JP2911624B2 - Liquid clutch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid clutch for transmitting the drive torque of a drive disk to a case by oil supplied to a torque transmission chamber, and more particularly to a liquid clutch for controlling the rotation of a cooling fan of an automobile engine mounted on the case. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The interior of a case is divided into a torque transmission chamber and an oil sump chamber by a partition plate, and a drive disk is rotatably provided in the torque transmission chamber by driving a drive unit, and oil in the oil sump chamber is formed on the partition plate. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 63-21048 discloses a coupling device (liquid clutch) having a structure in which the oil is supplied to the torque transmission chamber through the outflow adjustment hole and the oil in the torque transmission chamber is returned to the oil reservoir through the circulation path. ing.
According to this type of liquid clutch, the drive torque of the drive disk is transmitted to the case by the oil supplied from the oil sump chamber to the torque transmission chamber, and the fan attached to the case rotates, for example, to cool the automobile engine. Will be

However, in such a conventional liquid clutch, the ambient temperature is detected by a bimetal, and when this temperature rises, the opening of the outflow adjustment hole is increased to increase the amount of oil in the torque transmission chamber, and the rotation of the case is increased. Increase the number,
The fan rotates at high speed to increase the cooling effect.

[0004]

However, automobile engines are driven under various conditions. For example, while driving on a highway, the drive disk rotates at a high speed, but the air cooling effect of the traveling wind is enhanced, so it is not necessary to rotate the fan at a very high speed, or the fan rotation speed is high during cold start It is necessary to control the cooling water temperature of the engine to be almost constant without overshooting in each case, such as inhibiting the warm-up operation and generating fan noise, so that the fan wants to rotate at low speed. Is done.
In order to meet this demand, it is not sufficient to control the oil amount only by the ambient temperature.

As described above, in the prior art, it is not possible to adjust the oil amount with high precision according to various operating conditions in the related art, and to perform appropriate control such as desired linear characteristics.

The present invention has been made in view of the current situation of this type of liquid clutch as described above. The present invention focuses on the fact that there is always a slip between the case and the drive disk in the fluid clutch, that is, a difference in the number of revolutions, and a pump mechanism utilizing this difference in the number of revolutions is built in the case to forcibly circulate the oil. At the same time, a valve member operated by an external electromagnet is provided in a communication path on the supply side and the discharge side of the pump mechanism, and the amount of oil in the torque transmission gap is quickly and accurately controlled according to various operating conditions. Always optimal torque transmission state,
That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid clutch capable of obtaining an optimum case (fan) rotation speed such as a desired linear characteristic.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a driving unit, a rotating shaft rotated by the driving unit, a driving disk rotated by the rotating shaft, and a driving disk. A case which is accommodated and is arranged rotatably about the rotation shaft, a torque transmission chamber in which the drive disk is provided and an oil sump chamber for collecting oil in the case; A liquid clutch supplied from the chamber to the torque transmission chamber to transmit the drive torque of the drive disk to the case, wherein a first set of supply and discharge in which the oil sump chamber and the torque transmission chamber communicate with each other.
A first flow passage connected to each of the first flow passages, and a second flow passage interposed between the first flow passages and a pump mechanism utilizing a difference in rotation speed between the rotating shaft and the case therebetween; At the connection between the passage and the second flow passage, a valve member having magnetism that opens and closes so as to selectively connect the pump mechanism and the oil sump chamber or the torque transmission chamber is provided, and an electromagnet for operating the valve member is provided outside. A control device for controlling the excitation of the electromagnet is provided, and the control device outputs an output signal from a sensor for detecting a temperature of cooling water for cooling the driving unit, and further includes at least an additional signal. The exciting current to each electromagnet is controlled based on an output signal from a sensor for detecting the rotation speed of the case or the rotation shaft. .

[0008]

According to the present invention, the case and the drive disk (rotary shaft)
A pump mechanism driven by utilizing the difference in the number of rotations is built in the case to forcibly circulate oil, and a valve member operated by an external electromagnet is provided in a communication path on the discharge side and the supply side of the pump mechanism. When a pair of valve members on the supply side and the discharge side communicating from the oil sump chamber to the torque transmission chamber are both closed by a control signal from the control mechanism, the pump mechanism may simply circulate the oil in the oil sump chamber. The oil in the torque transmission chamber is always constant, so that the fan mounted on the case performs a steady rotation (constant rotation). Next, in order to accelerate the rotation of the case (fan), if the supply-side valve member is opened while the discharge-side valve member is closed, oil is supplied to the torque transmission chamber by discharge of the pump mechanism. The fans are accelerating because they are not done. Conversely, if you want to decelerate, close only the supply-side valve member and open the discharge-side valve member, oil is not supplied to the torque transmission chamber, and only the discharge is performed by the suction of the pump mechanism, so the fan is decelerated. .

