JPS636530Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a lubricating device for an interaxle differential (hereinafter referred to as interdifferential) provided between each axle of a large truck driven by two rear axles.

Conventionally, the interdifferential lubrication method used the rotation of the ring gear at the rear of the interdifferential to introduce lubricating oil into the housing surrounding the interdifferential, and then through the lubricating oil supply hole provided in the differential cage of the interdifferential. A device is known that introduces lubricating oil into the interdifferential.

However, with this type of system, since the differential cage is constantly rotating from low to high speeds, it is difficult for lubricating oil to enter the differential cage through the lubricating oil supply hole, resulting in cases where sufficient lubrication cannot be obtained. .

On the other hand, by installing an oil pump,
A method of forcibly supplying lubricating oil is also known, but it has a complicated structure and is accompanied by major problems such as increased cost and weight, so it is not a satisfactory method from the perspective of energy saving. It's hard to say that there is.

As mentioned above, the interdifferential is installed between the two rear axles, so it is strongly required to be smaller in diameter and more compact than a general differential, and the gear mechanism does not use ball or roller bearings, but directly receives the thrust with a thrust washer. It is supported by a differential cage. However, because of its small diameter, the amount of lubricating oil it contains is small, and it can be rotated at high speeds (2000 to 3000 rpm).
Therefore, it is extremely difficult to lubricate the gear mechanism constituting the interdifferential, and the lubrication of the above-mentioned spring-up method using the gears, which is generally performed in conventional differential devices, is insufficient.

In a differential gear, for example, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 41-16816, bearings 16, 17, 21 of a differential gear device 9 provided between a main motor 23 and an auxiliary motor 25 are used.
In order to lubricate the internal gears, there is a truncated conical oil tank 27 in the rotating gear box (differential cage) 8 that opens toward the meshing area between the gear 22 belonging to the rotating gear box and the large gear 3 that meshes with the gear 22. is installed, and an oil supply port 32 is opened in the differential cage in the oil sump, and the lubricating oil that is scattered when the gear 22 and the large gear 3 mesh is temporarily received in the differential cage and is then transferred to the oil sump 27.
There is a lubricating oil that collects in the oil tank 27 and lubricates the internal gear of the differential gear device from the oil supply port 32 through the bearing 21. Moreover, since only the lubricating oil is scattered on one side, the amount of oil is completely insufficient.b Since the oil filler port 32 is opened diagonally to the rotating shaft 14, it is affected by the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the rotating gear box 8. As a result, the internal gears of the differential gear system cannot be smoothly lubricated.c The inclined surface of the oil sump 27 is long and uniformly gentle, and the oil sump 27 is supported by the differential cage only by the flange 28. As a result, it is unstable and takes up a large space, and the lubricating oil that has been taken care of is easily lost due to vibrations or tilting, so it cannot be used as a lubricating device for interdifferentials under severe conditions as described above.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above, and provides a lubricating device for an interdifferential that can provide a quick lubrication effect with a simple structure without using expensive devices such as oil pumps that increase weight. The oil catcher is formed with a lubricating oil retaining portion extending radially inward at a steep angle from one end of the cylindrical portion, and is fixed to the side surface of the differential cage by closely fitting the cylindrical portion. In addition, a lubricating oil supply hole is formed in a portion of the differential cage close to the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion, parallel to the rotation axis of the differential cage, and facing toward the gear meshing surface and the thrust washer.

Examples thereof will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an inter-differential device, and a differential cage 3 is provided within an inter-differential cover 2 connected to a power divider case 4. An input shaft 6 is supported within the inter-differential cover 2 via a bearing 5, and an end portion of the shaft 6 constitutes the front portion of the differential cage 3.

Inside the differential cage 3, there are provided a plurality of pinions 7 and a pair of side gears 8 and 9, which constitute a gear group of the inter-differential. Contacted via 19.

Further, the pinion 7 is supported by a pinion shaft 20 fitted to the differential cage 3, and is supported by a side gear 9.
The internal spline 9a of the side gear 8 meshes with an external spline 12a at the tip of a through drive shaft 12 (described later), and the side gear 8 meshes with an external spline 11a of a transfer gear 11 (described later) through its internal spline 8a.

A transfer gear 11 is supported by the power divider case 4 via a bearing 10,
As mentioned above, it is spline connected to the side gear 8. A through drive shaft 12 is supported through the transfer gear 11, and one end of the through drive shaft 12 is splined to the side gear 9 as described above.

Therefore, a portion of the power from the input shaft 6 is transmitted by the pinion 7 to the front side of the rear two shafts via the side gear 8 and transfer gear 11, and the other portion is transmitted to the side gear 9 and the through drive shaft 12. The signals are transmitted to the rear side via the respective channels. The present invention aims to provide a device in which gear groups such as the thrust washers 17, 18, 19, the pinion 7, and the side gears 8, 9 in the differential cage 3 in the known interdifferential device as described above are sufficiently lubricated. In this example,
Oil catcher 13 on both sides of differential cage 3
and 14 are fixed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the oil catcher 13 includes a cylindrical portion 13a, a lubricating oil holding portion 13b extending radially inward at a steep angle from one end of the cylindrical portion, and The mounting flange 13c extends radially outward from the other end. Note that 13d is a mounting hole.

