JP4851899B2 - Vehicle engine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention mainly relates to an engine mounted on a vehicle such as a motorcycle, and more particularly to an arrangement of an oil filter and an oil cooler provided in an oil supply path for supplying lubricating engine oil to the engine.

Conventionally, in a four-cycle engine of a motorcycle, since an oil filter and an oil cooler are generally arranged apart from a crankcase, piping such as an engine oil passage in the crankcase becomes complicated, resulting in lower productivity and cost. Invite up. In order to solve this problem, an oil filter / oil cooler unit in which an oil filter and an oil cooler are integrated is provided at the lower part on the front side of the crankcase (see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-2005-48725

  In a motorcycle engine, a cylinder is usually arranged at the upper part of the crankcase and a transmission is arranged at the rear part. Therefore, the center of gravity of the engine is near the root part of the rear surface of the cylinder. On the other hand, in the engine of Patent Document 1, since the oil filter / oil cooler unit in which the oil filter and the oil cooler are integrated is arranged in the lower part on the front side of the crankcase, the mass of the engine is dispersed. This is not preferable in terms of the weight balance of the engine. In addition, the arrangement of the oil filter / oil cooler unit at the lower part on the front side of the engine restricts the layout of the exhaust pipe.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle engine that can improve both the weight balance of the engine and the degree of freedom of the layout of the exhaust pipe.

In order to achieve the above object, in the vehicle engine according to the first configuration of the present invention, an exhaust pipe is connected to the exhaust port on the front surface of the engine, a transmission is disposed at the rear of the crankcase, and the cylinder and the crankcase An oil filter / oil cooler unit, in which an oil filter and an oil cooler are combined, is placed behind the cylinder outside and close to the bottom of the cylinder . The oil filter can be removed from the engine in the vehicle width direction. der is, beneath the oil filter, oil cooler unit, which is disposed an oil pump for supplying oil to the oil filter, oil cooler unit through an oil supply passage, the oil supply passage to the crank case It is formed in the vertical direction.

  According to this configuration, by placing at least one of the oil filter and the oil cooler close to the lower part of the cylinder near the center of gravity of the engine, the mass of the engine is concentrated near the center of gravity of the engine so that the weight balance of the engine As a result, the weight balance of the vehicle is also improved. In addition, since an empty space is created on the front side of the engine where the oil filter / oil cooler unit is arranged in the conventional engine, the degree of freedom in the layout of the exhaust pipe connected to the exhaust port on the front side of the engine is improved.

In the present invention, a water pump for supplying cooling water to the cylinder via a cooling water supply passage is disposed directly below the oil filter / oil cooler unit and on the side of the transmission, and is connected to the oil cooler. Preferably, the cooling water is branched and supplied from the cooling water supply passage, and the cooling water piping of the oil cooler is completed at the rear of the cylinder.
In the present invention, it is preferable that the oil filter and the oil cooler are arranged side by side in the vehicle width direction, and the plurality of cylinders are arranged side by side in the vehicle width direction.

In the vehicle engine according to the second configuration of the present invention, an exhaust pipe is connected to an exhaust port on the front surface of the engine, a transmission is disposed at the rear part of the crankcase, and the cylinder is located behind the cylinder and the cylinder outside the crankcase. An oil filter is disposed in the vicinity of the lower portion of the engine, and the oil filter is removable from the engine in the vehicle width direction. The oil filter is disposed below the oil filter and between the oil filter and the engine body. A filter cover is disposed to prevent oil from dripping from the oil filter to the engine body when the oil is removed.

  According to the vehicle engine of the present invention, the mass of the engine is near the center of gravity of the engine by disposing at least one of the oil filter and the oil cooler in the vicinity of the lower part of the cylinder behind the cylinder near the center of gravity of the engine. The weight balance of the engine is improved by concentrating on the vehicle, and the weight balance of the vehicle is also improved. Further, since an empty space is created on the front side of the engine, the degree of freedom in the layout of the exhaust pipe connected to the exhaust port on the front side of the engine is improved.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a motorcycle equipped with an engine lubrication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this motorcycle, a front fork 2 is supported at the front end of the main frame 1 constituting the front half of the vehicle body frame FR, and a front wheel 3 is supported at the lower end of the front fork 2. A handle 7 is attached to the upper bracket 4 that supports the upper end of the front fork 2. A swing arm bracket 8 is formed at the lower rear end of the main frame 1, and the front end of the swing arm 9 is swingably supported by the swing arm bracket 8 via a pivot shaft 10. A rear wheel 11 is supported at the rear end of the swing arm 9. A seat rail 12 connected to the rear portion of the main frame 1 constitutes the rear half of the vehicle body frame FR. A shock absorber 13 for the rear wheel 11 is attached between the main frame 1 and the swing arm 9.

