JP2007290631A - Propeller shaft support structure - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a propeller shaft support structure capable of easily and smoothly assembling a flange member and a stopper piece and preventing the flange member from falling off the stopper piece after the assembly.
A third flange portion (48C) of a flange member (48) has an axial end on the center bearing (30) side of a stopper piece (44) press-fitted into a connecting shaft (16) and a stopper piece (44) of the center bearing (30) press-fitted into the connecting shaft (16). It is clamped by the axial end portion on the side and assembled to the connecting shaft 16.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a propeller shaft support structure used in a vehicle or the like.

In a conventional propeller shaft support structure, a flange member is attached to the stopper piece, and the stopper piece is press-fitted into the propeller shaft, so that the end of the flange member is at the end of the inner ring and the end of the stopper piece. There is one that closes an opening in which a compartment is formed (see Patent Document 1 below). According to this prior art, by closing the opening with the end of the flange member, it is possible to prevent direct entry of water or the like from the opening.
JP 2000-177416 A

  By the way, in the above prior art, after assembling the flange member, for example, the repellent stone may hit the flange member directly during traveling, or the flange member may fall off the stopper piece due to abnormal vibration during traveling. is there. If the flange member falls off from the stopper piece, water or the like enters the center bearing from the opening and causes rust or the like, which deteriorates the durability reliability of the center bearing.

  In addition, when the flange member is assembled to the stopper piece in advance and then press-fitted into the propeller shaft together with the stopper piece, the end face of the flange member is in contact with the pressing-side end face (pressing jig pressing face) of the stopper piece. It is necessary to consider the positioning of the press-fitting jig when press-fitting the piece into the propeller shaft, and the press-fitting end surface of the stopper piece makes it difficult to press-fit and assemble.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention can easily and smoothly perform the assembly work of the flange member and the stopper piece, and can reliably prevent the flange member from falling off the stopper piece after the assembly. An object is to provide a shaft support structure.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a rotatable propeller shaft, a center bearing that rotatably supports the propeller shaft, and a stopper that is press-fitted into the propeller shaft to position and fix the center bearing in the axial direction of the propeller shaft. A piece, an inner ring disposed radially outside the center bearing and extending along the axial direction of the propeller shaft, an axial end of the inner ring on the stopper piece side, and an outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece A propeller shaft support structure having a flange member that closes a space formed by partitioning, wherein the flange member includes an axial end portion on the center bearing side of the stopper piece and a shaft on the stopper piece side of the center bearing. It is clamped by the direction end and assembled to the propeller shaft. It is characterized in that is.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the propeller shaft support structure according to claim 1, wherein in the propeller shaft support structure according to claim 1, the flange member includes a first flange portion that closes the space portion; A second flange portion integrally formed with the first flange portion and extending along an outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece; an axial end portion on the center bearing side of the stopper piece integrally formed with the second flange portion; It is comprised by the 3rd flange part clamped by the axial direction edge part by the side of the stopper piece of a center bearing, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the flange member includes an axial end on the center bearing side of the stopper piece press-fitted into the propeller shaft and an axial end on the stopper piece side of the center bearing press-fitted into the propeller shaft. Because it is sandwiched by the propeller shaft and assembled to the propeller shaft, it prevents the repellent stone from falling off the stopper piece even if the repellent stone that hits the wheel collides with the flange member or vibration occurs during driving. it can. Moreover, since the stopper piece is press-fitted into the propeller shaft, it is possible to prevent the flange member from rattling or loosening. Further, the flange member is sandwiched between the axial end of the stopper piece press-fitted into the propeller shaft at the center bearing side and the axial end of the center bearing press-fitted into the propeller shaft into the propeller shaft. Since it is assembled, the flange member can be easily assembled simply by press-fitting the stopper piece into the propeller shaft. Particularly, since the flange member can be assembled at the same time when the stopper piece is press-fitted into the propeller shaft, the assembling work can be made simple and smooth.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the flange member is assembled to the propeller shaft, the first flange portion defines the space portion defined by the axial end of the inner ring on the stopper piece side and the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece. Can be occluded. At this time, the second flange portion extends along the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece, and the third flange portion is an axial end portion on the center bearing side of the stopper piece and an axial end portion on the stopper piece side of the center bearing. It is pinched by. This makes it possible to reliably prevent water from entering the inside of the space portion from the outside by means of a flange member with a simple configuration, and the axial direction end portion of the stopper piece on the center bearing side and the axial direction on the stopper piece side of the center bearing. The flange member can be securely held between the end portions.

  Next, the propeller shaft support structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the propeller shaft support structure 10 of this embodiment includes a substantially cylindrical first propeller shaft 12 located on the FF-based internal combustion engine side. One end (front end) of the first propeller shaft 12 is connected to the output side of the internal combustion engine via a cross joint (not shown).

