JPH08232981A - Power assist device of clutch mechanism for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To secure clutch intermittent operation with light operational feeling by shifting a pressure disc in the clutch cutting direction by way of using rotational driving force of a sub-clutch to connectively work with a clutch housing. CONSTITUTION: A clutch housing 56 constantly rotates through a primary driven gear 68 while an engine 3 rotates. Hereby, when a clutch lever 15 is gripped, a drive push rod 52 moves to the right, a rotating sub clutch drive disc 67 is pressed on a sub clutch driven disc 65 through a frictional material 66 and rotational driving force is transmitted. When the disc 65 rotates, the driven disc 65 is shifted to the right by cam work of a shift mechanism 73, a clutch pressure disc 61 moves to the right against a spring 62 through a clutch push piece 54, a clutch plate 60 is separated from a clutch disc 58 and rotational driving force from the engine 3 is cut off.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power assist device for a vehicle clutch mechanism provided in a clutch mechanism of a motorcycle or an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In automobiles and motorcycles, a clutch mechanism is a device for intermittently transmitting drive torque to a power transmission system for transmitting the rotational driving force of an engine to a drive system below a transmission mechanism at the time of starting or shifting. Is equipped with.

This clutch mechanism transmits the rotational driving force of the engine to the transmission mechanism by constantly pressing the clutch disc connected to the engine side and the clutch plate connected to the transmission mechanism side with a spring. The rotation driving force of the engine is cut off by separating the disc and the clutch plate.

The operation of separating the clutch disc and the clutch plate is performed through an operation cable by, for example, depressing a clutch pedal in an automobile or manually operating a clutch lever in a motorcycle.
At that time, the lever principle is adopted for the clutch pedal and the clutch lever, and by taking a large pedal ratio and lever ratio,
It is designed to reduce the operation force and improve the operation feeling.

Further, in automobiles and motorcycles, there is a hydraulic clutch mechanism in which an on / off operation of the clutch mechanism is performed with a light operation feeling. In this hydraulic clutch mechanism, the clutch mechanism is operated intermittently by using the negative pressure of the engine intake manifold and the hydraulic pressure generated by the oil pump, so that the operating force of the clutch pedal and the clutch lever is reduced.

[0006]

However, the conventional hydraulic clutch mechanism is not compatible with the clutch mechanism adopting the operation cable in which the clutch operation force is transmitted through the operation cable, and the existing hydraulic clutch mechanism is not used. It is difficult to retrofit this hydraulic clutch mechanism to the conventional motorcycle model. In order to retrofit the hydraulic clutch mechanism to the conventional model, it is necessary to remake many related parts, which requires a lot of labor and time, resulting in cost increase.

Further, in the clutch mechanism employing the operation cable, the operation force of the clutch pedal and the clutch lever is reduced by increasing the pedal ratio and the lever ratio, but the operation force of the clutch pedal and the clutch lever is greatly reduced. It cannot be reduced. Particularly in motorcycles, with the recent increase in engine output, the force of the spring that presses the clutch disc and the clutch plate into contact with each other has increased, and the operating feeling of the clutch mechanism has become heavier.

When driving on a mountain road with many curves or slopes, or driving in a town where traffic is heavy and traffic is constantly congested, gear shifting operation must be frequently performed, and the lever of the clutch mechanism lever is operated each time. Is required.

However, when the lever of the clutch mechanism lever is frequently operated, the clutch mechanism operating force cannot be sufficiently reduced only by the lever ratio, so that the operation feeling is poor and the burden of manual operation is large, so that comfortable traveling is enjoyed. Was difficult.

