JP2007309468A - Oil-free chain - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an oil-free chain, achieving oil-free operation over a long period of time by forming a lubricant storing part having a large capacity in the inner surface of a bush in a simple structure, and by giving impact fatigue strength and wear resistance to the bush to remarkably improve the life of a chain. <P>SOLUTION: The oil-free chain 100 includes: a pair of inner plates 120, 120 to which both ends of the bush 110 are respectively fitted; and a pair of outer plates 140, 140 to which both ends of a pin 130 rotatably inserted in the bush 110 are fitted, or includes a roller 150 rotatably externally fitted to the bush 110, wherein the bush 110 is constructed by a pair of spacer sleeves 112 fitted to both sides of the inner surface of the bush body 111, and the lubricant storing part 113 is formed by the opposite surfaces 112a, 112a of the paired spacer sleeves 112, 112 and the inner peripheral surface 111a of the bush body 111. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an oil-free chain used in a power transmission mechanism, a conveyance mechanism, and the like, and more particularly, to an oil-free chain in which a lubricant reservoir is provided on the inner surface of a bush and / or an inner surface of a roller to improve the life.

  Conventionally, as an oil-free chain used for a power transmission mechanism, a conveyance mechanism, etc., a blind groove serving as a lubricant reservoir is provided on the inner surface of the bush or the inner surface of the roller, and is held between the bush and the pin or between the roller and the bush. It is carried out to increase the operating time by increasing the lubricant to be used, and as such a bush or roller, by winding a rectangular base material engraved with a blind groove and pushing it through a circular opening die, Some bushes or rollers are provided with blind grooves on the inner surface (see Patent Document 1, etc.).

In addition, a cylindrical body is formed from a columnar material, the opening of this cylindrical body is expanded, a die pin for blind groove is pressed into the inner surface, and a plurality of blind grooves are engraved, and then the expanded opening There is also one in which a blind groove is provided on the inner surface of the bush or the roller by returning the part (see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent No. 2996352 JP-A-2005-344886

However, the bushes and rollers described above have engraved blind grooves on their inner surfaces, so the capacity is small, long-term oil-free operation cannot be achieved, and many processing steps are required for production. There is a problem that the processing is troublesome and the cost becomes high.
In addition, since bushes and rollers receive repeated impact loads from sprockets, it is desirable to have excellent wear resistance in order to function as a bearing for pins or bushes with excellent impact fatigue strength. Since the bush and the roller are formed of a single member, it is difficult to satisfy these functions at the same time, and there is a problem that the chain life is shortened.

  Therefore, the present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, that is, the object of the present invention is to provide a large capacity lubricant reservoir on the inner surface of the bush and / or the inner surface of the roller with a simple structure. By providing an oil-free chain that achieves long-term oil-free operation and gives the bush or roller desirable functions such as impact fatigue strength and wear resistance, greatly improving chain life is there.

  The oil-free chain according to claim 1 includes a pair of inner plates in which both ends of the bush are fitted, and a pair of outer plates in which both ends of a pin rotatably inserted in the bush are fitted. The bush comprises a bushing body and a pair of spacer sleeves fitted on both sides of the inner surface of the bushing body, and the lubricant reservoir is formed between the opposing surfaces of the pair of spacer sleeves and the pair of spacer sleeves. The said subject is solved by forming with the inner peripheral surface of a bush main body.

  The oil-free chain according to claim 2 solves the above-described problem by the bush body being formed of a material having excellent impact fatigue strength in addition to the structure according to claim 1. .

  The oil-free chain according to claim 3 solves the above-mentioned problem by the fact that the material having excellent impact fatigue strength according to claim 2 is carburized steel.

  The oil-free chain according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in addition to the structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the spacer sleeve is formed of a material having excellent wear resistance. Is a solution.

  The oil-free chain according to claim 5 solves the above-mentioned problem by the fact that the material having excellent wear resistance according to claim 4 is nitrided steel.

  The oil-free chain according to claim 6 includes a pair of inner plates each fitted with both ends of a bush, a pair of outer plates each fitted with both ends of a pin rotatably inserted into the bush, A chain including a roller rotatably fitted on the bush, wherein the roller includes a roller body and a pair of spacer sleeves fitted on both inner surfaces of the roller body, and the pair of spacer sleeves This problem is solved by forming a lubricant reservoir portion between the opposite surface and the inner peripheral surface of the roller body.

  The oil-free chain according to the seventh aspect of the present invention solves the above-described problem by the roller body being formed of a material excellent in impact fatigue strength in addition to the configuration according to the sixth aspect. is there.

  The oil-free chain according to the eighth aspect of the present invention solves the above-mentioned problem by the fact that the material excellent in impact fatigue strength according to the seventh aspect is carburized steel.

