JP5455754B2 - Axle housing - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a banjo type axle housing (axle case) that houses a drive axle, a differential gear, and the like in a vehicle, that is, an automobile, other industrial vehicles, agricultural vehicles, and the like.

  An axle housing of a vehicle basically includes a tubular member (shaft tube portion or housing tube) that extends in the left-right direction of the vehicle body, and an inclined enlarged portion that protrudes in a vertical direction at a substantially central portion of the tubular member in the left-right direction. The housing center portion has a flat portion or a convex portion in the front-rear direction, and an opening portion is provided on the front side of the central portion of the housing center portion, and a cover portion is provided so as to protrude rearward on the rear side of the central portion. . The housing center portion houses a differential gear unit that distributes the rotational force from the propeller shaft to the left and right wheels while differentially distributing the rotational force, and the left and right axles. In some cases, baffle plates are installed on the left and right sides of the differential gear so that the lubricating oil of the differential gear does not flow to the wheel side due to centrifugal force during turning.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a structure of an axle housing in which the baffle plate has a shape that covers almost the entire shaft cross section and suppresses the flow of lubricating oil to the wheel side during turning. However, the rigid fastening to the axle housing is only on the inner surface on the differential gear mounting surface side, and the upper surface, the lower surface, and the rear surface of the housing center are only in contact with the bent portion of the elastic body or metal plate. For this reason, vibration noise radiated from the left and right housing center surfaces around the differential gear on the side opposite to the differential gear mounting surface due to the meshing impact of the differential gear during traveling cannot be suppressed.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an axle housing in which a metal annular member is fitted to a boundary portion between left and right straight pipe portions and a housing center, and noise caused by vibration in the vicinity thereof is suppressed. However, a differential gear is disclosed. The effect of suppressing the vibration of the housing center surface having a relatively flat and large area located on the left and right of the central portion of the housing is low, and the noise reduction effect is small.

  In addition, if the thickness of these components is reduced in order to reduce the weight of the axle housing including the housing center in order to reduce fuel consumption, the surface rigidity is reduced and noise is increased, which is an adverse effect of weight reduction. .

JP-A-8-183304 JP 2006-213178 A

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an axle housing, in particular, an axle housing that increases the surface rigidity of the housing center portion and has low noise.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the gist thereof is as follows.

An axle housing according to the first aspect of the present invention is (1) an axle housing having shaft pipe portions on both left and right sides and accommodating a differential gear attached to the front side of the center portion in the width direction of the vehicle body. An internal reinforcing material is disposed between the differential gear in the axial direction and the left and right axial tube portions, and the internal reinforcing material is at least one point on the surface opposite to the front surface to which the differential gear is attached. The front end of the flange is attached to at least one of the upper side and the lower side by welding or caulking the front end and both sides of the flange via the flange of the internal reinforcement member . At least one point on the opposite surface and at least one point above or below the internal reinforcement In which it characterized in that it is connected in a straight line.

The axle housing of the second invention is (2) the axle housing according to (1) of the invention, wherein the internal reinforcing member is welded to at least two points on the surface opposite to the front surface to which the differential gear is attached. It is characterized by being joined by caulking .

  The axle housing of the third invention is (3) the axle housing according to (1) or (2) of the invention, wherein the internal reinforcing member is a hole provided so as not to contact the drive shaft in the axial section direction. Or it is a plate-shaped member which has a notch, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The axle housing according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is (4) the axle housing according to any one of (1) to (3) of the present invention, wherein the internal reinforcement is formed at a joint portion between the internal reinforcement and the inner surface of the axle housing. The outer periphery of each has a shape along the inner surface of the axle housing.

  The axle housing according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is (5) the axle housing according to any one of (1) to (4) of the present invention, wherein the inner surface of the axle housing is located above the front surface other than the front surface to which the differential gear is attached. A surface, a lower surface, and a surface on the opposite side of the front surface to which the differential gear is attached are configured by curved surfaces.

