JPH0456182B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improvement in a differential device for differentially driving left and right tires of an automobile or the like.

[Prior Art] When a car's differential is turned, there is a difference in circumference between the left and right tires, causing the inner tire to slip, so the differential gear makes the outer tire go faster. , is used as a mechanism to slow down the inner tire and create a difference in rotation.

In conventional differential gears, the axle is divided into left and right parts, and a large differential gear is mounted on each side facing each other with a gap between them. It has a structure in which small moving gears are meshed and the engine driving force rotates the differential gear box.

In this differential gear, when driving straight, the differential pinion does not rotate but rotates the left and right differential large gears, causing both axles to rotate at the same time. However, when going around a curve, the differential small gear The gears rotate while revolving,
The rotation of the left and right differential gears is balanced by a difference.

In other words, when a large amount of resistance is applied to the inside tire during a curve, the rotational force of the outside tire is automatically increased by the amount of resistance, allowing the car to curve smoothly.

However, such conventional differentials have the characteristic that more driving force is transmitted to the side with less resistance, so if one tire spins on ice, snow, mud, etc., the resistance disappears, The problem was that the driving force was unnecessarily transmitted to the idling side, making the idling even more intense, and that the driving force was not transmitted to the tires on the grounding side, which required driving force and had greater resistance, making it impossible to escape.

For this reason, in recent years non-slip differentials and limited slip differentials have been developed in which a built-in clutch automatically operates to temporarily lock the differential mechanism when one tire begins to spin. These had the disadvantage of being complicated in structure and expensive.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention was developed as a result of various researches in view of the conventional problems.The present invention has a simple and inexpensive structure, can curve smoothly, and one tire starts to spin. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a differential device that can easily drive even on rough roads by applying driving force to the tires on the ground contact side.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a central wheel having a gear formed on its outer periphery that rotates in mesh with a drive shaft, and left and right wheels that rotate in sliding contact with the central wheel on both sides of the central wheel. and a plurality of apertures formed in the side surface of the center wheel in the axial direction and spaced apart along the circumferential direction, and each of the apertures is inserted into the apertures movably along the axial direction. an engaging piece having a planar hexagonal shape with chevron-shaped protrusions on both sides, a through hole opening laterally in the center of the engaging piece, and a stopper inserted into the through hole so as to be movable from side to side. and a plurality of V-grooves formed continuously in a ring shape that fit with the chevron-shaped protrusion of the engagement piece on the side surfaces of the left and right wheels in contact with the center wheel, and left and right output shafts connected to the left and right wheels, respectively. of each of the apertures passing through both sides of the central wheel, the interval between adjacent apertures is set to a half width or a multiple width of the width along the circumferential direction of the engaging piece inserted into the aperture. The length along the axial direction of the engagement piece, which is formed at intervals including half the width and has a planar hexagonal shape, is determined when the chevron-shaped protrusion on one side is completely fitted into the V-groove of one of the left and right wheels. It is formed to a length that allows it to escape from the V-groove of the other wheel so that it slides from side to side within the opening, and the stopper in the through-hole projects on the side where the engagement piece escapes from the V-groove. This is a characteristic feature.

[Function] In the differential device of the present invention, when a rotation difference occurs between the left and right wheels that rotate in sliding contact with both sides of the center wheel, the plurality of engaging pieces inserted into the side openings of the center wheel A plurality of V-grooves continuously formed in a ring shape on the side surfaces of the left and right wheels reciprocate in opposite directions to each other along the axial direction, and the chevron-shaped protrusion of the engaging piece sequentially engages with the left and right wheels. This system creates a rotation difference between the left and right wheels while transmitting the same driving force to the wheels, making it possible to turn smoothly around curves.The movement of the engagement piece is slow when the curve is gentle, and when the curve is sharp. When turning, the engagement piece moves faster, and when going straight, the engagement piece does not move and the left and right wheels rotate at the same rate. In addition, the stopper attached to the through hole of the engaging piece is pushed by the V groove and moves inside the through hole in the opposite direction to the moving direction of the engaging piece, so that
It protrudes into the groove to prevent reverse rotation and allows the engagement piece to move smoothly to the adjacent V-groove.

[Example] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a central wheel, and a left wheel 2A and a right wheel 2B are provided on both sides of the central wheel in sliding contact with each other, and both sides of the central wheel are pressed and supported by press plates 3A and 3B.

The central wheel 1 has a large diameter bevel gear 4 on its outer periphery.
is provided, and rotates in mesh with a small diameter bevel gear 6 attached to the tip of a drive shaft 5 connected to the engine.

