JP2012197777A - Valve timing control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a valve timing control device for improving assembling property.SOLUTION: A housing 18 rotates together with a crankshaft 90. A vane rotor 14 rotates together with a camshaft 94. A signal plate 30 is connected to the vane rotor 14 and disposed substantially parallel to one end face in the axial direction of the housing 18 and includes a slotted hole 33. A spring hook 39 is disposed at the end face of the housing 18 on the signal plate 30 side. An assist spring 36 includes a fixing part 361, an energizing part 362 and a locking object part 363. When the fixing part 361 is fixed to the vane rotor 14, and the locking object part 363 is moved from a first position to a second position to be locked to the spring hook 39, the energizing part 362 generates energizing force. The slotted hole 33 is extended at least from the first position to the second position in the circumferential direction of the signal plate 30.

Description

  The present invention relates to a valve timing adjusting device for an internal combustion engine (hereinafter referred to as an “engine”) that adjusts the opening / closing timing of at least one of an intake valve and an exhaust valve.

  As a valve timing adjustment device that adjusts the valve timing of the intake valve or exhaust valve of the engine, hydraulic oil that has an advance hydraulic chamber and a retard hydraulic chamber between the relative rotating vane rotor and the housing and fills both hydraulic chambers It is known that a phase difference is formed between the vane rotor and the housing by controlling the hydraulic pressure to adjust the valve timing of the intake valve or the exhaust valve.

  For example, in the valve timing adjusting device described in Patent Document 1, an assist spring that generates torque that biases the vane rotor in the advance direction with respect to the housing is provided in order to improve the responsiveness. In addition, a signal plate is provided on the vane rotor in order to detect the rotation angle of the camshaft that rotates together with the vane rotor by a sensor or the like. The assist spring and the signal plate are assembled on the same side in the axial direction of the housing. Here, one end of the assist spring is fixed to the vane rotor, and the other end of the assist spring is locked to a spring hook provided on an end surface of the housing on the signal plate side.

JP 2010-242706 A

  By the way, when assembling the valve timing adjusting device described in Patent Document 1, the other end of the assist spring is moved from a position not locked to the spring hook to a position locked to the locking portion using a jig. There is a need. Here, since the assist spring and the signal plate are assembled on the same side in the axial direction of the housing, the movement of the jig in the axial direction is limited by the signal plate. Therefore, the movement of the end of the jig housing to the housing side is restricted from the housing end of the other end of the assist spring, and the other end of the assist spring slips easily from the end of the jig housing. There is a risk of detachment. Therefore, it is difficult to assemble the assist spring.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a valve timing adjusting device that improves assemblability.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the valve timing adjusting device changes the phase between the drive shaft of the engine and the driven shaft that is rotationally driven by the drive force of the drive shaft to open and close the intake valve and the exhaust valve. Thus, the opening / closing timing of at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is adjusted. The valve timing adjusting device includes a housing, a vane rotor, a plate member, a locking portion, an urging member, and a lightening portion. The housing has a storage chamber that rotates together with one of the drive shaft and the driven shaft and is formed in a predetermined angle range in the rotation direction by a protruding portion that protrudes in the radial direction. The vane rotor rotates with the other of the drive shaft and the driven shaft, partitions the storage chamber into a retard chamber and an advance chamber by a plurality of vanes provided on the outer periphery, and supplies the working fluid supplied to the retard chamber and the advance chamber. It is driven to rotate relative to the housing in the retarding direction or the advancing direction by the pressure. The plate member is connected to the vane rotor and is provided substantially parallel to one end face in the axial direction of the housing, and has a lightening portion extending in the circumferential direction. The locking portion is provided so as to protrude from the end surface of the housing on the plate member side beyond the end surface of the plate member opposite to the housing. The urging member includes a fixed portion fixed to the vane rotor, a locked portion locked to the locking portion, and a biasing portion provided between the fixed portion and the locked portion. The biasing portion rotates the vane rotor relative to the housing when the locked portion is moved from the first position to the second position and locked to the locking portion while the fixing portion is fixed to the vane rotor. And an urging unit that generates an urging force to be generated. Here, the lightening portion extends in the circumferential direction from at least a position corresponding to the first position to a position corresponding to the second position.

