JP3255410B2 - Liquid clutch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a liquid clutch, and particularly to a case in which the rotational torque of a drive disk is applied to a case by oil filled in a torque transmission chamber of a case to which a drive disk and a cooling fan are attached. The present invention relates to a transmitted liquid clutch.

(Conventional technology) The inside 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 having a structure in which oil is supplied to the torque transmission chamber from the outflow adjustment hole and oil in the torque transmission chamber is returned to the oil reservoir through a circulation path. According to this type of coupling device, the rotational torque of the drive disk is transmitted to the case by the oil supplied from the oil reservoir to the torque transmitting chamber, and the cooling fan attached to the case rotates, for example, to cool the automobile engine. Done.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional coupling device described above, the ambient temperature is detected by 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. By increasing the torque transmission and increasing the rotational speed of the case, the cooling fan is rotated at a high speed to enhance the cooling effect.

However, an automobile engine is driven under various conditions.For example, while driving on a highway, the drive disk rotates at a high speed, but the air cooling effect by the traveling wind is enhanced, so it is necessary to rotate the cooling fan at a very high speed. If the cooling fan does not have a high speed or the rotation speed of the cooling fan is high at the time of cold start, the warm-up operation is hindered and cooling fan noise is generated, so the cooling fan wants to rotate at a low speed. Control is required to keep the water temperature constant without overshooting and to keep it substantially constant. In order to meet this demand, it is not sufficient to control the oil amount in the torque transmission chamber only by the ambient temperature.

In addition, in the conventional method, the oil transmitting torque is sealed in the case, so that the sealed oil generates heat due to shearing and it is difficult to radiate the oil. High-precision adjustment was not possible, and control was limited.

The present invention has been made in view of the current situation of such a liquid clutch as described above, and its object is to accurately adjust the amount of oil in the torque transmission chamber according to various operating conditions and to perform accurate rotation control. To provide a liquid clutch that performs the following.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, a liquid clutch according to the present invention includes a driving unit, a rotating shaft rotated by driving the driving unit, a driving disk rotated by the rotating shaft,
A case in which the drive disk is housed and arranged rotatably about the rotation axis; a driven body attached to the case and driven by rotation of the case; An oil supply unit that fills a silk transmission chamber and has an oil that transmits a driving torque of the drive disk to the case, and an oil supply unit that supplies oil to the torque transmission chamber from outside via an oil supply pipe; In a liquid clutch comprising an outer peripheral side of the drive disk and a pumping mechanism provided on at least one of an inner peripheral wall of the case, the pumping mechanism is loosely attached to a notch formed on an outer peripheral wall of the drive disk. The pumping mechanism is formed in a substantially L-shaped or U-shaped cross section provided near the oil feed port of the case. It was characterized in that it consists of a dam,
Further, the dam is composed of three divided pieces, both side faces of the central piece have a tapered surface tapering outward, and both side pieces have a tapered surface substantially matching the tapered surface on one side. It is a feature.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention. A large-diameter, short hollow disk-shaped disk is mounted on a rotating shaft 2 which is rotated by driving an engine 1 which is a driving unit, via a bearing 3. A case 4 is attached rotatably about the axis of the rotating shaft 2. A disk-shaped drive disk 5 is fixed to an end of the rotating shaft 2 inserted and arranged in the case 4.

The interior of the case 4 is divided into a torque transmission chamber 7 and an oil reservoir formed by two oil feed paths 8 and 4a by a partition wall 6, and the torque transfer chamber 7 and the oil feed path 8 communicate with each other through a communication path 10. ing. The drive disk 5 is housed in the torque transmission chamber 7, and a torque transmission gap is formed between the outer peripheral surface and both side surfaces of the drive disk and the inner peripheral surface and both side surfaces of the torque transmission chamber 7 opposed thereto. I have.

On the inner peripheral wall of the case 4, a dam 25 as a pumping mechanism is provided at a position near the oil feed port 7 a opening to the torque transfer chamber 7 in the communication passage 10 that communicates the oil feed path 8 with the torque transfer chamber 7. The dam 25 pumps oil from the torque transmission chamber 7 to the oil feed path 8. An outlet pipe 12 rotatably attached to the center of the case 4 via a bearing 13 communicates with the oil feed passage 8. In this way, the case 4 is rotatably mounted around the axis of the rotary shaft 2 and the take-out tube 12 via the bearings 3 and 13, and the cooling fan 15 is fixed to the case 4 as a driven body. Have been.

