JPS62163828A - Four-wheel drive equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To support thrust load to be inputted from a propeller shaft with a simple structure and improve the extent of durability, by installing a bearing capable of supporting the thrust load in space between a flange at the propeller shaft side of a viscous clutch and a turning shaft. CONSTITUTION:Driving force of an engine is subjected to the specified speed change by a trans-axle 12 and trandmitted to front wheels, while it is transmitted to rear wheels via a transfer 16 and a viscous clutch 24 or the like. In this case, axial force acts on a propeller shaft 18 die to vibration, displacement of a final drive unit, deformation of a car body, etc., but this force is supported by a bearing 68. That is to say, thrust load of the propeller shaft 18 is transmitted to this bearing 68 via a propeller shaft flange yoke 74 and a flange 62 at the properller shaft side, and furthermore such force that acts on the bearing 68 is supported on a casing 44 by each of bearings 46 and 48 via a turning shaft 40.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a four-wheel drive system. (B) Prior art As a conventional four-wheel drive system, for example, the
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 8731, there is one in which a viscous clutch is interposed at the joint between the propeller shaft and the final drive unit. A viscous clutch can provide almost the same effect as a central differential with a locking mechanism.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the above-mentioned publication only shows a skeleton diagram of the viscous clutch and only provides a basic explanation of its operation. Therefore, it has not been shown how to support the thrust load acting from the propeller shaft, and there is a question that it cannot be put to practical use as an actually operating device as it is. The present invention aims to solve these problems.

(d) Means for solving the problem The present invention provides a bearing between the propeller shaft side flange of the viscous clutch that rotates integrally with the propeller shaft and the rotating shaft that is the other input/output shaft of the viscous clutch. This solves the above problems. That is, the four-wheel drive device according to the present invention has one clutch plate (5
The propeller shaft side flange (62) of the viscous clutch (24) rotates integrally with the other clutch plate (54), and the hub (52) of the viscous clutch rotates integrally with the other clutch plate (54).
) is connected to the transfer (16) or the rotating shaft (40) of the final drive unit, and a bearing (68) capable of supporting a thrust load is provided. Note that the numbers in parentheses are reference symbols indicating corresponding members in the embodiments described later.

(e) Operation: The thrust load input from the shaft side is transmitted to the rotating shaft via the bearing. Since the rotating shaft is supported by the casing of the transfer (power distribution device) or final drive unit, the thrust load of the propeller shaft is reliably supported by the casing.

(F) Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a four-wheel drive device to which the present invention is applied. An engine 10 and a transaxle 12 are disposed at the front of the vehicle laterally (in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the vehicle travels). The output from the transaxle 12 is transmitted to the left and right front wheels 14, and is also transmitted to the final drive unit 20 by a transfer 16 (power distribution device) via a viscous clutch 24 and a propeller shaft 18. Furthermore, driving force is transmitted from the final drive unit 20 to the left and right rear wheels 22.

A viscous clutch 24 is provided between the transfer 16 and the propeller shaft 18, and this viscous clutch 24 can transmit torque that increases as the rotational difference increases.

FIG. 1 shows the viscous clutch 24 in detail. A left wheel drive shaft 28 and a right wheel drive shaft 30 are arranged on the left and right sides of the front wheel differential mechanism 26 of the transaxle 12. A countershaft 32 of the transfer 16 is arranged parallel to the drive shaft 30, and a gear 34 that rotates together with the drive shaft 30 meshes with the gear 36 of the countershaft 32. The countershaft 32 has a bevel gear 38 that rotates together with the countershaft 32.
It meshes with a bevel gear 42 provided in the. The rotating shaft 40 is rotatably supported by two bearings 46 and 48 with respect to a casing 44 of the transfer 16 (which is composed of a plurality of members).

That is, the outer race 46a of the bearing 46 is fixed to the casing 44, the inner race 46b is fixed to the rotating shaft 40, and the outer race 48a of the bearing 48 is fixed to the casing 44, and the inner race 48b is fixed to the rotating shaft 40. Ru. inner lace 46
A spacer 50 is provided between the inner race 48b and the inner race 48b. Hub 52 forming viscous clutch 24
is provided to rotate together with the rotating shaft 40,
A large number of disk-shaped clutch plates 54 are provided on the outer periphery of the hub 52 so as to rotate together with the hub 52, and other clutch plates 56 are provided alternately between each clutch plate 54. The clutch plate 56 is provided to rotate together with the cylindrical member 58. A small gap is formed between the clutch plate 54 and the clutch plate 56. A unit side flange 60 is integrally provided at one end of the cylindrical member 58, and a propeller shaft side flange 62 is integrally provided at the other end of the cylindrical member 58.

