JPH10952A - Power propulsion unit for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure a power propulsion unit with a driving force regulating mechanism, which makes use of the power transmission structure of a four-wheel drive vehicle, and suited to a two-wheel drive vehicle mounted with a transverse engine. SOLUTION: This propulsion unit is provided with a transverse engine 1 of a four-wheel drive vehicle turning to the same layout as a two-wheel drive vehicle, a transmission 3 and two differential gears 9 and 5, and in this constitution, a housing 25 housed with a driving force regulating mechanism 11a, regulating a distribution of driving force in both symmetrical wheels, is attached to a mounting surface 8 being made up in a differential housing 6 of these differential gears 9 and 5. With this, a power propulsion unit with the driving force regulating mechanism 11a suited to the two-wheel drive vehicle is securable without requiring new parts, insofar as possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power propulsion device for a motor vehicle capable of adjusting the distribution of driving force from an engine transmitted to right and left wheels via a transmission.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in automobiles that transmit power required for traveling to front and rear two wheels, so-called four-wheel drive vehicles, in order to enhance the kinetic performance, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-345535, the right and left sides of the rear are used. 2. Description of the Related Art A power propulsion device capable of adjusting the distribution of torque (driving force) transmitted to wheels has been used.

[0003] This power propulsion device is configured by providing a driving force adjusting mechanism in a rear differential device connected to a center differential device that distributes driving force to front and rear wheels. Specifically, the driving force adjusting mechanism uses an acceleration / deceleration mechanism to input the rear differential device,
Alternatively, a rotational speed that is increased or decreased from the rotational speed of the output toward one of the wheels is generated, and the output of the rotational speed is transmitted to one of the transmission shafts (axles) extending from the rear differential device to the wheels using a clutch device. Thus, the torque distributed to the left and right wheels is adjusted using the differential function of the rear differential device.

[0004]

Therefore, a front two-wheel drive vehicle (FF vehicle) in which a horizontally mounted engine is mounted together with a transmission is also provided with a driving force adjusting mechanism to enhance the dynamic performance of the front two-wheel drive vehicle. It is considered.

[0005] For this purpose, it is necessary to similarly provide a driving force adjusting mechanism in the front differential device of the front two-wheel drive vehicle to utilize the differential function of the front differential device. However, the front differential device of the front two-wheel drive vehicle does not consider attachment of an external device, so that there is no mounting surface on which the driving force adjusting mechanism is mounted. In addition, since the front differential device is based on a front two-wheel drive vehicle, a structure for forming the input path and the two output paths required by the driving force adjustment mechanism cannot be secured from the mounting surface, and the entire front differential apparatus is required. Unless it is newly manufactured, matching with the driving force adjustment mechanism cannot be obtained.

[0006] In this case, even if the kinetic performance of the front two-wheel drive vehicle is improved, the cost is further increased. For this reason, there is a demand for a front two-wheel drive vehicle with a drive force adjusting mechanism that minimizes costs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to use a power transmission structure of a four-wheel drive vehicle to adjust a driving force suitable for a low-cost front two-wheel drive vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide a power propulsion device for a vehicle, which can obtain a power propulsion device with a mechanism.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an engine which is disposed horizontally, and which is connected to one end of the engine to transmit torque from the engine. A first differential that is adjacent to the transmission in the front-rear direction, inputs an output from the transmission to an input element, and allows differential output to two output elements; A differential housing having a mounting surface on which the housing of the second differential device used for the four-wheel drive vehicle is mounted on the side of the first differential device and formed on the side close to the engine; An engine-side output shaft for transmitting the power of one output element of the one differential to the engine-side wheels, and a traverse for transmitting the power of the other output element of the first differential to the transmission-side wheels. A transmission-side output shaft and an engine-side output shaft are provided, and the engine-side output shaft is engaged with the other output element or input element of the first differential via a speed-up / down mechanism. By controlling the driving force adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting the driving force distribution of the left and right wheels, and a housing for the driving force adjusting mechanism that accommodates the driving force adjusting mechanism and is attached to the mounting surface adjacent to the engine in the front-rear direction. That is to adopt the power propulsion device for automobiles.

