JP2013104389A - Throttle device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce frictional resistance between an opener spring and a throttle gear to ensure smooth opening/closing operation of a throttle valve.SOLUTION: In a throttle device 1, an electric motor 8 rotates a throttle shaft 4 to change the opening degree of a bore 11 using a throttle valve 5, thereby adjusting an intake flow rate of the bore 11. A return spring 43 between a throttle body 2 and a throttle gear 31 biases the throttle valve 5 in a closing direction via the throttle gear 31 and the throttle shaft 4. An opener spring 44 between the throttle body 2 and the throttle gear 31 biases the throttle valve 5 in an opening direction toward an opener opening position via the throttle gear 31 and the throttle shaft 4. The opener spring 44 formed of a band-shaped plate spring is provided on a circumferential wall part 31d of the throttle gear 31.

Description

  The present invention relates to a throttle device that is provided in an intake passage of an engine and used for adjusting an intake air amount.

  Conventionally, as this type of technology, for example, an electronic throttle device described in Patent Document 1 below is known. This device includes a throttle body, a throttle valve housed in a throttle body bore so as to be opened and closed via a throttle shaft, a gear mechanism including a throttle gear for transmitting the rotational power of an electric motor to the throttle shaft, and a throttle gear And an opening portion that rotates integrally with the throttle shaft, an intermediate opening position stopper provided on the throttle body for defining an intermediate opening position of the throttle valve, and one end portion of the throttle body. The return spring portion is engaged, and the other end portion is in contact with the opener portion, and the opener spring portion in which one end portion is in contact with the opener portion and the other end portion is engaged with the throttle gear. And the other end part of a return spring part and the one end part of an opener spring part couple | bond together, and it makes a U-shaped hook part. The U-shaped hook portion abuts on the opener portion from the intermediate opening position to the fully open position, urges the throttle valve in the closing direction via the opener portion, and is fully closed from the intermediate opening position. Up to the position, a return spring is provided that contacts the intermediate opening position stopper and urges the throttle valve in the opening direction via the opener.

JP 2009-185679 A

  However, in the device described in Patent Document 1, the friction resistance between the opener spring portion and the throttle gear tends to increase, which may adversely affect the opening / closing operation of the throttle valve. In order to avoid this problem, it is conceivable to adjust the position of the opener spring portion, but this requires a complicated adjustment mechanism.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the frictional resistance between the opener spring and the throttle gear and to ensure a smooth opening / closing operation of the throttle valve. Is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 includes a throttle body having a bore, a throttle shaft disposed so as to cross the bore, and rotatably supported by the throttle body, and in the bore. A throttle valve provided on the throttle shaft and opening and closing the bore by rotation of the throttle shaft, and the throttle valve opens and closes between a fully closed position where the bore is fully closed and a fully open position where the bore is fully open, A gear mechanism including a throttle gear provided on a throttle shaft, an electric motor drivingly connected to the gear mechanism, and a throttle; Throttle valve provided between the body and the throttle gear, via the throttle gear and the throttle shaft A return spring that biases in the closing direction, and is provided between the throttle body and the throttle gear, and biases the throttle valve in the opening direction from the fully closed position to the opener opening position via the throttle gear and the throttle shaft. An opener spring, and a throttle device that adjusts the amount of air flowing through the bore by changing the opening of the bore by the throttle valve by rotating the throttle shaft via a gear mechanism by an electric motor. The purpose is that it is constituted by a belt-shaped leaf spring and an opener spring is provided in the throttle gear.

  According to the configuration of the invention, the throttle valve opens and closes between a fully closed position where the bore is fully closed and a fully open position where the bore is fully opened, and defines a predetermined opener opening larger than the fully closed position. It is held at the opener opening position. Here, when the throttle valve is in the fully opened position, the driving force of the electric motor is released, and the urging force of the return spring causes the throttle valve to rotate in the closing direction via the throttle gear and the throttle shaft. The When the throttle valve is in the fully closed position, the opening force of the opener spring is released by releasing the driving force of the electric motor, and the throttle valve is opened from the fully closed position via the throttle gear and the throttle shaft. It is turned in the opening direction toward the degree position. Since the opener spring provided in the throttle gear is constituted by a strip-shaped leaf spring, the opener spring has a simpler shape than that constituted by the torsion coil spring, and the biasing force of the opener spring acts on the throttle gear. The hysteresis of the opener spring is reduced.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the throttle body rotates the throttle gear so as to regulate the rotation of the throttle valve below the opening of the opener. The opener spring has a substantially C shape in plan view and includes a first end and a second end, and the first end and the second end of the opener spring are hung on the throttle gear. It is intended that the first end portion is provided so as to be engageable with the opener stopper while being stopped and projecting radially from the throttle gear.