  With such a configuration, when the urging member is assembled, the jig can be brought into contact with the locked portion of the urging member while being inserted to the back of the lightening portion. For this reason, the jig can be brought into contact with the locked portion of the biasing member so that the end of the jig on the housing side protrudes beyond the locked portion of the biasing member toward the housing side. Therefore, when the locked portion of the urging member is moved using the jig from the position where the urging member is not locked to the locking portion to the position where the urging member is locked to the locking portion, It can suppress that a latching | locking part slips and detaches from the to-be-latched part by the side of the housing of a jig. Therefore, the assembling property of the valve timing adjusting device can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the thinned portion is formed in the radially inward direction of the plate member from the locking portion, whereby the jig is positioned in the radially inward direction from the locking portion. Can be brought into contact with the locked portion of the urging member. For this reason, it can suppress that a jig | tool slips and detach | leaves from the edge part of the radial direction of the to-be-latched part of a biasing member.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the lightening portion is a lightening groove that is recessed in the plate thickness direction of the plate member or a lightening hole that penetrates the plate member in the plate thickness direction.
Thereby, the lightening part is embodied in a lightening groove or a lightening hole. Here, in the configuration in which the lightening portion is a lightening hole, the locked portion of the urging member slides off the locked portion on the housing side of the jig, compared to the structure in which the lightening portion is a lightening groove. The effect which suppresses releasing can be heightened.

According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, a board member has a some jig hole which penetrates a board member in a board thickness direction in the position corresponding to the protrusion part of a housing.
Thereby, for example, when assembling the seal member between the vane rotor and the housing along the axial direction, the seal member is moved along the axial direction while supporting the housing in the axial direction through the support member through the plurality of jig holes. Between the housing and the housing. Therefore, the assembling property of the valve timing adjusting device can be improved. Further, since the plurality of jig holes are formed at positions corresponding to the protrusions of the housing, the support member supports positions corresponding to the protrusions of the housing. Since the protruding portion is formed with a thick axial thickness, the housing can be prevented from being deformed by the supporting force in the axial direction.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the valve timing adjustment apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the driving force transmission system of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the apparatus main body of the valve timing adjustment apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. It is the IV-IV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a top view of the valve timing adjustment device of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the valve timing adjustment device of one embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(One embodiment)
A valve timing adjusting device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The valve timing adjustment device 1 of this embodiment adjusts the valve timing of an exhaust valve of a vehicle engine.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the valve timing adjusting device 1 includes a device main body 10 provided on a camshaft 94 as a driven shaft, and a control unit 40 that controls the supply of hydraulic oil to the device main body 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus main body 10 is installed in a driving force transmission system that transmits a driving force of a crankshaft 90 as a driving shaft to an exhaust valve 97.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the driving force transmission system in which the apparatus main body 10 of this embodiment is installed, a sprocket 91 fixed to a crankshaft 90 as a driving shaft of the engine 99 and a camshaft 94 as a driven shaft. The chain 93 is wound around the sprocket 11 provided coaxially with the sprocket 92 and the sprocket 92 fixed to the camshaft 95, and the driving force is transmitted from the crankshaft 90 to the camshafts 94 and 95. The aforementioned sprocket 11 and a later-described vane rotor 14 each constitute a part of the apparatus main body 10. The camshaft 94 drives the exhaust valve 97 to open and close, and the camshaft 95 drives the intake valve 96 to open and close. The apparatus main body 10 of this embodiment is a hydraulic control type that uses hydraulic oil as a working fluid. The sprocket 11 is connected to the chain 93, the vane rotor 14 is connected to the camshaft 94, and the opening / closing timing of the exhaust valve 97 is adjusted.

Next, the apparatus main body 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 3, and FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-O-I in FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of the arrow Z when the engine cover 100 of FIG. 1 is removed.
As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus main body 10 is provided inside the engine cover 100, and includes a housing 18, a vane rotor 14, a signal plate 30 as a plate member, a spring hook 39 as a locking portion, and an urging member. Assist spring 36 and the like.

