Title: Oil filtering device in a crankcase recess
Abstract: An oil filtering device disposed at a position apart from a crankshaft in a crankcase. An oil filtering device 24 is constituted in that a filter storage 34 formed in a left half case body 1a of a crankcase 1 contains a filter element 37, and a lid 47 of a filter flange 46 is fitted in an opening 36 of the filter storage 34. An extension part 48 extending outward from the lid 47 is formed in the filter flange 46, and the filter flange 46 has a communication passage 53 inside. Then, an oil passage 57 communicating with the tip of a crankshaft 16 is formed in a crank cover 1b. A connection part 50 formed on the tip of the extension part 48 of the filter flange 46 is fitted in a flange connection part 58 which communicates with the oil passage 57. Oil is supplied to the tip of the crankshaft 16 from the oil filtering device 24. The filter flange 46 is supported by the left half case body 1a and the crank cover 1b.
Patent Number: 7,001,508 Issued on 02/21/2006 to Kurokawa, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Kurokawa; Masaya (Wako, JP);
Hojo; Atsuo (Wako, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
786711 |
| Filed:
|
February 24, 2004 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Mar 19, 2003[JP] | 2003-075425 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
210/168; 210/416.5; 123/196.A |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
F01M 11/03 (20060101); B01D 35/02 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
210/167,168,232,416.1,416.5
123/196.A
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 1800585 | Apr., 1931 | Woolson.
| |
| 3773144 | Nov., 1973 | Hummel.
| |
| 4915852 | Apr., 1990 | Tomlinson.
| |
| 5588405 | Dec., 1996 | Sawa et al.
| |
| 5626111 | May., 1997 | Kawakubo et al.
| |
| 6024193 | Feb., 2000 | Fukushima.
| |
| 6517710 | Feb., 2003 | Hartmann et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 61-45286 | Dec., 1986 | JP.
| |
| 4 292514 | Oct., 1992 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Prince; Fred G.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hamre, Schumann, Mueller & Larson, P.C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An oil filtering device, in which a crankcase of an internal combustion engine
rotatably retains a crankshaft inside, and an oil passage supplying oil to the
crankshaft and a connection passage communicating with the oil passage are formed
in the crankcase, comprising:
a filter element disposed in a recess formed inside the crankcase; and
a filter flange having a flat lid which has substantially a same shape as an
opening of the recess and is fitted in the recess, a cylindrical extension part
which extends outward substantially from a center of the lid and in which a communication
passage is formed inside, and a connection part which is formed on a tip of the
extension part and is fitted in the communication hole passage, wherein,
the filter element is disposed to separate a space enclosed by the recess and
the lid into an inlet space communicating with an inlet passage formed thereon
and an outlet space communicating with the communication passage, and
the oil introduced to the inlet space from the inlet passage is filtered by the
filter element, discharged into the outlet space, and supplied to the crankshaft
from the communication passage through the oil passage.
2. The oil filtering device according to claim 1, wherein,
the crankcase comprises a case main body which contains the crankshaft, and a
cover member on which the oil passage and the connection passage are formed and
which covers the crankshaft in an axis direction of the crankshaft, and
the filter flange is retained in that the lid of the filter flange is locked
with the recess and the connection part of the filter flange is locked with the
communication passage.
3. The oil filtering device according to claim 1,
the crankshaft has a rotary member at a part covered with the cover member, and
the lid and the rotary member are disposed to partially overlap when viewed from
a side in the axis direction of the crankshaft.
4. The oil filtering device according to claim 1, including the internal combustion engine.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an oil filtering device disposed in a crankcase
which contains a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An oil filtering device attached to a crankcase or an exterior wall of a crankcase
cover generally employs a structure, in which oil is caused to flow into a filter
chamber containing a filter element from an inlet, which is formed on the crankcase
or the wall of the crankcase cover, and filtered by the filter element, and the
filtered oil is supplied to a lubricated part such as a crankshaft through an oil
outlet and an outlet passage similarly formed on the crankcase or the crankcase
cover. Thus, the oil filtering device is disposed around an end of the crankshaft
e.g., refer to Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-45286.
However, when the oil filtering device is disposed around the end of the
crankshaft, the attachment of accessories (a large gear and a clutch or a rotary
member such as ACG) to the crankshaft is limited. Thus, it is difficult to miniaturize
the crankcase. As a result, there has been a problem that the size of the internal
combustion engine is increased.
