JP3246343B2 - Lubrication structure of clutch release bearing - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lubricating structure for a release bearing which operates a pressure plate to connect and disconnect a clutch disk and a flywheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A release bearing of a clutch is provided on a retainer fixed to a casing of the clutch. When a release fork is operated, the release bearing slides on the retainer and a compression spring or a diaphragm spring is applied at an end surface thereof. By operating the pressure plate, the clutch disc is moved toward and away from the flywheel. In such a release bearing, lubricating oil is supplied between the outer peripheral surface of the retainer and the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve to reduce sliding resistance with the sleeve. For example,
Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 56-158531 discloses a ring-shaped lubricating oil chamber which is opened toward the outer peripheral surface of a retainer and accommodates lubricating oil on the inner peripheral side of a sleeve for supporting a release bearing. Replenish the lubricating oil from the nipple provided outside the sleeve below the sleeve, or scrape up the oil from the oil reservoir provided below the lubricating oil chamber with an impregnating ring and supply it to the lubricating oil chamber. There is described a lubricating structure for reducing the sliding resistance between the lubricating member and the lubricating member.

[0003]

The lubricating oil in the annular lubricating oil chamber gradually drops in viscosity due to the temperature rise and frequent operation in the clutch device, and drips downward from the lubricating oil chamber. In some cases, the clutch may drop, resulting in poor clutch sliding. In particular, the lubricating oil must be constantly supplied at the upper part of the inner periphery of the release bearing since the lubricating oil tends to run out earlier than at other parts. 56-158
In Japanese Patent No. 531, since lubricating oil is constantly supplied to the lubricating oil chamber by the impregnating ring, there is an advantage that running out of lubricating oil does not occur until there is no more oil in the oil reservoir.
An impregnating ring and a later oil pool are indispensable,
The lubrication structure increases in the number of parts and in the radial direction. In the case where the nipple portion is provided on the sleeve, lubricating oil can be supplied from the nipple portion, but since the replenishing position is below the lubricating oil chamber, the lubricating oil remaining below the lubricating oil chamber becomes an injection resistance. It is difficult to efficiently replenish the upper part where lubricating oil is most likely to run out.

An object of the present invention is to increase the amount of lubricating oil retained in a release bearing of a clutch while suppressing the increase in size, to supply the oil efficiently, and to eliminate poor sliding of the release bearing due to lack of lubricating oil. With the goal.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a lubricating structure capable of increasing the holding amount and efficiently supplying a lubricating oil supply structure for a release bearing of a clutch while suppressing an increase in the size of the lubricating oil supply structure. A lubricating oil chamber for storing lubricating oil for lubricating the retainer and the sleeve is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the substantially circular sleeve sliding on the retainer on the outer peripheral portion of the main drive shaft. Communicates with the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve through a communication passage and lubricates
Oil chamber, outer case of clutch release bearing
And the reinforcement fixed to this outer case and sleeve
On the sleeve by the flange and the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve
It is a closed section space that is configured . With such a configuration, the lubricating oil in the lubricating oil chamber is supplied between the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve, which is the sliding surface of the clutch release bearing, and the outer peripheral surface of the retainer via the communication passage.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A lubricating structure for a clutch release bearing according to the present invention is a lubricating structure for storing lubricating oil for lubricating a retainer and a substantially tubular sleeve that slides on a retainer provided on an outer peripheral portion of a main drive shaft. The oil chamber was disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the sleeve, and the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve and the lubricating oil chamber were connected by a communication passage. Therefore, the lubricating oil in the lubricating oil chamber is supplied through the communication passage between the sleeve and the retainer.

[0007] The lubricating oil chamber is disposed above the retainer, and the communication path is disposed at least vertically above. By arranging the components in this manner, the lubricating oil in the lubricating oil chamber is supplied to the upper portion of the retainer via the communication passage, so that the lubricating oil is efficiently supplied to the insufficient portion.

