JP5808621B2 - Oil strainer structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of an oil strainer disposed in an oil pan of an engine.

  In a general vehicle engine, engine oil is pumped up from an oil pan by an oil pump and supplied to various parts of the engine for lubrication, cooling, and the like. An oil strainer connected to the suction port of the oil pump is disposed in the oil pan, and engine oil in the oil pan is sucked into the oil pump via the oil strainer. .

  For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a mesh screen portion is provided inside the oil strainer, and when engine oil passes through the oil strainer, relatively large impurities contained in the engine oil are removed from the mesh screen. As a result, the engine oil that has been collected by the filter and filtered to some extent is sucked into the oil pump. Normally, an oil filter finer than the mesh screen portion of the oil strainer is provided on the downstream side of the oil pump, and the engine oil further filtered by the oil filter is supplied to each part of the engine.

  In the conventional general structure, the oil strainer is provided so as to be inclined so that the connecting portion with the oil pump is higher than the suction port. When the oil strainer is disposed at an inclination in this way, the engine oil in the oil strainer and in the oil supply path above the oil strainer is lowered by its own weight during the operation of extracting the engine oil from the oil pan for oil replacement. Flows smoothly through the suction port of the oil strainer.

JP 2007-262910 A

  However, for the sake of design, the oil strainer may have to be disposed along the horizontal direction in the oil pan.

  For example, when the oil pump and the balancer unit drivingly connected to the oil pump are mounted on the lower surface of the cylinder block and accommodated in the oil pan, there is a height range in which the oil strainer can be accommodated in the oil pan. It will be very limited. Therefore, in this case, it becomes difficult to incline the oil strainer as described above, and the oil strainer has to be arranged in a substantially horizontal direction. The mesh screen portion is also disposed along a substantially horizontal direction.

  However, when the oil strainer and the mesh screen portion inside the oil strainer are arranged in a substantially horizontal direction, when the engine oil is extracted from the oil pan for oil replacement, the engine oil above the mesh screen portion is lowered downward. It may become difficult to drop and a phenomenon may occur in which the engine oil is not sufficiently discharged from the suction port of the oil strainer. In this case, the oil change is performed in a state where a large amount of old engine oil remains in the engine, and there is a problem that the ratio of the new oil to the whole engine oil in the engine becomes low despite the oil change. .

  Therefore, the present invention provides an oil strainer structure that can smoothly discharge engine oil from the suction port of the oil strainer when changing the oil when the oil strainer is disposed in a substantially horizontal direction in the oil pan. It is an issue to provide.

  In order to solve the above problems, the oil strainer structure according to the present invention is configured as follows.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present gun,
An oil strainer disposed in an oil pan of the engine includes a housing that forms an engine oil flow path therein, a suction port provided in the housing at an upstream end of the flow path, and a downstream of the flow path. A discharge port provided in the housing at a side end and connected to the suction port of the oil pump, and in the housing so as to partition the interior of the housing vertically in order to filter engine oil passing through the flow path Provided with a mesh screen portion,
An oil strainer structure provided so that the flow path and the mesh screen portion in the housing are arranged along a substantially horizontal direction in a state where the engine is mounted on a vehicle,
The housing is formed by welding the lower end opening peripheral edge of the resin upper case and the upper opening peripheral edge of the resin lower case by welding,
The mesh screen portion is made of resin,
The mesh screen portion secures the flow path between a lower mesh portion disposed substantially flush with a first height and a ceiling surface of the housing that is higher than the first height. An upper mesh portion disposed substantially on the same plane at the second height, a frame portion that divides the lower mesh portion into a plurality of mesh portions, and rises from a part of the frame portion and at the upper end portion A vertical wall portion that supports the upper mesh portion;
The frame portion includes a frame-shaped outer peripheral frame portion that surrounds an outer peripheral portion of the whole of the plurality of lower mesh portions,
The outer peripheral frame part is fitted into a recess formed over the entire circumference on the inner peripheral surface of the lower end opening part periphery of the upper case or the upper end opening part periphery of the lower case .

