JPS5850106Y2 - Cross universal joint lubricant retainer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a lubricant retaining device for a cruciform universal joint that is particularly suitable for use on a cruciform shaft of a cruciform universal joint.

The cruciform shaft of the cruciform universal joint is supplied with grease from its center, and the oil reservoir at the end of the cruciform shaft is filled with grease through four radial oil supply holes, and the bearings and bearings at the end of the cruciform shaft are filled with grease. Lubricate the cap.

When the cross universal joint is operated, the temperature gradually rises and 1
The temperature reaches 80 to 200 degrees Celsius, and the grease melts and becomes liquid.

In this state, when the amount of grease is reduced and the machine is stopped, the liquid grease at the end of the upper cross-shaped shaft flows down to the lower end and solidifies as the temperature drops.

When the machine is operated next, it takes time for this solidified grease to liquefy again, so the end of the cross-shaped shaft that was at the top when the machine was stopped may run with insufficient or no grease, which may cause a malfunction. This has a negative impact on the lifespan of cross universal joints.

Various methods have been conventionally employed to prevent this.

For example, the oil reservoir at the end of the oil supply hole of a cross-shaped shaft has a cross section of W.
When lubricant pressure is applied, the lubricant is sent outward through a slit in the center of the valve. When the lubricant pressure decreases, the slit closes and this valve It has been proposed to hold the lubricant on the outside of the W-shaped part (Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-4090).

This lubricant retaining means acts effectively and plays the role of retaining the lubricant.

However, this valve needs to be provided at four locations at the end, and has the disadvantage that the valve is easily deformed.

In addition, a plastic holding container is housed in the oil reservoir at the end of the oil supply hole of the cross-shaped shaft of the cross universal joint, and a narrow-mesh filter is placed at the bottom of this container to hold lubricating oil. There is.

In this case, the container is not easily deformed, but the cost is high because the container is accommodated at four locations at the end, and the hole for accommodating the container must be precisely reamed.

Furthermore, in the conventional method described above, since the valve or container is housed in the oil sump at the end, the capacity of the oil sump is reduced accordingly, and there is a risk of oil shortage.

In order to prevent this, the size of the hole that accommodates the valve or container must be made larger, but if the hole is made larger, the mechanical strength of the cruciform shaft to which the torque of the universal joint is applied will be reduced, so the hole should not be made too large. I can't.

In order to eliminate these drawbacks, the inventor of the present invention first designed a plunger that is pressed by the lubricant supply pressure to open the oil supply hole, but when the supply pressure decreases, it is pressed by a spring and closes the oil supply hole. We proposed installing it on the cruciform shaft of a universal joint and obtained excellent results.

The inventor of the present application has devised this invention in order to achieve the same effect by using even simpler means.

The purpose of this invention is to retain lubricant in a simpler and cheaper manner without sacrificing the capacity of the oil sump at the end of the cruciform shaft of the cruciform universal joint, without reducing mechanical strength, and to retain lubricant during machine startup. To obtain a lubricant retaining device for a cross universal joint capable of increasing the life of a machine without causing a shortage of lubricant.

The invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a cruciform shaft 2 of a typical cruciform universal joint to which the lubricant retainer of the present invention is applied.

The cross-shaped shaft 2 is used to lubricate the contact surface 8 between the two mutually orthogonal shaft members 4 and the bearing cap 6, and the needle bearing 10.
An oil supply hole 12,13 and an oil sump 14 are provided in the housing, and grease is supplied from a central grease nipple 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lower bore 18 of the grease nipple 16 is extended and a resilient orifice member 20 is disposed therein.

Details of the elastic orifice member 20 are shown in FIG.

The outer diameter of the elastic orifice member is made slightly larger than the inner diameter of the pilot hole 18 so that it does not move even when the pressure of grease is applied.

It is preferable that four circumferential projections 22 are provided, each projecting into the oil supply hole 13 to position and hold the elastic orifice member.

