JPH03199722A - Two-way differential clutch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive transmission and disconnection of rotation in both right and left directions on an input side by providing the second holding member, correlated to a subgear of generating a differential speed corresponding to the rotation of an input gear, and making a sprag tiltable in a clutch acting position. CONSTITUTION:A number of teeth 2a of an input gear is, for instance, 53, when a number of teeth of a subgear 8 is set to 54, rotation of the gear 8 is delayed from rotation of the gear 2 by rotation of the same drive shaft. An inner side holding member 9, brought into press contact with the gear 8, has a differential speed relating to the rotation of the gear 2 to perform relative rotation in a left hand rotational direction before a stopper 9e of the member 9 is brought into contact with a left side surface of a square hole 11. Since a sprag 6, housed in a pocket of the member 9, falls in a reverse direction to the member 9, the sprag 6 is engaged with cylindrical surfaces 17, 18 to which outside and inside diameter side circular arc surfaces of the sprag 6 are opposed, and a clutch action possible condition is obtained. When a slip is generated in a rear wheel, a rotational speed of the drive shaft is increased, and turning force of the gear 2 is transmitted to an output gear 4 by increasing a rotational speed of the gear 2 faster than the rotational speed of a rotary shaft 1 to actuate a clutch.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a two-way differential clutch that enables transmission or interruption of rotation in both left and right directions on the input side.

(Prior technology) Part-time 4-wheel drive vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as 4WD vehicle)
In automobiles, differential clutches, or overrunning clutches, have come into use that automatically transmit driving force to the front wheels the moment the rear wheels slip and the speed drops.

In such a differential clutch, the front wheel hub is set to rotate faster than the drive shaft, and the rotation of the drive shaft is not transmitted to the front wheel hub during two-wheel drive. When the rear wheel slips and the rotation of the drive shaft increases, the drive shaft and front wheel hub become engaged due to the wedge action of the roller or ball inserted into the gap between the drive shaft and the front wheel hub, and the rotation is transmitted to the front wheel hub. Ru.

However, in order to create a wedge action in this differential clutch, a saw-shaped cam is provided on the surface of the drive shaft.
Since it only operates in one direction of rotation, there was a problem in that the front wheels could not be driven when going backwards. Furthermore, even in differential clutches that use sprags instead of the rollers or balls described above, the action of the sprags is limited to one direction, resulting in the above-mentioned problems.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention has been made by focusing on such conventional problems, and provides a two-way differential clutch that enables transmission or interruption of rotation in both left and right directions on the input side. The purpose is to provide.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is designed to provide a cylindrical surface on the input gear side and a cylindrical surface on the output gear side with a gap for relative rotation. In a two-way differential clutch in which a plurality of sprags are interposed in the gap, the cylindrical surface on the input gear side is on the outer inner circumferential surface, and the cylindrical surface on the output gear side is on the inner outer circumferential surface. and the sprag is slidably disposed in a circumferential direction adjacent to a pocket of a first holding member fixed to a cylindrical surface on the input gear side and a cylindrical surface on the output gear side. The clutch is stored in a pocket of the second holding member, and tilts from a neutral position where it does not engage the cylindrical surface on the input gear side and the cylindrical surface on the output gear side to a clutch operating position where it engages both the cylindrical surfaces. The second holding member is arranged in such a way that the second holding member is linked with a sub-gear that generates a differential speed in response to the rotation of the input gear, and the second holding member is slid in the circumferential direction due to the differential speed. In addition, the sprag is configured to be able to tilt to the clutch operating position.

(Function) When the number of teeth on the sub gear is greater than the number of teeth on the input gear, the sub gear rotates later than the input gear due to the same rotational input, creating a speed difference between both gears, and this speed difference causes the input gear to rotate counterclockwise. Or, in either case of clockwise rotation, the sprag can be tilted and the input gear and output gear can be put into a clutch operating state, so both left and right rotation of the input gear can be transmitted to the output gear or interrupted. be able to.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the two-way differential clutch of the first embodiment, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in Fig. 1, and Figs. 3 and 4 are action explanatory diagrams. , Figure 5.

Figure 6 shows an enlarged view of the main parts.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a rotating shaft, which has various stepped portions on its outer peripheral surface. Reference numeral 4 denotes an output gear, which is connected to one stepped portion of the rotating shaft 1 by a spline 4a.

4b is a tooth formed on the outer periphery of the output gear 4, which meshes with a gear on the driven shaft side (not shown). Reference numeral 17 denotes an outer cylindrical surface, which is formed at another stepped portion on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 1.

Reference numeral 2 denotes an input gear, which has an inner cylindrical surface 18 and is sheathed around the outer periphery of the outer cylindrical surface 17 with a gap therebetween. 2a is a tooth provided on the outer periphery of the input gear 2, which meshes with a gear on the drive shaft side (not shown).

