JPH0195941A - Power transmitting gear for for four-wheel-drive vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a ring gear to be stably supported by supporting the ring gear of a between-axle differential gear, arranged in a car body width direction inputting driving power from a transmission, through bearings by a supporting part provided in one side part of the ring gear and by a supporting member secured to the other side part. CONSTITUTION:A transfer device 3 of a four-wheel-drive vehicle has a between- axle differential gear (center differential gear) 20 and a between-front wheel differential gear (front differential gear) 30. The center differential gear 20 is constituted of a ring gear 21 of internal tooth, two or more first pinions 22 meshing with this ring gear 21, two or more second pinions 23 meshing with the first pinion 22, carrier 26 supporting these pinions 22, 23 and a sun gear 27. Here the ring gear 21, integrally forming in its one side part a supporting part 21a extending to a transmission side, is supported in this part 21a to a case 3a by a bearing 71. While the ring gear 21, fixing to its another side part a supporting member 73 by a bolt, is supported in this supporting member 73 to the case 3a by a bearing 74.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a four-wheel drive vehicle with a horizontally mounted engine, particularly a planetary gear mechanism in which driving force from a transmission is inputted onto an axis extending in the width direction of the vehicle body. It is equipped with an inter-axle differential device of 4
The present invention relates to a power transmission device for a wheel drive vehicle.

(Prior Art) In a four-wheel drive vehicle in which the driving force output from the engine via a clutch or torque converter and a transmission is divided to drive the front wheels and the rear wheels respectively, the In addition to the respective interaxle differentials between the left and right rear wheels, an interaxle differential may be provided to absorb the difference in rotational speed between the front and rear wheels during cornering and eliminate the so-called braking phenomenon. In this case, in a four-wheel drive vehicle with a horizontally mounted engine in which the output shaft of the engine and the output shaft of the transmission extend in the width direction of the vehicle body, the interaxle differential device is also aligned on the axis that extends in the width direction of the vehicle body. The inter-axle differential device is typically configured such that driving force is input to the inter-axle differential device from an output gear provided on the output shaft of the transmission device.

As a four-wheel drive vehicle with such a configuration, for example,
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 9-199329. In vehicles where the engine and transmission are mounted horizontally at the front of the vehicle, the interaxle differential and front wheel differential are placed coaxially with the axle of the front wheels extending in the width direction of the vehicle. , as the inter-axle differential, a planetary gear type differential comprising a ring gear, a sun gear, and a pinion carrier carrying a pinion that meshes with these gears, and a pinion carrier in the inter-axle differential; By integrally forming an input gear on the outer periphery of the transmission device, and meshing the input gear with an output gear provided on the output shaft of the transmission device, driving force from the transmission device is transferred to the pinion carrier of the inter-axle differential device. It is configured so that it can be input to.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) By the way, in the four-wheel drive vehicle shown in the above publication,
A pinion carrier in an inter-axle differential is provided with a boss portion extending to one side, and the boss portion is rotatably supported by a case via a bearing. but,
An input gear that meshes with an output gear of a transmission is provided on the outer periphery, and a pinion carrier serving as an input element to which driving force from the transmission is input is supported only on one side as described above. In this case, the pinion carrier tends to tilt or wobble with respect to the axis due to the force acting on the meshing portion between the output gear and the input gear, so that the pinion carried by the pinion carrier, the ring gear, and the sun gear Problems such as the meshing state of the gears becoming unstable and the driving force not being transmitted smoothly, or unreasonable loads being applied to the meshing parts of the above gears and the support part of the pinion carrier, reducing durability. becomes more likely to occur.

Therefore, the present invention is configured such that an input element to which driving force from a transmission in an inter-axle differential is input is supported in a stable state with respect to a case, so that the input element from the transmission to the inter-axle differential is supported in a stable state relative to a case. or the meshing portion of each gear in the inter-axle differential device or the meshing portion of the output gear and the input gear to enable smooth and good transmission of driving force to the front and rear wheels. The purpose of the present invention is to improve the durability of the supporting parts of each component of the differential gear.

