JP2007278447A - Trans-axle for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a trans-axle for a vehicle capable of discharging foreign matter such as water and dust by exhausting air in a damper chamber during the low speed travel or stop of the vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: A communicating pipe 48 is provided to be opened close to an exhaust port 38 and to communicate with an intake pipe 46 of an engine 16 mounted on the vehicle. The air in the damper chamber 20 is thereby exhausted efficiently even in comparison with natural exhaust by the action of negative pressure of the intake pipe 46 during the low speed travel or stop of the vehicle, and the foreign matter can be discharged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of a vehicle transaxle mounted on a vehicle, and in particular, prevents foreign matters such as water and dust from entering a damper chamber constituting the vehicle transaxle and discharges the invading foreign matter from the damper chamber. It is related to the structure.

  2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle such as a passenger car is known that includes a unit in which a transmission and a final reduction gear (differential gear device) are incorporated in one case (transaxle case), that is, a so-called transaxle. The transaxle is disposed between the engine and the drive shaft, and has a damper chamber for accommodating a damper that reduces torque fluctuation transmitted from the engine to the transmission. Since this damper chamber has a connecting portion for connecting to the engine and the transmission, it is difficult to completely seal the damper chamber in a liquid-tight manner. Therefore, in order to discharge foreign matter such as water that has entered the damper chamber, a drain hole is provided vertically below the damper chamber. However, by providing this drain hole, when water drawn up from below the damper chamber enters and adheres to the torque limiter provided in the damper in the damper chamber, rust is generated in the torque limiter. This could cause the torque limiter to stop functioning. For this reason, it is necessary to discharge water or foreign matter that has entered the damper chamber, and a method of introducing outside air into the damper chamber and discharging foreign matter such as water or dust by the outside air can be considered. For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, an introduction port for introducing air and a discharge port for discharging air are provided in the damper chamber, and traveling wind generated during vehicle travel is introduced from the introduction port. It can be considered that foreign matter such as water in the damper chamber is discharged at that time by discharging. Further, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, by providing a discharge port at a location where negative pressure is generated by the traveling wind, the air flow in the damper chamber is promoted, and foreign matter such as water entering the damper chamber is removed. It is possible to discharge.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 63-130429 Japanese Utility Model Publication 2-17922

  By the way, in the methods disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above, foreign matter is discharged by the traveling wind, so that a certain traveling speed for generating the traveling wind is required, and the vehicle is stopped or traveled at a low speed. Sometimes there was a problem that sufficient running wind could not be obtained and the exhaust effect could not be obtained sufficiently.

  The present invention has been made against the background of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to remove foreign matter such as water and dust by discharging the air in the damper chamber even when the vehicle is traveling at low speed or when the vehicle is stopped. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle transaxle that can be discharged.

  In order to achieve the above object, the gist of the invention according to claim 1 is that: (a) a transformer for a vehicle having a damper chamber for accommodating a damper for reducing torque fluctuation transmitted from the engine to the transmission; In the axle, (b) an inlet provided in the upper part of the transaxle case in the vertical direction for introducing air into the damper chamber, and (c) an inlet provided in the lower part of the transaxle case in the vertical direction. A discharge port for discharging air introduced into the damper chamber from the damper chamber, and (d) communication communicating with an intake pipe of an engine mounted on the vehicle provided to open in the vicinity of the discharge port A tube is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle transaxle according to the first aspect, the introduction port has a first cover for preventing foreign matter from entering the introduction port from above. In addition, the discharge port is provided with a second cover for preventing foreign matter from entering the discharge port from below.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle transaxle according to the second aspect, the first cover passes through an opening facing the traveling direction of the vehicle and the opening. A filter for purifying air is provided.

  According to the vehicle transaxle of the first aspect of the present invention, since the communication pipe that communicates with the intake pipe of the engine mounted on the vehicle is provided in the vicinity of the exhaust port, the vehicle runs at low speed. Even when the vehicle is stopped or stopped, the air in the damper chamber is efficiently discharged as compared with the natural discharge due to the negative pressure of the intake pipe, and at the same time, foreign matter can be discharged.

  According to the vehicle transaxle of the invention according to claim 2, the first cover prevents entry of foreign matter from vertically above the vehicle transaxle, and the second cover prevents the vehicle transaxle. Intrusion of foreign matter bounced from vertically below is prevented.

