JPH0448347Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a differential device used in vehicles such as automobiles, and particularly relates to a clutch mechanism that engages or disengages the differential case and pinion gear. .

(Prior Art) A conventional art is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 135320/1983.

To explain the outline of this with reference to FIG. 2, a transmission 2 that is driven by an engine 1 is connected to a transmission 3 that divides its output into two, and a rear output shaft 4 of this transmission 3 is connected to a transmission 2 driven by an engine 1. is the first propeller shaft 6.
For example, a rear axle 8 to which a rear wheel 9 is connected is connected via a first differential device 20, and a second propeller shaft 10 and a second differential device are connected to the front output shaft 5 of the transmission device 3. For example, a front axle 12 to which a front wheel 13 is connected is connected via 30 .

On the transmission device 3 side, a primary clutch mechanism 14 for engaging and disengaging the front output shaft 5 with the output shaft of the transmission 2 is provided, and on the second differential device 30 side, for example, a right side gear 35 is provided. A secondary clutch mechanism 15 for engaging and disengaging the right front axle 12a is provided.

When making a four-wheel drive, the primary clutch mechanism 14 and the secondary clutch mechanism 15 are turned on differentially to connect the rear wheels 9 and front wheels 13 to the engine 1 side, and when making a two-wheel drive, the above The primary clutch mechanism 14 and the secondary clutch mechanism 15 are turned off differentially to cut off torque transmission between the engine 1 and the front wheels 13 at two locations, the transmission 3 and the second differential 30.

As a result, during two-wheel drive, the second propeller shaft 1
0. Rotation of the ring gear 31 of the second differential device 30 is prevented to reduce noise and fuel consumption.

By the way, the second differential gear 30 having the above-mentioned secondary clutch mechanism 15 is constructed as shown in FIG.

That is, a hollow and spherical differential case 32 is fixed to a ring gear 31 that meshes with a drive pinion gear 11 connected to a second propeller shaft 10, and the rotation axis of the differential case 32 is located at the left and right center of the differential case 32. A pinion shaft 33a perpendicular to the
A pinion gear 3 is provided at both ends of the pinion shaft 33a.
3 and 33 are rotatably supported.

Further, a pair of drive shafts 34a and 35a connected to the axles 12 and 12 are rotatably supported at the center of rotation of the left and right walls of the differential case 32, and the pinion gears 33 and 35a are connected to the drive shafts 34a and 35a, respectively. Side gears 34 and 35 that mesh with 33 are spline-coupled, and the right drive shaft 35a and front axle 12a are connected via a secondary clutch mechanism 15.

In the secondary clutch mechanism 15, the left end of the front axle 12a is rotatably fitted to the right end of the drive shaft 35a, spline wheels 16 and 17 are integrally provided at the joints between these two, and the shaft 35
A sleeve 18 is slidably spline-fitted to the spline wheel 16 on the side a, and a fork 19 is attached to the outer periphery of the sleeve 18.
By moving the sleeve 18 to the right or left via the lever, the right end of the sleeve 18 is engaged with or disengaged from the spline wheel 17 on the front axle 12a side.

In addition, in FIG. 2, 21 to 25 are the first differential device 2.
0, 21 is a ring gear, 2
2 is the differential case, 23 is the pinion gear, 24.2
5 is a side gear. Moreover, 26 is a shaft joint that connects each predetermined shaft.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The above conventional device separates the drive shaft 35a that supports the side gear 35 and the axle 12a, and provides the secondary clutch mechanism 15 in this separated portion to engage and disengage the two. As a result, the drive shaft 35a and the axle, which bear a high load, must be supported separately, resulting in the disadvantage that the structure of the support for these axes becomes complicated.

The object of the present invention is to provide a novel differential clutch mechanism that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

(Means for solving the problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is constructed as follows.

That is, a differential case is fixed to a ring gear that meshes with a drive pinion gear, and a pair of side gears that are rotatably connected to an axle are provided at the center of the rotation axis of the ring gear and differential case, and that mesh with each side gear and A pair of pinion gears that rotate about orthogonal axes are rotatably provided in the differential case, a pair of pinion shafts that rotatably support each pinion gear are provided, and each pinion shaft is connected to the rotation axis of the differential case. An operating mechanism that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the differential case is provided, and a locking portion that engages with the outer end of the pinion shaft is provided on a portion of the peripheral wall of the differential case.

(Function) Since the present invention has the above configuration, by operating the operating mechanism in one direction and moving the pinion shaft radially outward from the rotation shaft center of the differential case, the pinion shaft can be moved. The outer end protrudes toward the peripheral wall of the differential case and engages with a locking portion provided on the peripheral wall.

As a result, the pinion gear is connected to the differential case through the pinion shaft in a relatively unrotatable manner.

Furthermore, if the operating mechanism is operated in the other direction from the above state to move the pinion shaft in the direction of the rotation axis of the differential case, the outer end of the pinion shaft will be separated from the peripheral wall of the differential case and It will come off from the locking part provided on the peripheral wall.

This allows the pinion gear to rotate relative to the differential case.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the main parts of an embodiment according to the present invention.

40 is a differential device that replaces the second differential device 30 described above, and a casing 50 that is locked to the vehicle body side.
Supported by

In Fig. 1, 41 is a ring gear, 42 is a differential case, 43 and 43 are pinion gears, and 44 and 4 are
Reference numeral 5 designates side gears, which have substantially the same structure as the ring gear 31, differential case 32, pinion gears 33, 33, and side gears 34, 35 shown in FIG. 3 above.