  According to the configuration of the invention described above, in addition to the operation of the invention according to claim 1, the first end portion of the opener spring latched to the throttle gear protrudes from the throttle gear in the radial direction, and the first end portion is the throttle portion. Engagement with an opener stopper provided on the body restricts rotation of the throttle gear and restricts rotation of the throttle valve below the opening of the opener. Accordingly, the first end portion having the spring property is engaged with the opener stopper, but the impact applied to the throttle gear at the time of engagement is reduced. Further, it is not necessary to separately provide an engaging portion for the opener stopper in the throttle gear.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the throttle body is provided with a fully open stopper for restricting a fully open position of the throttle valve, and the second end of the opener spring is provided. It is intended that the portion is provided to be engageable with the fully open stopper.

  According to the configuration of the above invention, in addition to the operation of the invention according to claim 2, the second end portion of the opener spring latched to the throttle gear protrudes from the throttle gear in the radial direction, and the second end portion is the throttle. Engagement with a fully open stopper provided on the body restricts rotation of the throttle gear, and restricts rotation of the throttle valve beyond full open. Accordingly, the second end portion having the spring property is engaged with the fully open stopper, but the impact applied to the throttle gear during the engagement is reduced. Further, it is not necessary to separately provide an engaging portion for the fully open stopper in the throttle gear.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the throttle gear is formed on a disc-shaped gear body and an outer peripheral portion of the gear body. It is intended that the opener spring is provided on the outer periphery of the peripheral wall portion of the throttle gear, including a fan-shaped gear portion and a peripheral wall portion protruding in the axial direction from the center portion of the gear body.

  According to the configuration of the invention, in addition to the action of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the opener spring is provided on the outer periphery of the peripheral wall portion of the throttle gear. Thus, it can be provided to be wound around the outer periphery of the peripheral wall portion.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any of the second to fourth aspects, the throttle body is provided with a guide portion for guiding the second end portion of the opener spring. The guide portion is formed so as to allow rotation of the second end portion accompanying rotation of the throttle gear while restricting movement of the second end portion in the thrust direction.

  According to the configuration of the invention described above, in addition to the operation of the invention according to any one of claims 2 to 4, the opener spring protruding in the radial direction from the throttle gear by rotating the throttle gear together with the throttle shaft and the throttle valve. The rotation of the second end portion is guided by a guide portion provided on the throttle body or the like. At this time, while the movement of the second end portion in the thrust direction is restricted by the guide portion, the second end portion is allowed to rotate along with the rotation of the throttle gear. Therefore, the movement of the throttle shaft and the throttle valve in the thrust direction together with the throttle gear is restricted without providing a separate member.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 5, wherein the guide portion is disposed adjacent to the fully open stopper.

  According to the configuration of the invention described above, in addition to the action of the invention according to claim 5, when the throttle valve operates near the fully open position during engine operation, the vibration of the throttle valve becomes relatively large, and the throttle shaft It tends to move in the thrust direction. However, since the guide portion is disposed adjacent to the fully open stopper, the movement of the second end portion in the thrust direction is restricted by the guide portion in the vicinity of the fully open position of the throttle valve.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the friction resistance between the opener spring and the throttle gear can be reduced, and a smooth opening / closing operation of the throttle valve can be ensured. Further, since the opener spring has a simple shape, the manufacturing cost of the opener spring can be reduced.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the durability of the throttle gear can be improved, and the related configuration of the throttle gear can be simplified.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claim 2, the durability of the throttle gear can be further improved, and the related configuration of the throttle gear can be further simplified.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effect of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3, it is possible to improve the assembling property of the opener spring to the throttle gear, and the opener spring can be made compact in the throttle gear. Can be provided.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to the effect of the invention described in any one of claims 2 to 4, the related configuration of the throttle shaft is increased to the extent that it is not necessary to provide a separate member for thrust regulation. It can be simplified.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 5, the throttle gear and the throttle shaft in the thrust direction along with the throttle gear are specified in the vicinity of the fully opened position of the throttle valve with much vibration. Movement can be regulated.