The cylindrical portion 13a of the oil catcher 13 has an inner diameter that tightly fits into the cylindrical portion 3a of the differential cage 3, and a length that projects slightly beyond the end of the cylindrical portion 3a. Further, the inclination angle and diametrical depth of the lubricating oil holding portion 13b are determined through experiments or the like, taking into account the gap between the inner surface of the differential cover 2 and the side surface of the cylindrical portion 3a and the required amount of lubricating oil. (At this time, the length of the cylindrical portion 13a, especially the amount of protrusion from the end of the cylindrical portion 3a, is also taken into consideration.) Such an oil catcher 13 has a mounting flange attached to one side of the differential cage 3. It is fixed by tightening bolts 13c. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the differential cage 3 is fastened together with the tightening bolts 15, and at this time, the cylindrical portion 13a is tightly fitted to the cylindrical portion 3a of the differential cage.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a lubricating oil supply hole, which is provided in a portion close to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 3a of the differential cage 3, along the meshing surface of the thrust washers 17, 18, the pinion 7, and the side gear 9, and is connected to the rotating shaft of the differential cage 3. The openings are parallel to each other. As described above, a gap S sufficient to store the necessary amount of lubricant is formed between the side surface of the differential cage 3 where the lubricant supply hole 30 opens and the lubricant holding portion 13b of the oil catcher 13. .

Another oil catcher 14 is provided on the other side of the differential cage 3 by being fixed with bolts 16, but the shape of this oil catcher 14 is substantially the same as that of the oil catcher 13. Further, the shape of the corresponding side surface of the differential cage 3, the lubricating oil supply hole 31, the gap between the side surface of the differential cage and the lubricating oil holding portion of the oil catcher 14, etc. are also substantially the same. Therefore, the operation of the present invention will be described below only with respect to the oil catcher 13, and the description of the oil catcher 14 will be omitted to avoid duplication.

In order to always maintain an appropriate amount of lubricating oil in the interdifferential cover 2, lubricating oil is constantly introduced during driving by utilizing the rotation of a ring gear at the rear of the interdifferential. The lubricating oil stored in the inner bottom of the interdifferential cover 2 is caught in the gap S surrounded by a part of the cylindrical part 13a of the oil catcher 13 that rotates together with the differential cage 3 and the lubricating oil holding part 13b, and is caught in the gap S that is surrounded by the lubricating oil holding part 13b. It is held all around by centrifugal force.

This lubricating oil layer has a pressure that corresponds to the rotation speed, and one end of the lubricating oil supply hole 30 formed in the differential cage 3 opens into this lubricating oil layer, so this lubricating oil It easily flows into the differential cage 3 from the supply hole 30 without being affected by centrifugal force, and continuously lubricates the thrust washers 17, 18 and the engaging surfaces of the pinion 7 and side gear 9.

The above operation is substantially the same for the oil catcher 14.

It should be noted that the present invention can be applied to both sides of the differential cage 3 at the same time, as shown in FIG. 1, or only to one side.

As described above, the present invention provides an oil catcher in which a lubricating oil retaining portion is formed extending radially at a steep angle from one end of the cylindrical portion, and the cylindrical portion is tightly fitted to the side surface of the differential cage, and the oil catcher is fixed to the side surface of the differential cage. A lubricating oil supply hole is formed in a portion close to the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion of the differential cage so as to be parallel to the rotation axis of the differential cage and toward the gear engagement surface and the thrust washer, so that the lubricating oil supply hole is always connected to the thrust washers, pinions, side gears, and other gear groups in the interdifferential. A sufficient amount of lubricating oil can be supplied quickly, and its lubricating performance can be significantly improved.

That is, according to the present invention, in addition to the lubricating oil collected by the oil catcher scooping up inside the differential cover, there is also lubricating oil splashing or dripping from the inside of the differential cover in the gap of the oil catcher. The lubricating oil retaining part, which is to be caught and which faces in the radial direction at a steep angle with the cylindrical part of the oil catcher, has a cylindrical part that is integrated with this part and is securely supported by the cylindrical part of the differential cage. Since the oil catcher has increased rigidity and can avoid the effects of vibration, lubricating oil is retained in the gap without being lost, and a large amount of lubricating oil can be secured. Moreover, the steeply angled lubricating oil holding part increases the lubricating oil supply pressure due to centrifugal force, and the lubricating oil supply hole, which is not affected by centrifugal force, allows gear meshing of the thrust washers, pinions, side gears, etc. in the differential cage. This has the effect of quickly and reliably supplying sufficient oil to the surface.

Moreover, the present invention has great practical effects, such as not requiring any special equipment such as a pump, and having a simple structure that can be easily implemented with almost no changes to existing equipment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an interdifferential gear equipped with an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view showing an example of an oil catcher that constitutes a part of the present invention, and FIG. It is a sectional view taken along the - arrow in the figure. Code, 1... Inter differential device, 2... Inter differential cover, 3... Differential cage, 3a... Cylindrical part, 7... Pinion, 8, 9... Side gear, 1
3, 14... Oil catcher, 13a... Cylindrical part, 13b... Lubricating oil holding part, 13c... Flange, 17, 18, 19... Thrust washer,
30...Lubricating oil supply hole.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An oil catcher, in which a lubricating oil retaining portion is formed that extends radially inward at a steep angle from one end of the cylindrical portion, is fixed to the side surface of the differential cage by closely fitting the cylindrical portion, and is attached to the inner periphery of the cylindrical portion of the differential cage. A lubricating device for an interaxle differential device, comprising a lubricating oil supply hole formed in a portion close to the surface parallel to the rotation axis of the differential cage and facing the gear meshing surface and thrust washer.