  An engine E is mounted in a forward inclined posture on the lower center of the main frame 1, and a radiator 21 is disposed in front of the engine E. This motorcycle is configured to drive the rear wheel 11 via the chain 14 by the engine E and to steer it with the handle 7. A rider's seat 17 and a passenger's seat 18 are supported on the seat rail 12. A fuel tank 19 is attached to the upper portion of the main frame 1 between the handle 7 and the rider's seat 17. A resin cowling 20 that covers a portion from the front of the handle 7 to the side of the front portion of the vehicle body is mounted on the front portion of the vehicle body. The rear portion of the cowling 20 includes a side portion and a lower portion of the engine E. And covering.

  The engine E is a four-cylinder four-cycle engine, and a crankcase CR of the engine E, a cylinder CY above the engine E, and a gear case GE provided at the rear of the crankcase CR form an engine case EC, and the gear case GE A transmission, which will be described later, is provided inside. A cylinder head 22 is connected to the upper surface of the cylinder CY, and a head cover 23 that covers the valve chamber of the cylinder head 22 is mounted on the upper surface of the cylinder head 22. An engine main body 24 is constituted by the engine case EC, the cylinder head 22 and the head cover 23. A plurality of exhaust pipes 28 are connected to the exhaust port 25 on the front surface of the cylinder head 22, and these exhaust pipes 28 are connected to a muffler 29 disposed at the rear of the vehicle body through the lower side of the engine E. An oil pan 27 is attached to the lower surface of the crankcase CR.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the engine E as viewed from the rear side. The engine case EC is formed by joining an upper and lower split case upper 71 and a case lower 72 with a mating surface 73, and a side of the crankcase CR formed by the front half thereof is covered with a crankcase cover 75. Yes. An oil filter / oil cooler unit 30 is disposed at a position near the lower part of the cylinder CY behind the cylinder CY outside the cylinder CY and the crankcase CR. In this unit 30, an oil filter 31 that filters lubricating oil from an oil pump, which will be described later, and an oil cooler 32 that cools the oil are coupled together via a mounting bracket 33 interposed therebetween. The details will be described later.

  In general, in a motorcycle engine E, as shown in FIG. 1, a cylinder CY is attached to the upper part of the crankcase CR, and a gear case GE is attached to the rear part, so that the engine E is located near the lower part of the cylinder behind the cylinder CY. Since the oil filter / oil cooler unit 30 is located near the bottom of the cylinder behind the cylinder CY, which is near the center of gravity of the engine E, the mass of the engine E is concentrated near the center of gravity of the engine E. Thus, the weight balance of the engine E is improved, and as a result, the weight balance of the motorcycle is also improved. This effect can be obtained even when one of the oil filter 31 and the oil cooler 32 in FIG. 2 is provided behind the cylinder CY and close to the lower part of the cylinder. Further, in the engine E of FIG. 1, an empty space is created on the front side of the engine E in which the oil filter and the oil cooler are arranged in the conventional engine, so that the degree of freedom of layout of the exhaust pipe 28 passing through the front surface of the engine E is increased. improves.

  Next, a cooling water circulation path in the cooling system of the engine E will be described. The cooling water W dissipated by the radiator 21 in FIG. 1 passes through the cooling water return passage 37 in FIG. 2 and returns to the water pump 34 provided on the lower side surface of the gear case GE. The oil cooler is fed from the passage 38 and supplied to a cooling water circulation passage (not shown) inside the cylinder CY and the cylinder head 22 of the engine body 24 and passes through a branch passage 39 branched from the front end 38a of the cooling water supply passage 38. 32. Cooling water W after circulating and cooling inside the cylinder CY and the cylinder head 22 is returned from the cooling water outlet 40 of the cylinder head 22 through the engine cooling water outlet passage 41 to the radiator 21 on the front side of the engine E. .