The first differential device is a front differential device that distributes driving force to left and right wheels. In four-wheel drive vehicles, the first
The differential device is a center differential device that distributes driving force to front and rear drive shafts, and the second differential device is a front differential device that distributes driving force to left and right front wheels.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a front two-wheel drive vehicle having a drive force adjusting mechanism is manufactured by diverting the power transmission structure of a four-wheel drive vehicle. In other words, the four-wheel drive vehicle has the same layout as the front two-wheel drive vehicle, with the engine placed horizontally, the transmission connected to the engine end, and the front and rear sides arranged adjacent to and parallel to this transmission. A differential device (center differential) for distribution is provided, and a driving force distributed to the front side by the differential device (center differential) is provided on a lateral mounting surface formed on a differential housing of the differential device (center differential). Is mounted on the housing of the differential (front differential) that distributes the front wheels to the front two wheels (left and right wheels) to achieve four-wheel drive. (This is a front two-wheel drive vehicle and a four-wheel drive vehicle This is an excellent method in terms of cost because parts are shared between the two.

Here, looking at the differential (center differential) in a four-wheel drive vehicle, the differential housing of the differential has a mounting surface. In addition, the differential device (center differential) has a function of distributing the driving force to the front and rear, and is configured to communicate with an external device through one input path and two output paths through the mounting surface of the differential housing.

Therefore, the driving force adjusting mechanism can be easily attached to the front two-wheel drive vehicle by diverting the layout of the engine, transmission, and differential device of the four-wheel drive vehicle.

More specifically, when the driving force adjusting mechanism is mounted, the differential device receiving the output from the transmission is distributed to the front and rear, instead of the differential device for distributing the differential to the left and right wheels. The drive force adjustment mechanism is simply changed by attaching the drive force adjustment mechanism housing that contains the drive force adjustment mechanism to the mounting surface formed on the housing instead of the front differential housing that covers the differential (front differential). Attached, it is possible to adjust the driving force of the left and right wheels using the differential function.

The structure in which the driving force adjusting mechanism is attached to the power propulsion device of the front two-wheel drive vehicle, which is the base of the four-wheel drive vehicle, requires a relatively small number of newly manufactured parts, thereby reducing the cost. The installation of the driving force adjustment mechanism is promised. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to a front two-wheel drive vehicle but also to a rear two-wheel drive vehicle (MR vehicle, RR vehicle), and a driving force adjusting mechanism can be provided at low cost.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on one embodiment shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a power propulsion device of a front two-wheel drive vehicle (FF vehicle). In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an engine mounted horizontally in an engine room (not shown) of the front two-wheel drive vehicle. is there.

A transmission, for example, a transmission 3 (T / M) for automatic transmission is connected to the flywheel housing 1a formed at the end of the engine and projecting therearound via, for example, a torque converter 2 (T / C). Have been.

The output of the transmission 3 is connected via a counter shaft 4 and a counter gear 4a to a front differential device 5 (first differential device) arranged in the front-rear direction adjacent to the torque converter 2. . And
The front differential device 5 includes a differential housing 6 formed to extend from a transmission case 3 a of the transmission 3.
Housed inside.

As shown in FIG. 3, the differential housing 6 extends, for example, to a line (same plane) extending from the mounting surface 2a adjacent to the mounting surface 2a of the torque converter 2. A substantially circular mounting surface 8 having a spigot-shaped through hole 8a in the center is formed on a wall portion 6a forming the same surface as the mounting surface 2a.

In the layout from the engine 1 to the differential housing 6, a power propulsion device used in a four-wheel drive vehicle is directly used. Specifically, the power propulsion device of the four-wheel drive vehicle has the same layout as that of the front two-wheel drive vehicle, as shown in FIG. The transmission 3 is provided with a center differential device 9 for distributing the driving force to the front / rear sides. The center differential device 9 is mounted on the front mounting side 8 on the side mounting surface 8 formed in the differential housing 6 accommodating the center differential device 9. A four-wheel drive is achieved by attaching a housing 10a of a front differential device 10 that distributes the distributed driving force to two front wheels (left and right wheels). Reference numeral 10b denotes a transfer device including the front differential device 10.

In the power propulsion device for a front two-wheel drive vehicle, a front differential device 5 is housed (replaced) in a differential housing 6 instead of the center differential device 9 in the power propulsion device for a four-wheel drive vehicle.

As shown in FIGS. 4 (b) and 7, the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6 has the mounting surface 7, a through hole 8a, and a plurality of fixing holes around the through hole 8a. The screw hole 8b (shown in FIG. 7) is shared as it is, and the transfer device 10b (including the front differential device 10) is used.
Instead, a driving force adjusting device 11 is attached, and a layout of a power propulsion device for a front two-wheel drive vehicle having a driving force adjusting function as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4C is established.