As shown in FIG. 2, the central wheel 1 has a plurality of fan-shaped openings 7 extending through its side surface in the axial direction and spaced apart along the circumferential direction.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an engaging piece that is movably inserted into the opening 7 along the axial direction, and this engaging piece 8 is the fourth engaging piece.
As shown in the drawings and FIG. 5, chevron-shaped protrusions 9A and 9B are formed on both sides to form a hexagonal planar shape.

As shown in FIG. 4, a rectangular cylindrical through hole 10 is laterally opened in the center of the engaging piece 8, into which a stopper 11 having chevron-shaped protrusions 11A and 11B at both ends is movably inserted. It is worn. As shown in FIG. 1, the left and right wheels 2A, 2B have axles 12A, 12B attached to the sides of their central parts, pass through push plates 3A, 3B, and have tires 13A, 1 at their tips.
3B is installed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the left and right wheels 2A, 2B have a plurality of V grooves 14 continuously formed in a ring shape at positions facing the engagement piece 8 on the surface in contact with the center wheel 1. There is. This V groove 14...
are provided in a continuous wave shape as shown in FIG. 6 in the unfolded planar state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the length of the engagement piece 8 along the axial direction is such that when the chevron-shaped protrusion 9A on one side is completely fitted into the V-groove 14 of the left wheel 2A, the engagement piece 8 has a length along the axial direction. It is formed in such a length that it can escape from the V-groove 14 of the wheel 2B, so that it can slide left and right inside the opening 7.

A plurality of fan-shaped apertures 7 passing through both sides of the central wheel 1 are arranged such that the distance between adjacent apertures 7 is equal to the flat hexagonal shape inserted into the aperture 7 as shown in FIG. They are formed at intervals of half the width of the shaped engaging pieces 8A along the circumferential direction.

As a result, two adjacent engaging pieces 8A, 8B
The combined state is as shown in the model diagram of FIG.

That is, the engaged state of the engaging piece 8A is such that the distance between the adjacent openings 7 is half the width of the engaging piece 8A, 8B along the circumferential direction, and the engaging piece has a hexagonal shape in plan view. The length along the axial direction of the pieces 8A, 8B is from the V groove 14B ₁ of the other wheel 2B when the chevron-shaped protrusion 9A on one side is completely fitted with the V groove 14A ₁ of the left wheel 2A. Since it is formed to a length that allows it to escape, the chevron-shaped protrusion 9
The joint surfaces 15, 15 of A and 9B are the left and right chevron-shaped protrusions 9
They are fitted so as to be located on one side of the center line L connecting the vertices 9a and 9b of A and 9B.

Furthermore, the joint surfaces 15, 15 of the adjacent engaging pieces 8B
are fitted into the V grooves 14A ₂ , 14B ₂ so that they are symmetrical with respect to the joint surfaces 15, 15 of the engaging piece 8A and the center point C of both the engaging pieces 8A, 8B, and the center point C is symmetrical. Both engaging pieces 8A, 8B are configured to slide within the openings 7, 7 in mutually opposite directions.

Therefore, four engaging pieces 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D
If provided, the joint surface 1 of the engaging pieces 8A, 8C
5 and 15 are in contact with the V grooves 14A ₁ to 14A ₃ on the rotational direction side, and are in contact with the joint surfaces 1 of the engaging pieces 8B and 8D.
5 and 15 are in contact with the V grooves 14A ₁ to 14A ₃ on one side opposite to the rotational direction.

Next, the operation of the differential device having the above structure will be explained.

First, when the engine rotates and driving force is transmitted, the bevel gear 6 at the tip of the drive shaft 5 and the bevel gear 4 of the central wheel 1 mesh with each other, causing the central wheel 1 to rotate.

At this time, assuming that the engaging pieces 8A, 8B are arranged as shown in FIG. One side has left and right wheels 2A, 2
It is in contact with one side of each of the V-grooves 14A ₁ , 14B ₁ , 14A ₂ , and 14B ₂ on the B side.

In this case, the engaging piece 8A is in contact with the connecting surfaces 15, 15 on the rotational direction side of the central wheel 1 shown by the arrow, and the connecting surfaces 15, 15 of the engaging piece 8B are on the opposite side to the rotating direction. The rotational driving force is transmitted from the engagement piece 8A to the left and right wheels 2A, 2B.

As a result, center wheel 1 and left and right wheels 2
A, 2A are rotated as one by the engaging piece 8A, and the same driving force and the same rotational speed are transmitted to the left and right tires 13A, 13B, so that the vehicle moves straight.

