JP2008267413A - Slide joint - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a slide joint capable of properly reducing an injection quantity of a lubricating agent without increasing its whole length. <P>SOLUTION: In the slide joint having a structure for stretching and compressing by mutually sliding a female spline member 12 and a male spline member 11 in an axial direction, the injection quantity of the lubricating agent can be reduced without increasing its whole length by adopting a structure for sealing off the lubricating agent at a tip end side of the male spline member 11 for a spline meshing part by using a separation member 17, having a cylindrical cylinder part 17b inserted in the male spline member 11 from its tip end, for axially separating the inner part of the female spline member 12 and a sealing member 18, fixed at an inner circumference of the tip end part of the male spline member 11, for sealing between confronting surfaces of the inner circumference of the male spline member 11 and an outer circumference of the cylinder part 17b of the separation member 17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a slide joint that joins two shafts together while allowing relative displacement in the axial direction.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional slide joint used for a propeller shaft of a vehicle in combination with a universal joint. As shown in the figure, the slide joint includes a cylindrical male spline member 51 connected to the universal joint 50 and a similarly cylindrical female spline member 52 that is extrapolated to the male spline member 51.

  An external spline 53 extending in the axial direction is formed on the outer periphery of the male spline member 51. On the other hand, an internal spline 54 that extends in the axial direction is formed on the inner periphery of the female spline member 52, and meshes with the external spline 53 of the male spline member 51. A rubber tube 55 is attached to the outer periphery of the male spline member 51 so as to cover the front end portion of the female spline member 52 that is inserted on the male spline member 51.

  The slide joint is configured to expand and contract by sliding the male spline member 51 and the female spline member 52 in the axial direction through engagement of the external spline 53 and the internal spline 54. In such a slide joint, a lubricant such as grease that lubricates the sliding surfaces of the external spline 53 and the internal spline 54 is provided inside the tube 55, the meshing portion of the external spline 53 and the internal spline 54, and the female It is injected into the inside of the spline member 52 or the like.

  In order to seal such a lubricant, a lip 56 for sealing between the opposing surfaces of the inner periphery of the tube 55 and the outer periphery of the distal end portion of the female spline member 52 inserted into the tube 55 is provided at the distal end of the tube 55. It is attached. Further, the opening at the distal end of the male spline member 51 is closed by the cover 57, and the inside thereof is partitioned in the axial direction at the proximal end side of the female spline member 52 and at the rear side of the distal end of the male spline member 51 inserted therein. A partition member 58 is installed. As a result, a lubricant filling chamber 59 defined by the inner periphery of the cover 57, the partition member 58, and the female spline member 52 is formed. A supply port 60 for supplying a lubricant is provided on the side periphery of the filling chamber 59.

  In such a slide joint, a lubricant is injected from the supply port 60 so as to fill all of the inside of the tube 55, the meshing portion of the external spline 53 and the internal spline 54, and the filling chamber 59. The injection at this time requires a large amount of lubricant because the volume of the filling chamber 59 is large.

Therefore, conventionally, a slide joint described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed as a slide joint capable of reducing the amount of lubricant injected. A partial cross-sectional structure of such a slide joint is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, this slide joint includes a cylindrical male spline member 71 having an outer spline 70 formed on the outer periphery and a circular tube-shaped female spline member 73 having an inner spline 72 formed on the inner periphery. And. The male spline member 71 and the female spline member 73 are configured to be extendable and contractible through an axial slide between the external spline 70 and the internal spline 72. Here, in this slide joint, seal members 74 and 75 for sealing between the opposing surfaces of the inner periphery and the outer periphery of the male spline member 71 are provided on the inner periphery of the female spline member 73. By installing each on the side, the lubricant is sealed at the meshing portion of the external spline 70 and the internal spline 72.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-14647 JP 2001-317559 A JP 2003-194086 A

  According to the slide joint described in Document 1, the volume of the portion into which the lubricant is injected becomes small, and the amount of the lubricant injected is surely reduced. By the way, in such a slide joint, in order to ensure the slidable contact surface 76 with the seal member 75, the tip of the male spline member 71 must be extended at least by the amount of expansion and contraction of the slide joint. Therefore, if such a seal structure is adopted, the entire length of the slide joint will naturally become longer. Also, when using a slide joint in combination with a universal joint such as a propeller shaft of a vehicle, the slide joint will be eccentrically rotated, but if the total length of the slide joint becomes longer and its mass increases, As a result, the rotational balance is also deteriorated.

  Incidentally, as a technique for improving the efficiency of supplying lubricant to the slide joint, those described in Patent Documents 2 and 3 have been proposed. However, these slide joints are not designed to completely seal the lubricant, and the lubricant gradually leaks to the outside, so that it is necessary to sequentially replenish the lubricant. .