  On the other hand, the cooling water W that has cooled the oil inside the oil cooler 32 is joined to the cooling water W in the cooling water return passage 37 through the cooler cooling water outlet passage 42. That is, the oil in the oil cooler 32 is returned to the water pump 34 through the water pump 34, the cooling water supply passage 38, the branch passage 39, the oil cooler 32, the cooler cooling water outlet passage 42, and the cooling water return passage 37. Cooled by the cooling water W circulating in the passage in a short time. Therefore, the cooling water W passing through this short circulation path has a reduced passage resistance and an increased flow rate of the cooling water W, so that the cooling capacity of the oil cooler 32 is increased. Thereby, the temperature of the oil in the oil cooler 32 was able to be reduced about 5 degreeC rather than before.

  In general, since the water pump 34 is disposed on the side of the transmission 50, the distance from the water pump 34 to the oil cooler 32 is shorter than that in the conventional case where the oil cooler is disposed on the front side of the engine, and the amount of water is reduced accordingly. The piping of the cooling water passage from the pump 34 to the oil cooler 32 can be short. Further, since the pipe from the water pump 34 to the oil cooler 32 and the pipe of the cooling water return passage 37 are located on the back side (rear side) of the cylinder CY and do not exist on the front side of the engine E, the layout of the exhaust pipe 28 is obstructed. In addition, since the cooling water piping of the oil cooler 32 is completed at the rear surface of the cylinder CY, the maintenance inspection is not disturbed by the exhaust pipe 28 and is easy.

  Next, the circulation path of the lubricating oil will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a piping system diagram showing the entire oil circulation path. In FIG. 3, oil OL accumulated in an oil pan 27 provided at the lower part of the engine E is driven by a crankshaft 59 of the engine E. The oil pump 47 pumps the primary filter 43 through a pumping pipe 44 provided at the lower end, and then feeds it to the oil filter / oil cooler unit 30 through the oil supply passage 45.

  In FIG. 4, which is a piping system diagram showing the essential parts of the oil circulation path in detail, the mounting bracket 33 of the oil filter / oil cooler unit 30 is attached to the gear case GE formed by the case upper 71 and the rear half of the case lower 72. The oil filter 31 is fixed to the mounting bracket 33 by a hollow stud bolt 77 on the center axis, and the oil cooler 32 is connected by a cooler connecting bolt 78 to the mounting bracket 33. 33 are unitized. A filter cover 85 located below the oil filter 31 is attached to the mounting bracket 33 by cover mounting bolts 86. This prevents the oil OL from dripping onto the engine body 24 when the oil filter 31 is removed.

  The oil OL fed from the oil pump 47 is fed into the oil filter 31 through the oil supply passage 33a in the mounting bracket 33 in the oil filter / oil cooler unit 30 and contained in the oil OL. Foreign matter such as powder and dust is removed. The oil OL thus cleaned enters the oil cooler 32 through the hollow stud bolt 77 and the oil communication passage 33 b of the mounting bracket 33, and is introduced into the oil cooler 32 through the branch passage 39. After being cooled by W, the oil is led out from the oil lead-out port 33 c provided in the mounting bracket 33 to the main lead-out passage 49 of the branch supply passage 48. The oil pump 47 is provided on the same pump shaft 35 as the water pump 34, and this pump shaft 35 is rotationally driven in conjunction with the crankshaft 59 (FIG. 3).

  Returning to FIG. 3, the oil OL that has entered the main lead-out passage 49 of the branch supply passage 48 is branched and supplied to the transmission 50 and the engine E. That is, the oil OL branch supply passage 48 branches from the main lead-out passage 49 in addition to the main lead-out passage 49 through which the oil OL is led out from the oil cooler 32, and the input shaft 51 and the output shaft in the transmission 50. The first branch path 53 and the second branch path 54 respectively directed to 52 are provided. A clutch gear 80 of the input shaft 51 meshes with a crank gear (not shown) provided on the crankshaft 59, and power is transmitted to the input shaft 51 via the clutch 79 or cut off. The branch supply passage 48 is further connected between the connection portion of the first branch passage 53 and the connection portion of the second branch passage 54 in the main lead-out passage 49, and a main gallery 57 provided in the crankcase CR of the engine E. And a third branch path 58 heading toward.

