JP3528224B2 - Vehicle powertrain installation 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 vehicle powertrain arrangement structure, and more particularly to a powertrain arrangement structure for a vehicle having a midship type engine arrangement structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to improve the running characteristics of a vehicle, there are known methods for improving power performance, reducing weight, minimizing a yaw moment of inertia generated during steering, optimizing weight distribution to the front and rear axles, and the like. Especially, in order to minimize the yaw moment of inertia and to optimize the weight distribution with respect to the front-rear axis, various engine disposition structures, so-called midships, in which the engine is mounted in the central portion of the vehicle body have been conventionally proposed.

On the other hand, a so-called FR vehicle in which an engine has its output shaft directed in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, that is, is vertically mounted on the front portion of the vehicle body and is configured to drive rear wheels through a propeller shaft. In the case where the transmission is a manual type, at the rear end of the engine,
The clutch housing and the transmission housing are sequentially connected. The clutch housing is attached to the rear end of the engine via a mounting flange, and is attached to the rear end of the crankshaft of the engine so that the clutch is attached to a flywheel that rotates together with the crankshaft. Therefore, the mounting flange of the clutch housing has a considerably large diameter and projects to both sides of the engine body.

In a general FR vehicle in which the engine is mounted vertically, the mounting flange of the clutch housing is arranged in the engine room in front of the accelerator pedal and the clutch pedal. It does not have the influence of.

By the way, in many vehicles having an engine arrangement structure called a midship type, the engine is arranged at the rear of the driver's seat. However, in this structure, there is no space for providing a luggage compartment and a low C Combined with the slant nose for obtaining the _D value (air resistance coefficient), the baggage capacity was sacrificed. Therefore, the exercise performance is excellent, and the layout is inferior even if there is no problem with the mounting flange of the clutch housing described above.
There was a problem in terms of practicality.

[0006] Therefore, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-85195, "The position structure of an automobile engine unit is a position structure", the engine unit is opposite to the driver's seat side behind the front wheels with respect to the center line of the vehicle body. By arranging them in a vertical position between the front and rear axles in a state in which they are biased toward one side, the maneuverability and layout characteristics are improved.
In addition, this configuration also has an advantage that the space under the driver's feet can be widened.

[0007]

However, in the configuration disclosed in the above publication, since the engine unit is arranged in a state of being biased to the side opposite to the driver's seat side with respect to the center line of the left and right of the vehicle body, The passenger seat has to be arranged behind the engine unit, which causes an irregular seat layout in which the driver's seat and the passenger seat are displaced forward and backward. In addition, since the passenger seat is located rearward of the normal position, this causes the volume of the luggage compartment to be narrowed.

In view of the above, the present invention is applicable to a vehicle having a midship type engine arrangement structure among vehicles generally called a sports car, without sacrificing the luggage compartment volume and the pedal operability of the driver. An object of the present invention is to provide a powertrain arrangement structure capable of achieving a layout of a center of gravity, a low vehicle height, and a low yaw moment of inertia with an extremely compact structure.

[0009]

In a vehicle powertrain arrangement structure according to the present invention, a vehicle compartment and an inner space of a nose portion in front of the vehicle compartment are partitioned by a dash panel, and the dash panel is arranged substantially in a vehicle width direction. In a mode in which the tunnel portion extending rearward from the central portion overlaps with the lower body of the driver in the driving posture in the vehicle interior when viewed from the side of the vehicle body,
A projection housing is provided on the floor panel in the vehicle compartment, and a clutch housing having an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body is provided in the tunnel portion. The clutch housing is integrally formed at a front end thereof with a mounting flange. Is attached to the rear end of the engine via the attachment flange in a mode in which it is positioned approximately in the middle of the heel and knees of the driver's foot in the driving posture with respect to the front-rear direction of the vehicle body.
Mounted straddling both the transmission housing coupled to the rear of the clutch housing and the clutch housing, the shift operating member is, Accession
The actuator, the actuator, and the transmission
Switch box fixed to both the housing and
It has and .

The engine coupled to the front end of the clutch housing is preferably disposed in the tunnel portion together with the clutch housing.