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the problem to be solved is to provide a slide joint that can suitably reduce the amount of lubricant injected without increasing the overall length. It is in.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above-described problems and the effects thereof will be described.
The invention according to claim 1 includes a circular tube-shaped female member and a circular tube-shaped male member that is slidably inserted in the axial direction with respect to the female member. In a slide joint in which a lubricant is sealed between a slidable contact surface between a periphery and an outer periphery of the male member, the member is a member that divides the inside of the female member in an axial direction, and is inserted into the male member from the tip thereof. A partition member having a cylindrical tube portion, and a seal member that is fixed to the inner periphery of the distal end portion of the male member and seals between the opposing surfaces of the inner periphery of the male member and the outer periphery of the tube portion of the partition member The gist is to provide.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the slide joint according to the first aspect, an inner spline extending in the axial direction is formed on the inner periphery of the female member, and on the outer periphery of the male member. The gist is that an external spline is formed that extends in the axial direction and meshes with the internal spline.

  Furthermore, the gist of the invention described in claim 3 is that the slide joint according to claim 1 or 2 is applied to a slide portion of a propeller shaft of a vehicle.

  In the slide joint according to claim 1, the cylindrical portion of the partition member is installed so as to enter the inside of the circular male member, and is in sliding contact with a seal member fixed to the inner periphery of the male member. The lubricant is sealed on the front end side of the male member. Therefore, the volume of the portion into which the lubricant is injected can be reduced without increasing the total length of the slide joint, and the injection amount can be reduced.

  In the slide joint of the present invention, the internal spline and the external spline extending in the axial direction are formed on the inner periphery of the female member and the outer periphery of the male member, respectively. The present invention can be applied to a slide joint configured to expand and contract by sliding both male and female members in the axial direction through meshing of teeth and external splines.

  Moreover, the slide joint of the present invention can be applied to a slide portion of a propeller shaft of a vehicle as described in claim 3. Incidentally, in a propeller shaft of a vehicle, a slide joint is generally used in combination with a universal joint and is eccentrically rotated. Therefore, when the total length is increased and the mass is increased, the rotation balance is deteriorated. Therefore, if the slide joint of the present invention capable of reducing the injection amount of the lubricant without increasing the overall length is applied to the slide portion of the propeller shaft of such a vehicle, the lubricant injection amount can be reduced and the deterioration of the rotation balance can be prevented. Can be achieved.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the slide joint of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a case where the slide joint of the present invention is used for a slide portion of a propeller shaft of a vehicle will be described as an example. In a vehicle propeller shaft, a slide joint is used in combination with a universal joint.

  Fig.1 (a) has shown the partial cross section structure which looked at the slide joint of this embodiment from the side. As shown in the figure, the slide joint includes a circular male spline member 11 connected to the universal joint 10 and a cylindrical female spline member 12 that extrapolates the tip of the male spline member 11. It is prepared for. An external spline 13 extending in the axial direction is formed on the outer periphery of the distal end portion of the male spline member 11, and formed so as to extend in the axial direction on the inner periphery of the distal end portion of the female spline member 12. Is engaged with the internal spline 14. The slide joint is configured to expand and contract as the male spline member 11 and the female spline member 12 slide through each other through meshing of the external splines 13 and the internal splines 14.

  A circular tube 15 made of a flexible material such as rubber is fixed to the base end of the male spline member 11. The tube 15 is provided so as to cover the outer periphery of the distal end portion of the female spline member 12 that is extrapolated to the male spline member 11, and the inner periphery of the tube 15 and the outer periphery of the female spline member 12 are provided at the distal end. A lip 16 that seals between the opposing surfaces is fixed. The lubricant that lubricates the meshing portion between the male spline member 11 and the female spline member 12 is sealed by the tube 15 and the lip 16 on the base end side of the male spline member 11. Yes.

  On the other hand, in this slide joint, the sealing of the lubricant on the distal end side of the male spline member 11 is performed between the partition member 17 fixed to the inner periphery of the proximal end portion of the female spline member 12 and the distal end portion of the male spline member 11. The structure is performed by a seal member 18 fixed to the inner periphery.

  FIG. 1B shows an enlarged cross-sectional structure of the partition member 17 and its peripheral portion. As shown in the figure, the partition member 17 has a base end portion 17a fitted and fixed to the inner periphery of the base end portion of the female spline member 12, and the base end portion 17a of the female spline member 12 is fixed. The cylindrical tube portion 17b is formed so as to protrude toward the distal end side. The outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 17b of the partition member 17 is made smaller than the inner diameter of the male spline member 11, and the distal end portion of the cylindrical portion 17b is inserted into the male spline member 11 from the distal end. That is, the partition member 17 has a cylindrical tube portion 17b inserted into the male spline member 11 from the tip thereof, and is formed so as to partition the inside of the female spline member 12 in the axial direction. Note that the axial length of the cylindrical portion 17b of the partition member 17 is longer than the slide length (expansion / contraction amount) of the slide joint.

  As described above, the seal member 18 made of a flexible material such as rubber is fixed to the inner periphery of the distal end portion of the male spline member 11 in which the cylindrical portion 17b of the partition member 17 is inserted. The member 18 seals between the opposing surfaces of the inner periphery of the male spline member 11 and the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 17b. As a result, an inner periphery of the female spline member 12, a distal end surface of the male spline member 11, an outer periphery of the partition member 17, and a lubricant filling chamber 19 defined by the seal member 18 are formed.

