KR102607243B1 - Gearbox - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a gearbox, and includes a housing, a gear, oil for lubricating the gear, an air breather with an air passage, and a clip with a spiral groove that communicates with the air passage, and uses the difference in viscosity between oil and air to create a spiral groove. This is about a gearbox that allows air to pass through the grooves while preventing oil from flowing, so it is cheaper to manufacture than a conventional leak prevention structure, has a free installation location, is quick and inexpensive to maintain, and can provide a sufficient leak prevention function. will be.

Description

Gearbox {Gearbox}

The present invention relates to a gearbox, and more specifically, to a gearbox equipped with an air breather and clip to prevent oil leakage inside the gearbox.

A gearbox is a part that contains gears necessary to drive a car, and is a device that converts the power generated by the engine or motor into the necessary torque according to the speed of the car. An air breather is installed in the housing of the gearbox to allow air to flow inside and outside the gearbox.

Meanwhile, the inside of the gearbox contains oil for lubrication when shifting gears, but when the gear rotates at high speed, the churned oil may leak out of the gearbox through the air breather for air discharge.

Conventionally, in order to solve such gearbox oil leakage, a partition structure was formed inside the housing of the gearbox, and an air breather was placed at the top of the partition structure to isolate the air breather to minimize oil leakage.

However, in order to form a partition in the gearbox housing, the internal structure is complicated, making manufacturing difficult and cost increasing.

In addition, in the conventional structure, the installation location of the air breather is limited to the top of the housing above the bulkhead, and even if there is a bulkhead, there is still a possibility of oil leaking beyond the bulkhead when the gearbox is tilted, such as when the vehicle is driving on a steep incline. there is a problem.

Furthermore, if oil leakage occurs due to a design failure, the entire mold of the housing must be modified to correct the shape of the partition, resulting in significant cost loss.

Therefore, there was a need for a means to prevent oil leakage in addition to the partition wall.

In order to improve the problems of the prior art described above, the present invention provides a gearbox equipped with an air breather and a clip including a spiral groove that is coupled to the air breather and can block the flow of oil without blocking the movement of air. It is provided.

In order to achieve the above-described object, a gearbox according to the present invention includes a housing having an outer shape and a space formed inside; One or more gears disposed inside the housing and transmitting power; Oil stored inside the housing and preventing wear of the gear; an air breather disposed in the housing, at least a portion of which penetrates the housing, and an air passage communicating between the inside and the outside of the housing; and a clip coupled to the air breather and surrounding the air breather protruding to the inside of the housing, wherein the clip extends longer than the air breather in the inner direction of the housing, and has an air passage inside. A body characterized in that a clip hole is formed to communicate with the interior of the housing; and a stopper inserted into the clip hole and configured to pass gas and block liquid between the air passage and the interior of the housing.

Here, the stopper may have a spiral groove formed on its outer peripheral surface.

Additionally, the air breather may be placed higher than the oil in the housing.

The air breather may be inserted from the outside to the inside of the housing, and the clip may be coupled to the air breather from the inside of the housing.

At this time, the clip may be screwed or fitted to the air breather.

As described above, the gearbox according to the present invention is equipped with an air breather capable of moving internal and external air, and is coupled to the air breather to allow air to pass but prevent oil leakage based on the difference in viscosity between air and oil. Since the clip is configured to include a spiral groove, the manufacturing cost is lower than that of a conventional bulkhead, and the installation position is free while preventing oil leakage.

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the oil leak prevention structure of a conventional gearbox.
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the air breather and clip of a gearbox according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a clip of a gearbox according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a gearbox according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

Since the present invention can make various changes and have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. This is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be interpreted as including all changes, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

In describing the present invention, terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components may not be limited by the terms. The above terms are solely for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, a first component may be named a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be named a first component without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The term “and/or” may include any of a plurality of related stated items or a combination of a plurality of related stated items.

When a component is said to be "connected" or "connected" to another component, it means that it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but that other components may also exist in between. It can be understood. On the other hand, when a component is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another component, it can be understood that there are no other components in between.

The terms used in this application are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. Singular expressions may include plural expressions, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

In this application, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features It can be understood that it does not exclude in advance the possibility of the existence or addition of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, may have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries can be interpreted as having meanings consistent with the meanings they have in the context of related technologies, and unless clearly defined in this application, are interpreted as having an ideal or excessively formal meaning. It may not work.

