JP4288060B2 - Lubricator for drive unit - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a lubricating device for a vehicle drive device, and more particularly to a device for lubricating a bearing of an electric vehicle drive device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A conventional electric vehicle drive device includes a motor output shaft, an input shaft connected to the output shaft, a counter shaft, and an output shaft provided with a differential device (differential device) in parallel. Power is transmitted in the order of the input shaft, counter shaft, and output shaft, and is transmitted to the drive wheels. Each of these shafts is supported at both ends so as to be rotatable with bearings as rotation fulcrums. Specifically, the input shaft is supported by the first and second bearings, the counter shaft is supported by the third and fourth bearings, and the output shaft is supported by the fifth and sixth bearings from the opposite ends of the motors. . The transmission of power between the shafts is performed by gears applied to the respective shafts, and the configuration thereof is meshing between a first gear that is integrally applied to the input shaft and a second gear that is spline-fitted to the counter shaft. And a third gear integrally provided to the countershaft and a fourth gear (final driven gear) fastened to the differential device of the output shaft.
[0003]
Each of the bearings requires a lubricating oil in order to prevent rotation and wear caused by the rotation with reduced frictional resistance, but at the same time, it is necessary to efficiently and abundantly supply the lubricating oil to each gear. That is, the problem is whether to circulate a predetermined amount of lubricating oil in the drive unit to supply each bearing. In the conventional drive device, in order to promote the circulation of this lubricating oil, an oil server provided in the motor case for storing the lubricating oil swept up by the rotation of the fourth gear, and one wall of the oil server A plate configured and fastened to the motor case, a hole provided at a predetermined position of the plate, a toy part provided in a gear case formed so as to surround the hole part, and a passage provided in the toy part With. This passage is connected to the first bearing and the second bearing in the input shaft. Further, a third bearing is provided with a first groove portion and a second groove portion for supplying lubricating oil to the fifth and sixth bearings constituting the support portion of the output shaft to the wheel, and forms a support portion of the counter shaft. A third groove is provided to supply lubricating oil to the (roller bearing).
[0004]
A process of supplying the lubricating oil to each bearing in the drive device by means for circulating these lubricating oils will be described. First, the lubricating oil stored at the bottom in the drive device is lifted up by the fourth gear, and the lubricating oil that has been lifted up is stored in the oil server. The oil server is provided with a lubrication hole, and the lubricant stored through the lubrication hole is supplied to an oil seal of the input shaft (a seal for preventing the lubricant from entering the motor). The lubricating oil also flows into the toy part through the hole provided at a predetermined position of the plate. Since this toy part is connected to the first bearing and the second bearing in the input shaft, the lubricating oil that has flowed into the toy part reaches the first to sixth bearings via the passage. Further, the lubricating oil overflowing from the toy part falls on the tooth surface of the second gear applied to the counter shaft located below the toy part. At this time, since the second gear rotates in the direction of the first groove that lubricates the fifth bearing, the lubricating oil scatters in the direction of the first groove along the tooth surface and flows into the first groove. The inflowing lubricating oil passes through the first groove and reaches the fifth bearing. These lubricating oil circulation paths are described with respect to the lubricating oil that has been lifted up from the fourth gear, which is the final driven gear, to the oil server, but the lubricating oil that has been lifted up by the fourth gear is not flowing into the oil server. Also flows into the second groove portion and the third groove portion provided on the motor case side, and reaches the sixth bearing and the fourth bearing located on the motor case side through the respective groove portions. Therefore, it is understood that the lubricating oil circulates and lubricates thoroughly in the driving device.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2001-190042 gazette
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the lubrication means in the conventional drive device has the following problems.
(1) A sufficient amount of lubricating oil could not be secured at low speed.
Lubricating oil that rotates with the fourth gear that is driven by the fourth gear in the gap between the side surface of the fourth gear that lifts up the lubricating oil and the motor case increases the vehicle speed, that is, the rotational speed of the fourth gear As it increases, it moves toward the outer periphery of the fourth gear by centrifugal force. In this case, so that the supply amount to the oil servers lubricating oil increases, the supply amount of the sixth bearing so that the inflow decreases by not or but on the contrary the change. As for the supply of lubricating oil to the fifth bearing, when the vehicle speed is high, the supply amount to the oil server increases as described above, so the amount overflowing from the toy portion also increases, and the supply amount to the first groove portion is also increased. It is enough. However, when the vehicle speed is low, it is difficult to secure a continuous and sufficient amount of lubricating oil because the lubricating oil is not stored and supplied unlike an oil server.