The front view which concerns on one Embodiment and shows a throttle device. The bottom view of FIG. 1 which concerns on the embodiment and shows a throttle device. The right view of FIG. 1 which shows the throttle apparatus concerning the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a relationship among a throttle pipe, a throttle shaft, a throttle valve, and both bearings according to the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2 showing the throttle device according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a part of FIG. 5 for the throttle device according to the embodiment. The right view of FIG. 1 which shows the state which concerns on the embodiment and the gear cover was removed from the throttle device. The BB sectional drawing of FIG. 1 which shows the state which concerns on the embodiment and the gear cover was removed from the throttle device. The rear view which concerns on the embodiment and shows a throttle gear with a related component. The rear view which shows the change from the state shown in FIG. The rear view which shows the change from the state shown in FIG. The model figure which shows the relationship between a throttle gear, a throttle body, a return spring, and an opener spring concerning the embodiment. The model figure which shows the relationship between a throttle gear, a throttle body, a return spring, and an opener spring concerning the embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a guide part, the 2nd end part of an opener spring, a throttle shaft, a throttle valve, etc. concerning the embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying a throttle device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The throttle device according to this embodiment is provided in an intake passage of an automobile engine and is used to adjust the intake air amount of the engine.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a throttle device 1 according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 similarly shows the throttle device 1 from the bottom view of FIG. FIG. 3 also shows the throttle device 1 in the right side view of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the throttle device 1 includes a metal throttle body 2 and a resin gear cover 3.

The throttle body 2 includes a cylindrical throttle pipe 12 having a bore 11 communicating with an intake passage of the engine, a gear housing 13 that houses a gear mechanism 9 (see FIG. 5) and the like, and an electric motor 8 (see FIG. 5). 5)). The gear housing 13 extends in the vertical direction in FIG. The motor housing 14 is arranged such that the central axis L1 intersects the gear housing 13 perpendicularly. The throttle pipe 12 is arranged away from both the gear housing 13 and the motor housing 14. A flange 15 is formed at one end of the throttle pipe 12 (end on the downstream side of the air flow). A total of three bolt insertion holes 15 a are formed in the flange 15. A manifold pipe (not shown) of the intake manifold is connected to the flange 15. As shown in FIG. 1, a throttle shaft 4 is provided in the throttle pipe 12 so as to cross the bore 11 in the radial direction. The throttle body 2 is formed with a pair of first boss portions 16A and second boss portions 16B that accommodate both ends of the throttle shaft 4. A throttle valve 5 fixed to the throttle shaft 4 is disposed in the bore 11.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the motor housing 14 is disposed with a gap from the throttle pipe 12. Further, the central axis L1 of the motor housing 14 and the throttle shaft 4 are arranged in parallel. In FIG. 2, the throttle pipe 12 has an upstream end 12a for the air flow on the upper side of the drawing, and a downstream end 12b for the air flow on the lower side of the drawing. In FIG. 2, the upstream end 12 a of the throttle pipe 12 is disposed at substantially the same position as the front end edge 13 a of the gear housing 13 in the front-rear direction (width direction). In FIG. 2, the downstream end 12 b of the throttle pipe 12 is disposed closer to the front end edge 13 a than the rear end edge 13 b in the front-rear direction (width direction) of the gear housing 13. As shown in FIG. 2, a part (rear side portion) 14 a of the outer peripheral surface of the motor housing 14 is disposed further downstream than the downstream end 12 b of the throttle pipe 12.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the gear cover 3 is fastened and fixed to the gear housing 13 with screws 6 and nuts 7 so as to close the opening of the gear housing 13. The gear cover 3 includes a connector 3a for external wiring.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing the relationship among the throttle pipe 12, the throttle shaft 4, the throttle valve 5, and the two bearings 21A and 21B. As shown in FIG. 4, the throttle valve 5 has a fully closed position P1 (indicated by a two-dot chain line) in which the bore 11 is fully closed and a fully open position P3 (indicated by a two-dot chain line) in which the bore 11 is fully opened. It opens and closes between the two. The throttle valve 5 is held at an opener opening position P2 (shown by a solid line) that defines a predetermined opener opening θ1 that is larger than the fully closed position.