  An axle housing according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that (6) the axle housing according to any one of (1) to (5) of the present invention is integrally formed. The part to be integrally molded includes the case of only the housing center part, the case of integrally molding the housing center part and the shaft tube part, and the case of integral molding including other parts.

  The axle housing of the seventh invention is (7) the housing according to any one of (1) to (6) of the invention, wherein the internal reinforcing material is vertically symmetric, and either on the right or left in the axle housing. Is also a usable structure.

  In the present invention, the fact that the surface is a curved surface means that the surface has a curvature in at least one of the left and right directions and the up and down direction of the surface.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce vibration noise radiated from the left and right housing center surfaces around the differential gear on the side opposite to the differential gear mounting surface due to the meshing impact of the differential gear during vehicle travel.

  That is, according to the axle housing of the first aspect of the present invention, the surface on the side opposite to the differential gear mounting side is at least one of the upper and lower sides having high rigidity in the front-rear direction, at least at one point of the joint. By joining through the internal reinforcing material, the vibration in the front-rear direction of the surface opposite to the differential gear mounting side can be suppressed, and the above-described effects can be obtained.

  In addition, since the vicinity where the differential gear is attached is constrained by a differential gear mounting surface flange that is heavy and has high rigidity, it is not particularly necessary to suppress surface vibration in the front-rear direction on the differential gear mounting side. However, in order to further reduce surface vibration, the internal reinforcing material may be joined to the surface on the differential gear mounting side.

  As a joining method, there is arc welding. Other methods such as spot welding, laser welding, rotational diffusion welding, caulking joining, and joining with an oil-resistant adhesive may be used. Further, when there are a plurality of junction points, these may be used in appropriate combination.

  The construction position may be the tip of a bending flange formed on the internal reinforcing material in order to join the internal reinforcing material in the axle housing. It is desirable to join the material body side. In addition, if it is difficult to join the axle housing with the bending flange due to bending flange processing, joining to the axle housing, etc., the bending flange may be omitted and the inner reinforcement body may be joined directly to the axle housing. .

  In addition, it is most effective to attach the internal reinforcement in a plane formed in a direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction in the axle housing, but even if it is slightly tilted from this plane, the amount of reduction in the effect is small. It may be installed at an angle. Further, according to the axle housing of the second aspect of the present invention, the vibration in the front-rear direction including the vibration in the diagonally up and down direction on the surface on the side opposite to the differential gear mounting side is subjected to the front-rear direction at least at two points of the joint. By joining via at least one of the upper or lower high rigidity and the internal reinforcing material, it is possible to suppress the vibration in the front-rear direction including the vibration in the diagonally up and down direction on the surface opposite to the differential gear mounting side, The aforementioned effects can be obtained. It is more effective to constrain at least two points than one point for front-rear direction vibrations including oblique vertical vibrations on the surface opposite to the differential gear mounting side, that is, vibrations including bending moments. Vibration can be suppressed.

  Further, according to the axle housing of the third aspect of the present invention, the vibration in the front-rear direction including the vibration in the diagonally up-down direction on the surface opposite to the differential gear mounting side is caused in the front-rear direction at least at one point of the joint. By joining at least one of the upper and lower points with high rigidity via a plate-like internal reinforcing material, vibration in the front-rear direction including oblique vertical vibrations on the surface opposite to the differential gear mounting side It can suppress and can obtain the above-mentioned effect. By making the internal reinforcing material a plate-like member, restraining the joint between joints by restraining the bending moment with the internal reinforcing material, not only the tensile and compressive load, but also the longitudinal vibration deformation including oblique vertical vibrations Further, vibration can be suppressed. The plate-like internal reinforcing member has a hole or notch provided so as not to contact the drive shaft, but may not particularly have a shape along the inner shape of the axle housing.