(2) The lubrication state changes due to the change in the shaft arrangement, and it becomes difficult to change the design of the drive device to ensure lubrication.
When space saving or the like is attempted in response to a request for downsizing of the driving device, when the arrangement of the input shaft and the output shaft changes, the location where the lubricating oil reaches and lubricates via the first to third grooves. There is a problem that the lubrication state of the oil changes. In particular, the lubrication to the fifth bearing applied to the counter shaft on the opposite side of the motor uses the rotation of the second gear in the vicinity, and therefore it is required to arrange the counter shaft above the output shaft. This is subject to design constraints. Further, when the counter shaft is disposed above the current position, it is impossible to form an oil server for the motor case. Further, since it is difficult to predict the lubrication state in advance before the design change, it is necessary to perform confirmation work with the actual product, which makes it difficult to make a large design change.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the means for solving the problems will be described below.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The lubrication device for a drive device according to the present invention lubricates elements in the drive device including an input shaft, a counter shaft that is gear-connected in parallel to the input shaft, and an output shaft that is gear-connected in parallel to the counter shaft. For receiving the lubricating oil pumped up by the final driven gear arranged on the output shaft in the drive device, and arranged on the one side in the axial direction in the drive device. An upstream oil server; and a downstream oil server that communicates with the upstream oil server and receives a part of the lubricating oil in the upstream oil server so as to be stored, and is disposed on the other axial side in the drive device. The upstream oil server includes a bearing disposed on a side where the upstream oil server is disposed among a plurality of bearings that support both ends of the input shaft, the counter shaft, and the output shaft in the drive device. A lubricating oil supply passage corresponding to each bearing, and the downstream oil server includes a lubricating oil supply passage corresponding to each of the plurality of bearings disposed on the side where the downstream oil server is disposed. The upstream oil server and the downstream oil server are partitioned by a plate member having an opening, and a gap is provided between the member and the downstream oil server.
[0009]
According to the present lubricating device, the conventional drive device stores the lubricating oil with one oil server and distributes it to the bearings. On the other hand, the lubricating device communicates with each other and has at least two oil servers capable of storing the lubricating oil. I have prepared it. According to the present lubricating device, each oil server can store a predetermined amount of lubricating oil, so that the lubricating oil can be secured even at a low speed. Further, since at least two oil servers are provided in the present lubricating device, even if the oil in the server is stored in the corners and is inclined while the vehicle is running, the lubricating oil is stored for each oil server. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lubricating oil from flowing out from the passage holes for supplying the lubricating oil to the bearings. Further, in the present lubricating device, since the lubricating oil supply passages corresponding to the respective bearings are provided, the respective bearings can be reliably lubricated. Therefore, even when the distance between the shafts is changed in response to a request for downsizing of the drive device, it can be dealt with only by considering the arrangement of the oil servers, and the drive device can be easily improved. Furthermore, according to the present lubricating device, the lubricating oil can be stored for each oil server and the lubricating oil supply passage is provided for each bearing to be lubricated, so that even a small amount of lubricating oil can be reliably lubricated. The amount of oil supply can be reduced for maintenance and the like. This has the effect of reducing the oil stirring resistance and suppressing the rise in oil temperature.
Further, in this lubricating device, the upstream oil server and the downstream oil server are partitioned by a plate-like member (separator) having an opening, and a gap is provided between the plate-like member and the downstream oil server. From this gap, it is possible to supply lubricating oil continuously and over a wide range to the gears and shafts from above, and not only the bearings that require the most lubrication, but also other elements in the drive unit such as input / output shafts and gears. Can be sufficiently lubricated.
[0010]
Further, in the lubricating device of the present invention, at least one of the upstream oil server and the downstream oil server forms a plurality of compartments for storing the lubricating oil, and each of the compartments has the lubricating oil supply passage. Also good. According to this device, the effect of the lubricating device described above can be further improved by further dividing the oil server classified into two into a plurality of (two or more) sections.
[0011]
Further, the plurality of sections of the lubricating device may be provided to the upstream oil server, and a side surface of each section may be used as a motor-side inner wall of the drive device. That is, according to this apparatus, since the side wall of the oil server on the motor side and the side wall of the motor case (wall portion in the vicinity of the coil portion) are the same, the temperature is lower than that of the coil portion (generally about 100 degrees Celsius). Lubricating oil (usually about 80 degrees Celsius) has the effect of enabling motor cooling through the wall.