  The propeller shaft support structure 10 includes a substantially cylindrical second propeller shaft 14 located on the rear wheel side. The rear end of the second propeller shaft 14 is connected to a differential (not shown) via a universal joint (not shown). Further, between the first propeller shaft 12 and the second propeller shaft 14, a connecting shaft 16 is provided that constitutes the propeller shaft and connects the two in the same manner as the first propeller shaft 12 and the second propeller shaft 14. .

  An outer race 20 of the tripod universal joint 18 is formed at the other end (rear end) of the first propeller shaft 12. Further, an inner shaft portion 22 is formed at the front portion of the connecting shaft 16. The inner shaft portion 22 is provided with tripods 24 corresponding to three radially projecting bearings, and each tripod 24 is axially (in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 1) on the inner peripheral surface of the outer race 20. A tripod universal joint 18 is configured by slidably fitting into three groove strips (not shown) formed along, thereby realizing constant-speed power transmission.

  The outer race 20 has a bottomed cylindrical shape, and an adapter 26 is attached to the opening on the opposite side to the bottom wall 20A of the outer race 20. Further, one end of a boot 28 is attached to the adapter 26.

  The connecting shaft 16 is rotatably supported by the center bearing 30. Further, an inner ring 32 is disposed on the outer side in the radial direction of the center bearing 30. The inner ring 32 is integrally formed with the first inner ring portion 32A and the first inner ring portion 32A, which are located on the stopper piece 44 side described later from the center bearing 30 and extend along the axial direction of the connecting shaft 16. A second inner ring portion 32B that is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the bearing 30 and extends along the axial direction of the connecting shaft 16, and is formed integrally with the second inner ring portion 32B and is located on the second propeller shaft 14 side from the center bearing 30. And a third inner ring portion 32 </ b> C extending along the axial direction of the connecting shaft 16. The radial dimension of the second inner ring part 32B is set to be larger than the radial dimension of the first inner ring part 32A. Further, the radial dimension of the third inner ring portion 32C is set to be larger than the radial dimension of the second inner ring portion 32B.

  An annular elastic body 36 constituting an annular support member 34 is disposed on the radially outer side of the inner ring 32. Further, an outer ring 38 is disposed on the outer side in the radial direction of the annular elastic body 36. Further, a bracket 40 for fixing the annular support member 34 to the vehicle body side is located outside the outer ring 38 in the radial direction.

  As described above, the connecting shaft 16 is elastically supported on the vehicle body side by the annular support member 34 and the center bearing 30, and a rear side enlarged portion 42 having an enlarged diameter is formed behind the connecting shaft 16 (in the direction of arrow R in FIG. 1). Has been. The front end of the second propeller shaft 14 is friction welded to the rear side enlarged diameter portion 42.

  Further, the tripod 24 constituting the tripod universal joint 18 has an inner ring portion 40 fixed by being spline fitted to the inner shaft portion 22, and is configured to rotate integrally with the rotation of the inner shaft portion 22. . When the tripod 24 is fitted into the groove on the inner peripheral surface of the outer race 20 and inserted into the outer race 20 together with the inner shaft portion 22, the inner shaft portion 22 and the front of the tripod 24 (in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 1). The bottom wall 20 </ b> A of the outer race 20 faces the side).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a metallic stopper piece 44 is provided on one side of the center bearing 30 in the axial direction. The stopper piece 44 is formed in an annular shape, and the stopper piece 44 is press-fitted into the connecting shaft 16 to position and hold the center bearing 30.

  Further, a protrusion 46 is integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 44. The boot 28 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 44 by positioning the shaft-side seal end of the boot 28 in contact with the protrusion 46. The boot 28 is attached to the stopper piece 44 by, for example, bonding them to each other with an adhesive or the like, heating the boot 28 and thermally welding the boot 28 to the stopper piece 44, or insert molding directly on the stopper piece 44. It can also be realized by forming directly. As a result, the adapter 26 and the stopper piece 44 are sealed by the boot 28. For this reason, it is possible to prevent water (splash water from the outside, sludge water, rainwater) or foreign matter (for example, stepping stones) from entering and colliding with the connecting shaft 16 and the stopper piece 44 constituting the propeller shaft.

  A flange member 48 is sandwiched between the axial end of the center bearing 30 on the stopper piece 44 side and the axial end of the stopper piece 44 on the center bearing 30 side. That is, the flange member 48 has a space M defined by the axial end portion of the first inner ring portion 32A of the inner ring 32 and the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 44 from the inner side to the outer side in a state after assembly. A first flange portion 48A that wraps around and closes the axial end portion of the first inner ring portion 32A, and is formed integrally with the first flange portion 48A and comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 44. The second flange portion 48B extending along the axial direction, the axial end portion of the stopper piece 44 on the side of the center bearing 30 and the stopper of the center bearing 30 formed integrally with the second flange portion 48B and extending in the radial direction. The third flange portion 48C is sandwiched between the end portions in the axial direction on the piece 44 side.