  The term “substantially horizontal direction” described in claim 1 includes a direction inclined to some extent (for example, by a small angle of 15 degrees or less) upward or downward with respect to the horizontal direction.

  First, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the mesh screen portion provided in the housing of the oil strainer includes a lower mesh portion disposed relatively low and an upper mesh portion disposed relatively high. Therefore, the hydraulic head pressure of the engine oil remaining above the mesh screen portion is lower in the upper mesh portion than in the lower mesh portion due to the height difference of these mesh portions. Therefore, when the engine oil is extracted from the inside of the oil pan for oil replacement, the lower side air easily enters the upper side of the upper mesh part in the relatively low pressure upper mesh part. It becomes easy to fall below the screen part mainly through the lower mesh part. Therefore, engine oil can be smoothly discharged from the suction port of the oil strainer, and the ratio of new oil in the engine after oil replacement can be increased.

  In addition, the upper mesh part is disposed at a height that secures a flow path for engine oil between the ceiling surface of the housing, so that the suction of engine oil from the upper mesh part can be ensured, and the entire mesh screen part With respect to the filtration area, it is possible to maintain the same area as that of the mesh screen part of the conventional structure in which all the mesh parts are arranged on substantially the same plane.

Furthermore, according to the invention described in claim 1 , the vertical wall portion is formed using the frame portion that divides the lower mesh portion into a plurality of mesh portions, and the upper mesh portion is formed at the upper end portion of the vertical wall portion. Since it is supported, the strength of the frame portion can be increased. Moreover, since the flow space of the engine oil exists above the vertical wall portion, it is possible to suppress the flow of the engine oil along the flow path from being obstructed by the vertical wall portion.

Furthermore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the outer frame portion of the mesh screen portion is fitted into the concave portion formed in the inner peripheral surface of the opening portion peripheral edge of the upper case or the lower case constituting the housing, whereby the housing In contrast, the mesh screen portion can be easily attached. Further, preferably when fitting the mesh screen unit, and the outer frame portion, and a frame portion for partitioning into a plurality of mesh portion, by the vertical wall portion using the frame portion, the surface strength is increased, the occurrence of twist Can be suppressed.

It is a side view showing the inside of an oil pan of an engine provided with a strainer structure concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a bottom view which shows each member inside the oil pan shown by FIG. It is a side view which expands and shows the oil strainer shown by FIG. It is the AA arrow directional view of FIG. 3 which looked at the same oil strainer from the front side. It is the BB arrow directional view of FIG. 3 which looked at the same oil strainer from the bottom face side. FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 5 showing the inside of the oil strainer. It is a perspective view which cut | disconnects the housing upper part of the oil strainer, and shows the inside of the oil strainer.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing the inside of an oil pan 4 of an engine 1 having a strainer structure according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the members 6, 8, and 10 inside the oil pan 4 shown in FIG. It is a bottom view shown.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an oil pump 6 for sending engine oil to each part of the engine 1 for lubrication or cooling, etc., on the lower surface of the cylinder block 2 of the engine 1, and a balancer unit for canceling vibration of the engine 1 8 is fixed. An oil pan 4 that receives engine oil in the engine 1 is provided below the cylinder block 2, and the oil pump 6 and the balancer unit 8 are accommodated in the oil pan. .

  The oil pump 6 is driven together with the engine by power transmitted from a crankshaft (not shown). A balancer shaft provided inside the balancer unit 8 is drivingly connected to the oil pump 6 via a speed increasing gear.

  1 and 2, the balancer unit 8 is connected to the upper rear surface of the oil pump 6 when the left side in the drawing is the front side of the engine 1. A suction port (not shown) is provided at the lower rear surface of the oil pump 6, and an oil strainer 10 is connected to the suction port of the oil pump 6. Accordingly, the engine oil in the oil pan 4 is sucked into the oil pump 6 after relatively large impurities are removed by the oil strainer 10.

