JPH0531311Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a drive plate that connects the crankshaft of an internal combustion engine equipped with a torque converter and a hydraulic torque converter.

[Prior Art] A crank system equipped with a torque converter has been disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 58-34262, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 195145/1983, etc., and for example, as shown in FIG. A crankshaft 1 is connected to a converter shell 4 of a torque converter 3 via a drive plate 2, and the engine rotation is transmitted to the torque converter 3.

The conventional drive plate, as shown in Figure 6,
It was formed into an almost flat plate shape, and there was no anisotropy in the bending spring constant.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, in a crank system equipped with a torque converter, when the engine's explosive excitation force is generated in each cylinder, bending resonance occurs in the crank system, as shown in Figure 7. , a metal tapping sound occurs in the crank journal. In this case, the equivalent mass of the bending of the drive plate portion is the sum of the mass of the drive plate 2 and the mass of the portion of the converter shell 4 that bends and vibrates integrally with the drive plate 2 (hereinafter referred to as converter shell portion). Since the shell component is effective, the equivalent mass increases, the natural frequency of bending of the crank system decreases, the amplitude of the bending resonance increases, and the metal hitting sound becomes louder. In the case of an inline 4 cylinder,
When the #1 and #4 cylinders explode, in the case of an inline 6 cylinder,
This phenomenon appears prominently when the #1 and #6 cylinders explode.

This phenomenon occurs because the converter shell follows the drive plate and vibrates, causing the converter This phenomenon occurs because the shell acts as an equivalent mass.

The present invention focuses on the above problem and increases the bending rigidity in a specific direction in the drive plate.
The purpose of this is to increase the natural frequency of the bending vibration of the crank system, reduce the amplitude of bending resonance, and reduce the noise generated by metal hitting sounds.

[Means for solving the problem] The drive plate of the present invention that meets this purpose is
In a drive plate that connects the crankshaft of an internal combustion engine and a torque converter, the drive plate has a substantially straight line extending in the same direction as an axis connecting the center of the crank journal and the center of the crank pin of the cylinder closest to the torque converter. It consists of a rib that projects in the direction along the crankshaft axis, and a damping member that damps vibrations is attached to the rib.

[Function] In the drive plate of the present invention configured as described above, the ribs protruding in the direction of the crankshaft axis increase the bending rigidity of that portion. In other words, the rib reinforcement increases the bending rigidity in the same direction as the axis connecting the center of the crank journal and the center of the crank pin of the cylinder closest to the torque converter, increasing the natural frequency of the crank system. Therefore, the amplitude at the time of bending resonance of the crank system is reduced, and the noise caused by the metal hammering sound is reduced.

Furthermore, since a damping member for damping vibration is attached to the rib, the amplitude during resonance is further reduced, and the damping effect is enhanced.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the drive plate according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment FIGS. 1 and 2 show a drive plate and its vicinity according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, the engine crankshaft 11
(Figure 1 takes a 4-cylinder engine as an example and shows only the central axis except for the rear end.) A drive plate 12 is fixed at its inner circumference by bolts 15 at the rear end of the engine. ing. The drive plate 12 is made of a substantially disk-shaped member that extends radially outward and extends over the entire circumference.
Opposed to the drive plate 12, a hydraulic torque converter is arranged coaxially on the crankshaft 11, although only the converter shell 13 of the hydraulic torque converter is partially shown in the figure. The outer periphery of the drive plate 12 is connected to the converter shell 13 with a bolt 16 via a spacer 17 . A plurality of bolts 15 and 16 are provided at equal intervals on each pitch circle. With this structure, the rotation of the crankshaft 11 is transmitted to the converter shell 13 mainly by the shear of the drive plate 12, causing the converter shell 13 to rotate. The outer peripheral edge of the drive plate 12 is bent toward the crankshaft 11 in a direction along the axis of the crankshaft 11, and a starter ring gear 18 is fixed thereto. Since a conventionally known structure of the torque converter is applied, illustrations of parts other than the converter shell 13 are omitted to make it easier to see the features of the present invention.

The drive plate 12 is formed with a rib 14 having a concave portion on one side and a convex portion on the other side. This rib 14 is located on the cylinder side closest to the torque converter.
In other words, an axis A that connects the center P of the crank journal on the rearmost side of the engine and the center P' of the crank pin on the rearmost side of the engine (#4 cylinder side) (in the front view of Fig. 2, the vertical line passes through the center of the crankshaft) It extends in the same direction as the line extending in the same direction, and also extends in a substantially straight line (including straight). Further, the direction of the unevenness of the rib 14 is along the axis of the crankshaft 11. Rib 14
is the plate material of the drive plate 12 (thin steel plate)
It is formed by press molding. The width and length of the rib 14 are selected to be such that the bending rigidity of the drive plate 12 in the direction of the line connecting P and P' can be reduced by more than the necessary amount of bending vibration, which will be described later. Therefore, it should be selected appropriately. Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
On both sides in the direction connecting P', that is, up and down in Figure 2,
Each is provided.