[0012]
Further, the plurality of sections in the lubricating device may be formed by raising an inner bottom surface in the vicinity of the central portion of the upstream oil server or the downstream oil server from other inner bottom portions. The partitioning of the oil server in this manner has a role of increasing the storage portion of the lubricating oil, and therefore it is sufficient if only the storage portion is secured. With the configuration of the present apparatus, when a predetermined amount or more of lubricating oil is stored, lubricating oil movement between the sections is easy, and when the lubricating oil has decreased, the bottom of each section is stored as it is. Become an area.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
With reference to FIGS. 1-5, the drive device provided with the lubricating device of this invention is illustrated. FIG. 5 is a skeleton diagram showing the configuration of the drive device 1 for an electric vehicle. The drive device 1 is a vehicle drive device of a type that is mounted on a so-called electric vehicle, using as a prime mover an electric motor M that receives power supplied from a battery B mounted on the vehicle and applies rotational power to the output shaft 9. .
[0015]
The input shaft 10 in the drive device 1 is supported by a first bearing 51 and a second bearing 52 so as to be rotatable about its axis, and is spline-coupled to the output shaft 9 of the electric motor M. The counter shaft 20 is supported by a third bearing 53 and a fourth bearing 54 at a position parallel to the input shaft 10 so as to be rotatable about the axis.
[0016]
The first gear 12 integrally fixed on the input shaft 10 always meshes with the second gear 22 fixed on the counter shaft 20, and the rotational power input to the input shaft 10 from the electric motor M is the first gear . It is transmitted to the counter shaft 20 via the gear 12 and the second gear 22. A third gear (final drive gear ) 24 is provided to the right of the second gear 22 on the counter shaft 20. The third gear 24 is a fourth gear (final driven) fixed to the differential case 30. Gear ) 32 is always meshed.
[0017]
Although not shown the output shaft 42 of the right and left is fixed to the two pinions and two side gears within the differential case 30. The center axes of the left and right output shafts 42 are arranged in parallel with the rotation shafts of the input shaft 10 and the counter shaft 20, and the differential case 30 is rotated so that the center axes of the left and right output shafts 42 can be rotated. It is supported by a fifth bearing 55 and a sixth bearing 56. A driving wheel (not shown) is attached to the end of the output shaft 42.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 5, the drive device 1 is covered with a motor case 5 and a gear case 6, and each case 5, 6 is connected by a plurality of bolts, The electric motor M is attached by a plurality of motor mounting bolts.
[0019]
Here, as shown in FIG. 5, a parking gear 26 is fixed to the left position of the second gear 22 on the counter shaft 20, but the description is omitted because it is not directly related to the contents of the present invention.
[0020]
Next, means for distributing lubricating oil to the bearings of the drive device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the drive device 1, FIG. 2 is a side view of the motor case 5 viewed from the gear case 6 side, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the gear case 6 viewed from the motor case 5 side . FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. The first oil server 60 and the third oil server 63 exemplified in the present embodiment correspond to the case where two sections are formed in the upstream oil server described above, and the left and right subordinates of the second oil server 61 are illustrated. The chambers 61a and 61b (see FIG. 3) correspond to the case where two compartments formed in the above-described downstream oil server are formed.
[0021]
First, the drive device 1 includes a first oil server 60 having a second passage 71 communicating with a second bearing 52 provided in the motor case 9 and a central bottom provided in the gear case 6 having a convex shape and a large size. A second oil server 61 including two sub chambers 61a and 61b is provided. A separate plate 62 is provided between the first oil server 60 and the second oil server 61. The plate 62 is configured as a wall portion that forms the first oil server 60 and the second oil server 61, and is disposed so as to have a gap 80 between the plate 62 and the second oil server 61. A hole 65 for communicating the first oil server 60 and the second oil server 61 is provided at a predetermined position of the separate plate 62. Further, the drive device 1 communicates with the first oil server 60, and a third oil server 63 is provided with a sixth passage 75 for lubricating the sixth bearing 56 and a fourth passage 73 for lubricating the fourth bearing 54. Is provided. The second oil server 61 has a first passage 70 communicating with the input shaft 10 and the first bearing 51, a third passage 72 communicating with the third bearing 51, and a fifth passage 74 communicating with the fifth bearing 55. And are provided.
