JPH07101024B2 - Starter - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a starter for a vehicle engine, and particularly to long-term stabilization of lubrication of a resin drive lever of a magnetic shift starter for an automobile.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in a magnetic shift starter, a fork-shaped drive lever straddling a sleeve portion of a clutch outer of a pinion clutch pushes out the clutch outer to engage the pinion with a ring gear when starting an automobile engine. .

When the drive lever is made of resin, since the softening temperature of the drive lever itself is low, frictional heat with the clutch outer easily wears the contact portion with the clutch outer, resulting in malfunction, as compared with other materials. Therefore, conventionally, in order to lubricate the contact portion, a lubricant such as grease has been applied to the clutch outer surface and the drive lever surface, but the clutch outer rotates and the drive lever has the clutch. Since it comes into contact with the outer, the scattering and outflow of the lubricant was quick, and only a small amount of lubricant could be applied.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] For this reason, in order to lubricate the contact portion, the above-mentioned method is used.
In JP 60, the drive lever is cut, bent and pressed, or a plate material having a cutout is welded to form a groove in the drive lever, and then a lubricant is injected into the groove to remove the lubricant. It forms a reservoir.

However, since the lubricant reservoir has a groove shape, a large amount of lubricant cannot be retained. Further, if the number of grooves is increased in order to store a large amount of lubricant, there is a problem that the flow of molten material during molding of the grooves is deteriorated and the strength of the drive lever is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a starter that stabilizes the lubrication of a contact portion between a resin drive lever and a sleeve for a long period of time and prevents wear and malfunction due to the lubrication.

[Means for Solving Problems] A starter according to the present invention includes an electric motor, a sleeve in which an output shaft of the electric motor is helically spline-fitted, a pinion provided at a distal end portion of the sleeve, and the electric motor. An installed magnetic switch and one end of a fork shape is attached to the sleeve in a state of straddling the sleeve, and the other end is connected to the magnetic switch. A starter having a resin drive lever for moving the sleeve to engage a pinion with a ring gear mounted on a crankshaft of an engine, wherein a plate-shaped portion in the output shaft direction is provided at one end of the drive lever. A concave portion formed of a rib provided around the outer periphery of the plate-shaped portion, and a lid integrally molded with the concave portion and covering the concave portion. A lubricant reservoir is formed by injecting a lubricant into the concave portion and then the lid-shaped body is attached to the concave portion, and the plate-shaped portion, the rib or the lid-shaped body is provided with the lubricant. A configuration is adopted in which a hole or a notch for supplying the lubricant is provided from the agent reservoir to the contact surface that contacts the sleeve.

[Operations and Effects of the Invention] The starter of the present invention has the following operations and effects due to the above configuration.

A plate-shaped portion in the output shaft direction at one end of the drive lever, a concave portion formed of ribs provided around the outer periphery of the plate-shaped portion, and a lid-like body integrally molded with the concave portion and covering the concave portion. After injecting the lubricant into the concave part, there is a lubricant reservoir formed by attaching the lid-shaped body to the lubricant.Before attaching the lid-shaped body to the lubricant reservoir, Since a large amount can be injected, lubrication can be stably performed for a long period of time.

After injecting the lubricant into the lubricant reservoir, the lid can be attached to cover the lubricant, so that a large amount of lubricant can be prevented from flowing out from the lubricant reservoir and the lubricant can be prevented from the hole or notch. Is pushed out and the lubricant can be supplied from the lubricant reservoir to the contact surface with the sleeve, so it is not necessary to apply the lubricant to the sleeve surface and the drive lever surface for the initial lubrication of the drive lever unlike the conventional case. . Therefore, even when the drive lever is made of resin, the wear resistance of the contact surface with the sleeve is improved, and malfunction of the drive lever can be prevented.

[Example] A starter of the present invention will be described based on an example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a magnetic shift starter for an automobile engine to which the present invention is applied.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a magnetic shift starter for an automobile engine, and 11 denotes a ring gear normally attached to the crankshaft of the engine.

The starter 1 is an electric motor 2 and a roller clutch (hereinafter abbreviated as a clutch) that is a sleeve fitted to an output shaft (armature shaft) 21 of the electric motor 2 by a helical spline.
3, a pinion 4 provided on the clutch 3 and engaged with the ring gear 11 at the time of starting, a magnetic switch 5 provided in parallel with the electric motor 2, and an end portion 61 straddling the clutch 3 to contact the clutch 3. A resin drive lever 6 mounted in contact with the other end 62 connected to the magnetic switch 5
Consists of.