  FIG. 5 shows the throttle device 1 by a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of FIG. FIG. 7 is a right side view of FIG. 1 showing a state where the gear cover 3 is removed from the throttle device 1. FIG. 8 shows a state where the gear cover 3 is removed from the throttle device 1 by a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, a pair of boss portions 16A and 16B formed on the left and right side portions of the throttle pipe 12 have a throttle shaft 4 traversing the bore 11 via a pair of first bearing 21A and second bearing 21B, respectively. It is rotatably supported. In this embodiment, both bearings 21A and 21B are constituted by sliding bearings formed of a relatively thin plate material. For this reason, the outer diameters of both the bearings 21A and 21B are relatively small compared to a bearing made of a ball bearing. The throttle valve 5 fixed to the throttle shaft 4 has a disk shape corresponding to the shape of the bore 11 and rotates integrally with the throttle shaft 4. As a result, the amount of intake air flowing through the bore 11 is adjusted by opening and closing the bore 11.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the throttle shaft 4 includes a first end 4a and a second end 4b. The first end 4a (the left end in FIGS. 5 and 8) of the throttle shaft 4 is rotatably supported by the first boss portion 16A via the first bearing 21A. A plug 22 that closes the opening 2 is attached to the first boss 16A. The vicinity of the second end portion 4b (the right end portion in FIGS. 5 and 8) of the throttle shaft 4 is rotatably supported by the second boss portion 16B via the second bearing 21B. Adjacent to the second bearing 21B, a seal member 23 is provided at the end of the second boss portion 16B to maintain airtightness with the throttle shaft 4. The second end 4 b protrudes into the gear housing 13. A throttle gear 31 having a sector gear is fixed to the second end 4b.

  As shown in FIG. 5, one end of the motor housing 14 opens into the gear housing 13. The motor housing 14 houses an electric motor 8 such as a DC motor, for example. A drive gear 32 is attached to the output shaft 8 a of the electric motor 8.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a countershaft 24 is provided between the throttle body 2 and the gear cover 3 between the throttle shaft 4 and the electric motor 8. A counter gear 33 is rotatably supported on the counter shaft 24. The counter gear 33 includes a large-diameter gear portion 33 a that meshes with the drive gear 32 and a small-diameter gear portion 33 b that meshes with the throttle gear 31. In this embodiment, the throttle gear 31, the drive gear 32, and the counter gear 33 constitute the gear mechanism 9 of the present invention that functions as a reduction gear mechanism.

  Here, the throttle gear 31 and its related configuration will be described in detail. FIG. 9 is a rear view of the throttle gear 31 together with related parts. 10 and 11 are rear views showing changes from the state shown in FIG. 9 for the throttle gear 31 and the like. Here, for convenience of explanation, in FIGS. 5 and 6, the side of the throttle gear 31 facing the throttle body 2 is the back side of the throttle gear 31, and the side of the throttle gear 31 facing the gear cover 3 is the throttle gear. The front side of the gear 31 is assumed. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 9, the throttle gear 31 is made of resin and includes a disk-shaped gear body 31 a and a fan-shaped gear portion 31 b formed on the outer periphery of the gear body 31 a. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the gear portion 31 b meshes with the small diameter gear 33 b of the counter gear 33. The gear body 31a includes a cylindrical portion 31c that protrudes to the back side at a center portion thereof, and a peripheral wall portion 31d that similarly protrudes in the back-side axial direction around the cylindrical portion 31c. A deformed second end 4b of the throttle shaft 4 is fitted to the front side recess of the cylindrical portion 31c in a non-rotating state, and a metal caulking plate 25 joined by caulking the second end 4b is provided. It is provided concentrically.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a pair of permanent magnets 41 and an arcuate yoke 42 interposed between the permanent magnets 41 in the circumferential direction are concentrically arranged in the front side recess of the cylindrical portion 31 c. Provided. Further, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 9, a return spring 43 is provided between the cylindrical portion 31c and the peripheral wall portion 31d. The return spring 43 is composed of a torsion coil spring and is arranged concentrically with the throttle shaft 4. As shown in FIG. 7, the return spring 43 is provided between the throttle body 2 (gear housing 13) and the throttle gear 31. The return spring 43 is provided to urge the throttle valve 5 in the closing direction via the throttle gear 31 and the throttle shaft 4. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the return spring 43 includes a first end 43 a and a second end 43 b, and the first end 43 a is latched to the latch 2 a provided on the throttle body 2. Is done. Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the second end 43 b of the return spring 43 is latched by a latch 31 e provided on the throttle gear 31. As a result, the return spring 43 constantly urges the throttle gear 31 and the throttle valve 5 in the fully closed direction in which the bore 11 is closed.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 9, an opener spring 44 is provided on the outer periphery of the peripheral wall portion 31 d of the throttle gear 31. In this embodiment, the opener spring 44 is configured by bending a belt-shaped plate spring so as to form a C shape in a plan view. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the opener spring 44 is provided between the throttle body 2 (gear housing 13) and the throttle gear 31. The opener spring 44 is provided to urge the throttle valve 5 from the fully closed position toward the opener opening position P2 (see FIG. 4) via the throttle gear 31 and the throttle shaft 4 in the opening direction. That is, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the opener spring 44 includes a first end 44a and a second end 44b, and the first end 44a and the second end 44b are formed on the outer periphery of the gear body 31a. The closed side latching portion 31f and the open side latching portion 31g are latched respectively. Both end portions 44 a and 44 b of the opener spring 44 protrude from the throttle gear 31 in the radial direction. The first end 44a serves as a closed position restricting portion for restricting the opener opening position P2 and the fully closed position P1 (see FIG. 4) of the throttle valve 5. Further, the second end portion 44b serves as a fully open restricting portion for restricting the fully open position P3 (see FIG. 4) of the throttle valve 5.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the throttle gear 31 is viewed from the front side, the first end portion 44a of the opener spring 44 is disposed at a predetermined angle away from one end of the gear portion 31b in the counterclockwise direction. . On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, the second end portion 44b of the opener spring 44 is disposed at a predetermined angle with respect to one end of the gear portion 31b in the counterclockwise direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the gear housing 13 is provided with a protruding opener stopper 13 c. The opener stopper 13c restricts the rotation of the throttle gear 31 in order to restrict the rotation of the throttle valve 5 to the opener opening θ1 or less. That is, when the throttle valve 5 rotates in the closing direction, the first end portion 44a of the opener spring 44 provided on the throttle gear 31 can be engaged with the opener stopper 13c. 7 and 9, when the first end 44a of the opener spring 44 is engaged with the opener stopper 13c, the throttle valve 5 is opener position P2 (FIG. 7) close to the fully closed position P1. 4).