In addition, the following examples are provided to provide a more complete explanation to those with average knowledge in the art, and the shapes and sizes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clearer explanation.

The shapes, positions, and numbers of various components, such as the gear 40, shown in the drawings below are merely illustrative. Therefore, the shape, position, and number of gears 40, etc. can be appropriately changed and applied depending on the characteristics of the automobile in which the present invention is applied.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional gearbox 1.

The problems of the conventional gearbox 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 as follows.

The gearbox 1 is a device that converts power generated from an engine or motor into torque required according to the speed and environment of the vehicle through the gear 40 required to drive the vehicle. The gearbox 1 may include a housing 10 that forms an exterior and has a space inside for arranging various parts such as the gear 40.

One or more gears 40 that transmit power may be disposed inside the housing 10. At this time, in order to prevent wear caused by the operation of the gear 40, a predetermined volume of oil A may be stored inside the housing 10.

Meanwhile, an air breather 20 may be disposed in the housing 10 to allow air to flow inside and outside the gearbox 1. An air passage 21 communicating between the inside and outside of the housing 10 may be formed in the air breather 20.

However, when the gear 40 is operated, the oil A provided for lubrication of the gear 40 is churned and the oil A leaks through the air passage 21 of the air breather 20. may occur.

Conventionally, a partition wall 11 was installed in the housing 10 to prevent oil A churned inside the gearbox 1 from leaking through the air breather 20.

However, according to the prior art, if the location or shape of the partition wall 11 is designed incorrectly, oil A may leak despite the partition wall 11 formed in the housing 10.

The partition wall 11 cannot be designed as a separate structure due to its structure, and has no choice but to be formed to protrude from the housing 10. Therefore, if the design of the partition wall 11 is incorrect, the entire housing 10 must be redesigned, resulting in significant cost loss.

Even if the design of the bulkhead 11 is not incorrect, there is still a possibility that oil A may leak beyond the bulkhead 11 when the gearbox 1 is tilted, such as when the vehicle is driven on a steep incline. there is.

In addition, since the churned oil (A) should not flow into the air breather (20), the air breather (20) needs to be isolated from the oil (A) by the partition wall (11). Since the oil (A) is stored in the lower part of the housing (10) by gravity, the air breather (20) had no choice but to be installed above the partition wall (11). That is, the air breather 20 according to the prior art always had a design limitation in that it could only be placed in a narrow area of the upper part of the housing 10 of the gearbox 1.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the air breather 20 and the clip 30 of the gearbox 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the clip 30 of the gearbox 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the air breather 20 and clip 30 of the gearbox 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described as follows.

The air breather 20 may be arranged so that at least a portion of the air breather 20 penetrates the housing 10 . In other words, the remaining portion of the air breather 20 that does not penetrate the housing 10 may protrude toward the inside or outside of the housing 10.

Meanwhile, the clip 30 may have an appearance formed by a pillar-shaped body 31, and a clip hole 32 may be formed in a hollow shape inside the body 31. That is, the clip 30 may be in the shape of a pillar with a hollow interior.

When a portion of the clip hole 32 surrounds a portion of the air breather 20 that protrudes from the inside of the housing 10, the clip 30 may be coupled to the air breather 20.

At this time, the body 31 of the clip 30 may extend longer than the protruding length of the air breather 20 in the inner direction of the housing 10. This clip (30) prevents the churned oil (A) from entering the air passage (21) of the air breather (20) from the inside of the housing (10).

Of course, there may be some oil (A) introduced through the clip hole (32), but since oil (A) is viscous unlike air, the displacement that must be frictionally flowed by the clip hole (32) increases, thereby increasing the air passage (21). ) can be significantly reduced.

On the other hand, since air can easily pass through the clip hole 32, it may not interfere with the role of the air breather 20.

Therefore, when the clip 30 is installed, the effectiveness of the air breather 20 can be maintained and the possibility of oil A leaking can be effectively reduced compared to the case where only the air breather 20 is placed.

At this time, the longer the extended length of the clip 30, the better the oil (A) leak prevention function, but the clip 30 must be extended to the extent that it is not submerged in the oil (A) stored in the lower part of the gearbox (1). .