  The oil-free chain according to claim 9 is characterized in that, in addition to the structure according to any one of claims 6 to 8, the spacer sleeve is formed of a material having excellent wear resistance. It solves the problem.

  The oil-free chain according to the tenth aspect of the present invention solves the above-described problem by the fact that the material having excellent wear resistance according to the ninth aspect is nitrided steel.

  In the present invention, “oil-free” “oil-free” means a lubricant such as lubricating oil, grease, solid lubricant, solid lubricant.

  The oil-free chain of the present invention is provided with a lubricant reservoir on the inner surface of the bush and / or the roller so that a large amount of lubricant is held between the bush and the pin and / or between the roller and the bush. In addition to preventing sliding wear between the bushing and the pin and / or between the roller and the bushing, by providing the following configuration, an effect specific to the present invention can be achieved.

That is, according to the oil-free chain according to the first aspect of the present invention, the bush is composed of the bush main body and a pair of spacer sleeves fitted on both inner surfaces of the bush main body, and the lubricant reservoir is formed of the pair of spacer sleeves. Since it is formed by the opposing surface and the inner peripheral surface of the bushing body, the outer side of the bushing has excellent impact fatigue strength and the inner side has excellent wear resistance simply by selecting the material of the bushing body and spacer sleeve. The bushing can be easily provided with the necessary functions, and the lubricant reservoir with a large capacity can be formed simply by selecting the length and thickness of the bushing body and spacer sleeve. An oil-free chain that realizes operation can be easily obtained.
Further, since the lubricant reservoir can be formed simply by press-fitting a pair of spacer sleeves into the bushing body, the production process is simplified and production can be performed at low cost.

  According to the oil-free chain according to claim 2 and claim 3, in addition to the effect exhibited by the invention according to claim 1, the bush main body which is the outer side of the bush is excellent in impact fatigue strength like carburized steel. Therefore, it is possible to prevent fatigue failure due to repeated impact loads from the sprocket and to improve the chain life.

  According to the oil-free chain according to the fourth and fifth aspects, in addition to the effect exhibited by the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the spacer sleeve on the inner side of the bush is made of nitrided steel. Since it is made of a material with excellent wear resistance, it can prevent wear of the pin outer surface and bushing inner surface that slides under high surface pressure, and the bush body made of material with excellent impact fatigue strength When used together, the chain life can be greatly improved.

According to the oil-free chain according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the roller is composed of a roller main body and a pair of spacer sleeves fitted on both inner surfaces of the roller main body, and the lubricant reservoir is an opposed surface of the pair of spacer sleeves. And the inner peripheral surface of the roller body, so by selecting the material for the roller body and spacer sleeve, the outer side of the roller has excellent impact fatigue strength and the inner side has excellent wear resistance. The functions required as a roller can be easily added, and a lubricant reservoir with a large capacity can be formed simply by selecting the length and thickness of the roller body and spacer sleeve. An oil-free chain to be realized can be obtained easily.
Further, since the lubricant reservoir can be formed simply by press-fitting a pair of spacer sleeves into the roller body, the production process is simplified and production can be performed at low cost.

  According to the oil-free chain according to the seventh and eighth aspects, in addition to the effect exhibited by the invention according to the sixth aspect, the roller main body on the outer side of the roller is excellent in impact fatigue strength like carburized steel. Therefore, it is possible to prevent fatigue failure due to repeated impact loads from the sprocket and to improve the chain life.

  According to the oil-free chain according to the ninth and tenth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the effect exhibited by the invention according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, the spacer sleeve on the inner side of the roller is made of nitrided steel. Since it is made of a material with excellent wear resistance, it can prevent wear on the bushing outer surface and the roller inner surface that slides under high surface pressure, and the roller body made of material with excellent impact fatigue strength. When used together, the chain life can be greatly improved.

  An oil-free chain of the present invention includes a pair of inner plates each fitted with both ends of a bush, and a pair of outer plates each fitted with both ends of a pin rotatably inserted into the bush. In the chain or a roller chain in which a roller is rotatably fitted to the bush, the bush and / or the roller is composed of a bush body and / or a pair of spacer sleeves fitted on both inner surfaces of the roller body. By forming a lubricant reservoir between the opposed surface of the spacer sleeve and the inner peripheral surface of the bushing body and / or the inner peripheral surface of the roller body, lubrication with a large capacity is achieved on the inner surface of the bushing and / or the roller inner surface with a simple structure. Forms a reservoir for long-term oil-free operation and gives the functions required for bushes or rollers to provide chain life If it is possible to significantly improve, specific embodiments thereof are may be any one.

