JP4536751B2 - Engine starter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement in a starter for medium to large engines.

  For example, a diesel engine with an output of about 300 PS is used to drive a drainage pump in a drainage basin where a large amount of drainage is performed. In such applications, there is a problem that the frequency of use is low and maintenance tends to be irregular, and an engine starter using an air motor that uses compressed air of 2 to 3 MPa that is easy to maintain is used. ing.

  The air motor drives the hollow intermediate drive member that constitutes the starter, and the pinion shaft built in the intermediate drive material is rotated lightly, and the end surface of the pinion tooth provided at the tip of the pinion shaft is Attempt to enter between the teeth from the side end face of the flywheel gear attached to the engine flywheel and mesh, and when it is meshed, supply a large amount of compressed air to the air motor And is configured to start the engine.

In an automobile engine, noise is often generated when an engine ring gear (flywheel gear) meshes with an engine starter pinion gear at start-up, and various devices for reducing this noise have been proposed ( Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
JP 2000-274337 A JP 2000-274336 A

  The invention described in Patent Document 1 employs a scissor gear mechanism as a pinion gear, and is provided at the end of a crankshaft via a one-way clutch and a flywheel gear provided on a pinion gear and a flywheel of a starter. The scissor gear is configured by interposing a torque spring between the main gear and the sub gear, and when the pinion meshes with the ring gear, the sub gear contacts the ring gear. To ensure smooth meshing.

  The invention described in Patent Document 2 also forms a scissor gear mechanism by overlapping a main gear and a scissor gear, similar to Patent Document 1, and a scissor gear that is urged to rotate when the ring gear is rotationally driven by the main gear. It is comprised so that the backlash between flywheel gears may be eliminated.

  All of the inventions described in the above-mentioned known documents are based on the assumption that a scissor gear mechanism composed of a main gear and a scissor gear is employed and the subtle movement of the scissor gear is used. In other words, the scissor gear only teaches that it can eliminate backlash when the gears mesh and suppress the generation of noise.

  However, in the case of an engine starter composed of a pinion gear and a flywheel gear (ring gear) that does not use such a scissor gear, when the pinion gear is brought close to the stopped flywheel gear and engaged, Although the tooth tip of the wheel gear and the end face of the pinion gear cannot be smoothly meshed, a state in which the pinion idles due to the contact state between the side surface just before meshing and the tip of the side surface occurs although it is extremely rare.

  When this engine start failure state occurs, a troublesome work that requires an engineer to go to the engine in the drainage pit and push the pinion gear back by hand may occur. In particular, when the pump is driven using a large-sized or medium-sized engine that drives a drainage pump installed in a remote drainage site, particularly a diesel engine, when the engine is started remotely, The problem of engine start failure like this must be avoided.

  3 is a schematic diagram showing an engine starter (air starter) using compressed air as a drive source, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between the flywheel gear and the pinion drive unit, and FIG. 5 is the pinion and flywheel gear. It is the perspective view which showed. Hereinafter, the configuration of the engine starting device shown in these will be described together with the operation.

(A) 1 is a compressed air chamber to which, for example, high pressure compressed air of 2.5 to 3 MPa is supplied, and is configured to drive an air motor 9 described later by this high pressure air.

  In the initial state, the air chamber 1 and the electromagnetic valve 2 (or hand-operated type) communicate with each other, and high-pressure air is supplied to the inlet side of the electromagnetic valve 2. When starting the engine, when the solenoid valve 2 is not operated, the high-pressure air is pushed from the air chamber 1 through the solenoid valve 2 and the piping 3 to push the piston 4 to the right in FIG. To do.

(B) The servo valve 5 is opened by the protruding operation of the piston 4, and the compressed air in the chamber 1 is supplied to the piston 7 through the passage 6, and the piston 7 is moved to the left side in the drawing as 7a ( Project). The movement of the piston 7 moves the pinion shaft 11 that is the driving end of the starter S, and the pinion 12 fixed to the tip of the pinion shaft 11 is moved to the left as indicated by the arrow b.

  Simultaneously with the opening of the servo valve 5, the check valve 8 is opened and compressed air is supplied to the air motor 9 (drive source of the engine starting device) as shown by the arrow a. However, the compressed air supplied via the check valve 8 is “small amount”, and therefore the air motor 9 is rotated slowly (trial rotation).

(C) Along with the rotation of the air motor 9, the drive gear 9 a at the tip of the output shaft of the air motor 9 passes through the internal gear 10 a of the large-diameter portion of the pinion shaft support cylinder 10 (see FIG. 4). While the pinion shaft 11 supported by the cylindrical portion 10b is gently rotated in the direction of the arrow, the pinion 12 (only one tooth is drawn in FIG. 4) provided at the tip of the pinion shaft 11 is indicated by the arrow b. As shown, it is pushed out to the flywheel gear 13 side.