More specifically, the front differential device 5 which replaces the center differential device 9 employs a planetary gear structure which is disposed in a differential housing 6 with its axis oriented in the engine front-rear direction.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front differential device 5 includes a sun gear 13 (constructing an output element) in a differential housing 6 and a ring gear 14 on an inner peripheral surface.
(Construction of input element) formed cylindrical differential case 15
Are arranged concentrically, and planetary pinions 17a and 17b are meshed between the sun gear 13 and the ring gear 14.

A transmission shaft 18 (transmission-side output shaft) connected to the left front wheel (transmission-side wheel) passes through a left wall portion of the differential housing 6 so as to support a planetary pinion 17a. Output element) (spline fitting). Further, a transmission shaft 20 (engine-side output shaft) connected to the right front wheel (engine-side wheel) is connected to the sun gear 13 (spline fitting) through the through hole 8a.

The differential case 15 is provided with a large-diameter final gear 15a (constituting a final reduction gear) meshing with the counter gear 4a, and the ring gear 14 is rotated by the output from the transmission 3. Then, this rotation is distributed to both transmission shafts 18 and 20 by the planetary pinions 17a and 17b, while allowing the rotation difference. That is, when the ring gear 14 rotates, the planetary pinions 17a, 17b revolve around the sun gear 13 while rotating, transmitting the driving force to the transmission shaft 18, and the planetary pinions 17a, 1b.
The driving force is transmitted to the transmission shaft 20 in accordance with the balance between the revolution of 7b and the rotation.

Transmission shaft 2 from sun gear 13 to through hole 8a
A cylindrical second transmission shaft 21 connected to the planetary carrier 19 is rotatably fitted to the outer peripheral portion of the outer periphery of the second transmission shaft 21. A spline 21 is provided on the outer periphery of the tip of the second transmission shaft 21.
a is formed.

On the other hand, a structure as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is employed for the driving force adjusting device 11 which is mounted on the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6 by sharing the differential housing 6 of the four-wheel drive vehicle. Have been.

The driving force adjusting device 11 will be described.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a main body case (a housing for a driving force adjustment mechanism) that constitutes the driving force adjustment device 11. This body case 25
As shown in FIG. 6, the front and rear cases 27 and 28 each having a substantially bowl shape are provided on both sides of the wall-like portion 26 so as to sandwich the wall-like portion 26.
Are configured in combination.

The front case 27 has a mounting seat 29 composed of an end plate portion corresponding to the outer shape of the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6. At the center of the mounting seat 29, a cylindrical insertion portion 30 that can be inserted into the through hole 8a of the mounting surface 8 is formed. At the peripheral edge of the mounting seat 29, a screw hole 8b formed on the mounting surface 8 and a pin 8c (FIGS. 1 and 2) so that the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6 can be diverted and fixed. Only shown)
A through hole 31 is formed as shown in FIGS.

From the outer peripheral portion of the mounting seat 29, a cylindrical housing portion 32 extending toward the opposite side to the insertion portion 30 is formed. Reference numeral 32b denotes a coupling flange formed at the end of the housing.

The rear case 28 comprises a bottomed cylindrical housing portion 33 having a through hole 33a formed at the center of the end wall portion 28a. Reference numeral 34 denotes a coupling flange formed at the end of the housing.

The wall 26 has a through hole 26a at the center and flanges 32b, 34 (front and rear cases 2) on both sides.
7, 28) and a polymerizable surface 35a, 35b that can be polymerized.

The overlapping surfaces 35a, 35 of the wall 26
b, flange portions 32 of the front case 27 and the rear case 28
b, 34 are superimposed, and the wall portion 26 and the flange portion 34 are overlapped.
The body case 25 having a short overall length is formed by fixing the wall-like portion 26 and the flange portion 32b to each other, for example, by connecting them with bolts 36.

The main body case 25 includes the differential housing 6.
The insertion part 30 of the front case 27 is inserted into the through hole 8a of the front case 27, and the mounting seat 29 of the front case 27 is attached to the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6.
The mounting surface 8 and the mounting seat 29 are connected to each other with bolts 37 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, thereby being fixed to the differential housing 6 used in the four-wheel drive vehicle.

Here, the mounting surface 2a of the torque converter 2
And the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6 are disposed close to each other on the same plane, and therefore the main body case 25 may interfere with the flywheel housing 1a projecting from the engine 1 side.

Therefore, in order to avoid this, the front case 27
The housing portion 32 has a recessed portion 32a which is partially recessed so as to allow the protruding flywheel housing portion to escape as shown in FIGS.