On the other hand, an oil feed port 7b is provided at an inner peripheral wall position of the case 4 preferably substantially opposite to the oil feed port 7a, and an oil feed path 4a is provided between the oil feed port 7b and the discharge pipe 12 in the case 4. Are formed.

One end of an oil feed pipe 16 is fixed to the take-out pipe 12, and the oil feed pipe 16
The other end of 16 is connected to oil supply means. That is, the other end of the oil feed pipe 16 is connected to an oil tank 18 via a pump 17, and this oil tank 18 stores silicon oil,
The pump 17 is driven by a motor 20, and an oil tank
Silicon oil is supplied from 18 into the case 4 via the oil supply pipe 16 and the oil supply paths 8 and 4a, or silicon oil is supplied from the case 4 to the oil tank 18 via the oil supply paths 8 and 4a and the oil supply pipe 16. It is connected to oil supply means having the function of discharging. The rotation of the motor 20 is controlled by a control signal from a control device 21, and the control device 21 has a cooling fan 15 as a driven body.
Detection signal of the fan rotation speed sensor 22 for detecting the rotation speed of
A detection signal of a rotation speed sensor 23 for detecting the rotation speed of the rotating shaft 2 and a detection signal of a cooling water temperature sensor 24 for detecting the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1 are supplied.

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the operation of the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram of the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a characteristic showing the relationship between the rotation speed of the input shaft and the rotation speed of the cooling fan of the embodiment. FIG.

In the illustrated embodiment, the detection data from the cooling water temperature sensor 24, the rotation speed sensor 23 of the rotating shaft 2 and the fan rotation speed sensor 22 of the cooling fan are transmitted at predetermined time intervals.
The data is loaded into the memory of the control device 21.
In step S1 of FIG. 2, the current water temperature data taken from the cooling water temperature sensor 24 is compared with the water temperature data before a predetermined time, and it is determined whether or not the difference between the two data is larger than a preset reference value. Will be In this determination, the allowable upper limit value and the allowable lower limit value of the cooling water temperature of the engine 1 are referred to in the determination.

If the determination in step S1 is YES, the process proceeds to step S2, where the current rotational speed data captured by the rotational speed sensor 23 is compared with the rotational speed data before a predetermined time, and it is determined whether or not the vehicle is in a rapid acceleration state. Done. If the determination in step S2 is NO, the process proceeds to step S3, where the current cooling fan rotation speed data captured by the cooling fan rotation speed sensor 22 is compared with the rotation speed data before a predetermined time, and the difference between the two data is determined. It is determined whether or not the value is larger than a preset reference value.

If the determination in step S3 is NO, the process proceeds to step S4, where the pump 17 is driven by the motor 20 operated by the control signal from the control device 21, and the silicone oil in the nail tank 18 is supplied to the oil feed pipe 16 and the oil feed path 8, It is supplied into the case 4 via 4a. If the determination in step S3 is YES, the process proceeds to step S5, in which the pump 17 is driven by the motor 20 operated by the control signal from the control device 21, and the silicone oil in the case 4 is pumped by the dam 25 and the oil feed path is The oil is discharged into the oil tank 18 through the oil supply pipe 8 and the oil supply pipe 16.

In this case, the suction of the pump 17 is enhanced by the pumping action of the dam 25 provided between the oil feed port 7a and the drive disk 5, and the silicone oil in the case 4 is smoothly and quickly discharged into the oil tank 18. Is done.

In step S3. The amount of silicon oil supplied from the oil tank 18 into the case 4 and the amount of silicon oil discharged from the case 4 to the oil tank 18 are measured by a cooling water temperature sensor 24, a rotation speed sensor 23, and a cooling fan speed sensor.
It is set based on 22 detection data.

The determination in step S1 is NO and the determination in step S2 is YE
If it is S, proceed to step S8 and apply silicone oil to case 4.
It is determined whether or not the oil has been discharged to the oil tank 18. If the determination in step S8 is YES, the process proceeds to step S7 and the state is maintained, and the determination in step S8 is
If NO, the process proceeds to step S6, and the pump 17 is switched to discharge the silicone oil from the case 4 to the oil tank 18 by the control signal from the control device 21.