Meanwhile, in order to further reduce the amount of oil A introduced through the clip hole 32, the clip 30 may further include a stopper 33 inserted into the clip hole 32.

The stopper 33 may be provided to block liquids such as oil A, but to allow the flow of air between the air passage 21 and the inside of the housing 10.

For example, a spiral groove may be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the stopper 33. This spiral groove can minimize the possibility of oil leakage by maximizing the displacement through which the oil (A) flows frictionally. Nevertheless, since the flow of air can still be guaranteed, the effectiveness of the air breather 20 can be maintained. As described above, since the viscosity of air and oil (A) are not the same, oil (A) may not leak even if air is moved.

That is, the clip 30 of the gearbox 1 according to the present invention is a device that can prevent oil leakage inside the gearbox 1 by using the difference in viscosity between air and oil.

Here, the spiral groove formed in the stopper 33 may be formed in one of various known spiral groove shapes, such as circular, triangular, and square.

Circular spiral grooves have the disadvantage of increasing processing costs compared to triangular spiral grooves, but compared to the same tooling dimensions, they have a smaller cross-sectional area than triangular shapes.

The smaller the cross-sectional area of the spiral groove formed in the stopper 33, the more difficult it is for air to move, but the possibility of oil A leakage is reduced, making it more suitable for achieving the purpose of preventing oil A leakage of the present invention.

Conversely, the larger the cross-sectional area of the spiral groove formed in the stopper 33, the greater the possibility of oil A leaking. However, air moves more easily, which is advantageous in performing the role of the air breather 20.

A variety of oils suitable for the required torque and environmental temperature can be used in the gearbox (1).

Oils are regulated and categorized by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers (USA)) as oils with optimal viscosity to suit the product.

Therefore, a person skilled in the art may install the stopper 33 in an optimal shape that is sufficient to prevent oil leaks depending on the viscosity of the oil A stored in the gearbox 1, while minimizing processing costs and sufficiently allowing air to move. It can be applied by forming a screw thread.

The stopper 33 can be coupled to the clip hole 32 in various known ways, such as fitting or screwing.

However, when the stopper (33) is screwed into the clip hole (32), the screw threads of the clip hole (32) and the screw threads of the stopper (33) must not be in complete contact in order to function as a passage for moving air. , a certain gap needs to be formed. That is, in a normal screw connection, the threads of the female thread and the thread of the male thread are usually in close contact, but in the present invention, air must be able to move between the threads, so there is a connection between the threads of the clip hole 32 and the threads of the stopper 33. A certain gap is required.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the gearbox 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, oil (A) can flow below a certain height due to gravity.

At this time, the oil leak prevention structure of the air breather (20) and clip (30) prevents oil leakage when installed in a position that is not locked by the oil (A) in the housing (10), that is, at a place higher than the oil (A) in the housing (10). can sufficiently perform its functions.

On the other hand, as described above, in the structure of the air breather 20 and the partition wall 11 of the gearbox 1 according to the prior art, the air breather 20 is designed at a very narrow position above the partition wall 11. limited.

That is, the gearbox 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention has the advantage of ensuring freedom of design because the installable position of the air breather 20 is not limited compared to the prior art.

In addition, even if oil leakage occurs due to an incorrect design position of the air breather 20, only the position of the air breather 20 needs to be modified and designed. In this case, the designer modifies only the position where the air breather 20 penetrates the housing 10 and relocates the air breather 20 and clip 30 to the modified position, enabling quick and simple redesign at low cost. . At this time

Therefore, according to the present invention, when oil leakage occurs in the gearbox 1 according to the prior art, the overall mold of the housing 10 had to be modified in order to redesign the overall structure of the housing 10, including the partition wall 11. Compared to this, the cost and time can be dramatically reduced.

In the gearbox 1 according to the present invention, the leakage prevention structure of the air breather 20 and the clip 30 is such that the air breather 20 is first inserted from the outside to the inside of the housing 10, and then the housing 10 ) may be formed in such a way that the clip 30 is coupled to the air breather 20.

At this time, the clip 30 may be screwed to the air breather 20. That is, a thread is formed on a portion of the inside of the housing 10 of the air breather 20, and a thread is formed on a portion of the clip hole 32 coupled to the air breather 20 so that it can be coupled to the air breather 20.