  An injection port 20 for injecting a lubricant is attached to the proximal end side of the internal spline 14 of the female spline member 12. The lubricant injected from the injection port 20 is filled in the filling chamber 19, the meshing portion of the external spline 13 and the internal spline 14, and the inside of the tube 15.

  Thus, in this slide joint, the cylindrical portion 17b of the partition member 17 is installed so as to enter the inside of the male spline member 11, and is in sliding contact with the seal member 18 fixed to the inner periphery of the distal end portion of the male spline member 11. Thus, the lubricant is sealed on the distal end side of the male spline member 11. In this embodiment, as is apparent from the comparison with the filling chamber 59 of the conventional slide joint shown in FIG. 2, the male spline member 11 is engaged with the meshing portion of the external spline 13 and the internal spline 14. The volume of the lubricant filling chamber 19 formed on the front end side of this is greatly reduced.

In this embodiment, the male spline member 11 corresponds to the male member, and the female spline member 12 corresponds to the female member.
According to the slide joint of this embodiment described above, the following effects can be achieved.

  (1) In this embodiment, the partition member 17 installed so that the cylinder part 17b enters the inside of the male spline member 11, the outer periphery of the cylinder part 17b of the partition member 17, and the inner periphery of the male spline member 11 The sealing member 18 is used to seal the lubricant on the front end side of the male spline member 11. Therefore, the volume of the portion into which the lubricant is injected can be reduced without increasing the total length of the slide joint, and the injection amount can be reduced.

  (2) The slide joint of this embodiment is used for the slide part of the propeller shaft of the vehicle used in combination with the universal joint. In such a propeller shaft, since the slide joint is rotated eccentrically, the total length becomes long, and when its mass increases, the rotation balance is deteriorated. Since the slide joint of this embodiment can reduce the injection amount of the lubricant without increasing the total length, both reduction of the lubricant injection amount and prevention of deterioration of the rotation balance can be achieved.

In addition, the slide joint of the said embodiment can also be changed and implemented as follows.
-In the slide joint of the said embodiment, although the partition member 17 formed in the bracket shape was used, the shape of the partition member 17 is not restricted to this, It can change suitably. The point is that the inside of the female spline member 12 is partitioned in the axial direction, and if it is a member provided with a cylindrical tube portion inserted into the male spline member 11 from its tip, this is replaced with the partition member 17. It is possible to reduce the amount of lubricant injection in the same manner without increasing the overall length of the slide joint.

-The slide joint of this invention can be used besides the slide part of the propeller shaft of a vehicle.
The present invention is not limited to the slide joint having the configuration exemplified in the above embodiment, and can be applied to a slide joint having an arbitrary configuration. The point is that it has a circular tube-shaped female member and a circular tube-shaped male member that is slidably inserted in the axial direction with respect to the female member. If the slide joint is configured to expand and contract by sliding, the inside of the female member is partitioned in the axial direction, and the partition member having a cylindrical tube portion inserted into the male member from the tip thereof, and the tip portion of the male member A seal member that is fixed to the inner periphery and seals between the opposing surfaces of the inner periphery of the male member and the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion of the partition member is provided, thereby sliding the inner periphery of the female member and the outer periphery of the male member. The injection amount of the lubricant provided between the contact surfaces can be reduced without increasing the overall length.

Next, a technical idea that can be grasped from the above embodiment and another example will be added below.
(A) The slide joint according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an axial length of the cylindrical portion is longer than a slide length of the slide joint.

  (B) The slide joint according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and (a), wherein the slide joint is used in combination with a universal joint.

(A) is sectional drawing which shows the whole partial sectional structure seen from the side surface about one Embodiment of the slide joint of this invention, (b) is sectional drawing which expands and shows the sectional structure of the partition member and its peripheral part . Sectional drawing which shows the whole partial cross-section structure seen from the side about the conventional slide joint. Sectional drawing which shows the whole partial cross section structure seen from the side surface about another conventional slide joint.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Universal joint, 11 ... Male spline member (male member), 12 ... Female spline member (female member), 13 ... External spline, 14 ... Internal tooth spline, 15 ... Tube, 16 ... Lip, 17 ... Partition member ( 17a ... proximal end, 17b ... cylindrical portion), 18 ... sealing member, 19 ... filling chamber, 20 ... injection port.

Claims (3)

A circular tube-shaped female member and a circular tube-shaped male member that is slidably inserted in the axial direction with respect to the female member, and an inner periphery of the female member and an outer periphery of the male member In a slide joint in which a lubricant is sealed between sliding surfaces,
A member that divides the interior of the female member in the axial direction, and a partition member having a cylindrical tube portion that is inserted into the male member from the tip thereof;
A seal member that is fixed to the inner periphery of the distal end portion of the male member and seals between the opposing surfaces of the inner periphery of the male member and the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion of the partition member;
A slide joint comprising: An inner spline extending in the axial direction is formed on the inner periphery of the female member, and an outer spline extending in the axial direction and meshed with the inner spline is formed on the outer periphery of the male member. The slide joint according to claim 1 formed. The slide joint according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the slide joint is applied to a slide portion of a propeller shaft of a vehicle.

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