[0022]
The process of lubricating each bearing by the above means will be described. First, the lubricating oil stored in the inner bottom portion of the drive device 1 is lifted up by the fourth gear 32 and stored in the first oil server 60. The lubricating oil stored in the first oil server 60 is supplied to the second bearing 52 through the second passage 71. The lubricating oil stored in the first oil server 60 also flows into the second oil server 61 through the hole 65 provided in the separate plate 62. At this time, the amount of lubricating oil that is swept up and supplied from the fourth gear 32 is a continuous and sufficient amount, and the amount of lubricating oil in the first oil server 60 is reduced by the outflow from the first oil server 60 to the second oil server 61. There is no significant decrease. On the contrary, the first oil server 60 is always filled with the lubricating oil, and the lubricating oil flows into the third oil server 63 that communicates therewith. Therefore, the first oil server 60 is filled with the lubricating oil, the second bearing 52 is lubricated, and the second oil server 61 and the third oil server 63 are both filled with the lubricating oil.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 3, the second oil server 61 has a convex shape at the center bottom, and has a shape having two spaces that are largely separated on the left and right. Further, since the second oil server 61 is adjacent to the separate plate 62 forming the wall portion of the first oil server 60 with a predetermined gap, a space having a gap at a part of the corner is formed. It becomes. At this time, when the lubricating oil is supplied to the second oil server 61, the lubricating oil is first stored in the right sub chamber 61a in FIG. Further, when a predetermined amount of lubricating oil is stored, the lubricating oil reaches the sub chamber 61b on the left side in FIG. The right sub chamber 61a is provided with a first passage and a third passage, and the left sub chamber 61b is provided with a fifth passage. By these, lubrication to the first, second and third bearings 51, 53 and 55 is performed. I do. The central convex portion reduces the effect of centrifugal force due to a decrease in the amount of lubrication, inclination of the vehicle body, turning, etc., and even when the lubricating oil is excessively biased or the volume of the second oil server 61 becomes relatively large Lubricating oil can be distributed. This is because when the volume is increased, there is a possibility that the lubricating oil may be stored only in one corner when it is inclined or the like, but if there is a convex central part, the second oil server 61 has two small sub chambers 61a, This is because the distributed lubricating oil can be stored with a certain depth for each of the sub chambers 61a and 61b.
[0024]
Further, the gap 80 between the second oil server 61 and the separation plate 62 described above is formed to be about 0.2 to 0.5 mm, and the lubricating oil in the second oil server 61 that flows out from the gap 80 is used. Is dropped and supplied to the counter shaft 20 and the parking gear 26. Since the counter shaft 20 and the parking gear 26 during rotation of the driving device 1 are rotating, the lubricating oil is stirred and splashed, and is sufficiently supplied to the second gear 22 and the first gear for lubrication. 1 to 4, the first gear 12 and the second gear 22 are not arranged directly below the second oil server 61 and the separation plate gap 80, but these gears 12, It is also possible to easily arrange 22 directly under the gap 80. In this case, the lubricating oil is directly supplied to the gear and can be further lubricated. Further, as means for improving the supply state of the lubricating oil to the gap 80 gear, the design may be changed so that the gap 80 is disposed above the second gear 22 in particular.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 4, the third oil server 63 has a box shape that has a deep overhang on the motor side and no wall surface on the gear case 6 side. One end of the third oil server 63 communicates with the first oil server 60. 1 Lubricating oil flows from the oil server 60 and is stored. Further, the third oil server 63 can move along the inclined surface without greatly affecting the rotation of the fourth gear 32 because the overhang is inclined in the direction of the sixth bearing 56. , And supplied to the sixth bearing 56 through the sixth passage. At this time, since the third oil server 63 is not formed with a wall on the gear case 6 side, it is considered that the lubricating oil flows out. There is no possibility that the lubricating oil in the server 63 will be exhausted. In addition, even at low vehicle speeds where the amount of lubricating oil is considered to be relatively small, it is possible to recover the lubricating oil that is caught between the wall surface of the motor case 5 and the side surface of the fourth gear 32. It is thought that there will be no shortage of oil.