The electric motor 2 has a well-known configuration and includes a yoke 22 formed of a magnetic material in a cylindrical shape, a front cover 23 fitted to the tip thereof, and a rear cover 24 fitted to the rear end of the yoke 22.
The output shaft 21 is provided with an armature 25. An outer helical spline 26 is provided on the output shaft 21 in the vicinity of the front cover 23. Further, a pinion stopper 27 that restricts the forward movement of the clutch 3 and the pinion 4 is attached to the tip of the output shaft 21.

The clutch 3 is the outer helical spline 26 of the output shaft 21.
A clutch outer having a sleeve portion 32 in which an inner helical spline 31 that fits in the helical spline is formed.
33 and clutch inner with pinion 4 formed on the outer periphery of the tip
And a roller 35 arranged between the clutch outer 33 and the clutch inner 34. Large diameter part of clutch outer 33
36 A cover 37 is attached to the tip, and a rear groove
There is a wheel stopper 39 fitted in the. Although the roller clutch is used in this embodiment, a buffer roller clutch, a multi-plate clutch, a ratchet clutch, a sprag clutch, or the like may be used.

The magnetic switch 5 is provided with a plunger 51 that moves to the right side in the figure when energized and moves to the left side in the figure when de-energized.

The drive lever 6 is integrally formed of plastic such as nylon, and when the magnetic switch 5 is actuated at the time of start, the lever holder 63 that moves the clutch 3 to engage the pinion 4 with the ring gear 11 is used as a fulcrum. The axial reciprocating movement of the plunger 51 of the tick switch 5 is transmitted to the clutch 3.

One end 61 of the drive lever 6 is formed into a fork shape as shown in FIGS.
On the contact surface 7 of 64, 65 that contacts the clutch outer 33, there is provided a concave portion 8 that is surrounded.

The contact surface 7 is a contact surface 71 that comes into contact with the large diameter portion 36 of the clutch outer 33 when the drive lever 6 pushes the pinion 4 leftward in the drawing by the operation of the magnetic switch 5, and the drive lever 6 operates the magnetic switch 5. When the pinion 4 is set to the position shown in FIG. 1 by the contact surface 72 that contacts the wheel stopper 39 of the clutch outer 33, and when the drive lever 6 tilts, the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer 33
It has a contact surface 73 for contacting with. Usually drive lever 6
Are arranged so as to form a predetermined gap between the contact surface 73 and the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer 33.

The concave portion 8 is provided on each of the angular portions 64 and 65, and surrounds the plate-shaped portion 81 in the direction of the output shaft 21 and the entire circumference of the plate-shaped portion 81 to facilitate the reinforcement and molding of the contact surface 7. The ribs 82 are provided. At the tip of the concave portion 8 (downward in FIG. 2), a lid-shaped body 9 integrally formed when the drive lever 6 is molded is provided.

In addition, after injecting the concave portion 8 and the lid-like body 9 into the concave portion 8 with a lubricant (grease) at one end portion 61 of the drive lever 6,
A lubricant reservoir 80 is provided, which is formed by attaching the lid-shaped body 9 to the lid.

Further, in the concave portion 8, notches 83, 84 for supplying the lubricant to the contact surface 7 of the drive lever 6 and the surface of the clutch outer 33.
And a hole 85 is formed.

The notch 83 is provided in the rib 82 so as to connect the contact surface 71 and the lubricant reservoir 80. Further, the contact surface 71 of the notch 83 is open at a portion in contact with the large diameter portion 36 of the clutch outer 33.

The notch 84 is provided in the rib 82 so as to connect the contact surface 72 and the lubricant reservoir 80. Further, the contact surface 72 of the notch 84 is open at a portion that comes into contact with the wheel stopper 39 of the clutch outer 33.

The hole 85 is provided in the plate-shaped portion 81 so as to connect the contact surface 73 and the lubricant reservoir 80. Also, the contact surface 73 of the hole 85 is
The clutch outer 33 has an opening at a portion in contact with the sleeve portion 32.

Since the notches 83, 84 and the hole 85 are small with respect to the amount of lubricant injected into the lubricant reservoir 80 (volume of the lubricant reservoir 80),
A large amount of lubricant does not flow out at one time, and since it is the contact surfaces 71, 72, 73 with the rotating clutch outer 33,
The required amount of lubricant is that when the temperature of the contact surfaces 71, 72, 73 rises due to the rotation of the clutch outer 33, the lubricant in the vicinity of the notches 83, 84 and the hole 85 is liquefied and the surface of the clutch outer 33, the contact surface.
Applied to 71, 72, 73.

The lid-shaped body 9 is a stepped body having a hinge portion 91 provided on the lower end portion 86 of the rib 82 of the concave portion 8 in the figure and a convex portion 92 extending from the hinge portion 91. After the lubricant is injected into the concave portion 8, the lid-shaped body 9 is bent around the hinge portion 91, and the convex portion 92 is fixed to the convex portion 8 by press fitting to enclose the lubricant.

