JPH06147216A - Joint construction of drive shaft made of composite material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a tube of the drive system breakable without failure at the time of a vehicle collision if even it is made in a flange coupling type. CONSTITUTION:Regarding a joint having a flange 12 made of a composite material provided on one end of a tube (mainly a propeller shaft) 11 made of a composite material and to have the flange 12 joining with a flange 14 provided on one end of an opponent shaft 13 using a bolt 15 screwed into an insert 17 buried in the flange 12, a protruding member 16 equipped with a cutter plate 24 extending toward the radius direction is provided on one end of the opponent shaft 13 to cut off the tube 11 with the cutter plate 24 at the time of a vehicle collision.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joint structure for a drive shaft made of a composite material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in drive systems of automobiles, in order to meet the increasing demand for weight reduction, the propeller shaft is mainly made of a fiber reinforced plastic (composite material) tube. By the way, the propeller shaft may be deformed or destroyed when it receives a shock of a certain magnitude or more in order to secure a place for the engine to escape due to the crushing of the vehicle body during a vehicle collision, that is, to drop the engine below the vehicle body. It is said to be desirable.

Therefore, in the past, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-480 has been proposed.
As shown in FIG. 8 as excerpted from Japanese Patent Publication No. 23, it is fitted and fixed to the end of the composite material tube 1 via an adhesive 2.
A conical portion 4 that bulges radially outward is provided at the base of the yoke 3 as a joint element, and when the vehicle collides, the conical portion 4 is introduced into the propeller shaft 1 to expand and deform the tube 1. .

[0004]

However, recently, in order to further reduce the weight of the drive system, a composite material flange (yoke) is integrally provided on the outer periphery of the end portion of the composite material tube, The development of joints that are flanged together is in progress (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-252146).
In the case of such a flange joint type joint, since there is no insertion part into the tube, it is difficult to deform or break the tube in the above-mentioned mode (Fig. 8), and a new alternative Measures were needed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object thereof is to provide a joint capable of reliably deforming or breaking the propeller shaft main body in the event of a vehicle collision even if flange coupling is formed. To provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a joint for a drive shaft having a tube made of a composite material containing resin, the composite being integrally provided at the end of the tube. A first flange made of material and a second flange integrally provided at an end of a mating shaft connected to the tube.
A flange and a coupling means for coupling both flanges, and at the end surface of the mating shaft, so as to project a cutter blade that extends radially and extends from the hollow inside of the tube to the outside thereof. It is characterized by being configured.

[0007]

In the joint of the composite material drive shaft constructed as described above, the cutter blade protruding from the end face of the mating shaft bites into the tube wall of the tube and cuts it when the vehicle collides.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, reference numeral 10 denotes a joint according to the present invention, and a first flange 12 integrally provided at an end of a tube (mainly of a propeller shaft) 11 made of a composite material, A second flange 14 integrally provided at an end of a shaft extending from a transmission (not shown) or a shaft extending from a differential (hereinafter, these shafts will be referred to as mating shafts) 13 and a bolt connecting the both flanges 12, 14 together. (Coupling member) 15 and a projecting member 16 projecting from the end surface of the mating shaft 13 are provided.

The tube 11 is made of a resin-impregnated fiber as a raw material by a filament winding method, a tape winding method, or the like, and as the fiber, glass fiber, carbon fiber, silicon carbide fiber, or the like is used. As the resin, epoxy resin, polyimide resin,
An unsaturated polyester resin or the like is selected.
The first flange 12 is also made of a resin-impregnated fiber as described above, and has four inserts (combining members) having female threads 17a into which the bolts 15 can be screwed. ) 17 are buried at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The present joint 10 is configured so that a predetermined joint angle (several degrees) can be secured by the deflection of the flange 12, and the first flange 12 has the same structure as shown in FIGS.
Front portion 18 including two inserts 17 each, as shown in FIG.
And a rear portion 19, and a thin portion 20 is provided on each of the front portion 18 and the rear portion 19. The first flange 12 is the same as the Japanese Patent Application No. 4-2521.
According to the procedure disclosed in No. 46, a resin-impregnated fiber is wound between the insert 17 and the outer circumference of the tube 11 to be formed.

The second flange 14 provided on the mating shaft 13 is composed of a plurality of projecting pieces 21 projecting radially outward from the outer peripheral surface of the mating shaft 13. Each protruding piece 21 has a bolt insertion hole 21a through which the bolt 15 can be inserted, and is provided at a position aligned with the insert 17 of the first flange 12 on the tube 11 side. This allows the first flange
Under the condition that each insert 17 in 12 is brought into contact with the protruding piece 21, by inserting the bolt 15 into the bolt insertion hole 21a of the protruding piece 21 and screwing this into the female screw 17a of the insert 17,
The first flange 12 and the second flange 14 are clamped and fixed, and the tube 11 is connected to the mating shaft 13.