  Further, according to the axle housing of the fourth aspect of the invention, the shape of the internal reinforcement is lubricated by making the shape along the inner surface shape of the axle housing except for the hole or notch provided so as not to interfere with the drive shaft. It is a reinforcing material that suppresses oil oscillation and has the highest rigidity, and can further reduce unpleasant noise due to vibration.

  According to the axle housing of the fifth aspect of the invention, the upper surface other than the front surface to which the differential of the axle housing is attached, the lower surface, and the surface opposite to the front surface to which the differential gear is attached are configured by curved surfaces. As a result, the surfaces having increased surface rigidity can be joined with the internal reinforcing material, the acoustic characteristics can be further improved, and unpleasant sounds can be reduced.

  Further, according to the axle housing of the sixth aspect of the present invention, the number of parts can be reduced compared to the conventional method in which the axle housing is divided into upper and lower parts or left and right, and each member is formed by pressing or the like, and these members are joined by welding. With less, the axle housing can be manufactured very efficiently. Further, by eliminating the welded portion, it is possible to reduce unpleasant noise that causes the welded portion to become a node or belly of vibration amplitude.

  Further, according to the axle housing of the seventh aspect of the invention, the internal reinforcing material is symmetrical in the vertical direction and the left and right are shared, thereby eliminating the inefficiency of using different molds on the left and right and reducing the internal reinforcement at a low cost. The material can be manufactured.

It is a figure which shows the axle housing and internal reinforcement material of 1st invention, (a) is the top view seen from upper direction, (b) is a rear view, (c) is a perspective view of an internal reinforcement material. It is a figure which shows the axle housing and internal reinforcement material of 2nd invention, (a) is the top view seen from upper direction, (b) is a rear view, (c) is a perspective view of an internal reinforcement material. It is a figure which shows the axle housing and internal reinforcement material of 3rd invention, (a) is the top view seen from upper direction, (b) is a rear view, (c) is a perspective view of an internal reinforcement material. It is a figure which shows the axle housing and internal reinforcement material of 4th invention, (a) is the top view seen from upper direction, (b) is a rear view, (c) is a perspective view of an internal reinforcement material. It is a figure which shows the axle housing and internal reinforcement material of 5th invention, (a) is the top view seen from upper direction, (b) is a rear view, (c) is a perspective view of an internal reinforcement material. It is a cross-sectional view showing an example of hydroforming that can be integrally molded according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, where (a) shows a state before processing and (b) shows a state after processing. It is a figure which shows the internal reinforcement material which can share symmetrical left and right of 7th invention, (a) is the internal reinforcement material used for the left side, (b) is the internal reinforcement material used for the right side, respectively. FIG. It is a figure which shows the conventional axle housing and an internal reinforcement, (a) is the top view seen from upper direction, (b) is a rear view, (c) is a perspective view of an internal reinforcement.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present specification, descriptions such as up and down, front and rear, and left and right indicate the direction and positional relationship with respect to the body of a general FR vehicle, that is, a rear wheel drive vehicle having an engine mounted on the front. . Therefore, the axial direction means the axial direction of the axle housing and is substantially the same as the vehicle body width direction. When an axle housing is mounted on the front of a four-wheel drive vehicle or the like, the description is reversed. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  8A and 8B are views showing the shape of a conventional axle housing 51, where FIG. 8A is a plan view seen from above the vehicle body, and FIG. 8B is a rear view seen from the rear of the vehicle body. Further, (c) is a perspective view of the baffle plate 6 attached to the axle housing 1 by welding as an internal reinforcing material. In addition to the housing center portion 2 and the shaft tube portion 5, the axle housing 51 is used for mounting a hub for housing a bearing for supporting an axle and fixing a brake, a spring seat for supporting a suspension spring, a shock absorber, a lateral link, and the like. There are brackets and pins, which are omitted in the present specification and drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the axle housing 51 has left and right shaft pipe portions 5 and a housing center portion 2 in the width direction of the vehicle body. The housing center portion 2 has a differential gear mounting flange 4 on the front side and a rear side. A housing center front surface 2a and a housing center rear surface 2b each having a differential gear center cover 3 are provided. In this conventional axle housing 51, a baffle plate 6 for suppressing the oscillation of the lubricating oil of the differential gear 21 is attached to the lower portion of the housing center front surface 2a and the housing center rear surface 2b by welding.