(Means for Solving the Problems) To achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized by the following configuration.

That is, the power transmission device for a four-wheel drive vehicle according to the present invention includes an engine arranged such that its output shaft extends in the width direction of the vehicle body;
It is composed of a transmission connected in the longitudinal direction of the engine, and a planetary gear mechanism consisting of a ring gear, a sun gear, and a pinion carrier carrying a pinion that meshes with these gears, and the driving force from the transmission is inputted. An inter-axle differential device, a front-wheel differential device that transmits one of the driving forces divided by the inter-axle differential device to the left and right front wheels, and an inter-axle differential device that transmits the other driving force to the left and right rear wheels. In a configuration including a differential device, an input section into which the driving force from the transmission is input is provided on the outer periphery of the ring gear in the inter-axle differential device, and a case is connected to one side of the ring gear via a bearing. A support part supported by the support part is integrally formed, and the support member is connected to the other side part using a fixing member such as a bolt. The supporting member is also configured to be supported by the case via a bearing.

(Function) According to the above configuration, the driving force from the transmission is input to the differential device from the input section provided on the ring gear of the inter-axle differential device, and is also divided by the differential device. In the above, one driving force is transmitted to the left and right front wheels via the front-wheel differential, and the other driving force is transmitted to the left and right rear wheels via the rear-wheel differential, and in this way, all A four-wheel drive state in which the wheels are driven will be obtained.

Particularly, according to the above configuration, the ring gear of the inter-axle differential device into which the driving force from the transmission device is input is connected to the case via the bearing at the support portion integrally provided on the negative side of the ring gear. At the same time as being supported, the supporting member connected to the other side using the fixing member is also supported by the case via the bearing, so that it is rotatably supported in a so-called dual-supported state. As a result, the support state of the ring gear as an input element in the inter-axle differential device is stabilized, the transmission or division of driving force by the differential device is performed smoothly and favorably, and each gear constituting the differential device This prevents unreasonable loads from acting on the meshing parts and the support parts of each component, improving the durability of these parts.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below.

First, the overall configuration of the power transmission path of the four-wheel drive vehicle according to this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. It is equipped with a power plant consisting of 3. The engine 1 is arranged so that its output shaft 4 extends in the width direction of the vehicle body. The transmission 2 also includes an input shaft 6 connected to the engine output shaft 4 via a clutch 5, and an output shaft 7 parallel to the input shaft 6.
are arranged so as to extend in the width direction of the vehicle body, and between the output shaft 6 and 7 of the transmission 2 are gears for 1st to 5th speeds and rear overspeed, which are selectively put into a power transmission state. Columns 81-S5. Sr is provided, and the output shaft 7
An output gear 9 for transmitting driving force from the transmission 2 to the transfer device 3 is provided at the end on the clutch 5 side.

On the other hand, the transfer device 3 divides the driving force input from the transmission 2, and uses one of the driving forces to drive left and right front wheels 12. Driven by a propeller shaft 14 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, a rear wheel differential (hereinafter referred to as a rear differential) 15, and a rear axle 16, 17 extending left and right from the rear differential to the left and right rear wheels 18.
19.

Next, the internal structure of the transfer device 3 will be explained with reference to FIG. ) 20, and a front wheel differential (hereinafter referred to as front differential) 30.

