JP2882084B2 - Engine reinforcement structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reinforcing structure for improving the coupling rigidity between an engine mounted on a vehicle or the like and a transmission case connected to the engine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, stiffeners have been used to enhance the bending stiffness of a connecting portion between a cylinder block of a vehicle engine and a transmission case by using a stiffener. There is known a technique for improving the sound of the subject.

As this kind of technology, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application
There is an “engine reinforcement device” disclosed in 157962. In this device, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a flange portion 32 a of an oil pan 32 is fastened and fixed to a lower surface of a skirt portion 31 a of a cylinder block 31 with a bolt 33. A transmission case 34 is fixed to one side of the cylinder block 31 (the right side in FIG. 7). The transmission case 3 is located immediately below the flange portion 32 a of the oil pan 32.
A stiffener 40 including a pair of reinforcing stays 35 and 36 and a reinforcing plate 39 is disposed on the fourth side. The reinforcing stays 35 and 36 and the reinforcing plate 39 are fastened together to the skirt portion 31 a by bolts 37, and the reinforcing stays 35 and 36 are further fastened and fixed to the transmission case 34 by bolts 38.

[0004]

However, in the prior art, the stiffener 40 and the flange 32a of the oil pan 32 are jointly fastened to the skirt 31a of the cylinder block 31 by bolts 37. Such problems occur. That is, in general, a liquid gasket 41 is applied to a tightened portion between the skirt portion 31a of the cylinder block 31 and the flange portion 32a of the oil pan 32 in order to ensure sealing performance. Usually, the operation of mounting the stiffener 40 is performed after the engine is assembled.
That is, the operation of attaching the stiffener 40 is performed after the applied gasket 41 is cured. Therefore, when the reinforcing stays 35, 36 and the like and the flange portion 32a are fastened together with the skirt portion 31a in the state where the gasket 41 is hardened in this way, the gasket 41 which has been adapted once is used.
Is deformed by compression deformation. As a result, the gasket 41 cannot be cut or the deformation of the oil pan 32 cannot be followed by the gasket 41, and a gap is formed between the gasket 41 and the skirt portion 31a or between the gasket 41 and the flange portion 32a, thereby deteriorating the sealing performance. There is a possibility that.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reinforcement structure of an engine in which a stiffener can be mounted on a cylinder block without impairing the sealing performance of a gasket.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is to fix an oil pan flange portion to a lower surface of a skirt portion of an engine cylinder block via a gasket and to fix the cylinder block. A transmission case is connected to a side portion, and a reinforcing stiffener is mounted on a connecting portion of the transmission case and the cylinder block. In the engine reinforcement structure, a mounting boss is protruded from the stiffener or the skirt portion, and a flange of the oil pan is provided. The portion is provided with a communication portion through which the mounting boss can be inserted, and in a state where the mounting boss is inserted into the communication portion and abuts on the skirt portion or the stiffener, the stiffener is directly tightened to the cylinder block by a fastening member. .

[0007]

With the above configuration, when the stiffener is fastened to the cylinder block by the fastening member, the flange portion of the oil pan is disposed between the skirt or the stiffener and the mounting boss protruding from the stiffener or the skirt. Is not pinched. Therefore, the gasket is not compressed and deformed by the fastening of the stiffener by the fastening member.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the engine 1 and the transmission case 6, and FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. A skirt portion 2a is integrally provided below the cylinder block 2 of the engine 1.
A flange 4a of an oil pan 4 is superimposed on the lower end surface of the skirt 2a via a gasket 3, and the flange 4a is formed by a plurality of bolts 5 on the skirt 2a.
It is tightened and fixed. In this embodiment, the gasket 3
FIPG (Formed in Place G
Asket) is used. FIPG is a liquid gasket, for example, a room temperature vulcanization type silicone rubber sealant. This liquid gasket 3 has a larger sealing effect than a molded gasket made of paper, cork, rubber, or the like, and can correspond to various shapes.

On the other hand, a transmission case 6 having a built-in transmission is connected to one side (the right side in FIG. 2) of the cylinder block 2 by bolts or the like. The lower part of the transmission case 6 slightly protrudes downward from the cylinder block 2. The lower portion of one side of the skirt portion 2a of the cylinder block 2 and the lower portion of the transmission case 6 are connected by a stiffener 7, and the stiffener 7 allows the cylinder block 2
The rigidity of the connection between the transmission case 6 and the transmission case 6 is increased. The stiffener 7 includes a main body 7a curved to cover one side of the oil pan 4 from below, and a cylinder block side mounting portion 7b integrally formed on the upper edge of the main body 7a. A transmission case side mounting portion 7c is formed integrally with one side edge of the main body portion 7a. The transmission case side mounting portion 7c is fastened and fixed to the transmission case 6 with bolts 8.

The cylinder block side mounting portion 7b of the stiffener 7 is mounted on the cylinder block 2 as follows. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a mounting boss 9 that protrudes upward is formed integrally with the cylinder block side mounting portion 7b. The height of the mounting boss 9 is set to be higher than the thickness of the gasket 3 plus the thickness of the flange portion 4 a of the oil pan 4.