[0026]
If the above is summarized and the supply process of the lubricating oil to each bearing of the embodiment of the lubricating device of the present invention is outlined, the supply to the first bearing 51 (and the input shaft 10) is the first oil server 60, the separate plate. It is supplied through the hole portion 65 of the 62, the second oil server 61, and the first passage 70. Further, the supply to the second bearing 52 is directly supplied from the first oil server 60 via the second passage 71. The supply to the third bearing 53 is supplied through the first oil server 60, the hole portion of the separation plate 62, the second oil server 61, and the third passage 72. Further, the supply to the fourth bearing 54 is supplied through the first oil server 60, the third oil server 63, and the fourth passages 73 and 78. The supply to the fifth bearing 55 flows into the second oil server 61 through the hole portions of the first oil server 60 and the separation plate 62 and moves beyond the central portion in the second oil server 61 (FIG. 3). From the inside right side to the left side) and further supplied through the fifth passage 74. The supply to the sixth bearing 56 is supplied through the first oil server 60, the third oil server 63, and the sixth passage 75. It is also supplied to the counter shaft 20 and the parking gear 26 and supplied dropwise through the first oil server 60, the hole portion of the separation plate 62, and the gap 80 between the second oil server 61 and the separation plate 62.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
According to the lubrication device of the drive device of the present invention, the supply of the lubricant to the oil server can be sufficiently ensured, and the lubricant can be stored in each oil server, so that the change in the amount of lubricant due to the vehicle speed is small, and the lubrication state depends on the vehicle speed Has the effect of not changing much. Moreover, according to this apparatus, since it is possible to efficiently perform the lubricating oil to each bearing, it is not necessary to secure extra lubricating oil, and as a result, the total amount of lubricating oil can be reduced. Thereby, the stirring resistance of the lubricating oil can be reduced, and an increase in the oil temperature due to the stirring can be suppressed.
[0028]
Also, with this lubrication system, each oil server can store lubricating oil and supply lubricating oil from each oil server to the required location, so if you want to reduce the distance between the shafts, just consider the arrangement of the oil server. The design can be changed easily. Further, even when the vehicle body is inclined due to traveling or the like, it is possible to reduce the problem that the oil is biased and the supply of lubricating oil is hindered. Further, in the present lubricating device, the case wall of the motor having a high temperature can be used as the wall of the oil server at the same time, so that the motor wall and thus the motor is cooled by the lubricating oil having a temperature lower than that of the motor. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a vehicle drive device showing a lubricating device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of a motor case of the drive device of FIG. 1 as viewed from the gear case side.
FIG. 3 is a side view of the gear case of the drive device of FIG. 1 as viewed from the motor case side.
4 is a cross-sectional view of the drive device of FIG. 1 along line AA of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a skeleton diagram showing the configuration of the drive device of FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
5 ... motor case 6 ... gear case 10 ... input shaft 12 ... first gear 20 ... counter shaft 22 ... second gear 24 ... third gear 32 ... fourth gear 42 ... output shafts 51-56 ... first to sixth bearings 60 ... 1st oil server 61 ... 2nd oil server 62 ... Separate plate 63 ... 3rd oil server 70 ... 1st channel | path 71 ... 2nd channel | path 72 ... 3rd channel | path 73 ... 4th channel | path 74 ... 5th channel | path 75 ... 6th channel | path

Claims (4)

An apparatus for lubricating an element in a drive device composed of an input shaft, a counter shaft geared in parallel to the input shaft, and an output shaft geared in parallel to the counter shaft ,
An upstream oil server that storably receives the lubricating oil pumped up by a final driven gear disposed on the output shaft of the drive device, and is disposed above one side in each axial direction in the drive device;
A downstream oil server that communicates with the upstream oil server and receives a portion of the lubricating oil in the upstream oil server in a storable manner and is disposed above the other axial side in the drive device;
The upstream oil server is lubricated corresponding to each of the bearings arranged on the side where the upstream oil server is arranged among a plurality of bearings carrying both ends of the input shaft, the counter shaft, and the output shaft in the drive device. An oil supply passage,
The downstream oil server has a lubricating oil supply passage corresponding to each of the plurality of bearings arranged on the side where the downstream oil server is arranged,
Lubricating a drive device, wherein the upstream oil server and the downstream oil server are partitioned by a plate-like member having an opening, and a gap is provided between the plate-like member and the downstream oil server. apparatus. At least one of the upstream oil server and the downstream oil server forms a plurality of compartments for storing lubricating oil,
The lubricating device according to claim 1, wherein each of the compartments has the lubricating oil supply passage.   The lubrication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the section is provided to the upstream oil server, and a side surface of each section is used as a motor-side inner wall of the drive device.   The lubricating device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the section is formed by raising an inner bottom surface in the vicinity of a central portion of the upstream oil server or the downstream oil server from other inner bottom portions.

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