  The housing 18 includes a sprocket 11, a cylindrical shoe housing 12, and a disk-shaped front plate 13. The shoe housing 12 and the front plate 13 are integrally formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the shoe housing 12 has shoes 121, 122, 123, and 124 that protrude radially inward from positions that are substantially equidistant in the rotation direction on the inner peripheral wall thereof. Here, the shoes 121 to 124 correspond to “protrusions” in the claims. The protruding end surfaces of the shoes 121 to 124 have an arc shape when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 4 and are in sliding contact with the outer peripheral wall surface of the boss portion 141 of the vane rotor 14. A storage chamber 50 is formed between the shoes 121 to 124 adjacent in the rotation direction. Each storage chamber 50 is surrounded by the corresponding shoe side surface and the inner peripheral wall surface of the shoe housing 12, and has a fan shape when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG.

  The sprocket 11, the shoe housing 12, and the front plate 13 are provided coaxially so that the shoe housing 12 is sandwiched between the front plate 13 and the sprocket 11 (see FIG. 1). The sprocket 11 is connected to the crankshaft 90 by a chain 93 (see FIG. 2). As a result, the housing 18 rotates in conjunction with the crankshaft 90 when the driving force is transmitted from the crankshaft 90 to the sprocket 11. The housing 18 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vane rotor 14 is accommodated in a housing 18, and both end surfaces in the axial direction of the vane rotor 14 are in sliding contact with the wall surface 111 of the sprocket 11 and the wall surface 131 of the front plate 13.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the vane rotor 14 includes a boss portion 141 and vanes 142, 143, 144, and 145. The vanes 142 to 145 protrude from positions on the outer peripheral wall of the boss portion 141 that are substantially equidistant in the rotation direction, and are accommodated in the respective accommodation chambers 50. The protruding end portions of the vanes 142 to 145 are formed in an arc shape when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 4 and are in sliding contact with the inner peripheral wall surface of the shoe housing 12. A plurality of recesses 146 are formed on the outer wall surface of the boss portion 141 and the end surfaces in the radially outward direction of the vanes 142 to 145. A seal member 16 is provided in the recess 146. The vanes 142 to 145 partition the corresponding storage chambers 50 to form advance hydraulic chambers 51, 52, 53, 54 and retard hydraulic chambers 55, 56, 57, 58 on both sides in the rotational direction. Specifically, an advance hydraulic chamber 51 between the shoe 121 and the vane 142, an advance hydraulic chamber 52 between the shoe 122 and the vane 143, an advance hydraulic chamber 53 between the shoe 123 and the vane 144, An advance hydraulic chamber 54 is formed between the shoe 124 and the vane 145. Also, the retard hydraulic chamber 55 between the shoe 124 and the vane 142, the retard hydraulic chamber 56 between the shoe 121 and the vane 143, and the retard hydraulic chamber 57 and the shoe 123 between the shoe 122 and the vane 144, A retard hydraulic chamber 58 is formed between the vane 145 and the vane 145. When the vane rotor 14 is at the most advanced position shown in FIG. 4 with respect to the housing 18, the volumes of the advance hydraulic chambers 51 to 54 are maximized, and the volumes of the retard hydraulic chambers 55 to 58 are minimized. On the other hand, when the vane rotor 14 is in the most retarded position with respect to the housing 18, the volumes of the retard hydraulic chambers 55 to 58 are maximized, and the volumes of the advance hydraulic chambers 51 to 54 are minimized. Here, the advance hydraulic chambers 51, 52, 53, 54 correspond to the “advance chamber” in the claims, and the retard hydraulic chambers 55, 56, 57, 58 are the “retard chambers” in the claims. Is supported.

