JPS61112774A - Starter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To have secure meshing of a pinion with a ring gear by furnishing a small motor to move the pinion, which is to transmit the rotation of a starter motor to the ring gear of an internal-combustion engine. CONSTITUTION:A pinion 10 transmit the rotation of a starter mode 1 to a ring gear 14 of an internal-combustion engine. A small motor 15 moves the pinion 10 toward the ring gear 14. A control part 17 is furnished to begin current supply to this starter motor 1 after current is supplied to the small motor 15 for a specified period of time. Because the small motor 15 is moving the pinion 10, it approaches the ring gear 14 at an approx. constant speed. Thereby the shock likely to occur when the pinion is going to mesh with ring gear can be suppressed to provide sure meshing.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a starter for starting an internal combustion engine.

[Conventional technology]

In the conventional device, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 58-186168, the pinion is moved toward the ring gear via a drive lever by movement of a plunger of a magnetic switch.

Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-211560,
The rotation of the starter motor shaft is transmitted to the clutch outer, which is connected by a helical spline, and the pinion is engaged with the ring gear by inertia.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the former conventional method described above, as the plunger approaches the excitation coil, the attractive force increases,
As the plunger moves faster, the closer the pinion approaches the ring gear via the drive lever, the faster the pinion moves, and when the pinion meshes with the ring gear, a large impact force is generated and There are problems such as breakage of the starter and noise during engagement, and the need for a drive lever and magnetic switch to move the pinion increases the size of the starter, making it difficult to secure space for installing the internal combustion engine. The problem is that it is necessary.

In addition, in the latter case, since the pinion is moved to the ring gear by inertia force, the pinion moves when the rotation of the shaft of the filter motor exceeds a certain rotation speed. There is a problem in that the rotational speed becomes high and a large impact force is generated when the pinion and ring gear mesh, resulting in damage to the pinion and ring gear.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to ensure the meshing between the pinion and the ring gear.

[Means for solving problems]

A starter motor, a pinion that transmits the rotation of this starter motor to a ring gear of an internal combustion engine, a small motor that moves this pinion to the ring gear side, and after energizing this small morph for a predetermined time, energizing the starter motor is stopped. and a control section for starting the starter.

[For production]

Since the pinion is moved by a small motor, it is possible to move the pinion toward and away from the ring gear at a nearly constant speed.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the armature 2 of the starter motor 1 is arranged on the inner periphery of the yoke 3. In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. A shaft 4 provided at the center of the armature 2 has one end rotatably held in a housing 6 via a bearing 5.

Furthermore, a helical spline 4a is formed on the outer periphery of the shaft 4. Further, the helical spline 4a and the spline tube 7 are connected by a helical spline. Further, a plurality of grooves 7a are formed on the outer periphery of the spline tube 7 in parallel to the circumferential direction. A clutch outer 8 having a wedge chamber formed on the inner periphery is integrally formed at one end of the spline tube 7. Also,
A roller 9 is inserted into the wedge chamber of the clutch outer 8. Furthermore, a clutch inner 11 formed integrally with a pinion 10 is arranged on the inner periphery of the roller 9. The clutch outer 8, rollers 9, and clutch inner 10 constitute a one-way clutch. And 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a stop collar that restricts movement of the pinion 10, and this stop collar 12 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the shaft 4. A return spring 13 is installed between the stopper collar 12 and the pinion 10. Further, 14 is a ring gear of the internal combustion engine. 15 is a small motor, and a gear 16 attached to a shaft 15a of the small motor 15 is engaged with a groove 7a of the spline tube 7. In addition, small motor 1
5 is arranged in the space within the housing 6, and the second
As shown in the figure, it partially protrudes outside the housing 6 and can be attached and detached from the outside. 17 is a control section for controlling the starter motor 1, and uses a microcomputer unit (MPU). Further, reference numeral 18 denotes a starter relay, and since it passes a large current, it is placed outside the housing 6 to improve heat dissipation. Further, the relay 18 can be either a semiconductor element or a contact type relay.