Furthermore, if the clutch mechanism is not easily disengaged, the amount of operation of the clutch mechanism should be increased, but the rider's force and the size of the hand are limited, and the amount of operation of the clutch mechanism can be set freely. It was difficult to make it big.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and improves the operability of the clutch pedal and the clutch lever, and makes it possible to reliably perform the intermittent operation of the clutch mechanism with a light operation feeling. An object is to provide a power assist device for a mechanism.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a power assist device for a vehicle clutch mechanism according to the present invention, as set forth in claim 1, is provided with a clutch housing connected to the engine side. On the clutch disc,
The rotational driving force of the engine is transmitted to the transmission mechanism by constantly pressing the clutch plate connected to the transmission mechanism side with the clutch pressure disk via the spring, while the manual operation of the initial clutch operating member such as the clutch lever is performed. In a vehicle clutch mechanism configured to disconnect the rotational driving force of the engine by pulling the clutch plate away from the clutch disc via a clutch cable, a sub-clutch device that is operatively connected to the clutch housing in a rotationally integrated manner. A shift mechanism that shifts the clutch pressure disk in the direction of disengaging the clutch by using the rotational driving force of the sub-clutch device, and a clutch operation system that can operate the shift mechanism are provided.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, as described in claim 2, the sub-clutch device is operatively connected to the clutch housing and integrally rotates,
Further, a sub-clutch drive disc that can move forward and backward in the rotation axis direction and a sub-clutch driven disc that is operatively connected to the clutch pressure disc and that can move forward and backward in the rotation axis direction face each other in the rotation axis direction via a friction material. It is arranged and configured.

[0014]

In the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the sub-clutch drive disc and the clutch pressure disc which are operatively connected to the clutch housing to rotate integrally therewith and which can move back and forth in the rotational axis direction thereof, and their rotation. A sub-clutch device in which sub-clutch driven discs that can move back and forth in the axial direction are arranged so as to face each other in the rotation axis direction via a friction material, and the clutch pressure discs are formed by utilizing the rotational driving force of the sub-clutch device. Since the shift mechanism for shifting the clutch in the disengagement direction and the clutch operation system capable of operating this shift mechanism are provided, the force required to operate the initial clutch operation member is only the force for moving the sub clutch drive disk. Therefore, the operation load of the initial clutch operation member is small and light. It can be reliably performed intermittently operation of the clutch mechanism at work feeling.

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 is a left side view showing an example of a motorcycle to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, this motorcycle has one body frame 2, and an engine 3 is mounted on the lower front side of the body frame 2. A fuel tank 4 is arranged above the engine 3, and an operation seat 5 is installed behind the fuel tank 4.

A head pipe 6 is provided in front of the body frame 2.
The head pipe 6 is provided with a steering mechanism 7. The steering mechanism 7 includes front wheels 8
A pair of left and right front forks 9 for rotatably supporting is provided. The front fork 9 is fixed in parallel by an upper bracket 10a and a lower bracket 10b so as to sandwich the front wheel 8, while a handlebar 11 is provided on the upper end side of the front fork 9 and a front fender is provided on the lower side of the front fork 9. 12 etc. are attached. The steering mechanism 7 is pivotally attached to the head pipe 6 so as to be rotatable left and right, and the front wheel 8 is steered left and right by the turning operation of the handlebar 11.

A brake lever (not shown) for operating a brake device 13 provided on the front wheel 8 is provided on the right end side of the handlebar 11. A clutch lever 15 is provided on the left end side of the handlebar 11 as an initial clutch operating member of a clutch mechanism 14 described later.

On the other hand, pivot brackets 16 are provided on the left and right sides of the center lower portion of the body frame 2, and the base end of the swing arm 18 swings around the pivot shaft 17 on a pivot shaft 17 installed between the pivot brackets 16. Freely pivoted. The lower end of the rear shock absorber 19 is pivotally attached to the rear end side of the swing arm 18, and the upper end of the rear shock absorber 19 is pivotally attached to the vehicle body frame 2, and the rear wheel 20 is rotated at the rear end of the swing arm 18. It is rotatably supported.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view of the engine 3. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the engine 3 is mainly composed of a cylinder head 21, a cylinder block 22, and a crankcase 23, and the cylinder head 21 is composed of a camshaft 24, an intake / exhaust valve 25, and the like. The valve operating mechanism 26 is provided. The upper portion of the cylinder head 21 is closed by the cylinder head cover 27.

An exhaust pipe 28 which constitutes an engine exhaust system is provided on the front side of the cylinder block 22,
A muffler 29 is connected to the downstream side of the exhaust pipe 28. Further, a carburetor 30 constituting an engine intake system is connected to the rear side of the cylinder block 22 via an intake pipe 31, and an air cleaner 32 is arranged on the upstream side of the carburetor 30. Further, a radiator 33 that constitutes an engine cooling system is arranged in front of the engine 3.