  The flange member 48 is assembled to the connecting shaft 16 in a state in which the center bearing 30 is press-fitted onto the outer peripheral surface of the connecting shaft 16 and then the second flange portion 48B is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 44 (press-fitted). However, it is realized by press-fitting the stopper piece 44 into the connecting shaft 16. With the second flange portion 48 </ b> B placed on the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 44, the third flange portion 48 </ b> C of the flange member 48 is pressed into the center bearing 30 of the stopper piece 44 by press-fitting the stopper piece 44 into the connecting shaft 16. Is sandwiched between the axial end on the side and the axial end on the stopper piece 44 side of the center bearing 30. Thereby, the flange member 48 can be easily and smoothly assembled to the connecting shaft 16.

  Next, the operation of the propeller shaft support structure 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the third flange portion 48 </ b> C of the flange member 48 has an axial end on the center bearing 30 side of the stopper piece 44 press-fitted into the connection shaft 16 and the center bearing 30 press-fitted into the connection shaft 16. Since it is sandwiched between the axial ends on the stopper piece 44 side and assembled to the connecting shaft 16, the repellent stone during traveling collides with the first flange portion 48A of the flange member 48, or vibration occurs during traveling. Even if it occurs, the flange member 48 can be prevented from falling off the stopper piece 44. In addition, since the stopper piece 44 is press-fitted into the connecting shaft 16, it is possible to prevent the flange member 48 from rattling or loosening.

  Further, the flange member 48 can be easily assembled to the connecting shaft 16 simply by press-fitting the stopper piece 44 on which the second flange portion 48B of the flange member 48 is placed on the outer peripheral surface into the connecting shaft 16. Further, since the flange member 48 can be assembled at the same time when the stopper piece 44 is press-fitted into the connecting shaft 16, the assembling work can be made simple and smooth.

  In particular, when the flange member 48 is assembled to the connecting shaft 16, the first flange portion 48 </ b> A blocks the space M formed by the first inner ring portion 32 </ b> A of the inner ring 32 and the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 44. it can. At this time, the second flange portion 48B of the flange member 48 extends along the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 44, and the third flange portion 48C is connected to the axial end of the stopper piece 44 on the center bearing 30 side and the center bearing. 30 is sandwiched between the axial end portions on the stopper piece 44 side. Thus, the flange member 48 having a simple configuration can reliably prevent water from entering the inside of the space M from the outside, and the axial end of the stopper piece 44 on the center bearing 30 side and the stopper of the center bearing 30 can be prevented. The flange member 48 can be securely clamped between the end portions in the axial direction on the piece 44 side.

  Next, a modified example of the propeller shaft support structure according to the first embodiment will be described. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structure of the propeller shaft support structure which concerns on 1st Embodiment, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the propeller shaft support structure 50 of this modification is not a configuration in which the shaft-side seal end of the boot 28 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 52, but the shaft-side seal end of the boot 28. Is attached to the reduced diameter portion 16 </ b> A of the connecting shaft 16 by a boot band 54. For this reason, it is not necessary to form the protrusion 46 on the outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece 52. In addition, about another structure, it is the same as the structure of the propeller shaft support structure 10 which concerns on 1st Embodiment.

  Also according to this modification, as with the propeller shaft support structure 10 according to the first embodiment, the assembly work of the flange member 48 and the stopper piece 52 can be performed easily and smoothly, and the flange member 48 is attached after the assembly. It is possible to prevent the stopper piece 52 from falling off.

It is a fragmentary sectional view of the propeller shaft support structure concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the modification of the propeller shaft support structure concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Propeller shaft support structure 12 First propeller shaft (propeller shaft)
14 Second propeller shaft (propeller shaft)
16 Connecting shaft (propeller shaft)
30 Center bearing 32 Inner ring 44 Stopper piece 48 Flange member 48A First flange portion 48B Second flange portion 48C Third flange portion 50 Propeller shaft support structure 52 Stopper piece M Space portion

Claims (2)

A rotatable propeller shaft, a center bearing that rotatably supports the propeller shaft, a stopper piece that is press-fitted into the propeller shaft and positions and fixes the center bearing with respect to the axial direction of the propeller shaft, and a radial direction of the center bearing A space defined by an inner ring arranged outside and extending along the axial direction of the propeller shaft, an axial end of the inner ring on the stopper piece side, and an outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece is closed. A propeller shaft support structure having a flange member,
The propeller shaft, wherein the flange member is sandwiched between an axial end portion on the center bearing side of the stopper piece and an axial end portion on the stopper piece side of the center bearing and is assembled to the propeller shaft. Support structure. The flange member includes a first flange portion that closes the space portion, a second flange portion that is integrally formed with the first flange portion and extends along an outer peripheral surface of the stopper piece, and the second flange portion, A third flange portion formed integrally and sandwiched between an axial end portion on the center bearing side of the stopper piece and an axial end portion on the stopper piece side of the center bearing is formed. Item 2. The propeller shaft support structure according to Item 1.

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