  The pinion 12 thus pushed out tries to mesh with the flywheel gear 13. This state is shown in FIG.

(D) (Problems with poor meshing)
Usually, the operation of the above (A) to (C) is almost successful in the engagement of the flywheel gear 13 and the pinion 12 and the engine can be easily started. However, although it is a low probability of 1 to 2%, the tooth P1 of the pinion 12 (shown by a dotted line) between the teeth W1 and W2 of the flywheel gear 13 in the portion indicated by “Z” in FIGS. 3 and 4 Although the teeth try to mesh while rotating, the tips of the teeth W1 and P2 may collide at the position “Z” as indicated by the tooth P2, and an “unmeshing state” may occur. When this disengagement state occurs, the problem of “starting failure” of the engine occurs as described above.

  As mentioned above, when the engine cannot be started when a remote control is performed from a place where the distance between the engine that drives the drainage pump of the drainage field and the place where the engine is operated is far away (typhoon) (During bad weather such as rain and heavy rain), there was a problem that if the drainage was delayed, it could lead to a flooding accident.

  In FIG. 4, a screw spline 11a and a return spring 11b are provided at the rear part of the pinion shaft 11, and when the air motor 9 stops rotating when the pinion 12 is in poor meshing, the pinion 12 returns to its original position. It is supposed to do.

(E) Engine start start state (cranking)
As described above, when the solenoid valve 2 is operated, 3 MPa of high-pressure air is supplied to the air motor 9 through the check valve 8. First, the air motor 9 is gently rotated to move the pinion shaft 11 forward to the left, The pinion 12 provided at the tip is brought into a state of meshing with the rye wheel gear 13. If this engagement is successful, the pinion shaft 11 protrudes to the left, so that the piston 7 moves sufficiently, and air passes through the passage 14.

  By this series of operations, the main valve 16 is pushed to the right side through the valve 15 (FIG. 3) to open a passage having a large diameter. A large amount of high-pressure air flows from the chamber 1 into the duct 17 through the opening of the main valve 16, and the air motor 9 is rotated in earnest, and the pinion 12 at the tip of the pinion shaft 11 rotates the flywheel gear 13 to Start cranking.

(F) When the engine starts to ignite, the pinion 12 is forcibly returned by the action of the screw spline (reference numeral 11a in FIG. 4), so that the piston 7 returns to its original position. By this series of operations, the supply of air to the passage 14 is cut off, and the main valve 16 is closed. Further, when the engine starts to ignite, the rotational speed increases, so the electromagnetic valve 2 is turned off by the rotation signal.

(G) On the other hand, when the main valve 16 is closed, air passes through the valve 15, the piston 19 is pushed to the right side via the passage 18, and the valve 19 is closed. Then, the air to the pipe 3 is cut off and the flow of air to the piston 4 is cut off, so that the piston 4 returns with a spring force and the servo valve 5 is closed.

(H) Engine operating time Normally, the time from when the solenoid valve 2 is operated until the engine starts ignition is about 1 second. Since the engine speed increases immediately after the engine is started, the signal for turning off the solenoid valve 2 and the closing timing of the main valve 16 are approximately the same or slightly slower when turning off the solenoid valve 2.

  When the flywheel gear 13 and the pinion gear 12 of the air starter S do not mesh with each other for some reason as described above and a “non-meshing state” occurs, the series of (A) to (G) described above is performed after several seconds. If the operation is an automatic operation, it is repeated several times. If the engine start operation has failed several times, the engine start system is deemed “problematic” and the engine start operation is discontinued and displayed on the operation panel.

  As described above, when the engine start operation is terminated in this manner, the operator must go to the place where the engine is installed to investigate the cause of the engine start failure and eliminate it. .

  An object of the present invention is to provide a means for avoiding the “non-meshing state” which is rarely generated by the conventional engine starting device.

  In order to achieve the above object, an engine starter according to the present invention is configured as follows.

1) a flywheel gear 13 provided together on the flywheel H of the engine, meshes close to this flywheel gear 13, the drive end of the pinion gear 12 to release the engagement automatically retracted by rotation of the engine In the engine starter S possessed by
One end of the spacer 33 is fixed to a portion of the flywheel housing 30 that accommodates the flywheel H, where the engine starter S is fixed, and the other end is supported so as to vibrate easily, and the vibrator 34 is fixed to the spacer 33, The vibrator 34 is operated for a short time when the engine starter S is started .

2) The engine starter S is configured with an air motor 9 operated by compressed air as a drive source, and the vibrator 34 is configured by an air vibrator 34 that drives an eccentric load with compressed air. It is said.

3) The engine has a speed sensor for detecting the presence or absence of rotation of the pinion gear 12, several times a engine start operation when the pinion gear 12 does not rotate, the if does not start the engine during The starter S is configured to stop the starting operation.

