JP5151847B2 - Oil filter mounting structure for vehicle engine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine in which an oil filter is mounted on a side surface of an engine disposed in an engine room with a posture in which a crankshaft faces a vehicle width direction.

  Conventionally, oil stored in an oil pan below the engine is driven by the crankshaft in order to lubricate various sliding parts (eg, crankshaft, cylinder wall, valve mechanism, etc.) existing inside the engine. Pumping up with an oil pump and supplying it to each part of the engine through a plurality of oil passages provided inside the cylinder block or the like is performed.

By the way, in an engine as described above, an oil filter having a built-in filter paper or the like for filtering oil is generally provided as a means for removing impurities contained in the lubricating oil. For example, in Patent Document 1 below, an oil filter mounting seat communicating with the oil path is provided in a cylinder block having an oil path (oil path) through which oil sent from an oil pump flows, and the mounting seat The oil filter is attached.
JP 2007-170361 A

  Here, when the engine is disposed in a so-called horizontal orientation in which the crankshaft faces the vehicle width direction, the oil filter is generally attached to a side surface of the engine on the vehicle front side. However, when the oil filter is attached to the side of the vehicle front side of the engine in this way, when a frontal collision of the vehicle occurs and the front part of the vehicle body is crushed, for example, a radiator or the like that exists in front of the engine When the parts retreat and hit the oil filter, the oil filter may be damaged and oil leakage or the like may occur. For this reason, it can be said that it is more preferable in the horizontal engine as described above that the oil filter is attached to the side surface of the engine on the vehicle rear side in order to reduce the possibility of the oil filter being damaged in the event of a collision.

  However, even if an oil filter is attached to the side of the engine on the rear side of the vehicle as described above, the collision energy at the time of the frontal collision of the vehicle is relatively large, and the engine moves backward due to being pressed by the crushed front part of the vehicle. In such a case, there is a risk that the oil filter may be damaged by the oil filter hitting a member or part existing on the rear side of the engine.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and provides an oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine capable of appropriately protecting an oil filter mounted on a horizontally mounted engine at the time of a vehicle collision. The purpose is to do.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine in which an oil filter is mounted on a side surface of an engine disposed in an engine room with a posture in which a crankshaft faces a vehicle width direction. An exhaust passage is connected to a side surface of the engine on the vehicle rear side, and a drive shaft for driving front wheels extending in the vehicle width direction along the side surface is disposed below the exhaust passage, The filter bracket is disposed at a height position overlapping with the drive shaft as viewed from the vehicle rear side, and the oil filter is disposed at a lower end portion of the filter bracket extending to a height position lower than the drive shaft. It mounted, rotatably supporting the drive shaft attached to the side of the vehicle rear side of the engine Shaft joint bracket that is characterized in that which is provided so as to be interposed between the filter bracket and the drive shaft (claim 1).

  According to the present invention, since the oil filter is attached to the side of the engine on the vehicle rear side, a frontal collision of the vehicle occurs and the front part of the vehicle body is crushed, for example, a radiator that exists on the front side of the engine. Even if parts such as these are retracted toward the engine, the parts do not hit the oil filter, and the oil filter is effectively prevented from being damaged and causing oil leakage or the like in the event of a vehicle collision. Can do.

  Further, a filter bracket is arranged at a height position overlapping the drive shaft on the side surface of the engine rear side of the vehicle so that the oil filter attached to the lower end of the filter bracket is positioned below the drive shaft. Because the impact energy at the time of the frontal collision of the vehicle is relatively large, even when the engine is retracted by being pushed by the crushed front part of the vehicle body, the filter bracket makes contact with the drive shaft. Further, there is an advantage that the oil filter can be effectively protected with a simple and rational configuration using a drive shaft in the event of a relatively large frontal collision, since the engine is prevented from further retreating.

  In addition, when an oil filter is installed on the side of the engine on the rear side of the engine to which the exhaust passage is connected, the oil leaked from the damaged oil filter will scatter and come into contact with the wall surface of the hot exhaust passage to generate white smoke. However, according to the above configuration that can properly protect the oil filter by using the drive shaft, the generation of white smoke due to the oil leakage as described above is effective. Therefore, there is an advantage that the oil filter can be properly protected while the oil filter is attached to the exhaust side of the engine to effectively prevent the occurrence of secondary disaster damage.