A cylinder 34 is formed inside the cylinder block 22, and a piston 35 reciprocates in the cylinder 34. A combustion chamber 36 is formed in a space between the cylinder head 21 of the cylinder 34 and the piston 35, and an ignition plug 37 is screwed to the center of the combustion chamber 36 from the outside. The piston 35 is connected to the crankshaft 39 via the connecting rod 38, and
9 is rotatably supported in the crankcase 23, and converts the reciprocating stroke of the piston 35 into rotational movement.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rear half of the crankcase 23 is a mission chamber 40, and a transmission mechanism 41 is provided inside the mission chamber 40.
Is arranged. The transmission mechanism 41 includes a counter shuff 4 arranged parallel to the crankshaft 39.
2 and a drive shaft 43, both shafts 42,
43 is operatively connected by respective gear trains 44 and 45.

Further, one end of the drive shaft 43 projects outside the mission chamber 40, and a drive sprocket 46 is provided on the projecting portion 43a, and a drive chain 48 is provided between the drive shaft 43 and the driven sprocket 47 of the rear wheel 20 shown in FIG.
Is wound.

The counter shuff 42 is provided with the clutch mechanism 14. This clutch mechanism 14 is
For example, it is a push rod type wet multi-plate coil spring type clutch, and includes a clutch main body 49 provided at one end of the counter shuff 42, for example, the right side in the traveling direction of the vehicle, and a clutch operation system 50 provided at the other end of the counter shuff 42. It is roughly divided into.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan sectional view of the clutch body 49. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the clutch body 4
9 is a plurality of push rods 51 and 52, a plurality of clutch push pieces 53 and 54, a sub-clutch device 55,
The clutch housing 56, the power clutch drive plate 57, the clutch disc 58, the clutch release hub 59, the clutch plate 60, the clutch pressure disc 61, the spring 62 and the like are included. Further, the clutch operation system 50 includes the clutch lever 15,
The clutch cable 63 and the clutch release 64 are included.

The counter shuff 42 has a hollow cylindrical shape, and the inside 42a thereof has a hollow inside.
A driven push rod 51 whose both ends are formed in a spherical shape is arranged so as to be movable back and forth in the axial direction.

Clutch body 49 of the counter shuff 42
One end of a first clutch push piece 53 having an outer peripheral flange 53a formed on an outer peripheral surface of a central portion thereof is attached to the opening portion of the side end portion so as to be movable back and forth in the axial direction. One end of a drive push rod 52 whose both ends are formed in a spherical shape is attached to the portion so as to be movable back and forth in the axial direction.

The other end of the first clutch push piece 53 has a shaft hole 65 of a disk-shaped sub clutch driven disk 65.
It is joined to a in such a manner that it can move back and forth in the axial direction. The first clutch push piece 5 of the sub clutch driven disc 65
An outer peripheral flange 65b is formed on the outer peripheral surface on the third side. The outer peripheral flange 65b is engaged with a sub clutch drive disk 67 rotatably attached to the first clutch push piece 53 via a friction material 66 so as to be frictionally contactable with the sub clutch drive disk 67. Together, these sub-clutch driven disc 65, friction material 66 and sub-clutch drive disc 67 constitute a sub-clutch device 55.

On the other hand, the clutch housing 56 has a bottomed cylindrical shape integrally including a donut-shaped bottom plate 56a and a peripheral wall 56b extending from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom plate 56a in parallel with the counter shuff 42. The driven gear 68 is fixed by the rivet 70 via the damper 69. The primary driven gear 68 is
It is operatively connected to a primary drive gear 71 provided on the crankshaft 39 and rotatably attached to the counter shuff 42.

Further, the clutch housing 56 has a donut-shaped bottom plate 57a and a power clutch drive plate 5 having a peripheral wall 57b extending from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom plate 57a toward the edge of the clutch housing peripheral wall 56b.
7 is fixed to the clutch housing 56 so as to rotate integrally therewith.
Further, the outer peripheral edge portions of a plurality of clutch discs 58 are fitted to the inner surface of the peripheral wall 56b of the clutch housing 56,
The clutch disc 58 rotates integrally with the clutch housing 56.

Like the clutch housing 56, the clutch release hub 59 has a donut-shaped bottom plate 59a and a sleeve-shaped peripheral wall 59b extending in parallel with the counter shuff 42 from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom plate 59a integrally fixed to each other in two parts. The bottom plate 59a has a cylindrical shape, and the bottom plate 59a is spline-fitted to the counter shuff 42, and the inner peripheral edge portions of a plurality of clutch plates 60 are spline-fitted to the outer peripheral portion of the sleeve-shaped peripheral wall 59b.
Rotates integrally with the clutch release hub 59. The clutch discs 58 and the clutch plates 60 are arranged so as to be alternately overlapped with each other.
Is constantly pressed against the clutch disc 58 via the cylindrical clutch pressure disc 61 by the force of the coil spring 62, for example.