As shown in FIG. 3, the buffer power supply 19 is connected to one end of the starter relay 18, and the other end of the starter relay 18 is divided into two parts, one of which is connected to the small motor 15.
The other one is connected to the starter motor 1 via a delay circuit 21 and a relay 20.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, when the starter relay 18 is turned on, the control section 17 is activated to prevent the pinion 10 from jumping into the ring gear 14 again in step S1.
Based on the voltage signal generated by the vehicle alternator, it is determined whether the internal combustion engine is stopped. If the engine has not stopped, the process enters WAIT in step S2, and after waiting for a predetermined time, step S1
Return to Further, when the engine is stopped, in step S3, current is applied to the small motor 15 from the battery 19 to drive the small motor 15. Then, the rotation of the small motor 15 is transmitted to the gear 16, and this gear 1
Groove 7 formed on the outer periphery of spline tube 7 with rotation of 6
a to move the spline tube 7 in the axial direction. By moving this spline tube 7,
The pinion 10 is moved toward the ring gear 14 via the clutch outer 8, roller 9, and clutch inner 11.

Further, the pinion 10 can be moved slowly by the small motor 15. Then, the pinion 10 is brought into contact with the ring gear 14. Further, in the delay circuit 21 in step S4, after energizing the small motor 15,
After a few seconds, the relay 20 for energizing the starter motor l
Turn on.

At this time, in the delay circuit 21, after energizing the small motor 15, the starter motor 1 is energized several seconds later.
Within a few seconds, the pinion 10 comes into contact with the ring gear 14. Then, in step 5, the starter motor 1 is energized to rotate the armature 2.

This rotation of the armature 2 is transmitted to the pinion 10 via the shaft 4, spline tube 7, and one-way clutch.

Further, the pinion 10 is rotated by the rotation of the small motor 15.
When the pinion 10 and the ring gear 14 do not mesh with each other because they are constantly pressed against the ring gear 14 side, the rotation of the pinion 10 causes the pinion 10 and the ring gear 14 to mesh with each other. Then, the rotation of the pinion 10 is controlled by the ring gear 1.
4 and start the engine. Also, step S
6, the engine rotation speed is detected by the internal combustion engine ignition distributor, and the engine rotation speed is set to 70.
Step S7 until reaching 0 (r, p, a+,)
, the energization time after the starter motor l is energized is counted. And the count is 30 (s
ec), step S
8, return, and return to step Sl. Further, in step S6, when the engine speed reaches 700 (r, p, m,) or more, it is assumed that the engine has started, and in step S9, the starter relay 18 is turned off, and the small motor 15 is turned off.
and cut off the power to the starter motor l. Then, the small motor 15 stops rotating, the pinion 10 is returned to its original position by the return spring 13, and the starting of the engine is completed.

Therefore, the axial movement of the pinion 10 is controlled by the small motor 1.
5, the pinion 10 can be moved slowly and at a substantially constant speed.
filr when the pinion 10 and ring gear 14 mesh
l! It is possible to suppress the In addition, small motor 1
5 is accommodated in the space within the housing 6, and can be accommodated without increasing the size of the starter. Furthermore, since the rotation from the starter motor 1 is applied to the pinion 10 in the vicinity where the pinion 10 contacts the ring gear 14, the rotation of the pinion 10a is small due to only the helical spline action, and the rotation of the pinion 10 and the ring gear 14 is ensured. can be meshed together. Further, since a large current is prevented from flowing through the starter motor 1 for a long time by counting, damage to the starter motor 1 can also be prevented.