Using this case structure, a gear chamber 38 is formed in a space portion in the main body case 25, more specifically, in a space surrounded by the front case 27 and the wall-like portion 26, A clutch room 39 is provided in a space surrounded by the case 28.
Is composed.

The transmission shaft 2 extending from the differential housing 6
0 is each through hole of the main body case 25, that is, the insertion portion 30
And protrudes toward the right front wheel through the through hole 26a and the through hole 33a.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, 6, and 7, the gear chamber 29 is provided with an increasing / decreasing mechanism 40, and the clutch chamber 30 is provided with a clutch device 60. The driving force adjusting mechanism 11a adjusts the torque distribution to the motor.

Here, the increasing / decreasing mechanism 40 will be described. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes the engine 1 which sandwiches the transmission shaft 20 in the gear chamber 38.
This is an acceleration / deceleration gear (one) provided at a part which escapes (is separated) from the engine 1 on the side opposite to the side.

The accelerating / decelerating gear 41 has a shaft 43 whose both ends are rotatable by bearings 42 formed on the back surface of the mounting seat of the front case 27 and the side surface of the wall member 26 facing the same. I have. The shaft portion 43 is parallel to the axis of the transmission shaft 20 and has an outer peripheral portion in order from the front differential device 5 side.
An input gear 44, a speed increasing gear 45 having more teeth than the input gear 44, and a reduction gear 46 having less teeth than the input gear 44 are integrally provided.

The input gear 44 meshes with a relay shaft 47 rotatably mounted on the outer periphery of the transmission shaft 20. Specifically, the relay shaft 47 is rotatably supported by a bearing 48 provided on the mounting seat 29 so as to be coaxial with the transmission shaft 20. A counter gear 49 meshing with the input gear 44 is integrally provided at the end on the clutch chamber 39 side. At the end on the front differential device 5 side, a spline 21a of the second transmission shaft 21 protruding from the front differential device 5 and a spline portion 47a that can be inserted and removed are formed. The distal end of the spline portion 47a is disposed close to the distal end of the insertion portion 30. When the insertion portion 30 of the main body case 25 is inserted into the through hole 8a of the differential housing 6, the spline portion 47a faces the through hole 8a. The second transmission shaft 21 meshes with the spline 21a.

The connected second transmission shaft 21 and relay shaft 4
7, the driving force transmitted to the left front wheel is
1 is input. The speed increasing gear 45 is
It is engaged with a speed increasing gear portion 50 rotatably provided on the outer peripheral portion of the transmission shaft 20 adjacent to the counter gear 49. Further, the reduction gear 46 is provided adjacent to the gear portion 50 and the transmission shaft 20.
Is engaged with a deceleration gear portion 51 rotatably provided on the outer peripheral portion of the motor.

The gear portion 50 for speed increase includes the transmission shaft 2.
Cylindrical rotating member 52 rotatably fitted around the outer periphery of
It is provided in. The reduction gear portion 51 is provided on a cylindrical rotating member 53 rotatably fitted around the outer periphery of the rotating member 52.

The rotating members 52 and 53 extend through the through-hole 26a of the wall portion 26 and extend to the clutch chamber 39 on the right front wheel side. The decelerated rotation is output to the clutch device 60.

As the clutch device 60, for example, a hydraulically driven multi-plate type double-type clutch device is used.
Referring to the clutch device 60, reference numeral 61 denotes a cylindrical housing which is arranged concentrically with the transmission shaft 20 and on the outer peripheral side of the clutch chamber 39 and has an outer diameter slightly smaller than a circular cross section of the clutch chamber 39, for example. Reference numeral 62 denotes a boss portion spline-fitted to a transmission shaft portion penetrating the end wall portion of the rear case 28. The right front wheel end of the housing 61 is integrally connected to the boss 62 via an end wall 63a extending from the right front wheel. The housing 6
An end wall 63b is also provided at the end on the side of the first acceleration / deceleration mechanism 11.

The boss 62 is rotatably supported together with the transmission shaft 20 by a bearing 64 provided on the end wall 28 a of the rear case 28 so that the driving force from the transmission shaft 20 is transmitted to the housing 61. It is.

On the inner peripheral surface of the housing portion 61, there are provided two sets of friction plate units 65a, which are located on both sides in the width direction and support, for example, a plurality of ring-shaped friction plates 65 so as to be movable in the axial direction. 65b are provided.