Furthermore, it is preferable that a transmission housing connected to the rear of the clutch housing is also disposed in the tunnel portion. In this case, the extension housing connected to the rear of the transmission housing integrally includes an extension extending rearward, and the rear end of the extension is rigidly coupled to the housing of the rear wheel differential gear device. A catalytic converter for purifying engine exhaust gas is disposed below the extension portion of the extension housing.

Further, a shift operating member of the transmission is mounted on the upper surface of the transmission housing, and a part of the shift operating member penetrates the top panel of the tunnel portion and projects into the vehicle compartment.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the clutch housing is disposed in the tunnel portion projecting on the floor panel of the vehicle compartment behind the dash panel of the vehicle body, and the mounting flange of the clutch housing is Since the vehicle is located approximately in the middle between the heel and the knee of the driver's foot in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, a bulge for accommodating the mounting flange in the tunnel is formed on the side panel of the tunnel. Even if it is necessary, the bulging portion does not have a bad influence on the pedal operation of the driver. Therefore, a layout with a low center of gravity, a low vehicle height, and a low yaw moment of inertia can be achieved with an extremely compact structure.

Further, an extension housing connected to the rear of the transmission housing is
An engine, a clutch housing, a transmission housing, and a rear wheel differential gear device are provided by integrally including an extension part extended rearward, and a rear end of the extension part being rigidly coupled to a housing of the rear wheel differential gear device. Since the housing of is integrated, the output shaft of the transmission and the rear wheel differential gear can be directly connected, and the time lag between the depression of the accelerator pedal and the transmission of the driving force to the road surface is shortened. Thus, it is possible to obtain the direct throttle response that is essential for this type of vehicle.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle equipped with a powertrain arrangement structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a perspective enlarged front view thereof.

This vehicle is constructed as a small two-seater (two-seater) coupe having a midship type engine arranging structure in which a power unit including a vertically mounted engine is arranged between front and rear wheel axles. , 8 is an engine, 11 is a front wheel, and 12 is a rear wheel. R in these reference numbers means a right wheel and L means a left wheel. Further, in the following description, in order to distinguish right and left, reference numerals are appropriately added as needed, R for right and L for left.

In the figure, a vehicle body 1 is divided into a slant nose inner space 2 of a nose portion and a vehicle compartment 3 behind it by a dash panel 4, and a luggage compartment 5 is provided at the rear portion of the vehicle body.
As shown in FIG. 3, on the floor panel 6 in the vehicle compartment 3, the dash panel 4 extends rearward from a substantially central portion in the vehicle width direction, and the inner space 2 of the nose portion is formed.
A tunnel portion 7 that communicates with the is protrudingly provided. An engine 8 having the output shaft extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 1 is disposed in the tunnel portion 7.

The engine 8 is a two-rotor rotary piston engine which employs a dry sump lubrication system without an oil pan, and the lower surface of the engine 8 is closed by a flat closing plate 8b instead of the oil pan. Therefore, the total height of the engine 8 is reduced accordingly. An engine cover 8a for covering an oil pump attached to the front end of the engine 8 is provided at the front end of the engine 8, and a clutch housing 9 is integrated at the rear end of the engine 8 at the front end of the housing 8. Rigidly coupled via a mounting flange 9a formed on the. Further, the transmission housing 10 is integrally rigidly connected to the rear end of the clutch housing 9. The clutch housing 9 and the transmission housing 10 are also arranged in the tunnel portion 7 together with the engine 8.

Further, the transmission housing 10
In the same manner as the conventional configuration, the extension housing 13 is integrally formed in the rear portion and extends rearward. However, in the present embodiment, the extension housing 13 has an extension portion 13a extending further rearward. The rear end of the extension portion 13a is rigidly coupled to the housing 14 of the rear wheel differential gear device (differential). The output shaft (not shown) of the transmission is extended rearward, passes through the inside of the extension portion 13a, and is connected to the input shaft (not shown) of the rear wheel differential gear device. The clutch housing 9, the transmission housing 10, and the housing 14 of the rear wheel differential gear device are integrally rigidly coupled to each other to form a power train 15.

