JPH0144900B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a starting device for an internal combustion engine such as an automobile or a motorcycle.

2. Description of the Related Art As a device for starting an internal combustion engine of a motorcycle or the like, a starting device called a so-called Bendex type or an inertial sliding type is well known. This starting device is constructed as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, a clutch outer 3, which is a driving part of a one-way clutch device, is attached to a rotating shaft 2 on which a driven gear 1 that receives power from a starting motor (not shown) is attached, and a clutch outer 3 is attached to a helical shaft 2 formed on a fitting surface. It is slidably extrapolated in the axial direction via a spline 4. A pinion gear 6, which is a driven part of the one-way clutch 5, is externally inserted onto the rotating shaft 2 via a bearing 7, and a coil spring 8 has one end attached to the end surface of the pinion gear 6 in a cylindrical shape. The spring cover 9 is inserted into contact with the inside of the spring cover 9 via the bent tip. In the spring cover 9, a large-diameter cover 9a and a small-diameter cover 9b, which is approximately bowl-shaped and whose diameter is smaller than the large-diameter cover 9a by approximately the wall thickness, are joined to each other so as to be slidable in the axial direction, so that the axial length can be expanded and contracted. Become free. The small diameter cover 9b is fitted over the rotating shaft 2 and fixed by a stopper 10 so as not to move in the axial direction. Further, on the outside of the constricted portion of the clutch outer 3, there is a weight holder 11 fixed to the clutch outer 3 and having a shape in which a disk is roughly divided into three radially.
An annular spring 11 is evenly supported by b.
A centrifugal force governor device 11 configured by being tightened from the outside by its elastic force and fixed integrally by c.
is extrapolated. Further, on the outside thereof, there is a weight guide 12 having a substantially bowl shape with a step in the A section, and a centrifugal force governor device 11 inside thereof.
It is fitted onto the rotating shaft 2 in such a manner as to accommodate a portion of the clutch outer 3, and is fixed with a C-shaped retaining ring 13, a bush, or the like.

Thus, the tooth portion 6a of the pinion gear 6 slides in the axial direction and meshes appropriately with the ring gear 14.
It is formed to protrude from the other outer peripheral surfaces. For this reason, it becomes difficult to attach the clutch cover 5a that protects the one-way clutch mechanism, which is elaborately constructed with an appropriate number of rollers, springs, etc., and as shown in FIG.
It is necessary to form the insertion hole with a large diameter, first cover the clutch mechanism with small parts such as the flat washer 5c and the half washer 5b, and then insert and assemble the clutch cover 5a in which the large-diameter insertion hole is formed. It was hot. As mentioned above, the inertia sliding type starting device is made up of a delicate assembly of main parts such as the clutch outer 3 and pinion gear 6, as well as small accessory parts such as a stopper part consisting of a centrifugal governor device 11, a return coil spring 8, etc. This naturally resulted in a large number of parts and required a large number of assembly man-hours. Therefore, keeping the number of parts to the minimum necessary and creating a configuration that is convenient for assembly has been an important issue in terms of cost reduction measures for starter devices. From the above viewpoint, it was necessary to avoid as much as possible the increase in the number of parts related to the clutch cover 12 and the complication of the assembly work, which would have the opposite effect on the above theme. Furthermore, the uneven shape of the pinion gear 6 increases the number of manufacturing steps and deteriorates the material yield, which is a major factor in increasing the cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a starter device that reduces the number of parts, improves assembly work efficiency, and enables precise reduction of cost. The present invention is characterized in that in a starting device that transmits the rotation of a starting motor to a ring gear of an engine via a one-way clutch, a rotating shaft rotated by the starting motor is slidably externally connected to the rotating shaft via a helical spline. a driving member that is inserted and removably connected to the one-way clutch; and a driving member that is removably connected to the driving member through the one-way clutch and is rotatable and slidable in the axial direction on the rotating shaft. A driven member comprising a support member that is freely inserted into the support member, a pinion gear that is slidably inserted into the support member and can engage with the ring gear in a manner that allows the ring gear to move toward and away from the ring gear, and a step formed on the inner periphery of the support member. and a biasing means mounted on the rotating shaft between the rotating shaft and a stopper fixed to the rotating shaft, and biasing the support member in a direction in which the pinion gear separates from the ring gear, and the biasing means includes: It is housed in a support member and a substantially bowl-shaped spring cover that always faces the support member.

