JPH0554857U - Gear lubrication mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] An object of the present invention is to provide a gear lubrication mechanism in which most of the grease filled in the casing that covers the periphery of the gear mechanism circulates throughout the casing. [Structure] In a gear lubrication mechanism that fills grease around a meshing portion of a gear meshing in a casing to lubricate the meshing portion, a tip end 5a contacts or approaches a side surface 1a of a gear 1 and a base end 5b The valve mechanism V having the plate-like valve member 5 fixed to the casing side is substantially orthogonal to the side surface 1a of the gear 1 so that the tip 5a side is bendable in one direction and is not bendable in the opposite direction. So as to form an angle with the rotating direction of the gear.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial application]

 The present invention relates to a lubricating mechanism for a meshing portion of a gear (gear pair or gear mechanism) provided in a gear device of a machine, including a swinging portion such as a joint portion of a robot.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 Generally, the meshing portion of a gear mechanism used under a low speed and heavy load condition should be covered with a casing covering the entire gear mechanism portion, filled with grease in the casing, and lubricated by the grease. Many.

In this case, when each gear of the gear mechanism repeatedly rotates 360 degrees or more, the meshing portion is lubricated with grease without any problem.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, unlike liquid lubricating oil, grease is a viscoplastic material with poor fluidity, so like the joints of robots, the gears of the gear mechanism (gear pair) have a gear angle of about 2 to 3 degrees and at most 180 degrees or less. When rotating within the range (meaning forward and reverse rotation within 360 degrees), only some grease located near the meshing part of the gear (without replacement) rotates as the gear rotates. Most of the grease in the casing does not move from that position, and does not contribute to lubrication at all, only moving to the front and rear of the meshing portion to contribute to lubrication. That is, according to the research by the present inventor, in order to lengthen the interval of grease replenishment (replenishment or replacement), no matter how large the volume of the casing filled with grease is made, the size of the volume will be the same. However, it was found that only a part of the grease near the gear meshing part contributes to lubrication.

Therefore, the grease in the vicinity of the meshing portion deteriorates in a relatively short time, and especially after using for a predetermined period of time, the worn metal powder that should originally diffuse with the grease in the casing to the entire casing is It is absorbed only in a part of the grease that contributes to lubrication, and in addition to not achieving the desired lubrication effect, it may cause an unfavorable situation such as increased wear of the meshing portion.

The present invention focuses on the phenomenon as described above, and an object thereof is to provide a gear lubrication mechanism in which all grease in the casing can effectively contribute to lubrication.

As the prior art closest to the present invention, there is one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-73798, which is configured to forcibly introduce grease to the meshing portion of a gear.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 A gear lubrication mechanism according to a first aspect of the present invention is a gear lubrication mechanism that fills grease around a meshing portion of a gear that meshes in a casing to lubricate the meshing portion. At the same time, a valve mechanism with a plate-shaped valve member whose base end is fixed to the casing side is installed so that the tip end side is bendable in one direction and not bendable in the opposite direction, and is substantially orthogonal to the side surface of the gear. And is arranged so as to make an angle of intersection with the rotating direction of the gear.

A gear lubrication mechanism according to a second aspect of the present invention is a gear lubrication mechanism that fills grease around a meshing portion of a gear that meshes in a casing to lubricate the meshing portion. A valve mechanism that has a plate-shaped valve member that is in contact with or close to a circle and whose base end is fixed to the casing side is designed so that the tip end side can bend in one direction and cannot bend in the opposite direction. It is characterized in that it is arranged so as to face the tooth surface and to form an angle of intersection with the rotating direction of the gear.

A gear lubrication mechanism according to a third aspect of the present invention is a gear lubrication mechanism that fills grease around a meshing portion of a gear meshing in a casing to lubricate the meshing portion. A valve mechanism that has a plate-shaped valve member whose proximal end is fixed to the side surface of the gear while contacting or approaching the It is characterized in that it is arranged so as to be substantially orthogonal to, and to form an angle of intersection with the rotating direction of the gear.