Although the driver's seat and the passenger's seat are arranged on both sides of the tunnel portion 7 in the passenger compartment 3, only the driver's seat or passenger's seat back 16 is shown in FIG. The torso 17 and lower body 18 of the driver in the posture are shown by hatched virtual lines. Then, as is apparent from FIG. 1, the lower body 18 of the driver in the driving posture and the tunnel portion 7 are in a state of overlapping when viewed from the side of the vehicle body 1. And
The clutch housing 9 is mounted in such a manner that a mounting flange 9a formed integrally with the front end of the clutch housing 9 is positioned substantially in the middle between the heel and the knee of the driver's foot in the driving posture in the front-back direction of the vehicle body 1. It is attached to the rear end of the engine 8 via a flange 9a.

2 and 3, the driver's seat is provided on the left side of the tunnel portion 7, and the steering wheel 19,
Although a left-hand drive vehicle in which the footrest 20, the clutch pedal 21, the brake pedal 22, and the accelerator pedal 23 are arranged on the left side of the tunnel portion 7 is shown, the engine arrangement structure of the vehicle to which this embodiment is applied is It is also applicable to right-hand drive vehicles.

The power train 15 includes two parts on both sides of the front part of the engine 8 and the housing 1 of the rear wheel differential gear device.
It is mounted on the vehicle body frame at two locations on both sides of 4 via vibration-proof rubber.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a pair of left and right front side frames 24L, 24R are provided at the nose portion of the vehicle body 1 so as to extend in the vehicle front-rear direction. The cross members 25 are connected to each other at a portion slightly forward of the rear ends of 24L and 24R. The cross member 25 includes a rear member 25a and a front member 25b extending in the vehicle width direction at a predetermined distance in the vehicle front-rear direction, and both members 25a, 2a.
It is formed in a ladder shape by the left and right connecting members 25cL and 25cR connecting the 5b. And the front member 25
The front ends 36b of the bases of the lower arms 36L and 36R of the double wishbone type front wheel suspension device (see FIG. 3) equipped with the upper arms 35L and 35R and the lower arms 36L and 36R are swingably attached to the left and right ends of b. The rear end portions 36a of the base portions of the lower arms 36L and 36R are swingably attached to the left and right ends of the rear member 25a.

Further, engine mount members 26L and 26R are bridged obliquely between the rear member 25a and the rear ends of the front side frames 24L and 24R, and the front portion of the engine 8 is mounted on these members 26L and 26R. Engine mount bracket 37 integrally projecting on both sidewalls
L and 37R are attached via anti-vibration rubbers 27L and 27R. The engine mount member 26L,
26R is detachably attached to the rear member 25a of the cross member 25 and each of the front side frames 24L and 24R, which enables the engine 8 to be removed from the vehicle body 1 regardless of the front wheel suspension device. , Improving serviceability.

Further, the left and right front side frames 2
The rear ends of the 4L and 24R and the front ends of the side sills 28L and 28R that form the left and right side frames at the center of the vehicle body have torque boxes 29L and 29L having a closed cross section extending in the vehicle width direction.
Each is connected by R.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the rear ends of the side sills 28L and 28R are connected by a cross member 30, and the front ends of the left and right rear side frames are connected to the cross member 30. 31
L and 31R are provided, and these rear side frames 31
The housing 14 of the rear wheel differential gear device is mounted on the cross member 32 connecting the L and 31R via vibration damping rubber (not shown). A fuel tank 34 is arranged above the housing 14 of the rear wheel differential gear device so as to straddle the housing 14.

Since the engine 8 employed in this embodiment is a rotary piston engine, the intake pipe 41 and the exhaust pipe 42 of the engine 8 are located at the lead-out position of the exhaust pipe 42.
Both of the engine 8 and
It is attached to the right side of the. Two intake pipes 41 are provided for each cylinder, and a total of four intake pipes 41 are led out from the engine 8 toward the internal space 2 of the vehicle body nose portion, and an exhaust pipe 42 is led out from the engine 8 rearward. There is.

