JP2778110B2 - Assembling method of viscous fluid coupling device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for assembling a viscous fluid coupling device used for a cooling fan device of an automobile engine.

(Prior Art) As a prior art of the present invention, there is one disclosed in JP-A-61-58913.

As shown in FIG. 1, this is a hollow case 2 rotatably supported on an input shaft, a storage chamber fixed in the case 2 and storing a viscous fluid in the case 2, and a working chamber. And a rotor disposed in the working chamber and rotated integrally with the input shaft, and formed axially symmetrically with the partition plate to communicate the storage chamber and the working chamber. A return hole 5a, a rectangular valve 3 rotatably provided in the case 2 and capable of opening and closing the return hole 5a, one end of which is fixed to the case 2 outside the case 2 and the other end is the valve And a bimetal 1 that is extended and contracted according to the outside air temperature and rotates the valve 3. The bimetal 1 controls the opening and closing of the return hole 5a by the bimetal 1 according to the outside air temperature. From the storage chamber to the working chamber through the hole 5a By controlling the amount of viscous fluid refluxing, and controls the rotational speed of the cooling fan that is fixed to the case 2.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the viscous fluid coupling device described above, the opening and closing state of the return holes 5a and 5b of the partition plate 4 is adjusted by rotating the valve 3, and the amount of the viscous fluid flowing back from the storage chamber to the working chamber is adjusted. To adjust,
In order to obtain the desired rotational characteristics of the cooling fan according to the outside air temperature, it is necessary to assemble the return holes 5a, 5b and the valve 3 with their relative positions aligned when assembling the viscous fluid coupling device.

However, since the relative position between the partition plate 4 and the valve 3 is arbitrary, it is difficult to automate the operation. In order to assemble them at the same position, the assembly is conventionally performed by a visual operation. This is likely to occur, and there is a fear that the rotation characteristics of the cooling fan according to the outside air temperature may vary.

Therefore, the present invention relates to the viscous fluid coupling device,
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for accurately and automatically assembling a relative position between a valve and a return hole.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The technical means of the present invention taken to solve the above-mentioned technical problems includes a hollow case rotatably supported on an input shaft, and a hollow case fixed in the case. A partition plate for partitioning a storage chamber and a working chamber for storing the viscous fluid in the case,
A rotor disposed in the working chamber and rotated integrally with the input shaft, formed axially symmetrically with the partition plate, communicating the storage chamber and the working chamber with each other in a circumferential direction with respect to a center of the partition plate; Two return holes each having an opening angle θ ₃ , a rectangular valve rotatably provided in the case and capable of opening and closing the return hole, one end of which is fixed to the case outside the case and the other end thereof A bi-metal that is locked to the valve and expands and contracts according to the outside air temperature to rotate the valve, and the valve controls opening and closing of the return hole by the bi-metal according to the outside air temperature, via the return hole. The bimetal of the viscous fluid coupling device for controlling the number of rotations of the cooling fan fixed to the case by controlling the amount of the viscous fluid recirculating from the storage chamber to the working chamber. In the method of mounting the valve and the partition plate to the case, the bimetal and the valve are maintained at the set temperature in a state where the valve is mounted to the case, and the partition plate is maintained at the set temperature, and An angle θ ₁ of a line connecting the centers of gravity of the return holes with respect to the X axis is measured using an image device with reference to the determined X axis and Y axis of the robot coordinate system, and both ends of the valve in the longitudinal direction are measured. The angle θ ₂ of the line connecting the respective centers of gravity of the predetermined area portion with respect to the X axis is measured using the image device, and the correction angle θ
= A theta only _{2 -θ 1 +} θ ₃ the partition plate to the X axis is to have to be fixed to the casing is rotated by the robot hand.

(Operation) According to the above means, the partition plate is rotated by the robot hand with respect to the X axis by the correction angle θ = θ ₂ −θ ₁ + θ ₃ and fixed to the case, so that the return hole and the valve at the set temperature are fixed. Variations in the relative position can be prevented, and the desired rotation characteristics of the cooling fan via the viscous fluid coupling with respect to the outside air temperature can be appropriately maintained.

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

FIG. 2 shows a partition plate 4 having return holes 5a and 5b, a rectangular valve 3, a bimetal 1, and a case 2 of the above-described viscous fluid coupling device. The valve 3 has a shaft portion in the center of one side surface thereof, the shaft portion is rotatably supported in a hole of the case 2, and the inner end of the bimetal 1 is locked to an end protruding outside the case 2. You. Note that the outer end of the bimetal 1 is fixed to the case 2 so that when the bimetal 1 expands and contracts according to the outside air temperature, the valve 3 rotates. After the valve 3 is assembled as described above, the partition plate 4 is fixed to the case 2 so as to cover the valve 3.

The return holes 5a and 5b formed in the partition plate 4 are opened and closed in accordance with the rotation of the valve 3, thereby adjusting the amount of the viscous fluid returning from the storage chamber to the working chamber in the same manner as in the above-described conventional technique. The rotation transmission amount of the viscous fluid coupling device is controlled according to the temperature.

In order to satisfy this function, the relative positional relationship between the valve 3 and the partition plate 4 at the set temperature is important, and when the partition plate 4 is mounted on the case 2, the valve 3 shown by a dotted line in FIG.
And the return line side line 7 of the partition plate 4 must be aligned.

Since the positions of the partition plate 4 and the valve 3 are arbitrary (not fixed), it is necessary to confirm the positions of the side line 6 and the return hole side line 7 of the valve 3. In the present embodiment, the valve side line 6 and the return hole side line 7 are required. Are measured by an image device, and both sides are aligned. The method will be described in detail below.