The center differential 20 is composed of a double pinion type planetary gear mechanism, and includes a ring gear 21 and a plurality of first pinions 22 arranged inside the ring gear 21 and meshing therewith.
22, a plurality of second pinions 23...23 meshing with the first pinions 22...22, and a pinion shaft 24... - Pinion carrier 26 supported via 24, 25...25, and each of the second pinions 23...
・It is composed of a sun gear 27 in which 23 meshes with the sun gear 27. This center differential 20 has a clutch housing (1) that bulges out to near the axis of the front axle 10.11 (the transmission is automatically In the case of a transmission, it is arranged so that a portion thereof protrudes into a space formed on the transmission 2 side of a converter housing (5a) that houses a torque converter. The input gear 28 integrally formed around the outer periphery of the ring gear 21 in the center differential 20 is meshed with the output gear 9 provided at the end of the output shaft 7 on the clutch 5 side of the transmission 2, and the drive from the transmission 2 is Power is input to the ring gear 21 of the center differential 20 via the output gear 9 and the input gear 28.

The front differential 30 includes a differential case 31, a pinion shaft 32 installed in the case 31 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the front axle 10.11, and a bevel gear rotatably supported by the shaft 32. It consists of a pair of pinions 33, 34, and a pair of left and right side gears 35, 36, which are also bevel gears, meshed with both pinions 33, 34.
0.11 ends are respectively connected. This front differential 30 is disposed close to the transmission 2 side of the center differential 20 on the same axis (the axis of the front axle 10.11) as the center differential 20,
An extension portion 31a provided on the differential case 31 toward the engine 1 side is coupled to a sun gear 27, which is one output element of the center differential 20, and the sun gear 27 is connected to the differential case 3.
Driving force is input to 1.

- On the engine 1 side of the center differential 20, there are a first cylinder shaft 41 rotatably fitted on the right front axle 11, and a second cylinder shaft 42 rotatably fitted on the outside of the first cylinder shaft 41. One end of the first cylindrical shaft 41 is connected to the extension 31a of the differential case 31 in the front differential 30, and one end of the second cylindrical shaft 42 is connected to the pinion carrier 26, which is the other output element of the center differential 20. They are connected via a relay member 43. These cylindrical shafts 41 and 42 extend beyond the bulge of the clutch housing 5a toward the engine 1, and a first transfer gear 44 is integrally connected to the extended end of the second cylindrical shaft 42. It is formed. This first transfer gear 44 is connected to the front axle 10.
The second transfer gear 46 is integrally formed with one end of an intermediate shaft 45 disposed parallel to the axis of the intermediate shaft 45, and a third transfer gear 47 formed of a bevel gear is connected to the other end of the intermediate shaft 45. The gear 47 is fixed and meshed with a fourth transfer gear 49 which is a bevel gear formed integrally with one end of an output shaft 48 disposed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. and,
The output shaft 48 is connected to the propeller shaft 14 shown in FIG.

Further, a viscous coupling 50 is arranged on the engine 1 side of the first transfer gear 44. This viscous coupling 50 includes a cylindrical inner case 51, an outer case 52, and a large number of plates 5 arranged between these cases 51 and 52 and coupled to them alternately.
3...53, and the surroundings of the plates 53...53 are filled with viscous fluid. The inner case 51 is connected to the sun gear 27 of the center differential 20 and the differential case 31 of the front differential 30 via the first cylinder shaft 41, and the outer case 52 is connected to the pinion of the center differential 20 via the second cylinder shaft 42 and the relay member 43. career 2
6, respectively.

Furthermore, on the engine 1 side of the viscous coupling 50,
A hub 61 coupled to the first cylindrical shaft 41 is arranged close to each other, a first spline 62 formed on the outer periphery of the hub 61, and a second spline 63 formed on the outer case 52 of the viscous coupling 50; These splines 62
．． A locking mechanism 60 is provided which includes a sleeve 64 that can be fitted over the sleeve 63.

In this transfer device 3, a support portion 2 extending beyond the front differential 30 toward the transmission 2 is provided on one side of the ring gear 21 to which the driving force from the transmission 2 in the center differential 20 is input.
1a is integrally formed, and its end portion is fitted to the left front axle 10, and the support portion 21a is connected to the transfer case 3 via a bearing 71 disposed on the outer circumferential side of the support portion 21a.
It is rotatably supported by a. Further, on the side of the ring gear 21 on the engine 1 side, a plurality of bolts 72...
- The support member 73 is connected and fixed using 72,
The boss portion 73a is fitted into the relay member 43, and the support member 73 is also rotatably supported by the transfer case 3a or the clutch housing 5a by a bearing 74 disposed on the outer circumferential side of the support member 73. .