The front ends of the four intake pipes 41 are connected to the engine 8
The valve chamber 43 (provided in the internal space 2 of the vehicle body nose portion) provided with a switching valve for switching the intake pipe length according to the number of revolutions of the vehicle to generate the resonance supercharging effect.
As shown in FIG. 5, the intake air introduced from the intake duct 44 at the front end of the vehicle body nose portion passes through the air cleaner 45 and the surge tank 46 arranged in the internal space 2 of the nose portion. It is configured to be supplied to the valve chamber 43. Further, a radiator 50 is provided in the interior space 2 of the nose portion of the vehicle body so as to be tilted forward, thereby enabling a slant nose.

On the other hand, the exhaust gas led out from the exhaust pipe 42 to the rear of the engine 8 passes through a precatalyst (pre-catalyst converter) 47 and a main catalyst (main catalytic converter) 48, and is then left and right after being purified. It is branched and discharged through the left and right silencers 49L and 49R to the outside of the vehicle.

Next, one example of the support and drive structure for the auxiliary machinery in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

The above-mentioned accessories are arranged in front of the engine 8 as shown by an imaginary line A in FIG. That is, on the front surface of the engine 8, the accessory mounting bracket 51 is attached to one engine mounting bracket 37L.
And an accessory mounted on the engine cover 8a in a fixed manner and mounted on the accessory mounting bracket 51 such as an alternator 52, an air conditioner compressor 53, a power steering oil pump 54, etc. driven by the engine 8 via a belt. The machines are supported with their respective rotary shafts facing rearward, that is, toward the engine 8 side, and driven pulleys 52a to 54a are attached to the rotary shafts of these auxiliary machines, respectively.

On the other hand, the front end of the eccentric shaft 55 of the engine 8 penetrates the engine cover 8a and projects into the internal space 2 of the vehicle body nose portion, and the drive pulley 55a is attached to the front end of the eccentric shaft 8b. And this drive pulley 55a
A driven pulley 56a attached to the rotary shaft 56 of the water pump which penetrates the engine cover 8a and projects forward, an idler 57 rotatably attached to the engine cover 8a, and the auxiliary machinery 52 to 54. One belt 58 is suspended between the driven pulleys 52a to 54a to form a so-called serpentine type belt drive mechanism.

There is a space in the area corresponding to the drive pulley 55a and the idler 57 between the accessories 52 to 54 supported by the accessory mounting bracket 51. Type air pump 5
9 is attached.

Next, FIG. 9 is an enlarged side view showing the main part of FIG. 1, in which the mounting flange 9a formed integrally with the front end of the clutch housing 9 is the widest part of the power unit. It is clear that is located approximately halfway between the heel and knees of the driver's foot in the driving position. With such an arrangement, even when it is necessary to form a bulging portion for accommodating the mounting flange 9a in the tunnel portion 7 on the side panel of the tunnel portion 7, the bulging portion allows the driver to operate the pedal. There is no fear of adversely affecting the.

Further, in this embodiment, the shift operation of the transmission is configured to be performed via the actuator 61 operated by the switching operation of the electric switch, and as shown in FIG. A switch box 63 in which a lever 62 for operating a switch is projected upward while being fixed to the clutch housing 9.
Is provided. On the upper surface of the switch box 63,
A gate 63a for guiding the lever 62 is formed, and an operation knob 62a is attached to the upper end of the lever 62.

The switch box 63 is usually mounted on the upper surface of the transmission housing 10, but as shown in FIG.
3 may be mounted so as to straddle both the transmission housing 10 and the clutch housing 9. The lever 62 penetrates the top panel of the tunnel portion 7 and projects into the vehicle interior 3. 12 shows a state where the switch box 63 is fixed to the actuator 61, and FIG. 13 shows a state where the switch box 63 is fixed to both the actuator 61 and the transmission housing 10.

The configuration of the embodiment of the present invention has been described above. In this embodiment, the engine 8 is a two-rotor rotary-piston engine adopting a dry sump lubrication system without an oil pan, and By accommodating the auxiliary equipment driven by 8 in the internal space 2 of the vehicle body nose portion in a manner of being attached to the front portion of the engine 8,
The front projected area of the engine 8 becomes extremely small,
This makes it possible to dispose the power unit 15 including the engine 8, the clutch and the transmission in the tunnel portion 7 projecting on the floor panel 6 of the passenger compartment 3. Therefore, the front-rear length of the vehicle body can be shortened, and a layout with a low center of gravity, a low vehicle height, and a low yaw moment of inertia can be achieved with an extremely compact structure without sacrificing the luggage compartment volume and the pedal operability of the driver. it can.

