JPH0545865Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a hub clutch used in a drive shaft on the driven wheel side of a part-time four-wheel drive vehicle.

[Prior Art] This type of hub clutch, which has been conventionally used on the driven wheel side of part-time four-wheel drive vehicles, is a housing fixed to a wheel hub, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-82404. , an inner sleeve that rotates integrally with the drive shaft, a ring-shaped slide gear that is removably rotationally engaged between the housing and the inner sleeve, and a cam mechanism and a brake band that use friction to slide the slide gear in the axial direction. It consists of a brake mechanism that provides resistance, and a slide gear drive means that is a combination of springs, joints, etc.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, when the brake mechanism etc. is worn out and insufficient frictional force occurs, the clutch mechanism cannot satisfactorily slide the slide gear in the axial direction. In some cases, the rotational engagement between the wheels could not be achieved reliably, making four-wheel drive impossible.

In preparation for such a case, it has been strongly desired that the hub clutch be provided with a manually operated locking means.

Therefore, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-94903 discloses that a tool insertion opening or the like is provided on the outer periphery of the housing for forcibly moving the slide gear from the outside in the axial direction using a worker such as a screwdriver to rotationally engage and lock the slide gear. However, in order to maintain the engaged state of the slide gear in the engaged state, the moving engagement operation using the driver etc. is actually a horizontal movement in order to engage the slide gear with the parallel part of the cam. This is an extremely difficult task as it involves a combination of rotational operations.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has a simple structure that makes it extremely small and lightweight, and also incorporates a means that allows the rotational engagement of the housing and the drive gear to be extremely quickly, reliably, and easily carried out by the manual operation. The purpose is to provide a comprehensive hub clutch.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention moves axially based on a housing fixed to a wheel hub and an axial movement of a cam mechanism due to intermittent driving of a drive shaft. The hub has a gear member, and the movement of the gear member connects and disconnects the wheel hub and the drive shaft via the housing.
In the clutch, the gear member is divided into a clutch gear and a slide gear, and the two gears are provided so that they can mesh with each other in the divided portion, and the clutch gear can be moved in the axial direction to either the drive shaft or the housing. and the slide gear is provided on the other side so as to be movable in the axial direction, and the slide gear is provided so as to be able to move in the axial direction of the cam mechanism. A second elastic member is provided that biases the slide gear so as to mesh with the slide gear during axial movement without meshing during movement, and the first elastic member is configured to cause the clutch gear to mesh with the slide gear by external operation. The structure is such that a means capable of moving in the axial direction corresponding to the movement of the slide gear is provided.

[Function] If the slide gear does not move even when the drive shaft is driven, and the drive shaft and housing are not interlocked, use the specified tool to move the plug as a means in the axial direction and move the clutch gear. By moving it and meshing it with the slide gear, the drive shaft and housing can be interlocked. In this way, since only the operation of moving in the axial direction is required, a simple operation such as screwing in the plug is required, which is convenient.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the hub clutch of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings of FIGS. 1A to 3.

A cylindrical housing 5 which has a gear part 1 on its inner circumference and whose flange surface 3 is bolted and fixed to a hub (not shown)
On the other hand, there is a drive gear 9 that is concentrically and rotatably disposed and supported in the center via a bearing 7. The drive gear 9 has a spline 11 on its outer circumferential surface, and a drive shaft 13 is fitted into its inner circumferential portion via a spline 15 to rotate together.

The gear part 1 on the inner periphery of the housing 5 has a gear part 17 of the same shape that slidably engages on the outermost periphery, and the spline 11 of the drive gear 9 on the innermost periphery.
A double ring-shaped gear 21 is provided which has a spline 19 that slidably engages with the radial direction and is divided into two at the radial middle portion.

An inner clutch gear 25 and an outer slide gear 27 mesh with each other on both sides of the two-part part 23 of the gear 21, and there are teeth 29 that can be engaged and disengaged by relative movement in the axial direction.
is provided.

The slide gear 27 on the outer peripheral side of the teeth 29 is inserted into the drive shaft 1 into the drive gear 9.
A driving means 31 is provided for axial movement with a driving torque of 3. The driving means 31 includes a ring 35 with a rotation locking pawl 33 that is axially positioned and spline-engaged with the drive gear 9, a cam with an axial V-shaped uneven shape disposed on the outer periphery of the ring 35, and the ring 35. An inner ring 43 with a conical friction surface 41 having a locking pawl that engages with the rotation locking pawls 33 of 35 is provided.

Furthermore, there is an outer ring 49 which is non-rotatably fixed in its axial position by a fixed system (not shown) and has a conical friction surface 47 which faces the friction surface 41 and is equipped with an axial V-shaped uneven cam. The surfaces 41 and 47 serve as a brake mechanism. On the side of the outer ring 49, there is a slide ring 53 having a Z-shaped cross section, which has a V-shaped uneven cam follower corresponding to both the cams in the axial direction, and whose inner periphery is spline-engaged with the drive gear 9. Then, the cam mechanism 50 is formed by both cam surfaces and the cam follower.
It consists of

One side end surface is in contact with the side surface of the slide ring 53, the outer periphery is engaged with the gear part 1 on the inner periphery of the housing 5, and the slide gear 27 on the outer periphery side of the gear 21 is locked with the claw at the tip. A retainer 55 is provided. A first spring (second elastic member) 57 for axially suppressing the slide gear 27 on the outer periphery of the gear 21 is provided on the inner periphery of the retainer 55, and a clutch gear 25 on the inner periphery of the gear 21 is provided on the outer periphery of the drive gear 9. A second spring 59 is interposed to suppress the spring in the axial direction. The driving means 31 is composed of the bearing 35 and the second spring (first elastic member) 59 described above.