A damping member 19 made of rubber is attached to the recess 14a of the rib 14. The damping member 19 is
It extends along the concave portion 14a of the rib 14 and is bonded to the concave portion in close contact with the concave portion by vulcanization adhesion. This damping member 19 damps vibrations of the drive plate 12, and its material is not limited to the above-mentioned rubber.

FIG. 3 shows a case where the present invention is applied to a six-cylinder engine. Here, the bending of the crankshaft 11 is similar to that of the crankshaft 1 shown in FIG.
1, a drive plate 12 is connected to the rearmost side of the engine (#6 cylinder side), and a rib 14 formed on the drive plate 12 is connected to the center Q of the crank journal of the #6 cylinder and the crank pin of the #6 cylinder. It extends in the same direction as the axis B connecting the center Q'. Q and Q' correspond to the above-mentioned P and P'. Other configurations are the same as in the case of 4 cylinders.

Next, the operation in the first embodiment will be explained.

The bending rigidity of the drive plate 12 is increased by the ribs 14 only in the direction connecting P and P' or in the direction connecting Q and Q'. That is, the bending rigidity of the portion other than the rib 14 is reduced. However, since the rotational transmission force from the crankshaft 11 to the converter shell 13 acts in the shearing direction, the rigidity in that direction is not weakened.

The direction of the rib 14 is determined by the axes A and B where the bending rigidity at the extreme end of the crankshaft 11 is the smallest.
By forming the rib 14 to increase the rigidity in this direction where the bending rigidity is small, the spring constant for bending in this direction can be reduced, and the natural vibration of the crank system can be reduced. numbers are increased. Therefore, the amplitude of the bending resonance of the crank system is reduced, and the noise caused by the metal hammering sound is reduced accordingly.

Further, since a damping member 19 made of rubber that damps vibration is bonded to the recess 14a of the rib 14, the amplitude during resonance is further suppressed and the damper effect is enhanced.

Second Embodiment FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
Since the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment only in the structure of the plate material of the drive plate, explanations of the structure of other parts will be omitted and only the plate material of the drive plate will be explained.

FIG. 5 shows a cross section of the drive plate 21 near the rib 22. As shown in FIG. In the first embodiment, the drive plate 12 was made of only a thin steel plate, but in this embodiment, the drive plate 21 is
The thin steel plate 21a and the damping member 21b are composed of damping steel plates laminated on each other. That is,
A damping member 21b for damping vibrations is necessarily attached to the press-molded rib 22.

In the second embodiment configured in this way,
Since the drive plate 21 itself is made of a vibration-damping steel plate with high damping characteristics, it is possible to suppress the amplitude during resonance of the crank system to a smaller level than when using a drive plate made of a simple thin steel plate, thereby reducing noise caused by metal hammering. can be reduced.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the configuration of the ribs is 4 in series.
Although the case where it is applied to a cylinder engine and an in-line six-cylinder engine is shown, the arrangement direction of the ribs in other cylinder arrangements is the cylinder closest to the torque converter,
That is, it is best to use an axis that connects the center of the crank journal of the rearmost cylinder of the engine and the center of the crank pin.

[Effect of the invention] As explained above, when using the drive plate of the present invention, the drive plate has a substantially straight line in the same direction as the axis connecting the center of the crank journal of the cylinder closest to the torque converter and the center of the crank pin. By forming a rib that extends in the shape of a shape and protruding in the direction along the crankshaft axis, and by attaching a damping member that damps vibration to this rib, the rigidity of the drive plate in the direction where the bending rigidity of the crankshaft is the smallest is reduced. It can be made larger and the bending resonance of the crank system can be suppressed. The damping member attached to the rib further suppresses the amplitude at the time of bending resonance, thereby reducing the generation of noise caused by metal hitting sounds.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a drive plate and its vicinity according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the drive plate of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a -
4 is a schematic configuration diagram when the present invention is applied to a 6-cylinder engine, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the vicinity of the rib in a drive plate according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional drive plate and its vicinity, and FIG. 7 is an equivalent mass configuration diagram of a conventional crank system. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Crankshaft, 12... Drive plate made of thin steel plate, 13... Converter shell, 14... Rib, 19... Damping member, 21
...Drive plate made of vibration damping steel plate, 21b
...damping member, P, Q... center of the crankshaft, P', Q'... center of the crank pin of the rearmost cylinder, A, B... center of the crankshaft and center of the crank pin of the rearmost cylinder axis line connecting

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a drive plate that connects the crankshaft of an internal combustion engine and a torque converter, the drive plate has a substantially straight line extending in the same direction as an axis connecting the center of the crank journal and the center of the crank pin of the cylinder closest to the torque converter. A drive plate characterized in that a rib is formed that projects in a direction along the axis of a crankshaft, and a damping member that damps vibrations is attached to the rib.