When a lubricating oil reservoir is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve to receive lubricating oil from the communication passage, the lubricating oil supplied from the communication passage is stored in the lubricating oil reservoir. When the amount of the lubricating oil in the lubricating oil reservoir decreases, the lubricating oil in the lubricating oil chamber is successively supplied from the lubricating oil chamber above the retainer through the communication passage. If the lubricating oil is applied in advance to the lubricating oil reservoir, when the amount of the lubricating oil decreases, the lubricating oil is supplied to the lubricating oil reservoir through the communication passage from the lubricating oil chamber.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A clutch device denoted by reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is a clutch plate provided at a tip of a main drive shaft 4 of a transmission so as to be integrally rotatable with a flywheel 3 directly connected to a crankshaft 2 of an engine (not shown). The clutch disc 6 on 5 is intermittently connected, and the rotation of the crankshaft 2 is intermittently connected to the main drive shaft 4. The clutch disk 6 includes a disk 6A that comes into contact with and separates from the inner end surface of the flywheel 3 and a disk 6B that comes into contact with and separates from the inner end surface of the pressure plate 8 described later.
A clutch release bearing 10 for operating a pressure plate 8 via a ring-shaped diaphragm spring 7 is provided on the main drive shaft 4. The diaphragm spring 7 is provided on a clutch cover 13 fixed to the flywheel 3 with a pivot ring 14,
The outer peripheral end 7a is integrally fixed to the pressure plate 8, and normally presses and biases the clutch disc 6A toward the flywheel 3 via the pressure plate 8.

The clutch release bearing 10 is axially slidably supported on an outer peripheral surface 9a of a retainer 9 fixed to the casing 1A of the clutch 1. A push rod 11 that is operated by operating a clutch pedal (not shown) is connected to an outer end of a release fork 12 swingably supported by the casing 1A. When the push rod 11 moves in the direction of arrow a and the release fork 12 swings, the clutch release bearing 10 comes into contact with the inner end 12a of the fork and slides in the direction of arrow b. Due to this sliding, the end face 10c of the clutch release bearing 10 presses the inner edge of the diaphragm spring 7,
The pressure on the clutch disk 6 by the pressure plate 8 is released.

The lubrication structure of the clutch release bearing 10 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a substantially tubular sleeve 16 is slidably inserted into the outer peripheral surface 9 a of the retainer 9. On the inner peripheral surface 16a of the sleeve 16, a dish-shaped lubricating oil reservoir 17 that is concave toward the outer shape is formed in an annular shape. Grease 18 serving as lubricating oil indicated by dots on the drawing is applied to the oil reservoir 17 to fill the interior of the oil reservoir 17.

A lubricating oil chamber 19 is provided around the outer periphery of the sleeve 16.
Are arranged. The lubricating oil chamber 19 includes an outer case 10 a of the clutch release bearing 10, a reinforcing flange 20 having a bell-crank cross section, and an outer peripheral surface 16 of the sleeve 16.
b and a closed cross-sectional space formed on the sleeve 16. As shown in FIG. 2, the outer case 10a formed by sheet metal is fixed to the front part 160 of the sleeve 16 in the axial direction, and the reinforcing flange 20 is fixed to the rear part 161 of the sleeve 16 and the end face 10b of the outer case 10a by welding. I have. The reinforcing flange 20 has a peripheral portion having a height lower than that of the outer case 10a, and a contact portion 20a having a part projecting in a hat shape as shown in FIG. The fork inner end 12a comes into contact with the contact portion 20a when the fork is operated.

FIG. 3 shows the lubricating oil chamber 19 in an upper portion and a substantially 1/3 portion between the inner peripheral surface 20a of the reinforcing flange 20 and the outer peripheral surface 16b of the sleeve 16, which are the ends in the circumferential direction. As shown in the figure, the front shape is formed in an arc shape by closing with the partition walls 21 and 22. The arc length θ of the lubricating oil chamber 19 is a length that covers approximately one third from the upper part of the outer peripheral surface 9a of the retainer. The lubricating oil chamber 19 is filled with grease 18 'that becomes lubricating oil by a method described later. Lubricating oil chamber 1
In the sleeve 16 serving as the bottom of the pipe 9, communication passages 24 and 25 communicating with the oil reservoir 17 are formed inside the partition walls 21 and 22, respectively. These communication paths 24, 25
Is drilled from the inner peripheral surface 16a of the sleeve 16 by a drill or the like (not shown), and the communication path 24 is formed vertically above. The grease 18 ′ is injected from the communication passage 24 into the lubricating oil chamber 19 with a grease gun. At this time, the grease 18 ′ is injected until the grease leaks from the communication passage 25 to check the filling state in the lubricating oil chamber 19. it can.