  According to the vehicle transaxle of the invention according to claim 3, at least one of the first cover and the second cover is provided with a filter in a direction facing the traveling direction of the vehicle. Intrusion of foreign matter from the traveling direction of the vehicle is prevented by the filter.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a layout view schematically showing the mounting posture of a vehicle drive device 10 to which the present invention is applied. The vehicle drive device 10 is arranged on the front side of the vehicle, and a so-called FF (front engine / front drive) type in which a rotation shaft is arranged in parallel with a drive shaft 14 for driving the left and right wheels 12. It has become a vehicle. The vehicle drive device 10 includes an engine 16 serving as a drive source and a transaxle 18 for transmitting the power of the engine 18 to the drive shaft 14. The transaxle 18 includes a damper 19 (see FIG. 4) inside. A damper chamber 20 having a device such as a transmission, a transmission 22 and a final reduction gear 24 are provided.

  The damper chamber 20 includes a clutch for selectively connecting or disconnecting the connection between the engine 16 and the transmission 22 and a damper for reducing torque fluctuation transmitted from the engine 16 to the transmission 22. 19 (see FIG. 4). The damper 19 is provided with a friction plate of a torque limiter (not shown) that restricts transmission of torque exceeding a predetermined value.

  The transmission 22 includes a plurality of pairs of transmission gears that are always meshed with each other between two shafts, and a synchronous mesh type parallel twin-shaft transmission in which any one of the plurality of pairs of transmission gears is selectively transmitted by a synchronization device. And a plurality of forward shift stages and reverse shift stages are established. Further, the output of the transmission 22 is transmitted to the final reduction gear 24, further decelerated by the final reduction gear 24, and then output to the left and right drive shafts 14.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a cross-sectional view of the damper chamber 20 of FIG. In FIG. 2, each device such as the damper 19 disposed in the damper chamber 20 is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an inlet 32 for introducing air into the damper chamber 20 is provided at the upper part in the vertical direction of the case 30 that accommodates each device such as the damper 19. A first cover 34 is provided at the upper part of the inlet 32 to prevent entry of foreign matters such as water and dust into the inlet 32 from vertically above. The first cover 34 has a shape as shown in FIG. 3, the first cover surface 42 of the first cover 34 is located at the top of the damper chamber 20, and the second cover surface 44 is the vehicle It is installed at a position on the rear side with respect to the traveling direction (arrow C direction). The first cover surface 42 prevents entry of foreign matters such as water from vertically above. Further, the first cover 34 is provided with an opening facing the traveling direction of the vehicle and a filter 36 indicated by a broken line for purifying the air passing through the opening. In addition, the 1st cover 34 of a present Example respond | corresponds to the 1st cover of this invention, and the case 30 respond | corresponds to the transaxle case of this invention.

  On the other hand, at the lower part in the vertical direction of the case 30, a discharge port 38 for discharging the air introduced from the introduction port 32 from the damper chamber 20 is provided. A second cover 40 is provided below the discharge port 38 to prevent foreign matter from entering the discharge port 38 from vertically below. The second cover 40 has a shape as shown in FIG. 3, the first cover surface 42 of the second cover 40 is located at the lowermost part of the damper chamber 20, and the second cover surface 44 is the vehicle It is installed at a position on the front side with respect to the traveling direction (arrow C direction). The first cover surface 42 prevents intrusion of foreign matter lifted from the vertically lower side of the damper chamber 20. In addition, a communication pipe 48 communicating with the intake pipe 46 of the engine 16 mounted on the vehicle shown in FIG. 4 is provided in the vicinity of the discharge port 38 so as to open. In addition, the 2nd cover 40 of a present Example respond | corresponds to the 2nd cover of this invention.

  In the vehicle drive device 10 configured as described above, when the vehicle is moved forward, the vehicle moves in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1, and in FIG. As a result, a traveling wind having a speed opposite to the traveling direction is generated and introduced into the damper chamber 20 from the introduction port 32 via the filter 36. The traveling wind introduced into the damper chamber 20 is discharged from the discharge port 38, and at the time of this discharge, foreign matters such as water and dust that have entered the damper chamber 20 are also discharged.

  Further, when the vehicle is stopped, no traveling wind is generated because the vehicle does not move, but since the engine 16 is driven, a negative pressure is generated in the intake pipe 46 of the engine, and the air in the exhaust port 38 is Then, the air flows into the intake pipe 46 through the communication pipe 48. As a result, a negative pressure is also generated in the vicinity of the discharge port 38, and the air in the damper chamber 20 is discharged by this negative pressure, and foreign matter is discharged at the same time.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the communication pipe 48 is provided so as to open near the discharge port 38 and communicates with the intake pipe 46 of the engine 16 mounted on the vehicle. Even during low-speed traveling or when the vehicle is stopped, the negative pressure of the intake pipe 46 allows the air in the damper chamber 20 to be efficiently discharged as compared with natural discharge, and foreign matter can be discharged at the same time.

  Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the first cover 34 prevents foreign matter from entering from the vertically upper side of the damper chamber 20, and the foreign matter jumped up from the vertically lower side of the damper chamber 20 by the second cover 40. Intrusion is prevented.

  Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the first cover 34 is provided with the filter 36 in a direction facing the traveling direction of the vehicle, so that intrusion of foreign matters from the traveling direction of the vehicle is prevented. .

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description, parts common to those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a damper chamber 50 according to another embodiment of the present invention. A vane pump 52 is disposed in the damper chamber 50 of the present embodiment. The rotor 54 of the vane pump 52 is rotated around the rotational axis D of the rotor 54 using, for example, a flywheel disposed in the damper chamber 50. In the rotor 54, a plurality of vanes 56 (blades) are incorporated in a rotor groove formed in the rotor 54 so as to be movable in the radial direction.

  When the vehicle is moved forward in the damper chamber 50 configured as described above, traveling wind is generated in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, and foreign matter is discharged from the discharge port 38 together with the traveling wind. Further, when the vehicle is stopped, the rotor 54 is rotated by driving the engine 16. Here, when the rotor 54 rotates counterclockwise as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5, a plurality of vanes 56 incorporated in the rotor 54 are swayed radially by centrifugal force, and air is absorbed by the vanes 56. Sucked from the inlet 32 and discharged from the outlet 38. As a result, an air flow is reliably generated in the damper chamber 50, and foreign matter is discharged together with the air flow.

  Thus, according to the above-described embodiment, by providing the vane pump 52 in the damper chamber 50, the air in the damper chamber 50 can be sucked and discharged even when the vehicle is stopped, and foreign matter is discharged. Can do.

  FIG. 6 is a simplified cross-sectional view of the damper chamber 70. The damper chamber 70 is obtained by omitting the communication pipe 48 provided in the vicinity of the discharge port 38 of the damper chamber 20 described above. As a result, when the vehicle is traveling, the same effect as in the above-described embodiment can be obtained. On the other hand, when the vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed, a sufficient traveling wind cannot be obtained, so that foreign matter cannot be discharged.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described in detail based on drawing, this invention is applied also in another aspect.

  For example, in the above-described embodiments, the present invention is applied to an FF (front engine / front drive) type vehicle, but the present invention is also applied to other types of vehicles such as an RR (rear engine / rear drive) type vehicle. Can be applied.

  In the above-described embodiment, the first cover 34 and the second cover 40 have substantially rectangular parallelepiped shapes, but the shapes of the first and second covers 34 and 40 are not particularly limited. Any shape can be used as long as it can prevent foreign substances from entering from above and below and can easily introduce and discharge air into the damper chamber.

  In the above-described embodiment, the filter 36 is provided on the first cover 34. However, the filter 36 can be provided on the second cover 40 in the same manner. Alternatively, the filter 36 of the first cover 34 can be omitted.

  In the above-described embodiment, the transmission 22 is a synchronous mesh type parallel twin-shaft transmission. However, the type of the transmission 22 is not particularly limited and can be freely changed within a consistent range. Can do.

  The above description is only an embodiment, and the present invention can be implemented in variously modified and improved forms based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

It is the layout which showed simply the mounting attitude | position of the vehicle drive device to which this invention was applied. It is the figure which showed simply the cross-sectional view which looked at the damper chamber of FIG. 1 from the arrow A direction. FIG. 3 is an external view for explaining a first cover and a second cover of FIG. 2. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the connection of the communicating pipe of FIG. It is the figure which showed simply sectional drawing of the damper chamber which is the other Example of this invention, and respond | corresponds to FIG. It is the figure which showed simply sectional drawing of the damper chamber which is further another Example of this invention, and respond | corresponds to FIG.

Explanation of symbols

16: Engine 18: Transaxle 19: Damper 20, 50, 70: Damper chamber 22: Transmission 30: Case (transaxle case) 32: Inlet 34: First cover (first cover) 36: Filter 38: Discharge port 40: second cover (second cover) 46: intake pipe 48: communication pipe

Claims (3)

In a vehicle transaxle having a damper chamber for accommodating a damper that relieves torque fluctuation transmitted from an engine to a transmission,
An inlet provided in the upper part of the transaxle case in the vertical direction for introducing air into the damper chamber;
A discharge port provided in the lower part of the transaxle case in the vertical direction for discharging air introduced from the introduction port into the damper chamber from the damper chamber;
A communication pipe provided to open in the vicinity of the discharge port and communicating with an intake pipe of an engine mounted on the vehicle;
A transaxle for a vehicle characterized by being provided.   The introduction port is provided with a first cover for preventing entry of foreign matter into the introduction port from above, and the discharge port prevents entry of foreign matter from below into the discharge port. The vehicle transaxle according to claim 1, wherein a second cover is provided. 3. The transaxle for a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the first cover is provided with an opening facing the traveling direction of the vehicle and a filter for purifying air passing through the opening.

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