  Further, the housing center front surface 2a and the housing center rear surface 2b are assembled by welding two upper and lower parts that are previously formed by press working. These two parts are formed in a plane from the viewpoint of press workability and welding workability. Therefore, the welded housing center front surface 2a and housing center rear surface 2b have flat portions.

  In order to reduce the weight of the axle housing, the present inventors investigated the acoustic characteristics by reducing the plate thickness while maintaining the same shape as the conventional one. As a result, noise was observed centering on 630 Hz of 1/3 octave analysis. It became bigger.

  In the axle housing, the noise in the medium frequency region increases due to a resonance phenomenon in which the exciting force of the meshing engagement of the differential gear and the natural frequency of the housing center portion coincide with each other during traveling of the vehicle.

  The inventors have conducted various studies in order to prevent the deterioration of the acoustic characteristics as described above. As a result, the flat portions of the flat portions of the housing center portions on both sides of the differential gear center cover are low. Thought that the noise was aggravated by vibration. In addition, the conventional baffle plate attached to the inside of the flat part is for the purpose of suppressing the oscillation of the lubricating oil, so its height is low and the attachment is welded only at the lower side, not the front or the rear. Therefore, it was thought that there was no effect which suppresses the vibration of the said flat part.

  For this reason, in order to prevent the deterioration of the acoustic characteristics, it has been found that it is effective to improve the rigidity of the housing center part on both sides of the differential gear center cover, and the present invention has been made. .

  FIG. 1 is an example of an embodiment of the first invention, and is a diagram showing the relationship between the shape of the internal reinforcing member 7 inside the axle housing 1 and the housing center portion 2, and (a) is viewed from above the vehicle body. FIG. 3B is a rear view seen from the rear of the vehicle body, and FIG. 3C is a perspective view of the internal reinforcing member 7 attached to the axle housing 1 by welding.

  As shown in FIG. 1, one internal reinforcing member 7 is provided between the differential gear 21 and the left and right shaft tube portions 5 in the axial direction, and includes an upper surface and a lower surface inside the housing center portion 2, and a differential. Three surfaces of the housing center rear surface 2b, which is the surface opposite to the housing center front surface 2a to which the gear 21 is attached, are linearly connected by an internal reinforcing material 7 made of an elongated plate. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the internal reinforcing material 7 shown in (c) is welded via flange 8 at three locations, upper, lower and rear. It is attached. The attachment by welding is preferably performed not only at the tip of the internal reinforcement flange 8 but also at both sides thereof. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, the internal reinforcing material 7 is joined at three locations, the upper, lower, and rear, inside the housing center portion 2. In addition, it is possible to join at only two places on the rear and four or more places on the front.

  FIG. 2 is an example of an embodiment of the second invention, and is a diagram showing the relationship between the shape of the internal reinforcing material inside the axle housing 1 and the housing center portion 2, and (a) is a plan view seen from above the vehicle body. FIG. 4B is a rear view seen from the rear of the vehicle body, and FIG. 4C is a perspective view of the internal reinforcing member 9 attached to the axle housing 1 by welding.

  As shown in FIG. 2, one internal reinforcing member 9 is provided between the differential gear 21 and the left and right shaft tube portions 5 in the axial direction, and the upper and lower surfaces inside the housing center portion 2, and the differential Three surfaces of the housing center rear surface 2b, which is the surface opposite to the housing center front surface 2a to which the gear 21 is attached, are linearly connected by an internal reinforcing material 9 made of an elongated plate. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, an internal reinforcing material 9 having two flanges 8 on the rear side shown in FIG. 2C is welded via the flanges 8. It is attached at a total of 4 locations, 2 locations above and below and 2 locations behind. Similarly, it is desirable that the attachment by welding is performed not only on the front end of the internal reinforcing member flange 8 but also on both sides thereof. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the internal reinforcing member 9 is joined at a total of four locations, two locations above and below the inside of the housing center portion 2, and two locations at the rear. It is also possible to join at a total of three places, two at the rear, or at a total of three places, one at the bottom and two at the rear, and at five or more places where the front is also added.

