JP6205974B2 - Engine oil strainer structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an engine oil strainer structure in a vehicle such as a motorcycle.

  In this type of engine, an oil reservoir chamber is formed from an oil pan and a crankcase as described in, for example, Patent Document 1 and the like. The suction port of the oil strainer passage connected to the oil pump is arranged in the oil sump chamber. Since the suction port needs to be kept below the oil level under any circumstances such as acceleration / deceleration, it is arranged near the bottom surface of the oil pan. Moreover, the cross-sectional area of the filter arrangement | positioning site | part in an oil strainer is taken large.

  Further, the interior of the engine mission chamber communicates with the air cleaner, and is always kept the same as the pressure inside the air cleaner. A breather chamber is provided at an appropriate position along the communication path between the engine mission chamber and the air cleaner to separate the oil in the blow-by gas and return it to the oil reservoir chamber. In that case, an oil return port is arranged in the oil sump chamber so that gas does not flow backward from the oil return passage.

  The conventional example will be described in more detail with a more specific example. As illustrated in FIG. The suction port 202a extends. 7 and 8, FIG. 7 is a side view around the crankcase 200 and the oil pan 203, and FIG. 8 is a bottom view thereof. However, when the exhaust pipe 204 is made long, the exhaust pipe 204 is connected to the oil pan 203. After passing the left or right side of the vehicle, a layout in which the right side or the left side of the vehicle body is passed through the gap in front of the rear cushion link 205 behind the oil pan 203 is generally used. At that time, the more the oil pan 203 is arranged in front of the engine, the greater the degree of freedom in the layout of the exhaust pipe 204. In particular, as the number of exhaust pipes 204 increases as in a multi-cylinder engine such as a parallel 4-cylinder engine, the problem becomes more important.

JP 2011-208579 A

  As shown in FIG. 6 in the above example, if the oil pump shaft 206 is disposed in front of the crankshaft 207, a gap between the exhaust pipe 204 and the crankcase 200 cannot be secured, and the oil pump shaft 206 is disposed in front of the exhaust pipe 204. Exhaust air from the oil cooler 208 becomes insufficient, resulting in poor cooling performance. When the oil pump shaft 206 is disposed below the crankshaft 207, in a parallel 4-cylinder engine or the like, a pump shaft driving component is disposed at the end of the crankshaft 207, and the engine width (left-right direction) It gets bigger. For this reason, the oil pump shaft 206 is ideally disposed behind the crankshaft 207.

  However, in the example of FIG. 6 and the like, the oil pan 203 is disposed in front of the engine, and the oil pump shaft 206 is disposed behind the crankshaft 207. In this case, however, the oil strainer passage 202 becomes long and large for securing rigidity. It will be heavy. In addition, it is difficult to secure a space for the oil return passage to the oil pan 203.

  In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an engine oil strainer structure that improves rigidity and effectively realizes weight reduction and the like.

In the engine oil strainer structure of the present invention, an oil reservoir chamber is provided by an oil pan and a cover member covering the upper portion of the oil pan at the lower portion of the engine, and an oil strainer passage and an oil return passage are provided in the oil reservoir chamber. And the oil strainer passage and the oil return passage are disposed adjacent to each other , a filter member is provided in the oil strainer passage , and the oil strainer passage is the oil passage of the engine. It is connected with.

In the engine oil strainer structure according to the present invention, the oil strainer passage and the oil return passage may be arranged on the engine side from lower ends of the oil strainer passage and the oil return passage. Is arranged adjacent to each other through a partition wall, and the suction port of the oil strainer passage and the discharge port of the oil return passage are spaced apart .

In the oil strainer structure for an engine according to the present invention, the oil strainer passage is inclined and extended from an upper portion of the oil pan, and the suction port is opened near a bottom surface of the oil pan, and the oil strainer passage is provided. And the oil return passage are arranged so as to overlap each other when viewed from the front-rear direction .

  According to the present invention, the oil strainer is integrally formed with the oil pan, so that extremely high rigidity is ensured. In particular, the oil pump is located behind the crankshaft, the oil pan is placed in front of the engine, and the freedom of placement of the exhaust pipe is ensured, while the functions of other accessories are guaranteed, and the weight is reduced and the size is reduced. Can be realized.