As seen in the enlarged view of the main part in FIG. 6, a plurality of sprags 6 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction between the inner cylindrical surface 18 of the input gear 2 and the outer cylindrical surface 17 of the rotating shaft 1. has been done.

The outer arcuate surface 6a and the inner arcuate surface 6b of the sprag 6 have radius values r1 and r, as shown in FIG.

It is an arc surface. The radius value r may be set as Tjr ra asymmetrically as shown in FIG. This radius value fl+
Both r** rs + r4 are set to be larger than the distance δ between the inner cylindrical surface 18 of the input gear 2 and the outer cylindrical surface 17 of the rotating shaft 1. Further, the minimum height 2 in the direction in which the arcuate surfaces 6a and 6b face each other is slightly smaller than the above-mentioned interval S. Therefore, in a neutral state where the sprag 6 stands between the opposing cylindrical surfaces 17.18, a radial gap is formed between the arcuate surfaces 6a, 6b of the sprag 6 and the cylindrical surfaces 17.18. Also, from the neutral state to the cylindrical surface 17
．． When the cylinder 18 is tilted in the circumferential direction, the outer circular arc surface 6a and the inner circular arc surface 6b engage with the opposing cylindrical surface 17°18.

The outer diameter side ends 6d and 6e of the sprag 6 fit into the pocket 10a of the outer holding member 10 fixed to the inner peripheral cylindrical surface 18 of the input gear 2 by a method such as pressure λ, and the inner diameter side ends 6c, 6f' is fitted into a pocket 9a of an inner holding member 9 inserted between the outer holding member 10 and the rotating shaft 1 so as to be slidable relative to the rotating shaft 1. In this embodiment, the outer holding member 10 is fixed to the input gear 2 with a pin 16. The dimension A between circumferentially opposing side surfaces of the pocket 9a in the inner holding member 9 is the dimension B between the circumferentially opposing side surfaces of the pocket 10a in the outer holding member 10.
Yo I? In addition, a recess 9b is formed in the center of the circumferentially opposing sides of the pocket 9a in the inner holding member 9, and the pair of elastic bodies 7 incorporated in the recess 9b are inserted into the sprag 6. The sprag 6 is held in a neutral state by pressing the inner diameter end portions 6c and 6f' from both sides, as shown in FIG.
A coil spring or the like can be used.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, an example is shown in which a metallic plate spring is attached as the elastic body 7 from the inner diameter part 9c of the inner holding member 9, but from the outer diameter part 9d of the inner holding member 9. It may also be used as an attached structure.

111th! Returning to J, 8 in the figure is a sub gear, which is adjacent to input gear 2. Numeral 8a denotes teeth provided on the outer periphery of the sub-gear 8, which, like the input gear 2, mesh with a gear (not shown) on the drive shaft side. The number of teeth of the sub gear 8 is set to be greater than the number of teeth of the input gear 2. An inner holding member 9 is slidably inserted into the outer circumference of the rotating shaft 1 on the inner circumferential side of the sub-gear 8 . The sub-gear 8 is pressed by a disc spring 19 between a retaining ring 20 attached to the inner holding member 9 and the side surface of the stepped portion of the inner holding member 9. A stopper 90 is provided protruding from the inner holding member 9, while a stopper 90 is provided on the outer holding member 10 at a position facing the stopper 9c.
A square hole 11 is provided with a gap to the stopper 90.

12.14 is a bearing that supports the rotating shaft 1; 13.
15 is a bearing that supports the input gear 2 and the inner holding member 9, respectively.

The operation of the two-way differential clutch configured as above will be explained.

This two-way differential clutch, for example, part-time type 4W
When installed in the power transmission device of car D, the rotation of the drive shaft is transmitted to the input gear 2 and sub gear 8 that mesh with the drive shaft. However, the teeth 2a of the input gear 2 are
For example, while the number of teeth is 53, the sub gear 8 has teeth 8a.
For example, the number of teeth is set to 54, and the rotation of the sub gear 8 lags behind the rotation of the input gear 2 due to the rotation of the same drive shaft. Therefore, as seen in FIG. 4, the inner holding member 9 which is in pressure contact with the sub gear 8 has a differential speed with respect to the rotation of the input gear 2, and the stopper 9e of the inner holding member 9 is in the square hole 11. It rotates relatively in the left rotation direction until it comes into contact with the left side surface in the figure. Then, the sprag 6 accommodated in the pocket 9a of the inner holding member 9 falls in the reverse rotation direction of the inner holding member 9. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the outer circular arc surface 6a and the inner circular arc surface 6b of the sprag 6 engage with the opposing cylindrical surfaces 17 and 18, and the clutch becomes ready for operation in the direction of the arrow. When the 4WD is in two-wheel drive mode, the rotation of the output gear 4, that is, the rotating shaft 1, is set to rotate faster than the rotation of the input gear 2, so the sprag 6 has friction in the upright direction. The force receiver rotates idly and does not bite into the cylindrical surface 17, 18. On the other hand, if there is slippage in the rear wheels, the rotation speed of the drive shaft increases, so the rotation of input gear 2 becomes faster than the rotation of output gear 4, that is, rotation shaft 1, the clutch in the direction of the arrow operates, and the input The rotational force of gear 2 is transmitted to output gear 4. After the stopper 90 contacts the wall surface of the square hole 11, the inner holding member 9 rotates idly with respect to the sub-gear 8, so that the sub-gear 8 is not damaged.