  FIG. 3 is an example of an embodiment of the third aspect of the invention, and is a diagram showing the relationship between the shape of the internal reinforcing member 10 inside the axle housing 1 and the housing center portion 2, and (a) is viewed from above the vehicle body. FIG. 4B is a rear view seen from the rear of the vehicle body, and FIG. 4C is a perspective view of the internal reinforcing member 10 attached to the axle housing 1 by welding.

  In FIG. 3C, the internal reinforcing member 10 has three surfaces, that is, the upper surface and the lower surface inside the housing center portion 2 and the housing center rear surface 2b which is the surface opposite to the housing center front surface 2a to which the differential gear 21 is attached. The notch 20 is provided so as not to contact the drive shaft 22. 3A and 3B, the surface opposite to the differential gear mounting side is joined at one location, but it is more desirable to join at two or more locations. In addition, the internal reinforcing material 10 is joined at the upper, lower, and rear three locations inside the housing center portion 2, but the upper and rear two locations, or the lower and rear two locations only, and the front is also added. You may join in 4 or more places.

  FIG. 4 is an example of the embodiment of the fourth aspect of the present invention, and is a diagram showing the relationship between the shape of the internal reinforcing material 11 inside the axle housing 1 and the housing center portion 2, and (a) is viewed from above the vehicle body. FIG. 4B is a rear view seen from the rear of the vehicle body, and FIG. 4C is a perspective view of the internal reinforcing member 11 attached to the axle housing 1 by welding.

  In FIG. 4C, the internal reinforcing member 11 has three surfaces, that is, a housing center rear surface 2b, which is the surface opposite to the housing center front surface 2a to which the differential gear 21 is attached, and the upper and lower surfaces inside the housing center portion 2. The plate-shaped member is joined to the inner surface of the axle housing 1 except that the notch 20 is provided so as not to contact the drive shaft 22. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the surface opposite to the differential gear 21 attachment side is joined at one place, but it may be joined at two or more places. Further, although the internal reinforcing material 11 is joined at three locations inside the housing center portion 2 above, below, and behind, it may be joined at four or more locations where the front is also added.

  FIG. 5 is an example of an embodiment of the fifth aspect of the present invention, and is a view showing the relationship between the shape of the internal reinforcing member 12 inside the axle housing 1 and the housing center portion 2, and FIG. 4 is a plan view as viewed from above the vehicle body, (b) is a rear view as viewed from the rear of the vehicle body, and (c) is a perspective view of the internal reinforcing member 12 attached to the axle housing 1 by welding.