[0011]

[Action]

 Thus, according to the gear lubrication mechanism of the first, second, and third inventions, the valve mechanism functions as a one-way valve on the side surface of the gear, and each time the gear rotates, the lubrication mechanism operates. Since the grease that moves laterally as the side surface of the gear moves in only one direction, the grease is circulated or agitated in the entire casing, and even if the rotation angle of the gear is small, the casing Most of the grease filled inside will contribute to the lubrication of the gear meshing part.

[0012]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall side view with a main part cut away showing a schematic structure of a multi-joint type robot having a gear lubrication mechanism in one of its joints according to an embodiment of the first invention. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing one of the configurations of the valve mechanism of the gear lubrication mechanism of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) show the overall configuration of the gear lubrication mechanism of FIG. 1 and the lubrication state of grease. It is the front view and side view which notched the casing part of this side shown.

In FIG. 1, A is a rotor trunk of the robot, B is a lower arm pivotally supported by the rotor trunk A, and C is an upper arm. The lower arm B is composed of three link members B _1, B _2, B _3, constitute a four-bar linkage mechanism at the lower arm B and the upper arm C.

The upper arm C moves in parallel by swinging (see arrow X) about the axis O ₁ of the link member B ₁ of the lower arm B, and the link member of the lower arm B also moves. By swinging B _{2 about} the axis O ₁ , it is possible to swing about the axis O ₂ (see arrow Y ₂ ).

A gear lubrication mechanism according to the present invention is arranged in the link member B ₁ of the lower arm B and the joint portion F of the rotor trunk portion A, which act at low speed and heavy load. That is, in the joint portion F, the gear 1 is fixed to the link member B ₁ , and the gear 2 meshing with the gear 1 is attached to the rotor trunk portion A side. The gear 2 is attached to a drive shaft 3 (see FIG. 3B) of a drive motor (not shown) attached to the rotor trunk portion A, and is configured to be rotatable by the drive motor. ..

Therefore, in this configuration, when the drive motor (not shown) rotates, the gear 2 rotates the gear 1 and swings the link member B ₁ of the lower arm B with respect to the rotor trunk portion A side. Becomes

As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, the periphery of the gear 1 and the gear 2 is covered with a casing 4, and the grease G contains the meshing portion E of the gears 1 and 2 in the casing 4. It is filled enough to immerse it.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tip end 5a of the gear 1 is adjacent to the side face 1a of the gear 1 and the base end 5b is pivotally supported by a pin 6 on the side wall of the casing 4 as shown in FIG. A valve mechanism V, which is fixed and configured so that the valve member 5 is substantially orthogonal to the side surface of the gear 1 in a non-operating state, forms an angle of intersection with the rotation direction R of the gear 1 (in the present embodiment, orthogonal). It is arranged as follows. The valve mechanism V is a rear stopper that restrains the valve member 5 from bending downward around the pin 6 (below the position where the valve member 5 is orthogonal to the side surface of the gear 1) in FIG. 7 and a front stopper 8 for restraining the valve member 5 from bending upward in the drawing by a predetermined angle or more. The front end of the front stopper 8 is screwed to the side wall of the casing 4 by a screw mechanism, and the valve is adjusted according to the turning angle of the gear 1 (the swinging angle of the link member B ₁ ) depending on the screwing depth. It is configured so that the forward bending angle of the member 5 can be adjusted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the valve mechanism V shown in the drawing has a structure in which the grease G only upward in the drawing is provided on the right side of each side surface (front surface and back surface) of the gear 1 as shown by an arrow U. It is arranged so that it can pass through. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, from the position where the valve member 5 is orthogonal to the side surface of the gear 1 (see the valve member shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2), a predetermined angle (about 45 degrees in this embodiment) is provided. ) It is arranged so that it can be bent within the range of the rotated position (see the valve member 5 indicated by the solid line in FIG. 2). The bending angle is adjusted to a small value when the turning angle is small and a large value when the turning angle is large according to the turning angle of the gear 1.