As described above, the thread shape of the stopper 33 may be stored in various ways depending on the required torque and environmental temperature of the oil stored in the gearbox 1.

However, it is not economical to replace the entire gearbox (1) because the type of oil required is changed or the clip (30) is of an inappropriate shape to prevent oil leakage. When the clip (30) is screwed to the air breather (20), the clip (30) can be easily separated from the air breather (20) and then used as a clip (30) with a spiral groove suitable for the type of oil (A) changed. They can reunite. Therefore, screwing the clip 30 to the air breather 20 is more economical in terms of maintenance than fitting it.

However, although the screw connection is designed not to loosen on its own due to the friction of the contact surface, self-loosening may occur due to vibration, impact, repetitive stress, and deformation.

Therefore, in the case of the present invention, when the vehicle is driven, the gearbox 1 is subjected to vibration, shock, etc., so when the vehicle is driven for a long period of time, the screw connection between the clip 30 and the air breather 20 becomes loose or unintentionally separated. Problems may arise. This can be supplemented with regular vehicle maintenance.

Meanwhile, the two components may be combined in such a way that the air breather 20 is fitted into the clip 30. In this case, a more robust connection is possible compared to the case of screw connection, and the possibility of oil leakage that may occur between the air breather 20 and the clip 30 is minimized. Additionally, even if the vehicle is driven for a long period of time, the possibility of the clip 30 being separated from the air breather 20 can be minimized.

However, as with the screw coupling described above, it is difficult to replace the clip 30 into various shapes depending on environmental changes, so maintenance costs will increase.

Therefore, an ordinary technician can determine whether the environment in which the vehicle can be regularly maintained, the oil in the gearbox 1 needs to be replaced, or if the vehicle is an off-road vehicle, the operating environment is relatively It is necessary to appropriately select the coupling method of the air breather (20) and the clip (30) by considering various factors, such as whether the environment is rough and there is a high risk of the gearbox (1) being subject to severe vibration and the screw connection being loosened.

In the above, it has been explained that known coupling techniques such as screw coupling and fitting coupling can be used between the air breather 20 and the clip 30. The description of the advantages and disadvantages of the coupling method described herein can be used not only between the air breather 20 and the clip 30, but also with respect to the coupling method between the clip 30 and the stopper 33 described above. will be.

In other words, both screw coupling and fitting coupling can be utilized as well as the coupling between the clip 30 and the stopper 33, and the resulting advantages and problems are similar to those between the air breather 20 and the clip 30. It may be applicable.

Although the present invention has been described in detail through specific examples, this is for detailed explanation of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention is intended to be understood by those skilled in the art within the technical spirit of the present invention. It is clear that modification or improvement is possible.

All simple modifications or changes of the present invention fall within the scope of the present invention, and the specific scope of protection of the present invention will be made clear by the appended claims.

1: Gearbox
10: Housing
11: Bulkhead
20: Air Breather
21: Air passage
30: clip
31: body
32: Clip hole
33: Stopper
40: gear
A: Oil

Claims (6)

A housing that forms an external shape and has a space inside;
One or more gears disposed inside the housing and transmitting power;
Oil stored inside the housing and preventing wear of the gear;
an air breather disposed in the housing, at least a portion of which penetrates the housing, and an air passage communicating between the inside and the outside of the housing; and
It is coupled to the air breather, and includes a clip surrounding the air breather protruding inside the housing,
The clip is:
A body extending longer than the air breather in the inner direction of the housing and having a clip hole formed therein to communicate the air passage with the interior of the housing; and
A stopper inserted into the clip hole and blocking liquid between the air passage and the interior of the housing;
The stopper is provided to block liquid, and has a spiral groove formed on its outer peripheral surface to allow gas to pass through the spiral groove.
delete According to paragraph 1,
The air breather is,
A gearbox, characterized in that it is disposed higher than the oil in the housing.
According to paragraph 1,
The air breather is,
Inserted from the outside to the inside of the housing,
The clip is:
A gearbox characterized in that it is coupled to the air breather inside the housing.
According to paragraph 1,
The clip is:
A gearbox characterized in that it is screwed to the air breather.
According to paragraph 1,
The clip is:
A gearbox characterized in that it is fitted into the air breather.