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, a protrusion-like fully open stopper 13 d is provided in the gear housing 13. The fully open stopper 13d is provided to restrict the fully open position P3 (see FIG. 4) of the throttle valve 5. That is, the second end portion 44b of the opener spring 44 provided in the throttle gear 31 can be engaged with the fully open stopper 13d when the throttle valve 5 rotates in the opening direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, when the throttle gear 31 rotates and the second end 44b of the opener spring 44 engages with the fully open stopper 13d, the maximum opening of the throttle valve 5, that is, the fully open position P3. (See FIG. 4) is regulated.

  12 and 13 show the relationship among the throttle gear 31, the throttle body 2, the return spring 43, and the opener spring 44 by model views. FIG. 12 corresponds to a state in which the throttle valve 5 is held at the opener opening position P2 (see FIG. 4). In this state, the first end 44 a of the opener spring 44 is engaged with the opener stopper 13 c of the gear housing 13 while being latched by the closing side latch 31 f of the throttle gear 31, and the second end of the opener spring 44 is engaged. The portion 44b is latched to the opening side latching portion 31g of the throttle gear 31 (see FIG. 9). As a result, the throttle gear 31 is biased by the opener spring 44 in the direction of opening the throttle valve 5. Further, the throttle gear 31 is urged in a direction to close the throttle valve 5 by a return spring 43 provided between the throttle body 2 and the throttle gear 31. The throttle valve 5 is held at the opener opening position P2 (see FIG. 4) slightly opened from the fully closed position P1 by the balance of the urging forces of the opener spring 44 and the return spring 43.

  From the state shown in FIG. 12, the electric motor 8 is operated to rotate the throttle shaft 4 via the gear mechanism 9, and the throttle valve 5 is rotated in the closing direction. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the throttle gear 31 is rotated until the fully closed latching portion 31h of the throttle gear 31 contacts the first end portion 44a of the opener spring 44. The valve 5 is restricted to the fully closed position P1 (see FIG. 4).

  On the other hand, FIG. 13 corresponds to a state in which the throttle valve 5 is held at the fully open position P3 (see FIG. 4). That is, this corresponds to a state where the electric motor 8 is operated to rotate the throttle shaft 4 via the gear mechanism 9 and the throttle valve 5 is rotated to the fully open position P3. In this state, as shown in FIG. 10, the first end 44 a of the opener spring 44 is latched to the closing side latch 31 f of the throttle gear 31, and the second end 44 b of the opener spring 44 is throttled 31. It engages with the fully open stopper 13d while being latched by the open side latching portion 31g. As a result, the throttle gear 31 is rotated by the driving force of the electric motor 8 against the urging force of the return spring 43, a rotational torque is applied, and the throttle valve 5 is held at the fully open position P3 (see FIG. 4). ).