Thus, the gear lubrication mechanism configured as described above operates as follows to smoothly lubricate. That is, when the gear 2 is rotated by the drive motor and the gear 1 meshes with the gear 2 and rotates by a predetermined angle (for example, 60 degrees), the grease G near the side surface of the gear 1 is rotated along with the rotation of the gear 1. Move in that direction by a predetermined distance. When the grease G moves in this way, the valve member 5 of the valve mechanism V bends upward as shown in FIG. 2 during the movement. Then, when the gear 2 is rotated in the opposite direction by the drive motor and the gear 1 is rotated in the opposite direction by a predetermined angle, the grease G near the side surface of the gear 1 returns to the original position in accordance with the rotation. However, since the valve member 5 does not bend rearward beyond the position orthogonal to the side surface of the gear 1 by the rear stopper 7, the grease G trying to return is blocked by the valve member 5.

As a result, the grease G in the casing 4 is separated from the gear 1 and the gear 1 and the gear 2 as shown by an arrow P in FIG. 3A or FIG. A saddle-shaped route is formed around the meshing portion to circulate in the entire casing.

By the way, in the valve mechanism V of the above-described embodiment, a spring member is provided in place of the front stopper 8, and the valve member 5 is configured to be restrained from bending forward by a predetermined angle or more by a spring force. Good. Incidentally, FIG. 4 is a model of the gear lubrication mechanism used by the present inventor to confirm the effect of the embodiment shown in FIG.

Further, instead of the valve mechanism V of the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a valve member made of an elastic plate such as rubber is attached to a convex attachment member 9 whose base end is fixed to the casing 4. 5 is attached to the rear face 5c of the base end, and the stopper member 10 for restraining the bending of the valve member 5 to the rear side is integrally attached to the rear face of the front end 5a, and only forward (upward in the figure). Even if the valve mechanism V is configured to be bendable (see the chain double-dashed line), the same function as the valve mechanism shown in FIG. 2 can be obtained.

As another embodiment of the valve mechanism, instead of the valve member shown in FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 6, the valve member 5 is gradually thinned on the tip 5a side, and Even if the base end 5b is fixed to the casing 4 side in the same manner as the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, with the tip 5a held in contact with the side surface 1a of the gear 1 as shown in FIG. It can function similarly to the valve member of FIG.

Further, as the simplest structure, although not shown, the valve member shown in FIG. 6 may be replaced with a simple flat plate valve member.

Further, as another embodiment (embodiment according to the second invention), as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to bend only in one direction and not bend in the opposite direction. A flexible valve member (for example, the valve member shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6) 5 is attached so that the tip 5a of the valve member 5 contacts or approaches the tip circle 1b of the gear 1 and In order that the valve member 5 has an angle of intersection with the rotation direction R of the gear 1 (in the present embodiment, it is orthogonal), the base end of the valve member 5 is placed on the peripheral wall surface of the casing 4 so that the valve member 5 has teeth of the gear 1. It may be fixed facing the surface. In such a case, too, the grease circulates in the entire casing 4 as in the above-described embodiment.

As another embodiment (embodiment according to the third invention), as shown in FIG. 8, it is flexible so that it can be bent only in one direction and cannot be bent in the opposite direction. 1 or a similar valve member as described above (for example, the valve member shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6) on the side surface 1a of the gear 1 (or the gear 2 (not shown)). The valve member 5 may be arranged so as to form an angle of intersection with the rotation direction R (in the present embodiment, it is orthogonal). Even in the lubrication mechanism of the gear having such a configuration, substantially the same circulation of grease as the lubrication mechanism of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

[0029]

[Effect of the device]

 According to the gear lubrication mechanism of the first, second and third inventions, almost all the grease filled in the casing covering the gear (gear pair or gear mechanism) circulates in the entire casing. Therefore, compared with the conventional lubrication mechanism, the grease in other parts is constantly supplied to the meshing part of the gear, so the gear always meshes smoothly without causing wear at the meshing part, and the grease to the casing The replacement interval will be greatly extended.

