JP3266721B2 - Propeller shaft center bearing - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a center bearing for supporting a substantially central portion of a propeller shaft on a vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a three-joint or four-joint type propeller shaft is supported at a substantially central portion thereof on a vehicle body via a center bearing in order to suppress vibration of an intermediate shaft portion caused by rotation. .

[0003] Since the center bearing has a function of reducing the vibration, the vibration input to the vehicle body is provided as much as possible, because the center bearing has a function of reducing the vibration of the propeller shaft, which is substantially centered on the vehicle body. It needs to be suppressed. For this reason, conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
The one shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 211745 has been devised.

In this center bearing, a bearing body (such as a ball bearing) for supporting a propeller shaft is attached to a collar attached to a vehicle body via a rubber elastic body, and a mass body is attached to the outer periphery of an extension end of the collar. And a dynamic damper composed of an elastic body, and the vibration of the propeller shaft in a predetermined frequency range is reduced by the dynamic vibration absorbing action of the dynamic damper.

[0005]

However, since the center bearing has a structure in which the bearing body is arranged only at one position in the axial direction of the collar, the mass of the dynamic damper is caused by the vibration of the propeller shaft. Is fluctuated in the vertical direction, the collar oscillates in the vertical direction with its extended end as a free end, whereby the collar and the mass body may interfere with peripheral parts such as the propeller shaft to generate noise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a center bearing of a propeller shaft capable of suppressing vertical run-out of a collar due to vibration of a propeller shaft and eliminating generation of noise due to interference between components. is there.

[0007]

According to the present invention, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a bearing body which permits rotation of a propeller shaft and a vibration of the propeller shaft are reduced on a collar elastically attached to a vehicle body. And a dynamic damper to be mounted on the center bearing of the propeller shaft, wherein the bearing body is arranged at a plurality of positions in the axial direction of the collar , and
Move the dynamic damper to the outermost position in the axial direction.
The two bearing bodies are arranged between the arrangement positions.

[0008]

[Function] A plurality of collars are supported on a propeller shaft via a bearing body, and two dynamic dampers are provided.
And the end of the collar does not swing in the vertical direction.

[0009]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In the drawings, 1 is a propeller shaft, and 2 is a center bearing according to the present invention.

The center bearing 2 includes ball bearings 3 and 4 as a bearing body for allowing the rotation of the propeller shaft 1, a rubber elastic body 5 for elastically supporting the ball bearings 3 and 4 on a vehicle body, and a propeller shaft 1 And a dynamic damper 6 for reducing the vibration of the above, and these are coupled to a collar 7 having a predetermined length in the axial direction. Ball bearings 3, 4
Are arranged at both ends of the collar 7, and the outer rings 3a, 4a are fitted into the step portions 7a at both ends of the collar 7, and the inner rings 3b,
4 b is locked to the propeller shaft 1 by the stepped portion 1 a of the shaft 1 and the snap ring 8. FIG.
Then, the inner ring 3b of one of the ball bearings 3 is
a, the inner ring 4b of the other ball bearing 4 is locked to the shaft 1 by a pair of snap rings 8, 8, but as shown in FIG. It is also possible to lock the shaft 1 by the step portion 1b and one snap ring 8, or to lock the other ball bearing 4 to the shaft 1 by only one snap ring 8 as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the rubber elastic body 5 has an annular shape as a whole and a first and second rubber element 5a having a substantially U-shaped cross section in the radial direction.
5b, and a third rubber element 5c interposed between the rubber elements 5a and 5b to prevent the two elements 5a and 5b from being crushed unevenly. The inside and outside of the first and second rubber elements 5a and 5b are formed. A peripheral portion is provided with a bracket (not shown) for attaching the vehicle body to one end of the collar 7 via retainer rings 9 and 10, respectively.
And is fixedly fitted. And, the retainer ring 9
Has one end extending in the axial direction of the other ball bearing 4, and the extending portion forms a dust cover together with a ring member 11 having a U-shaped cross section fixed to the propeller shaft 1. An extension ring 12 is interposed and supported between the collar 7 and one of the ball bearings 3.
2 constitutes a dust cover together with the ring member 11, similarly to the retainer ring 9.

