JP2009097366A - Oil supply device for engine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an oil supply device for an engine capable of suppressing influence to an engine drive mechanism system even if air is mixed in oil pumped up from an oil pan. <P>SOLUTION: A substantially cylindrical chamber 6 is put at a downstream side of an oil pump 1 of a passage 3 of the engine. The passage 3 is connected to the chamber 6 in a tangential direction. A passage 8 to the engine drive mechanism system is connected to a position separate from the passage 3 in a center line direction of the chamber 6 so as to communicate to a circumferential surface of the chamber 6. A passage 7 to a crankshaft lubrication system is connected to a part near a center line of the chamber 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an engine oil supply apparatus that pumps oil stored in an oil pan of an engine by a pump drive and branches and supplies the oil to at least a crankshaft lubrication system and an engine drive mechanism system from an oil passage in the engine.

  Conventionally, this type of oil supply device is used in hydraulic actuators such as HLA (hydraulic lash adjuster) and hydraulic VVT (variable valve timing mechanism) in engine drive mechanism systems in addition to crankshaft lubrication systems. It is configured to supply oil.

  The HLA adjusts the valve clearance in order to properly operate the intake and exhaust valves, and the VVT changes the rotation phase angle of the intake and exhaust camshafts with respect to the crankshaft.

  By the way, in such an oil supply apparatus, air may be mixed into the oil while the oil circulates in the engine. For example, when the oil is returned to the oil pan, if the oil level of the oil pan fluctuates due to the natural fall of the oil, air is likely to be mixed into the oil.

  Here, when air is mixed into the oil, the hydraulic actuators such as HLA and VVT described above are particularly affected. That is, since the volume of the bubble portion is remarkably reduced when the pressure is applied, the hydraulic actuator must move with a large stroke, which causes a problem that the operation efficiency and the operation accuracy deteriorate.

  Further, in HLA, since the valve clearance becomes inappropriate due to the deterioration of the operation accuracy, noise is generated.

  Therefore, many methods for removing air mixed in oil have been proposed. For example, oil is allowed to stand in an oil pan, and air (bubbles) is removed using gas buoyancy.

  In adopting such a method, a vertical wall is disposed at a predetermined position in the oil supply device, and the residence time from when the oil returns to the oil pan until it is pumped up by the pump drive is earned by the vertical wall. I am doing so.

  In addition to this, a dry sump type engine in which a centrifugal gas separation chamber is disposed in an oil tank is known. In this method, in the gas separation chamber, rotational movement is given to the oil mixed with air, and by collecting the bubbles at the center of rotation using the difference in centrifugal force acting on the bubbles and oil. It is possible to separate air from the oil in advance (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP-A-6-42326 JP 2006-83809 A

  Here, the conventional structures disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 attempt to completely remove air from the oil. However, in reality, even if an attempt is made to remove air using the difference in centrifugal force, air remains in the oil, and the air mixing rate to a level at which the hydraulic actuator can be properly operated. Could not be reduced.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an engine oil supply device that can suppress the influence on the engine drive mechanism system even if a large amount of air is mixed in the oil pumped up from the oil pan.

  The engine oil supply apparatus of the present invention pumps oil stored in an engine oil pan by pump drive, and supplies the oil to an at least crankshaft lubrication system and an engine drive mechanism system from an oil passage in the engine. In the oil supply device, a substantially cylindrical chamber is interposed on the oil pump downstream side of the oil passage of the engine, and an oil introduction portion is connected to the chamber so as to communicate with the tangential direction thereof. A first oil lead-out portion to the engine drive mechanism system is connected to a position separated from the oil introduction portion in the direction of the center line of the chamber so as to communicate with the peripheral surface of the chamber. The second oil lead-out portion is connected to the crankshaft lubrication system.

  According to this configuration, even if a large amount of air is mixed in the oil pumped up from the oil pan, the oil is moved closer to the inner peripheral surface of the chamber due to the centrifugal force accompanying the swirling flow in the chamber. And oil near the center line with a high air mixing rate, and oil having different properties can be supplied from each oil outlet.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the first oil lead-out portion communicates in the tangential direction on the circumferential surface of the chamber so as to follow a swirl flow generated by oil introduction from the oil introduction portion. It is.

  According to this configuration, the swirling flow of oil in the chamber can be prevented from being disturbed by the opening of the first oil outlet, and the oil can be smoothly led into the first oil outlet along the swirling flow.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the second oil lead-out portion is an end portion of a main oil gallery that is a main oil passage of the crankshaft lubrication system in the cylinder block, and the center line of the chamber is a crankshaft. It is arranged to face the direction.