Further, even if some metal powder is generated due to wear at the gear meshing part, this metal powder is dispersed in the entire grease in the casing, which has an adverse effect of increasing wear at the meshing part. There is no such thing.

Therefore, the gear mechanism provided with the gear lubrication mechanism according to the present invention can extend the maintenance period as compared with the conventional gear mechanism and can obtain a good meshing state for a long time. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view with a main part cut away showing a multi-joint type robot having a gear lubrication mechanism according to an embodiment of the first invention in one of joint parts.

2 is a partially enlarged view of the valve mechanism portion of FIG. 3 (b) showing the configuration of the valve mechanism of the gear lubrication mechanism of FIG.

3 (a) is a front view of the entire gear lubrication mechanism of FIG. 1 showing a lubrication mechanism and a grease lubrication state in which a front casing part is cut away, and FIG. 3 (b) is a side view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a modeled perspective view of a gear lubrication mechanism including a lubrication state of grease.

5 is a partially enlarged side view showing a valve mechanism according to another embodiment different from FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged side view showing a valve mechanism according to another embodiment different from FIGS. 2 and 5.

FIG. 7 (a) is a front view in which a casing portion on the front side is cut away, showing the overall configuration of a valve lubrication mechanism and its arrangement in a gear lubrication mechanism according to the second invention. (b) is also a side view.

FIG. 8 (a) is a front view showing a valve mechanism in a gear lubrication mechanism according to a third aspect of the present invention and an overall configuration of the gear lubrication mechanism showing the arrangement state, in which a front casing portion is cut away; (b) is also a side view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Gear 1a ... Side surface 4 ... Casing 5 ... Valve member 5a ... Tip 5b ... Base end V ... Valve mechanism

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Creator Yuji Kanayama 1-1 Kawasaki-machi, Akashi-shi, Hyogo Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Akashi Plant Co., Ltd. (72) Satoshi Yamada 1-1 Kawasaki-cho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo Kawasaki Heavy Industries Akashi Factory Co., Ltd. (72) Creator Masafumi Morimoto 1-1 Kawasaki-cho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo Kawasaki Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Akashi Factory

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A lubricating mechanism for a gear, wherein a gear is lubricated around a meshing portion of a gear meshing in a casing to lubricate the meshing portion, a tip of the gear is in contact with or close to a side surface of the gear, and a base end of the gear is a casing side. A valve mechanism having a plate-like valve member fixed to the front end side is bent in one direction, is not bendable in the opposite direction, is substantially perpendicular to the side surface of the gear, and rotates the gear. It is characterized in that it is arranged so as to form an angle of intersection with the direction. 2. A lubricating mechanism for a gear, wherein a gear is lubricated around a meshing portion of a gear meshing in a casing to lubricate the meshing portion, the tip of the gear contacting or approaching a tip circle of the gear, and the base end of the gear. A valve mechanism having a plate-like valve member fixed to the casing side is rotated so that the tip end side is bendable in one direction and is not bendable in the opposite direction, and faces the tooth flank of the gear and the gear is rotated. It is characterized in that it is arranged so as to form an angle of intersection with the direction. 3. A lubricating mechanism for a gear, wherein a gear is lubricated around a meshing portion of a gear meshing in a casing to lubricate the meshing portion, a tip of the gear is in contact with or close to a casing side of the gear, and a base end of the gear is a gear. A valve mechanism having a plate-like valve member fixed to a side surface is provided so that the tip end side is freely bendable in one direction and is not bendable in the opposite direction so that it is substantially orthogonal to the side surface of the gear and the rotation of the gear is It is characterized in that it is arranged so as to form an angle of intersection with the moving direction.