  As shown in FIG. 7, the gear case 13 of the throttle body 2 is provided with a guide portion 13 e that guides the second end portion 44 b of the opener spring 44. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the relationship among the guide portion 13e, the second end portion 44b, the throttle shaft 4, the throttle valve 5, and the like. The guide portion 13e has a groove shape for guiding the second end portion 44b, and rotates the second end portion 44b as the throttle gear 31 rotates while restricting the movement of the second end portion 44b in the thrust direction F1. Formed to allow. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the guide portion 13e is disposed adjacent to the fully open stopper 13d.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, adjacent to the throttle gear 31, between the throttle gear 31 and the gear housing 13, for detecting the opening degree (throttle opening degree) of the bore 11 by the throttle valve 5. A throttle sensor 10 is provided. The throttle sensor 10 includes an MRE (Magnet Resistive Element) element 45 provided on the gear cover 3 and a pair of permanent magnets 41 provided on the cylindrical portion 31 c of the throttle gear 31. The MRE element 45 is loosely fitted in the front side recess of the cylindrical portion 31c of the throttle gear 31. The MRE element 45 is configured as an element that detects the direction of the magnetic field generated between the pair of permanent magnets 41. As the MRE element 45, for example, a magnetic detection element such as a magnetoresistive element and a Hall element arranged so that the direction of the magnetic field can be detected, or a detection unit having the magnetic detection element is integrally provided with an arithmetic unit, An element or the like that outputs a corresponding signal can be used. The MRE element 45 detects the direction of the magnetic field generated between the pair of permanent magnets 41 as the rotation angle of the throttle gear 31, that is, the throttle opening of the throttle valve 5, and outputs a detection signal thereof. .

  In the above configuration, the driving force of the electric motor 8 by energization is transmitted to the throttle shaft 4 via the gear mechanism 9, that is, the driving gear 32, the counter gear 33 and the throttle gear 31. Thereby, the throttle valve 5 rotates and the bore 11 is opened and closed. At this time, the throttle gear 31 is rotated against the urging force of the return spring 43 in the opening range of the opener opening θ1 or more. Further, in the opening range below the opening degree θ1 of the opener, the throttle gear 31 is rotated against the urging force of the opener spring 44, and the first end 44a of the opener spring 44 is connected to the gear housing 13 as shown in FIG. The throttle gear 31 is engaged with the opener stopper 13c and is in contact with the fully closed latching portion 31h of the throttle gear 31, whereby the rotation of the throttle gear 31 from the fully closed position P1 to the closing side is restricted. On the other hand, when the electric motor 8 is not energized, the throttle gear 31 returns to the state shown in FIG. 9 due to the balance between the urging force of the return spring 43 and the urging force of the opener spring 44, and the throttle valve 5 is in a predetermined opener opening position. It is held at P2 (see FIG. 4).

  As described above, according to the throttle device 1 of this embodiment, the opening degree of the bore 11 by the throttle valve 5 is changed by rotating the throttle shaft 4 via the gear mechanism 9 by the electric motor 8, so that the bore 11 The amount of intake air flowing through is adjusted. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the throttle valve 5 opens and closes between a fully closed position P1 in which the bore 11 is fully closed and a fully open position P3 in which the bore 11 is fully opened, and is larger than the fully closed state. Is held at an opener opening position P2 that defines the opener opening degree θ1. When the throttle valve 5 is in the fully open position P3, the energization is stopped, the driving force of the electric motor 8 is released, and the urging force of the return spring 43 is applied via the throttle gear 31 and the throttle shaft 4. The throttle valve 5 is rotated in the closing direction. In the state where the throttle valve 5 is disposed at the fully closed position P1, the driving force of the electric motor 8 is released by stopping the energization, and the biasing force of the opener spring 44 is applied via the throttle gear 31 and the throttle shaft 4. Thus, the throttle valve 5 is rotated in the opening direction from the fully closed position P1 to the opener opening position P2. Since the opener spring 44 provided on the throttle gear 31 is configured by a strip-shaped plate spring, the opener spring 44 has a simpler shape than that formed by a torsion coil spring, and the urging force of the opener spring 44 is controlled by the throttle. The hysteresis of the opener spring 44 when acting on the gear 31 is reduced. For this reason, the frictional resistance between the opener spring 44 and the throttle gear 31 can be reduced, and a smooth opening / closing operation of the throttle valve 5 can be ensured. Further, since the opener spring 44 has a simple shape, the manufacturing cost of the opener spring 44 can be reduced.