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The driving force output from the engine 1 via the clutch 5 and the transmission 2 is inputted from the output gear 9 of the transmission 2 to the ring gear 21 of the center differential 20 in the transfer device 3 via the input gear 28, and the center differential 20 transfers the driving force to the ring gear 21 of the center differential 20. 27 and a pinion carrier 26. The driving force divided to the sun gear 27 side is input to the differential case 31 of the front differential 30, and is further divided into left and right by the front differential 30, and is transmitted to the left and right front wheels 10 and 11 via the left and right front axles 10.11.
．． 13. Further, the driving force divided to the pinion carrier 26 side is transmitted to the relay member 43, the second cylinder shaft 42, the first
．． 2nd transfer gear 44, 46, intermediate shaft 45, 3rd
．． Fourth transfer gear 47, 49. is input to the rear differential 15 via the output shaft 48 and the propeller shaft 14,
It is further divided into left and right parts by the rear differential 15, and left and right rear wheels 18 and 19 are driven through left and right rear axles 16 and 17. In this way, four-wheel drive driving is performed in which the left and right front wheels 12, 13 and the left and right rear wheels 18, 19 are driven.

In that case, the sleeve 6 in the locking mechanism 60
4 is fitted only to the first spline 62 as shown in the figure, the first spline 62 is fitted with the hub 61, the first cylinder shaft 41 and the differential case 31 of the front differential 30 (the extension part 3
Sun gear 2 of center differential 20 connected via 1a)
7, and a viscous coupling 50 to the second spline 63.
The pinion carrier 2 of the center differential 20 is connected via the outer case 52, the second cylinder shaft 42, and the relay member 43.
6 will be separated. Therefore, in this case, when cornering, etc., the sun gear 2 of the center differential 20
7 and the pinion carrier 26, that is, a difference in rotational speed between the front and rear wheels is allowed, thereby preventing the occurrence of a braking phenomenon.

Also, in this case, the above 1. The viscous coupling 50 interposed between the second cylinder shafts 41 and 42, that is, between the sun gear 27 and the pinion carrier 26 of the center differential 20 operates to suppress excessive differential movement of the center differential 20, thereby improving cornering. This ensures running stability at various times.

On the other hand, the sleeve 64 of the locking mechanism 60 is
When fitted across the splines 62 and 63, the inner case 51 and outer case 5 of the viscous coupling 50
2 is coupled to prevent the operation of the viscous coupling 50, and the viscous coupling 50 is coupled to the viscous coupling 50. The sun gear 27 and pinion carrier 26 of the center differential 20 are also coupled via the second cylinder shafts 41, 42, etc., and the center differential 20 is locked. Therefore, the front wheel 12.13 or the rear wheel 18.1
When one of the wheels 9 slips due to slippage, the driving force transmitted to the other wheel makes it possible to escape from the slip state.