  The advance hydraulic chambers 51 to 54 communicate with advance passages 61 to 64 formed in the sprocket 11, respectively. All of the advance passages 61 to 64 communicate with an advance passage (not shown) formed in the camshaft 94. On the other hand, the retarded hydraulic chambers 55 to 58 communicate with retarded passages 65 to 68 formed in the vane rotor 14, respectively. All of the retard passages 65 to 68 communicate with a retard passage (not shown) formed in the camshaft 94.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the stopper piston 26 is accommodated in the vane 142 so as to be slidable back and forth. The stopper piston 26 is engaged with the fitting ring 27 of the sprocket 11 by the biasing force of the compression coil spring 28, thereby restraining the vane rotor 14 at the most advanced position with respect to the housing 18 (see FIG. 4). On the other hand, the stopper piston 26 has the compression coil spring 28 of at least one of the force by the hydraulic pressure supplied from the retard hydraulic chamber 55 through the passage 291 and the force by the hydraulic pressure supplied from the advance hydraulic chamber 51 through the passage 292. The vane rotor 14 is allowed to rotate relative to the vane rotor 14 by being displaced from the fitting ring 27 against the urging force (see FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a bush 20 is press-fitted on the front plate 13 side of the boss portion 141. The bush 20 has a bottomed cylindrical shape and has a bottom portion 21 and a cylindrical portion 22. The bottom portion 21 is formed on the boss portion 141 side, and a positioning portion 23 protruding in the opening direction is integrally formed. A positioning groove 24 for locking the assist spring 36 is formed in the positioning portion 23. The cylindrical portion 22 is inserted on the inner peripheral side of the front plate 13 so as to be rotatable relative to the front plate 13 and coaxially. As shown in FIG. 1, the boss portion 141 of the vane rotor 14 is fixed to the camshaft 2 together with the bush 20 by a bolt 19.

  Here, the vane rotor 14 and the camshaft 94 rotate counterclockwise in FIG. Further, the vane rotor 14 can rotate relative to the housing 18 together with the camshaft 94. Note that an arrow X shown in FIG. 4 represents a direction of rotation of the vane rotor 14 relative to the housing 18 toward the advance angle side (hereinafter referred to as “advance angle direction”). An arrow Y shown in FIG. 4 represents a relative rotation direction of the vane rotor 14 relative to the housing 18 toward the retard side (hereinafter referred to as “retard direction”). 4 shows a state in which the relative rotation of the vane rotor 14 in the advance angle direction X with respect to the housing 18 is restricted and the relative position in the retard angle direction Y is allowed to be at the most advanced angle position.

  The signal plate 30 is provided in the radially outward direction of the bush 20 and is formed in a substantially disc shape integrally with the cylindrical portion 22 of the bush 20. As a result, the signal plate 30 is connected to the vane rotor 14 and rotates together with the vane rotor 14 and the camshaft 94. The signal plate 30 has a small diameter portion 31 and a large diameter portion 32. The small diameter part 31 is formed smaller in diameter than the large diameter part 32. The small diameter portion 31 and the large diameter portion 32 are formed so as to occupy a rotation angle region of 180 °.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the signal plate 30 is formed with a long hole 33 and four jig holes 341, 342, 343, and 344. The long hole 33 is a hole that is formed along the circumferential direction of the signal plate 30 and penetrates the signal plate 30 in the thickness direction. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the central angle of the virtual arc a extending along the elongated hole 33 is defined as a first central angle α. Here, the long hole 33 corresponds to the “thickening portion” and “thickening hole” in the claims.

  The jig holes 341, 342, 343, and 344 penetrate the signal plate 30 in the plate thickness direction and are formed at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of the signal plate 30. In the case of this embodiment, the jig holes 341, 342, 343, and 344 are formed at positions corresponding to the shoes 121, 122, 123, and 124 of the shoe housing 12. In the present embodiment, the long hole 33 is formed in connection with the jig hole 341.

  A spring hook 39 is inserted into the jig hole 341 of the signal plate 30. The spring hook 39 is provided outside the housing 18 and is fixed so as to protrude in the axial direction on the signal plate 30 side of the front plate 13. The spring hook 39 can rotate relative to the signal plate 30 together with the housing 18 within the range of the circumferential length of the jig hole 341. In the present embodiment, the long hole 33 described above is formed in a radially inward direction with respect to the spring hook 39.