  The oil OL that has flowed into the main gallery 57 is supplied to the lubricating portions of the engine E such as the crankshaft 59 and the connecting rod large end portion 60, and is supplied to the cylinder head 22 through the fourth branch passage 65. Then, a camshaft (not shown) or the like is lubricated. Note that the oil OL may be supplied to an oil control valve or a hydraulic tensioner for driving a variable valve timing mechanism in the camshaft through a passage (not shown) further branched from the first branch path 53.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the oil supply passage 45 and the main outlet passage 49 are formed in a substantially vertical direction across the case upper 71 and the case lower 72. Here, as can be seen from FIG. 1, the oil filter / oil cooler unit 30 is located almost directly above the water pump 34 and close to the transmission 50. The supply passage 45 and the main lead-out passage 49 can be a short straight path. As a result, the branch supply passage 48 can be shortened as compared with the conventional case where the oil filter / oil cooler unit is arranged on the front side of the engine.

  Further, in the circulation path of the oil OL, the oil OL cooled by the oil cooler 32 of FIG. 3 is sent from the main lead-out path 49 of the branch supply path 48 to the first and second branches separately from being sent to the main gallery 57. Since the oil is supplied to the input shaft 51 and the output shaft 52 of the transmission 50 through the paths 53 and 54, the pressure of the oil OL in the main gallery 57 decreases, and the passage resistance in the engine E decreases correspondingly. To do. That is, the same effect as the pressure loss in the engine E is reduced occurs. Here, since the oil OL is derived from only the first branch path 53 and not from both the first branch path 53 and the second branch path 54 before being sent to the main gallery 57 of the engine E, the main gallery The oil pressure in 57 is maintained at an appropriate level without being too low. Thus, since the discharge flow rate increases as the discharge pressure of the oil pump 47 decreases, the pump efficiency is improved. In other words, the required oil circulation performance can be obtained while using the oil pump 47 having a small capacity, and the engine E can be downsized.

  The present invention can be applied to engines of various vehicles such as a three-wheeled vehicle and a four-wheeled vehicle for traveling on rough terrain in addition to the motorcycle shown in the above embodiment.

1 is a side view showing a motorcycle equipped with an engine having a lubricating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view seen from the back side of the engine same as the above. It is a piping system figure which shows the whole oil circulation path | route in an engine same as the above. It is sectional drawing which showed the principal part of the oil circulation path same as the above in detail.

Explanation of symbols

21 Radiator 25 Exhaust port 28 Exhaust pipe 30 Oil filter / oil cooler unit 31 Oil filter 32 Oil cooler 34 Water pump 37 Coolant return passage 42 Cooler coolant outlet passage 50 Transmission E Engine CR Crankcase CY Cylinder

Claims (4)

An exhaust pipe is connected to the exhaust port on the front of the engine, a transmission is arranged at the rear of the crankcase, and the oil filter , oil cooler, An oil filter, oil cooler unit combined with
The oil filter, Ri can der detached from the engine in the vehicle width direction,
An oil pump for supplying oil to the oil filter / oil cooler unit via an oil supply passage is disposed directly below the oil filter / oil cooler unit,
The vehicular engine in which the oil supply passage is formed in the crankcase in a vertical direction . In claim 1, a water pump for supplying cooling water to the cylinder through a cooling water supply passage is disposed directly below the oil filter / oil cooler unit and on a side portion of the transmission.
The cooling water to the oil cooler is branched and supplied from the cooling water supply passage,
A vehicle engine in which a cooling water pipe of the oil cooler is completed behind the cylinder. According to claim 1 or 2, wherein the oil filter and the oil cooler are arranged side by side in the vehicle width direction, a vehicle engine in which a plurality of said cylinders are arranged side by side in the vehicle width direction. An exhaust pipe is connected to the exhaust port on the front of the engine, a transmission is arranged at the rear of the crankcase, an oil filter is arranged in the rear of the cylinder and outside the crankcase, close to the bottom of the cylinder,
The oil filter is removable from the engine in the vehicle width direction,
A vehicle engine in which a filter cover is disposed below the oil filter and between the oil filter and the engine body to prevent oil from dripping from the oil filter to the engine body when the oil filter is removed.

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