JPH0650123A - Oil quantity detection device of engine oil - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an oil quantity detection device capable of constantly detect proper oil quantity even when a vehicle is inclined and oil level in an oil pan varies concerning the oil quantity detection device of engine oil of the vehicle. CONSTITUTION:This oil quantity detection device is constituted by furnishing a float 1 to detect oil level in an oil pan and a float guide 8 to engage with the float 1 free to move, supporting one end of the float guide 8 by a support arm 10 free to oscillate and installing a dead weight 9 on the other end of the float guide 8 so that even when the oil level 2 of the oil pan varies, the float guide 8 constantly rests at a position where its shaft center line M-M comes to be vertical against the oil level 2 regardless of inclination of the oil pan.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle oil level detector for engine oil, and more particularly to a float type oil level detector for detecting that the engine oil level has dropped below a reference value. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional device for detecting the oil level of engine oil in a vehicle detects the oil level when the vehicle is in a substantially horizontal position. For example, in JP-A-50-40936, as shown in FIG. 6, the level of the oil surface 2 is detected by detecting the vertical position of the float 1 when the oil pan 3 is in the horizontal position. .

Generally, the shape of the oil pan that contains the engine oil is such that the shape of the oil pan 3 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the bottom portion 5 of the oil pan 6 as shown in the longitudinal sectional view of FIG. The cross-sectional area of the upper part is larger, and the outer wall 4 of the oil pan is inclined upward.

[0004]

Due to the shape of the oil pan as described above, the level of the oil surface 2 in the oil pan is, for example, when the vehicle leans forward, the original vehicle (engine) is The level 2 _a of the oil level in the horizontal position changes to 2 _c as shown in FIG. 5, and therefore the position of the float 1 changes from the initial position of 1 _{a to} the position of 1 _c as shown. Therefore, even though the amount of oil is the same,
At the position of the float 1, a difference in fluctuation distance of 1 _a −1 _c = h occurs.

For the above reason, when the oil level in the oil pan 3 is detected, if a conventional oil level detecting device is used, when the oil pan 3 tilts forward, it is actually shown in FIG. However, even though the amount of oil is the same, it will be recognized that the amount of oil has decreased by the variation distance h.

In view of the above inconvenience, in the present invention,
An object of the present invention is to provide an oil amount detection device for engine oil, which can always detect an appropriate oil amount even if the vehicle tilts and the oil level in the oil pan fluctuates.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided with a float for detecting the oil level of an engine oil in an oil pan and a float guide loosely fitted in the float. In an oil amount detection device for engine oil, one end of the float guide is swingably supported at a predetermined position of the engine, and a weight is attached to the other end, and the engine is inclined and the oil level in the oil pan fluctuates. Even in this case, the float guide remains stationary at a position where the axis of the float guide is always perpendicular to the oil surface regardless of the inclination of the oil pan, and the predetermined position does not depend on the inclination of the oil pan. The present invention provides an oil amount detection device for engine oil, which is characterized in that the distances to are set to be substantially equal distances.

A through hole is provided in the center of the float, the float guide is inserted into the through hole, a stopper / weight is attached to the lower end of the float guide, and the upper end of the float guide is located at a predetermined position of the engine. It is convenient to swingably attach to a fulcrum shaft fixed to an extended support arm. Further, it is effective that the upper end portion of the float guide is pivotally supported by a ball joint.

[0009]

[Function] When the vehicle equipped with the engine is tilted from the horizontal position, the oil level in the oil pan becomes an oil level tilted with respect to the original oil level in the oil pan. And is pivoted around the portion where the upper end is attached to the support arm, and the axis of the float guide is stationary at a position where it is always perpendicular to the oil level at that time. Therefore, the float loosely fitted to the float guide smoothly moves up and down along the float guide according to the height of the oil level at that time, and thereby the accurate oil level can be detected.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The first embodiment is shown in FIGS. 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the oil pan 3 as in FIG. 5, the same parts as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals, 1 is a float, 2 is an oil surface, 3 is an oil pan. Reference numeral 4 denotes an oil pan outer wall, 5 denotes an oil pan bottom surface, and 6 denotes an oil pan mounting portion.

[0011] vehicle oil pan oil level 2 passes the horizontal position 2 _a becomes as shown in FIG. 1 when in the horizontal position, the float 1 at this time is in the position of 1 _a. When the vehicle leans forward, as shown in FIG. 1, in the case of an engine that is in a normal vertical arrangement with respect to the vehicle, the longitudinal direction of the oil pan 3 (X-
The oil surface 2 inclines in the X direction) to become the oil surface 2 _b . At this time, in the conventional structure, the float position is 1 as shown in FIG.
_Therefore , the error of float fluctuation distance h occurred in the detection of the oil level.

In this embodiment, in order to prevent the above-mentioned error from occurring, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a through hole 11 is provided in the center of the float 1 and the float guide / switch holder 8 is inserted therein. Then, a stopper / weight 9 is attached to the lower end of the float guide 8 to prevent the float 1 from falling off and as a weight. It is mounted so that it can swing in any direction. The fulcrum shaft 7 is fixed to the tip of a support arm 10 fixedly attached to a predetermined position of an oil pan or an engine block.