  The oil strainer 10 includes a housing 12 that internally forms a flow path for engine oil, and the housing 12 is arranged such that the flow path is disposed along a substantially horizontal direction when the engine 1 is mounted on a vehicle. Further, it is disposed immediately after the oil pump 6 and directly below the balancer unit 8. Thus, the oil pump 6, the balancer unit 8, and the oil strainer 10 are accommodated in a compact manner within a limited height range between the bottom of the oil pan 4 and the lower surface of the cylinder block 2.

  Hereinafter, a specific structure of the oil strainer 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  3, 4, and 5 are a side view, a front view, and a bottom view of the oil strainer 10, respectively, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 5 showing the inside of the oil strainer 10. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the inside of the oil strainer 10 by cutting the upper portion of the housing 12 of the oil strainer 10. Note that the cross-sectional view of FIG. 6 is illustrated in a state where it is rotated 180 degrees so that the vertical relation is the same as that of FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, in the housing 12 of the oil strainer 10, the direction in which engine oil flows toward the oil pump 6 in the flow path in the housing 12 (hereinafter referred to as “oil supply direction”). A suction port 14 is provided at the upstream end of P, and a discharge port 16 is provided at the downstream end in the oil supply direction P. As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 12 has a flat shape and a long shape in the oil supply direction P. Further, the upper surface portion of the housing 12 and the internal ceiling surface are inclined so as to become higher toward the downstream side in the oil supply direction P, so that the flow path area in the housing 12 is downstream in the oil supply direction P. It is enlarged toward the side.

  The suction port 14 is provided on the bottom surface of the housing 12 so as to be opposed to the bottom portion of the oil pan 4 and is disposed below a substantially central portion of the balancer unit 8 (see FIG. 2). On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the discharge port 16 is provided in the upper front portion of the housing 12. In the vicinity of the discharge port 16, a pair of connecting portions 17 and 18 are provided for connecting the discharge port 16 to the suction port of the oil pump 6. These connecting portions 17 and 18 are connected to the oil pump 6 by bolts, for example. It is designed to be connected. In addition, the discharge port 16 and the connection parts 17 and 18 are reinforced from the lower side by, for example, a rib 20 having a U-shape viewed from the front.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the housing 12 is formed by joining the peripheral edge of the lower end opening of the resin upper case 30 and the peripheral edge of the upper end opening of the resin lower case 32 by welding, and the suction port 14 is provided in the lower case 32, and the discharge port 16 is provided in the upper case 30. A recess 34 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lower end opening of the upper case 30 over the entire circumference.

  As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, for example, a resin mesh screen 50 for filtering engine oil is provided in the housing 12 so as to partition the interior of the housing 12 up and down. The mesh screen portion 50 is arranged along a substantially horizontal direction in a state where the engine 1 is mounted on the vehicle, like the flow path in the housing 12.

  By the way, if a mesh screen portion having a conventional structure is used and the mesh screen portion is disposed substantially in the horizontal direction, when the engine oil is extracted from the inside of the oil pan 4 for oil replacement, In this case, the engine oil on the upper side of the mesh screen is difficult to drop, and it may be difficult to discharge the engine oil from the oil strainer 10.

  As a result of intensive research to avoid this phenomenon, the inventor of the present application has found that when the mesh screen portion having the above-described conventional structure is disposed along a substantially horizontal direction, the water head of the upper engine oil is placed on the entire surface of the mesh portion. Since the pressure is applied substantially uniformly, it is difficult for the air below the mesh portion to enter the upper side of the mesh portion, which is considered to be one factor that prevents the engine oil from dropping below the mesh portion.

  In order to eliminate this cause, the mesh screen unit 50 according to the present embodiment is configured as follows.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the mesh screen portion 50 includes a lower mesh portion 52 disposed substantially flush with the first height, a ceiling higher than the first height and the housing 12. And an upper mesh portion 54 disposed substantially on the same plane at a second height that secures the flow path between the first and second surfaces.