  The assist spring 36 includes a fixed portion 361 formed at one end, a locked portion 363 formed at the other end, and a biasing portion formed between the fixed portion 361 and the locked portion 363. 362. The urging portion 362 is formed in a coil shape and is inserted into the positioning portion 23. The fixed part 361 is fixed to the positioning groove 24 of the positioning part 23. The locked portion 363 is hooked and locked to the spring hook 39. Here, the urging portion 362 generates an urging force when the locked portion 363 moves from the first position P1 to the second position P2 in a state where the fixing portion 361 is fixed to the positioning groove 24. The first position P1 refers to the position of the locked portion 363 when the fixing portion 361 is fixed to the positioning groove 24 and no urging force is generated in the urging portion 362. The second position P2 refers to the position of the locked portion 363 when the fixed portion 361 is fixed to the positioning groove 24 and the locked portion 363 is locked to the spring hook 39. As described above, since the locked portion 363 of the assist spring 36 is locked to the spring hook 39, the biasing force of the biasing portion 362 that rotates the vane rotor 14 in the advance angle direction X relative to the housing 18 is increased. Is configured to occur.

  Here, the fluctuation torque received from the exhaust valve 97 when the camshaft 94 drives the exhaust valve 97 fluctuates positively and negatively. The positive direction of the variable torque represents the retard direction of the vane rotor 14 with respect to the sprocket 11, and the negative direction of the variable torque represents the advance direction of the vane rotor 14 with respect to the sprocket 11. The average of the fluctuation torque works in the positive direction, that is, in the retard direction. The torque in the advance direction applied by the assist spring 36 to the vane rotor 14 is approximately the same as the average of the fluctuation torque received by the camshaft 94.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the central angle of the virtual arc b extending from the first position P1 to the second position P2 is the second central angle β, the first central angle α and the second central angle β described above are 1 is satisfied.
α> β Formula 1

  That is, in the present embodiment, the end portion on the retard side of the long hole 33 is formed on the retard side with respect to the first position P1. Further, the end portion on the advance side of the long hole 33 is formed on the advance side with respect to the second position P2.

  The engine cover 100 is provided with a cam angle sensor 101 as a sensor unit at a position corresponding to the signal plate 30. The cam angle sensor 101 detects the rotation angle of the camshaft 94 that rotates together with the signal plate 30 and the vane rotor 14 by detecting the small diameter portion 31 of the signal plate 30.

  Next, the control unit 40 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, in the control unit 40, the advance passage 73 and the retard passage 74 communicate with the advance passage and the retard passage of the camshaft 94, respectively.

  The switching valve 41 is connected to the advance passage 73, the retard passage 74, the pump passage 75, and the drain passages 76 and 77. Here, the oil pump 4 is installed in the pump passage 75, and the oil pump 4 pumps up the working oil as the working fluid from the oil tank 5 through the upstream side of the pump passage 75, and the working oil through the downstream side of the pump passage 75. Is discharged to the switching valve 41 side. Note that the oil pump 4 of the present embodiment is a so-called mechanical pump that is driven by a crankshaft 90. The drain passages 76 and 77 are provided so that the hydraulic oil can be discharged from the switching valve 41 to the oil tank 5 side.

  The switching valve 41 is energized by an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as “ECU”) 46. The switching valve 41 is an electromagnetic spool valve that moves the spool 44 in the axial direction in accordance with a balance between a driving force generated by the electromagnetic drive unit 42 by energization and a restoring force generated by the return spring 43 in the opposite direction of the driving force. It is. As described above, the switching valve 41 is moved into the advance passage 73 and the retard passage 74 of the pump passage 75 and the drain passages 76 and 77 by the axial movement of the spool 44 according to the drive current applied to the electromagnetic drive section 42. Switch the communication path.