Next, specific embodiments of the starting device according to the present invention will be described based on the attached drawings. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the upper half of the motorcycle starting device according to the present invention. Incidentally, parts that are the same as those in the conventional embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 2, a driven gear 1 that receives the rotation of a starter motor (not shown) is pivotally attached to one end of a rotating shaft 2. As shown in FIG. A clutch outer 3a constituting a drive unit for mounting a one-way clutch is fitted onto the other end of the rotating shaft 2 so as to be slidable in the axial direction via a first helical spline 4a formed on the fitting surface. There is. The clutch outer 3a has an approximately two-tiered bowl-shaped outer shape, and a centrifugal force governor device 11 consisting of a governor weight 11a, a weight holder 11b, and an annular spring 11c is attached to the outer peripheral surface of its small diameter portion. There is. In the centrifugal force governor device 11, three governor weights 11a each having a shape obtained by radially dividing a disc into approximately three parts are evenly distributed by a weight holder 11b which is radially evenly branched into three prongs and is fixedly attached to a clutch outer 3a. The clutch outer 3a rotates integrally with the clutch outer 3a and is rotated by the centrifugal force. The three governor weights 11a each move in the axial radial direction to enlarge the outer diameter defined by the three governor weights 11a. A weight guide 12 having a substantially bowl shape with a step formed in a portion A accommodates and covers the centrifugal force governor device 11 and a part of the small diameter portion of the clutch outer 3a. and is fixed with a C-shaped retaining ring 13 or a bush.

Inside the bowl-shaped large-diameter portion of the clutch outer 3a, there is a one-way clutch 5 that is configured by combining a spring (not shown) and a spring (not shown) along the inner peripheral surface and that transmits rotation only in one direction. It is installed. Furthermore, one end of a substantially cylindrical clutch inner 3b having steps on both the inner and outer circumferential surfaces, which serves as a driven part, is inserted inside the clutch inner 3b. It is also slidably extrapolated in the axial direction. Then, the clutch cover 5a, which is approximately bowl-shaped, is attached to the clutch inner 3b in such a manner as to hug the rim of the large diameter portion of the clutch outer 3a, which is also bowl-shaped.
has been extrapolated to This clutch cover 5a is fixed to the outer surface of the clutch outer 3a by caulking the side surface from the outside with a strong force, and has a diameter that is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the small diameter portion of the clutch inner 3b that is bored in the center of the bottom surface. The small diameter portion of the clutch inner 3b is inserted into the insertion hole with almost no gap.
Therefore, the clutch cover 5a not only covers the one-way clutch 5 housed inside, but also has the function of restraining the clutch outer 3a and the clutch inner 3b so that they do not shift in the axial direction. Therefore, accessory parts such as the flat washer 5c and the half washer 5b can be omitted.

A pinion gear 6 is connected to the small diameter portion of the clutch inner 3b on the opposite side of the large diameter portion in sliding contact with the one-way clutch 5 through a second helical spline 4b having the same helical direction as the first helical spline 4a. Slidably extrapolated. A toothed portion 6a is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the pinion gear 6 so as to be able to properly mesh with the engine drive ring gear 14 protruding nearby when the pinion gear 6 is inertially slid in the direction of the arrow. It's summery.

As described above, by dividing the driven part of the one-way clutch device into two parts, the clutch inner 3b and the pinion gear 6, these parts can be easily manufactured, the material yield is improved, and the cost of parts is reduced. Furthermore, this makes it possible to easily incorporate the clutch cover 5a, which is useful because the insertion hole described above is made smaller than in the case of the prior art, which contributes to a reduction in the number of parts. That is, before fitting the pinion gear 6 to the clutch inner 3b, the clutch cover 5a may be extrapolated, and then the pinion gear 6 may be fitted with a helical spline to the clutch inner 3b. Therefore, the protruding tooth portion 6a of the pinion gear 6 does not become an obstacle, and the aforementioned useful clutch cover 5a can be easily incorporated. Further, a shock absorbing member such as a disc spring can be easily installed in the space E between the pinion gear 6 and the clutch cover 5a, thereby making it possible to alleviate the severe shock force peculiar to the starting device described later.