Since the elastic orifice member is made of an elastic material such as rubber, when it is forcibly pushed into the pilot hole 18, it deforms, allowing the protrusion 22 to protrude into the oil supply hole.

A frusto-conical hole 24 and a center hole 26 are formed in the elastic orifice member 20 so as to be in line with the tapered threaded end of the grease 16.

Furthermore, four narrow radial orifices 28 are formed in the oil supply hole 13 in a straight line.

As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the orifice 28 may be formed with a concentrically outwardly raised recess 32 with a raised bottom 30.

By opening the outer end of the orifice 28 into the protruding part of the bottom 30, the outer end of the orifice tends to close slightly when grease pressure is applied from the outside to the inside, and it acts like a valve. This is because it fulfills the following.

When grease is forced through the grease nipple 16, the grease lubricates the contact surface 8 and the needle bearing 10 through the orifice 28 and the oil supply hole 13°12.14.

When the machine stops, the molten grease in the oil sump 14 at the end stopped at the top of the cruciform shaft does not immediately flow down to the end stopped at the bottom of the cruciform shaft because the orifice 28 has a small diameter. .

Therefore, as the temperature decreases, the grease solidifies and the oil sump 14
held within.

FIG. 4 shows a modification of the invention in which the resilient orifice member 40 is similar to the embodiment of FIG. It was provided on the center hole 44 side.

A slit 48 is formed from the outside so as to pass through the bottom of the recess 46 to form an orifice 50.

If the recess 46 is deep and it is difficult to remove the mold 6 when molding the orifice member 40, the recess 46 is made shallow.

The thinner periphery of the orifice 500 produces a valve action at the tip of the orifice.

The orifice member as described above only needs to be able to prevent the molten grease from flowing down through the orifice, and various modifications other than those shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 can be considered.

The lubricant retainer of the present invention prevents the lubricant from flowing down when the machine is stopped, allows the machine to start operating without any problems, and reduces the wear that occurs when starting up.
Machine life can be increased.

In addition, unlike conventional lubricant retaining devices that are individually installed at the end, lubrication is achieved with a very simple single component without weakening the mechanical strength near the oil sump or using complicated devices. can hold the agent.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view with a part of the cruciform shaft of a cruciform universal joint to which the lubricant retainer of the present invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a partially sectional side view of the cruciform shaft of Fig. 1; The figure is a detailed sectional view of the lubricant holder of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another modification of the lubricant holder of the present invention. 2...cruciform axis, 4. ...shaft member, 6
...Bearing cap, 8...Contact surface, 1
0...Needle bearing, 12, 13...Oil starting hole, 14...Oil sump, 16...Grease nipple, 18...Bottom Hole, 20...
・Elastic orifice member, 22...Protrusion, 24・
...Frustoconical hole, 26...Center hole, 2
8... Orifice, 30... Bottom, 32
...Recess, 40...Elastic orifice member, 42...Frusto-conical hole, 44...
Center hole, 46... recess, 48... slit, 50... orifice.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] ■ The cruciform shape allows the supplied grease to pass through the oil reservoir at the end of the cruciform shaft of the cruciform universal joint, but prevents the liquid grease from flowing out when the cruciform universal joint is stopped. A cross-shaped lubricant holder disposed approximately at the center of the shaft, the lubricant holder being formed by an orifice member made of an elastic body and having orifices communicating with each end of the cruciform shaft. Universal joint lubricant retainer. 2. The lubricant holder according to claim 1, wherein the orifice member is formed with a center hole for accommodating the fed grease and a recess at the outer end of the orifice. 3. The lubricant holder according to claim 2, which has been registered as a utility model, wherein the bottom of the recess has a middle height and the orifice is opened in the middle height part. 4. The lubricant holder according to claim 1, wherein the orifice member is held by forming a protrusion corresponding to the oil supply hole of the cross-shaped shaft to hold the orifice member. 5. Forming in the orifice member a center hole for accommodating the fed grease and a recess at the inner end of the orifice;
The lubricant holder according to claim 1, wherein the orifice is a slit.