On the other hand, the protruding member 16 protruding from the end face of the mating shaft 13 is provided with a disk-shaped bottom plate 22, a boss 23 protruding from the center of the rear surface of the bottom plate 22, and a surface of the bottom plate 22. It is equipped with a plurality (4 in this case) of cutter blades 24. Each cutter blade 24 has a triangular shape here, and is arranged on the bottom plate 22 with its inclined surface 24a facing forward (toward the tube 11 side). Further, each cutter blade 24 extends in the radial direction and is arranged on the bottom plate 22, and has a spread from the axial center position of the tube 11 to the outside thereof. Further, the four cutter blades 24 are arranged at equal intervals (at intervals of 90 degrees) in the circumferential direction of the bottom plate 22, and are integrated back to back so as to form a cross shape as a whole. Then, the protruding member 16
The boss 23 is rotatably supported by the mating shaft 13 by fitting the boss 23 into a recessed hole 25 formed in the end surface of the mating shaft 13 via a pair of bearings 26. The bearing 26 is preliminarily coupled to the boss 23, and the boss 23 is provided with a holding ring 27 for fixing the position of the bearing 26, an intermediate ring 28, a nut 29 and the like.

In the joint 10 constructed as described above, the bearing 26 is previously fitted to the boss 23 of the projecting member 16 by using the pressing ring 27, the intermediate ring 28, the nut 29, etc.
The boss (23) is press-fitted into the recessed hole (25) of the mating shaft (13) through the (26), and the projecting member (16) is rotatably assembled to the mating shaft (13). Then the tube
Insert each insert 17 in the first flange 12 on the 11 side into the mating shaft 13
Align the second flange 14 on the side, tighten both flanges 12 and 14 with bolts 15, and fix the tube 11 to the mating shaft 13
Connect to.

In such a connected state, if the vehicle now collides and a large shock is applied to the tube 11 from the mating shaft 13,
The protruding member 16 moves relative to the tube 11, the plurality of cutter blades 24 of the protruding member 16 bite in the axial direction with respect to the tube wall of the tube 11, and cut the tube 11 as if it was split with bamboo. , The engine escape area will be secured. By the way, the tube 11 made of the composite material may have the fibers oriented at a predetermined angle in the axial direction during its production in order to appropriately balance the bending rigidity and the torsional rigidity, but in the present embodiment, the protruding member 16 is used. Since it is rotatably provided, when the tube 11 is cut, the protruding member 16 rotates so as to be aligned with the orientation direction of the fibers, whereby the cutting length by the cutter blade 24 is further expanded.

In the above embodiment, the cutter blade 24 provided on the projecting member 16 has a flat plate shape, but the cutter blade 24 may have any shape, for example, as shown in FIG.
The twisted blade 24 'may be twisted in the axial direction as shown in Fig. 6 or the twisted blade 24 "may be twisted in the axial direction and the radial direction as shown in Fig. 6. In this case, the cutting of the tube 11 may be performed. At this time, the protrusion member 16 rotates more smoothly.
Further, in the above embodiment, four cutter blades 24 are provided, but the number of the cutter blades is arbitrary and may be three or less or five or more. Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the threaded insert is used as the insert 17, but the insert 17 has a structure having simply a bolt insertion hole 17b as shown in FIG.
31 may be used to fasten and fix the first and second flanges 12 and 14. Further, as shown in the figure, if the projection 21 of the second flange 14 is provided with the recess 21b into which the insert 17 can be fitted, the positioning of the two at the time of assembly becomes easy.

[0016]

As described above in detail, according to the joint structure of the composite material drive shaft according to the present invention, since the tube is cut in the axial direction by the cutter blade, the flange connection is formed. In this case, the tube can be surely deformed or broken, and the safety at the time of a vehicle collision is enhanced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a structure of a joint of a composite material drive shaft according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the shape of a protruding member including a cutter blade which is a part of the present joint.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the shape of a first flange provided at the end of the tube.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the first flange shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing another embodiment of the cutter blade.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing still another embodiment of the cutter blade.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the coupling member.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the structure of a conventional joint.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Tube 12 First flange 13 Counter shaft 14 Second flange 15 Bolt (joint member) 16 Projection member 17 Insert (joint member) 22 Bottom plate 24 Cutter blade

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drive shaft joint having a tube made of a composite material containing a resin, the first flange being made of a composite material integrally provided at an end of the tube, and being connected to the tube. Second integrated with the end of the mating shaft
A flange and a coupling means for coupling the both flanges, and on the end surface of the mating shaft, a cutter blade that is extended in the radial direction and has a spread from the hollow inside of the tube to the outside thereof is provided. Characteristic composite drive shaft joint structure.