Furthermore, when the car makes a right curve, the left tire 13A needs to rotate more than the right tire 12B.
At this time, the left wheel 2A rotates faster than the center wheel 1, as shown in FIG. 7, and the left and right wheels 2A, 2B move in relatively opposite directions using the center wheel 1 as a reference.

At this time, the engaging piece 8A is rotating in contact with the V groove _14B of the right wheel 2B, but the right wheel 2B
is shifted relative to the center wheel 1, so the joining surface 15 between the engaging piece 8A and the V-groove _14B1
causes slippage. Therefore, the engaging piece 8A sequentially moves to the left along the axial direction inside the opening 7 as shown by the arrow, and the V-groove 14A ₁ of the left wheel 2A.
The bonding surface 15 with the material gradually becomes larger.

On the other hand, since the left wheel 2A moves relatively quickly with respect to the center wheel 1, the adjacent engaging piece 8B has a contact surface 1 with the V groove _14A2 .
At step 5, slide the lever along the axial direction as shown by the arrows and move it to the right side one by one until it reaches the V groove 14 of the right wheel 2B.
The joint surface 15 with _B2 gradually becomes larger.

When the deviation between the left and right wheels 2A, 2B increases, as shown in FIG. 8, the chevron-shaped protrusion 9A of the engaging piece 8A becomes the V-groove _14A1 , and the chevron-shaped protrusion 9B of the engaging piece 8B becomes the V-groove _14B2. It fully engages deeply and stops moving.

At this time, the length of the engaging piece 8A is such that the chevron-shaped protrusion 9A on one side is connected to the V groove 1 of the left wheel 2A on one side.
When fully mated with A ₁ , the other right wheel 2
It escapes from the V groove _14B1 of B. Also, engaging piece 8
In B, the chevron-shaped protrusion 9A escapes from the V-groove _14A2 of one left wheel 2A.

When the deviation between the left and right wheels 2A, 2B further increases, the engaging piece 8A reverses and begins to move to the right as shown in FIG.
The chevron-shaped protrusion 9B begins to contact one side of A ₁ on the opposite side to the rotational direction, and the chevron-shaped protrusion 9B crosses the V-groove 14B ₁ to form the V-groove 1.
4B ₀ and comes into contact with the surface opposite to the rotational direction, so that no rotational driving force is transmitted.

On the other hand, the engaging piece 8B begins to move to the left, and the chevron-shaped protrusion 9B contacts the V-groove 14B ₂ of the right wheel 2B on one side of the rotation direction of the center wheel 1, and the chevron-shaped protrusion 9A contacts the V-groove 14B ₂ of the right wheel 2B. Beyond V groove 14A ₃
begins to make contact with one side of the rotating direction.

As a result, the rotational driving force is now transmitted to the left and right wheels 2A, 2B by the engagement piece 8B.

At this time, the stopper 11 is pushed by the V-groove 14A and moves inside the through hole 10 in the opposite direction to the moving direction of the engaging piece 8A, so that the stopper 11 moves inside the through hole 10 in the opposite direction to the moving direction of the engaging piece 8A, and the stopper 11 moves in the through hole 10 in the opposite direction to the moving direction of the engaging piece 8A.
can be smoothly moved from the V-groove 14B ₁ to the V-groove 14B ₀ .

When the deviation between the left and right wheels 2A, 2B further increases, as shown in FIG. 10, the engagement piece 8A simply moves to the right, and the engagement piece 8B moves to the left while transmitting rotational driving force.

In this way, the chevron-shaped protrusion 9B of the engaging piece 8A
is the chevron-shaped protrusion 9 of the engaging piece 8B in the V-groove 14B ₀ .
After A is deeply fitted into the V-groove _14A3 and stopped, as shown in Fig. 7, the direction is changed again and the left wheel 2A is moved in the direction of one rotation of the center wheel, while moving in opposite directions alternately. 2B are sequentially sent to the opposite side of the rotational direction of the central wheel 1.

As a result, the engaging piece 8A moves to the V of the left wheel 2A.
Sequentially fit into the grooves 14A ₁ , 14A ₂ , 14A ₃ .
While rotating, the V groove 14 of the right wheel 2B
B ₁ , 14B ₀ . . . are sequentially fitted and rotated once in opposite directions, and while transmitting the same driving force to the left and right wheels 2A, 2B, a rotation difference of two rotations is generated between the left and right wheels 2A, 2B.

