JPH05178105A - Propeller shaft - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To absorb impact to reduce the generation of shock by easily deforming a portion of a hollow pipe, and preventing a propeller shaft from being stretched. CONSTITUTION:An expanded portion 20 is formed in the circumferential direction in the midway of a hollow pipe 10 so that when excessive force is applied in the axial direction of the hollow pipe 10 for forming a propeller shaft 6, the hollow pipe 10 is easily deformed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a propeller shaft, and more particularly to a propeller shaft having a simple structure and capable of reducing a shock when a vehicle collides.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle, as shown in FIGS.
A power transmission system that transmits the power of the internal combustion engine (not shown) from the transmission 102 to the final reduction gear 106 via the propeller shaft 104 and rotates wheels (not shown) attached to the wheel shaft 108 is provided. Has been. The propeller shaft 104 has the following features:
It is composed of a hollow tube 110.

At one end of the hollow tube 110, as shown in FIG. 4, a first mounting yoke 112 attached to one end of the hollow tube 110 is connected to a first joint 114. The first spline portion 114 a of the first joint 114 is the transmission 10
The transmission 102 is connected to the transmission 102 by being engaged with a spline engagement portion 2 (not shown).

On the other end of the hollow tube 110,
As with the one end side, the second tube attached to the other end side of the hollow tube 110
A mounting yoke 116 is connected to the final reduction gear 106 via a second joint 118.

In the power transmission system having such a propeller shaft 104, the length with the final reduction gear 106 changes (axial expansion / contraction) due to the movement of the suspension device and the transmission.
Therefore, this change is performed by, for example, the first and second joints 11
It has a structure in which it is absorbed by sliding the spline portions of Nos. 4 and 118.

The structure of the propeller shaft is as follows.
For example, it is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-61208. In this publication, the propeller shaft is divided into three parts, only the second joint counted from the engine output shaft side is a constant velocity joint, the other three joints are cross joints, and the first and second joints are used. The axis line connecting the engine output shaft and the engine output shaft are arranged on a substantially straight line, and the axis line connecting the second and third joints and the differential input shaft are arranged substantially parallel to each other, whereby three cross joints are adopted. Even so, it is to make the unequal speed as small as possible.

[0007]

However, in the conventional propeller shaft, since the propeller shaft is oriented in the front-rear direction at a substantially central portion of the vehicle at the time of collision of the vehicle, the propeller shaft is axially oriented. A structure in which an excessive force acts (in the X direction in FIG. 4) to absorb the change in the length with the final reduction gear due to the movement of the suspension device or the like is not sufficient. It becomes a tension state,
There was an inconvenience that a big shock occurred.

[0008]

In order to eliminate the above-mentioned inconvenience, the present invention provides a propeller shaft formed of a hollow pipe for transmitting power from a transmission mounted on a vehicle. In order to easily deform the hollow tube when an excessive force acts in the direction, a bulge portion is formed in the circumferential direction in the middle of the hollow tube.

[0009]

According to the structure of the present invention, when the vehicle collides and an excessive force acts in the axial direction of the propeller shaft, a part of the hollow pipe is easily deformed due to the presence of the bulging portion.
It is possible to prevent the propeller shaft from being pushed by deformation of the vehicle body, absorb the shock, and reduce the occurrence of shock.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail and specifically with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 2 is a transmission connected to an internal combustion engine (not shown) of the vehicle, and 4 is a final reduction gear. The power of the transmission 2 is transmitted to the final reduction gear 4 via the propeller shaft 6 and rotates wheels (not shown) attached to the wheel shaft 8.

The propeller shaft 6 is, as shown in FIG.
The hollow tube 10 is used to improve the rigidity per weight.

On one end side of the hollow tube 10, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the first mounting yoke 12 attached to one end of the hollow pipe 10 is connected to the first joint 14, and the first spline portion 14 a of the first joint is connected to the spline engaging portion of the transmission 2 (see FIG. It is connected to the transmission 2 by being engaged with (not shown).

On the other end side of the hollow tube 10, as shown in FIG. 2, the second mounting yoke 16 attached to the other end side of the hollow tube 10 is arranged on the other end side as in the case of the one end side. It is connected to the final reduction gear 4 via the two joints 18.

In the power transmission system including the propeller shaft 6, although not shown, the length of the final reduction gear 4 changes (axial expansion / contraction) due to movements of the suspension device and the transmission.
Therefore, this change is performed by, for example, the first and second joints 14,
It is absorbed by sliding the 18 spline parts.

In the middle of the hollow tube 10, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a bulging portion 20 is formed in the circumferential direction. The bulged portion 20 easily deforms the hollow tube 10 when an excessive force acts in the axial direction X of the propeller shaft 6. The bulging portion 10 is formed to have a width L while protruding from the outer peripheral surface 10c of the hollow tube 10 by a height H.

In this embodiment, although only one bulge 20 is shown in the hollow tube 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of bulges 20 are formed in parallel in the hollow tube 10. It is also possible.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When the vehicle collides from the front side or the rear side and an excessive force acts in the axial direction X of the propeller shaft 6, the spline portions of the first and second joints 14 and 16 slide and the hollow pipe Since the bulge portion 20 is formed in 10,
Due to the presence of the bulging portion 20, the hollow tube 10 is easily deformed (buckled), so that the propeller shaft 6 can be prevented from being pushed by the deformation of the vehicle body. Therefore, the impact at the time of a vehicle collision can be absorbed by the hollow tube 10 to reduce the occurrence of shock.

Further, in this embodiment, the hollow tube 10
Since the bulge portion 20 is only formed on the propeller shaft 6, the propeller shaft 6 has the same function as in the past during normal traveling, and there are few changes, so that the conventional parts attached to the hollow tube 10 can be used as they are, and the number of parts It is possible to prevent an increase in weight without increasing.

In this embodiment, a bulge portion 20 is formed on the propeller shaft 6 between the transmission 2 and the final reduction gear 4. The bulge portion 20 is formed by the transmission 2 and the auxiliary transmission (not shown). ) And the auxiliary transmission and final reducer 4
It is also possible to form it on a shaft or the like.

[0021]

As is clear from the above detailed description, according to the present invention, the hollow tube which constitutes the propeller shaft is easily deformed when an excessive force acts in the axial direction. By forming a bulging part in the circumferential direction in the middle of the hollow pipe, the bulging part of the hollow pipe is easily deformed when the vehicle collides, so the propeller shaft will not be in a protruding state. As a result, the shock is absorbed and the occurrence of the shock can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a connecting portion on one end side of a propeller shaft.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a power transmission system of a vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional vehicle power transmission system.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a connection portion on one end side of a conventional propeller shaft.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 transmission 4 final reduction gear 6 propeller shaft 10 hollow tube 14 first joint 18 second joint 20 bulge

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A propeller shaft comprising a hollow pipe for transmitting power from a transmission mounted on a vehicle, wherein the hollow pipe is easily deformed when an excessive force acts in the axial direction of the propeller shaft. A propeller shaft characterized in that a bulged portion is formed in the circumferential direction in the middle of the hollow tube.