According to the above configuration, as shown in FIG.
If the oil level 2 is moved from the position of the first 2 _a inclined position of the 2 _b, the float 1 is rotated around the fulcrum shaft 7, the 1 _b together with the oil surface from the location of the first 1 _a Move to position. At this time, the distance l between the fulcrum shaft 7 and the float 1 is the same as the fulcrum shaft 7 and the first float 1 when the oil amount does not change.
L _a = l _b between the distance l _b is the distance l _a and float between the position 1 _a and the position 1 _b after movement fulcrum shaft 7 and the float 1
The position of the fulcrum shaft 7 is determined so that the relationship of When the above-mentioned determination method is specifically described for this embodiment,
A plane that bisects the obtuse angle formed by the oil surface 2 at the position 2 _a and the oil surface at the position 2 _b that is inclined is obtained. The relation of l _a = l _b of the fulcrum shaft 7 Tosureba the one point on the plane in the oil above the surface is established. By setting the position of the fulcrum shaft 7 in this manner, even if the oil level 2 fluctuates back and forth, the conventional movement of the float 1 up and down, that is, like the conventional oil level detection in the horizontal position of the vehicle, Fulcrum shaft 7
By detecting the distance 1 between the float 1 and the float 1, the correct amount of oil can be detected.

Since the position of the oil surface when tilted differs depending on the shape of the oil pan, the position of the fulcrum shaft 7 also differs depending on the shape of the oil pan. In determining the position of the fulcrum shaft 7, first, the position of the oil surface at each inclination angle in each direction (front and rear, left and right, etc.) is obtained by calculation or experiment, and then the fulcrum at each inclination angle in each direction is determined by the above method. Find the position of axis 7. In this way, when considering two or more directions and two or more inclination angles, the position of the fulcrum shaft 7 is not fixed on one straight line or one point, but it is generally approximated at similar positions. In order to make a proper intersection, the approximate position of the fulcrum shaft 7 is determined with reference to those positions.

The stopper / weight 9 is attached as a weight to the tip of the float guide 8 so that the float guide / switch holder 8 is always perpendicular to the oil surface.

The mechanism for determining the height of the oil surface, that is, the amount of oil according to the vertical movement of the float 1 which is loosely fitted in the float guide / switch holder 8 has an oil in a normal horizontal position. Conventional sensors usually used for measuring the height of a surface (for example, JP-A-50-4).
(Disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 0936) may be used, and the description thereof will be omitted in the present application.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The present embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a ball joint 12 is used at the joint between the fulcrum shaft 7 and the float guide / switch holder 8 as shown. Since the other points are the same as those in the first embodiment, detailed description will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the ball joint 1
By using 2, it is possible to detect the oil amount in response to not only the front-back inclination of the vehicle but also the variation of the oil level corresponding to the complex inclination of the vehicle including the left-right inclination. The position of the ball joint 12 is determined according to the method for determining the position of the fulcrum shaft 7 described in the first embodiment.

[0019]

According to the present invention, even if the vehicle tilts and the position of the oil level in the oil pan fluctuates, an accurate oil amount can be detected by the float and the float guide that move corresponding to the fluctuating oil level. Means are provided to prevent a malfunction of the conventional oil amount detection when the vehicle is tilted. Further, the device is also simple and advantageous in terms of cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an oil pan showing a float arrangement of an oil amount detecting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of a float and a float guide in the oil amount detecting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a float and a float guide according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a float and a float guide according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of an oil pan showing the arrangement of floats in an oil amount detecting device according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of an oil pan showing an example of a conventional oil amount detecting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1 _a , 1 _b , 1 _c ... Float 2, 2 _a , 2 _b , 2 _c ... Oil surface in oil pan 3 ... Oil pan 7 ... Support shaft (swing axis) 8, 8 _a , 8 _b ... Float guide and switch holder 9, 9 _a, 9 _b ... stopper and weight 10 ... support arm (support) 11 ... through hole 12 ... ball joint l of the float, l _a, the distance between l _b ... pivot shaft and the float M- M: Float guide axis

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Amount of engine oil provided with a float (1) for detecting an oil level in an oil pan (3) of engine oil, and a float guide (8) loosely fitted in the float (1). In the detection device, one end of the float guide (8) is swingably supported at a predetermined position of the engine, and a weight (9) is attached to the other end of the float guide (8) so that the engine is tilted and the oil in the oil pan (3) is tilted. Even when the surface (2) changes, the float guide (8) remains stationary at a position where the axis of the float guide (8) is always perpendicular to the oil surface (2) regardless of the inclination of the oil pan (3). In addition, the engine oil oil amount detection device is characterized in that the predetermined position is defined as a position where the distance to the float is substantially equal regardless of the inclination of the oil pan. 2. A through hole (11) is provided in a central portion of the float (1), the float guide (8) is inserted into the through hole (11), and a lower end portion of the float guide (8) is provided. A stopper / weight (9) is attached and an upper end of the stopper / weight (9) is extended from a predetermined position of the engine to a supporting arm (1).
The oil amount detecting device of the engine oil according to claim 1, wherein the fulcrum shaft (7) fixed to (0) is swingably attached. 3. The engine oil amount detecting device according to claim 1, wherein an upper end portion of the float guide (8) is pivotally supported by a ball joint (12).