JP2008175346A - Clutch device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clutch device capable of surely transmitting driving force of a drive source such as a motor from an input rotation body to a driven rotation body. <P>SOLUTION: The clutch device 1 has the input rotation body 3, the driven rotation body 4, and a switching operation means 19 switching a state between both rotation bodies 3, 4 into a power transmittable transmission state and a power non-transmitting cut-off state. The switching operation means 19 has a shaft part 4b provided on the driven rotation body 4 side; an axial hole 5a provided on the input rotation body 3 side to insert the shaft part 4b therein; grooves 5b formed on the input rotation body 3 side continuously with the axial hole 5a; and power transmission bodies 6 provided in the grooves 5b. When the input rotation body 4 is normally rotated, the power transmission bodies 6 are held between the wall surfaces of the grooves 5b and the shaft part 4b to put both rotation bodies 3, 4 into the power transmittable transmission state, and when the input rotation body 3 is reversely rotated, the power transmission bodies 6 are released from the state of being held between the wall surfaces 5b1 of the grooves 5b and the shaft part 4b, to put both rotation bodies into the power non-transmitting cut-off state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a clutch device. In particular, the present invention relates to a clutch device used for an actuator that releases a vehicle seat lock or door lock by a driving force of a motor.

  Conventionally, clutch devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known. These clutch devices include an input rotator that is rotated by a driving force of a motor, a driven rotator that is rotatably supported coaxially with the input rotator, and a transmission state in which power can be transmitted to both the rotators. And switching operation means for switching to a disconnected state in which power is not transmitted. The switching operation means has a coil spring, and one end of the coil spring is connected to the input rotating body. The shaft portion of the driven rotating body is inserted in the coil center of the coil spring, and when the rotation of the other end portion is suppressed when the input rotating body rotates forward, the coil spring is elastically deformed and reduced in diameter. Accordingly, the coil spring is wound around the peripheral surface of the shaft portion of the driven rotator, and the driven rotator is rotated integrally with the input rotator.

However, the elastic deformation of the coil spring varies from lot to lot due to manufacturing variations and the like, and the winding around the driven rotating body may be weak. For this reason, the driving force from the input rotator may not be sufficiently transmitted to the driven rotator. For example, when a large driving force is transmitted to the driven rotator, the coil spring may be idle with respect to the driven rotator. Alternatively, the coil spring may be plastically deformed by the driving force by strongly preventing the coil spring from idling.
JP 2004-150528 A JP 2004-150529 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a clutch device that can reliably transmit the driving force of a driving source such as a motor from an input rotating body to a driven rotating body.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a clutch device having a configuration as described in each claim. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the clutch device switches between the input rotator and the driven rotator, and a transmission state in which power can be transmitted between the input rotator and the driven rotator and a disconnected state in which the power is not transmitted. It has switching operation means. The switching operation means includes a shaft portion provided on one of the rotating bodies, a shaft hole provided on the other rotating body side, into which the shaft portion is inserted, and the other one continuous with the shaft hole. It has the groove | channel formed in the rotary body side, and the power transmission body provided in a groove | channel. When the input rotator rotates forward, the power transmission body is sandwiched between the wall surface of the groove and the shaft portion so that power can be transmitted between the two rotators. It is released from the state sandwiched between the shaft portions, and is in a disconnected state in which power is not transmitted between the two rotating bodies.

  Therefore, the power transmission body arranged between the two rotators is sandwiched between the two rotators so that the power can be transmitted between the two rotators. And a power transmission body is not the structure elastically deformed like the coil spring etc. of the conventional switching operation means. Therefore, a transmission state is reliably established between both rotating bodies. Moreover, the power transmission body is less likely to be plastically deformed by torque than a coil spring or the like. Therefore, a driving force (torque) larger than that of a coil spring or the like can be stably transmitted between both rotating bodies.

  According to invention of Claim 2, a groove | channel has the outer peripheral wall surface which inclines with respect to the circular arc centering on the rotation center of a rotary body, and becomes a structure which presses a power transmission body to a shaft part with the outer peripheral wall surface. Yes. Therefore, the power transmission body can be pressed against the shaft portion by the shape of the outer peripheral wall surface of the groove.

