JPH10953A - Symmetrical driving force distributor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a symmetrical driving force distributor that aims at the promotion of compactification in response to the installing part of an engine room as avoiding any interference of an engine's flywheel housing and also suited to a two-wheel drive vehicle with a transverse engine. SOLUTION: This device is so constituted that power distributed out of a differential gear is received by both speed increase-decrease gears set up in and around a transmission shaft 20, and these increased and decreased rotations are conducted to a clutch unit 60 via two speed increasing-decreasing members 52 and 53 rotating on this transmission shaft 20. In this case, these speed increase-decrease gears are installed in the opposite side to an engine 1 as holding this transmission shaft 20 between, and a flywheel housing 1a being overhung from the engine is made so as not to interfere with it as aiming at the promotion of compactification of this symmetrical driving force distributor, and thereby this symmetrical driving force distributor is combined with the differential gear as one body and they are made so as to be housed in a limited engine room of a two-wheel drive vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a right and left driving force distribution device capable of adjusting the distribution of driving force from an engine transmitted to two 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 right and left driving force distribution device capable of adjusting the distribution of torque (driving force) transmitted to wheels has been used.

[0003] Such a left-right driving force distribution device for a four-wheel drive vehicle is provided in a rear differential device (a differential driving device that distributes driving force to rear left and right wheels) connected to a center differential device that distributes driving force to front and rear wheels. Have been.

[0004] Such a left-right driving force distribution device uses an acceleration / deceleration mechanism provided in the rear differential device to generate a rotation speed that is increased or decreased from the rotation speed of the input of the rear differential device or the output toward one of the wheels. The output of speed is transmitted to the other transmission shaft (axle) extending from the rear differential device to the wheel using the clutch device also provided in the rear differential device, and is distributed to the left and right wheels using the differential function of the rear differential device The applied torque is adjusted.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, a rear differential mechanism a constituting a rear differential device includes an input rotation of the rear differential mechanism a on an outer peripheral portion of a transmission shaft b extending from the mechanism a to one of right and left wheels. Alternatively, a structure is used in which a transmission shaft d that outputs the other transmission shaft c is rotatably fitted. Around the transmission shaft d, an input gear e meshing with the transmission shaft d, a speed increasing gear f having more teeth than the input gear e, and a tooth A plurality of speed increasing / decreasing gears h integrally formed with a small number of speed reducing gears g are provided, and the rotational speed input from the transmission shaft d is increased by the speed increasing gear f and reduced by the speed reducing gear g. I do. The obtained increased / decreased rotation is rotatably provided on the outer peripheral surface of the transmission shaft b, and is increased / decreased by rotating members i and j meshing with the speed increasing gear f and the speed reducing gear g. k. Then, with the clutch device k, the transmission shaft b and 2
By selectively engaging the rotations output from the two rotating members i and j, the torques of the transmission shaft b and the transmission shaft c according to the principle that “the torque is transmitted from the higher speed side to the lower speed side” Is increased or decreased to change the torque distribution ratio of the left and right wheels evenly distributed by the rear differential mechanism a.

[0006]

Therefore, a two-wheel drive vehicle equipped with a horizontally mounted engine together with a transmission,
Particularly, it has been considered to provide a left-right driving force distribution device also in a front two-wheel drive vehicle (FF vehicle) to enhance the kinetic performance of such a two-wheel drive vehicle.

For this purpose, for example, it is required to similarly provide a left and right driving force distribution device in a front differential device (differential device) of a front two-wheel drive vehicle to utilize the differential function of the front differential device.

However, the power unit of the front two-wheel drive vehicle has a specific layout so that the entire power unit can be efficiently accommodated in a narrow engine room.
It cannot be easily applied to front differential devices.

That is, the power unit of the front two-wheel drive vehicle has a layout in which the engine is disposed horizontally with the transmission attached to one end, and the front differential device is disposed at a position adjacent to the transmission in the front-rear direction. Occupies the entire engine room.

An exhaust pipe extending from the engine using the engine room around the power unit,
A steering shaft connected to the steering wheel, as well as devices for steering the left and right wheels, are inserted or provided.

[0011] Due to such restrictions of the engine room,
The left and right driving force distribution device is required to be housed in a limited small space, particularly in a small space close to the engine.

In addition, since this portion is also a portion where the flywheel housing projecting from the engine easily interferes with the influence of the engine, it is also required to be able to cope with it.

However, since the right and left driving force distribution device has a structure in which the speed increasing / decreasing gear is disposed so as to surround the transmission shaft,
It is difficult to fill the small space secured in the engine room, and it is inevitable that the right and left driving force distribution device protrudes greatly toward the flywheel side of the engine by the acceleration / deceleration gear.