  Specifically, the ECU 46 is configured by an electric circuit such as a microcomputer. In addition to the switching valve 41, a plurality of sensors such as a cam angle sensor 101 and a crank angle sensor 8 are electrically connected to the ECU 46. The ECU 46 calculates the actual phase and the target phase with respect to the engine phase of the camshaft 94 with respect to the crankshaft 90 based on the output of each sensor, and supplies the switching valve 41 with energization, that is, the switching valve 41 according to the calculation result of these phases. Control drive current. The crank angle sensor 8 is installed, for example, around the crankshaft 90 and detects the rotation angle of the crankshaft 90.

Here, the operation of the valve timing adjusting device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. When the engine is stopped, it is assumed that the stopper piston 26 is fitted to the fitting ring 27 at the most advanced position by the biasing force of the compression coil spring 28.
<When starting the engine>
When the stopped engine is started, the oil pump 4 is started, and the ECU 46 turns on the energization of the switching valve 41 to open the retard passage 74. Then, the hydraulic oil discharged from the oil pump 4 flows into the retarded hydraulic chambers 55 to 58 via the retarded passages 65 to 68. As a result, the stopper piston 26 receives the hydraulic pressure from the retarded hydraulic chamber 55 through the passage 291, and when the hydraulic pressure rises to a predetermined pressure, the stopper piston 26 comes out of the fitting ring 27. As a result, the vane rotor 14 and the housing 18 can be rotated relative to each other.

<Advance angle operation>
Thereafter, the ECU 46 switches the passage communicating with the oil pump 4 among the advance passage 73 and the retard passage 74 by controlling energization to the switching valve 41. As a result, when the advance passage 73 communicates with the oil pump 4, the hydraulic oil pumped up by the oil pump 4 flows into the advance hydraulic chambers 51 to 54 via the advance passage 73 and the advance passages 61 to 64. To do. At this time, the hydraulic oil in the retard hydraulic chambers 55 to 58 is discharged to the oil tank 5 via the retard passages 65 to 68, the retard passage 74, and the drain passage 76. As a result, the hydraulic oil pressure is applied to the vanes 142 to 145 facing the advance hydraulic chambers 51 to 54, and the vane rotor 14 rotates relative to the housing 18 in the advance direction X.

<At retarded angle operation>
On the other hand, when the retard passage 74 communicates with the oil pump 4, the hydraulic oil pumped up by the oil pump 4 flows into the retard hydraulic chambers 55 to 58 via the retard passage 74 and the retard passages 65 to 68. . At this time, the hydraulic oil in the advance hydraulic chambers 51 to 54 is discharged to the oil tank 5 via the advance passages 61 to 64, the advance passage 73, and the drain passage 77. As a result, the hydraulic oil pressure is applied to the vanes 142 to 145 facing the retard hydraulic chambers 55 to 58, and the vane rotor 14 rotates relative to the housing 18 in the retard direction Y.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the hydraulic pressure in the advance hydraulic chambers 51 to 54 and the hydraulic pressure in the retard hydraulic chambers 55 to 58 are adjusted by switching the passage for supplying hydraulic oil from the oil pump 4, and the housing 18. The relative rotational phase of the vane rotor 14 with respect to the valve timing, and thus the valve timing, is adjusted. During valve timing adjustment, the ECU 46 can perform accurate valve timing adjustment by feedback control of energization to the switching valve 41 so that the actual valve timing of the exhaust valve 97 matches the target valve timing. .

<When the engine is stopped>
When the engine stops, the oil pump 4 also stops, so that hydraulic oil is not supplied to either the advance passage 73 or the retard passage 74. Then, the vane rotor 14 is relatively rotated to the most advanced position by the restoring force of the assist spring 36, and the stopper piston 26 is fitted to the fitting ring 27.

Next, the assembly process of the seal member 16, the sprocket 11, and the assist spring 36, and the effects of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the apparatus main body 10 in which the seal member 16 and the sprocket 11 are not assembled as seen from the Z direction in FIG. Here, the vane rotor 14, the recessed part 146, and the shoes 121-124 are shown with a broken line.