The flange 4a of the oil pan 4 is provided with a through hole 10 as a communicating portion through which the mounting boss 9 can be inserted (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Here, the shape of the mounting boss 9 is not particularly limited, such as a columnar shape or a prismatic shape, but the insertion hole 10 of the oil pan 4 needs to be formed larger than the mounting boss 9. Then, with the mounting boss 9 inserted through the insertion hole 10 and the upper surface of the mounting boss 9 abutting against the lower surface of the skirt portion 2a, the stiffener 7 is connected to the cylinder block 2 by a bolt 11 as a fastening member. Directly.

The dashed line in FIG. 4 indicates the seal line L to which the liquid gasket 3 is applied. In this embodiment, the seal line L is largely bent inward (downward in FIG. 4) of the engine 1 at a portion where the bolt 11 is tightened. This is to prevent the entire width of the engine 1 from increasing due to the attachment of the stiffener 7. For this purpose, in the present embodiment, the tightening position of the bolt 11, the position of the insertion hole 10 and the like are set inside the engine 1, and a part of the corresponding cylinder block 2 is bulged in the same direction. As described above, the seal line L is curved inward.

In this embodiment constructed as described above, the flange 4a of the oil pan 4 is located between the mounting boss 9 of the stiffener 7 and the skirt 2a of the cylinder block 2.
Is not sandwiched, and the cylinder block side mounting portion 7b of the stiffener 7 is separated downward from the flange portion 4a. Therefore, even after the stiffener 7 is attached to the cylinder block 2 after the engine assembly in which the gasket 3 is vulcanized and cured, the gasket 3 is not compressed by the tightening of the stiffener 7 by the bolt 11.

Therefore, the stiffener 40 and the oil pan 32
Unlike the prior art in which the flange 32a of the cylinder block 31 is fastened to the skirt 31a of the cylinder block 31 by bolts 37, according to the present embodiment, the gasket 3 which has been adjusted once is not distorted by the attachment of the stiffener 7. As a result, the gasket 3 does not break or the gasket 3 cannot follow the deformation of the oil pan 4, and a gap is generated between the gasket 3 and the skirt portion 2a or between the gasket 3 and the flange portion 4a. Therefore, the sealing property is not impaired.

In this embodiment, as described above, the seal line L of the liquid gasket 3 is moved toward the inside of the engine 1 to prevent the entire width of the engine 1 from being increased due to the attachment of the stiffener 7. As a result, not only can the stiffener 7 be directly attached to the current engine manufacturing line, but also the engine 1 can be easily mounted on a vehicle.

The present invention is not limited to the structure of the above embodiment. For example, the mounting boss 9 may be provided on the cylinder block 2 side, or the number of the mounting boss 9 and the number of the insertion holes 10 may be reduced.
The shape may be arbitrarily changed without departing from the spirit of the invention, such as by appropriately changing the shape and the like. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the insertion hole 10 is provided as a communication portion with the flange portion 4a of the oil pan 4, but the insertion hole 10 may be changed to a notch.

[0017]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a mounting boss is projected from a stiffener or a skirt portion, and a communication portion through which the mounting boss can be inserted is provided on a flange portion of an oil pan. Since the stiffener is directly tightened to the cylinder block by the fastening member in a state where the boss is inserted into the communication portion and is in contact with the skirt or the stiffener, the sealing performance of the gasket between the lower surface of the skirt and the flange is impaired. Without this, an excellent effect that the stiffener can be attached to the cylinder block can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment embodying the present invention, and FIG.
It is an expanded sectional view in the -A line direction.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state in which a connecting portion between a cylinder block and a transmission case of the engine according to the embodiment is reinforced by a stiffener;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 4 shows a mounting portion of a stiffener according to one embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion C of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing a state before a connecting portion between the cylinder block and the transmission case of the embodiment is reinforced with a stiffener.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view showing a state in which a connecting portion between the cylinder block and the transmission case of one embodiment is reinforced by a stiffener.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view showing a reinforcement structure of a conventional engine.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a mounting portion of a conventional stiffener.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Engine, 2 ... Cylinder block, 2a ... Skirt part, 3 ... Gasket, 4 ... Oil pan, 4a ... Flange part, 6 ... Transmission case, 7 ... Stiffener,
9 mounting boss, 10 insertion hole as communication part, 11 bolt as fastening member

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F02F 7/00 301 F02F 7/00 302 F02F 7/00 F02B 61/06

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An oil pan flange portion is fastened and fixed to a lower surface of a skirt portion of a cylinder block of an engine via a gasket, and a transmission case is connected to one side of the cylinder block. In a reinforcement structure of an engine in which a reinforcing stiffener is attached to a connecting portion of a block, an attaching boss is protruded from the stiffener or the skirt portion, and a communication portion through which the attaching boss can be inserted is provided in a flange portion of the oil pan, An engine reinforcement structure wherein the stiffener is directly tightened to a cylinder block by a fastening member in a state where the mounting boss is inserted into a communication portion and is in contact with the skirt portion or the stiffener.