The inner diameter side of the unit side flange 60 is supported by a bearing 64 against the shaft portion of the hub 52, and the space between the two is sealed by an oil seal 66. Moreover, the space between the unit side flange 60 and the casing 44 is sealed by an oil seal 67. Further, the inner diameter portion of the propeller shaft side flange 62 is rotatably supported with respect to the rotating shaft 40 by a bearing 68 that can support a thrust load. That is, the outer race 68a of the bearing 68 is fixed to the propeller shaft side flange 62, and the inner race 68b is fixed to the rotating shaft 40. In addition, the inner race 46 of the bearing 46
The b1 spacer 50, the inner race 48b of the bearing 48, the shaft portion of the hub 52, and the inner race 68b of the bearing 68 are restrained in the axial direction by being tightened together by a nut 70 screwed into the end of the rotating shaft 40. ing. Further, an oil seal 72 seals between the inner diameter part of the propeller shaft side flange 62 and the shaft part of the hub 52, and the clutch plate 54 and the clutch plate 56 are arranged by this and the above-mentioned oil seal 66. The space is sealed. This sealed space is filled with viscous fluid. The propeller shaft side flange 62 is coupled to a propeller shaft flange yoke 74 by bolts 76. The end surface of the propeller shaft side flange 62 on the propeller shaft side is sealed by a cap-shaped sealing member 78. A through hole 8 is formed in the center of the rotating shaft 40 and extends from one end to the other end.
0 is set. The propeller shaft flange jaw 74 is provided to rotate together with the propeller shaft 18.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. engine 10
The driving force is transmitted to the front wheels 14 after a predetermined speed change is performed by the transaxle 12, and is also transmitted to the rear wheels 22 via the transfer 16, viscous clutch 24, propeller shaft 18, and final drive unit 20. As a result, the vehicle is always in four-wheel drive. Since the viscous clutch 24 is provided, even if a rotation difference occurs between the front wheels 14 and the rear wheels 22 when turning at a relatively low speed and with a small turning radius, this can be absorbed by the viscous clutch 24. Further, even if one of the front wheels 14 and the rear wheels 22 is in a no-load state, driving force can be transmitted to the other wheels.

While the car 119 is running, an axial force acts on the propeller shaft 18 due to vibration, displacement of the final drive unit 20, deformation of the car body, etc.
It is supported by the government. That is, the propeller shaft 18
The thrust load of propeller shaft flange yoke 74
The force is transmitted to the bearing 68 via the propeller shaft side flange 62, and the force acting on the bearing 68 is transmitted via the rotating shaft 40 to the bearing 46 and the bearing 48.
is supported against the casing 44 by. Moreover,
The rotating shaft 40 is supported over a long span. Therefore, the thrust load generated on the propeller shaft 18 does not adversely affect the components of the viscous clutch 24 or the rotating members of the transfer 16. In addition, the inner race 46b of the bearing 46, the spacer 50, the bear song 48
Since the structure is such that the inner race 48b1 of the hub 52 and the inner race 68b of the bearing 68 are tightened together with the nut 70, the overall structure is extremely simplified and the assembly work is easy. Moreover, by having such a structure, the bearing 46 and the bearing 48
, the casing 44, etc. can be shared with a transfer that is not provided with the viscous clutch 24. In this embodiment, the viscous clutch 24 is connected to the transfer 1
Although the viscous clutch 24 is provided on the output side of the final drive unit 20, it is also possible to provide the viscous clutch 24 on the input end of the final drive unit 20.

(G) As described in detail, according to the present invention, a bearing capable of supporting thrust force is provided between the propeller shaft side flange of the viscous clutch and the rotating shaft, so that the propeller shaft can be easily moved with a simple structure. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a four-wheel drive device that can support a thrust load applied manually and has excellent durability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a viscous clutch of a four-wheel drive system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the entire four-wheel drive system according to the present invention. 12...Transaxle, 14...Front wheel, 16.
...Transfer, 18...Propeller shaft, 2
0... Final drive unit, 22... Rear wheel, 24... Viscous clutch, 40... Rotating shaft, 44...
...Casing, 52...Hub, 54...Clutch plate, 56...Clutch plate, 62...Propeller shaft side flange, 68...Bearing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a four-wheel drive system in which a viscous clutch is provided between one end of a propeller shaft that transmits driving force between front wheels and rear wheels and a transfer or final drive unit. , a thrust load is applied between the propeller shaft side flange of the viscous clutch that rotates integrally with one clutch plate and the rotating shaft of the transfer or final drive unit to which the hub of the viscous clutch that rotates integrally with the other clutch plate is connected. A four-wheel drive device characterized by being provided with a bearing capable of supporting. 2. The inner race of the bearing, the hub of the viscous clutch, and the inner race of another bearing that supports the rotating shaft relative to the casing of the transfer or final drive unit are tightened together with a nut to the rotating shaft. A four-wheel drive device according to claim 1, which is fixed.