The inner circumferential surface of the center hole through which the rotating shaft 2 of the clutch inner 3b is inserted is also formed in a two-step shape, and the inner diameter of the end opposite to the side that contacts the one-way clutch 5 is larger than the other. A space B is secured. In this space B, one end side of the coil spring 8 which is externally inserted into the rotating shaft 2 is accommodated with a press plate 8a provided at the end thereof being brought into contact with the stepped surface C. The other end of the coil spring 8 is housed inside the bowl of a spring cover 9 which has an elongated substantially bowl shape and is fitted onto the rotating shaft 2, and its end is brought into contact with the bottom of the bowl of the spring cover 9. . The spring cover 9 is fixed by a stopper 10 so as not to move in the axial direction. Therefore, the clutch inner 3b is connected to the coil spring 8.
The resilient force always urges the clutch outer 3a side. A stopper 10, which has a disk shape and is fitted onto the rotating shaft 2, functions as a stopper for the clutch inner 3b and the pinion gear 6, which are slid by inertia. By configuring the stopper portion as described above, the spring cover 9 can be configured into a single piece compared to the prior art, which reduces the number of parts and facilitates assembly.

The operation of the above-described embodiment configured as described above will be explained below. In FIG. 2, a starter motor (not shown) is turned on and begins to rotate, the rotation is transmitted to the driven gear 1, and the rotating shaft 2 on which the driven gear 1 is mounted begins to rotate at a high speed. When the rotating shaft 2 starts rotating, an inertial sliding force in the direction of the arrow in the figure acts on the clutch outer 3a, which is extrapolated to the rotating shaft 2 via the first helical spline 4a, due to the effect of the first helical spline 4a. . As a result, the centrifugal force governor device 1 that is integrally assembled to the clutch outer 3a
1. The sliding parts of the one-way clutch 5, the clutch inner 3b, and the pinion gear 6 etc. that are fitted with hemical splines to the clutch inner 3b resist the elastic force of the coil spring 8 that comes into contact with the stepped surface C of the clutch inner 3b. , move integrally in the axial direction indicated by the arrow due to the inertial sliding force. Then, the tip of the clutch inner 3b comes into contact with the stopper 10, and the above-mentioned inertial sliding is stopped. At this point, the pinion gear 6 has already engaged with the ring gear 14 with most of its teeth 6a jumping into the teeth of the ring gear 14. When the inertial sliding is stopped,
Immediately, the ring gear 1 starts rotating as one unit.
Rotate 4.

At this time, the centrifugal force governor device 11 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the clutch outer 3a
The three governor weights 11a rotate integrally with the weight guide 12, and each of the three governor weights 11a moves radially as if floating against the elastic tightening force of the spring 11c wound on the outside due to centrifugal force. The shape is such that it comes into contact with the inner circumferential surface of the large-diameter portion beyond point A. Therefore, by the time the pinion gear 6 engages and rotates the ring gear 14 to start and ignite the engine of the motorcycle and drive it stably, the engine rotational speed may drop and the pinion gear 6 may inadvertently disengage from the ring gear 14. Also, the enlarged governor weight 11a locks the step A and prevents it from coming off.

When the ring gear 14 receives the rotational drive of the starter of the present invention without interruption as described above and the rotational speed of the engine increases to reach stable driving, the pinion gear 6 is forced to rotate by the ring gear 14. This causes a so-called overrun state. At this time, a new force is applied to the clutch inner 3b to cause it to slide toward the driven gear 1 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3 due to the effect of the second helical spline 4b. Furthermore, the clutch inner 3b is separated from the clutch outer 3a side due to the effect of the one-way clutch, and starts rotating freely at high speed. However, since the clutch outer 3a also gradually increases its rotational speed due to the drag torque of the one-way clutch 5, the first helical spline 4a functions, and this clutch outer 3a has an inertial sliding force in the side direction of the weight guide 12 as shown by the arrow. acts. Therefore, the integral sliding portion from the clutch outer 3a to the clutch inner 3b, which is sandwiched between the first helical spline 4a and the second helical spline 4b, receives two types of inertial sliding force and the elastic force of the coil spring 8 in opposite directions. The weight guide 12 is pressed toward the weight guide 12 by the canceled resultant force, compared to the case of the prior art in which the driven part is not provided with the second helical spline where the driven part is composed of a single pinion gear. The load applied to the step A is reduced, and wear of the weight guide 12 is suppressed.