For this reason, there has been a situation in which the right and left driving force distribution device using the acceleration / deceleration gear cannot be easily combined with the front differential device of the front two-wheel drive vehicle. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a horizontally mounted engine that can achieve compactness corresponding to an installation portion of an engine room while avoiding interference of an engine flywheel housing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a left and right driving force distribution device suitable for a two-wheel drive vehicle.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transmission engine which is provided adjacent to a transmission connected to one end of a horizontal engine in the front-rear direction, and has an input element. A differential that distributes the power from the transmitted transmission to two output elements, a first transmission shaft that transmits the power distributed to one output element to drive wheels on the engine side, and a first transmission shaft that is distributed to the other output element. A second transmission shaft for transmitting the generated power to the drive wheels on the transmission side, an input gear meshing with the input element or the other output element, and a speed increasing gear having more teeth than the input gear are integrally formed. A speed reduction mechanism in which a speed mechanism, an input gear meshing with the input element or the other output element, and a reduction gear having fewer teeth than the input gear are integrally formed; and a first transmission shaft meshing with the speed increasing gear. Axial rotation A speed increasing member for rotating, a reduction member which rotates the reduction gear meshed with around the axis of the first transmission shaft,
A left-right driving force distribution having a clutch means capable of engaging the first transmission shaft and a speed increasing member or a speed reducing member, wherein the speed increasing mechanism and the speed reducing mechanism are provided on the opposite side of the engine with respect to the first transmission shaft. The device has been adopted.

According to the right and left driving force distribution device of the first aspect,
Since the speed increasing mechanism and the speed reducing mechanism around the engine-side transmission shaft that receives the driving force distributed by the differential device are provided only at the portion opposite to the engine, the portion protruding around is suppressed, and the entire device is Become compact.

Further, the arrangement of the speed increasing mechanism and the speed reducing mechanism allows the side of the left and right driving force distribution device adjacent to the engine to escape so as to avoid interference with the flywheel housing of the engine, which is a particular limitation of the two-wheel drive vehicle. Space will also be secured.

Therefore, the left-right driving force distribution device has a compact outer shape corresponding to the limited small space of the engine room of the two-wheel drive vehicle with many restrictions, particularly the front two-wheel drive vehicle, and is suitable for the two-wheel drive vehicle. Becomes

Further, the speed-increasing mechanism and the speed-reducing mechanism are integrally formed, that is, the input gear, the speed-increasing gear, and the reduction gear are integrally formed to form a speed-increasing / reducing gear, thereby achieving compactness. In particular, in order to make this compact, it is desirable that one accelerating / decelerating gear be provided on the side opposite to the engine side.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to further reduce the size of the entire apparatus, the speed increasing mechanism and the speed reducing mechanism according to the first aspect are disposed between the differential device and the clutch means. And provided in the vicinity of the first transmission shaft so as to be accommodated therebetween.

[0021]

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

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

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 unit used in a four-wheel drive vehicle is used as it is. Specifically, the power unit of the four-wheel drive vehicle has the same layout as that of the front two-wheel drive vehicle, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), and has a horizontally disposed engine 1, a torque converter 2 connected to the engine end, and a transmission. 3. A center differential device 9 for distributing the driving force to the front and rear sides is provided, and is distributed to the front side by the center differential device 9 on the side mounting surface 8 formed on the differential housing 6 accommodating the center differential device 9. The four-wheel drive is achieved by attaching the housing 10a of the front differential device 10 that distributes the generated driving force to the front two wheels (left and right wheels). Reference numeral 10b denotes a transfer device including the front differential device 10 (the device that guides a driving force to a rear differential device (not shown)).

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

As shown in FIGS. 4 (b) and 7, the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6 further includes the mounting surface 8, 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 10a (including the front differential device 10) is used.
Instead, a left-right driving force distribution device 11 is attached, and a layout of a power unit 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 that replaces the center differential device 9 uses a planetary gear structure that 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 a plurality of planetary pinions 17a, 17 are provided between the sun gear 13 and the ring gear 14.
b.

The transmission shaft 18 (second transmission shaft) connected to the left front wheel (drive wheel on the transmission side) passes through the left wall portion of the differential housing 6 through the planetary pinion 1.
Planetary carrier 19 pivotally supporting 7a, 17a
(Spline fitting).
Transmission shaft 2 connected to the right front wheel (drive wheel on the engine side)
0 (first transmission shaft) passes through the through hole 8a and
(Spline fitting).