A second clutch push piece 54 is arranged on the outer periphery of the sub-clutch driven disk 65. The second clutch push piece 54 has a cylindrical shape, and the inner peripheral edge of the bottom plate 57a of the power clutch drive plate 57 is spline-fitted in the outer peripheral surface thereof so as to be axially movable back and forth. The outer peripheral surface of the sub-clutch drive disk 67 is spline-fitted to the peripheral surface so as to be movable back and forth in the axial direction. An outer peripheral flange 54a and an inner peripheral flange 54b are integrally or integrally provided separately on the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the second clutch push piece 54, respectively.

A clutch pressure disk 61 is attached to the outer peripheral flange 54a of the second clutch push piece 54,
The inner peripheral flange 61a formed on the inner peripheral surface and the thrust bearing 72a are pressed against each other. Also, the second
The inner peripheral flange 54b of the clutch push piece 54 is pressed against the outer peripheral flange 65b of the sub clutch driven disk 65 via a thrust bearing 72b. Further, the sub-clutch driven disc 65 is pressed against a sub-clutch drive disc 67 rotatably attached to the first clutch push piece 53 via a friction material 66. Then, the sub-clutch drive disk 67 is
It is pressed against the outer peripheral flange 53a of the first clutch push piece 53 via the thrust bearing 72c.

On the other hand, the sub-clutch driven disk 65
A cam rod 65c is projectingly provided on the right side of the drawing, and a shift mechanism 73 is arranged at the tip thereof. This shift mechanism 73
Is composed of, for example, a rotating cam portion 73a fixed to the tip of the cam rod 65c with a bolt 74 and the like, and a fixed cam portion 73b attached to a clutch cover 75 that covers the clutch body 49 from the outside of the crankcase 23. A cam hole 73c formed obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the cam rod 65c is formed between the cam portions 73a and 73b, and a ball cam 73d is arranged in the cam hole 73c. The shift mechanism 73 is configured to rotate the sub-clutch driven disc 65 as the sub-clutch driven disc 6 rotates.
5 is shifted in the axial direction.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 3, a clutch release 64 of the clutch operating system 50 is attached to the other end of the drive push rod 52. The clutch release 64 is provided with a release arm 76, and the clutch lever 15 is connected to the release arm 76 via a clutch cable 63. Then, the clutch cable 63 is pulled by gripping the clutch lever 15, and the clutch release 64 is pulled via the release arm 76.
Rotates. The clutch release 64 slides on the spiral 64a by rotating, and the drive push rod 52
To the right of the figure.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

While the engine 3 is rotating, the clutch housing 56 is constantly rotating via the crankshaft 39, the primary drive gear 71, and the primary driven gear 68. Since the clutch plate 60 provided on the clutch release hub 59 is constantly pressed against the clutch disc 58 provided on the clutch housing 56 by the spring force of the spring 62, the clutch housing 5
6 and the clutch release hub 59 rotate integrally, and by rotating the counter shuff 42, the power from the crankshaft 39 is constantly transmitted to the transmission mechanism 41.

By the way, while the engine 3 is rotating, the power clutch drive plate 57, which is fixed to the clutch housing 56 so as to rotate integrally therewith, also covers the clutch housing 56.
It is always rotating as well. Further, the second clutch push piece 54, which is spline-fitted to the inner peripheral edge of the bottom plate 57a of the power clutch drive plate 57, is also constantly rotating. Further, the sub-clutch drive disk 67, which is spline-fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the second clutch push piece 54, also constantly rotates.

When the clutch lever 15 is grasped in order to disconnect the power, the drive push rod 52 moves to the right in the figure as described above, and the first clutch push piece 53 is pushed through the driven push rod 51. Move it to the right in the figure. When the first clutch push piece 53 moves to the right, the rotating sub-clutch drive disk 67 pressed against the outer peripheral flange 53a of the first clutch push piece 53 via the thrust bearing 72c moves to the right in the figure. The rotational driving force of the engine 3 is transmitted to the sub clutch driven disk 65 via the friction material 66.