In this way, the principle of clutch operation of the sprag 6 based on the differential speed of the sub gear 8 is independent of the direction of rotation of the input gear 2, so even when a part-time four-wheel drive vehicle is moving backwards, this two-way differential clutch is Function effectively.

Furthermore, the sprag 6 contacts the inner circumferential cylindrical surface 18 of the input gear 2 due to centrifugal force acting on the outside according to the rotational speed of the outer holding member 10 fixed to the input gear 2, so that the input gear 2 rotates at the set rotation speed. When the number exceeds the number, the centrifugal force acting on the sprag 6 and the pressing force of the spring 7 cause the total moment of force to return the sprag 7 to the neutral state. Therefore, there is an advantage that the sprag 6 does not wear out when the input gear 2 and the rotating shaft 1 idle and the differential speed is large with the clutch inactive.

FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the input gear 2
The bearing 13 that supports the is replaced with bearings 13' and 21.

In this embodiment, since both sides of the sprag 6 are supported from the rotating shaft 1 via ball bearings 21, the inner cylindrical surface 18 and the outer cylindrical surface 17 tend to be concentric.
Therefore, the locking action with the sprag 6 becomes more reliable.

(Effects of the Invention) The two-way differential clutch of the present invention has a cylindrical surface on the input gear side and a cylindrical surface on the output gear side that are arranged to be relatively rotatable with a gap therebetween, and a plurality of sprags are arranged in the gap. In the two-way differential clutch, the cylindrical surface on the input gear side is set as the outer inner peripheral surface, and the cylindrical surface on the output gear side is set as the inner outer peripheral surface, and the sprag is set as the inner peripheral surface on the input gear side. stored in a pocket of a first holding member fixed to the cylindrical surface and a pocket of a second holding member disposed so as to be slidable in the circumferential direction adjacent to the cylindrical surface on the output gear side, From a neutral position where the cylindrical surface on the input gear side does not engage with the cylindrical surface on the output gear side,
The second holding member is disposed so as to be tiltable across a clutch operating position that engages both cylindrical surfaces, and the second holding member is linked with a sub-gear that generates a speed difference in response to the rotation of the input gear, By configuring the second holding member to slide in the circumferential direction and tilt the sprag to the clutch operating position as the input gear rotates to the left or right, the rotation of the input gear can be prevented. It can be transmitted to the output gear or cut off.

Furthermore, in the two-way clutch of the present invention, centrifugal force acts on the sprag and it contacts the inner cylindrical surface on the input gear side, creating a slight gap between the sprag and the outer cylindrical surface on the output gear side, so the clutch becomes inoperable. It has the advantage of preventing sprag wear when the differential speed between the input gear and output gear is large.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 1, FIGS. 3 and 4 are action explanatory diagrams, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views of the sprag alone, and FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the second embodiment.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a two-way differential clutch in which a cylindrical surface on the input gear side and a cylindrical surface on the output gear side are arranged so as to be relatively rotatable with a gap between them, and a plurality of sprags are interposed in the gap. , the sprag has a pocket of a first holding member fixed to the cylindrical surface on the input gear side, the cylindrical surface on the input gear side is on the outer inner circumferential surface, and the cylindrical surface on the output gear side is on the inner outer circumferential surface. and is stored in a pocket of a second holding member that is arranged so as to be slidable in the circumferential direction adjacent to the cylindrical surface on the output gear side, and the cylindrical surface on the input gear side and the output gear The second holding member is arranged to be tiltable from a neutral position in which it does not engage with the side cylindrical surface to a clutch actuation position in which it engages with both cylindrical surfaces, and the second holding member corresponds to the rotation of the input gear. The two-way differential is configured to be linked with a sub-gear that generates a speed difference, so that the speed difference causes the second holding member to slide in the circumferential direction and tilt the sprag to a clutch operating position. dynamic clutch. (2) A sprag is arranged in the center of the input gear, one end of the input gear is supported by a bearing on a rotating shaft fixed to the output gear, and the other end is supported by a bearing on the rotating shaft. The two-way differential clutch according to claim 1, further supported by a bearing via a holding member.