Next, this operation is performed by changing the temperature of the cooling water of the drive unit,
Furthermore, if oil supply is controlled based on the number of rotations of a fan or the number of rotations of a rotating shaft that is rotated by driving of a driving unit, accurate and accurate control of the amount of oil is performed, and various operating conditions are controlled. The rotation of the fan corresponding to is performed.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the clutch of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the entirety of the clutch, in which the electromagnet is also removed and only the internal pump portion is cut away.
A large-diameter and short case 3 is rotatably mounted on a rotating shaft 2 rotated by driving an (engine) 1 via a bearing 2a. The rotating shaft 2 inserted and arranged in the case 3
A disk-shaped drive disk 4 is fixed to an end of the disk. The inside of the case 3 is separated by a partition wall 5 into a torque transmitting chamber 6.
And an oil sump chamber 7 are provided, and the torque transmission chamber 6 and the oil sump chamber 7 form a circulation path by a pair of first flow paths 8 of an oil supply path 8a and an oil discharge path 8b. The drive disk 4 is located in the torque transmission chamber 6 and forms a torque transmission gap between the outer peripheral surface and the side surface of the drive disk 4 and the inner peripheral surface and the side surface of the case 3 opposed thereto. A fan 3a is fixed to the outside of the box.

Next, reference numeral 9 denotes a vane pump mechanism.
a is a rotor attached to the tip of the rotating shaft 2;
Is a vane, which is rotationally driven by a difference in rotation speed caused by slip between the case 3 and the drive disk 4 (rotary shaft 2). In the illustrated embodiment, a description will be given based on a vane pump mechanism. However, in the present invention, a trochoid pump, a gear pump, or the like may be used. The oil supply passage 10a of the pump mechanism 9 is connected to the supply passage 8a, the oil passage 10b is connected to the discharge passage 8b, and the passages to the torque transmission chamber 6 are closed at the connection portions, respectively. A valve member 11a for opening the chamber 7 and a valve member 11b for closing the discharge path 8b and connecting the oil reservoir chamber 7 to the oil pumping path 10b are provided. These valve members 11a and 11b have magnetism, and are formed of a magnetic material themselves or have a magnetic material piece attached thereto.
A pair of electromagnets 12a and 12b provided on the front side of the case 3.
Activated by The electromagnets 12a, 12b
Is a ring-shaped electromagnet arranged on a concentric circle. The center portion is attached to a support shaft provided at the center of the outside of the case 3 via a bearing, and the other is fixed to the vehicle body 13 or, if necessary, as shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the center of the electromagnets 12a and 12b is directly mounted on the rotary shaft 2 via a bearing, and the other is mounted on the engine block 1
The electromagnet may be attached to the rear surface side of the case 3 by fixing to the case 3 '. The valve members 11a and 11b are
a, 13b displaces in one direction.

The electromagnets 12a and 12b are formed not in a ring shape but in a block shape, and as shown in FIG.
a, 11b, which is fixed to the outer wall of the case 3 so as to be supplied with power via the slip ring contact 15 and excited, or provided with a support piece at a position corresponding to the rotation locus of the valve members 11a, 11b. , And may be suctioned every time the case 1 rotates.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 16 denotes an electromagnet indicated by an imaginary line, and 17 denotes a tongue-shaped magnetic piece provided on the case 3 when the case 3 does not need to be rotated at the time of cold start or the like. This is provided in order to excite the electromagnet to attract the magnetic piece 17 to brake it, thereby speeding up warm-up and preventing fan noise.

In the above configuration, when it is desired to rotate the case 3, ie, the fan 3a, in a steady state (constant rotation), the case 3
As shown in FIG. 7, the valve member 1 is not energized with the electromagnets 12a and 12b.
By not operating 1a, 11b, a pair of valve members 11a, 11b from the oil sump chamber 7 to the supply side and the discharge side communicating with the torque transmission chamber 6 are closed, and the pump mechanism 9 simply operates the oil sump in the oil sump chamber 7. From the oil passage 10b by suction and pressure.
The oil in the torque transmission chamber 6 is always constant only by circulating through the a. Therefore, the fan 3a always rotates at a constant speed.

Next, when it is desired to accelerate the rotation of the fan 3a, as shown in FIG. 3, if the valve member 11b is closed and the electromagnet 12a is energized to open only the valve member 11a, the oil is stored in the oil sump chamber 7. The oil is sucked through the oil passage 10b, is pressurized by the pump mechanism 9, and is further supplied from the oil passage 10a into the torque transmission chamber 6 through the supply passage 8a. Since the oil in the torque transmission chamber 6 is not discharged through the oil discharge passage 8b, the oil amount in the torque transmission gap increases and the fan is accelerated.