(Assembly of seal member)
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the front plate 13 of the vane rotor 14 is supported while the front plate 13 of the housing 18 is supported in the axial direction through the jig G1 as a support member through the jig holes 341, 342, 343, and 344. The seal member 16 is provided in the recess 146 of the vane rotor 14 from the opposite side. In the present embodiment, since the jig holes 341, 342, 343, and 344 are formed in the signal plate 30, the jig G 1 can support the front plate 13 through the jig holes 341, 342, 343, and 344. Thereby, the assembly | attachment property of the sealing member 16 can be improved and the assembly | attachment property of the valve timing adjustment apparatus 1 can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, the plurality of jig holes 341, 342, 343, 344 are formed at positions corresponding to the shoes 121-124. Therefore, the jig G1 supports a position corresponding to the shoes 121 to 124 of the front plate 13. Here, since the shoes 121 to 124 are formed thick in the axial direction, deformation due to the axial support force of the front plate 13 can be suppressed.

(Sprocket assembly)
In this embodiment, the sprocket 11 is inserted into the screw hole 17 by screwing the screw 15 into the screw hole 17 while supporting the front plate 13 of the housing 18 in the axial direction through the jig G1 through the jig holes 341, 342, 343, and 344. 12 is fixed. Here, the screw holes 17 are formed at positions corresponding to the shoes 121 to 124. Therefore, the axial force for screwing the screw 15 and the supporting force in the axial direction of the jig G1 that passes the jig holes 341, 342, 343, and 344 substantially coincide with each other. For this reason, the assembling property of the sprocket 11 can be improved, and the assembling property of the valve timing adjusting device 1 can be improved.

(Assist spring assembly)
6 is a plan view of the assist spring 36 as viewed from the Z direction in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, in the assist spring 36, the urging portion 362 is inserted into the positioning portion 23, and the fixing portion 361 is fixed to the positioning groove 24 of the positioning portion 23. Further, the locked portion 363 of the assist spring 36 is located at the first position P1 that is not locked by the spring hook 39. In FIG. 6, for convenience of explanation, the second position P <b> 2 where the locked portion 363 is locked to the spring hook 39 is indicated by a broken line.

  First, the jig G <b> 2 is inserted in the axial direction on the retard side of the locked portion 363 of the long hole 33. At this time, the end of the jig G2 on the housing 18 side extends beyond the locked portion 363 to the depth of the elongated hole 33. Next, the jig G2 is brought into contact with the locked portion 363, and the locked portion 363 is moved to the advance side in the circumferential direction until the locked portion 363 exceeds the spring hook 39. Finally, the locked portion 363 is brought into contact with the advance side of the spring hook 39 so that the locked portion 363 is caught by the spring hook 39, and the jig G2 is pulled out along the axial direction. As a result, the assist spring 36 generates a biasing force that causes the vane rotor 14 to rotate relative to the housing 18 in the advance angle direction X by the locked portion 363 being locked by the spring hook 39. Here, for convenience of explanation, the movement locus of the jig G2 is shown as a jig locus GK and indicated by a broken line. As shown in FIG. 6, the long hole 33 is formed so as to include a jig locus GK.

Thus, in this embodiment, the jig G2 contacts the locked portion 363 in a state where the jig G2 is inserted all the way into the long hole 33. As a result, the jig G2 can come into contact with the locked portion 363 while the end on the housing 18 side protrudes beyond the locked portion 363 to the housing 18 side. For this reason, when the locked portion 363 is moved from the first position P1 to the second position P2 using the jig G2, the locked portion 363 slips from the end of the jig G2 on the housing 18 side, Desorption from the jig G2 can be suppressed. Therefore, the workability of the work of locking the locked portion 363 of the assist spring 36 to the spring hook 39 can be improved, and the assemblability of the valve timing adjusting device 1 can be improved.
Further, the long hole 33 is formed in the radially inward direction with respect to the spring hook 39. Therefore, the jig G <b> 2 can be brought into contact with the locked portion 363 of the assist spring 36 in the radially inward direction from the spring hook 39. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the jig G2 from slipping and detaching from the radially outer end of the locked portion 363.