The differential case 15 is provided with a large-diameter final gear 15a (constituting a final reduction gear) that meshes 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 transmission shaft 21 connected to the planetary carrier 19 is rotatably fitted to the outer periphery of the outer circumference 0. A spline 21a is formed on the outer periphery of the distal end of the transmission shaft 21.

On the other hand, the right and left driving force distribution device 11 mounted on the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6 has a structure as shown in FIGS. The left and right driving force distribution device 11 will be described. Reference numeral 25 denotes a main body case constituting the device 11.

As shown in FIG. 6, the main body case 25 is formed by combining front and rear cases 27 and 28 each having a substantially bowl shape on both sides of the wall 26 so as to sandwich the wall 26 therebetween. Is done. 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. In addition, a screw hole 8b formed in the mounting surface 8 and a pin 8c are formed in the peripheral portion of the mounting seat 29 so that the mounting surface 8 of the differential housing 6 can be diverted and fixed.
Corresponding to (such as shown only in FIGS. 1 and 2) and the like, 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 side opposite 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 includes a bottomed cylindrical housing portion 33 having a through hole 33a formed in the center of the end wall portion 28a. Reference numeral 34 denotes a coupling flange formed at the end of the housing.

The wall portion 26 has a through hole 26a at the center and flange portions 32b, 34 (front and rear cases 2) on both side surfaces.
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.
3 and 7, the mounting surface 8 and the mounting seat 29 are connected to each other with bolts 37 as shown in FIGS.

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 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 38 is provided with an acceleration / deceleration mechanism 40, and the clutch chamber 39 is provided with a clutch device 60 (clutch means). The driving force distribution mechanism 11a is provided to adjust the torque distribution to the left and right wheels.

Here, the acceleration / deceleration mechanism 40 will be described. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes an acceleration / deceleration arranged in a portion of the gear chamber 38, which is located on the opposite side to the engine 1 with the transmission shaft 20 therebetween. Gear (one).

The acceleration / deceleration gear 41 is rotatably supported by a shaft 43 whose both ends are supported 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 mounting seat. I have. The shaft 43 is provided substantially parallel to the axis of the transmission shaft 20. The speed increasing / decreasing gear 41 is provided with an input gear 44, a speed increasing gear 45 having more teeth than the input gear 44, and a speed reducing gear 46 having fewer teeth than the input gear 44 in this order from the front differential device 5 side. I have.

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 transmission shaft 21 protruding from the front differential device 5 and a spline portion 47a which can be inserted and removed are formed. The tip of the spline portion 47a is
When the insertion portion 30 of the main body case 25 is inserted into the through hole 8a of the differential housing 6,
The transmission shaft 21 is engaged with the spline 21a facing the through hole 8a.

The driving force transmitted to the left front wheel is input to the acceleration / deceleration gear 41 through the connection transmission shaft 21 and the relay shaft 47. Further, the speed increasing gear 45 meshes 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 meshes with a reduction gear 51 provided rotatably on the outer peripheral portion of the transmission shaft 20 adjacent to the gear 50.

The gear portion 50 for speed increase includes the transmission shaft 2
Cylindrical rotating member 52 rotatably fitted around the outer periphery of
(Speed increasing member). Gear part 51 for reduction
Is provided on a cylindrical rotating member 53 (speed increasing member) rotatably fitted on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating member 52.

The rotating members 52 and 53 are connected to the wall 26
Through the through hole 26a, and extends to the clutch chamber 39 on the right front wheel side, and outputs the rotation of which speed has been increased or reduced in accordance with the combination of the meshing gears to the clutch device 60.

The right and left driving force distribution device 11 is provided with an acceleration / deceleration mechanism 40 having an acceleration / deceleration gear 41 provided on the opposite side of the engine 1 with the transmission shaft 20 interposed therebetween. A portion for forming the portion 32a is secured to prevent the engine 1 from protruding in the front-rear direction.

As the clutch device 60, for example, a hydraulically driven multi-plate dual 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 connected to the boss 6 via an end wall 63a extending from the right front wheel.
2 are integrally connected. An end wall 63b is also provided at the end of the housing portion 61 on the side of the 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 28a 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 656a, 456a, 456, 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 63a to engage the friction plate 65 and the clutch disc 67a, "the torque is transmitted from the higher speed side to the lower speed side". In principle, the differential function of the front differential device 5 is used to move the torque distributed to the right front wheel to the left front wheel.