The dynamic damper 6 includes an annular mass 13 and a rubber elastic body 14 connecting the mass 13 and the collar 7. The dynamic frequency of the damper system is adjusted by the vibration absorption of the propeller shaft 1. It is matched to the vibration frequency range of interest. The outer peripheral side of the rubber elastic body 14 is directly vulcanized and bonded to the mass body 13, and the inner peripheral side is vulcanized and bonded to the retainer ring 15. And is fixedly fitted. In FIG. 1, the retainer ring 9 of the rubber elastic body 5 and the retainer ring 15 of the dynamic damper 6 are formed separately, but both are integrally formed as shown in FIG. This is indicated by reference numeral 16 in the figure.) Thus, the fixing of the retainer ring to the collar 7 can be performed by a single press-fitting. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the collar 7 may be formed integrally with the extension ring 12 by a thin plate material, or may be formed integrally with the retainer ring 9.

Since the center bearing 2 has the above-described structure, when the vibration of the propeller shaft 1 falls within a predetermined frequency range, the mass 13 constituting the dynamic damper 6 resonates in the vertical direction of the vehicle body. 6, the vibration of the propeller shaft 1 is reduced.

Here, in the case of the center bearing 2, ball bearings 3, 4 are arranged at both ends of the collar 7 in the axial direction, so that both sides of the collar 7 in the axial direction are supported by the propeller shaft 1. Therefore, even if the mass body 13 fluctuates when the propeller shaft 1 vibrates, the end of the collar 7 does not swing in the vertical direction. Therefore, when the center bearing 2 is employed, the collar 7 and the mass body 13 do not interfere with the peripheral parts, so that no noise is generated.

In the above description, the rubber elastic body 5 is attached to the end of the collar 7 and the dynamic damper 6 is attached to the approximate center. However, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to attach the dynamic damper 6 to the portion and the rubber elastic body 5 to the approximate center. Also, the number of ball bearings 3 and 4 to be installed is not limited to two, but may be set to any number as long as it is two or more.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. It is to be noted that the same reference numerals are used for the same parts as in the above embodiment.

The center bearing 20 has a structure in which the collar 17 is formed of three parts, and the second and third collars 17b and 17c are fitted and fixed to both sides of the center first collar 17a. The first collar 17a has the rubber elastic body 5 attached to the outer peripheral surface, the dynamic damper 6 attached to the inner peripheral surface, and the ball bearing 3 fitted to the second and third collars 17b and 17c. ing. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the completed structure, the point that the rubber elastic body 5 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the collar 17 and the point that the ball bearings 4 are arranged at both ends in the axial direction of the collar are the same as those in the first embodiment. The point that the dynamic damper 6 is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the collar 7 is different from the above embodiment.

Since the basic structure of the center bearing 20 is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, the basic operation and effect such as the prevention of run-out of the collar 17 can be obtained in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment. In the center bearing 20, unlike the first embodiment, the dynamic damper 6 is attached to the inner peripheral side of the collar 17, so that the dynamic damper 6 does not occupy the outer peripheral area of the collar 17, and the entire device is accordingly reduced. Can be made compact. Further, the collar 17 is replaced with first, second and third collars 17a, 17b, 1
7c, the collar 17 is disassembled when the rubber elastic body 5 and the dynamic damper 6 are mounted, so that the mounting operation (such as vulcanization bonding) can be easily performed.

[0021]

The present invention as described above, according to the present invention is a bearing body, arranged at a plurality of positions in the axial direction of the collar, so that a color is supported at a plurality of points on the propeller shaft Then co
And a dynamic damper with two bearing bodies
Since it is located between the positions, the vertical deflection of the collar due to the vibration of the propeller shaft is reliably suppressed, and as a result,
The collar and the mass body do not interfere with peripheral parts such as the propeller shaft and generate noise.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment.

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

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Propeller shaft, 2, 20 ... Center bearing, 3, 4 ... Ball bearing (bearing main body), 5 ... Rubber elastic body, 6 ... Dynamic damper, 7, 17 ... Collar.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16C 27/00-27/08 F16F 15/02 F16F 15/08 F16F 15/10-15/36 B60K 17 / 10-17/26

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A center bearing of a propeller shaft comprising a collar elastically attached to a vehicle body, a bearing body allowing rotation of the propeller shaft, and a dynamic damper reducing vibration of the propeller shaft. The main body is arranged at a plurality of positions in the axial direction of the collar , and the dynamic
The damper to the two outermost axially located bearings.
A center bearing for a propeller shaft, wherein the center bearing is disposed between the positions where the propelling body is disposed .