  The present invention is characterized in that a vibration generator is provided at a position where vibration (sometimes shock) is applied to a pinion that meshes with a flywheel gear of an engine starter. This is a device configured to repeat the engine start operation while operating the impact force generating device simultaneously with the engine start operation so that the engagement with the pinion gear does not fail.

  Even when the flywheel gear does not mesh with the starter pinion, the tip of the pinion presses against the side surface of the tooth of the flywheel gear so that the pinion becomes an “opposite state or force balance state”. An inability to move has occurred.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the counterion state or the balance state of the force is destroyed by applying vibration to the supported portion of the pinion, so the pinion is applied to the flywheel gear by the pressing force acting on the pinion shaft. Engage smoothly and start the engine immediately.

  1 and 2 show an example in which the present invention is applied to an engine starter using the conventional air starter shown in FIGS.

  In the air starter S according to the present invention, a spacer 33 is attached to a flange 31 provided in a flywheel housing 30 containing a flywheel H with a bolt 32, and a “vibration generator” is attached to the tip of the spacer 32. A vibrator 34 is arranged.

  Although the vibrator 34 is not shown in the figure, for example, a ball vibrator sold by Exen Corporation (Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, Tokyo) can be used. This ball vibrator forms a circumferential passage eccentric with respect to the central axis of the cylindrical main body, one steel ball is disposed in the circumferential passage, and one side of the circumferential passage is closed by a side cover. In addition, an air supply port is provided in one of the circumferential passages, and an air discharge port is provided in the other.

  When compressed air is supplied from the air supply port, the steel ball vigorously swivels around the circumferential passage. Since the circumferential passage is eccentric, the steel ball is moved to the main body of the vibrator 34 with the turning motion of the steel ball. It is configured to generate vibration.

  This vibration is also transmitted to the support portion of the housing 35 of the air starter S that supports the flywheel housing 30 and the pinion shaft 11 via the spacer 33 and the bolt 32.

  As a result, since the vibration of the ball vibrator 34 can be transmitted to the flywheel gear 13 (see FIG. 4) and the pinion shaft 11, the flywheel gear 13 and the pinion 12 described with reference to FIGS. The portion "Z" or the force balance state indicated by the reference symbol Z between the tooth P2 and the tooth P2 is destroyed, and the tooth P2 of the pinion 12 smoothly enters the space between the teeth W1 and W2 of the flywheel gear 13 and meshes. It can be made.

  As described above, the engine starting device is normally energized to the solenoid valve 2 for "one second or a short time close to this", and accordingly, the air motor 9 is driven for a short time to attempt to start the engine. However, this starting operation may be completed once, or may be tried several times due to a starting failure.

  For example, if the engine does not start after 5 start operations, an alarm “engine start failure” is issued, and then the engine start operation by the high-pressure air is stopped even if the solenoid valve 2 is operated. A circuit is configured.

  The present invention is characterized in that a vibration generating means or an impact force generating stage is provided in the flywheel gear 13 related to engine start and the pinion 12 that is the driving end of the starter S, but this means is particularly limited. However, it is preferable to use a pneumatically operated device.

It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the engine starting apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the apparatus which applied this invention to the air starter attached to the flywheel. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the conventional air starter. It is explanatory drawing of the relationship between a flywheel gear and the pinion of a starter. It is a perspective view which shows the support structure of a flywheel and the pinion which meshes with this.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air chamber 2 Solenoid valve 5 Servo valve 7 Piston 8 Check valve 9 Air motor 10 Pinion shaft support cylinder 11 Pinion shaft 12 Pinion 13 Flywheel gear 30 Flywheel housing 31 Flange 32 Bolt 33 Spacer 34 Vibrator 35 Housing

Claims (3)

A flywheel gear (13) attached to the flywheel (H) of the engine, and a pinion gear that meshes close to the flywheel gear (13) and automatically retreats by the rotation of the engine to release the mesh. In the engine starter (S) having (12) at the drive end,
One end of the spacer (33) is fixed to a portion of the fly housing (30) in which the flywheel (H) is accommodated to fix the engine starter (S), and the other end is supported in a state of being easily vibrated, Fix the vibrator (34) to the spacer (33),
An engine starter characterized in that the vibrator (34) is operated for a short time when the engine starter (S) is started . The engine starter (S) is configured with an air motor (9) operated by compressed air as a driving source, and the vibrator (34) is an air vibrator (33) that drives an eccentric load with compressed air. The engine starting device according to claim 1. The engine has a speed sensor for detecting the rotation whether the pinion (12), repeated several times engine start operation when the pinion gear (12) does not rotate, when no startup the engine in the meantime The engine starter according to claim 1, wherein a control circuit is configured to stop the start operation of the starter (S).

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