On the other hand, if it is desired to reduce the speed, the supply valve member 11a is closed, the electromagnet 12b is excited and the discharge side valve member 11b is opened, as shown in FIG. The oil in the torque transmission chamber 6 is not supplied to the oil supply chamber 6, but is drawn from the oil supply path 10 b through the discharge path 8 b, pressurized by the pump mechanism 9, and returned to the oil reservoir 7 through the oil supply path 10 a. Therefore, the oil in the torque transmission chamber 6 is only discharged, the oil amount in the torque transmission gap decreases, and the speed of the fan 3a decreases.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the valve members 11a and 11b may be of a plug type so as to be detachable from the case 3 for convenience in assembly or maintenance. May be detachably mounted in the case 3.

The electromagnets 12a and 12b are controlled by the control device 23 in accordance with the driving conditions to obtain various factors (fan rotation,
The adjusted excitation current is generated based on the rotation speed of the rotating shaft and the output signals of the cooling water temperature sensors 20, 21, 22) to control the operation of the valve members 11a, 11b.

Next, the operation of the embodiment having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the control operation of one embodiment. In this embodiment, the fan speed signal as the number of rotations of the fan is Nf, the engine speed signal as the number of rotations of the rotating shaft Ne, the cooling device. The water temperature signal Tw as the water temperature of the cooling water is taken into the control device 23 as the output signal S from each of the sensors 20, 21, 22. Based on these output signals S, the characteristic data calculation circuit of the control device 23 performs characteristic data (A) between the fan speed and the engine speed, characteristic data (B) between the fan speed and the cooling water temperature shown in FIG.
And time characteristic data (C) of the engine speed are calculated as characteristic data.

These characteristic data D ((A) (B)
(C)) and the output signal S (Ne, Tw, Nf), control data is calculated in the control data calculation circuit of the control device 23, and the electromagnet 1 is determined based on the obtained control data.
An exciting current is supplied to the motors 2a and 12b for a required time to control the amount of oil in the torque transmission chamber 6. That is, in step S1 of FIG. 8, whether or not the engine is accelerating is determined based on the engine speed signal Ne and the time characteristic data (C) of the engine speed by the conditional expression dNe / dt> dne / dt (where dne / Dt is determined by the change rate of the engine speed stored in the control device 23). If the determination in step S1 is YES, the process proceeds to step S2 and Nf = Nof
The fan speed Nf is set to the minimum fan speed Noff as f, and the process proceeds to step S5. Depending on the required characteristics of the vehicle, even if the determination in step S1 is NO, the process proceeds to step S2 during starting acceleration and / or maintaining the high engine speed after acceleration, or a predetermined time after the Noff signal is output. Even if the time step S2 is maintained, or even if the determination in step S1 is YES, the process returns to step S3 while the cooling water temperature is slightly overheated and / or when the engine speed is relatively low with the air conditioner turned on. May be configured as
Alternatively, the process may proceed to step S5 with Nf = Non.
Then, in step S5, control is determined by comparing the fan calculation speed nf with the input fan speed signal Nf, and control of the electromagnets 12a and 12b is performed in step S6 according to the determination in step S5.
(Fan 3a) is rotated at a steady speed, accelerated or decelerated.

If the determination in step S1 is NO, the flow advances to step S3 to calculate the maximum fan speed Non and the minimum fan speed Noff.
4 to change the fan speed to nf = f (Noff, Non,
_Tw, is calculated by _T 1, T _2). For example, when controlling the fan speed linearly with respect to the cooling water temperature, The control is determined by comparing the fan calculation speed nf obtained in step S5 with the input fan speed signal Nf, and the electromagnets 12a and 12b are controlled in step S6 according to the determination in step S5. Street case 3
(Fan 3a) is rotated at a steady speed, accelerated or decelerated.

By controlling as described above, the amount of the silicon oil in the torque transmission chamber 6 is changed with high accuracy over a wide range.

In the embodiment, when the temperature of the cooling water is large near the upper limit of the cooling water temperature of the engine 1, the fan speed is increased. Conversely, when the temperature of the cooling water falls, the fan speed is reduced. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, when the rotation speed of the rotating shaft 2 rises sharply, as shown by a dotted line, the fan rotation speed is controlled so as to decrease, and the effect of reducing the fan rotation speed as shown by the diagonal line is obtained. Demonstrate.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the rotation characteristics of the rotating shaft 2 and the fan 3a, the control is performed in the region B when the cooling water temperature of the engine 1 is at a normal temperature. Is exceeded, control is performed in the A region.