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 and the clutch disk 67b are engaged by applying a pressing force to the friction plate group by the hydraulic piston 68b provided on the end wall portion 63b, the differential of the front differential device 5 is operated in the same principle. Using the function, the torque distributed to the left front wheel is moved to the right front wheel.

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 (clutch device 60) and the respective gears of the acceleration / deceleration mechanism 40 disposed between the clutch element and the front differential device 5 are all mounted on the mounting seat 29 side (front differential device). 5) as close as possible.

On the other hand, an oil reservoir 73 for storing a lubricating oil 72 is formed in 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.

Further, on the outer periphery 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 71.

The spiral oil supply groove 78 is provided in the housing portion 6.
In response to the first rotation, the rotary member 53 rotates around the rotary member 53, and when a relative rotation is generated between the rotary member 53 and the rotary member 53, the lubricating oil 72 in the oil reservoir 73 of the gear chamber 38 is released from the disk supports 66a, 66.
b, and has a function of being fed to friction plates 65a, 65b and clutch disks 67a, 67b through radially extending holes (not shown) provided in the disk supports 66a, 66b.

By this oil supply, the clutch device 60 is efficiently cooled, and the lubricating oil 72 in the oil reservoir 73 and the oil reservoir 75 is caused to flow. A bearing 79 is provided between the boss 77 and the inner surface of the through hole 26a.
The other side of the housing portion 61 is rotatably supported by using a boss portion 77 having a feeding function.

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 4 a via the final gear 15 a to the ring gear 14 serving as 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 device 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 uniform ratio, specifically, at a ratio of 50:50 (left and right wheel distribution), and the rotation (speed) difference between the left and right wheels is reduced. The behavior is allowed by the planetary pinions 17a and 17b.

The planetary carrier 1 at this time is
The rotation output from the motor 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 differential housing 6.

More specifically, the rotation of the planetary carrier 19 is transmitted to the input gear 44 of the speed increasing / decreasing gear 41 via the transmission shaft 21, the relay shaft 47, and the counter gear 49. This rotation is accelerated by a speed-up mechanism constituted by a speed-increasing gear 45 and a speed-up gear section 50 that mesh with each other.
2. The clutch disk 6 passes through the disk support 66b.
7b. 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 the rotation member 5 is rotated.
3, through the disk support 66a, the clutch disk 6
7a.

The rotation of the sun gear 13 is controlled by the transmission shaft 20,
The power is transmitted to the friction plates 65 of the two friction plate units 66a and 66b at a time via the end wall 63a and the housing 61. At this time, if the friction plate units 66a and 66b are in the off state (the friction plate 65 and the clutch disks 67a and 67b are not engaged), the differential function of the front differential device 5 is normally exerted and the left steering wheel is steered.・ Drive the right wheel 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 66b.
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 66b 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 unit 65b. Thereby, the transmission shaft 2
Zero torque increases.

Further, the amount of the increase in the torque, the ring gear 14
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 the hydraulic pressure is supplied to the hydraulic chamber 69a and the hydraulic piston 68a is pushed to turn on the friction plate unit 66a, the torque transmitted to the left wheel is distributed to increase.

That is, when the hydraulic piston 68a is pushed, the friction surface between the friction plate 65 of the friction plate unit 66a and the clutch disk 67a comes into close contact. At this time, since the clutch disc 67a is being decelerated by the speed reduction mechanism, a slip occurs with the friction plate unit 65a.

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. In the left and right driving force distribution device 11 that performs such torque distribution adjustment, the acceleration / deceleration gear 41 constituting the acceleration / deceleration mechanism 40 is located only on the side opposite to the engine 1 with the transmission shaft 21 interposed therebetween. By utilizing the structure in which the rotating members 52 and 53 for transmitting rotation are provided, it is possible to suppress the outer portion protruding to the periphery, and the whole apparatus is made compact. In particular, for compactness, it is desirable that the number of the increase / decrease gears 41 is one.

In addition, due to the arrangement of the speed increasing / decreasing gear 41, the right and left driving force distribution device 11 causes the side adjacent to the engine 1 to interfere with the flywheel housing 1a of the engine 1 which is a specific restriction of the front two-wheel drive vehicle. An escape space to be avoided can be secured, and the interference of the engine 1 can be avoided by using, for example, the concave portion 32a as in the present embodiment.

As a result, the entire left and right driving force distribution device 11 mounted on the front differential device 5 is moved from the engine to a small space installation site close to the engine 1 in the engine room, which is unique to a front two-wheel drive vehicle. Exhaust pipe,
The steering shaft connected to the steering wheel and the equipment for steering the left and right wheels can be accommodated without interference.