Among the friction plates of the friction plate unit 65a, a plurality of ring-shaped clutch disks 67a provided on a disk support 66a supported (by spline fitting) at the extending end of the rotating member 53 are provided. Intervening,
When a pressing force is applied to the friction plate group by the hydraulic piston 68a provided on the end wall portion 63b to slip (engage) the friction plate 65 and the clutch disk 67a, "the torque is transmitted from the higher speed side to the lower speed side." , The torque distributed to the right front wheel is moved to the left front wheel by utilizing the differential function of the front differential device 5.

A plurality of ring-shaped clutch disks 67b provided on a disk support 66b supported (by spline fitting) at the extending end of the rotating member 52 are interposed between the friction plates of the friction plate unit 65b. When the friction plate 65 is slipped (engaged) between the friction plate 65 and the clutch disk 67a by applying a pressing force to the friction plate group by the hydraulic piston 68b provided on the end wall 63a, the front differential device 5 is operated in the same principle. The torque distributed to the left front wheel is moved to the right front wheel by utilizing the differential function of (1).

More specifically, the hydraulic pistons 68a, 68
8b and a side portion of the wall-like portion 26 facing the rear case 28.
For example, ring-shaped hydraulic chambers 69a and 69b for receiving hydraulic pressure,
Actuators 70a and 70b for pressing hydraulic pistons 68a and 68b with hydraulic pressure applied to 69b are provided, and control required for adjusting the torque transfer is performed by hydraulic pressure introduced into hydraulic chamber 69a or hydraulic chamber 69b. I have to be.

The two sets of clutch elements and the gears of the acceleration / deceleration mechanism 40 are all arranged as close to the mounting seat 29 as possible. To escape further from engine 1,
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the acceleration / deceleration gear 41 provided on the side opposite to the engine 1 side is arranged as close to the transmission shaft 20 as possible so as to overlap with the clutch element. The entire driving force adjustment mechanism 11 is compactly concentrated on the front differential device 5 side.

In addition to this concentrated arrangement, the driving force adjusting device 11 is made compact by the relief by the recessed portion 32a formed in the main body case 25 and the suppression of the outer diameter by the two sets of clutch elements. The whole is arranged in a narrow area adjacent to the engine 1 in the engine room without interfering with the steering shaft and the exhaust pipe of the engine 1 (both are not shown).

On the other hand, an oil reservoir 73 for storing a lubricating oil 72 is formed at the inner bottom of the gear chamber 38, as shown in FIGS. The oil reservoir 73 communicates with the inner bottom of the clutch chamber 39 through a return passage 74 (shown in FIG. 2) penetrating the lower part of the wall 26 along the thickness direction, for example, as shown in FIG. The lubricating oil 72 is also stored below the clutch chamber 39 so that the friction plates 65a and 65b and the clutch disks 67a and 6 are also indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
7b is partially immersed.

The oil reservoir 73 and the clutch chamber 39
Lubricating oil 72 stored in an oil reservoir 75 formed in the lower part of
Thus, lubrication of the meshing portion of the acceleration / deceleration gear 41, the clutch device 6
0 can be cooled.

On the outer peripheral portion of the rotation member 53 for deceleration,
An oil feed pump 76 utilizing the rotation of the clutch device 60 is provided. The oil feed pump 76 rotatably provides a cylindrical boss portion 77 integral with the end wall portion 63b on an outer peripheral portion of the deceleration rotating member 53 penetrating through the through hole 26a of the wall portion 26, A helical oil supply groove 78 extending continuously in the axial direction is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the boss 77.

The spiral oil supply groove 78 is provided in the housing portion 6.
When receiving the rotation of 1 and rotating around the rotating member 53,
It has a function of feeding the lubricating oil 72 from the oil reservoir 73 of the gear chamber 38 to the oil reservoir 75 of the clutch chamber 39.

The lubricating oil 72 in the oil reservoir 73 and the oil reservoir 75 is caused to flow by the oil supply.
A bearing 79 is interposed between the boss 77 and the inner surface of the through hole 26a, and the other side of the housing 61 is rotatably supported by using the boss 77 having a feeding function. ing.

Next, the operation of the power propulsion device for a front two-wheel drive vehicle configured as described above will be described. Engine 1
(E / G) is output from the torque converter 2
(T / C), through transmission 3 (T / M)
Output to the counter shaft 4.

This rotation is input from the counter gear 4a via the final gear 15a to the ring gear 14, which is an input element of the front differential device 5. The rotation of the ring gear 14 causes the planetary pinion 1 to rotate and revolve as one output element of the front differential device 5.
The power is output from the transmission shaft 18 to the left front wheel via the planetary carriers 19 and 17b.