The operation of the starter 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

The magnetic switch 5 is de-energized, the plunger 51 is stopped at the position shown in FIG. 1, the contact surface 72 of the drive lever 6 is in contact with the wheel stopper 39 of the clutch outer 33, and the armature 25 of the electric motor 2 is also in contact. Since it is not energized, the pinion 4 is stationary at the position shown in FIG.

When the operator turns on the starter switch (not shown),
The magnetic switch 5 is energized, the plunger 51 of the magnetic switch 5 moves to the right side in the drawing, the contact surface 73 of the drive lever 6 contacts the large diameter portion 36 of the clutch outer 33, and the clutch 3 moves to the left side in the drawing. Extrusion, ring gear
Engage in 11. Further, since the armature 2 of the electric motor 2 is also energized, a rotational force is generated, and the ring gear 11 is driven by the rotational force of the output shaft 21 to start the engine. When the drive lever 6 is tilted, the contact surface 71 and
The contact surface 73 of the drive lever 6 may also contact the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer 33 of the clutch 3 (normally,
Since there is a predetermined gap between the contact surface 73 of the drive lever 6 and the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer 33, the two do not contact each other).

At this time, since the electric motor 2 is rotating and the clutch 3 is also rotating at high speed, as shown in FIG. 6, the sleeve portion 32 and the large diameter portion 36 of the clutch outer 33 and the drive lever 6 are engaged.
The contact surfaces 71, 72 of are worn. However, drive lever 6
When the temperature of the contact surfaces 71, 72 of the clutch outer 33
The lubricant in the vicinity of the notch 83 and the hole 85 that are open at the portion that comes into contact with the sleeve portion 32 and the large diameter portion 36 of the drive lever 6 is liquefied and lubricates the space between the clutch outer 33 and the drive lever 6 to thereby drive the drive lever 6 Since the temperature of the contact surfaces 71 and 73 of the clutch outer 33 decreases, the sleeve portion 32 and the large diameter portion 36 of the clutch outer 33 are
Wear with can be prevented.

Once the engine runs on its own, the rotation of the pinion 4 becomes faster than the rotation of the clutch outer 33 (overrun).
Then, the drive lever 6 keeps pushing out the large diameter portion 36 of the clutch outer 33 to the left in the drawing, but the rotational force of the pinion 4 is not transmitted to the clutch outer 33.

When the operator turns off the starter switch (not shown),
The magnetic switch 5 is de-energized and the plunger 51 is returned to the position shown in FIG. The contact surface 72 of the drive lever 6 contacts the wheel stopper 39 of the clutch outer 33 and pushes it back to the position shown in FIG. 1 to separate the pinion 4 from the ring gear 11. At this time, since the electric motor 2 is rotating by inertia and the clutch 3 is also rotating at high speed, as shown in FIG. 4, the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer 33, the wheel stopper 39 and the contact surface 72 of the drive lever 6, 73 wears.
However, when the temperature of the contact surfaces 72, 73 of the drive lever 6 rises, the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer 33 and the wheel stopper
The lubricant near the notch 84 and the hole 85 opened at the portion contacting 39 liquefies and lubricates the space between the clutch outer 33 and the drive lever 6, so that the contact surface 72 of the drive lever 6,
Since the temperature of 73 decreases, the wear of the sleeve portion 32 and the wheel stopper 39 of the clutch outer 33 can be prevented.

Further, in this embodiment, since the lubricant can be injected in a state where the concave portion 8 is opened before the lid 9 is attached to the concave portion 8,
Compared to conventional products, it can hold extremely large amount of lubricant,
Lubrication can be stably performed for a long period of time.

After injecting the lubricant into the concave portion 8, the lid 9 can be fixed to the concave portion 8 by press fitting to prevent the lubricant from flowing out, and the plate portion 81 of the concave portion, the notches 83, 84 formed in the rib 82, Since the lubricant is pushed out from the hole 85, the drive lever 6
It becomes unnecessary to apply a lubricant to the surface of the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer 33 and the surface of the drive lever 6 for initial lubrication. Therefore, even when the drive lever 6 is made of resin, the wear resistance of the contact surfaces 71, 72, 73 with the clutch outer 33 is improved, and the drive lever 6 operates reliably.

Further, since the drive lever 6 is a resin molded product, the lubricant reservoir 80 surrounded by the concave portion 8 and the lid-shaped body 9 can be easily formed, and the hinge portion 91 is made of a resin as compared with the conventional product. It is possible to prevent the lubricant from flowing out by adding a small number of steps of bending by using the flexibility it has, lightly press-fitting it into the concave portion 8 and attaching the lid.