The duration of the discharging operation of the silicon oil in step S7 and the amount of the silicon oil fed into the case 4 in step S6 are determined by the cooling water temperature sensor 24, the rotation speed sensor 23 and the cooling fan speed sensor 22. Is set based on the detection data of

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, when the temperature of the cooling water is large near the upper limit of the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is increased. Conversely, when the temperature of the cooling water falls, the rotation speed of the cooling fan is reduced. When the rotational speed of the rotating shaft 2 rises sharply, the rotational speed of the cooling fan is controlled to decrease as shown by the dotted line, and the effect of reducing the rotational speed of the cooling fan as shown by oblique lines is exhibited.

In the rotation characteristics of the rotating shaft 2 and the cooling fan 15 shown in FIG. 4, the control is performed in the region B when the cooling water temperature of the engine 1 is a normal water temperature, but when the cooling water temperature exceeds the upper limit water temperature. Control is performed in the A region.

By performing such control, in the present invention, case 4
The amount of silicone oil in the inside is changed with high accuracy and a wide range by supplying the silicone oil from the oil tank 18 into the case 4 or discharging the silicone oil from the case 4 to the oil tank 18.

In this case, the dam 25 having a pumping action is
And the drive disk 5, the silicone oil in the case 4 is discharged to the oil tank 18 smoothly and in a short time. On the other hand, the supply of the silicone oil from the oil tank 18 into the case 4 is performed from the oil feed path 8, but if at least one oil feed path 4a and the oil feed port 7a are separately provided, the supply is more smoothly performed.

Thus, the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1 and the rotation shaft 2
An appropriate silicone oil corresponding to the rotation speed of the cooling fan 15 (proportional to the rotation speed of the engine 1) and the fan rotation speed of the cooling fan 15 is supplied into the torque transmission chamber 7 from the oil feed passages 8 and 4a. Dam 25 so that the amount of silicone oil
Silicon oil is discharged from the torque transmission chamber 7 through the oil supply paths 8 and 4a.

Then, the rotational torque of the drive disk is transmitted to the case 4 via an appropriate amount of silicone oil in the torque transmission chamber 7, and the cooling fan 15 rotates.

In the above embodiment, case 4 is used as the pumping mechanism.
The dam 25 provided near the oil supply port 7a on the inner peripheral wall of the dam 25 is exemplified.
Can be formed into a substantially L-shaped cross section as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, or can be formed into a substantially U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG.

7 to 11 show still another embodiment in which a dam 25 as a pumping mechanism is loosely fitted to a notch groove 5 'provided on the outer peripheral wall of the drive disk 5 in order to provide the dam 25 on the drive disk 5 side. explain.

27 is a concave portion provided on the outer peripheral wall of the drive disk 5 on the near side of the dam 25 in the rotation direction of the drive disk 5,
It is provided to more effectively pressurize the oil collected by the dam 25 loosely attached to the notch groove 5 'and to feed the oil into the oil feed port 7a, as shown in FIG. When the oil outlet 7a side is opened and the opposite side in the axial direction is closed as described above, the effect of pressurizing the oil to the oil outlet 7a provided on the side surface of the case 4 is further improved. At the time of drive rotation, the centrifugal force and / or the tension of the spring 28 causes the dam 25 to be constantly in close contact with the inner peripheral wall surface of the facing case 4.

Further, if necessary, the dam 25 may be formed at a plurality of places on the outer peripheral wall surface of the drive disk 5, and the oil feed port 7a may be provided with a plurality of paths corresponding thereto, and the effect of centrifugal force may be reduced. Weight 25a as shown in Fig. 9 to increase the height
Or the dam itself may be configured as a weight body. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, a sliding member 25b may be provided on the side of the case 4 that rubs against the inner peripheral wall surface.

Also, as shown in FIG. 11, the dam 25 is composed of three divided pieces,
Both side surfaces of the central piece 25'a are formed as tapered surfaces tapering outward, and one surface of both side pieces 25'b and 25'c is tapered so as to substantially coincide with the tapered surface of the central piece 25'a. Formed.
That is, by setting the outer width (L) of the side pieces 25'b and 25'c and the outer width (l) of the center piece 25'a to (L)> (l), the center piece 25'a 25'b, 25'c on one side,
Even if abrasion due to friction with the inner peripheral wall surface of the case 4 occurs, the central piece 25'a is worn first and a constant sealing effect can always be obtained by the wedge effect of the tapered surface of the central piece 25'a. Reference numeral 28 'denotes a spring for urging the central piece 25'a outward. Instead of this spring, a weight as shown in FIG. 9 may be provided.