Further, according to the present invention, since the shaft joint bracket is interposed between the filter bracket and the drive shaft, the shaft joint is interposed between the filter bracket and the drive shaft when the engine is retracted at the time of a vehicle front collision. As the bracket is sandwiched and deformed, the collision energy is effectively absorbed, and there is an advantage that the protection effect of the oil filter can be further enhanced by further suppressing the reverse amount of the engine at the time of the frontal collision of the vehicle. .

In the above structure, more preferably, an end portion on the vehicle rear side of the shaft joint bracket, the positional relationship between them is set to be positioned on the rear side than the end portion on the vehicle rear side of the oil filter (according Item 2 ).

  According to this configuration, even if the engine is retracted in the presence of any part on the rear side of the oil filter, the rear end portion of the shaft joint bracket first hits this part, so the part hits the oil filter. The oil filter is damaged, or the connection between the oil filter and the filter bracket is less likely to occur. This has the advantage that oil leaks and secondary disasters associated with this can be prevented more effectively. is there.

In the present invention, preferably, the filter bracket and the oil filter is disposed at a site located near the front end of the engine of the vehicle rear side of the side surface of the engine (claim 3).

  According to this configuration, it is possible to shorten the length of the oil passage from the oil pump that is generally mounted near the front end of the engine to the oil filter, and to improve the fuel efficiency of the engine by reducing the oil flow resistance. There is an advantage that can be.

Such a configuration is more suitable when the auxiliary machine driven by the crankshaft is disposed in the front part on the intake side of the engine ( claim 4 ).

  That is, when an auxiliary machine is attached to the front part of the intake side of the engine, if the filter bracket and the oil filter are arranged on the same intake side (that is, the side surface of the engine on the front side of the vehicle), Although the layout of the machine may be limited, in the above configuration, the oil filter and the like are attached to the side of the engine on the exhaust side on the vehicle rear side, so that the degree of freedom in the layout of the auxiliary equipment is sufficiently secured. On the other hand, there is an advantage that an oil filter can be attached closer to the front end of the engine to improve fuel efficiency.

  As described above, according to the oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine of the present invention, there is an advantage that the oil filter attached to the horizontally mounted engine can be more appropriately protected during a vehicle collision.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an engine 1 to which an oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine according to the present invention is applied. The engine 1 shown in this figure is an in-line four-cylinder engine having four cylinders (not shown) in which pistons are slidably fitted in a row, and is a dash that forms the front wall of a vehicle compartment. Inside the engine room 2 formed in front of the panel 3, the crankshaft 8 is arranged in a so-called landscape orientation in which the crankshaft 8 faces in the vehicle width direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1). A line S in FIG. 1 indicates the axis of the cylinder. In the illustrated example, the engine 1 is disposed in a posture in which the axis S of the cylinder is inclined backward by a predetermined angle α with respect to the vertical axis L.

  FIG. 2 is a side view of the engine 1 as seen from the vehicle rear side. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 1 above, the engine 1 is mounted on the cylinder block 10 in which the four cylinders described above are formed, and on the upper surface of the cylinder block 10 so as to cover each cylinder from above. The cylinder head 13 and an oil pan 15 attached to the lower surface of the cylinder block 10 are provided. An exhaust passage 7 serving as a passage for exhaust gas generated by combustion is connected to a side surface of the cylinder head 13 on the vehicle rear side, and an intake side is connected to a vehicle front side surface of the cylinder head 13 on the opposite side. An intake passage (not shown) serving as an air passage is connected. That is, the engine 1 shown in the figure is disposed in the engine room 2 with the exhaust side surface facing the vehicle rear side and the intake side surface facing the vehicle front side.

  The exhaust passage 7 extends from the cylinder head 13 to the vehicle rear side and downward, and is introduced into a floor tunnel 5 having a U-shaped cross section extending in the front-rear direction along the vehicle body floor 4 as shown in FIG. The Then, the exhaust passage 7 is disposed so as to extend to the rear side of the vehicle through the inside of the floor tunnel 5 and the like so that the exhaust gas is led out from the exhaust port provided at the rear end portion. It has become.

  Although not shown in detail, a transformer (not shown) in which a transmission and a differential device are integrated is provided on the left side of the engine 1 in FIG. 1 (the left side in FIG. 2). An axle is attached, and one end of the crankshaft 8 is interlocked with the input shaft of the transaxle. In the following, the side where the transaxle is provided (the back side of the paper in FIG. 1, the left side in FIG. 2) is the rear side of the engine 1, and the side opposite to the installation portion of the transaxle (the front side of the paper in FIG. 1, the right side in FIG. 2) ) Will be described as the front side of the engine 1.