  The lower mesh portion 52 is supported by the frame 60 and is divided into a plurality of mesh portions by each frame portion described later constituting the frame.

  The frame 60 has a frame-shaped outer peripheral frame portion 62 that surrounds the outer peripheral portion of the plurality of lower mesh portions 52. The outer peripheral frame portion 62 has a shape along the inner peripheral surface of the housing 12. As shown in FIG. 6, the mesh screen portion 50 can be easily attached to the housing 12 by fitting the outer peripheral frame portion 62 into the concave portion 34 on the inner peripheral surface of the upper case 30. In the present invention, the recess 34 into which the outer peripheral frame portion 62 is fitted is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the upper end opening portion of the lower case 32 instead of the inner peripheral surface of the lower end opening portion of the upper case 30. It may be.

  Further, the frame 60 includes an inner frame portion 64 having a strip plate shape, for example. The inner frame portion 64 is installed on the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral frame portion 62 so as to extend substantially parallel to the oil supply direction P.

  Further, the frame 60 has a plurality of orthogonal frame portions 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 orthogonal to the inner frame portion 64. These orthogonal frame portions 66 to 71 are provided at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the inner frame portion 64, and are respectively constructed on the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral frame portion 62.

  By the inner frame portion 64 and the plurality of orthogonal frame portions 66 to 71, the inside of the outer peripheral frame portion 62 is divided into, for example, seven in the oil supply direction P and divided into, for example, two in the direction orthogonal to the oil supply direction P. . In the 13 sections out of the 14 sections formed inside the outer frame section 62 in this way, the lower mesh section 52 is provided across the frame sections 62, 64, 66 to 71 constituting each section. It has been.

  On the other hand, in the remaining one of the 14 sections, the frame portion 62 has, for example, a rectangular tube-shaped protruding portion 79 protruding upward, and the upper mesh portion 54 is formed at the upper end of the protruding portion 79. Is supported.

  The protrusion 79 has vertical wall portions 80, 81, 82, and 83 that stand up from four frame portions 62, 64, 68, and 69, respectively, constituting the section provided with the protrusion 79, and these four vertical walls An upper mesh portion 54 is provided across the upper ends of the portions 80 to 83. Thus, since each vertical wall part 80-83 which supports the upper side mesh part 54 is formed using a part of frame 60, the intensity | strength of the whole frame 60 is raised compared with the said conventional structure. Yes.

  Further, when the mesh screen portion 50 is assembled to the oil strainer 10, the outer peripheral frame portion 62 is fitted into the concave portion 34 of the upper case 30, but the mesh screen portion 50 has the outer peripheral frame portion 62, the inner frame portion 64, and the orthogonal frame portion. 66 to 71 and the vertical wall portions 80, 81, 82, and 83 rising from the frame portions 62, 64, 68, and 69, respectively, the surface strength is increased and twisting and the like are preferably suppressed. In addition, although each vertical wall part 80-83 is formed so that it may stand substantially perpendicularly, a slight draft is provided for the convenience of mold release.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the upper mesh portion 54 supported by the upper end portion of the projecting portion 79 is spaced sufficiently high from the ceiling surface of the housing 12 to secure an engine oil passage upward. H is arranged. As a result, the suction of engine oil from the upper mesh portion 54 can be ensured, and with respect to the filtration area of the mesh screen portion 50 as a whole, it is the same as the mesh screen portion of the conventional structure in which all the mesh portions are arranged on substantially the same plane. Can be maintained.

  Further, since the gap H exists above the vertical wall portions 80, 81, 82, 83, the flow of engine oil sucked from the lower mesh portion 52 along the flow path in the oil supply direction P is the vertical wall. Inhibition by the parts 80 to 83 can be suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the protruding portion 79 is provided slightly downstream in the oil supply direction P as compared to the central portion of the flow path in the housing 12. Further, as described above, the ceiling surface inside the housing 12 becomes higher toward the downstream side in the oil supply direction P (see FIG. 3), and therefore, the ceiling surface of the housing 12 is located at the portion where the protruding portion 79 is provided. It is relatively high. Therefore, even when the height of the upper mesh portion 54 is set sufficiently higher than the height of the lower mesh portion 52, specifically, for example, 10 mm higher, the height interval H is ensured to be sufficiently large. Can do.