  According to this configuration, by using the main oil gallery as the second oil lead-out part, it is not necessary to separately form the oil lead-out part. For this reason, the hydraulic circuit including the chamber can be formed compactly in the engine.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the chamber is internally formed between the joint surfaces of the cylinder block and the front cover.

  According to this configuration, the chamber can be easily and surely sealed using the front cover, and thus the formation of the chamber can be easily realized.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the cylinder block and the front cover are joined by bolt fastening, and the chamber is disposed between a plurality of fastening portions.

  According to this configuration, since the chamber is formed in the portion where the degree of close contact between the cylinder block and the front cover is increased, the sealing performance of the chamber can be further improved.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the oil intake in the second oil lead-out portion is performed from the protruding portion extending into the chamber.

  According to this configuration, since part of the oil with a low air mixing rate can be prevented from being led out to the second oil outlet, the oil with a high air mixing rate can be accurately and easily led out. it can. In other words, oil with a low air mixing rate can be derived accurately and easily.

According to the present invention, even if a large amount of air is mixed in the oil pumped up from the oil pan, the oil is moved closer to the inner peripheral surface of the chamber due to the centrifugal force accompanying the swirling flow in the chamber. And oil near the center line with a high air mixing rate, and oil having different properties can be supplied from each oil outlet.
In other words, only the oil with a low air mixing rate is taken out from the entire oil and supplied to the engine drive mechanism system, so that air is not mixed into the engine drive mechanism system without completely separating the air from the oil. The influence of can be suppressed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a hydraulic circuit diagram corresponding to an in-line four-cylinder DOHC engine showing an oil supply apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a portion around a chamber in a front end wall portion of a cylinder block. It is a front view which expands and shows. In the oil pump 1 shown in FIG. 1, the suction side communicates with the oil pan 2, and the discharge side communicates with the oil filter 4 via the oil passage 3. Here, in the oil passage 3, the oil filter 4 communicates with the oil cooler 5, and the oil cooler 5 communicates with a chamber 6 described later.

  In the chamber 6, two oil passages 7 and 8 are branched therefrom, and communicate with a crankshaft lubrication system indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 1 and an engine drive mechanism system.

  In FIG. 1, the oil pump 1 pumps up oil stored in the oil pan 2 through a strainer (not shown) by driving and discharges the oil from the discharge port of the oil pump 1 to the oil passage 3 described above. Thus, the oil discharged from the oil pump 1 is first supplied to the oil filter 4 and the oil cooler 5. The oil pump 1 is a mechanical oil pump that is driven in conjunction with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine (engine).

  Further, in FIG. 1, when the discharge pressure of the oil pump 1 becomes high or the like, in order to relieve the pressure on the downstream side (oil passage 3) of the oil pump 1, from the discharge side of the oil pump 1 to the suction side. A return oil passage 9 for returning the oil is provided. The return oil passage 9 is provided with a relief valve 10 for controlling the oil flow to the suction side.

  By the way, the oil discharged from the oil pump 1 to the oil passage 3 and flowing through the oil filter 4 and the oil cooler 5 (oil passage 3) passes through the chamber 6 interposed further downstream of the oil pump 1, and the crankshaft lubrication is performed. Branch and supply to the system and the engine drive mechanism system.

  Here, in the crankshaft lubrication system, the main oil gallery 11a of the cylinder block 11 shown in FIG. 2 is the main body of the oil passage 7, and the oil supplied to the main oil gallery 11a (oil passage 7) is: Lubricating oil is supplied to the journal portion 12a of the crankshaft 12.

  Further, in the engine drive mechanism system, as shown in FIG. 1, the oil passage 8 further branches and communicates with the oil passages 13, 14, 15, and 16. The oil passages 13 to 16 include an intake and exhaust camshafts, a hydraulic HLA, a hydraulic intake and exhaust variable valve timing mechanism (VVT), and a hydraulic chain tensioner that constitute an engine drive mechanism system. The oil supplied to the oil passage 8 is supplied to each element described above via the oil passages 13 to 16.

  Here, the intake and exhaust camshafts are arranged in parallel with the crankshaft 12 in the cylinder head 11, and a plurality of cams are fixedly provided. The intake / exhaust valve is driven by each camshaft directly or via a rocker arm.

  And with respect to these camshafts, oil is supplied to a bearing part via the oil path 13, and is utilized as lubricating oil.

  The HLA adjusts the valve clearance in order to properly operate the intake / exhaust valves in a valve operating system comprising a camshaft. The valve clearance is controlled by the oil pressure of the oil supplied through the oil passage 14. Automatically adjust to 0.