  The crankshaft 8 is rotatably supported at the lower part of the cylinder block 10, and a drive pulley 17 is attached to the front end of the crankshaft 8. An auxiliary machine drive belt 20 for driving various auxiliary machines (22, 23, 24, etc. in FIG. 1) attached to the engine 1 is wound around the drive pulley 17, and the engine 1 is in operation. When the drive pulley 17 is rotationally driven integrally with the crankshaft 8, a driving force is transmitted to each auxiliary machine via the auxiliary machine driving belt 20. Specifically, in this embodiment, as the auxiliary machine, an alternator 22 for power generation, a compressor 23 for air conditioning, and a water pump 24 for circulating cooling water are the front part of the engine 1 (the wall part on the right side of the vehicle). These auxiliary machines 21 to 24 are driven by the auxiliary machine driving belt 20 in accordance with the rotation of the crankshaft 8. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 25 denotes an auto tensioner for applying a predetermined tension to the accessory driving belt 20, and reference numeral 26 denotes an idler pulley.

  The attachment locations of the auxiliary machines 21 to 24 will be described in more detail. The auxiliary machines 21 to 24 are divided into an intake side (vehicle front side) and an exhaust side (vehicle rear side) in the front portion of the engine 1. In the illustrated example, as in a general horizontal engine, more auxiliary machines are provided on the intake side than on the exhaust side. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, an alternator 22 and a compressor 23 are attached to the intake side of the engine 1, while only a water pump 24 is attached to the exhaust side of the engine 1.

  A sprocket (not shown) that rotates integrally with the crankshaft 8 is provided between the drive pulley 17 provided at the front end of the crankshaft 8 and the front wall of the cylinder block 10. A timing chain (not shown) for driving a valve operating mechanism provided in the cylinder head 13 is wound around.

  That is, a valve mechanism (not shown) including a cam mechanism and the like for opening and closing the intake valve and the exhaust valve is provided inside the cylinder head 13, and the valve mechanism and the crankshaft 8 are connected to each other. The sprocket and the sprocket are linked and connected via the timing chain, whereby the rotation of the crankshaft 8 is transmitted to the valve mechanism so that the intake valve and the exhaust valve are driven to open and close. 1 and 2, reference numeral 16 denotes a chain cover, and this chain cover 16 is provided so as to shield the timing chain by covering the front walls of the cylinder block 10 and the cylinder head 13.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cylinder block 10 has an upper and lower divided structure having an upper block 11 and a lower block 12 attached to the lower surface of the cylinder block 10. The upper block 11 and the lower block 12 include a plurality of bolts. The cylinder block 10 is configured by being fastened in the vertical direction by a fastening member such as the above. In addition, a flange portion 27 is provided at the joint portion between the upper block 11 and the lower block 12 to fasten the both.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the oil pan 15 is attached to the lower surface of the lower block 12 via a flange portion 28. That is, a flange portion 28 is provided at the lower end portion of the lower block 12 and the upper end portion of the oil pan 15 so as to protrude to the periphery, and the flange portion 28 is fastened in the vertical direction by a fastening member such as a bolt. Thus, the lower block 12 and the oil pan 15 are joined to each other.

  The engine room 2 is provided with a drive shaft 50 extending in the vehicle width direction along the side surface of the engine 1 on the vehicle rear side. The drive shaft 50 is provided as a rotary shaft that connects the above-described transaxle and a front wheel axle (not shown) to each other, and a drive shaft main body 51 that extends outward in the vehicle width direction from the differential device in the transaxle, and the drive A universal joint 52 is interposed between the shaft main body 51 and the front wheel axle so as to be able to bend both. When the engine 1 is operated, the rotation of the crankshaft 8 is transmitted to the drive shaft main body 51 via the transaxle, and further transmitted to the front wheel axle via the universal joint 52 at the tip thereof. The front wheels are driven to rotate integrally. The drive shaft 50 provided as a power transmission member in this way is composed of a relatively solid metal solid material or pipe material (in FIG. 3, the drive shaft 50 is illustrated as a pipe material). )

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of the front portion of the engine 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the side surface of the engine 1 on the vehicle rear side as viewed obliquely from the rear. In FIG. 3, the drive shaft 50 is shown as being cut in the middle in the axial direction, and the drive shaft 50 is omitted in FIG. 4. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and FIG. 2 above, a shaft for rotatably supporting the drive shaft 50 is provided on the lower side of the cylinder block 10 on the vehicle rear side near the front end of the engine. A joint bracket 30 is provided.

  The shaft joint bracket 30 has a two-part structure having a bracket body 31 fixed to the cylinder block 10 and a cap member 32 detachably fixed to the bracket body 31 via a fastening member such as a bolt. ing. A circular space surrounding the drive shaft 50 is formed between the bracket body 31 and the cap member 32, and a gap C (see FIG. 3) between the surrounding surface and the outer peripheral surface of the drive shaft 50 is formed. An unillustrated bearing can be attached.

  The bracket body 31 has three leg portions 31a extending to the left and right, and these leg portions 31a are fastened to a side surface of the cylinder block 10 on the vehicle rear side via a fastening member such as a bolt. A shaft joint bracket 30 is detachably fixed to the engine 1.

  FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 with the shaft joint bracket 30 removed. As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 4 above, a mounting boss portion 33 to which the leg portion 31a of the bracket body 31 is fastened and fixed is provided on the side surface of the cylinder block 10 on the vehicle rear side. Specifically, two mounting boss portions 33 are provided on the upper block 11 of the cylinder block 10 and one on the lower block 12, and the tip ends of the leg portions 31 a are fastened to the mounting boss portions 33, respectively. Thus, the shaft joint bracket 30 is attached in such a manner as to straddle both the upper block 11 and the lower block 12.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, an oil filter 35 is attached to a side surface of the lower block 12 on the vehicle rear side via a filter bracket 36. The oil filter 35 includes a filter paper for filtering lubricating oil (engine oil) for lubricating each part of the engine 1, and impurities and the like are removed by passing through the filter paper in the oil filter 35. The oil is supplied to each part of the engine 1 through an oil passage (not shown) provided in the engine 1.

  The filter bracket 36 is made of a metal member having a rigidity higher than that of the oil filter 35, and is detachably fixed to a side surface of the lower block 12 on the vehicle rear side via a fastening member such as a bolt. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the drive shaft 50 is provided at a height position overlapping with the filter bracket 36 in the vertical direction, and the filter bracket 36 is partially separated from the vehicle rear side by the drive shaft 50. It is supposed to be covered.

  Further, the filter bracket 36 is attached to a position near the front end of the side surface of the lower block 12, and as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the filter bracket 36 is attached by the shaft joint bracket 30 also attached to the engine front end. 36 is partially covered from the vehicle rear side.

  The filter bracket 36 extends rearward and downward from the side surface of the lower block 12, and a lower end portion thereof is provided below the installation height of the drive shaft 50. The oil filter 35 is detachably fixed to the lower end portion of the filter bracket 36 extending to a height position lower than the drive shaft 50 by means such as screwing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when comparing the positional relationship between the filter bracket 36 and the shaft joint bracket 30 covering the filter bracket 36 from the vehicle rear side, the shaft joint bracket 30 has an end portion on the vehicle rear side at the lower end portion thereof. However, the oil filter 35 is provided so as to be located on the rear side by a predetermined distance X from the vehicle rear side end portion of the oil filter 35.

  As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5, a lubricating oil (engine) is provided in a portion of the side surface of the upper block 11 on the vehicle rear side that is located above the installation portion of the filter bracket 36 and the shaft joint bracket 30. A water-cooled oil cooler 38 for cooling the oil) is provided. That is, the oil cooler 38 includes a passage through which lubricating oil flows and a passage through which cooling water (refrigerant) flows, so that the temperature of the oil does not rise more than necessary. The temperature of the oil is lowered by heat exchange with the cooling water.

  Here, the lubrication system of the engine 1 including the oil filter 35 and the oil cooler 38 will be briefly described. A predetermined amount of lubricating oil for lubricating each part of the engine 1 is stored in the oil pan 15. An oil pump (for example, a trochoid pump that rotates in conjunction with the crankshaft 8 as a means for pumping up and pumping the oil stored in the oil pan 15 is provided at the lower front end of the engine 1. Not shown). Further, an oil passage (not shown) serving as a passage for oil pumped from the oil pump is provided inside the filter bracket 36, and the oil passage in the filter bracket 36 and the internal oil passage of the engine 1 are provided. And communicate with each other.

  The oil pumped up from the oil pan 15 by the oil pump first includes an oil passage provided in the engine 1 so as to connect the oil pump and the filter bracket 36, and an oil provided in the filter bracket 36. It is introduced into the oil filter 35 through the passage. The oil that has been filtered and led out from the filter bracket 36 is introduced into the oil cooler 38 through an oil passage provided between the filter bracket 36 and the oil cooler 38, and then the oil cooler 38 1 is supplied to, for example, the crankshaft 8, the cylinder wall, the valve mechanism, and the like through a plurality of oil passages extending to the respective parts in 1.

  A relief solenoid valve 40 is provided in the middle of the oil passage that guides oil from the oil cooler 38 to each part of the engine 1. The solenoid valve 40 is opened when the engine 1 is in a predetermined operation state, so that a part of the oil escapes to the relief passage and prevents the oil pressure from rising more than necessary. It is configured.

  The solenoid valve 40 is disposed on the front end side of the engine 1 with respect to the oil cooler 38 so as to be adjacent to the oil cooler 38. As a result, the oil cooler 38 is interposed between the solenoid valve 40 and the exhaust passage 7 of the engine 1 as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5. The radiant heat from the exhaust passage 7 is not directly transmitted to the solenoid valve 40.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the front end portion of the drive shaft 50 and the engine parts in the vicinity thereof, as viewed from the front and from below. As shown in FIG. 6 and the previous FIGS. 2 to 4, the crankshaft 8 is rotated at a position near the front end of the engine adjacent to the filter bracket 36 on the vehicle rear side surface of the lower block 12. A crank angle sensor 42 for detecting the angle is provided. For example, the crank angle sensor 42 electromagnetically reads the passage of teeth of a pulsar (not shown) that rotates integrally with the crankshaft 8 (a disk-shaped member having a large number of teeth on the outer periphery). The rotation angle of 8 is detected.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 6, the crank angle sensor 42 is attached at a height position that overlaps with the drive shaft 50 when viewed from the vehicle rear side. Specifically, the crank angle sensor 42 is provided at a position facing the relatively large-diameter universal joint 52 in the drive shaft 50, and the crank angle sensor 42 is provided by the universal joint 52. Is shielded from the vehicle rear side.

  Further, below the crank angle sensor 42, there is a flange portion 28 for fastening (joining) the engine components including the lower block 12 and the oil pan 15 as shown in FIGS. As described above, of the flange portion 28, a rear flange portion 28a (hereinafter simply referred to as a flange portion 28a) that is positioned below the drive shaft 50 and extends in the vehicle width direction projects by a predetermined amount toward the vehicle rear side. The crank angle sensor 42 is provided so as to be shielded from below. In other words, the crank angle sensor 42 is located above the flange portion 28a between the lower block 12 and the oil pan 15, and the drive shaft 50 (more specifically, its universal joint as viewed from the vehicle rear side). It is attached at a height position that overlaps part 52).

  As described above, in the oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine according to the present embodiment, the vehicle of the engine 1 disposed in the engine room 2 with the crankshaft 8 facing in the vehicle width direction (so-called landscape orientation). An exhaust passage 7 is connected to the side surface on the rear side, and a drive shaft 50 for driving front wheels extending in the vehicle width direction along the side surface is disposed below the exhaust passage 7. And the filter bracket 36 is attached to the height position which overlaps with the said drive shaft 50 seeing from the vehicle rear side among the side surfaces at the vehicle rear side of the said engine 1, and it extends to the height position lower than the said drive shaft 50. An oil filter 35 is attached to the lower end of the filter bracket 36. According to such a structure, there exists an advantage that the oil filter 35 attached to the horizontal engine can be protected more appropriately at the time of a vehicle collision.

  That is, in the above embodiment, since the oil filter 35 is attached to the side surface of the engine 1 on the vehicle rear side, a frontal collision of the vehicle occurs and the front part of the vehicle body is crushed. Even if a component such as a radiator that is present in the engine is retracted toward the engine 1, the component does not hit the oil filter 35, and the oil filter 35 is damaged at the time of a vehicle collision and an oil leak or the like occurs. Can be effectively prevented.

  A filter bracket 36 is attached to a height position overlapping the drive shaft 50 on the side surface of the engine 1 on the vehicle rear side, and the oil filter 35 attached to the lower end portion of the filter bracket 36 is more than the drive shaft 50. Even when the engine 1 moves backward due to a relatively large collision energy at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle and being pushed by a crushing front part or the like, the filter bracket 36 is provided. Is brought into contact with the drive shaft 50 (in this embodiment, by being brought into contact with the drive shaft 50 via the shaft joint bracket 30 or the like interposed therebetween), the engine 1 is suppressed from further retreating, Simple and easy to use the drive shaft 50 in the case of a relatively large frontal accident There is an advantage that the oil filter 35 can be effectively protected with reasonable configuration.

  That is, when the engine 1 moves backward in accordance with a large collision energy, the filter bracket 36 located at the same height as the drive shaft 50 comes into contact with the drive shaft 50, so that the engine 1 greatly extends beyond the drive shaft 50. It is possible to suppress the displacement. At this time, the oil filter 35 attached to the lower end of the filter bracket 36 and positioned below the drive shaft 50 does not contact the drive shaft 50, so that the oil filter 35 is not damaged. For this reason, according to the above configuration, the engine 1 has a simple and rational configuration using the existing drive shaft 50 having high rigidity without causing damage to the oil filter 35 in the case of a relatively large frontal collision. Can be effectively prevented from being displaced rearward. In addition, by suppressing the reverse amount of the engine 1 in this way, it is possible to effectively prevent the oil filter 35 from striking against any part (such as a battery) that may exist on the rear side of the oil filter 35. There is an advantage that the oil filter 35 can be properly protected even when a large collision energy is generated so that 1 is retracted.

  Further, when the oil filter 35 is attached to the vehicle rear side surface of the engine 1 to which the exhaust passage 7 is connected, the oil leaked from the damaged oil filter 35 scatters and contacts the wall surface of the hot exhaust passage 7. However, according to the above-described configuration in which the oil filter 35 can be appropriately protected using the drive shaft 50, white smoke may occur. Since generation of white smoke and the like is effectively avoided, the oil filter 35 can be properly protected while the oil filter 35 is attached to the exhaust side of the engine 1 to effectively prevent the occurrence of secondary disaster damage. There is an advantage.

  In the above-described embodiment, the shaft joint bracket 30 that is attached to the side surface of the engine 1 on the vehicle rear side and rotatably supports the drive shaft 50 is interposed between the filter bracket 36 and the drive shaft 50. Therefore, when the engine 1 retreats at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle, the shaft joint bracket 30 is sandwiched between the filter bracket 36 and the drive shaft 50 and deformed. There is an advantage that the protective effect of the oil filter 35 can be further enhanced by further suppressing the reverse amount of the engine 1 at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle.

  In particular, as in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle rear side end portion of the lower end portion of the shaft joint bracket 30 is more rearward than the end portion of the oil filter 35 on the vehicle rear side by a predetermined distance X shown in FIG. In the case where the positional relationship between the two is set so as to be positioned, even if the engine 1 is retracted in a situation where some parts are present on the rear side of the oil filter 35, the parts after the shaft joint bracket 30 are first attached to these parts. Since the end portion is abutted, the above-mentioned components are abutted against the oil filter 35 and the oil filter 35 is damaged, or the connection portion between the oil filter 35 and the filter bracket 36 is less likely to be opened. There is an advantage that the occurrence of a secondary disaster or the like associated with can be more effectively prevented.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, since the said filter bracket 36 and the oil filter 35 are attached to the site | part located near the front end of the engine 1 among the side surfaces of the engine 1 on the vehicle rear side, it is generally attached near the front end of the engine 1. There is an advantage that the length of the oil passage from the oil pump to the oil filter 35 can be shortened, and the fuel flow performance of the engine 1 can be further improved by reducing the oil flow resistance.

  In other words, the oil pump that pumps the oil stored in the oil pan 15 is generally mounted near the front end of the engine 1, so that the oil filter 35 is placed at a position near the middle or the rear end of the engine 1, for example. If it is attached, the length of the oil passage from the oil pump to the oil filter 35 becomes longer, the oil flow resistance increases accordingly, and the load on the oil pump increases. On the other hand, when the oil filter 35 is provided near the front end of the engine 1 as in the above configuration, the oil passage resistance can be reduced by reducing the length of the oil passage. The load on the crankshaft 8 of the engine 1 serving as the drive source can be further reduced, and the fuel efficiency performance of the engine 1 can be effectively improved.

  Even when the filter bracket 36 and the oil filter 35 are attached to the side of the engine 1 on the front side of the vehicle (that is, the side of the intake side), the mounting position is set even near the front end of the engine 1. If it does, it can obtain similarly. However, in the above embodiment, a plurality of auxiliary machines including the alternator 22 and the compressor 23 driven by the crankshaft 8 are disposed in the front part on the intake side of the engine 1, so that the oil filter 35 is attached to the above-described place. If it is changed to the intake side like this, there is a possibility that the flexibility of the layout of the alternator 22 and the compressor 23 may be limited.

  On the other hand, when the filter bracket 36 and the oil filter 35 are attached to the side surface on the vehicle rear side of the engine 1 corresponding to the exhaust side as in the above-described embodiment, the components including the alternator 22 and the compressor 23 are constituted by these components. Since the layout of the machine is not limited, there is an advantage that the oil filter 35 can be attached closer to the front end of the engine and the fuel efficiency can be improved while ensuring a sufficient degree of freedom in the layout of these auxiliary machines 22 and 23. is there.

  In the above embodiment, since the oil cooler 38 for cooling the oil is provided between the relief solenoid valve 40 and the exhaust passage 7, the exhaust gas that becomes a considerably high temperature when the engine 1 is operated. Radiant heat from the passage 7 is blocked by an oil cooler 38 maintained at a relatively low temperature and is not directly transmitted to the solenoid valve 40. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the temperature of the solenoid valve 40 as an electric product from rising excessively, and to prevent thermal damage of the solenoid valve 40 and to maintain its performance well over a long period of time. There are advantages.

  In the above embodiment, the oil filter 35 attached to the engine 1 composed of a horizontal in-line four-cylinder engine is protected from damage at the time of collision using the drive shaft 50 or the like. Such a configuration can be similarly applied to an oil filter attached to another type of engine such as a V-type 6-cylinder engine.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the filter bracket 36 is configured separately from the cylinder block 10 of the engine 1 has been described. However, the filter bracket 36 may be formed integrally with the cylinder block 10.

1 is a front view showing an overall configuration of an engine to which a vehicle engine sensor arrangement structure according to the present invention is applied. It is the side view which looked at the engine from the vehicles back side. It is a front view which expands and shows the front part of the said engine. It is the perspective view which looked at the side of the vehicle rear side of the engine from diagonally rear. FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 with the shaft joint bracket removed. It is the perspective view which looked at the front-end | tip part of a drive shaft, and the engine component of the vicinity of it from the front and the downward direction.

Explanation of symbols

1 Engine 2 Engine room 7 Exhaust passage 8 Crankshaft 22 Alternator (auxiliary)
23 Compressor (auxiliary machine)
30 Shaft joint bracket 35 Oil filter 36 Filter bracket 50 Drive shaft

Claims (4)

An oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine in which an oil filter is mounted on a side surface of an engine disposed in an engine room with a posture in which a crankshaft faces a vehicle width direction,
An exhaust passage is connected to a side surface of the engine on the vehicle rear side, and a drive shaft for driving front wheels extending in the vehicle width direction along the side surface is disposed below the exhaust passage.
A filter bracket is disposed at a height position overlapping with the drive shaft when viewed from the vehicle rear side of the side surface of the engine rear side of the vehicle,
The oil filter is attached to the lower end of the filter bracket extending to a height position lower than the drive shaft ,
A shaft joint bracket that is attached to a side surface of the engine on the vehicle rear side and rotatably supports the drive shaft is provided so as to be interposed between the filter bracket and the drive shaft . Engine oil filter mounting structure. The oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine according to claim 1 ,
The vehicle engine oil characterized in that the positional relationship between the shaft joint bracket and the rear side of the vehicle is set so that the end of the oil filter is located on the rear side of the end of the oil filter on the rear side of the vehicle. Filter mounting structure. The oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine according to claim 1 or 2 ,
An oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine, wherein the filter bracket and the oil filter are arranged in a portion of the side surface of the engine on the vehicle rear side that is located near the front end of the engine. The oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine according to claim 3 ,
An oil filter mounting structure for a vehicle engine, wherein an auxiliary machine driven by the crankshaft is disposed at a front portion on the intake side of the engine.

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