  In this embodiment, a first end 44 a of an opener spring 44 that is latched on the throttle gear 31 protrudes in the radial direction from the throttle gear 31, and the first end 44 a is provided on the gear housing 13 of the throttle body 2. By engaging with the opener stopper 13c, the rotation of the throttle gear 31 is restricted, and the rotation of the throttle valve 5 to the opening degree θ1 or less is restricted. Therefore, the first end portion 44a having the spring property engages with the opener stopper 13c, but the impact applied to the throttle gear 31 at the time of the engagement is reduced. For this reason, the durability of the throttle gear 31 can be improved. Further, it is not necessary to separately provide an engaging portion for the opener stopper 13c in the throttle gear 31. For this reason, the related structure of the throttle gear 31 can be simplified.

  In this embodiment, a second end 44 b of an opener spring 44 that is latched on the throttle gear 31 protrudes from the throttle gear 31 in the radial direction, and the second end 44 b is provided on the gear housing 13 of the throttle body 2. By engaging with the fully open stopper 13d, the rotation of the throttle gear 31 is restricted, and the rotation of the throttle valve 5 beyond the fully open position is restricted. Accordingly, the second end portion 44b having the spring property engages with the fully open stopper 13d, but the impact applied to the throttle gear 31 during the engagement is reduced. For this reason, the durability of the throttle gear 31 can be further improved. Further, it is not necessary to separately provide an engaging portion for the fully open stopper 13d in the throttle gear 31. Therefore, in this sense, the related configuration of the throttle gear 31 can be further simplified.

  In this embodiment, since the opener spring 44 is provided on the outer periphery of the peripheral wall portion 31d of the throttle gear 31, the opener spring 44 made of a strip-shaped plate spring can be provided so as to be wound around the outer periphery of the peripheral wall portion 31d. Become. For this reason, the assembly property of the opener spring 44 with respect to the throttle gear 31 can be improved, and the opener spring 44 can be provided in the throttle gear 31 in a compact manner.

  In this embodiment, when the throttle gear 31 is rotated together with the throttle shaft 4 and the throttle valve 5, the rotation of the second end portion 44 b of the opener spring 44 protruding in the radial direction from the throttle gear 31 is provided in the gear housing 13. Guided by the guide portion 13e. At this time, the movement of the second end portion 44b in the thrust direction is restricted by the guide portion 13e, and the second end portion 44b is allowed to rotate with the rotation of the throttle gear 31. Therefore, the movement of the throttle shaft 4 and the throttle valve 5 in the thrust direction together with the throttle gear 31 is restricted without providing a separate member such as a C ring on the throttle shaft 4 or the like. For this reason, the related configuration of the throttle shaft 4 can be simplified to the extent that it is not necessary to provide a separate member for thrust regulation.

In this embodiment, when the throttle valve 5 operates near the fully open position P3 (see FIG. 4) during engine operation, the vibration of the throttle valve 5 becomes relatively large, and the throttle shaft 4 tends to move in the thrust direction. Become. However, since the guide portion 13e is disposed adjacent to the fully open stopper 13d, in the vicinity of the fully open position P3 of the throttle valve 5, the movement of the second end portion 44b of the opener spring 44 in the thrust direction is the guide portion 13e. It will be regulated by. For this reason, it is possible to restrict the movement of the throttle shaft 4 and the throttle valve 5 in the thrust direction together with the throttle gear 31 by specifying the vicinity of the fully open position P3 of the throttle valve 5 with much vibration.