  According to invention of Claim 3, a power transmission body is a rolling element which abuts on the wall surface of a groove | channel and rolls. Therefore, the relative movement of the power transmission body and the groove can be smoothly performed by rolling of the power transmission body.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the power transmission body has a pair of power transmission bodies, and the pair of power transmission bodies are provided at axially symmetric positions sandwiching the shaft portion. Therefore, by sandwiching the shaft portion between the pair of power transmission bodies, the sandwiching of the power transmission body into the shaft portion is stabilized. As a result, even when a relatively large driving force is transmitted, the driving force can be stably transmitted from the input rotating body side to the driven rotating body side.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the reverse rotation spring for reversing the input rotating body is provided separately from the switching operation means. The reversing spring is elastically deformed when the input rotating body is rotated forward by the driving force of the driving source, and reverses the input rotating body by the elastic return force of the elastic deformation when the driving force is cut. Incidentally, the conventional clutch device has a coil spring as a switching operation means, and this coil spring also has a function of reversing the input rotating body. Therefore, the coil spring has a configuration in which it is not easy to change the design and the like because it is necessary to satisfy both the function as the switching operation means and the function of reversing the input rotating body. On the other hand, since the present invention has the reverse rotation spring separately from the switching operation means, it is easy to set each function better.

  One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the clutch device 1 is used for an actuator 10. The actuator 10 is a device that releases a lock device provided in the vehicle by a driving force of a driving source, for example, a device that releases a lock of a vehicle seat (a reclining seat or a cushion) or a door lock by a driving force of the motor 11.

  The actuator 10 includes a case member 2, a motor 11 attached to the case member 2, a plurality of gears (12 to 14), and the clutch device 1. The motor 11 is a driving source that converts electric power into driving force (torque), and is mounted in the case member 2 as shown in FIG. A worm gear 12 is attached to the output shaft of the motor 11.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the clutch device 1 performs a switching operation for switching between an input rotator 3, a driven rotator 4, and a transmission state in which power can be transmitted between these rotators 3, 4 and a disconnected state in which no power is transmitted. Means 19 are provided. The input rotator 3 has external teeth 3 a meshed with the worm gear 12. The driven rotor 4 has external teeth 4 a that are meshed with the intermediate gear 13.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the intermediate gear 13 has a large-diameter gear portion 13a that meshes with the driven rotator 4, and a small-diameter gear portion 13b that has a smaller diameter than the large-diameter gear portion 13a. The output rotator 14 has a fan-shaped gear portion 14 a that meshes with the small-diameter gear portion 13 b of the intermediate gear 13, and an operation lever 15 is fixed to the output rotator 14. One end of a cable 18 is connected to the operation lever 15, and the other end of the cable 18 is connected to a lock device (not shown).

  Electric power to the motor 11 is supplied from a vehicle battery by a passenger's switch operation. The electric power is converted into driving force by the motor 11, and the driving force is decelerated by a reduction gear mechanism including the worm gear 12, the input rotating body 3, the driven rotating body 4, the intermediate gear 13, and the output rotating body 14, and the torque is amplified. The Then, the operation lever 15 is tilted together with the output rotating body 14, and the cable 18 is pulled by the operation lever 15. As a result, the lock device is unlocked by the cable 18.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the switching operation means 19 of the clutch device 1 includes a grooved member 5, a pair of power transmission bodies 6, and a shaft portion 4 b formed on the driven rotating body 4. The grooved member 5 includes a hole 5a formed at the center of the shaft, a pair of grooves 5b formed continuously with the shaft hole 5a, and a pair of mounting holes 5c formed at positions discontinuous with the shaft hole 5a. Have.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a concave portion 3b, a pair of pins 3d protruding from the bottom surface of the concave portion 3b, and a columnar shaft portion 3c formed at the center of the shaft are formed on the upper surface of the input rotating body 3. The grooved member 5 is inserted into the recess 3b, and the pin 3d is inserted into the mounting hole 5c of the grooved member 5. Accordingly, the grooved member 5 is attached to the input rotator 3 side and rotates integrally with the input rotator 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cylindrical shaft portion 4 b is formed on the lower side portion of the driven rotating body 4. The shaft portion 4b is inserted into the inner peripheral side of the shaft hole 5a of the grooved member 5 so as to be rotatable. The shaft portion 3c of the input rotating body 3 is inserted on the inner peripheral side of the shaft portion 4b. The support shaft member 16 is inserted through the shaft portion 3c and the shaft hole 4d of the driven rotor 4 (see FIG. 4). Therefore, the input rotator 3 and the driven rotator 4 are supported by the support shaft member 16 so as to be rotatable coaxially.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the power transmission body 6 has a columnar shape and is provided in each groove 5 b of the grooved member 5. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the power transmission body 6 is installed between the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 of the groove 5b and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 4b and rolls in the groove 5b.