Next, while in four-wheel drive mode, the housing 5
When the drive gear 9 is not engaged by the gear 21, that is, the brake mechanism etc. are worn out and the function of the drive means cannot be achieved, and the slide gear 27 is not moved in the axial direction, and the clutch gear 25 of the gear 21 is not engaged. In the case where the clutch gear 25 is separated from the slide gear 27, the clutch gear 25 on the inner peripheral side far from the drive means 31 is moved in the axial direction from the right side to the left side in the drawing, and is engaged with the slide gear 27 and locked.
A screw-in plug 65 with a hexagonal hole is screwed into the outer end surface 63 of the housing 5 with the circumference corresponding to the outer end surface of the clutch gear 25 while applying a sealant.

In the hub clutch according to the embodiment configured as described above, when driving torque is input to the drive shaft 13, the drive gear 9 and the housing 5 are locked and power transmission is disabled, as shown in FIG. It will be done. Specifically, the driving means 31 on the drive gear 9 operates as follows.

First, from the state shown in FIG. 1, that is, the state in which the gear 21 is separated, the drive gear 9 and the slide ring 5 are
3 begins to rotate as one. As a result, the engagement portion between the cam and the cam follower rotates relative to each other, and the inner ring 43, outer ring 49, and slide ring 53 tend to separate in the axial direction. Frictional resistance is generated between the frictional surface 41 of the inner ring 43 and the frictional surface 47 of the outer ring 49.

As a result, the cam of the inner ring 43 also exerts an axial thrust on the cam follower, and the slide ring 53 rides on the cam of the inner ring, which is formed larger than the cam of the outer ring 43, and moves to the right in the drawing.

This movement compresses the first spring 57 and the second spring 59, and the repulsive force of the first spring 57 moves the slide gear 27 on the outer peripheral side of the gear 21 to the right in the drawing. The clutch gear 25 on the inner peripheral side of the gear 21 is initially provided at the end of the drive gear 9 (on the right side in the drawing) and its position is regulated by a stopper due to the repulsive force of the second spring 59. The gears 27 are moved and integrated into the state shown in FIG. 2, where they are rotationally engaged. The housing 5 and drive gear 9 are now locked, and the driving torque of the drive shaft 13 is transmitted to wheels (not shown).

Next, when changing from four-wheel drive to two-wheel drive, the above-mentioned members operate in the opposite direction by slightly moving the vehicle in the opposite direction. That is, the second spring 5
9, the cam follower moves axially inward along the cam and falls into the cam, causing the first
The gear 21 returns to its initial position as shown in the figure, and the clutch gear 25 and slide gear 27 of the gear 21 are separated as shown in FIG. In other words, the lock is released and the vehicle enters a two-wheel drive state.

Next, in this state, if for some reason, for example, the friction surfaces 41 or 47 of the inner and outer rings 43, 49 wear out and the locking state becomes incomplete, four-wheel drive will not be achieved even if you try to escape from the rough road. Manual locking is required as an emergency measure.

In this case, the screw plug 65 on the outer end surface 63 of the housing 5 is screwed in with a screwdriver or the like. With just this operation, the clutch gear 25 on the inner circumference side of the gear 21
As shown in FIG. 3, it is pushed toward the left side of the drawing, and is combined with the slide gear 27 on the outer circumferential side to be in a rotationally engaged state, thereby enabling the above-mentioned four-wheel drive state.

Note that when the screwed plug 65 that has been tightened inside the housing 5 is loosened and returned to its original position, the clutch gear 25 returns to its initial position due to the repulsive force of the second spring 59, and can return to its original unlocked state. can.

The hub clutch of the present invention is not limited to the one embodiment described above, but can be modified in various ways. For example, by using the plug as a grease nipple for supplying grease, it is also possible to supply grease into the housing. Furthermore, it is also possible to use a multi-plate clutch, a band brake, etc. as the brake mechanism, or to provide the slide gear on the drive gear side and the clutch gear on the housing side. Furthermore, there are various types of drive means for axially moving the gears other than those described in the embodiments described above, and the present invention can be easily applied to hub clutches using these other types of drive means.

[Effects of the invention] As is clear from the above explanation, according to the structure of the invention, the lock can be quickly and reliably locked with an extremely simple plug operation in case of an emergency such as when escaping from a rough road due to a malfunction of the internal mechanism. This makes four-wheel drive possible, which is very convenient. Moreover, there is no problem of increasing the size or weight of the device due to its structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1A is a vertical sectional view of one embodiment of the device of the present invention, Figure 1B is a plan view with the same parts omitted, and Figure 2A is a four-wheel drive lock of the device shown in Figure 1 during normal operation. FIG. 2B is a plan view with the same parts omitted, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the device in FIG. 1 in a locked state by manual operation in an emergency. Explanation of main drawing symbols, 5...Housing, 1
3... Drive shaft, 25... Clutch gear, 27... Slide gear, 50... Cam mechanism,
65...Plug.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It has a housing fixed to the wheel hub, and a gear member that moves in the axial direction based on the axial movement of the cam mechanism due to the intermittent driving of the drive shaft,
By moving the gear member, the gear member is divided into a clutch gear and a slide gear in the hub clutch that connects and disconnects the wheel hub and the drive shaft via the housing, and both gears can mesh with each other in this divided portion. The clutch gear is provided on one side of the drive shaft or the housing so as to be movable in the axial direction and always urged to a fixed position by a first elastic member, and and a second elastic member that urges the slide gear so that the slide gear is movable in the axial direction, and that both gears do not mesh when the cam mechanism is not moving in the axial direction, but mesh when the cam mechanism moves in the axial direction. and means capable of moving in the axial direction by an amount equivalent to the movement of the slide gear against the first elastic member so as to cause the clutch gear to mesh with the slide gear by external operation. Hub Clutch.