Eventually, when the engine reaches a predetermined rotational speed and starts stable driving, the starter motor (not shown) is turned off. When the starting motor is turned off and the rotation of the rotating shaft 2 is stopped, the clutch outer 3a, which is fitted with a helical spline, is also separated from the one-way clutch 5 and stops. When the clutch outer 3a stops rotating, the first helical spline 4a
Due to this effect, the inertial sliding force that causes the clutch to slide toward the weight guide 12 increases instantaneously and acts on the clutch outer 3a as a large urging force. At the same time, the clutch outer 3a
Since the centrifugal force cabana device 11 attached to the clutch outer unit 11 also stops rotating, the centrifugal force that had been acting until then disappears, and the enlarged governor weight 11a is returned to its original clutch outer position 3a by the elastic tightening force of the spring 11c. It returns to the outer peripheral surface, reduces its diameter, and releases its stopper function. Therefore, at the same time that the stopper function of the centrifugal force governor device 11 is released, a stronger resultant force is generated by combining the strong inertial sliding force due to the effect of the first helical spline 4a and the elastic force of the coil spring 8. Since it acts instantaneously on the integral sliding part from the clutch outer 3a to the pinion gear 6, this part becomes almost integral and is instantaneously kicked back to its original position before starting.
The tooth portion 6a of the pinion gear 6 separates from the ring gear 14. At this time, the clutch outer 3a collides with the weight guide 12, applying a strong impact to it. However, in this embodiment, the inertial sliding force acting in the direction toward the driven gear 1 due to the effect of the second helical spline 4b acts on the clutch inner 3b until the moment when the pinion gear 6 disengages from the ring gear 14. In comparison, the impact force when the aforementioned sliding portion is kicked back is significantly reduced.

In addition, in this embodiment, on the dividing surface of the driven part of the one-way clutch device divided into two according to the present invention,
A second helical spline having the same helical direction as the first helical spline provided between the drive part and the rotating shaft is provided to reduce the impact force when kicking back. However, the second
The helical direction of the helical spline may be opposite to that of the first helical spline. In this case, impact force occurs when the pinion gear meshes with the ring gear, and during high-load driving, that is, during peak cranking when the engine starts, and during so-called butting when the engine rotates in reverse, it is generated between the tooth surfaces of the pinion gear and ring gear. It has the effect of alleviating impact force. Further, although it becomes impossible to slide in the axial direction, it is of course possible to provide a structure in which ordinary screws are provided on the dividing surface and screwed together. In both of the above two modified embodiments, by appropriately dividing the driven part into two parts, not only the reduction in the number of parts, which is the objective of the present invention, but also the shock absorbing device using an appropriate disc spring or the like as described above can be achieved. It is also possible to easily incorporate the members and reduce the impact when kicking back.

Further, although the starting device of the above embodiment is configured to draw the output side pinion gear toward the starting input side, it may be configured such that the output side pinion gear is pushed out from the input side.

As detailed above, according to the present invention, by dividing the driven part of the one-way clutch into at least two parts, the number of parts is reduced and assembly efficiency is improved, and the manufacturing of each part is facilitated, leading to an improvement in material yield. do. Therefore, it is possible to promote precise cost reduction of the starting device. Furthermore, by providing the biasing means in the space formed between the driven part and the rotating shaft, the number of parts can be reduced and ease of assembly can be improved. Furthermore, by dividing the driven part, it is possible to provide a helical spline on the divided surface or appropriately incorporate a shock absorbing member, which can reduce the problems such as when the pinion gear engages, which is unique to starters, or when the engine is running at the beginning of engine drive, butting and cranking peaks. It is also possible to improve its durability by alleviating the impact of time and the impact of kicking back.
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made within the technical scope of the present invention. For example, it is also possible to configure the driven portion of the one-way clutch device to be divided into three or more parts.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view with the upper half cut away showing a conventional starting device for a motorcycle; FIG. The figure is a cross-sectional view showing the driving state in which the pinion gear of the starter is meshed with the mating ring gear, with the upper half cut away. (Explanation of symbols), 2: Rotating shaft, 3, 3a: Clutch outer, 3b: Clutch inner, 4a: First
Helical spline, 4b: second helical spline, 5: one-way clutch, 6: pinion gear,
6a: Teeth, 8: Coil spring, 9: Spring cover, 14: Ring gear.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a starting device that transmits the rotation of a starting motor to a ring gear of an engine via a one-way clutch, the starting device is slidably fitted onto a rotating shaft rotated by the starting motor via a helical spline and engages with the one-way clutch. a drive member detachably coupled to the drive member; and a support detachably coupled to the drive member via the one-way clutch and rotatably and slidably inserted in the rotating shaft in the axial direction. a driven member comprising a member and a pinion gear that is slidably fitted onto the support member and can engage with the ring gear in a manner that allows the ring gear to move toward and away from the support member; a step formed on the inner circumference of the support member; and a stopper fixed to the rotating shaft. and a biasing means mounted on a rotating shaft between the support member and the support member for biasing the support member in a direction in which the pinion gear is separated from the ring gear. A starting device characterized in that it is housed in opposing substantially bowl-shaped spring covers.