In the operation of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, when the starter relay 18 is turned on, the control section 17 is activated, and in step 31, the internal combustion engine ( engine) is stopped. And if the engine is not stopped,
The process enters WAIT in step S2, and after waiting for a predetermined time, returns to step S1. Further, when the engine is stopped, in step S3, current is applied to the small motor 15 from the buffer battery 19 to drive the small motor 15. At the same time, in step S4, the constant current relay is turned on.
N, and by passing a small amount of current to the starter motor 1, the armature 2 is slightly rotated, and the pinion lO is also slightly rotated. In addition, the pinion lO is a small motor 15
is moved in the axial direction. Furthermore, pinion 1
After the pinion 10 contacts the ring gear 14, the pinion 10 is slightly rotated, so that it is ensured that the pinion 10 completely meshes with the ring gear 14, and in step 5, the first position sensor disposed in the housing 6 After confirming the meshing between the pinion lO and the ring gear 14, the constant current relay is turned off in step S6. Further, in step S7, the starter motor 1 is directly energized from the battery power source to drive the starter motor 1. Then, the rotation of the pinion 10 by the starter motor 1 is transmitted to the ring gear 14 to start the engine. Further, the pinion 1 - 0 is constantly pressed against the ring gear 14 side by the rotation of the small motor 15 . Further, in step S8, the engine rotation speed is detected by the camshaft, crankshaft, etc. of the internal combustion engine, and the engine rotation speed is set to 70.
Until reaching 0 (r, p, m,), the energization time after the starter motor 1 is energized in step S9 is counted. And the count is 30 (se
c) If it becomes larger than step S1
0, return (return), and return to step S1. Further, in step S8, the engine rotation speed is set to 70.
When the value exceeds 0 (r, p, *,), it is assumed that the engine has started, and in step Sll, the relay 20 is turned off to cut off the power supply to the starter motor l. After that, in step S12, the small motor 15
This rotation returns the pinion 10 to the starter motor 1 side via the spline tube 7.

Then, in step 313, using the second position sensor, it is confirmed that the pinion 10 returns to its original position, and when it returns, in step S14, the starter relay 10
8 is opened to cut off electricity to the small motor 15. Then, starting of the engine is completed.

Therefore, the second embodiment has the same effect as the first embodiment, and since the starter motor 1 is slightly rotated by the constant current relay at the same time as the small motor 15 is turned on, the pinion 10 is connected to the ring gear. Since the starter motor 1 is rotated after the pinion 10 and the ring gear 14 are surely engaged, the engagement between the pinion 10 and the ring gear 14 is ensured, and the impact at the time of engagement can be reduced. Furthermore, when the pinion 10 is returned from the ring gear 14, the small motor 15 is reversely returned, so it is possible to eliminate the return spring for returning the pinion 10.

In the second embodiment described above, when returning the pinion 10, one small motor 15 is used to perform forward and reverse rotation, but as shown in FIG. Two pinions are used, one for moving the pinion lO to the ring gear 14 side and one for moving it to the starter motor 1 side.

In order to keep the small motor 15 pushing the pinion 10 when the pinion 10 meshes with the ring gear 14, the gear 16 becomes fixed while being energized.
Since the energization time of the small motor 15 is short, it will not be damaged. However, if an overload clutch is provided between the gear 16 and the small motor 15 so that the clutch is immersed when a certain level of torque is generated, there is no need to worry about damage to the small motor 15.

In addition, the rotation speed of the ring gear 14 is detected by a crankshaft or the like, and the rotation speed of the starter motor 1 is determined using the characteristics of the motor, a rotation sensor, etc., and the rotation speed of the ring gear 14 and the pinion 10 ( When the rotation speed of the ring gear 14 increases (during overrun) by comparing the rotation speed of the starter motor 1), the small motor 15 is forcibly rotated in the reverse direction to move the pinion 10 from the ring gear 14. Let go. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the pinion 10 from overrunning, and it is also possible to eliminate the one-way clutch. Furthermore, by eliminating the one-way clutch, the axial length can be shortened, and the size of the starter can be reduced.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the present invention, since the pinion is moved toward the ring gear by a small motor,
Since the pinion can move at a nearly constant speed, the impact when the pinion and ring gear engage can be suppressed, ensuring the engagement between the pinion and the ring gear, and increasing the size of the starter. It has an excellent effect of never having to worry about it.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view showing essential parts of an embodiment of the starter of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the starter shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the starter shown in FIG.
- Figure 1 is an electrical circuit diagram of the illustrated starter, Figure 4 is a flowchart showing a first embodiment of control of the starter illustrated in Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a second embodiment of control of the starter of the present invention. The flowchart and FIG. 6 are side views showing another embodiment of the starter of the present invention. ■... Starter motor, 10... Pinion, 14...
...Ring gear, 15...Small motor, 17...Control unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A starter motor, a pinion that transmits the rotation of the starter motor to a ring gear of an internal combustion engine, a small motor that moves this pinion toward the ring gear, and after energizing the small motor for a predetermined time, energizing the starter motor. A starter comprising: a control unit for starting;