1 is a side view showing an overall configuration of a motorcycle according to the present invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the structural example inside the engine in embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the structural example of the crankcase and oil pan periphery in embodiment of this invention. It is a front sectional view showing an example of composition around a crankcase and an oil pan in an embodiment of the present invention. It is each a top view which shows the state which mounted | wore the oil pan and this with the strainer protector in embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the example of a structure around the crankcase and oil pan in a prior art example. It is a side view which shows the example of a structure around the crankcase and oil pan in a prior art example. It is a bottom view which shows the example of a structure around the crankcase and oil pan in a prior art example.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an oil strainer structure for an engine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle 100 as an application example of the present invention. First, the overall configuration of the motorcycle 100 will be described with reference to FIG. In the drawings used in the following description including FIG. 1, the front of the vehicle is indicated by an arrow Fr, the rear of the vehicle is indicated by an arrow Rr, and the lateral right side of the vehicle is indicated by an arrow R as necessary. The left side of the vehicle is indicated by arrows L.

  In FIG. 1, two front forks 103, left and right, supported by a steering head pipe 102 so as to be turnable left and right are provided at a front portion of a body frame 101 (main frame) made of steel or an aluminum alloy material. A handle bar 104 is fixed to the upper end of the front fork 103, and grips 105 are provided at both ends of the handle bar 104. A front wheel 106 is rotatably supported at the lower portion of the front fork 103, and a front fender 107 is fixed so as to cover the upper portion of the front wheel 106. The front wheel 106 has a brake disc 108 that rotates integrally with the front wheel 106.

  The vehicle body frame 101 is integrally coupled to the rear portion of the steering head pipe 102, branches in a bifurcated pair of left and right sides toward the rear, and extends while being widened rearward and downward from the steering head pipe 102. In this example, it may be a so-called twin spar frame or the like that is adopted as suitable for a vehicle that requires high speed performance. Although not shown, the seat rail extends rearward from the vicinity of the rear portion of the vehicle body frame 101 with a moderate inclination to the rear, and the seat 109 is supported by the seat rail. A swing arm 110 is swingably coupled to the rear portion of the vehicle body frame 101, and a rear shock absorber is mounted between both of them. A rear wheel 111 is rotatably supported at the rear end of the swing arm 110. The rear wheel 111 is rotationally driven through a driven sprocket 113 around which a chain 112 for transmitting engine power, which will be described later, is wound. A rear fender 114 is disposed above the rear wheel 111.

  The engine unit 10 mounted on the vehicle body frame 101 is supplied with an air-fuel mixture comprising air and fuel supplied from an air cleaner and a fuel supply device, respectively, and exhaust gas after combustion in the engine passes through the exhaust pipe 115. The exhaust passes through the muffler 116. A fuel tank 117 is mounted above the engine unit 10 and a seat 109 is continuously provided behind the fuel tank 117.

  In the present embodiment, the engine of the engine unit 10 may be, for example, a 4-cycle multi-cylinder, typically a parallel 4-cylinder engine. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the engine unit 10 in this embodiment is configured such that a cylinder block 12, a cylinder head 13, and a cylinder head cover 14 are integrally coupled to an upper portion of a crankcase 11. Further, the engine unit 10 is suspended and coupled to the vehicle body frame 101 through a plurality of engine mounts so as to be integrally coupled and supported by the vehicle body frame 101, and acts as a rigid member of the vehicle body frame 101 by itself.

  The engine unit 10 includes the fuel supply device, the intake device, and the exhaust device as described above, and various accessory devices, auxiliary machines, and the like. A radiator 118 that constitutes a part of a cooling system in the engine unit 10 that is a water-cooled engine is disposed in front of the cylinder block 12. An oil cooler 119 that constitutes a part of the oil lubrication system in the engine unit 10 is mounted near the lower portion of the radiator 118 on the front side of the exhaust pipe 115.