The present invention has been devised in consideration of the problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To solve the problem, an oil filtering device according to the present invention,
in which a crankcase of an internal combustion engine rotatably retains a crankshaft
inside, and an oil passage supplying oil to the crankshaft and a connection hole
communicating with the oil passage (e.g., flange connection part 58) formed
in the crankcase, includes a filter element disposed in a recess (e.g., filter
storage 34 in an embodiment) formed inside the crankcase, and a filter flange
having a flat lid which has substantially a same shape as an opening of the recess
and is fitted in the recess, a cylindrical extension part which extends outward
substantially from a center of the lid and in which a communication hole penetrating
an inside, and a connection part which is formed on a tip of the extension part
and is fitted in the communication hole. The oil filtering device is constituted
in that the filter element is disposed to separate a space enclosed by the recess
and the lid into an inlet space communicating with an inlet hole formed thereon
and an outlet space communicating with the communication hole, and the oil introduced
to the inlet space from the inlet hole is filtered by the filter element, discharged
into the outlet space, and supplied to the crankshaft from the communication hole
through the oil passage.
According to the structure, the filter flange increases the flexibility
of the position with respect to where the oil filtering device is attached. Accordingly,
it is possible to dispose the oil filtering device at a position the oil filtering
device does not interfere with other constituent members disposed in the crankcase,
thereby enabling miniaturization of the crankcase. Moreover, by removing the filter
flange attached to the crankcase, it is possible to replace the filter element
stored in the oil filtering device. Therefore, maintenance of the oil filtering
device is improved.
Note that, with the oil filtering device according to the present invention,
it is preferable that the crankcase includes a case main body which contains the
crankshaft (e.g., left half case body 1
a and right half case body
1
c in an embodiment), and a cover member on which the oil passage
and the connection hole are formed and which covers the crankshaft in an axis direction
of the crankshaft (e.g., crank cover 1
b in an embodiment), and the
filter flange is retained when the lid of the filter flange is locked with the
opening of the recess and the connection part of the filter flange is locked with
the communication hole.
According to the structure, it is possible to remove the filter flange
and the filter element from the crankcase easily by removing the cover member from
the case main body of the crankcase. Thus, the maintenance of the oil filtering
device can be further improved.
With the oil filtering device according to the present invention, it is preferable
that the crankshaft has a rotary member in part covered with the cover member (e.g.,
ACG20 in an embodiment), and that the lid and the rotary member are disposed
to partially overlap when viewed from a side in the axis direction of the crankshaft.
According to the structure, it is possible to dispose the oil filtering
device, effectively utilizing a space in the crankcase without interfering with
the rotary member. Therefore, the crankcase can be miniaturized.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an I—I sectional view of FIG. 4 of a crankcase including an
oil filtering device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an internal combustion engine to which the oil
filtering device according to the present invention is attached.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view including an axis of a crankshaft of the crankcase.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the crankcase (left half case body) according to the
present invention when a crank cover is removed.
FIG. 5 is a V—V sectional view of FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a filter flange.
FIG. 7 is a VII—VII sectional view of FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described
with reference to the drawings. First, with reference to FIG. 2, a description
is given of an internal combustion engine to which an oil filtering device according
to the present invention is attached, and there is, a crankcase retaining a crankshaft
in the internal combustion engine. A crankcase
1, a cylinder block
2,
and a cylinder head
3 constitute an internal combustion engine E. A piston
5 is disposed in a cylinder chamber
4, which is formed in the cylinder
block
2, so as to be vertically slidable. The piston
5 is connected
to a crankshaft
16, which is rotatably retained in the crankcase
1,
through a con rod
15. A combustion chamber
6 formed by the cylinder
block
2 (the cylinder chamber
4), the cylinder head
3, and
the piston
5 communicates with an intake port
7 and an exhaust port
8 through an intake entrance and an exhaust entrance, respectively. First
ends of a mushroom intake valve
9 and a mushroom exhaust valve
10
are attached to valve shafts and supported by a retainer. Second ends are urged
in a direction to close the intake entrance and the exhaust entrance constantly
by valve springs
11 and
12 supported by the cylinder head
3.
Moreover, a camshaft
13 is rotatably disposed in the cylinder head
3 to cause the intake valve
9 and the exhaust valve
10 to
open and close. A timing chain (not shown) is wound to a camshaft driven gear (not
shown) of the camshaft
13 and a camshaft drive gear
17 disposed on
the crankshaft
16. Accordingly, the camshaft
13 rotates in accordance
with rotation of the crankshaft
16. Cam lobes formed on the camshaft
13
depresses the intake valve
9 and the exhaust valve
10 through a rocker
arm
14 to open and close the intake entrance and exhaust entrance. In the
internal combustion engine E thus structured, air-fuel mixture supplied to the
combustion chamber
6 from the intake port
7 is compressed by the
piston
5. After that, the air-fuel mixture is combusted and becomes energy
for rotating the crankshaft
16 through the piston
5. Thereafter,
the mixture is exhausted as exhaust gas to the outside from the exhaust port
8.