  5 (a) and 5 (b), in the housing center rear surface 2b, the surfaces which are flat portions on both sides of the conventional differential gear center cover 3 shown in FIG. Smoothly sphericalized to improve surface rigidity. In FIG. 5C, the internal reinforcing member 12 has a shape along the inner surface of the axle housing 1 except that a notch 20 is provided so as not to contact the drive shaft 22 as in FIG. 4C. It has become. 5 (a) to 5 (c), the surface opposite to the differential gear 21 attachment side is joined at one place, but it may be joined at two or more places. In addition, the internal reinforcing material 12 is joined at three locations, the upper, lower, and rear, inside the housing center portion 2, but only two locations, the upper and rear, or the two lower and rear, and the front are also added. You may join in 4 or more places.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing hydroforming which is an embodiment suitable for integral molding of the sixth invention. The shape of the axle housing 1 to be molded is the same as that of the fifth invention (FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 6 (a), the metal element tube 14 is mounted in the lower mold of the molding die 13 conforming to the final shape, and the metal element tube 14 is sandwiched between the upper molds as a pair. As shown in (b), the shaft pushing cylinder head 15 is lightly brought into contact with both ends of the metal base tube 14, and the working fluid is filled into the metal base tube 14 through the working fluid injection channel 16. After the working fluid is filled, the member is pushed in the axial direction from the tube end toward the center by the shaft pushing cylinder head 15 while applying pressure into the metal base tube 14 through the working fluid injection channel 16 to finish the shape of the desired axle housing. . 6 is a lower mold, the upper and lower molds have the same shape. This hydrofoam manufacturing method compares the number of parts compared with the conventional manufacturing method in which the axle housing is divided into upper and lower parts or left and right parts by a general press molding method, etc., and each member is formed by welding. In addition to being extremely efficient in manufacturing, there are fewer welds where fatigue cracking occurs due to repeated loads received during travel, and fatigue durability is also improved. In addition, the hydrofoam manufacturing method controls the shaft pressing position and the working fluid pressure appropriately, so that the amount of reduction in plate thickness is smaller than the typical press forming method, and the vibration and acoustic characteristics deteriorate. Few. In addition, the opening part of the housing center front surface 2a of an axle housing can be provided by cutting and removing the opening part formation part after completion | finish of pipe expansion.

  Note that it is possible to reduce the plate thickness and reduce the weight by utilizing the fatigue durability improvement by integral molding. In this case, in addition to the deterioration of acoustic characteristics due to the fact that vibration absorption due to the mass effect cannot be expected due to the weight reduction, the surface rigidity on both sides of the housing center portion decreases due to the reduction of the plate thickness, which further deteriorates the acoustic characteristics. Happens. However, according to the present invention, since the portion that causes the deterioration of the acoustic characteristics can be efficiently joined by the internal reinforcing material, the acoustic characteristics can be equal to or higher than those before the weight reduction.

  In addition, although the hydroform processing method was demonstrated as an example as a manufacturing method regarding integral molding of the axle housing of this invention, it is not limited to this.

  Each of the axle housings 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 (a) and (b) is shown as an example of an integrally formed axle housing of the sixth invention. In this embodiment, the housing center portion 2 and the shaft tube portion 5 are integrated. However, in addition to this, only the upper and lower parts of the housing center portion 2 are integrally formed, and the shaft tube portion 5 is separated. There is also an aspect, and is not limited to this embodiment.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of an embodiment of the seventh invention, and shows an internal reinforcement 11 that can be used on either the left or right side. This example of the shape of the internal reinforcing material 11 shows a mode of the pair of internal reinforcing materials 11 corresponding to the shape of the axle housing 1 of the fourth invention shown in FIG. 4A is a perspective view from the left rear side of the internal reinforcing member 11 attached to the left side in FIG. 4 in the axle housing 1, and FIG. 5B is a left side rear view of the internal reinforcing member 11 attached to the right side in the axle housing 1. (B) is the thing of the same shape which turned upside down (a). When the inner reinforcing member 11 is turned upside down in a cross section perpendicular to the axle of the axle housing 1 at the mounting position of the inner reinforcing member 11 of the housing center portion 2, the direction of the flange 8 is reversed. Becomes symmetrical and allows sharing of parts between the left and right, reducing the product cost.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this example. It is obvious for those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. It is understood that it belongs to.

  The following examples further illustrate the present invention.

  In the axle housing 1 shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the length in the vehicle width direction is 1234mm, the height in the vertical direction is 192mm, and the maximum thickness in the front and rear direction is 115mm. An internal reinforcing member 7 having a plate thickness of 1.2 mm provided with a flange 8 on each of the upper, lower and rear surfaces shown in FIG. Those flanges 8 were fixed inside the axle housing 1 by arc welding. After that, the differential gear 21 and the axle 22 and their related parts were assembled, lubricated with prescribed lubricating oil, and run on an actual vehicle. As a result, the conventional interior shown in FIG. Compared to the same running with the axle housing 51 in which the reinforcing material (baffle plate 6) is arc welded only on the lower surface, the noise is 2.0 dB in the 500 Hz band of 1/3 octave when running at 80 to 90 km / h. Confirmed that can be improved.