Therefore, it is possible to turn a right curve smoothly, and when the curve is gentle, the movement of the engaging pieces 8A and 8B is slow, and when turning a sharp curve, the engaging pieces 8A and 8B move slowly.
moves faster.

After turning the curve and going straight, the engaging pieces 8A and 8B do not move and the left and right wheels 2A and 2B move.
The same driving force and rotational speed are transmitted to both.

When turning a left curve, the right wheel 2B is moved faster than the left wheel 2A by an operation opposite to the above, resulting in a difference in rotational speed.

Note that the same effect as described above can be achieved also when moving backward.

Furthermore, when the left tire 13A enters ice, snow, mud, etc., the resistance of the right tire 13B that is in contact with the ground increases, and the resistance of the left tire 13A disappears.
The left tire 13A tries to spin temporarily. Therefore, compared to the right wheel 2B, the left wheel 2A
6 to 10, the engaging pieces 8A and 8B tend to move at high speed in opposite directions. However, engaging pieces 8A and 8B
Since it is sealed in the gear oil, its viscosity prevents high-speed movement, causing both tires 13A and 13B to
Extreme rotation differences are suppressed. Moreover, since the driving force is transmitted equally to the left and right, the tire 13B on the ground contact side
This information is also transmitted, allowing you to easily escape from bad roads.

Therefore, compared to a conventional differential device in which a large amount of driving force is transmitted to the idling side that is not in contact with the ground, and the driving force is not transmitted to the necessary grounding side, the present invention has a large resistance and a large amount of rotational force. The driving force can be efficiently transmitted even to the side where the height is lower.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the gap between adjacent openings 7 is half the width along the circumferential direction of the engaging pieces 8A, 8B inserted into the openings 7, but the half width is added to the multiple width. Even if they are formed at a certain interval, the adjacent engaging pieces 8A, 8B are shifted by half the width of the V-groove 14,
Since the contact surfaces are opposite, the sliding directions are opposite to each other.

Furthermore, although the above embodiment shows a case in which the axles 12A, 12B are directly attached to the left and right wheels 2A, 2B, a mechanism may also be adopted in which gears are formed on the outer peripheries of the left and right wheels 2A, 2B, and the transmission is transmitted to the axles via a gear mechanism. .

Furthermore, although the above description has been made regarding the case where the present invention is applied to a differential device for a car, the present invention can also be used in other differential mechanisms.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the differential device according to the present invention has a simple and inexpensive structure, can smoothly curve, and when one tire starts to spin, the differential device according to the present invention Since the vehicle also receives driving force, it can easily travel on rough roads.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 10 show the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the differential gear, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the - arrow in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the engaging piece, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the engaging piece, and FIGS. 6 to 10 are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of the engaging piece and the left and right wheels. 1... Central wheel, 2A, 2B... Left and right wheels, 4, 6... Bevel gear, 5... Drive shaft, 7...
...Opening part, 8, 8A, 8B...Engagement piece, 9A,
9B...Chevron protrusion, 13A, 13B...Tire, 14,14A ₁ ~ 14A ₃ ...V groove, 14B ₀ ~
14B ₃ ...V groove, 15...Joint surface.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A central wheel having a gear formed on its outer periphery that rotates in mesh with a drive shaft, left and right wheels that rotate in sliding contact with this central wheel, and a side surface of the central wheel that penetrates in the axial direction. A plurality of apertures are formed at intervals along the circumferential direction, each of which is movably inserted in each of the apertures along the axial direction, and has a planar hexagonal shape with chevron-shaped protrusions on both sides. An engaging piece, a through hole opened laterally in the center of the engaging piece, a stopper inserted into the through hole so as to be movable left and right, and the engaging piece on the side surfaces of the left and right wheels in contact with the center wheel. It consists of a plurality of V-grooves formed in a continuous ring shape that fit into the chevron-shaped protrusion of the dowel, and left and right output shafts connected to the left and right wheels, respectively, and each opening that passes through both sides of the center wheel. The interval between adjacent openings of the hole is set to half the width of the engaging piece inserted in the opening along the circumferential direction, or half the width of a multiple width plus a half width, and the shape is hexagonal in plan view. The length along the axial direction of the engaging piece forming the shape is set to such a length that when the chevron-shaped protrusion on one side is completely fitted into the V-groove of one of the left and right wheels, it escapes from the V-groove of the other wheel. What is claimed is: 1. A differential device characterized in that the differential device is configured to slide from side to side in an opening portion, and a stopper in the through hole projects on the side where the engagement piece escapes from the V-groove.