A. That is, the size of each arc-shaped member 40A is slightly shorter than the length of the ring-shaped conventional thrust washer 30 (see FIG. 6) having the same diameter divided into four. This is to prevent the ends of the arcuate members 40A from interfering with each other when a rotational force is applied to each arcuate member 40A constituting the thrust washer 40 during operation of the vehicle differential gear device. .

  On the other hand, the cap 4 which is a member for holding the thrust washer 40 composed of the four arc-shaped members 40A is a surface facing the outer surface (the right surface in FIG. 1) of the inward flange portion 14b of the internal gear 14. In addition, there is an annular groove 4b (corresponding to the “fitting groove” in the invention of claim 1) for receiving the thrust washer 40 in a state where the four arc-shaped members 40A are combined in a ring shape (the state shown in FIG. 2). Is formed. The annular groove 4 b has an inner diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the thrust washer 40 and an outer diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the thrust washer 40. Four concave portions 4c are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral side of the annular groove 4b. The protrusions 40Aa of the arcuate member 40A are fitted into the recesses 4c to prevent the arcuate member 40A from rotating. That is, the rotation restricting means is constituted by the projection 40Aa of the arcuate member 40A and the recess 4c of the annular groove 4b. The depth of the annular groove 4b is shallower than the thickness of the arcuate member 40A, and the arcuate member 40A accommodated in the annular groove 4b protrudes from the annular groove 4b to the internal gear 14. It comes to contact.

  Since the thrust washer 40 has a shape in which the ring is divided into four parts in this way, when manufacturing the arc-shaped member 40A, a material having a width slightly larger than the length between the end portions 40Ab of one arc-shaped member 40A. Therefore, it can be punched continuously at close positions. Therefore, the portion to be discarded between the arc-shaped members 40A is extremely reduced, the material can be used effectively, and the cost can be reduced. FIG. 5 illustrates the blank 50 and the punched portion of the arcuate member 40 </ b> A on the blank 50. The thrust washer 40 comprising the arc-shaped member 40A divided into four parts is used for a vehicle driving force transmission device, and the four arc-shaped members 40A are uniformly formed by a counterpart member (in this embodiment, the internal gear 14). ), But the same performance as the conventional integrated thrust washer 30 (see FIG. 6) can be obtained by strictly controlling the thickness dimension at the time of manufacture, or by polishing 4 sheets simultaneously. Can be obtained.

  In addition, although the said embodiment demonstrated the thrust washer 40 which consists of the circular-arc-shaped member 40A of the shape which divided the ring into 4 parts, it is not restricted to 4 divisions, 2 divisions, 3 divisions, or 5 divisions or more may be sufficient. In the case of two divisions, since the width of the material needs to be larger than the diameter of the washer, the width of the material cannot be made smaller than that of the conventional one, but the arc-shaped member facing in the same direction is approached and punched. Can greatly reduce the amount of wasted material. In addition, the protrusion 40Aa is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the arcuate member 40A, and the recess 4c that receives the protrusion 40Aa is formed on the member 4 side that holds the washer 40, thereby preventing rotation of the arcuate member 40A constituting the washer 40. However, a recess may be provided on the arcuate member 40A side, and a protrusion that fits into the recess may be provided on the member 4 side that holds the washer 40. In any case, it is only necessary to have rotation restricting means for preventing rotation of the arcuate member 40A constituting the washer 40. Further, the position of the protrusion 40Aa does not need to be the center of each arcuate member 40A, and may be provided at a position shifted from the center. However, it is desirable that the positions of the protrusions 40Aa of the respective arcuate members 40A are the same in terms of component management or assembly work. In the embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the thrust washer 40 disposed between the internal gear 14 and the cap 4 of the vehicle differential gear device shown in FIG. 1 has been described. The thrust washers 32, 34, 36, and 38 can be similarly applied. However, the effect of reducing the waste of material is greater as it is applied to a large-diameter thrust washer as in this embodiment. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the thrust washer 40 according to the present invention is applied to a planetary gear type differential gear device for a vehicle has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the differential gear device, but other vehicle driving force transmission It is also applicable to the device.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in alignment with the rotating shaft line of the general differential gear device for twin differential type vehicles. It is a top view of a thrust washer. Example 1 It is a front view of the cap (housing) holding a thrust washer. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cap (housing) holding a thrust washer. It is a top view which shows an example of the raw material and the punching site | part of the arc-shaped member 40A on this raw material. It is a top view which shows an example of the conventional thrust washer.

Explanation of symbols

4 Relative rotating member (cap)
4a annular groove 4c rotation restricting means (concave)
14 Relative rotating member (internal gear)
40 Thrust washer 40A Arc-shaped member 40Aa Rotation restricting means (protrusion)

Claims (5)

In a vehicle driving force transmission device including a thrust washer that is sandwiched between two relatively rotating members and receives an axial thrust force in the relative rotation,
The thrust washer is divided into a plurality of divided members, and a fitting groove for fitting a thrust washer made of the plurality of divided members is formed in one of the two relatively rotating members, and each divided member is A vehicle driving force transmission device comprising a rotation restricting means for restricting rotational movement in the fitting groove.   The vehicle driving force transmitting device includes an internal gear rotatably accommodated in a housing to which torque from a driving source is transmitted, a sun gear disposed coaxially inside the internal gear, and the internal gear. A planet gear disposed between the null gear and the sun gear, and meshing with both gears; and a planetary carrier that holds the planet gear so as to be capable of revolving and rotating, and rotates integrally with the housing. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the planetary gear type differential gear device is a torque-sensitive type meshed by teeth, and the thrust washer receives a thrust force generated by the revolution or rotation of the planet gear. Driving force transmission device.   The rotation restricting means includes a protrusion formed on one member of the member in which the fitting groove is formed and the split member, and a recess formed on the other member and fitted to the protrusion. The vehicle driving force transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle driving force transmission device is provided.   The plurality of divided members fitted in the fitting groove are fitted in the fitting groove with gaps that can prevent interference between the divided members between respective end portions. The vehicle driving force transmission device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   3. The vehicle driving force transmission device according to claim 2, wherein the differential gear device has a structure in which a bevel gear type front differential and a planetary gear type center differential are integrated.

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