However, in this transfer device 3, the input gear 28 is formed on the outer periphery, and the ring gear 21 of the center differential 20 to which the driving force from the transmission 2 is input,
It is rotatably supported by the transfer case 3a via a bearing 71 at a supporting portion 21a integrally formed on the negative side thereof, and bolts 72...7 are provided on the other side.
A supporting member 73 coupled using a bearing 74 is rotatably supported by the transfer case 3a or the clutch housing 5a via a bearing 74, and therefore the ring gear 21 is supported in a state where it is supported on both sides. Therefore, the supporting state of the ring gear 21 is stabilized, and the inclination and wobbling of the member, which occurs when the driving force from the transmission is input to the cantilevered input member, is prevented. Accordingly, the driving force transmission or division operation by the center differential 20 is performed smoothly and satisfactorily. In addition, each meshing part of the ring gear 21, pinions 22, . Unreasonable loads are no longer applied, and the durability of these parts is improved.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and in the transfer device 103 according to this embodiment, a viscous coupling 150 is provided on the transmission side of the center differential 120, and a viscous coupling 150 is provided on the engine side. Transfer gears 144 are respectively arranged. The sun gear 127 of the center differential 120 is connected to the differential case 1 of the front differential 130 via the first cylinder shaft 141.
31, and a pinion carrier 126 is connected to the first transfer gear 144 via a second cylindrical shaft 142, so as to transmit driving force to the front wheels and the rear wheels, respectively. In addition, the above viscous coupling 15
The inner case 151 of the center differential 120 is connected to the sun gear 127 of the center differential 120, and the outer case 152 of the center differential 120 is connected to the pinion carrier 126 of the center differential 120.
20 differential operations are limited.

However, in this embodiment as well, the center differential 120
An input gear 128 is integrally formed on the outer periphery of the ring gear 121 and meshes with the output gear 109 of the transmission.
A support portion 121a is integrally formed on the engine side side of the 1, and a plurality of bolts 17 are formed on the transmission side side.
2...172 is used to connect and fix the support member 173. Then, the support portion 121a is connected to the bearing 1.
A supporting member 173 is rotatably supported by the transfer case 103a or the clutch housing 105a via a bearing 174, respectively.

Therefore, also in this embodiment, the support of the ring gear 121, which is the input element of the center differential 120, is stabilized, and the same effect as in the previous embodiment can be obtained.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, in a four-wheel drive vehicle in which an engine and a transmission are arranged in the width direction of the vehicle body, an inter-axle differential device to which driving force from the transmission is input is provided. The ring gear is rotatably supported by the case via bearings by both the support part integrally provided on the negative side and the support member connected to the other side with fixing members such as bolts. , the ring member is supported on both sides, resulting in extremely stable support. This prevents the ring gear from tilting or rattling, allowing the inter-axle differential to transmit or divide the driving force smoothly and efficiently, and also to ensure that the gears in the inter-axle differential are meshed properly. This prevents unreasonable loads from acting on the parts and the supporting parts of the components of the differential, thereby improving the durability of these parts.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 relates to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a transfer device constituting a main part thereof, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a transfer device according to another embodiment. ]...Engine, 2...Transmission, 3a
, 5a, 103a, 105a... Case (transfer case, clutch housing), 12.13... Front wheel, 15... Rear wheel differential device (rear differential), 18.1
9... Rear wheel, 20,120... Inter-axle differential device (front differential), 21.121... Ring gear, 21a
, 121a...support part, 22.23...pinion,
26,126...Pinion carrier, 27.127.
...Sun gear, 28,128...Input section (input gear)
, 30,130...Front wheel differential 1F (front differential), 71.74,171,174...Bearing,
72,172...Fixing member (pol)), 73,173
...Supporting member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An engine arranged so that its output shaft extends in the width direction of the vehicle body, a transmission connected in the longitudinal direction of the engine, a ring gear, a sun gear, and a pinion carrier that carries a pinion that meshes with these gears. An inter-axle differential device is composed of a planetary gear mechanism and is provided with an input section on the outer periphery of the ring gear for inputting the driving force from the transmission, and the driving force from the inter-axle differential device is transmitted to the left and right front wheels. A power transmission device for a four-wheel drive vehicle, which has a front wheel differential device that transmits the driving force to the rear wheels, and a rear wheel differential device that similarly transmits the driving force from the axle differential device to the left and right rear wheels, A support part supported by the case via a bearing is integrally formed on one side of the ring gear in the inter-axle differential, and
A power transmission device for a four-wheel drive vehicle, characterized in that a support member is coupled to the other side of the ring gear using a fixing member, and the support member is also supported by a case via a bearing.