  In the mesh screen portion 50 configured as described above, the upper and lower mesh portions 52 and 54 are arranged along the substantially horizontal direction in a state where the engine 1 is mounted on a vehicle. Due to the difference in height between the upper mesh portion 54 and the lower mesh portion 52, the hydraulic head pressure of the engine oil applied to the upper mesh portion 54 is lower than the hydraulic head pressure of the engine oil applied to the lower mesh portion 52. Therefore, when engine oil is extracted from the inside of the oil pan 4 for oil replacement, the lower air easily enters the upper mesh portion 54 in the upper mesh portion 54 having a relatively low pressure. The engine oil on the upper side of the portion 50 easily passes through the mesh portions 52 and 54, mainly the lower mesh portion 52, and falls downward.

  Therefore, the engine oil can be smoothly discharged from the suction port 14 of the oil strainer 10, and the ratio of new oil in the engine 1 after oil replacement can be increased.

  While the present invention has been described with reference to the above-described embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the upper mesh portion 54 is supported by the rectangular tubular projection 79 has been described. However, in the present invention, the configuration for supporting the upper mesh portion 54 is particularly limited. Not.

  Moreover, although the above-mentioned embodiment demonstrated the case where only one upper mesh part 54 was provided, this invention does not prevent providing a plurality of upper mesh parts.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the oil strainer is disposed in a substantially horizontal direction in the oil pan, the engine oil can be smoothly discharged from the suction port of the oil strainer when the oil is changed. Therefore, there is a possibility that the present invention is suitably used in the field of manufacturing oil strainers for vehicles, and in the field of manufacturing engines and vehicles equipped with oil strainers.

1: Engine, 4: Oil pan, 6: Oil pump, 8: Balancer unit, 10: Oil strainer, 12: Housing, 14: Suction port, 16: Discharge port, 30: Upper case, 32: Lower case, 34: Recess 52: lower mesh portion, 54: upper mesh portion, 60: frame, 62: outer peripheral frame portion, 64: inner frame portion, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71: orthogonal frame portion, 79: protruding portion , 80, 81, 82, 83: vertical wall portions.

Claims (1)

An oil strainer disposed in an oil pan of the engine includes a housing that forms an engine oil flow path therein, a suction port provided in the housing at an upstream end of the flow path, and a downstream of the flow path. A discharge port provided in the housing at a side end and connected to the suction port of the oil pump, and in the housing so as to partition the interior of the housing vertically in order to filter engine oil passing through the flow path Provided with a mesh screen portion,
An oil strainer structure provided so that the flow path and the mesh screen portion in the housing are arranged along a substantially horizontal direction in a state where the engine is mounted on a vehicle,
The housing is formed by welding the lower end opening peripheral edge of the resin upper case and the upper opening peripheral edge of the resin lower case by welding,
The mesh screen portion is made of resin,
The mesh screen portion secures the flow path between a lower mesh portion disposed substantially flush with a first height and a ceiling surface of the housing that is higher than the first height. An upper mesh portion disposed substantially on the same plane at the second height, a frame portion that divides the lower mesh portion into a plurality of mesh portions, and rises from a part of the frame portion and at the upper end portion A vertical wall portion that supports the upper mesh portion;
The frame portion includes a frame-shaped outer peripheral frame portion that surrounds an outer peripheral portion of the whole of the plurality of lower mesh portions,
An oil strainer structure characterized in that the outer peripheral frame portion is fitted into a recess formed over the entire circumference on the inner peripheral surface of the lower end opening portion periphery of the upper case or the upper end opening portion periphery of the lower case. .

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