As described above, according to the present invention, the optimum silicon oil corresponding to the temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1, the number of rotations of the engine 1, and the number of rotations of the cooling fan 15 is present in the torque transmission chamber 7, and FIG. The control is performed so that the rotation speed of the cooling fan 15 does not increase significantly as shown in FIG.

The temperature of the cooling water of the engine 1 is kept almost constant without overshooting, the control is performed under the optimal conditions adapted to cold start, running on the highway and sudden acceleration, and the noise of the cooling fan 15 is also reduced. Reduced and wasteful fuel consumption is prevented.
Also, the provision of the pumping mechanism allows the oil to be discharged from the torque transmission chamber 7 extremely smoothly, and the oil supply path 4a and the oil supply port 7b separately provide oil to the torque transmission chamber 7. This can be performed extremely smoothly with the discharge of oil, and the pump 17 and the motor 20 that drives the pump 17 can be reduced in size.

In the illustrated embodiment, the case where the oil amount in the case is controlled based on the cooling water temperature of the engine, the number of revolutions of the engine and the number of revolutions of the cooling fan has been described, but the present invention is limited to the embodiment. Instead, for example, a configuration may also be adopted in which the control airflow, the outside air temperature, the intake air temperature, the vehicle speed, the throttle opening, the air pressure, the presence or absence of knocking, the air conditioner state, the exhaust brake state, and the like are added to the control factors.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, the present invention performs a smooth oil discharge by a pumping mechanism provided in a torque transmission chamber, thereby accurately and accurately controlling the amount of oil, and various operations. Since the driven body is driven according to the conditions, the rotational torque of the drive disk should be transmitted to the case in the optimal transmission state according to various driving conditions, and the optimal clutch operation should be performed under various driving conditions. Many effects can be expected such as reduction of cooling fan noise, saving of fuel, and improvement of acceleration performance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment showing the overall configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation, FIGS. 3 and 4 are operating characteristic diagrams, and FIG. FIG. 5 (b) is a perspective view of a dam unit of FIG. 5 (a), FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a dam unit,
FIG. 7 (a) is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of another embodiment of the pumping mechanism, FIG. 7 (b) is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 7 (a), and FIGS. Is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 7 (a) of still another embodiment, and FIG. 11 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a main part of still another embodiment. 1 ... engine, 2 ... rotating shaft, 4 ... case, 4a, 8
…… oil feed path, 5 …… drive disk, 6 …… partition wall, 7 ……
Torque transmission chamber, 7a, 7b ... Oil outlet, 10 ... Communication passage, 15 ...
... Cooling fan, 16 ... Oil pipe, 17 ... Pump, 18 ... Oil tank, 20 ... Motor, 21 ... Control device, 22 ... Fan rotation speed sensor, 23 ... Rotation speed sensor, 24 ... Cooling water temperature sensor, 25 dam.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-53225 (JP, A) JP-A-2-30538 (JP, U) JP-B-63-21048 (JP, B2)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A driving unit, a rotating shaft that is rotated by driving the driving unit, a driving disk that is driven to rotate by the rotating shaft, and the driving disk is housed, and is disposed rotatably about the rotating shaft. And a driven body attached to the case and driven by rotation of the case, and a silk transmission chamber between the drive disk and the case is filled to transmit the drive torque of the drive disk to the case. An oil supply means for supplying oil to the torque transmission chamber from outside via an oil supply pipe, and at least one of an outer peripheral side of the drive disk and an inner peripheral wall of the case. The pumping mechanism is constituted by a dam loosely attached to a notch formed in the outer peripheral wall of the drive disk. Liquid clutch according to claim. 2. The liquid clutch according to claim 1, wherein said pumping mechanism comprises a dam having a substantially L-shaped or U-shaped cross section provided near an oil feed port of said case. 3. The dam is composed of three divided pieces, and both side faces of the center piece have tapered surfaces tapering outward, and both side pieces have a tapered surface substantially matching the tapered surface on one side. The liquid clutch according to claim 1, wherein