By controlling as described above, in the embodiment, the oil in the oil sump chamber 7 is fed into the torque transmission chamber 6 or the oil in the torque transmission chamber 6 is returned to the oil sump chamber 7 so as to be quick and highly accurate. , And vary widely. Therefore, an appropriate amount of oil corresponding to the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1, the rotation speed of the rotating shaft 2 (proportional to the rotation speed of the engine 1), and the rotation speed of the fan 3a is fed into the torque transmission chamber 6, or The oil is returned from the torque transmission chamber 6 so that the amount of oil in the oil 6 becomes an appropriate amount. Then, the torque of the drive disk 4 is transmitted to the case 3 via an appropriate amount of oil existing in the torque transmission chamber 6, and the fan 3a rotates.

As described above, according to the embodiment, the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1, the rotation speed of the engine 1, and the fan 3a
The optimal oil corresponding to the rotation speed of the fan 3a is made to exist in the torque transmission chamber 6, and the control is performed in a state where the rotation speed of the fan 3a does not largely change as shown in FIG. The temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1 is also kept substantially constant, control is performed under optimal conditions adapted to cold start, running on a highway, and sudden acceleration, and noise of the fan 3a is reduced, resulting in wasteful use. Fuel consumption is prevented.

Although the embodiment has been described for controlling the amount of oil in the torque transmission chamber based on the engine cooling water temperature, the engine speed and the fan speed, the present invention is limited to the embodiment. For example, at least one of the above factors, or in addition to these, the running air volume, outside air temperature, intake air temperature, vehicle speed, throttle opening, air pressure, presence or absence of knocking, air conditioner status, exhaust brake status, etc. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in addition to the control factor.

[0029]

As described above, the liquid clutch of the present invention has a built-in pump mechanism driven by utilizing the difference in the number of rotations between the case and the drive disk (rotary shaft) to forcibly circulate the oil, and A valve member actuated by an external electromagnet and a control device for controlling the valve member are provided in a communication path on the discharge side and the supply side of the pump mechanism, and the valve member is supplied to the torque transmission gap between the drive disk and the case according to the drive conditions of the drive section. By rapidly and accurately controlling the oil to be transmitted, the drive torque of the drive disk is always transmitted to the case in an optimal transmission state in accordance with the various drive conditions, and the desired linear characteristics and the like are obtained under various drive conditions. , The clutch operation can be optimally performed, fan noise can be reduced, fuel can be saved, and acceleration performance can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the internal pump mechanism of FIG. 1 cut away.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing operating characteristics of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is another diagram showing the operation characteristics of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 drive unit 2 rotating shaft 3 case 3a fan 4 drive disk 5 partition 6 torque transmission chamber 7 oil reservoir 8a supply path 8b discharge path 9 pump mechanism 10a oil supply path 10b lift path 11a, 11b valve member 12a, 12b electromagnet 23 control apparatus

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F16D 35/02 F01P 7/04 F01P 7/08

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A drive unit, a rotary shaft rotated by the drive unit, a drive disk driven to rotate by the rotary shaft, and a case in which the drive disk is housed and is rotatably arranged around the rotary shaft. A torque transmission chamber in which the drive disk is provided and an oil sump chamber for collecting oil in the case, and oil is supplied from the oil sump chamber to the torque transmission chamber to reduce the drive torque of the drive disk. In the liquid clutch adapted to transmit to the case, a pair of supply and discharge first communication passages in which the oil sump chamber and the torque transmission chamber communicate with each other are connected to each of the first communication passages. A second flow passage interposed with a pump mechanism utilizing a difference in the number of rotations between the rotating shaft and the case, and the pump mechanism and the oil sump chamber are provided at a connection portion between the first flow passage and the second flow passage. Or select a torque transmission chamber A liquid clutch comprising a magnetic valve member that opens and closes selectively for connection, and an external electromagnet for operating the valve member. 2. The liquid clutch according to claim 1, wherein a cooling fan is attached to said case. 3. The liquid clutch according to claim 1, further comprising a control device for controlling excitation of said electromagnet. 4. The liquid clutch according to claim 3, wherein the control device controls an exciting current to each electromagnet based on an output signal from a sensor for detecting a temperature of a cooling water for cooling the driving unit. 5. The liquid clutch according to claim 4, wherein the control device further controls an exciting current to each electromagnet based on an output signal from a sensor for detecting at least the number of rotations of the case or the number of rotations of the rotating shaft. 6. The liquid clutch according to claim 1, wherein the electromagnet is mounted on a vehicle body or an engine block. 7. The liquid clutch according to claim 1, wherein the electromagnet is fixed to a case of a liquid clutch, and power is supplied to the electromagnet by a slip ring contact provided in the case. 8. The liquid clutch according to claim 1, wherein said valve member is provided on a plug so as to be detachable from a case.