  In the axle housing 1 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the length in the vehicle width direction is 1234 mm, the height in the vertical direction is 192 mm, the maximum thickness in the front-rear direction is 115 mm, the plate thickness is 2.3 mm, and the left and right sides are 100 mm from the center position of the differential gear. 2, an internal reinforcing material 9 provided with flanges 8 at a total of four locations, one at the top and one at the bottom and two at the rear as shown in FIG. 2 (c), is installed, and these flanges 8 are used for arc welding. And fixed inside the axle housing 1. After that, the differential gear 21 and the axle 22 and their related parts were incorporated, the prescribed lubricating oil was injected, and the actual vehicle was run. Compared with the first embodiment, when traveling at 80 to 90 km / h, 1/3 octave of 500 Hz It was confirmed that the noise could be further improved by 1.0 dB in the band.

  In the axle housing 1 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the length in the vehicle width direction is 1234 mm, the height in the vertical direction is 192 mm, the maximum thickness in the front-rear direction is 115 mm, the plate thickness is 2.3 mm, and the left and right sides are 100 mm from the center position of the differential gear. The internal reinforcing material 10 provided with the flange 8 on each of the upper, lower and rear surfaces shown in FIG. 3C is installed at the position of FIG. 3C, and these flanges 8 are fixed inside the axle housing 1 by arc welding. did. After that, the differential gear 21 and the axle 22 and their related parts were incorporated, the prescribed lubricating oil was injected, and the actual vehicle was run. Compared to Example 2, when traveling at 80 to 90 km / h, 1/3 octave of 500 Hz It was confirmed that the noise could be further improved by 1.0 dB in the band.

  In the axle housing 1 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the length in the vehicle width direction is 1234 mm, the height in the vertical direction is 192 mm, the maximum thickness in the front-rear direction is 115 mm, the plate thickness is 2.3 mm, and the left and right sides are 100 mm from the center position of the differential gear. The internal reinforcing material 11 is installed along the inner surface shape of the axle housing 1 provided with the flange 8 at each of the upper, lower and rear surfaces shown in FIG. It was fixed inside the axle housing 1 by welding. After that, the differential gear 21 and the axle 22 and their related parts were incorporated, the prescribed lubricating oil was injected, and the actual vehicle was run. Compared with Example 3, when traveling at 80 to 90 km / h, 1/3 octave of 500 Hz It was confirmed that the noise could be further improved by 0.5 dB in the band.

  In the axle housing 1 having the curved surface shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the vehicle width direction length is 1234 mm, the vertical direction height is 192 mm, the front and rear direction maximum thickness is 115 mm, and the plate thickness is 2.3 mm. The internal reinforcing material 12 along the inner surface shape of the axle housing 1 provided with the flange 8 on each of the upper, lower and rear surfaces shown in FIG. 8 was fixed inside the axle housing 1 by arc welding. After that, the differential gear 21 and the axle 22 and their related parts were incorporated, and the specified lubricating oil was injected and the vehicle was run. Compared with Example 4, when traveling at 80 to 90 km / h, 1/3 octave of 500 Hz. It was confirmed that the noise could be further improved by 1.5 dB in the band.