  That is, since the bushing body or the roller body is repeatedly subjected to an impact load by the sprocket, it is preferable to form the bushing body or the roller body from a material excellent in impact fatigue strength. Examples of such a material include low carbon chromium molybdenum steel (SCM415), Examples include carburized steel obtained by carburizing case-hardened steel such as low carbon nickel chromium molybdenum steel (SNCM415).

The pair of spacer sleeves, when fitted on both inner surfaces of the bushing body and / or the roller body, form a space serving as a lubricant reservoir between these opposing surfaces, and the length and tube thickness are The lubricant can be appropriately selected according to the desired capacity of the lubricant reservoir.
Further, since the spacer sleeve is slid against the pin or the bush under high surface pressure, it is preferable to form the spacer sleeve from a material having excellent wear resistance. As such a material, an aluminum chrome molybdenum steel (SACM635) is used. ) And nitriding steel obtained by nitriding alloy steel containing a nitride-forming element such as chromium molybdenum steel (SCM435).

The lubricant used in the present invention may be any of lubricating oil, grease, solid lubricant, solid lubricant, etc., and as solid lubricant, carbon powder, molybdenum disulfide, a mixture thereof, and grease with low consistency Is mentioned.
In particular, when liquid lubricating oil or grease with high consistency is used, providing a sealing member such as an O-ring between the outer plate and the inner plate can prevent the lubricating oil and grease from scattering to the outside. It can prevent the intrusion of dust and prevent the deterioration of lubricating oil and grease due to the mixture of dust.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a partial cross section of a main part of an oil-free chain according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the bush according to the first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a part of the oil-free chain of Example 2 with a partial cross-section and an enlarged view of a part thereof. FIG. 4 is a part of the cross-section of the main part of the oil-free chain of Example 3 It is the top view shown by.

As shown in FIG. 1, the oil-free chain 100 according to the first embodiment includes a pair of inner plates 120 and 120 in which both ends of a bush 110 are respectively fitted, and pins 130 that are rotatably inserted into the bush 110. A pair of outer plates 140 and 140 are fitted to both ends of the bushing 110, and a lubricant reservoir 113 is provided on the inner surface of the bush 110.
The bush 110 is fitted so as to protrude from the outer surface of the inner plate 120, and an O-ring 160 is disposed between the inner plate 120 and the outer plate 140 so as to surround the protruding portion 110 a of the bush 110.
Further, the bush 110 has a roller 150 rotatably fitted thereon.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bush 110 includes a cylindrical bush body 111 and a pair of spacer sleeves 112 and 112 fitted on both sides of the inner surface thereof. It is formed by press-fitting into the bush main body 111.
A lubricant reservoir 113 is formed by the opposing surfaces 112 a and 112 a of the pair of spacer sleeves 112 and 112 and the inner peripheral surface 111 a of the bushing main body 111. That is, an annular recess formed by the opposing surfaces 112 a and 112 a of the spacer sleeves 112 and 112 and the inner peripheral surface 111 a of the bushing main body 111 is used as the lubricant reservoir 113.

As described above, the bush 110 according to the present embodiment simply forms the spacer sleeve 112 into the bush main body 111, and the lubricant storage portion 113 having a large capacity is formed on the inner surface of the bush 110. realizable.
Further, when the bushing main body 111 is made of carburized steel and the spacer sleeve 112 is made of nitrided steel, an optimal function can be obtained for the bushing, so that the durability of the chain is remarkably improved and a long life can be achieved.

  In this embodiment, a roller chain is used, but the present invention can be similarly applied to a bush chain that does not use a roller. Further, the O-ring 160 is not necessarily required. In particular, when a lubricating oil or a grease having a high consistency is used, the O-ring 160 is connected to the outside of the lubricating oil or grease leaked from the bushing end face. While being able to prevent the release, it is possible to prevent the intrusion of dust from the outside and to prevent the deterioration of the lubricating oil or grease due to the mixing of the dust, so that the lubrication effect can be maintained for a long time.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
Compared with the oil-free chain 100 of the first embodiment described above, this embodiment is different from the oil-free chain 100 of the first embodiment only in the structure of the rollers, and the other specific configurations are the same. About the member of this, the code | symbol of 200 series is attached | subjected and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the roller 250 of the present embodiment is provided with a lubricant reservoir 253 on the inner surface. Like the bush 110 shown in FIG. A pair of spacer sleeves 252 and 252 fitted to each other, and is formed by press-fitting the spacer sleeves 252 and 252 from both sides of the roller body 250 into the inside.
The opposing surfaces 252a and 252a of the pair of spacer sleeves 252 and 252 and the inner peripheral surface 251a of the roller body 251 form a lubricant reservoir 253.