  The groove 5b has an outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 as shown in FIGS. The outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 is not spaced apart from the shaft portion 4b. For example, the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 is inclined at an inclination angle with respect to an arc centered on the rotation center of the rotating bodies 3 and 4, more specifically, 3 to 8 ° It has an inclination angle. Therefore, a wider area and a narrower area than the diameter of the power transmission body 6 are formed between the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 and the shaft portion 4b. The outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 rotates together with the input rotator 3 when the input rotator 3 rotates forward in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5, and presses the power transmission body 6 toward the shaft portion 4b. And the power transmission body 6 is pinched | interposed by the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 and the axial part 4b, and it will be in the transmission state which can transmit power between the input rotary body 3 and the driven rotary body 4, and these rotate integrally.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the pair of power transmission bodies 6 are provided at axially symmetrical positions sandwiching the shaft portion 4b. Accordingly, the pair of power transmission bodies 6 sandwich the shaft portion 4b when the input rotator 3 rotates forward. Moreover, when the power transmission body 6 is pressed with strong force toward the shaft portion 4b, the shaft portion 4b is elastically deformed. As a result, the inner peripheral surface of the shaft portion 4 b comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 3 c of the input rotating body 3. As a result, the rotational force of the input rotating body 3 can be transmitted to the driven rotating body 4 via the shaft portion 3c and the shaft portion 4b.

  On the other hand, when the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 reverses in the direction of the arrow together with the input rotator 3 as shown in FIG. 6, the power transmission body 6 is released from the state sandwiched between the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 and the shaft portion 4b. . Therefore, the input rotator 3 and the driven rotator 4 are disconnected from each other so that power is not transmitted, and the driven rotator 4 can rotate independently of the input rotator 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the clutch device 1 further includes a reverse rotation spring 7 that reversely rotates the input rotating body 3, a rotation plate 8 that prevents excessive deformation of the reverse rotation spring 7, and an axial biasing spring 9. . The reversing spring 7 is, for example, a spiral spring, and has a locking portion 7a at an end portion on the center side and a hook 7b at an end portion on the outer peripheral side. The reverse rotation spring 7 is inserted into a recess 3 e formed on the lower end surface of the input rotating body 3. The locking portion 7 a is locked in a state in which the locking portion 7 a is locked to the outer periphery of the convex portion 3 f formed on the bottom surface of the reverse rotation spring 7. On the other hand, the hook 7b is hooked on the convex part 8c which protrudes from the upper surface of the rotating plate 8, as shown in FIG. The hook 7b is configured to be disengaged from the convex portion 8c during reverse rotation.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the rotating plate 8 has a disc shape and has a shaft hole 8 d into which the support shaft member 16 is inserted at the center. Therefore, the rotating plate 8 is supported so as to be rotatable coaxially with the rotating bodies 3 and 4 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the axial biasing spring 9 is, for example, a coil spring, and is inserted between the rotating plate 8 and the case member 2 with the support shaft member 16 inserted therein. As shown in FIG. 4, the axial biasing spring 9 abuts on the inner peripheral lower surface 8 a of the rotary plate 8 and biases the rotary plate 8 upward in the axial direction. A rotation restricting portion 17 provided on the case member 2 projects in the urging direction of the rotating plate 8. The rotation restricting portion 17 protrudes above the outer peripheral surface of the rotating plate 8, and the upper surface of the outer peripheral portion 8 b of the rotating plate 8 is pressed against the rotation restricting portion 17. Accordingly, a frictional force is generated between the rotating plate 8 and the rotation restricting portion 17, and the rotation of the rotating plate 8 is restricted by the frictional force.

  Therefore, when the input rotator 3 is rotated forward by the driving force of the motor 11, one end of the reverse rotation spring 7 is pulled by the input rotator 3 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the other end of the reversing spring 7 is locked to the rotating plate 8, and the rotating plate 8 is stationary by a static friction force generated between the rotating plate 8 and the rotation restricting portion 17. Therefore, the reverse spring 7 is elastically deformed. However, when the elastic deformation of the reversing spring 7 increases and the elastic force of the reversing spring 7 becomes larger than the static friction force generated between the rotating plate 8 and the rotation restricting portion 17, the rotating plate 8 causes the rotation restricting portion 17 to rotate. It begins to rotate while sliding against. Accordingly, the reverse spring 7 rotates while maintaining a predetermined elastic deformation amount. Excessive deformation of the reversing spring 7 is prevented by the rotation of the rotating plate 8.