  In FIG. 2, the crankcase 11 includes a cylinder block integrated upper crankcase 11A and a lower crankcase 11B that are coupled in an upper and lower halves, and each shaft such as the crankshaft 15 is pivotally supported on the mating surface. As shown in FIG. 2, the mating surfaces of the upper crankcase 11A and the lower crankcase 11B are strictly inclined from the vertical direction. The crankshaft 15 is horizontally arranged in the crank chamber 16 in the vehicle width direction, and is supported by a journal bearing set on the mating surface of the crankcase 11. A rear side of the crank chamber 16 has a transmission chamber 18 partitioned by a partition wall 17, and a transmission device is arranged in the transmission chamber 18.

  In this example, in the transmission chamber 18, a counter shaft 19, a drive shaft 20, and a balancer shaft 21 are disposed in parallel with the crankshaft 15 at an obliquely upward and rearward position of the crankshaft 15. The counter shaft 19 and the drive shaft 20 are provided with respective gear trains constituting a multi-stage transmission gear mechanism. The rotational power of the crankshaft 15 is transmitted to the drive sprocket attached to the shaft end of the drive shaft 20 via the transmission device, and further transmitted from the drive sprocket to the rear wheel 111 via the chain 112 (FIG. 1). Is done.

  The engine unit 10 has the basic configuration as described above. Next, an oil lubrication system will be described in particular. As shown in FIG. 2, an oil pump 23 is disposed behind the crankshaft 15, more specifically, obliquely below the rear. A pump shaft 24 of the oil pump 23 extends in parallel with the crankshaft 15, and the pump shaft 24 is connected to a primary driven side attached to the counter shaft 19 via a gear or a chain. That is, the oil pump 23 is rotationally driven by the driving force of the crankshaft 15. Below the oil pump 23, an oil pan 26 is coupled via a gasket with the lower end surface of the lower crankcase 11B serving as a mating surface 25. The mating surface 25 itself has an expansion corresponding to substantially the entire lower end surface of the lower crankcase 11B, but the oil pan 26 has a substantially tapered shape at the lower end side, that is, a front side in a side view (FIG. 3). Moreover, it is formed on the right side in the front view (FIG. 4).

  An oil strainer 27, which will be described later, is arranged in the oil pan 26, and the oil accumulated in the oil pan 26 is pumped up by the oil pump 23 via the oil strainer 27. Further, the oil discharged from the oil pump 23 is supplied to an oil filter or an oil cooler 119 (FIG. 1) through an oil passage 28 formed to extend in front of the oil pump 23 in the lower crankcase 11B. It is supposed to be sent. Then, the oil is supplied to each part of the engine that requires lubrication and lubricates them.

  In the oil strainer structure of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, an oil reservoir chamber 30 is formed in the lower part of the engine by an oil pan 26 and a cover member 29 that covers the upper part of the oil pan 26. In the present embodiment, a part of the lower crankcase 11 </ b> B is used as the cover member 29. An oil strainer passage 31 formed integrally with the oil pan 26 is provided in the oil sump chamber 30. This oil strainer passage 31 is connected to the suction port 23 a side of the oil pump 23 through a filter member (or strainer) 32. The oil strainer passage 31 extends obliquely downward from the rear upper part of the oil pan 26 and opens as a suction port 31 a near the bottom surface of the oil pan 26.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the filter member 32 is provided in the oil strainer passage 31 via the strainer protector 33 at substantially the same height as the mating surface 25 or at a moderately lower height. In this case, the end (upper end) of the oil strainer passage 31 on the suction port 23a side is expanded in the passage cross-sectional direction, and the filter member 32 is provided at the expanded portion. As shown in FIG. 5A, the opening 31b at the upper end of the oil strainer passage 31 is expanded particularly in the vehicle width direction (left-right direction), thereby ensuring a large passage cross-sectional area. Here, the strainer protector 33 is interposed between the suction port 23a of the oil pump 23 and the opening 31b of the oil strainer passage 31, and has an inner hole 33a that communicates them. The filter member 32 fastens the strainer protector 33 to the oil pan 26 side with a bolt 34, whereby the oil pan 26 (specifically, the outer peripheral flange portion of the opening 31b) and the strainer protector 33 (specifically, the inner hole 33a). Between the lower end and the outer periphery of the flange portion). In this case, the oil pan 26 and the strainer protector 33 are sealed with a seal member 35 such as an O-ring.