  Thus, since the oil-free chain 200 of the present embodiment is provided with the lubricant reservoir 253 on the inner surface of the roller 250, a large amount of lubricant can be held between the roller 250 and the bushing 210. The sliding wear between the roller 250 and the bushing 210 can be remarkably reduced, and the life of the chain is greatly improved in synergy with the bushing 210 having the lubricant reservoir 213 provided on the inner surface.

Further, when the roller body 251 is formed of a material having excellent impact fatigue strength such as carburized steel, and the spacer sleeve 252 is formed of a material having excellent wear resistance such as nitrided steel, the roller body 251 is subjected to repeated impact loads from the sprocket. Since fatigue failure can be prevented and wear on the inner surface of the roller can be suppressed, the durability of the chain is remarkably improved and a longer life can be achieved.
In this embodiment, the lubricant reservoirs 253 and 213 are provided on both the roller 250 and the bush 210, but may be provided only on the roller 250.

Furthermore, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
Compared with the oil-free chain 100 of the first embodiment described above, the present embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the bush shape and the O-ring are not used. About the same member as the oil-free chain 100, the code | symbol of 300 series is attached | subjected and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

The oil-free chain 300 of the third embodiment is suitable for using a solid lubricant that has low fluidity and is less likely to leak to the outside. As shown in FIG. 320 does not protrude from the outer surface of 320, and no O-ring is provided between the inner plate 320 and the outer plate 340.
For this reason, the structure is simplified and the assembly work of the chain is simplified, so that the cost of the chain can be reduced.
In addition, since a solid lubricant such as carbon powder can be used, an oil-free chain can be used in a high temperature atmosphere.

  As described above in detail, the oil-free chain of the present invention includes a bush and / or a roller, and a pair of spacer sleeves fitted on both sides of the inner surface of the bush body and / or roller body. Since the lubricant reservoir is formed by the opposite surface of the bush and the inner peripheral surface of the bush body and / or the roller body, a large-capacity lubricant reservoir can be obtained with a simple structure. And achieves lower costs, and provides excellent impact fatigue strength on the outside of the bush and / or roller, and excellent wear resistance on the inside, greatly improving the chain life. Is enormous.

The perspective view which showed the principal part of the oil-free chain of the present Example 1 in partial cross section. The exploded assembly figure of the bush of this Example 1. FIG. The top view which showed the principal part of the oil-free chain of the present Example 2 by a partial cross section, and showed the one part with the enlarged view. The top view which showed the principal part of the oil-free chain of the present Example 3 in partial cross section.

Explanation of symbols

100, 200, 300 ... Oil-free chain 110, 210, 310 ... Bush 110a ... Projection part 111, 211, 311 ... Bush body 111a ... Inner peripheral surface 112, 212, 312 ... · Spacer sleeve 112a ··· Face 113, 213, 313 ··· Lubricant reservoir 120, 220, 320 · · · Inner plate 130, 230, 330 · · · Pin 140, 240, 340 ... Outer plate 150, 250, 350 ... Roller 160, 260 ... O-ring 251 ... Roller body 251a ... Inner peripheral surface 252 ... Spacer sleeve 252a ... Opposing surface 253 ... Lubricant storage part

Claims (10)

A chain comprising a pair of inner plates each fitted with both ends of a bush and a pair of outer plates fitted with both ends of pins inserted rotatably in the bush,
The bush is composed of a bushing body and a pair of spacer sleeves fitted on both sides of the inner surface of the bushing body, and a lubricant reservoir is formed by the opposing surfaces of the pair of spacer sleeves and the inner peripheral surface of the bushing body. Oil-free chain, characterized in that   The oil-free chain according to claim 1, wherein the bushing body is made of a material having excellent impact fatigue strength.   The oil-free chain according to claim 2, wherein the material excellent in impact fatigue strength is carburized steel.   The oilless chain according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the spacer sleeve is formed of a material having excellent wear resistance.   The oil-free chain according to claim 4, wherein the material having excellent wear resistance is nitrided steel. A pair of inner plates each fitted with both ends of the bush, a pair of outer plates each fitted with both ends of a pin inserted rotatably in the bush, and a roller rotatably fitted on the bush A chain with
The roller is composed of a roller main body and a pair of spacer sleeves fitted on both inner surfaces of the roller main body, and a lubricant reservoir is formed by the opposing surfaces of the pair of spacer sleeves and the inner peripheral surface of the roller main body. Oil-free chain, characterized in that   The oil-free chain according to claim 6, wherein the roller body is made of a material having excellent impact fatigue strength.   The oil-free chain according to claim 7, wherein the material excellent in impact fatigue strength is carburized steel.   The oil-free chain according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the spacer sleeve is made of a material having excellent wear resistance.   The oil-free chain according to claim 9, wherein the material having excellent wear resistance is nitrided steel.

Images