  VVT changes the rotational phase angle of the intake and exhaust camshafts relative to the crankshaft 12. In other words, the phase angle of the opening / closing timing of the intake valve and the exhaust valve with respect to the crankshaft can be changed by the VVT.

  Specifically, the camshaft and the cam pulley are relatively rotated by the hydraulic pressure of the oil supplied from the oil passage 15 to change the rotation phase of the camshaft with respect to the crankshaft.

  The chain tensioner uses a hydraulic pressure of oil supplied from the oil passage 16 to apply tension to a chain wound around the sprocket located at the end of each camshaft and the sprocket of the crankshaft. It is.

Next, the structure of the chamber 6 and its surroundings will be described in detail with further reference to FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
First, with respect to the cylinder block 11 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, projecting wall portions 17 projecting from the upper end portion to the lower end portion are formed at the peripheral edge portion of the front end wall portion at the left and right side end portions, A plurality of cover mounting boss portions 18, 18,... Protruding in a substantially cylindrical shape are formed in part of the cover mounting boss portions 18. In addition, the front here means the front in an engine main body, and the axial direction of the crankshaft 12 corresponds with the front-back direction of an engine.

  2 is a bore peripheral wall portion of the front end side cylinder of the cylinder block 11, and in this embodiment, between the cover mounting boss portions 18 and 18 located near the lower portion of the bore peripheral wall portion 11b. A hole 19 having a cylindrical shape is formed.

  Here, the cover mounting boss portion 18 constitutes a cover mounting portion for joining the front cover 20 (see FIG. 3), and the front cover 20 is mounted on each cover mounting boss portion 18, 18,. A bolt hole 22 into which a working bolt 21 (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) is screwed is formed.

  The front cover 20 is joined to the projecting wall portions 17 by fastening the mounting bolts 21 at the periphery thereof, and the valve drive system is driven between the front cover 20 and the front end wall portion of the cylinder block 11 by the joining. A flat space for accommodating the timing chain is formed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the front cover 20 is formed with a recess 20 a corresponding to the hole 19. When the front cover 20 is joined to the protruding wall portion 17, a hole on the cylinder block 11 side is formed. The chamber 6 is formed inside the joint surface between the cylinder block 11 and the front cover 20 by the portion 19 and the recess 20a on the front cover 20 side.

  The chamber 6 thus formed has a substantially cylindrical shape, and its center line (indicated by a thick dashed line in FIG. 3) faces the crankshaft direction.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the oil passage 3 extends in the width direction of the cylinder block 11 (a direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction of the cylinder block) and is connected so as to communicate with the tangential direction of the chamber 6. The oil passage 8 extends in the vertical direction and is connected so as to communicate in the tangential direction of the chamber 6 in the same manner.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the oil passages 3 and 8 communicate with the peripheral surface of the chamber 6 at positions separated from each other in the center line direction of the chamber 6.

  Further, an end portion of the main oil gallery 11 a is connected to the chamber 6 near the center line, and a protruding portion 23 extending into the space of the chamber 6 is formed at the tip thereof. A main bearing supply path 24 extending to the journal portion 12a of the crankshaft 12 branches in the middle of the main oil gallery 11a.

Next, the operation of the chamber 6 will be described in detail with further reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view for explaining the operation of the chamber 6.
In the present embodiment, the oil passage 3 constituting the oil introduction portion to the chamber 6 is formed so as to communicate in a tangential direction with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the chamber 6 as described above. When the oil is introduced, a swirl flow is generated along the peripheral surface of the chamber 6 as indicated by a thick arrow in FIGS. 2 and 4, and a centrifugal force acts on the oil.

  At this time, if air (bubbles) is mixed in the oil, as shown in FIG. 4, the portion with a low air mixing rate and a relatively heavy weight flows near the inner peripheral surface of the chamber 6, while the air A portion having a high mixing rate and a relatively light weight flows toward the center of the chamber 6, and it is possible to easily separate those having different air mixing rates.

  In this embodiment, the oil passage 8 is connected so as to communicate with the peripheral surface of the chamber 6, and the main oil gallery 11 a (oil passage 7) is connected near the center line of the chamber 6. Even if a lot of air is mixed in the oil pumped up from the pan 2, oil having different properties (here, different air mixing ratios) is obtained from the oil passages 7 and 8 due to the centrifugal force accompanying the swirling flow in the chamber 6. Can be supplied.

  In other words, only the oil with a low air mixing rate is taken out from the whole oil, and this is supplied to the hydraulic actuators such as hydraulic HLA, VVT and chain tensioner of the engine drive mechanism system, so that the air is completely discharged from the oil. Even if it is not separated, the influence of air mixing on the engine drive mechanism system can be suppressed.