  The upper end portion of the strainer protector 33 is fitted into the suction port 23a of the oil pump 23, and the oil pan 26 is fastened to the lower crankcase 11B side by the bolt 36, whereby the upper end portion of the strainer protector 33 is connected to the suction port 23a of the oil pump 23. It can be fitted and fixed to. In this case, the space between the suction port 23a of the oil pump 23 and the strainer protector 33 is sealed by a seal member 37 such as an O-ring. On the other hand, the discharge port 23 b of the oil pump 23 is connected to the oil passage 28. As described above, an oil flow path is formed from the oil strainer passage 31 through the strainer protector 33 to the oil pump 23 and further to the oil passage 28.

  Further, in the oil strainer structure of the present invention, an oil return passage 38 is formed integrally with the oil strainer passage 31 in the oil pan 26 as shown in FIG. Here, the blow-by gas blown into the crankcase 11 from the gap between the engine cylinder and the piston is introduced into the breather chamber 39 shown in FIG. 2 via a predetermined path. In this example, the breather chamber 39 is formed so as to protrude outside the rear wall of the transmission chamber 18 behind the counter shaft 19 as shown in FIG. After the blow-by gas introduced into the breather chamber 39 is gas-liquid separated, the gas is returned to the intake system of the engine. Further, the liquefied oil is returned to the oil pan 26 through an oil return path and the like which will be described later.

  In this example, for example, as schematically shown in FIG. 2, the oil return path 40 is integrally formed so as to protrude inwardly at the rear wall of the transmission chamber 18. On the other hand, in the oil return passage 38 provided in the oil pan 26, the opening 38a at the end on the engine side opens in the mating surface 25 of the oil pan 26 as shown in FIG. The oil return path 40 extends downward from the breather chamber 39 along the rear wall of the transmission chamber 18 as described above, and communicates with the opening 38 a of the oil return passage 38.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the oil return passage 38 extends forward from the rear upper end portion of the oil pan 26, and then tilts forward and opens as a discharge port 38b near the bottom surface of the oil pan 26. The discharge port 38b Oil is discharged from An oil return passage 38 is integrally formed in the oil strainer passage 31. More specifically, the oil return passage 38 is disposed adjacent to the front and rear via the partition wall 41, and in particular, the suction port 31 a of the oil strainer passage 31 and the discharge of the oil return passage 38. The outlet 38b opens in the vehicle front-rear direction (see also FIG. 4).

  In the above case, the exhaust pipe 115 has a layout that passes the left side of the oil pan 26 with reference to FIG. 1 and then passes the right side of the vehicle body behind the oil pan 26 through the gap in front of the rear cushion link. By arranging the exhaust pipe 115 in this way, it is possible to ensure a long pipe length.

  The oil strainer structure of the engine of the present invention is configured as described above. Next, its characteristic operation effects and the like will be described. First, the oil strainer 27 is formed integrally with the oil pan 26, and an oil strainer passage 31 is formed therein. The oil strainer 27 is connected to the oil pump 23 via a strainer protector 33. However, the oil strainer 27 is formed integrally with the oil pan 26, so that extremely high rigidity is ensured. As the oil pump 23 is disposed at the rear of the crankshaft 15, the oil strainer 27 becomes longer, but the weight can be substantially reduced while ensuring rigidity. Further, by integrating the oil pan 26 and the oil strainer 27, the number of parts can be substantially reduced and the rigidity of the oil pan 26 itself can be increased.

  An oil strainer passage 31 is connected to the oil passage 28 side via a filter member 32, and the filter member 32 is attached to the oil strainer passage 31 via a strainer protector 33. Accordingly, the oil strainer 27 integrated on the oil pan 26 side can be accurately connected to the oil passage 28 side, that is, the oil pump 23 via the strainer protector 33.