The differential case 42 has a large diameter and spherical accommodating portion 42a in the center and a small diameter shaft tube 42 in the left and right sides.
b and 42c, and this shaft tube 42b and 4
It is rotatably supported by the casing 50 via a bearing 51 at a portion 2c.

A pair of side gears 44 and 45 are arranged opposite to each other on the left and right sides of the accommodation portion 42a, and the respective shafts 44a and 45a are connected to the shaft tubes 42b and 45a.
2c, and is rotatably inserted into and supported by the accommodating portion 42a.
A pair of pinion gears 43, 43 are arranged at the upper and lower portions of the shaft and mesh with the respective side gears 44, 45.

The inner wall of the large diameter portion of the housing portion 42a is formed into a smooth annular surface, and the pinion gear 43 and
43 is supported so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis of the differential case 42.

In addition, in the center of the accommodating portion 42a in the left and right direction,
A pair of pinion shafts 46, 46 are arranged to extend in a direction (vertical direction) orthogonal to the rotational axis of the differential case 42, and are slidably and rotatably fitted into each pinion gear 43, 43, respectively, and each of the pinion shafts is 46.4
A pair of locking holes 47, 47, into which the upper and lower ends (outer ends) of the respective pinion shafts 46, 46 can be fitted and removed, are formed through the peripheral wall of the housing portion 42a, to which pinion shafts 46 correspond.

48 indicates each of the pinion shafts 46, 46 in the axial direction;
In other words, it is an operating mechanism that reciprocates the differential case 42 from its rotation axis center to the outside in the radial direction, and is constructed as follows.

That is, each pinion shaft 46 is connected to the differential case 4.
Spring 48a, 4 that urges movement in the direction of the rotation axis of 2
8a, and cam surfaces 48b, 48b which widen toward the right are formed at opposing portions of the respective pinion shafts 46, 46, and a ball 48c is interposed between these cam surfaces 48b, 48b.

Further, a rod 48d for pressing and moving a ball 48c to the left is slidably inserted into the axial center of the drive shaft 45a of the right side gear 45, and an operating pin 48e is orthogonally arranged and fixed at the right end of the rod 48d. At the same time, the operation pin 48e is made to protrude outward from a long hole 48f in the left-right direction formed on the right side of the drive shaft 45a.

Then, the operation tube 48 is connected to the drive shaft 45a.
g so that it can move laterally and rotatably, and this operation tube 4
The outer end of the operating pin 48e is engaged with an annular groove formed on the inner circumference of the pin 48g.

Next, the operation mode of the above embodiment will be explained.

First, operate the operating tube 48g to the left to remove the rod 4.
If 8d is moved to the left, the ball 48c will be moved to the left and each pinion shaft 46 will release the spring 48.
a and 48a in the vertical direction in the figure, and the respective outer ends are fitted and locked into the locking holes 47 and 47 of the differential case 42.

As a result, the torque from the ring gear 41 side is transmitted to the differential case 42, pinion gear 43, side gears 44, 45, drive shaft 44a,
45a to the front axle 12, and the front wheel 1
3 (four-wheel drive).

Furthermore, if the operating tube 48g is operated rightward from the above state to move the rod 48d to the right, the leftward pressure on the ball 48c is released, and the reaction force of the spring 48a causes each pinion shaft 46, 46 to move to the right. move toward each other, and their outer ends are connected to the differential case 4.
2 from the locking hole 47 and the differential case 42
and each pinion gear 43, 43 can rotate relative to each other.

As a result, the torque from the ring gear 41 side and the torque from the front wheel 13 side are no longer transmitted (two-wheel drive state).

Furthermore, the so-called clutch mechanism no longer exists in the drive shafts 44a and 45a of each side gear 44 and 45, so that the shafts 44a and 45a can be directly connected to the axle 12, and a support that supports both on the vehicle body side. The structure becomes simpler.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides a system in which the pinion gear of the differential is rotatably provided within the differential case, and the pinion gear and the differential case are engaged or disengaged. Therefore, the shaft of the side gear that handles a high load and the axle can be integrally connected, and the support structure for these shaft parts can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a differential device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a conventional vehicle drive device, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the differential device. . 11... Drive pinion gear, 12... Front axle,
13...Front wheel, 40...Differential device, 41...Ring gear, 42...Differential case, 43...Pinion gear, 44, 45...Side gear, 44a, 4
5a... Drive shaft, 46... Pinion shaft, 47... Locking hole (locking part), 48... Operating mechanism, 48a... Spring, 48b... Cam surface, 48c
...ball, 48d...rod, 48e...operating pin, 48f...elongated hole, 48g...operating tube.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A differential case is fixed to a ring gear that meshes with a drive pinion gear, and a pair of side gears connected to an axle are rotatably provided at the center of the rotation axis of the ring gear and differential case, meshing with each side gear and perpendicular to each side gear. A pair of pinion gears that rotate about an axis are rotatably provided in the differential case, a pair of pinion shafts are provided that rotatably support each pinion gear, and each pinion shaft is provided as a rotation axis of the differential case. A clutch mechanism for a differential gear, characterized in that an operating mechanism is provided for reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to the differential case, and a locking portion that engages with the outer end of the pinion shaft is provided on a part of the peripheral wall of the differential case. .