  On the other hand, oil having a high air mixing rate is supplied to the crankshaft lubrication system via the main oil gallery 11a and the main bearing supply passage 24 as shown by the thick arrows in FIG. It can be used without waste as a smaller lubricating oil than the case.

  In addition, the oil passage 8 does not simply extend in the radial direction with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the chamber 6, but on the peripheral surface of the chamber 6 so as to follow the swirl flow generated by the oil introduction from the oil passage 3. It communicates in the tangential direction. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the swirling flow of the oil in the chamber 6 from being disturbed by the opening of the oil passage 8, and the oil can be smoothly led out into the oil passage 8 along the swirling flow.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the end portion of the main oil gallery 11a is used as the oil lead-out portion to the crankshaft lubrication system, so that it is not necessary to separately form the oil lead-out portion. For this reason, the hydraulic circuit including the chamber 6 can be formed compactly in the engine.

  Moreover, by taking in the oil to the oil path 7 from the protrusion part 23, it can suppress that a part of oil with a low air mixing rate is derived | led-out to the edge part of the main oil gallery 11a. For this reason, oil with a high air mixing rate can be derived accurately and easily. In other words, oil with a low air mixing rate can be accurately and easily derived.

  Further, since the chamber 6 is formed between the joint surfaces of the cylinder block 11 and the front cover 20, the chamber 6 can be easily and reliably sealed using the front cover 20. Thereby, the formation of the chamber 6 can be easily realized.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, since the chamber 6 is located between the fastening parts by the mounting bolts 21 and 21 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cover mounting boss 18 and the front cover 20 The chamber 6 is formed in a portion where the close contact degree is increased. Thereby, the sealing performance of the chamber 6 can be further improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the chamber 6 is sealed using the front cover 20, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. For example, you may make it attach the cover member which consists of another member to the site | part of the front cover corresponding to the hole part 19. FIG. As a result, maintenance work and the like in the chamber 6 can be easily performed by opening the lid member without removing the front cover.

  In the chamber 6, an elastic seal member such as an O-ring is interposed between the opening edge of the hole 19 and the edge of the recess 20 a of the front cover 20 to further improve the sealing performance in the chamber 6. It may be.

In correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment,
The oil introduction part of this invention corresponds to the oil passage 3,
Similarly,
The first oil lead-out part corresponds to the oil passage 8,
The second oil outlet portion corresponds to the oil passage 7 and the main oil gallery 11a,
The present invention is not limited only to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and many embodiments can be obtained.

The hydraulic circuit diagram corresponding to the in-line 4-cylinder DOHC engine which shows the oil supply apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The front view which expands and shows the site | part surrounding a chamber among the front-end wall parts of a cylinder block. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. The sectional side view for demonstrating the effect | action of a chamber.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Oil pump 2 ... Oil pan 3, 7, 8, 13-16 ... Oil path 6 ... Chamber 11 ... Cylinder block 11a ... Main oil gallery 12 ... Crankshaft 20 ... Front cover 21 ... Mounting bolt 23 ... Projection part

Claims (6)

An oil supply device for an engine that pumps up oil stored in an oil pan of an engine by a pump drive and supplies the oil to an at least crankshaft lubrication system and an engine drive mechanism system from an oil passage in the engine,
On the downstream side of the oil pump of the engine oil passage, a substantially cylindrical chamber is interposed,
The chamber is connected to an oil inlet so as to communicate with the tangential direction,
Connecting a first oil lead-out portion to the engine drive mechanism system so as to communicate with the peripheral surface of the chamber at a position spaced apart from the oil introduction portion in the center line direction of the chamber;
An oil supply device for an engine having a second oil lead-out portion connected to the crankshaft lubrication system near the center line of the chamber. 2. The engine oil supply device according to claim 1, wherein the first oil lead-out portion communicates in a tangential direction on a peripheral surface of the chamber so as to follow a swirl flow generated by oil introduction from the oil introduction portion. . The second oil lead-out portion is an end portion of a main oil gallery which is a main oil passage of the crankshaft lubrication system in the cylinder block;
The engine oil supply device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the chamber is disposed such that a center line thereof faces a crankshaft direction. 4. The engine oil supply device according to claim 3, wherein the chamber is internally formed between the joint surfaces of the cylinder block and the front cover. The cylinder block and the front cover are joined by bolt fastening,
The engine oil supply device according to claim 4, wherein the chamber is disposed between a plurality of fastening portions. The oil supply device for an engine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein oil is taken in the second oil lead-out portion from a protruding portion extending into the chamber.

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