For the strength of the contact surface 7, the outer surface of the rib 82 at the one end 61
Only partial cutouts 83 and 84 are formed in 86, and
Since 83, 84 are formed on the contact surfaces 71, 72 with the clutch outer 33, only the mutual surface pressure between the clutch outer 33 and the drive lever 6 is applied, and it is not a place where an excessive force such as bending is applied. Therefore, the strength of the drive lever 6 is hardly reduced.

Even if the surface pressure increases due to the notches 83 and 84, the rib 82
If the height is increased, the surface pressure will not be inferior to that of conventional products, and the reduction in wear due to lubrication will improve durability rather than conventional resin drive levers.

In this embodiment, the contact surfaces 71, 72, 73 of the drive lever 6 with the clutch outer 33 are provided with the notches 83, 84 and the holes 85. However, at least the contact surfaces with the sleeve of the clutch or the like are provided with the notches or holes. I'm good. Also, the contact surfaces 71, 72 are notched
The holes 83 and 84 may be holes, and the hole 85 of the contact surface 73 may be a notch.

In this embodiment, the angular portion 6 of the one end portion 61 of the drive lever 6
Although the concave portion 8 is provided so as to open in the outer direction of the drive levers 6, 65, the concave portion 8 may be provided so as to open inward of the angular portions 64, 65 of the drive lever 6. In this case,
The lid-shaped body 9 comes into contact with the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer, so that the lid-shaped body 9 is provided with a notch or a hole,
It suffices that the lubricant can be supplied between the sleeve portion 32 of the clutch outer 33 and the clutch outer 33.

In the present embodiment, the lid-shaped body 9 is integrally molded at the tip of the concave portion 8 (downward in the drawing in FIG. 2), but the lid-shaped body 9 is located laterally of the concave portion 8 (contact surface 71 or contact surface 72). ), And may be integrally molded with other parts.

In the present embodiment, the concave portions 8 and the lid-shaped body 9 are provided on the respective corner portions 64, 65 of the one end portion 61 of the drive lever 6, but the corner portions 64, 65 of the one end portion 61 of the drive lever 6 are provided. The concave portion 8 and the lid-shaped body 9 may be provided on either one of the above.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a magnetic shift engine starter for an automobile engine applied to an embodiment of the starter of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front end portion of a drive lever according to an embodiment of the starter of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a tip end portion of a drive lever according to one embodiment of the starter of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a front view of essential portions of one embodiment of the starter of the present invention. The figure is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a front view of the essential parts of an embodiment of the starter of the present invention. 1 ... Starter, 2 ... Electric motor, 3 ... Roller clutch (sleeve), 4 ... Pinion, 5 ... Magnetic switch, 6 ... Drive lever, 8 ... Recessed portion, 9 ...
Lid, 11 …… Ring gear, 21 …… Output shaft, 80 …… Lubricant reservoir, 81 …… Plate, 82 …… Rib, 83,84 …… Notch,
85 ... hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electric motor, a sleeve in which a helical spline is fitted to an output shaft of the electric motor, a pinion provided at a tip end portion of the sleeve, a magnetic switch arranged in parallel with the electric motor, and a fork-shaped member. A ring in which one end is attached to the sleeve while straddling the sleeve, the other end is connected to the magnetic switch, and the pinion is attached to the crankshaft of the engine by the operation of the magnetic switch at the time of starting. In a starter comprising a resin drive lever for moving the sleeve to be engaged with a gear, one end of the drive lever is provided with a plate-shaped portion in the output shaft direction, and is provided around an outer periphery of the plate-shaped portion. A concave portion formed of a rib and a lid-like body integrally molded with the concave portion and covering the concave portion by injecting a lubricant into the concave portion. After that, a lubricant reservoir formed by lid-fitting the lid-shaped body is provided, and the plate-shaped portion, the rib, or the lid-shaped body is lubricated from the lubricant reservoir to the contact surface in contact with the sleeve. A starter characterized by being provided with holes or notches for supplying the agent. 2. The lid-shaped body has a hinge portion provided at a rib end portion of the concave portion, and a step having a convex portion extending from the hinge portion and having the same shape as that of the lubricant reservoir portion. The lid-shaped body is characterized in that, after the lubricant is injected into the lubricant reservoir, the convex portion is fixed to the lubricant reservoir by press fitting to enclose the lubricant. Claim 1st
Starter described in the section. 3. A large-diameter portion is formed on one end of the sleeve, and a wheel stopper is fitted on the other end of the sleeve. The drive lever has a large-diameter portion when the pinion is engaged with the ring gear. When the pinion is disengaged from the ring gear, the pinion is pushed back while contacting the wheel stopper of the sleeve, and the hole or notch contacts the large diameter portion of the clutch outer and the wheel stopper. The starter according to claim 1, wherein the starter is formed so as to open near the surface.