As shown in FIG. 3, a left half crankshaft body
16a and a right
half crankshaft body
16b constitute the crankshaft
16. The
con rod
15 (not shown) is connected to the crankshaft
16 through
a crankpin
18 which is disposed to connect the half crankshaft bodies
16a
and
16b. Meanwhile, a left half case body
1a, a
right half case body
1c, and a crank cover
1b constitute
the crankcase
1 which stores the crankshaft
16. A first end (a journal
of the left half crankshaft body
16a) of the crankshaft
16
is supported by the crank cover
1b through a bearing
19, and
the second end (a journal of the right half crankshaft body
16b)
is supported by the right half case body
1c through a bearing (not shown).
An ACG
20 is disposed at the tip of the journal of the left half crankshaft
body
16a. The ACG
20 is constituted by a stator
21,
which is disposed in the vicinity of the tip of the crankshaft
16 in the
crank cover
1b, and a rotor
22, which is positioned to enclose
the stator
21, disposed at the journal of the left half crankshaft body
16a, and can rotate about the stator
21.
Lubricating devices including the oil filtering device according to the
present invention are disposed in the crankcase
1 thus constituted, in order
to supply oil to the crankshaft
16 and the like. Hereinafter, these lubricating
devices are described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4 to 6. The oil used for
lubricating the internal combustion engine E is accumulated in an oil pan (not
shown) in the crankcase
1. An oil pump
23 is used to draw up the
oil in the oil pan. The strainer and the like remove foreign matter. Thereafter,
the oil is discharged from the oil pump
23 by a predetermined oil pressure.
After an oil filtering device
24 removes metal powder, combustion products,
and the like included in the oil, the oil discharged from the oil pump
23
is supplied to the crankshaft
16 and the like.
The oil pump
23 suctions and discharges the oil by using a pump gear (not
shown) driven by the rotation of the crankshaft
16. As shown in FIG. 5,
a pump room
25 containing the pump gear of the oil pump
23 is constituted
by combining spaces formed by the left half case body
1a and the
right half case body
1c. A pump shaft
27 attached to the pump
gear is rotatably supported by a bearing hole
26, which is formed on the
left half case body
1a and communicates with the pump room
25.
In addition, the pump room
25 communicates with an induction path
29
communicating with the oil pan and an inlet passage
30 communicating with
the oil filtering device
24. Similar to the pump room
25, the left
half case body
1a and the right half case body
1c constitute
the induction path
29 and the inlet passage
30. A pump driven gear
28, which causes the pump shaft
27 to rotate, is disposed at the
tip of the pump shaft
27. A pump drive gear
32, which meshes with
the pump driven gear
28, is disposed at a pump driveshaft
31. The
rotation of the crankshaft
16 is conveyed to the pump driveshaft
31
to drive, and the oil pump
23 is driven through the pump drive gear
32,
the pump driven gear
28, and the pump shaft
27.
The oil filtering device
24 is stored by inserting the filter element
37 into a cylindrical filter storage
34 which has a base and is formed
in the left half case body
1a. Meanwhile, the aforementioned inlet
passage
30 communicates with the inside of the filter storage
34
from the base thereof. A filter flange
46 is attached to an opening
36
of the filter storage
34.
The filter element
37 has an accordion wound filter member
40 on
the circumference of a cylindrical inner tube having numerous small holes. The
filter element
37 is constituted by being sandwiched between disc-shaped
upper end plate
41 and lower end plate
42 from both end surfaces
in a cylindrical axis direction of the inner tube
39 and the filter member
40. An indent
41a penetrating in a thickness direction is
formed substantially on the center of the upper end plate
41. A gasket
45
is disposed to enclose the indent
41a. Meanwhile, the filter element
37 has a spring receiver
43 formed concavely inside substantially
on the center of the lower end plate
42. Furthermore, a relief valve
44
is disposed above the spring receiver
43.