To measure the hole angle theta ₁ back of the partition plate 4 indicated at 8 in Figure 4 takes an image 10 of the partition plate 4 by the image device, as shown in FIG. 5 in a state of being maintained at the set temperature And then the sixth
As shown in the figure, a shape corresponding to the return holes 5a and 5b in the image is found by the area value, and in the image 11 of the partition plate in which a straight line 11a connecting the centers of gravity of these return holes 5a and 5b is drawn, the robot coordinate system is used. The angle made by 11a directly with respect to the X-axis is measured.

To measure the angle theta ₂ of the valve 3 shown by numeral 9 in Fig. 4, while being held at a set temperature in the case 2 together with the bimetal 1 under a state of being assembled as described above, FIG. 7 The image 12 of the valve shown in FIG. 8 is taken and binarized to obtain an image 13 of the valve shown in FIG. Further, in order to remove a portion where image noise is likely to occur, a circle of r1, r2 (r1 <r2) is drawn with respect to the center of the case 2 as shown in FIG. 9, and the area inside r1 and outside r2 is painted. In the valve image 14 in which a straight line 14a connecting the centers of gravity of the processed regions is drawn, a straight line 14a with respect to the X axis of the robot coordinate system is obtained.
Measure the angle made.

To match the valve side line 6 with the return hole side line 7, the above θ
_A correction angle θ = θ ₂ − by adding a correction value θ ₃ to the difference between ₂ and θ _1.
Obtain θ ₁ + θ ₃ . The correction value theta _3, each return hole 5a,
5b is an opening angle formed in the circumferential direction with respect to the center of the partition plate. The calculation of the correction angle θ is performed in the robot controller, and the robot rotates the partition plate 4 with respect to the X axis by the correction angle θ by the robot hand to adjust the position with respect to the valve 3, and the partition plate 4 is fixed to the case 2. You.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the relative position between the partition plate 4 and the valve 3 is accurately determined by using the image device.

(Effect of the Invention) According to the present invention, the partition plate is rotated by the robot hand with respect to the X axis by the correction angle θ = θ ₂ −θ ₁ + θ ₃ and is fixed to the case, so that the return hole at the set temperature can be obtained. Variations in the relative positions of the valves can be prevented, and the desired rotational characteristics of the cooling fan via the viscous fluid coupling with respect to the outside air temperature can be appropriately maintained.

Furthermore, since the angle of the rectangular valve, determined by the angle theta ₂ with respect to the X axis of the line connecting the center of gravity of a predetermined area portion of the longitudinal ends of the hardly occurs valve image noise to the more X-axis, The valve angle can be measured without the influence of image noise, and the variation in the relative position between the return hole and the valve at the set temperature can be further prevented. Also, X
The angle of the rectangular valve relative to the axis, since the measurement by the angle theta ₂ with respect to the X axis of the line connecting the center of gravity of a predetermined area portion of the longitudinal ends of the valve, even valve in any rotational position X The angle with respect to the axis can be measured, and the assembling process can be simplified without any restriction on the directionality at the time of assembling.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a partial sectional view of a viscous fluid coupling device, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of main parts of the viscous fluid coupling device, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a valve, and FIG. 4 is a set of a partition plate and a valve. 5 and 6 are illustrations of image processing of a partition plate, and FIGS. 7 to 9 are illustrations of image processing of a valve. 1 ... bimetal, 2 ... case, 3 ... valve, 4 ...
... Partition plates, 5a, 5b ... Return holes.

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-61-58913 (JP, A) JP-A-64-72283 (JP, A) JP-A-57-29826 (JP, A) JP-A-64-72284 (JP) , A) JP-A-1-124702 (JP, A) JP-A 63-142432 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F16D 35/02 G06T 7/60

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A hollow case rotatably supported on an input shaft, a partition plate fixedly formed in the case and defining a storage chamber and a working chamber for storing a viscous fluid in the case; A rotor disposed in the working chamber and rotated integrally with the input shaft; and a rotor formed in the partition plate so as to be axially symmetrical, communicating with the storage chamber and the working chamber, and having a circumferential opening with respect to a center of the partition plate. Two return holes each having an angle θ ₃ ,
A rectangular valve rotatably provided in the case and capable of opening and closing the return hole, one end of which is fixed to the case outside the case and the other end of which is locked to the valve, according to the outside air temperature; A bimetal that expands and contracts to rotate the valve, wherein the valve controls opening and closing of the return hole by the bimetal according to the outside air temperature, and a viscous fluid that returns from the storage chamber to the working chamber through the return hole. By controlling the amount of, the bimetal of the viscous fluid coupling device that controls the rotation speed of the cooling fan fixed to the case, the valve, and the partition plate in the method of assembling to the case, The bimetal and the valve are held at the set temperature in a state where they are assembled to the case, the partition plate is held at the set temperature, and the X of the predetermined robot coordinate system is set. With respect to the Y-axis, as well as measured using an image apparatus the angle theta ₁ with respect to the X axis of the line connecting the center of gravity of the respective return hole, the centers of gravity of a predetermined area portion of the longitudinal ends of the valve The angle θ ₂ of the connecting line with respect to the X axis is measured using the image device, and the correction angle θ =
A method for assembling a viscous fluid coupling device, wherein the partition plate is rotated by a robot hand with respect to the X axis by θ ₂ −θ ₁ + θ ₃ and fixed to the case.