JP4626819B2 - Valve timing control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a drive-side rotating member that rotates synchronously with respect to a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine, a relative rotation within a predetermined phase range around the same axis with respect to the drive-side rotating member, A driven side rotating member fixed to the camshaft of the internal combustion engine at one end side in the direction along the direction, and a phase control mechanism for variably controlling the relative rotational phase between the driving side rotating member and the driven side rotating member; A direction on the side that is arranged around the shaft center and that is locked to each of the driving side rotating member and the driven side rotating member and that advances the driven side rotating member with respect to the driving side rotating member. A torsion coil spring that biases the valve and a sensor wheel that is fixed to the other end in the direction along the axis of the driven rotary member and that detects the phase of the camshaft by a sensor. Apparatus on.

  In an internal combustion engine such as an automobile engine, the valve timing is appropriately adjusted by displacing the relative rotational phase of the driving side rotating member that rotates synchronously with the crankshaft and the driven side rotating member that rotates integrally with the camshaft. Thus, a valve opening / closing timing control device capable of achieving a suitable operating state is known.

  As this type of valve opening / closing timing control device, a driven-side rotating member in which a camshaft of an internal combustion engine is solid at one end in a direction along the axis, and a predetermined range around the same axis with respect to the driven-side rotating member And a fluid which is formed between a driven side rotating member and a driven side rotating member and is divided into an advance chamber and a retarded chamber by a vane assembled to the driven side rotating member. A phase control mechanism that includes a pressure chamber and variably controls the relative rotation phase between the driven side rotating member and the driving side rotating member, and is locked to each of the driving side rotating member and the driven side rotating member, and the driving side rotating member A torsion coil spring whose position is regulated by the position regulating portion and biasing the driven-side rotating member in the direction of advancement with respect to the driving-side rotating member, and the other end in the direction along the axis of the driven-side rotating member The camshaft position A sensor wheel for detecting the sensor wheel, the fitting portion of the sensor wheel is tapered, and a taper portion corresponding to the shape of the fitting portion is provided around the axis of the driving side rotation member. And a drive side rotating member have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1) in which parts are overlapped in a direction along the axis.

  In this valve opening / closing timing control device, the drive side rotating member and the sensor wheel, which have been arranged in series in the direction along the axis so far, are arranged so as to partially overlap in the direction along the axis. Thus, the dimension in the direction along the axis of the valve opening / closing timing control device can be reduced. For this reason, space saving can be achieved.

JP 2005-16482 A

  However, in the configuration of the valve timing control device as described above, the dimension in the direction along the shaft center may be insufficiently reduced depending on the mounting space. There is a need to further reduce the dimension along the direction.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a valve opening / closing timing control device in which the dimension in the direction along the axis is further reduced.

In order to achieve the above object, a first characteristic configuration of a valve opening / closing timing device according to the present invention includes a driving side rotating member that rotates synchronously with respect to a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine, and the same axis as the driving side rotating member A driven-side rotating member fixed to the camshaft of the internal combustion engine at one end in the direction along the axis, the drive-side rotating member, A phase control mechanism that variably controls a relative rotational phase with the driven side rotating member; and is arranged around the axis and is locked to each of the driving side rotating member and the driven side rotating member, and the driven A torsion coil spring that urges a side rotation member in a direction to advance with respect to the drive side rotation member; and a camshaft fixed to the other end side in the direction along the axis of the driven side rotation member. Phase of And a sensor wheel detected by capacitors, the driving side rotational member is provided with a first end-side rear plate and the other end side front plate of which is exterior with respect to the driven side rotational member, of the front plate On the other end side, provided with a locking groove for inserting the end portion on the other end side of the torsion coil spring from the other end side,
The sensor wheel includes a fitting portion that is fitted to an outer peripheral surface of the driven side rotation member, and extends in a radial direction of the shaft center from the other end side of the fitting portion, and at least from the other end side a flange-like portion to be detected to cover the locking groove, is formed in the fitting portion, the position of the torsion coil spring along said axis and a position regulating portion for regulating from the other end, the position restriction The portion is located on the same plane as the insertion port of the locking groove or on the inner side of the locking groove from the insertion port, and the position of the end portion on the other end side of the torsion coil spring is set to the other end side. It is in the point to regulate from .

In other words, according to this configuration, the position of the torsion coil spring is regulated by the position regulating unit of the sensor wheel.
For this reason, the position control site | part in a drive side rotation member becomes unnecessary, and the thickness of the drive side rotation member for that part can be made thin. In addition, the sensor wheel and the drive-side rotation member can be arranged so as to partially overlap in a direction along the axis.
Therefore, the valve opening / closing timing control device according to the present invention can reduce the dimension in the direction along the axis, and can cope with various mounting spaces.

Further, according to this configuration, the position of the torsion coil spring can be regulated so as not to come out of the insertion port by the position regulating part of the sensor wheel.

The 2nd characteristic structure of the valve timing control apparatus which concerns on this invention exists in the point which equipped the said position control part in the said other end side from the edge part of the said one end side of the said fitting part.

That is, according to the present configuration, the dimension in the direction along the axis of the fitting portion of the sensor wheel can be set long regardless of the position of the torsion coil spring. For this reason, the sufficient fitting margin with the outer peripheral surface of a driven side rotation member is ensured, and the fitting intensity | strength with respect to the driven side rotation member of a sensor wheel can be raised.

In a third characteristic configuration of the valve opening / closing timing control device according to the present invention, the driven-side rotating member includes a boss portion along the axis, and the other end side end surface of the detected portion and the boss portion. The fitting portion is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the boss portion by press-fitting so that the end surface on the end side is flush with the end surface.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a valve timing control apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, the case where the present invention is applied to the valve opening / closing timing control device 1 for an automobile engine will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the valve opening / closing timing control device 1 according to the present embodiment includes an external rotor 2 as a drive side rotation member that rotates synchronously with an engine crankshaft (not shown), an engine Driven side rotation that rotates integrally with a camshaft 11 that constitutes a rotation shaft of a cam that controls the opening and closing of the intake valve or the exhaust valve, and that can rotate relative to the outer rotor 2 around the same axis within a predetermined phase range. And an internal rotor 3 as a member.

  The internal rotor 3 is integrally assembled with the tip of the camshaft 11 on one end side in the direction along the axis. A sensor wheel 6 that can detect the phase of the camshaft 11 by the sensor 8 is fixed to the other end side in the direction along the axis of the internal rotor 3.

  The outer rotor 2 is externally mounted on the inner rotor 3, and includes a rear plate 21 attached to the side to which the camshaft 11 is connected, and a front plate 22 attached to the side opposite to the side to which the camshaft 11 is connected. Have A timing sprocket 23 is formed on the outer periphery of the outer rotor 2. A power transmission member 12 such as a timing chain or a timing belt is installed between the timing sprocket 23 and a gear attached to the crankshaft of the engine.

  When the crankshaft of the engine is rotationally driven, rotational power is transmitted to the timing sprocket 23 through the power transmission member 12, and the external rotor 2 is rotationally driven along the rotational direction S shown in FIG. Along with this, the internal rotor 3 is rotationally driven along the rotational direction S to rotate the camshaft 11, and the cam provided on the camshaft 11 pushes down the intake valve or exhaust valve of the engine to open it.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a lock mechanism 5 is provided between the outer rotor 2 and the inner rotor 3, and the lock member 53 engages with a recess in the displacement of the relative rotational phase of the inner rotor 3 with respect to the outer rotor 2. By being engaged with 51, it can be constrained at a predetermined lock phase.

  The outer rotor 2 is provided with a plurality of protrusions 24 that function as shoes protruding in the radially inward direction and spaced apart from each other along the rotational direction. A fluid pressure chamber 4 that is defined by the outer rotor 2 and the inner rotor 3 and that supplies or discharges hydraulic oil is formed between the adjacent protrusions 24 of the outer rotor 2. In the present embodiment, an example having four fluid pressure chambers 4 is illustrated.

  A vane groove 31 is formed in a portion of the outer peripheral portion of the inner rotor 3 facing each fluid pressure chamber 4. In the vane groove 31, a vane 32 that divides the fluid pressure chamber 4 into an advance chamber 41 and a retard chamber 42 in a relative rotation direction (arrows S1 and S2 in FIG. 2) is slidable along the radial direction. Inserted. The four corners of the fluid pressure chamber 4 are provided with recesses extending in the direction along the axial center so that the operating oil can be spread over the recesses and the vanes 32 can be pressed efficiently. As shown in FIG. 1, the vane 32 is urged outward in the radial direction by a spring 33 provided on the inner diameter side thereof.

The advance chamber 41 of the fluid pressure chamber 4 communicates with an advance passage 43 formed in the inner rotor 3, and the retard chamber 42 communicates with a retard passage 44 formed in the inner rotor 3. The advance passage 43 and the retard passage 44 are connected to the hydraulic circuit 7.
As shown in FIG. 2, among the four advance chambers 41, the advance passage 43 a of the advance chamber 41 located at a position adjacent to the lock mechanism 5 includes the engagement recess 51 of the lock mechanism 5 and the advance chamber 41. Is formed along the sliding surface of the inner rotor 3 with the outer rotor 2, and is connected to the hydraulic circuit 7 via the lock passage 55.
The advance passage 43a is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the inner rotor 3 on the center side in the width direction along the axis. With this configuration, the advance passage 43a is provided between the inner rotor 3 and the front plate 22 or the rear plate 21 as compared with the case where the advance rotor passage 43a is provided on the front plate 22 side of the inner rotor 3 or the end surface of the rear plate 21. A larger facing area can be secured. For this reason, it becomes difficult for hydraulic oil to leak outside from the clearance gap between the internal rotor 3 and the front plate 22 or the rear plate 21, and can improve the sealing effect.

  The hydraulic circuit 7 supplies or discharges hydraulic oil to or from one or both of the advance chamber 41 and the retard chamber 42. As a result, the relative position of the vane 32 inside the fluid pressure chamber 4 is displaced or held at an arbitrary phase to control the relative rotational phase between the internal rotor 3 and the external rotor 2. Therefore, the hydraulic circuit 7, the fluid pressure chamber 4 to which hydraulic oil is supplied or discharged, and the vane 32 that divides the fluid pressure chamber 4 into the retard chamber 42 and the advance chamber 41 constitute the “phase control mechanism” in the present invention. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a torsion coil spring 13 is disposed in an annular recess 14 formed around the axis of the internal rotor. On the wall surfaces of the inner rotor 3 and the front plate 22 of the outer circumferential rotor 2 constituting the radially outer wall portion of the annular recess 14, locking grooves 14 a for locking the respective end portions of the torsion coil spring 13, 14b is formed. The torsion coil spring 13 is inserted into the engaging grooves 14a and 14b while twisting and deforming so as to apply a torque that constantly biases the inner rotor 3 in the direction S1 on the side of advancement with respect to the outer rotor 2. And lock. As a result, the relative position between the inner rotor 3 and the outer rotor 2 is maintained in the most advanced angle phase state in which the volume of the advance chamber 41 is maximized and is pressed against the side S1 on which the vane 32 is advanced. In the present embodiment, both end portions of the torsion coil spring 13 are configured to form an angle of 90 ° in the most advanced angle phase state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sensor wheel 6 includes a detected portion 64 that extends in the radial direction, and is fixed by press-fitting a fitting portion 62 into the outer peripheral surface of the boss portion of the internal rotor 3. Since the sensor wheel 6 rotates integrally with the camshaft 11 via the internal rotor 3, the phase of the camshaft 11 can be detected by detecting the rotation of the detected portion 64.
The sensor wheel 6 is provided with a position restricting portion 61 that restricts the position of the torsion coil spring 13 from the insertion opening side of the locking groove 14b along the axis of the inner rotor 3. Thereby, the position in the direction along the axial center of the torsion coil spring 13 is restricted, and the torsion coil spring 13 is prevented from coming out of the locking groove 14b. In the present embodiment, the position restricting portion 61 is provided so as to abut on the entire circumferential direction of the torsion coil spring 13, and is configured to prevent rattling of the torsion coil spring 13 during operation of the engine. It is.

  In the present embodiment, the sensor wheel 6 is configured such that the surface of the detected portion 64 on the sensor 8 side is flush with the end surface of the boss portion of the internal rotor 3. With such a configuration, when the sensor wheel 6 is press-fitted into the boss portion of the internal rotor 3, it is sufficient to press-fit until the surface of the detected portion 64 is flush with the end surface of the boss portion of the internal rotor 3. The press-fitting amount of the sensor wheel 6 with respect to the inner rotor 3 can be easily managed, and an appropriate distance between the sensor wheel 6 and the sensor 8 can be ensured.

In the valve opening / closing timing control device 1 configured as described above, the position of the torsion coil spring 13 is replaced by the position of the sensor wheel 6 that rotates relative to the torsion coil spring 13 instead of the front plate 22 of the conventional external rotor 2. Regulation is performed by the regulation unit 61. For this reason, the position control part in the front plate 22 becomes unnecessary, and the thickness of the front plate 22 can be reduced accordingly. Further, the sensor wheel 6 and the front plate 22 can be arranged so as to partially overlap in a direction along the axis.
Therefore, the valve opening / closing timing control device 1 can reduce the dimension in the direction along the axis, and can cope with various mounting spaces.

[Another embodiment]
In the above embodiment, the example in which the position restricting portion 61 of the sensor wheel 6 is provided on the end surface of the fitting portion 62 on the annular recessed portion 14 side is shown. However, as shown in FIG. It can also be provided on the detected portion 64 side from the end surface 62a on the annular concave portion 14 side of the joining portion 62. According to this configuration, in addition to being able to reduce the dimension in the direction along the axis of the valve opening / closing timing control device 1, the dimension in the direction along the axis of the fitting portion 62 can be reduced regardless of the position of the torsion coil spring 13. Can be set longer. For this reason, the sufficient fitting margin with the outer peripheral surface of the boss | hub part of the internal rotor 3 can be ensured, and the fitting intensity | strength with respect to the internal rotor 3 of the sensor wheel 6 can be raised.

In the above embodiment, the case where the position restricting portion 61 abuts over the entire circumferential direction of the torsion coil spring 13 is shown as an example. However, the position restricting portion 61 abuts a part of the torsion coil spring 13. In addition, it may not be in contact with the torsion coil spring 13.
Further, when an insertion port for inserting the end of the torsion coil spring 13 is provided in the locking groove 14b, the position restricting portion 61 is connected to the locking groove 14b more than the insertion port as shown in FIGS. It is configured so as to be positioned inside, or as illustrated in FIG. 5 so as to be positioned on the same plane as the insertion port. Thereby, the position restricting portion 61 can restrict the position of the torsion coil spring 13 so as not to come out of the insertion opening of the locking groove 14b, regardless of whether or not the position restricting portion 61 comes into contact with the torsion coil spring 13.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the locking groove 14b having the insertion port is provided in the front plate 22 of the outer rotor 2 is shown as an example. However, the insertion groove is not provided and the end of the locking groove 14b is closed. May be. In this case, since the position of the torsion coil spring 13 is regulated in two stages by the closed end of the locking groove 14b and the position regulation part 61 of the sensor wheel 6, the torsion coil spring 13 is more difficult to come off. In the present embodiment, the torsion coil spring 13 is disposed in the annular recess 14 before the front plate 22 is attached to the external rotor 2.

In the above embodiment, the case where the advance passage 43a communicating the engagement recess 51 and the advance chamber 41 is provided on the inner rotor 3 side is described as an example. However, the advance passage 43a is shown in FIG. Thus, it can also be provided on the external rotor 2 side. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the advance passage 43 a is provided in a recess provided in a radially inner corner of the advance chamber 41 and a radially outer opening of the engagement recess 51. It communicates with the notch 51a. This notch 51a can be provided in a part or all of the width direction along the axis.
Further, the advance passage 43 a can be provided over both sides of the inner rotor 3 and the outer rotor 2.

Side sectional view showing a valve timing control apparatus according to the present embodiment II-II sectional view of FIG. Exploded plan view of the valve timing control device according to the present embodiment Side sectional view which shows the valve timing control apparatus which concerns on another embodiment. Side sectional view which shows the valve timing control apparatus which concerns on another embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the valve timing control apparatus which concerns on another embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Valve opening / closing timing control device 2 External rotor (drive side rotating member)
3 Internal rotor (driven side rotating member)
4 Fluid chamber (phase control mechanism)
6 Sensor wheel 7 Hydraulic circuit (Phase control mechanism)
8 Sensor 11 Camshaft 13 Torsion coil spring 14b Locking groove 32 Vane (Phase control mechanism)
61 Position restriction part 62 Fitting part 62a End face (end part)

Claims (3)

A drive-side rotating member that rotates synchronously with the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine, and a relative rotation within a predetermined phase range around the same axis with respect to the drive-side rotating member, and in a direction along the axis A driven side rotating member fixed to the camshaft of the internal combustion engine on one end side, a phase control mechanism that variably controls a relative rotational phase between the driving side rotating member and the driven side rotating member; It is arranged around and is latched by each of the driving side rotating member and the driven side rotating member, and urges the driven side rotating member in a direction to advance with respect to the driving side rotating member. A torsion coil spring, and a sensor wheel that is fixed to the other end side in the direction along the axis of the driven side rotation member and detects the phase of the camshaft by a sensor;
The driving side rotating member includes a rear plate on the one end side and a front plate on the other end side that are externally mounted on the driven side rotating member, and the torsion coil spring is disposed on the other end side of the front plate. A locking groove for inserting the end of the other end side from the other end side,
The sensor wheel includes a fitting portion that is fitted to an outer peripheral surface of the driven side rotation member, and extends in a radial direction of the shaft center from the other end side of the fitting portion, and at least from the other end side A hook-shaped detected portion that covers the locking groove; and a position restricting portion that is formed in the fitting portion and restricts the position of the torsion coil spring from the other end side along the axis.
The position restricting portion is positioned on the same plane as the insertion port of the locking groove or on the inner side of the locking groove from the insertion port, and determines the position of the end portion on the other end side of the torsion coil spring. A valve timing control device that regulates from the other end side . The sensor wheel, the valve timing control apparatus according to claim 1, the pre-Symbol position regulating portion provided on the other end side from an end portion of the one end side of the fitting portion. The driven side rotation member includes a boss portion along the axis,
2. The fitting portion is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the boss portion by press-fitting so that the end surface on the other end side of the detected portion and the end surface on the other end side of the boss portion are flush with each other. Or the valve timing control apparatus of 2 or 2.

Images