  In this embodiment, the throttle sensor 10 includes a pair of permanent magnets 41 provided on the throttle gear 31 and an MRE element 45 that detects the direction of a magnetic field generated between the pair of permanent magnets 41. Then, when the MRE element 45 detects the direction of the magnetic field of the pair of permanent magnets 41, the opening degree of the bore 11 (throttle opening degree) by the throttle valve 5 is detected. Therefore, for example, even if the magnetic field strength of the permanent magnet 41 changes due to a positional shift of the permanent magnet 41 due to a positional shift of the throttle shaft 4 or a temperature change, the direction of the magnetic field of the permanent magnet 41 is not affected. That is, even if a change occurs in the magnetic field intensity of the permanent magnet 41, the throttle opening is detected by the MRE element 45 based on the direction of the magnetic field without being affected by the change. This is suitable for the throttle device 1 of the present embodiment that rotatably supports the throttle shaft 4 using both bearings 21A and 21B made of relatively simple sliding bearings. For this reason, the throttle device 1 using both bearings 21A and 21B made of a sliding bearing can be ensured without reducing the detection accuracy of the throttle opening.

  In this embodiment, the motor housing 14 is disposed with a gap with respect to the throttle pipe 12. Further, the motor housing 14 and the throttle shaft 4 are parallel to each other, and the rear side portion 14a which is a part of the outer peripheral surface of the motor housing 14 is disposed further downstream than the downstream end 11b of the bore 11 of the throttle pipe 12. The Accordingly, the surface area of the motor housing 14 itself increases. For this reason, the heat dissipation of the electric motor 8 by the motor housing 14 can be improved.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and a part of the configuration can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the bearings 21A and 21B of the throttle shaft 4 are configured by sliding bearings, but the bearings may be configured by ball bearings.

  The present invention can be used for engines such as automobiles. Specifically, it can be used to adjust the intake air amount in the intake passage of the engine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Throttle device 2 Throttle body 4 Throttle shaft 5 Throttle valve 8 Electric motor 9 Gear mechanism 11 Bore 13 Gear housing 13c Opener stopper 13d Full open stopper 13e Guide part 31 Throttle gear 31a Gear main body 31b Gear part 31c Cylindrical part 31d Circumferential wall part 31e Part 31f Close side latch part 31g Open side latch part 31h Fully closed latch part 43 Return spring 43a First end part 43b Second end part 44 Opener spring 44a First end part 44b Second end part θ1 Opener opening F1 Thrust direction P1 Fully closed position P2 Opener opening position P3 Fully open position

Claims (6)

A throttle body having a bore;
A throttle shaft disposed across the bore and rotatably supported by the throttle body;
A throttle valve provided on the throttle shaft in the bore and opening and closing the bore by rotation of the throttle shaft;
The throttle valve opens and closes between a fully closed position in which the bore is fully closed and a fully open position in which the bore is fully opened, and an opener opening position that defines a predetermined opener opening larger than the fully closed position Being held at,
A gear mechanism including a throttle gear provided on the throttle shaft;
An electric motor drivingly connected to the gear mechanism;
A return spring provided between the throttle body and the throttle gear and biasing the throttle valve in the closing direction via the throttle gear and the throttle shaft;
An opener spring provided between the throttle body and the throttle gear and biasing the throttle valve in the opening direction from the fully closed position toward the opener opening position via the throttle gear and the throttle shaft; A throttle device that adjusts the amount of air flowing through the bore by changing the opening of the bore by the throttle valve by rotating the throttle shaft through the gear mechanism by the electric motor,
2. A throttle device according to claim 1, wherein the opener spring is constituted by a strip-shaped plate spring, and the opener spring is provided in the throttle gear. The throttle body includes an opener stopper that restricts rotation of the throttle gear in order to restrict rotation of the throttle valve below the opener opening;
The opener spring has a substantially C shape in plan view and includes a first end and a second end.
The first end and the second end of the opener spring are latched on the throttle gear and project from the throttle gear in a radial direction,
The throttle device according to claim 1, wherein the first end portion is provided so as to be engageable with the opener stopper. The throttle body is provided with a fully open stopper that restricts the fully open position of the throttle valve,
The throttle device according to claim 2, wherein the second end portion of the opener spring is provided so as to be engageable with the fully open stopper. The throttle gear includes a disc-shaped gear main body, a fan-shaped gear portion formed on the outer peripheral portion of the gear main body, and a peripheral wall portion protruding in the axial direction from a central portion of the gear main body,
The throttle device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the opener spring is provided on an outer periphery of the peripheral wall portion of the throttle gear. The throttle body is provided with a guide portion for guiding the second end portion of the opener spring,
The said guide part is formed so that rotation of the said 2nd end part accompanying rotation of the said throttle gear may be permitted, restrict | limiting the movement to the thrust direction of the said 2nd end part. The throttle device according to any one of 2 to 4.   The throttle device according to claim 5, wherein the guide portion is disposed adjacent to the fully open stopper.

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