The rotation of the link gear 14 is transmitted through the planetary pinions 17a and 17b to the front differential 5
Through the sun gear 13 which is the other output element of the transmission shaft 1
8 to the right front wheel.

By the movement of the front differential device 5, a uniform torque is transmitted to the left and right wheels at a ratio of 50:50 (specifically, the left and right wheels are distributed), and the rotation (speed) difference between the left and right wheels is reduced. The behavior is allowed by the planetary pinions 17a and 17b.

Then, the planetary carrier 1 at this time
The rotation output from the transmission 9 and the rotation output from the sun gear 13 are transmitted to the driving force adjusting device 11 installed adjacent to the engine 1 through the through hole 8a of the front differential device 5.

More specifically, the rotation of the planetary carrier 19 is controlled by the rotation of the second transmission shaft 21, the relay shaft 47, and the counter gear 49.
Is transmitted from the input gear 44 to the acceleration / deceleration gear 41. This rotation is speeded up by a speed-up mechanism constituted by a speed-increasing gear 45 and a speed-up gear section 50 that mesh with each other, and is output to the clutch disk 67b via the rotating member 52 and the disk support 66b. At the same time, the rotation of the planetary carrier 19 is reduced by a reduction mechanism constituted by the meshing reduction gear 46 and the reduction gear portion 51, and is output to the clutch disk 67a via the rotating member 53 and the disk support 66a. .

The rotation of the sun gear 13 is controlled by the transmission shaft 20,
Through the end wall 63a, two sets of friction plate units 65a, 65
5b is transmitted to the friction plate 65 at a time. At this time, if the friction plate units 65a and 65b are in the off state (the friction plate 65 and the clutch disks 67a and 67b are not engaged),
Normally, the differential function of the front differential device 5 is exerted, and the steered left and right wheels are driven with equal torque.

Here, a hydraulic pressure is supplied to the hydraulic chamber 69b, and the hydraulic piston 68b is pushed to move the friction plate unit 65b.
Is turned on, the torque distribution is adjusted so that the torque transmitted to the right wheel increases.

That is, when the hydraulic piston 68b is pushed, the mutual friction surfaces of the friction plate 65 of the friction plate unit 65b and the clutch disk 67b come into close contact. At this time, since the speed of the clutch disk 67b is increased by the speed increasing mechanism, a slip occurs with the friction plate 65.

Here, since the torque is transmitted from the higher speed side to the lower speed side, the torque is transferred from the clutch disk 67b to the friction plate 65. Thereby, the torque of the transmission shaft 20 increases.

Further, the amount of the increase in the torque
And the torque distributed to the transmission shaft 18 via the planetary carrier 19 decreases. Thus, the torque distribution ratio is adjusted so that the torque transmitted to the right wheel is “increased” and the torque transmitted to the left wheel is “decreased”.

When hydraulic pressure is supplied to the hydraulic chamber 69a and the hydraulic piston 68a is pushed to turn on the friction plate unit 65a, the torque transmitted to the left wheel is distributed so as to increase.

That is, when the hydraulic piston 68a is pushed, the friction surface between the friction plate 65 of the friction plate unit 65a and the clutch disk 67a comes into close contact. At this time, since the clutch disk 67a is being decelerated by the speed reduction mechanism, a slip occurs with the friction plate 65.

At this time, based on the principle that “torque is transmitted from the higher speed side to the lower speed side”, the transmission shaft 20
Is transmitted through the clutch disk 67a, the speed increasing / decreasing gear 41, the relay shaft 47, and the second transmission shaft 21 that rotate slowly.
The power is transmitted from the planetary carrier 19 of the front differential device 5 to the transmission shaft 18.

As a result, the torque distribution ratio is adjusted so that the torque transmitted to the left wheel increases and the torque transmitted to the right wheel decreases. The adjustment of the torque distribution to the steered wheels (front two wheels) performed in this manner enhances the kinetic performance of the front two-wheel drive vehicle.

At the time of such adjustment of the torque distribution, the friction plate 65 and the clutch disks 67 a and 67 b of the clutch device 60 that generate heat due to slipping are cooled by the lubricating oil 72 stored in the oil reservoir 75.

More specifically, the friction plate 65 and the clutch disks 67a and 67b rotate while being immersed in the lubricating oil 72 of the oil reservoir 75, and at this time, the heat of the friction plate 65 and the clutch disks 67a and 67b is It is robbed at 72.