When the sub clutch driven disc 65 rotates, the cam mechanism of the shift mechanism 73 shifts the sub clutch driven disc 65 to the right in the figure. By shifting the sub-clutch driven disc 65 to the right, the clutch pressure disc 61 moves to the right in the figure through the second clutch push piece 54 against the spring 62, and the clutch plate 60 is separated from the clutch disc 58. The rotational driving force from the engine 3 is cut off.

According to the present invention, since the force for separating the clutch plate 60 from the clutch disc 58 is obtained from the rotational driving force of the engine 3 via the sub-clutch device 55, the force required to operate the clutch lever 15 is the first. Only the force for moving the one-clutch push piece 53 and the sub-clutch drive disk 67 is required. Therefore, even if the force of the spring 62 that presses the clutch plate 60 against the clutch disc 58 increases with the increase in output of the engine 3, the burden of manual operation of the clutch lever 15 does not increase, and a light operation feeling is obtained. Thus, it is possible to reliably perform the intermittent operation of the clutch mechanism 14.

Further, since the clutch mechanism 14 is intermittently operated by the rotational driving force of the engine 3, a separate power source is not required unlike the hydraulic clutch mechanism.

Furthermore, since many members of the conventional clutch mechanism can be shared or diverted, they can be easily incorporated into the conventional model with few changes.

In the above embodiment, the clutch power assist device is applied to the motorcycle 1. However, the clutch power assist device may be applied to a motorcycle or a four-wheeled vehicle.

[0047]

As described above, according to the power assist device for a vehicle clutch mechanism according to the present invention, the sub-clutch is operatively connected to the clutch housing to rotate integrally, and is movable back and forth in the rotation axis direction. A sub-clutch device in which a sub-clutch driven disk that is operatively connected to a drive disk and a clutch pressure disk and that can move back and forth in the rotation axis direction is arranged to face each other in the rotation axis direction via a friction material, and this sub-clutch Since a shift mechanism for shifting the clutch pressure disk in the direction of disengaging the clutch by utilizing the rotational driving force of the device and a clutch operating system capable of operating the shift mechanism are provided, it is necessary to operate the initial clutch operating member. The force need only be the force to move the sub-clutch drive disc. Burden on the operator of the dynamic clutch operation member is reduced, it is possible to reliably perform the intermittent operation of the clutch mechanism in a light feeling of operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a left side view of a motorcycle showing an embodiment of a power assist device for a vehicle clutch mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view of an engine.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan sectional view of the clutch body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Motorcycle 3 Engine 14 Clutch Mechanism 15 Clutch Lever (Initial Clutch Operating Member) 23 Crankcase 39 Crankshaft 40 Mission Room 41 Transmission Mechanism 42 Counter Shaft 43 Drive Shaft 49 Clutch Main Body 50 Clutch Operation System 51 Driven Push Rod 52 Drive Push Rod 53 First Clutch Push Piece 54 Second Clutch Push Piece 55 Sub Clutch Device 56 Clutch Housing 57 Power Clutch Drive Plate 58 Clutch Disc 59 Clutch Release Hub 60 Clutch Plate 61 Clutch Pressure Disc 62 Spring 63 Clutch Cable 64 Clutch Release 65 Sub Clutch Driven Disc 66 Friction material 67 Sub clutch Live disk 73 shift mechanism

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rotational driving force of the engine is transferred to a clutch disc of a clutch housing connected to the engine side by constantly pressing a clutch plate connected to the transmission mechanism side with a clutch pressure disc via a spring. A clutch mechanism for a vehicle, in which the rotational driving force of the engine is cut off by separating the clutch plate from the clutch disc via a clutch cable by manual operation of an initial clutch operating member such as a clutch lever while transmitting to the mechanism. And a sub-clutch device that is rotatably integrally connected to the clutch housing, and a shift device that shifts the clutch pressure disc in a clutch disengaging direction by utilizing a rotational driving force of the sub-clutch device. A power assist device for a vehicular clutch mechanism, comprising: a clutch mechanism and a clutch operation system capable of operating the shift mechanism. 2. The sub-clutch device is operatively connected to the clutch housing to rotate integrally therewith, and is operatively connected to the clutch pressure disk and a sub-clutch drive disk which is movable back and forth in a rotation axis direction thereof.
2. The power assist device for a vehicle clutch mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a sub-clutch driven disk that is movable back and forth in the rotation axis direction and is arranged to face the rotation axis direction via a friction material.