According to such a configuration, when the clutch release bearing 10 is slid due to frequent operation of the clutch pedal or the temperature in the clutch device 1 rises,
Outer peripheral surface 9a of retainer 9 and inner peripheral surface 16a of sleeve 16
The viscosity of the grease 18 applied in the lubricating oil sump 17 located between them gradually decreases. If such a state continues for a long period of time, the grease 18 above the lubricating oil reservoir 17 is lowered downward by its own weight and decreases as indicated by the two-dot chain line a in FIG. When the grease 18 surface is lowered, the grease 1 from the lubricating oil chamber 19 located thereabove passes through the communication passage 24.
8 ′ is supplied (supplied) into the lubricating oil reservoir 17. The grease 18 'in the lubricating oil chamber 19 is also the lubricating oil reservoir 1
7 may gradually decrease with replenishment, and may be lower than the communication hole 24 as indicated by a two-dot chain line b. When the amount of grease 18 in the lubricating oil reservoir 17 decreases, a negative pressure is generated in the lubricating oil reservoir 17, so that grease 18 ′ in the lubricating oil reservoir 19 is sucked out through the communication passage 24 and supplied to the lubricating oil reservoir 17. (Supplied).

The amount of grease 18 in the lubricating oil sump 17 is basically applied to such an extent that lubrication failure does not occur until a predetermined periodic inspection. However, the amount of grease 18 depends on the frequency of use of the clutch device 1 and the running environment. There is variation in how to decrease. Therefore, arranging the lubricating oil chamber 19 outside of the lubricating oil reservoir 17 in this manner has a double lubricating structure, and therefore, it is possible to prevent sliding failure due to breakage of the grease 18 in the lubricating oil reservoir 17. It is possible to eliminate the operation failure of the clutch. Since the lubricating oil chamber 19 does not protrude in the radial direction unlike the conventional nipple portion, it does not need to be large in the radial direction. In the present embodiment, lubricating oil is not supplied from the oil reservoir by an impregnating ring as in the prior art, but automatic lubrication is performed by the own weight or negative pressure of the grease 18, so that the structure can be simplified.

[0016]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the lubricating oil in the lubricating oil chamber is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve, which is the sliding surface of the clutch release bearing, and the outer peripheral surface of the retainer via the communication passage. Since it is supplied, lubricating oil can be constantly supplied to the sliding surface of the clutch release bearing, and the amount of lubricating oil can be secured, so that poor lubrication and problems due to it can be eliminated.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the lubricating oil chamber is disposed above the retainer and the communication passage is disposed at least vertically above, so that the lubricating oil in the lubricating oil chamber is disposed above the retainer via the communication passage. As a result, the lubricating oil can be efficiently supplied to a portion where lubricating oil is insufficient.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the lubricating oil applied to the dish-shaped lubricating oil reservoir first lubricates the retainer and the sleeve, and then, when the lubricating oil in the lubricating oil reservoir is reduced, the retainer is sequentially reduced. Lubricating oil is supplied from the upper lubricating oil chamber through the communication passage. In other words, by providing a two-stage lubrication structure for lubricating the retainer and the sleeve, an appropriate amount of lubricating oil can be supplied between the retainer and the sleeve, and the lack of lubricating oil in the lubricating oil reservoir and the problems caused by it are eliminated. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a clutch device provided with a clutch release bearing having a lubricating structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a lubricating structure of a clutch release bearing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a lubricating oil supply and supply operation.

[Description of Signs] 4 Main drive shaft 6 Clutch disk 9 Retainer 10 Clutch release bearing 16 Sleeve 16a Sleeve inner peripheral surface 17 Lubricating oil reservoir 18, 18 'Lubricating oil 19 Lubricating oil chamber 24, 25 Communication passage

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16D 11/00-23/14 F16N 7/22

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A clutch release bearing configured to operate a clutch disc by sliding on a retainer provided on an outer peripheral portion of a main drive shaft, comprising: a substantially tubular sleeve sliding on the retainer; and a communicating path which communicates with the lubricating oil chamber, the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve and the lubricating oil chamber is disposed on an outer peripheral portion storing the lubricating oil for lubricating the said retainer and said sleeve of said sleeve, said The lubricating oil chamber is
Secure the outer case, this outer case and the sleeve
Between the specified reinforcing flange and the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve.
Therefore , the clutch release bearing lubrication mechanism is a closed cross-sectional space formed on the sleeve . 2. A lubricating structure for a clutch release bearing according to claim 1, wherein said lubricating oil chamber is disposed above said retainer, and said communication passage is disposed at least vertically above. 3. A dish-shaped lubricating oil reservoir, which is supplied with lubricating oil in advance on the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve and receives lubricating oil from the communication passage after the lubricating oil is reduced. lubrication structure of clutches release bearing according to claim 2, characterized in that it is formed.