JPH0988539A - Oil level gage installation structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save a space and reduce part items by improving an oil level gage guide applied to the engine of an automobile. SOLUTION: A bar oil level gage 20 is inserted in a space 24 in the chamber of a timing chain 12 formed to a cylinder block 2 and a cylinder head 3 composing the engine 1 of an automobile. The oil level gage 20 is inserted along a chain guide 13 so that a pipelike oil level gage guide which has been indispensable is no more required to be arranged, therefore, a space can be saved and part items can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an oil level gauge mounting structure applicable to an automobile engine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is well known that there are a so-called wet sump type in which lubricating oil is stored in an oil pan and a so-called dry sump type in which oil is stored in a dedicated tank when the engine is stopped. Is. Among them, the former one, which is generally adopted in many cases, is provided with a level gauge guide on a cylinder block, a chain cover, or an oil pump or an oil pan constituting an engine. FIG. 5 shows an example.
To explain this, 1 is an engine for automobiles, 2
Is a cylinder block, 3 is a cylinder head, 4 is a cylinder head cover, and 5 is an oil pan.

A crankshaft 6 is rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown) on the cylinder block 2, and a crank sprocket 7 is attached to the end of the crankshaft 6. Two camshafts 8 and 9 are rotatably supported by bearings (not shown) at the joint between the cylinder head 3 and the cylinder head cover 4, and cam timing sprockets 10 and 11 are attached to the ends thereof. The timing chain 1 is provided between the crank sprocket 7 and the cam timing sprockets 10 and 11.
Two have been bridged.

The chain guide 1 is provided at the drive side of the cam timing sprocket 11 of the timing chain 12.
3 is provided, along which the timing chain 12 moves. FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing that portion. The chain guide 13 has a recess 13a toward the timing chain 12 side.
2 runs while being fitted in the recess 13a. Also,
In FIG. 5, the chain tensioner 1 is provided at a portion between the crank sprocket 7 and the cam timing sprocket 10.
4 is provided to give the timing chain 12 a predetermined tension. Reference numeral 15 is a chain adjuster for adjusting the position of the chain tensioner 14.

An oil level gauge guide 16 made of a pipe material is provided on the side portions of the cylinder block 2 and the cylinder head 3, and the lower end of the oil level gauge guide 16 is connected to the lower portion of the cylinder block 2 (a portion called a crankcase). are doing. As shown in FIG. 7, the connecting portion has a stepped hole 17 provided in the cylinder block 2, and an O-ring 18 is interposed in the stepped portion. The structure is such that the guide 16 is press-fitted.

The upper part of the oil level gauge guide 16 is
It is fixed to the cylinder head 3 by fixing means (not shown). A rod-shaped oil level gauge 20 is inserted into the oil level gauge guide 16 from above, and the tip of the oil level gauge 20 is inserted into the oil pan 5 and is immersed in the stored lubricating oil 21. 22 is an oil filter, 23 is oil 2
Reference numeral 1 is a pipe for guiding an oil pump (not shown), and 20a is a finger hook portion of the oil level gauge 20.

In the conventional oil level gauge mounting structure having such a structure, the oil 2 in the oil pan 5 is
When checking the amount of 1, put a finger into the finger hook 20a and pull the oil level gauge 20 upward to pull it out from the oil level gauge guide 16, wipe the tip with a dry cloth, and then insert it again into the oil level gauge guide 16. .
Then, the oil is extracted again, and the amount of the oil 21 and most of the dirt are detected from the state of the oil attached to the tip.

[0008]

In this structure,
Since the oil level gauge guide 16 formed of a pipe material is manufactured separately from the cylinder block 2 and the cylinder head 3 and is fixed to the cylinder block 2 and the cylinder head 3, the number of parts increases, and There is a problem in that the number of manufacturing steps is increased due to the necessity of complicated bending to avoid each accessory. Further, in the case where the lower end of the oil level gauge guide 16 is press-fitted into the cylinder block 2 by using the O-ring 18, oil leakage may occur when the O-ring 18 deteriorates. For this reason, an O-ring is used, which does not easily deteriorate even if it is used for a long period of time, which is expensive.

In addition to the above, the mounting structure of the oil level gauge is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-71319 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 7314, there is one in which an oil level gauge guide is not particularly provided and the oil return passages of the cylinder head and the cylinder block are also used as the oil level gauge guide. By doing this, it is only necessary to insert the oil level gauge into the oil return passage, so it is not necessary to provide a separate oil level gauge guide, but if there is a step in the oil return passage, the oil level gauge cannot be inserted and removed smoothly. Therefore, it is necessary to process the oil return passage so that the oil can be smoothly inserted and removed, resulting in an increase in the number of manufacturing steps.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and it is used as an oil level gauge guide by utilizing a part of a cylinder block, a cylinder head, etc., and an oil level gauge guide made of a pipe material is not separately provided. The present invention aims to provide a mounting structure for an oil level gauge which is designed to meet the above requirements.