(Other embodiments)
In the above embodiment, a long hole is formed in the signal plate as a thinned portion. On the other hand, in other embodiments, a lightening groove may be formed in the signal plate.
In the above-described embodiment, the elongated hole is formed in the radially inner direction than the spring hook. On the other hand, in other embodiment, it is good also as a structure which forms a long hole in the radial outward direction of a spring hook.
In the above embodiment, the signal plate is formed with four jig holes corresponding to the shoes. On the other hand, in other embodiment, it is good also as a structure which forms three or less jig holes or five or more jig holes. In another embodiment, the jig hole may be configured not to correspond to the shoe. Furthermore, in another embodiment, it is good also as a structure which does not form a jig hole in a signal plate.
In the above embodiment, the valve timing adjusting device that controls the exhaust valve of the engine has been described. On the other hand, the present invention may be applied to a valve timing adjusting device that controls an intake valve of an engine.
In the above embodiment, the vane rotor is configured to rotate with the camshaft. However, in another embodiment, the vane rotor may be configured to rotate with the crankshaft.
As mentioned above, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment at all, In the range which does not deviate from the meaning of invention, it can implement with a various form.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Valve timing adjustment apparatus 11 ... Sprocket (housing)
12 ... Shoe housing (housing)
13 ... Front plate (housing)
18 ・ ・ ・ Housing 14 ・ ・ ・ Vane rotor 30 ・ ・ ・ Signal plate (plate member)
33 ・ ・ ・ Long hole (thickening part, thinning hole)
36 ・ ・ ・ Assist spring (biasing member)
39 ・ ・ ・ Spring hook (locking part)
50 ... Accommodating chambers 51, 52, 53, 54 ... Advance hydraulic chamber (advance chamber)
55, 56, 57, 58 ... retarded hydraulic chamber (retarded)
94 ・ ・ ・ Camshaft (driven shaft)
96 ... Intake valve 97 ... Exhaust valve 99 ... Engine (internal combustion engine)
121, 122, 123, 124 ... shoe (protruding part)
142, 143, 144, 145 ... vanes 341, 342, 343, 344 ... jig hole 361 ... fixing part (one end of the biasing member)
363 ... Locked portion (the other end of the biasing member)

Claims (4)

The opening / closing timing of at least one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve is adjusted by changing the phase between the drive shaft of the internal combustion engine and a driven shaft that is rotationally driven by the drive force of the drive shaft to open and close the intake valve and the exhaust valve. A valve timing adjusting device for
A housing having a storage chamber that rotates together with one of the drive shaft and the driven shaft and is formed in a predetermined angle range in the rotational direction by a projecting portion that projects inward in the radial direction;
An operation that rotates together with the other of the drive shaft or the driven shaft, partitions the storage chamber into a retard chamber and an advance chamber by a plurality of vanes provided on the outer periphery, and is supplied to the retard chamber and the advance chamber A vane rotor that is driven to rotate relative to the housing in the retarding direction or the advancing direction by the pressure of the fluid;
A plate member connected to the vane rotor and provided substantially parallel to one end surface in the axial direction of the housing, and having a lightening portion extending in the circumferential direction;
A locking portion provided so as to protrude beyond the end surface of the plate member opposite to the housing from the end surface of the housing on the plate member side;
A fixing portion fixed to the vane rotor; a locked portion locked to the locking portion; and a portion between the fixing portion and the locked portion, wherein the fixing portion is fixed to the vane rotor. In this state, when the locked portion is moved from the first position to the second position and locked to the locking portion, a biasing force that generates a biasing force for rotating the vane rotor relative to the housing is generated. A biasing member having a portion;
With
The valve timing adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the lightening portion extends in a circumferential direction from at least a position corresponding to the first position to a position corresponding to the second position.   The valve timing adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the lightening portion is formed in a radially inward direction of the plate member with respect to the locking portion.   3. The valve timing according to claim 1, wherein the lightening portion is a lightening groove that is recessed in the plate thickness direction of the plate member or a lightening hole that penetrates the plate member in the plate thickness direction. Adjustment device.   The said plate member has a some jig hole which penetrates the said plate member in the plate | board thickness direction in the position corresponding to the said protrusion part of the said housing, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Valve timing adjustment device.

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