At this time, the housing portion 61,
If only the entire unit including the friction plate 65 and the clutch disks 67a and 67b passes, the lubricating oil 72 of the oil reservoir 75 has a locally high temperature only at the part in contact with the unit and a low temperature at other parts. The temperature distribution becomes as follows, and it is difficult to perform efficient cooling of the clutch device 65.

Therefore, this is solved by the oil feed pump 76. That is, the boss 77 having the oil feed groove 78
The oil feed pump 76 is driven by the rotational force transmitted from the transmission shaft 20 to the housing 61 to remove the lubricating oil 72 in the oil reservoir 73 that lubricates the gear mechanism in the gear chamber 38. The oil is sent to the oil reservoir 75 of the clutch chamber 39.

Then, the lubricating oil 72 in the oil reservoir 75 flows, and convection is promoted. As a result, the lubricating oil 72 in the oil reservoir 75 has no low-temperature stagnant portion (stagnant low-temperature portion), and the clutch device 65 is always cooled by the lubricating oil 72 having a low oil temperature. .

The oil reservoir 75 on the clutch chamber side returns to the oil reservoir 73 on the gear chamber side through the return passage 74.
When a power propulsion device for a front two-wheel drive vehicle having such a torque distribution adjusting function is manufactured, a power transmission structure of a four-wheel drive vehicle is diverted, and a driving force adjustment device 11 is installed on the power transmission structure. What is necessary is just to make a driving car.

That is, first, the engine 1 to the differential housing 6 are arranged in the same layout as the four-wheel drive vehicle to be diverted.
The power section up to is prepared as one unit (Fig. 4
(In (a), the transfer device 10b including the front differential device 10 is removed.)

The reason for using this unit is that the mounting surface 8 for connecting to the external device is already formed in the differential housing 6, and the mounting surface 8 is already formed with the through hole 8a. This is because necessary input / output paths can be secured.

Next, the right side of FIG. 4B and FIG.
In place of the center differential device 9 accommodated in the differential housing 6 as shown in FIG. 1, a front differential device 5 is installed to replace the differential device.

By this replacement, a portion that engages with the driving force adjusting mechanism 11a is formed in the through hole 8a of the mounting surface 8.
Specifically, the tip of the second transmission shaft 21 is disposed at the center of the passage 8a, and a portion that can be engaged with the relay shaft 47 is formed. At the same time, the transmission shaft 2 is inserted into the lumen of the second transmission shaft 21.
A portion compatible with 0 is formed (two output paths).

Next, the driving force adjusting device 11 is mounted on the power unit based on the four-wheel drive vehicle. In this mounting operation, first, as shown in FIG. 5, the mounting surface 29 of the differential housing 6 is directly opposed to the mounting seat 29 formed at the end of the main body case 25. The insertion part 30 of the front case 26 is inserted into the hole 8a until the mounting seat 29 comes into contact with the mounting seat 29.

As a result, the distal end of the relay shaft 47 is spline-fitted to the end of the second transmission shaft 21. Next, the mounting surface 8 and the mounting seat 29 are fixed with bolts 37.

Thereafter, the transmission shaft 20 is connected to the rear case 28, for example.
Through the through hole 33a of the sun gear 13 of the front differential device 5.
, Insert the tip and halfway into the sun gear 1
3. If the boss portion 62 of the clutch device 60 is spline-fitted, the installation of the driving force adjusting device 11 is completed.

This means that, instead of the center differential device 9 to the front differential device 5, the mounting surface 8 formed on the differential housing 6 has a main body housing housing the driving force adjusting mechanism 11a.
By simply changing the mounting of the wheels 25, it is possible to assemble a power propulsion device for a front two-wheel drive vehicle capable of adjusting the driving force of the left and right wheels.

The structure in which the driving force adjusting device 11 is attached to the power propulsion device serving as the base of such a four-wheel drive vehicle can considerably reduce the number of parts to be newly manufactured. Can be mounted on front two-wheel drive vehicles.

Further, the driving force adjusting device 11 includes the transmission shaft 2
By using the main body case 25 extending in the axial direction of 0, all of the two sets of clutch elements are concentrated on the side far from the front differential device 5 in the main body case 25, and the speed increasing / decreasing mechanism is overlapped with the remaining close side clutch element. 40, and the rotating member 5 is attached to the transmission shaft 21 passing through the main body case 25.
2 and 53 are rotatably fitted to communicate between the clutch element and the acceleration / deceleration mechanism 40, so that the entire device has a compact external shape corresponding to the engine room area of the front two-wheel drive vehicle with many restrictions. be able to.