  In addition, the oil pump 23 provided in the middle of the oil passage 28 is disposed behind the crankshaft 15, that is, not in front of or below the crankshaft 15, and in this arrangement, the exhaust pipe 115 (FIG. 1) and A sufficient clearance with the crankcase 11 is secured to ensure sufficient cooling performance of the oil cooler 119. Moreover, it is possible to prevent the engine width from increasing in the parallel 4-cylinder engine as in this example. In this way, the oil pan 26 is arranged at the front of the engine, ensuring the freedom of arrangement of the exhaust pipe 115, while ensuring the functions of other auxiliary machines such as the oil cooler 119, and realizing weight reduction and downsizing. can do.

  Further, the end of the oil strainer passage 31 on the oil passage 28 side is expanded, and the filter member 32 is disposed in the expanded portion. The strainer protector 33 fixed to the oil pan 26 is sealed by the seal member 35 and ensures a large passage sectional area of the oil strainer passage 31 to which the filter member 32 is mounted.

  Further, an oil return passage 38 from the breather chamber 39 is integrally formed in the oil strainer passage 31 of the strainer 27. By forming the oil return passage 38 integrally with the oil strainer 27, that is, the oil pan 26, the rigidity strength of these members is also increased in this case, and the number of parts is substantially reduced. The end of the oil return passage 31 on the engine side is open to the mating surface 25 of the oil pan 26, whereby the oil pan 26 is coupled to the lower crankcase 11B (cover member 29) via a gasket. It is possible to communicate with the oil reflux path 40 side easily and accurately.

  Further, the suction port 31a of the oil strainer passage 31 and the discharge port 38b of the oil return passage 38 are opened apart from each other in the vehicle front-rear direction. By disposing the discharge port 38b of the oil return passage 38 away from the suction port 31a of the oil strainer passage 31 in this way, the oil flow from the oil return passage 38 is not hindered when the oil is sucked into the strainer 27. Air inhalation can be effectively prevented.

  Furthermore, even if the fitting direction of the strainer protector 33 into the oil pump 23 and the mating direction of the mating surface 25 of the crankcase 11 and the oil pan 26 are inclined, both can be assembled and the mating surface 25 can be freely set. Can be set to For this reason, it is not necessary to place knock pins on the mating surface 25 of the crankcase 11 and the oil pan 26, and positioning can be performed only by fitting the strainer protector 33.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated with various embodiment, this invention is not limited only to these embodiment, A change etc. are possible within the scope of the present invention.
As a configuration of the oil return passage, in addition to the breather chamber, for example, a passage from a cylinder head, a cam housing or the like can be integrated with the oil pan.

10 Engine unit, 11 Crank case, 12 Cylinder block, 13 Cylinder head, 15 Crank shaft, 16 Crank chamber, 17 Bulkhead, 18 Transmission chamber, 19 Counter shaft, 20 Drive shaft, 21 Idle shaft, 23 Oil pump, 24 Pump shaft , 25 mating surface, 26 oil pan, 27 oil strainer, 28 oil passage, 29 cover member, 30 oil reservoir, 31 oil strainer passage, 32 filter member, 33 strainer protector, 35 seal member, 37 seal member, 38 oil return Passage, 39 breather chamber, 40 oil return path, 41 bulkhead, 100 motorcycle.

Claims (3)

An oil sump chamber is provided at the bottom of the engine by a cover member that covers the oil pan and the top of the oil pan, and an oil strainer passage and an oil return passage are formed integrally with the oil pan as the oil pan in the oil sump chamber. And
The oil strainer passage and the oil return passage are disposed adjacent to each other;
Oil strainer structure of an engine, wherein said oil strainer passage filter member is provided in the oil strainer passage is connected with the oil passage of the engine. The oil strainer passage and the oil return passage are arranged adjacent to each other via a partition wall on the engine side from the respective lower ends where the suction port of the oil strainer passage and the discharge port of the oil return passage are formed,
2. The engine oil strainer structure according to claim 1, wherein the suction port of the oil strainer passage and the discharge port of the oil return passage are spaced apart. The oil strainer passage extends obliquely from an upper part of the oil pan,
The suction port is opened near the bottom of the oil pan,
The engine oil strainer structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the oil strainer passage and the oil return passage are disposed so as to overlap each other when viewed from the front-rear direction.

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