Further, by accommodating the power unit 15 to the passenger compartment 3, it can be realized slant nose having both low C _D and high downforce, moreover possible to ensure a sufficient load chamber volume to became.

Furthermore, while being a compact and lightweight body,
The nose of the vehicle body, where there is no power unit, functions as a sufficient crushable zone for frontal collisions, ensuring safety.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle to which an embodiment of a powertrain arrangement structure according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective front view of the same.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing a mount structure of a front portion of the engine.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the configuration of the front part of the vehicle body.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view showing an example of the auxiliary equipment arrangement structure.

[Figure 7] The same front view

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the same.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side view showing a powertrain arrangement structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an operating portion of the transmission.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing another example of the operation portion of the transmission.

FIG. 12 is a rear view showing still another example of the operation portion of the transmission.

FIG. 13 is a rear view showing still another example of the operating portion of the transmission.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 car body 2 Internal space of nose part 3 car compartment 4 dash panel 5 luggage compartment 7 tunnel section 8 engine 9 Clutch housing 10 Transmission housing 11 front wheels 12 rear wheels 14 Rear wheel differential gear housing 15 power train 24L, 24R Front side frame 25 cross members 27L, 27R Anti-vibration rubber for engine mount 28L, 28R Side sill 29L, 29R Torque Box 35L, 35R Upper arm 36L, 36R Lower arm 41 Intake pipe 42 Exhaust pipe 43 valve chamber 45 air cleaner 46 surge tank 50 radiator 61 actuator 62 Operation lever 63 switch box

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tomohiro Hori 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-2-290787 (JP, A) JP-A-4 −349037 (JP, A) Actually open 4-87338 (JP, U) Actually open 63-159322 (JP, U) Actually public 62-40823 (JP, Y1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl . ^7, DB name) B60K 5/02 B60K 17/02 B60K 20/00 - 20/02 B62D 25/20

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle compartment and an inner space of a front nose portion thereof are partitioned by a dash panel, and a tunnel portion extending rearward from a substantially central portion of the dash panel in a vehicle width direction is viewed from a side of a vehicle body. In a manner that overlaps with the lower body of the driver in a driving posture in the vehicle compartment, the protrusion is provided on the floor panel in the vehicle compartment, and in the tunnel portion,
A clutch housing having an axis extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body is disposed, and the clutch housing has a mounting flange integrally formed at the front end thereof with respect to the driver's foot in a driving posture in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body. in a manner substantially is positioned in the middle of the heel and the knee becomes attached to the rear end of the engine via the mounting flange, shift operating member is coupled to the rear of the clutch housing and the class <br/> pitch housing Ri is Na mounted straddling both the transmission housing is, the shift operating member includes an actuator, said activator
Both the player and the transmission housing above
A powertrain arrangement structure for a vehicle, comprising: a switch box fixed to the vehicle. 2. The engine coupled to the front end of the clutch housing is arranged in the tunnel portion together with the clutch housing.
The vehicle powertrain arrangement structure according to. 3. The vehicle powertrain installation structure according to claim 1, wherein a transmission housing connected to the rear of the clutch housing is installed in the tunnel portion. 4. An extension housing connected to the rear of the transmission housing integrally includes an extension extending rearward, and a rear end of the extension is rigidly coupled to a housing of a rear wheel differential gear unit. The powertrain disposition structure for a vehicle according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The vehicle powertrain installation structure according to claim 4, wherein a catalytic converter for purifying engine exhaust gas is installed below an extension portion of the extension housing. 6. The shift operating member is attached to an upper surface of the transmission housing, and a part of the shift operating member penetrates a top panel of the tunnel portion and projects into a vehicle compartment. The powertrain disposition structure for a vehicle according to claim 4.