In particular, the main body case 25 is connected to the bowl-shaped front case 2.
7, divided into three parts: wall-shaped part 26, bowl-shaped rear case 27,
The casings are arranged in the axial direction of the transmission shaft 20 (the front-rear direction of the engine 1), and in these divided case portions, two adjacent chambers (gear chamber, clutch chamber) in the axial direction of the transmission shaft 20 (the front-rear direction of the engine 1). ) Is formed, and all of the two sets of clutch elements are integrated in the room farther from the front differential device 5, and the acceleration / deceleration mechanism 40 is integrated in the remaining room closer to the front differential device 5 so as to overlap the clutch elements. When you do
Since the driving force adjusting device 11 can be assembled by sequentially fixing the components between the cases with a fixing member such as a bolt 36 while enclosing the device elements in the case, the driving force adjusting device 11 can be simply reduced in size. And high productivity.

Further, by merely arranging the speed increasing / decreasing gear 41 on the opposite side of the engine 1 with the transmission shaft 20 interposed therebetween, it is possible to avoid interference with the flyhole housing 1a of the engine 1 which is a specific limitation of the front two-wheel drive vehicle. Can be.

In particular, considering the specific restrictions of the front two-wheel drive vehicle, it is preferable that the speed increasing / decreasing gear 41 be disposed between the front differential device 5 and the clutch device 60 at a position close to the transmission shaft 20.

In the embodiment, an example using a planetary gear type front differential device has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a bevel gear type front differential device may be used. Of course,
The torque may be adjusted by inputting rotation to the acceleration / deceleration mechanism from the input element.

Further, in one embodiment, an example was described in which an automatic transmission using a torque converter was employed. However, a structure using another automatic transmission may be used, or a manual transmission may be used. .

In the embodiment, an example of a front two-wheel drive vehicle has been described. However, a rear two-wheel drive vehicle (MR vehicle, RR vehicle) equipped with a horizontal engine has a similar problem. Needless to say, can solve the problem.

[0096]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a power transmission structure of a four-wheel drive vehicle is utilized, and a two-wheel drive vehicle equipped with a horizontal engine, particularly a front two-wheel drive vehicle is used. The power propulsion device provided with the driving force adjusting mechanism can be manufactured.

As a result, in the power propulsion device for a two-wheel drive vehicle to be manufactured, the number of newly manufactured components can be considerably reduced, and the driving force adjusting mechanism can be incorporated in the two-wheel drive vehicle at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional plan view showing a power propulsion device for a front two-wheel drive vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, together with a driving force adjusting device mounted on the power propulsion device.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan sectional view showing the driving force adjusting device.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the driving force adjusting device along the line AA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a process until a front two-wheel drive vehicle equipped with a driving force adjusting device is manufactured based on a power propulsion device of a four-wheel drive vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which the driving force adjusting device is disassembled from the front differential device.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an exploded state of the driving force adjusting device.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining that a main body case of the driving force adjusting device is mounted by sharing a mounting surface of a power propulsion device of a four-wheel drive vehicle serving as a base.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Engine 3 ... Transmission 4 ... Cylinder 5 ... Front differential device (1st differential device) 6 ... Differential housing 8 ... Mounting surface 9 ... Center differential device (2nd differential device) 11a ... Driving force adjustment mechanism 18 ... Transmission shaft (Transmission side output shaft) 20 ... Transmission shaft (engine side output shaft) 25 ... Main body case (drive force adjustment mechanism housing).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An engine arranged horizontally, a transmission connected to one end of the engine to transmit torque from the engine, and an output from the transmission adjacent to the transmission in a front-rear direction and input to the transmission. A first differential device that inputs to an element and permits differential output to two output elements; and a housing of the second differential device that houses the first differential device and is used in a four-wheel drive vehicle A differential housing having a mounting surface on which is mounted on a side of the first differential device and formed on a side close to the engine; and a motive power of one output element of the first differential device on an engine side. An engine-side output shaft that transmits to wheels, a transmission-side output shaft that transmits power of the other output element of the first differential to transmission-side wheels, A second output element of the first differential device or the input element of the first differential device through an acceleration / deceleration mechanism, and controlling the engagement state. A driving force adjustment mechanism capable of adjusting the distribution of driving force between the left and right wheels, and a housing for the driving force adjustment mechanism that houses the driving force adjustment mechanism and is attached to the mounting surface adjacent to the engine in the front-rear direction. A power propulsion device for a vehicle, comprising: