JP2008267254A - Starter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology capable of improving an assembly property of a lever seal 14 to a lever holder 13 and preventing slip-off after assembling. <P>SOLUTION: The lever seal 14 is assembled to the lever holder 13 by inserting a lip 14a into an assembling hole 13d from the back surface side of a plate 13b of the lever holder 13. The lip 14a has: a press-fitting part 14b passing through the assembling hole 13d and projected to the surface side of the plate 13b; and a fixed part 14c held in the assembling hole 13d. The press-fitting part 14b is of a tapered shape of which the thickness becomes thinner toward the tip, a step 14d is formed between the press-fitting part 14b and the fixed part 14c. Therefore, the step 14d formed between the press-fitting part 14b and the fixed part 14c is locked to each corner of the assembling hole 13d while the press-fitting part 14b is projected to the surface side of the plate 13b, thus preventing the lip 14a from slipping off from the assembling hole 13d. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a starter that drives a drive lever using the attractive force of an electromagnetic switch and pushes a pinion gear toward the ring gear via the drive lever.

As a prior art, there is a starter described in Patent Document 1.
This starter is a system in which a drive lever is driven by an electromagnetic switch to push out a pinion gear toward the ring gear, and the drive lever is swingably supported by a lever holder via a lever pin.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the lever holder 100 has a plate portion 120 in which a through hole 110 penetrating in the plate thickness direction is formed, and a rubber seal member 130 is in close contact with the plate portion 120. Assembled.
As shown in FIG. 6B, the seal member 130 is provided with a protrusion 140 that protrudes in the vertical direction from the surface that is in close contact with the plate portion 120. The protrusion 140 is lightly press-fitted into the through hole 110 and the lever holder 100. Assembled into.
Japanese Patent No. 3702780

By the way, in order to lightly press-fit the protrusion 140 into the through hole 110, it is necessary to secure an appropriate tightening margin between the through hole 110 and the protrusion 140. However, depending on the production of the sealing member 130, which is a rubber product, there is a problem that the tightening margin becomes large and the insertability is deteriorated.
Further, when the press-fitting state of the protrusion 140 with respect to the through-hole 110 is insufficient and the seal member 130 is not in close contact with the plate portion 120 of the lever holder 100, the through-hole 110 is removed when transported to another process. The protrusion 140 may come off and the seal member 130 may drop off from the lever holder 100.
The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of improving the assembling property of the lever holder and the seal member and preventing the dropping after the assembling.

(Invention of Claim 1)
The present invention is a starter that drives a drive lever using the attractive force of an electromagnetic switch and pushes a pinion gear to the ring gear side of the engine via the drive lever, and a lever that rotatably supports the drive lever It has a holder and a rubber seal member assembled to the lever holder.
The lever holder has a plate portion that is in close contact with the seal member, and a through-hole that penetrates the plate portion in the thickness direction is formed. The seal member has a protruding portion that protrudes vertically from the surface that is in close contact with the plate portion. The protrusion is inserted into the through hole and assembled to the lever holder. The protrusion is press-fitted into the through-hole from one end side in the plate thickness direction of the plate portion and protrudes toward the other end. A fixing portion held inside is provided, and a step is formed between the press-fitting portion and the fixing portion so as to expand outward of the through hole.

  According to the above configuration, the step formed between the press-fitting portion and the fixing portion of the protrusion can be provided with a function of preventing the removal. That is, the step formed between the press-fit portion and the fixed portion in the state where the press-fit portion is press-fitted into the through-hole and protrudes to the other end side of the plate portion is a corner portion of the through-hole that opens on the surface of the plate portion. By being locked to, the protrusion cannot move in the anti-insertion direction. As a result, for example, when the seal member is assembled to the lever holder and then transported to another process, the protruding portion does not come off (disengage) from the through hole, and the seal member can be kept in close contact with the plate portion. The seal member can be prevented from falling off from the lever holder.

(Invention of Claim 2)
The present invention is a starter that drives a drive lever using the attractive force of an electromagnetic switch and pushes a pinion gear to the ring gear side of the engine via the drive lever, and a lever that rotatably supports the drive lever It has a holder and a rubber seal member assembled to the lever holder.
The lever holder has a plate portion that is in close contact with the seal member, and a through-hole that penetrates the plate portion in the thickness direction is formed. The seal member has a protruding portion that protrudes vertically from the surface that is in close contact with the plate portion. The protrusion is inserted into the through hole and assembled to the lever holder. The protrusion is press-fitted into the through-hole from one end side in the plate thickness direction of the plate portion and protrudes toward the other end. A fixing portion is provided inside, and a cavity is formed inside the fixing portion.

According to said structure, since the cavity part is formed in the inside of a fixing | fixed part, the fixing | fixed part hold | maintained inside a through-hole is elastically deformed in the compressed state. On the other hand, the press-fit portion is elastically restored by protruding from the state of being press-fitted into the through hole to the other end side of the plate portion. Thereby, a level | step difference is formed between a press-fit part and a fixing | fixed part, and it can give a retaining function to the level | step difference. That is, the step formed between the press-fit portion and the fixed portion is locked to the corner portion of the through hole that opens on the surface of the plate portion, so that the protruding portion cannot move in the anti-insertion direction. As a result, for example, when the seal member is assembled to the lever holder and then transported to another process, the protruding portion does not come off (disengage) from the through hole, and the seal member can be kept in close contact with the plate portion. The seal member can be prevented from falling off from the lever holder.
In addition, when the protrusion is inserted into the through-hole, the cavity is formed inside the fixed part, so that the fixed part is easily elastically deformed, and the insertability is improved.

(Invention of Claim 3)
The starter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a corner portion of the through hole opened on the surface of the other end side in the plate thickness direction of the plate portion is formed with a pin angle of R0.1 or less.
In this case, the step formed between the press-fitted portion and the fixed portion is easily caught by the corner portion of the through hole, so that it is possible to provide a function of preventing the removal more reliably.

(Invention of Claim 4)
The present invention is a starter that drives a drive lever using the attractive force of an electromagnetic switch and pushes a pinion gear to the ring gear side of the engine via the drive lever, and a lever that rotatably supports the drive lever It has a holder and a rubber seal member assembled to the lever holder.
The lever holder has a plate portion that is in close contact with the seal member, and a through-hole that penetrates the plate portion in the thickness direction is formed. The seal member has a protruding portion that protrudes vertically from the surface that is in close contact with the plate portion. The protrusion is inserted into the through hole and assembled to the lever holder. A plurality of ribs are provided on the outer periphery of the protrusion along the insertion direction of the through hole, and the plurality of ribs are press-fitted into the through hole. It is characterized by being.

  According to said structure, when inserting a projection part into a through-hole, since the contact area of a projection part and a through-hole can be reduced, it becomes easy to insert. That is, when the protrusion is inserted into the through hole, a press-fitting load is applied to the plurality of ribs, and the contact area between the protrusion and the through hole can be reduced, so that the protrusion can be easily inserted into the through hole.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following examples.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the starter 1 including a partial cross-sectional shape.
As shown in FIG. 3, the starter 1 of the present embodiment includes a motor 2 that generates a rotational force, an output shaft 3 that rotates when a driving torque of the motor 2 is transmitted, and a clutch 4 on the output shaft 3. The pinion gear 5 and the electromagnetic switch 6 that opens and closes a main contact (described later) provided in the energization circuit of the motor 2 are configured. The drive lever 7 is driven using the attractive force of the electromagnetic switch 6. Then, the pinion gear 5 is pushed together with the clutch 4 in the counter-motor direction (left direction in the figure) via the drive lever 7 and meshed with the engine ring gear (not shown).

The motor 2 is a commutator type DC motor that generates a rotational force on an armature shaft (not shown) by the action of electromagnetic force.
The output shaft 3 is disposed on the same axis as the armature shaft, and an end portion on one end side is rotatably supported by the front housing 9 via a bearing 8 and an end portion on the other end side is a speed reducer (not shown). To the armature shaft.
The speed reducer is a known planetary gear speed reducer that can reduce the speed coaxially with the armature shaft, and amplifies the drive torque of the motor 2 and transmits it to the output shaft 3. A configuration in which the output shaft 3 and the armature shaft are directly connected without using a reduction gear may be used.

The clutch 4 is helically splined to the outer periphery of the output shaft 3 and has a function of intermittently transmitting power between the output shaft 3 and the pinion gear 5. That is, power is transmitted from the output shaft 3 to the pinion gear 5 when the engine is started, and when the rotational speed of the pinion gear 5 exceeds the rotational speed of the output shaft 3 after the engine is started, the rotation of the pinion gear 5 is transmitted to the output shaft 3. It is configured as a one-way clutch that blocks power transmission between the two.
The pinion gear 5 is disposed on the non-motor side of the clutch 4, moves in the anti-motor direction on the output shaft 3 together with the clutch 4, meshes with the ring gear of the engine, and then transmits the driving torque of the motor 2 to the ring gear.

  The electromagnetic switch 6 has an electromagnetic coil (not shown) that is energized from the vehicle battery by closing the start switch (not shown), and a plunger (not shown) that can move the inner periphery of the electromagnetic coil. When the electromagnet is formed by energizing the electromagnetic coil, the plunger is attracted to the electromagnet to close the main contact. When energization of the electromagnetic coil stops and the attraction force of the electromagnet disappears, the plunger is pushed back by the reaction force of a return spring (not shown) to open the main contact.

The main contact is a set of fixed contacts (not shown) connected to the motor circuit via the two external terminals 10 and 11, and a movable movable integrally with the plunger to intermittently connect between the set of fixed contacts. The contact is formed with a contact (not shown), and the movable contact abuts against a set of fixed contacts. The main contact is closed by conducting between the fixed contacts, and the movable contact is separated from the set of fixed contacts. The main contact is opened due to the separation between the two fixed contacts.
The two external terminals 10 and 11 are a B terminal 10 connected to a vehicle-mounted battery via a battery cable and an M terminal 11 to which a motor lead wire 12 taken out from the motor 2 is connected.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drive lever 7 is assembled as a lever assembly together with a lever holder 13 and a lever seal 14 (described later).
This drive lever 7 has a lever pin 7a rotatably supported by a lever holder 13, and a lever rod on one end side of the lever pin 7a is assembled with a shift rod 15 (FIG. 3). The lever end on the other end side of the lever pin 7a is connected to the spline tube of the clutch 4. When the plunger is attracted by the electromagnet and moved rightward in FIG. 3, the drive lever 7 is pulled to the plunger end of one of the levers connected to the shift rod 15, and the other connected to the clutch 4. The lever end portion swings around the lever pin 7a to push the clutch 4 in the direction opposite to the motor.

Next, the lever holder 13 according to the present invention and the lever seal 14 assembled to the lever holder 13 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the lever holder 13 includes a pair of arm portions 13a and a plate portion 13b that supports the arm portions 13a. The arm portion 13 a is formed with a circular fitting hole 13 c that fits into a lever pin 7 a provided on the drive lever 7.
An assembly hole 13d for assembling the lever seal 14 is formed in the plate portion 13b so as to penetrate in the plate thickness direction. For example, the assembly hole 13d is formed in a rectangular shape having a larger width direction than a height direction (vertical direction in the drawing). Further, the corner portion of the assembly hole 13d opened on the surface of the plate portion 13b is formed to have a pin angle of R0.1 or less.

The lever seal 14 is a rubber seal part that is assembled in close contact with the back surface (surface on the side opposite to the arm) of the plate portion 13b, and seals the anti-engine side of the front housing 9 to which the lever holder 13 is attached. .
As shown in FIG. 1B, the lever seal 14 is provided with a lip portion 14a (protrusion portion of the present invention) that protrudes in the vertical direction from the surface that is in close contact with the back surface of the plate portion 13b. It is inserted into the assembly hole 13d from the back side of the portion 13b and assembled to the lever holder 13 [see FIG.
The lip portion 14a is provided with a press-fit portion 14b that passes through the assembly hole 13d and protrudes to the surface side of the plate portion 13b, and a fixing portion 14c that is held inside the assembly hole 13d.

The fixing portion 14c is provided in a rectangular shape corresponding to the shape (rectangular shape) of the assembly hole 13d, and is lightly press-fitted into the assembly hole 13d.
The press-fit portion 14b is provided in the same width direction as the fixing portion 14c in the width direction corresponding to the horizontal width direction of the assembly hole 13d, and has a thickness-direction dimension (thickness) corresponding to the height direction of the assembly hole 13d. The taper shape gradually decreases toward the tip of the press-fit portion 14b. Moreover, the thickness of the taper rear end of the press-fit portion 14b is larger than the thickness of the fixed portion 14c, and a step 14d is formed between the press-fit portion 14b and the fixed portion 14c. This level difference 14d functions as a stopper for the lip portion 14a. In other words, the lip portion 14a inserted into the assembly hole 13d is an assembly that opens to the surface of the plate portion 13b as shown in FIG. 1 (c) with the press-fit portion 14b protruding to the surface side of the plate portion 13b. The step 14d is locked to the corner portion of the attachment hole 13d, so that the attachment hole 13d is prevented from coming off.

Next, the operation of the starter 1 will be described.
When the plunger is attracted by energizing the electromagnetic coil of the electromagnetic switch 6 by closing the start switch, the movement of the plunger is transmitted to the clutch 4 via the drive lever 7. As a result, the clutch 4 and the pinion gear 5 integrally move on the output shaft 3 in the counter-motor direction, and the end surface of the pinion gear 5 comes into contact with the end surface of the ring gear and stops.
On the other hand, when the main contact of the motor circuit is closed by the movement of the plunger, power is supplied from the battery to the motor 2 and a rotational force is generated in the armature. The rotation of the armature is decelerated by the reduction gear and transmitted to the output shaft 3, and further transmitted from the output shaft 3 to the pinion gear 5 through the clutch 4. As a result, the pinion gear 5 is forcibly turned, rotated to a position where it can mesh with the ring gear, and meshed with the ring gear, whereby the driving torque of the motor 2 is transmitted from the pinion gear 5 to the ring gear, and the engine is cranked.

When the start switch is opened after the engine has completely exploded from cranking, the energization to the electromagnetic coil is stopped and the attractive force disappears. As a result, since the plunger is pushed back by the reaction force of the return spring, the main contact is opened, the power supply from the battery to the motor 2 is stopped, and the rotation of the armature is gradually decelerated and stopped.
When the plunger is pushed back, the drive lever 7 is swung in the opposite direction to that when the engine is started, and the movement of the plunger is transmitted to the clutch 4. As a result, the pinion gear 5 is disengaged from the ring gear, and retracts to the stationary position (position shown in FIG. 3) on the output shaft 3 together with the clutch 4 and stops.

(Effect of Example 1)
The lever seal 14 of the present embodiment can prevent the lip portion 14a from coming off (disengaging) from the assembly hole 13d by the step 14d formed between the press-fit portion 14b and the fixing portion 14c of the lip portion 14a. That is, the lip portion 14a is formed between the press-fit portion 14b and the fixing portion 14c as shown in FIG. 1C in a state where the press-fit portion 14b is press-fitted into the assembly hole 13d and protrudes to the surface side of the plate portion 13b. The step 14d formed therebetween is locked to the corner of the assembly hole 13d, so that the movement in the anti-insertion direction (the right direction in the figure) is restricted.

As a result of the above, for example, when the lever seal 14 is assembled to the lever holder 13 and then conveyed to another process, the lip portion 14a does not come off (disengage) from the assembly hole 13d, and the lever seal 14 is attached to the plate portion 13b. Can be kept in close contact, and the lever seal 14 can be prevented from falling off the lever holder 13.
Further, since the corner portion of the assembly hole 13d opened on the surface of the plate portion 13b is formed with a pin angle of R0.1 or less, the step 14d formed between the press-fit portion 14b and the fixing portion 14c is assembled. Since it becomes easy to get caught in the corner | angular part of the attachment hole 13d, a retaining function can be worked more reliably.

4A is a front view of the lever seal 14, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view (AA cross-sectional view) of the lever seal 14.
The lever seal 14 of the present embodiment has no step as described in the first embodiment between the press-fit portion 14b and the fixed portion 14c of the lip portion 14a, and the thickness of the lip portion 14a is the rear end of the press-fit portion 14b ( The same dimension is provided from the rear end of the tapered shape to the fixed portion 14c.
As shown in FIG. 4, the lever seal 14 has two hollow portions 14e extending from the back surface of the lever seal 14 (the surface opposite to the surface closely contacting the plate portion 13b) to the inside of the lip portion 14a. ing. As shown in FIG. 5B, the hollow portion 14e is formed up to the inside of the fixed portion 14c and does not reach the press-fit portion 14b.

According to the above configuration, since the hollow portion 14e is formed inside the fixed portion 14c, the fixed portion 14c held inside the mounting hole 13d when the lip portion 14a is inserted into the mounting hole 13d. Is elastically deformed in a compressed state. On the other hand, the press-fit portion 14b is elastically restored by protruding from the state (compressed state) pressed into the assembly hole 13d to the other end side of the plate portion 13b. Thereby, a step 14d is formed between the press-fit portion 14b and the fixing portion 14c, and the step 14d is locked to the corner of the assembly hole 13d. It is possible to prevent the lip portion 14a from coming off.
Further, when the lip portion 14a is inserted into the assembly hole 13d, since the cavity portion 14e is formed inside the fixing portion 14c, the fixing portion 14c is easily elastically deformed, and the insertability is improved.

5A is a sectional view (BB sectional view) of the lever seal 14, and FIG. 5B is a front view of the lever seal 14.
The lever seal 14 of the present embodiment is provided with a plurality of ribs 14f on the outer periphery of the lip portion 14a. As shown in FIG. 5, two ribs 14f are provided on both surfaces in the thickness direction (the vertical direction in the figure) of the lip portion 14a, and are formed along the insertion direction with respect to the assembly hole 13d.
According to the above configuration, when the lip portion 14a is inserted into the assembly hole 13d, press-fitting loads are applied to the four ribs 14f. That is, since the contact area between the lip portion 14a and the assembly hole 13d can be reduced, the insertion into the assembly hole 13d can be facilitated.

(A) Sectional view of lever holder, (b) Sectional view of lever seal, (c) Sectional view showing a state where the lever seal is assembled to the lever holder (Example 1). (A) Front view of lever assembly, (b) Side view of lever assembly. It is a side view of a starter. (A) The front view of a lever seal, (b) It is sectional drawing (AA sectional drawing) of a lever seal (Example 2). (A) Sectional drawing (BB sectional drawing) of a lever seal, (b) It is a front view of a lever seal (Example 3). (A) It is sectional drawing of a lever holder, (b) It is sectional drawing of a lever seal (prior art).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Starter 5 Pinion gear 6 Electromagnetic switch 7 Drive lever 13 Lever holder 13b Lever holder plate part 13d Assembly hole (through-hole) formed in plate part
14 Lever seal (seal member)
14a Lip (projection)
14b Press-fit portion of the lip portion 14c Fixing portion of the lip portion 14d Step formed between the press-fit portion and the fixing portion 14e Cavity portion formed inside the fixing portion 14f Ribs provided on the lip portion

Claims (4)

A starter that drives the drive lever using the attractive force of the electromagnetic switch and pushes the pinion gear to the ring gear side of the engine via the drive lever.
A lever holder that rotatably supports the drive lever;
It has a rubber seal member assembled to this lever holder,
The lever holder has a plate portion that is in close contact with the seal member, and a through hole that penetrates the plate portion in the plate thickness direction is formed.
The seal member has a protrusion protruding in the vertical direction from the surface closely contacting the plate portion, and the protrusion is inserted into the through hole and assembled to the lever holder.
The protrusion is provided with a press-fit portion that is press-fitted into the through-hole from one end side in the plate thickness direction of the plate portion and protrudes to the other end side, and a fixing portion that is held inside the through-hole, and A starter characterized in that a step is formed between the press-fit portion and the fixed portion so as to expand to the outside of the through hole. A starter that drives the drive lever using the attractive force of the electromagnetic switch and pushes the pinion gear to the ring gear side of the engine via the drive lever.
A lever holder that rotatably supports the drive lever;
It has a rubber seal member assembled to this lever holder,
The lever holder has a plate portion that is in close contact with the seal member, and a through hole that penetrates the plate portion in the plate thickness direction is formed.
The seal member has a protrusion protruding in the vertical direction from the surface closely contacting the plate portion, and the protrusion is inserted into the through hole and assembled to the lever holder.
The protrusion is provided with a press-fit portion that is press-fitted into the through-hole from one end side in the plate thickness direction of the plate portion and protrudes to the other end side, and a fixing portion that is held inside the through-hole, and A starter characterized in that a cavity is formed inside the fixed part. The starter according to claim 1 or 2,
The starter characterized in that a corner of the through hole that opens to the other end surface of the plate portion in the thickness direction is formed with a pin angle of R0.1 or less. A starter that drives the drive lever using the attractive force of the electromagnetic switch and pushes the pinion gear to the ring gear side of the engine via the drive lever.
A lever holder that rotatably supports the drive lever;
It has a rubber seal member assembled to this lever holder,
The lever holder has a plate portion that is in close contact with the seal member, and a through hole that penetrates the plate portion in the plate thickness direction is formed.
The seal member has a protrusion protruding in the vertical direction from the surface closely contacting the plate portion, and the protrusion is inserted into the through-hole and assembled to the lever holder. A starter characterized in that a plurality of ribs are provided along the direction of insertion into the through hole, and the plurality of ribs are press-fitted into the through hole.

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