  When the input rotator 3 rotates forward as shown in FIG. 5, the grooved member 5 rotates forward together with the input rotator 3. As a result, the power transmission body 6 is sandwiched between the outer peripheral wall surface 5 b 1 of the groove 5 b and the shaft portion 4 b, and the rotational force of the input rotation body 3 is transmitted to the driven rotation body 4. Then, the driven rotating body 4 rotates, the cable 18 is pulled as shown in FIG. 1, and the lock device is unlocked. Thereafter, the electric power to the motor 11 is cut, and the reverse rotation spring 7 is elastically returned as shown in FIGS. Then, the input rotator 3 is reversed by the elastic force of the reversing spring 7.

  When the input rotating body 3 is rotated together with the grooved member 5, the power transmission body 6 is released from the state sandwiched between the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 of the groove 5b and the shaft portion 4b as shown in FIG. As a result, the driven rotator 4 can freely rotate with respect to the input rotator 3. Therefore, the locking device returns to the initial state by rotating or tilting the driven rotator 4, the intermediate gear 13, and the output rotator 14 on the downstream side of the driven rotator 4. For this reason, the locking device can return to the initial state without greatly performing the reverse rotation of the worm gear 12 from the input rotating body 3 that requires large energy for the reverse rotation.

  The embodiment is formed as described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the clutch device 1 is divided into an input rotator 3 and a driven rotator 4, a transmission state in which power can be transmitted between the input rotator 3 and the driven rotator 4, and a disconnected state in which power is not transmitted. A switching operation means 19 for switching is provided. The switching operation means 19 includes a shaft portion 4b provided on the driven rotator 4 side, a shaft hole 5a provided on the input rotator 3 side into which the shaft portion 4b is inserted, and the input rotator continuously with the shaft hole 5a. It has a groove 5b formed on the side 3 and a power transmission body 6 provided in the groove 5b. When the input rotator 3 rotates forward, the power transmission body 6 is sandwiched between the wall surface of the groove 5b and the shaft portion 4b so that power can be transmitted between the rotators 3 and 4, and when the input rotator 3 rotates backward. The power transmission body 6 is released from the state sandwiched between the wall surface of the groove 5b and the shaft portion 4b, so that the power transmission body 6 is in a disconnected state where no power is transmitted between the rotating bodies 3 and 4.

  Therefore, when the power transmission body 6 disposed between the rotary bodies 3 and 4 is sandwiched between the rotary bodies 3 and 4, a transmission state in which power can be transmitted between the rotary bodies 3 and 4 is achieved. And the power transmission body 6 is not the structure elastically deformed like the coil spring etc. of the conventional switching operation means. Therefore, a transmission state is reliably established between the two rotating bodies 3 and 4. Moreover, the power transmission body 6 has a configuration that is less likely to be plastically deformed by torque than a coil spring or the like. Therefore, a large driving force (torque) can be stably transmitted between the rotating bodies 3 and 4 as compared with a coil spring or the like.

  In addition, the groove 5b has an outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 inclined with respect to an arc centered on the rotation center of the rotating body 3 as shown in FIG. 5, and the power transmission body 6 is pressed against the shaft portion 4b by the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1. It has become. Therefore, the power transmission body 6 can be pressed against the shaft portion 4b by the shape of the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 of the groove 5b.