In particular, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the transmission / reception gear 41 is transmitted as far as possible so as to be fitted (arranged) between the differential device and the clutch element, that is, between the front differential device 5 and the clutch device 60. When the drive power distribution device 11 is provided at a position close to the shaft 20, the overall size of the left and right driving force distribution device 11 can be further reduced, and various unique restrictions of the front two-wheel drive vehicle can be coped with.

Further, when this layout is combined with two sets of clutch elements arranged in the axial direction, the outer diameter of the entire device is suppressed, so that it is easier to cope with the restrictions inherent in the front two-wheel drive vehicle.

In the embodiment, an example is described in which the input gear, the speed increasing gear, and the reduction gear are integrally formed, but the input gear, the speed increasing gear, and the reduction gear are separately provided. A structure using a speed increasing mechanism composed of an input gear and a reduction gear may be used.

Further, in one 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 from the input element to the acceleration / deceleration mechanism.

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

In the position embodiment, the front two-wheel drive vehicle (FF)
However, the present invention may be applied to a rear two-wheel drive vehicle (MR vehicle, RR vehicle) having a horizontal engine, and it is needless to say that the same effect is obtained.

[0088]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the right and left driving force distribution device has a portion that protrudes to the periphery due to the arrangement of the acceleration / deceleration gears, and the entire device can be made compact. can do. At the same time, a clearance space is provided on the side adjacent to the engine to avoid the influence of the engine, i.e., interference with the flywheel housing of the engine, which is a particular limitation of two-wheel drive vehicles having a side-mounted engine, especially front two-wheel drive vehicles. be able to.

This means that the right and left driving force distribution device can be made to have a compact external shape corresponding to a small space in the engine room of a two-wheel drive vehicle having a horizontal engine with many restrictions.

Therefore, in combination with the differential mechanism of the two-wheel drive vehicle having the horizontal engine, the engine can be housed in the engine room together with the horizontal engine and the transmission. According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the overall size of the left and right driving force distribution device can be further reduced, and the limitation of the two-wheel drive vehicle having various horizontal engines can be achieved. This has the effect of being able to respond.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a left and right driving force distribution device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially sectional plan view showing the power unit of the front two-wheel drive vehicle to which the power unit is attached.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan sectional view of the left and right driving force distribution device.

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

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a process until a front two-wheel drive vehicle equipped with a left-right driving force distribution device is manufactured based on a power unit of a four-wheel drive vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the left and right driving force distribution device disassembled from the front differential device.

FIG. 6 is an exploded sectional view of the left and right driving force distribution device.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a mounting structure of the left and right driving force distribution device.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view for explaining an acceleration / deceleration mechanism of a left / right driving force distribution device incorporated in a conventional rear differential device of a four-wheel drive vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Engine 3 ... Transmission 4 ... Cylinder 5 ... Front differential device (differential device) 6 ... Differential housing 8 ... Mounting surface 11 ... Left and right driving force distribution device 18 ... Transmission shaft (2nd transmission shaft) 20 ... Transmission shaft (No. 1 transmission shaft) 40 ... speed-up / down mechanism 41 ... speed-up / down gear 44 ... input gear 45 ... speed-up gear 46 ... speed-down gear 52 ... speed-up rotating member (speed-up member) 53 ... speed-down rotating member (speed up) (Member) 60 ... Clutch device (clutch means).

Claims (2)

[Claims] A differential device provided adjacent to a transmission connected to one end of a horizontal engine in a front-rear direction and distributing power from the transmission input to an input element to two output elements; A first transmission shaft for transmitting power distributed to one output element to drive wheels on the engine side, a second transmission shaft for transmitting power distributed to the other output element to drive wheels on the transmission side, An input gear meshing with the input element or the other output element, a speed increasing mechanism integrally formed with a speed increasing gear having more teeth than the input gear, and meshing with the input element or the other output element An input gear, a reduction mechanism integrally formed with a reduction gear having a smaller number of teeth than the input gear, a speed increasing member that meshes with the speed increasing gear and rotates around an axis of the first transmission shaft, Decrease A speed reducing member that meshes with a speed gear and rotates around the axis of the first transmission shaft; and clutch means that can engage the first transmission shaft with the speed increasing member or the speed reducing member. A right and left driving force distribution device, wherein a speed increasing mechanism and a speed reducing mechanism are provided on opposite sides of the engine with the first transmission shaft interposed therebetween. 2. The speed increasing mechanism and the speed reducing mechanism are disposed between the differential device and the clutch means, and are close to the first transmission shaft so as to be fitted therebetween. The right and left driving force distribution device according to claim 1.