  The axle housing 1 having the same shape as the embodiment 5 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B is expanded from a steel pipe having an outer diameter of 60.5 mm and a plate thickness of 2.9 mm by hydroforming shown in FIG. The average plate thickness of the housing center portion 2 was molded to 2.3 mm as in the fifth embodiment. Thereafter, the opening of the attachment portion of the differential gear 21 is cut and removed with a laser, and the internal reinforcement member 12 provided with the flange 8 on each of the upper, lower and rear surfaces shown in FIG. The flange 8 was fixed inside the axle housing 1 by arc welding. When the vehicle traveled in the same manner as in Example 5, it was confirmed that the noise level was the same as in Example 5. Moreover, in the fatigue test on the stand which gives a severer repeated load than actual driving | running | working, the press work welded product of the same shape as FIG. 5 (a), (b), and the hydroform shown in FIG. 5 of the same shape As a result of comparative evaluation with the processed product, it was confirmed that the latter hydroform product had a lifespan twice that of the former press-welded product and the durability was improved.

  For the purpose of weight reduction, an axle housing 1 having the same shape as that of the sixth embodiment shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B is manufactured by the same manufacturing method as that of the sixth embodiment. The steel plate of 6 mm was molded to an average plate thickness of 2.0 mm for the housing center portions 2a and 2b. Thereafter, the opening of the attachment portion of the differential gear 21 is cut and removed with a laser, and the internal reinforcement member 12 provided with the flange 8 on each of the upper, lower, and rear surfaces shown in FIG. Those flanges 8 were fixed inside the axle housing 1 by arc welding. When the vehicle traveled in the same manner as in Example 6, it was confirmed that the noise level was the same as that in Example 4 although the noise improvement level was lower than in Example 6.

  In the axle housing 1 shown in FIG. 4 according to the fourth embodiment, the housing center portion 2 forms a vertically symmetric cross-sectional shape at a position 100 mm away from the left and right with respect to the center of the differential gear 21 as shown in FIG. The inner reinforcing member 11 that can be used in a vertically symmetrical manner as shown in (b) is fixed to the inside of the axle housing 1 by means of arc welding through one flange on each of the upper, lower, and rear surfaces. As a result, the left and right parts can be shared, and the cost can be reduced.

  The present invention can be applied to a housing structure that suppresses vibration and reduces noise.

1, 51 Axle housing 2 Housing center portion 2a Housing center front surface 2b Housing center rear surface 3 Differential gear center cover 4 Differential gear mounting surface flange 5 Shaft tube portion 6 Baffle plates 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Internal reinforcing material 8 Flange 13 Molding die 14 Metal base tube 15 Shaft pushing cylinder head 16 Working fluid injection flow path 17 Working fluid 20 Notch 21 Differential gear 22 Drive shaft

Claims (7)

An axle housing that has a shaft pipe part on both the left and right sides and accommodates a differential gear attached to the front side of the center part in the width direction of the vehicle body,
An internal reinforcing material is disposed between the differential gear in the axial direction inside the axle housing and the axial pipe portions on the left and right sides,
The internal reinforcing member is connected to at least one point on the surface opposite to the front surface to which the differential gear is attached and at least one point above or below the flange of the internal reinforcing member via the flange of the internal reinforcing member. At least one point on the surface opposite to the front surface to which the differential gear is attached and at least one point on the upper side or the lower side are joined by welding or caulking the front end and both side portions, Axle housing characterized in that it is linearly connected with a reinforcing material . 2. The axle housing according to claim 1, wherein the internal reinforcing member is joined to at least two points on the surface opposite to the front surface to which the differential gear is attached by welding or caulking .   The axle housing according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the internal reinforcing member is a plate-like member having a hole or a notch provided so as not to contact the drive shaft in the axial cross-sectional direction.   The axle housing according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an outer periphery of the inner reinforcing member has a shape along the inner surface of the axle housing at a joint portion between the inner reinforcing member and the inner surface of the axle housing. .   The upper surface of the axle housing other than the front surface to which the differential gear is attached, the lower surface, and the surface opposite to the front surface to which the differential gear is attached are configured by curved surfaces. Item 5. The axle housing according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   The axle housing according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the axle housing is integrally formed.   The axle housing according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the internal reinforcing member has a vertically symmetrical shape and can be used on either the left or right side of the axle housing.

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