  Moreover, the power transmission body 6 is a rolling element that abuts against the wall surface of the groove 5b and rolls as shown in FIG. Therefore, the relative movement between the power transmission body 6 and the groove 5 b can be smoothly performed by the rolling of the power transmission body 6.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the clutch device 1 includes a pair of power transmission bodies 6, and the pair of power transmission bodies 6 are provided at axially symmetrical positions with the shaft portion 4 b interposed therebetween. Therefore, by sandwiching the shaft portion 4b between the pair of power transmission bodies 6, the sandwiching of the power transmission body 6 into the shaft portion 4b is stabilized. As a result, even when a relatively large driving force is transmitted, the driving force can be stably transmitted from the input rotating body 3 side to the driven rotating body 4 side.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the clutch device 1 has a reversing spring 7 for reversing the input rotating body 3 separately from the switching operation means 19. Incidentally, the conventional clutch device has a coil spring as a switching operation means, and this coil spring also has a function of reversing the input rotating body. Therefore, the coil spring has a configuration in which it is not easy to change the design and the like because it is necessary to satisfy both the function as the switching operation means and the function of reversing the input rotating body. On the other hand, since this embodiment has the reverse rotation spring 7 separately from the switching operation means 19, it is easy to set each function better.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be the following form.
(1) For example, the switching operation means 19 of the above embodiment has a shaft portion 4b provided on the driven rotor 4 side, a shaft hole 5a and a groove 5b provided on the input rotor 3 side. However, a shaft portion provided on the input rotator 3 side, a shaft hole provided on the driven rotator 4 side into which the shaft portion is inserted, and a groove formed on the driven rotator 4 side continuously with the shaft hole, The power transmission body provided in the groove may be used.
(2) The above embodiment has the cylindrical power transmission body 6. It may replace with this and the form which has a spherical power transmission body may be sufficient.
(3) In the above embodiment, the power transmission body 6 is pressed against the shaft portion 4b by the outer peripheral wall surface 5b1 of the groove 5b. However, the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion is not a circumferential surface, and the power transmission member may be pressed against the outer peripheral wall surface of the groove by the shaft portion, and the power transmission member may be sandwiched between the shaft portion and the outer peripheral wall surface of the groove.
(4) Although the above embodiment has a pair of power transmission members, it may have a plurality of pairs of power transmission bodies provided at axially symmetric positions with the shaft portion interposed therebetween.
(5) The said embodiment has the input rotary body 3 and the grooved member 5 separately, and was a form with which these are assembled | attached. However, these may be formed by a single member.

It is sectional drawing of the actuator which has a clutch apparatus. It is a perspective view of a clutch apparatus. It is a perspective view of a clutch apparatus. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the clutch device taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 4 when the transmission state is such that power can be transmitted between the input rotating body and the driven rotating body. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 5 in a cut state in which power is not transmitted between the input rotator and the driven rotator. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 4.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Clutch apparatus 2 ... Case member 3 ... Input rotary body 4 ... Driven rotary body 4b ... Shaft part 5 ... Grooved member 5a ... Shaft hole 5b ... Groove 5b1 ... outer peripheral wall surface 6 ... power transmission body 7 ... reversing spring 8 ... rotating plate 9 ... axial urging spring 10 ... actuator 11 ... motor (drive source)
12 ... Worm gear 13 ... Intermediate gear 14 ... Output rotator 15 ... Operation lever 16 ... Support shaft member 17 ... Rotation restricting portion 18 ... Cable 19 ... Switching operation means

Claims (5)

An input rotator that is rotated by the driving force of the drive source, a driven rotator that is rotatably supported coaxially with the input rotator, and power between the input rotator and the driven rotator. A clutch device having a switching operation means for switching between a transmission state in which transmission is possible and a disconnection state in which power is not transmitted,
The switching operation means includes a shaft portion provided on one of the rotating bodies, a shaft hole provided on the other rotating body side, into which the shaft portion is inserted, and continuous with the shaft hole. A groove formed on the other rotating body side, and a power transmission body provided in the groove, and when the input rotating body is rotating forward, the power transmission body has a wall surface of the groove, the shaft portion, In a transmission state in which power can be transmitted between the two rotating bodies, the power transmitting body is released from a state sandwiched between the wall surface of the groove and the shaft portion when the input rotating body is reversely rotated. A clutch device characterized in that it is in a disconnected state in which power is not transmitted between both rotating bodies. The clutch device according to claim 1,
The groove device has an outer peripheral wall surface that is inclined with respect to an arc centered on the rotation center of the rotating body, and is configured to press the power transmission body against the shaft portion by the outer peripheral wall surface. The clutch device according to claim 1 or 2,
The power transmission body is a rolling body that rolls in contact with a wall surface of a groove. The clutch device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A clutch device comprising a pair of power transmission bodies, wherein the pair of power transmission bodies are provided at axially symmetrical positions sandwiching a shaft portion. The clutch device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A reversing spring for reversing the input rotating body is provided separately from the switching operation means,
The reversing spring is elastically deformed when the input rotator is normally rotated by a driving force of a driving source, and reverses the input rotator by an elastic return force of the elastic deformation when the driving force is cut. A clutch device characterized by the above.

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