[0011]

As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a crank sprocket mounted on a crankshaft and a cam mounted on a camshaft in the invention described in claim 1. In an engine in which a timing chain is provided between the timing sprocket and the idler sprocket and a chain guide for guiding the timing chain is provided, a rod-shaped oil level is provided in the space of the timing chain chamber formed in the cylinder block and the cylinder head. It is characterized by inserting a gauge.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that a guide portion of the oil level gauge is formed in the chain guide and the oil level gauge is inserted into the guide portion.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
The same parts as in FIG. 5 will be described with the same reference numerals. In this structure, the oil level gauge 20 is inserted into the space 24 in the timing chain chamber (the portion where the timing chain 12 is located) at the ends of the cylinder block 2 and the cylinder head 3. Since the oil level gauge 20 is inserted from above, an oil level gauge receiver 25 is formed in a part of the cylinder head 3 communicating with this space 24.

The oil level gauge receiver 25 is provided with a hole (not shown) projecting to the side of the cylinder head 3 and inserting the oil level gauge 20 in the vertical direction. An oil level gauge 20 is inserted in this hole. The oil level gauge 20 passes through the space 24 on the side of the chain guide 13 and the lower end is immersed in the oil 21 in the oil pan 5.

When the amount of oil 21 in the oil pan 5 is to be checked in the oil level gauge mounting structure thus constructed, a finger is put in the finger-holding portion 20a and the oil level gauge 20 is pulled upward to pull out the cylinder block 2 and Pull out from the space 24 of the cylinder head 3, wipe off the tip with a dry cloth, and then re-receive the oil level gauge receiver 25.
To the space 24. Then, the oil is extracted again, and the amount of the oil 21 and most of the dirt are detected from the state of the oil attached to the tip. That is, the operation is no different from the conventional one shown in FIG. Structurally, it is not necessary to separately provide an oil level gauge guide made of a pipe material, and the cylinder block 2 and the cylinder head 3 are provided.
Since the space 24 can be formed in the process of casting, the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention, which is a modification of the one shown in FIG. This embodiment differs from that of FIG. 1 in that the cylinder block 2
In addition, the cylinder head 3 is made slightly larger, the space 24 is formed larger, and the insertion portion of the oil level gauge 20 is independent of the timing chain chamber. Then, the oil level gauge 20 is inserted into this space 24.
In this structure, the oil return passage 26 is communicated with the upper portion of the space 24, and the oil from the oil return passage 26 is guided to the oil pan 5 through the space 24 to reduce the foaming of the oil.

Shown in FIG. 3 is yet another embodiment of the present invention. The shapes of the cylinder block 2 and the cylinder head 3 and the space 24 in this embodiment are substantially the same as those shown in FIG. The difference is that
Change the cross-sectional shape of the chain guide 13 as shown in FIG.
A concave guide portion 13b (see FIG. 4) is formed on a part of the inner side thereof, and the oil level gauge 20 is passed through the guide portion 13b. In this way, the oil level gauge 20 is connected to the guide portion 13 of the chain guide 13.
Since it is guided to b, the insertion / removal can be smoothly performed.

Although the embodiment described above relates to the chain guide of the timing chain that is hung between the crank sprocket and the cam timing sprocket, the crank sprocket does not directly drive the cam timing sprocket and the idler sprocket is used. In the case of an engine driven via a chain, a portion of a chain guide provided between them is used as an oil level gauge guide.

[0019]

According to the present invention, there is provided an oil level gauge mounting structure constructed as described above.
In the invention described in (1), it is not necessary to provide a level gauge guide made of a conventional pipe material, the number of parts can be reduced, and the oil level gauge in the engine room is considered. Since there is no need, the degree of freedom in design is improved. With the oil level gauge guide of the pipe material, there is a risk of oil leakage at the insertion portion into the cylinder block, and it was necessary to improve the sealing performance, but such consideration is completely unnecessary.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the above effects, since the chain guide also serves as the level gauge guide, space saving can be achieved, and the shape of the chain guide allows The oil level gauge can be easily inserted and removed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention with an engine chain cover removed.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention similarly to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing still another embodiment of the present invention similarly to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a conventional oil level gauge guide in a portion similar to FIG.

6 is a partial sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

7 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Engine 2 Cylinder Block 3 Cylinder Head 5 Oil Pan 12 Timing Chain 13 Chain Guide 13b Guide 20 Oil Level Gauge 21 Oil 24 Space

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An engine in which a timing chain is provided between a crank sprocket mounted on a crankshaft and a cam timing sprocket or idler sprocket mounted on a camshaft, and a chain guide for guiding the timing chain is provided. A mounting structure for an oil level gauge, characterized in that a rod-shaped oil level gauge is inserted into the space of the timing chain chamber formed in the cylinder block and the cylinder head. 2. The oil level gauge mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein a guide portion of the oil level gauge is formed on the chain guide, and the oil level gauge is inserted through the guide portion.