As shown in FIG. 6, the filter flange
46 is constituted by a disc-shaped
lid
47, an extension part
48 which extends cylindrically and substantially
from the center of one surface of the lid
47, an element attachment part
49 which extends cylindrically from the other surface of the lid
47,
and a connection part
50 which is formed on the tip of the extension part
48. Note that ring grooves
47a and
50a are formed
on the circumferences of the lid
47 and the connection part
50. O-rings
51 and
52 are attached to the grooves
47a and
50a
to protrude outward. In addition, a communication passage
53, which
penetrates in the cylindrical axis direction of the extension part
48, is
formed inside the connection part
50, the extension part
48, the
lid
47, and the element attachment part
49.
In the oil filtering device
24 thus constituted, a spring
38 is
disposed on a spring receiver
35 in the filter storage
34, and the
filter element
37 is inserted from the lower end plate
42 from the
top thereof. At this time, the spring
38 is disposed in the spring receiver
43 of the filter element
37 and sandwiched between the spring receivers
35 and
43. Then, the element attachment part
49 of the filter
flange
46 is inserted into the opening
41a of the upper end
plate
41 of the filter element
37. The opening
36 of the filter
storage
34 is fitted in the lid
47 of the filter flange
46,
and the element attachment part
49 is attached.
As described above, the space enclosed by the filter storage
34 and the
lid
47 of the filter flange
46 is hermetically sealed by the O-ring
51 attached to the lid
47 since the sections of the opening
36
of the filter storage
34 and lid
47 of the filter flange
47
have substantially the same shape. Moreover, the filter element
37 is lifted
upward by the spring
38, urged toward the lid
47, and fitted since
the sections of the indent
41a of the upper end plate
41 and
the element attachment part
49 of the filter flange
46 have substantially
the same shape. The filter element
37 is sealed by the gasket
45.
Accordingly, an internal space of the filter storage
34 is separated into
an outer circumferential space
54 which is the outer side of the filter
element
37 and communicates with the inlet passage
30 and an inner
circumferential space
55 which is an internal space of the filter element
37 and communicates with the communication passage
53 of the filter
flange
46, by the filter element
37.
Meanwhile, a bearing chamber
56, in which the bearing
19
pivotally supporting the aforementioned crankshaft
16 is disposed, is formed
in the crank cover
1b. An oil passage
57 is formed, communicating
with the bearing chamber
56. A cylindrical flange connection part
58,
which protrudes toward the left half case body
1a, is formed inside
the crank cover
1b. The flange connection part
58 communicates
with the oil passage
57. When the crank cover
1b is attached
to the left half case body
1a, the connection part
50 of the
aforementioned filter flange
46 is fitted in the flange connection part
58 and sealed by the O-ring
52. Accordingly, the oil passage
57
and the communication passage
53 communicate with each other. The filter
flange
46 is locked with and retained by the left half case body
1a
and the crank cover
1b.
Thus, the oil pump
23 draws up the oil accumulated in the oil pan of
the crankcase
1 to the pump room
25 through the induction path
29.
The oil is discharged to the inlet passage
30 by the predetermined pressure
and introduced to the outer circumferential space
54 of the oil filtering
device
24. Thereafter, the oil passes through the filter element
37,
and metal powder and combustion product are removed. The clean oil flows into the
inner circumferential space
55. Moreover, the oil flows out to the inner
circumferential space
55, passes through the communication passage
53
of the filter flange
46 and the oil passage
57 formed in the crank
cover
1b and supplied to the bearing chamber
56 (the bearing
19 located therein).
Note that, as shown in FIG. 1, an oil passage
59, which penetrates in
an axis direction and opens toward the bearing chamber
56 and the crankpin
18, is formed in the left half crankshaft body
16a. The oil
is also supplied to the crankpin
18 through the oil passage
59.
As described above, by connecting the filter storage
34 and the oil passage
57 formed in the crank cover
1b with the filter flange
46,
it is unnecessary to dispose the oil filtering device
24 in the vicinity
of the tip (the bearing chamber
56 formed in the crank cover
1b)
of the crankshaft
16. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to
dispose the filter element
37 and the like at a position which does not
interfere with the rotary member (accessory) constituted by the ACG
20 and
the like attached to the tip of the crankshaft
16, and the flexibility of
the disposal is improved. Moreover, by positioning the filter element
37
and the like further inside of the crankcase
1 than the ACG
20 and
disposing the ACG
20 and the oil filtering device
24 (the lid
47
of the filter flange
46) to partially overlap when viewed from the top in
the axis direction of the crankshaft
16, the spaces in the crankcase
1
can be effectively utilized, thereby enabling miniaturization of the crankcase
1.
In addition, by removing the crank cover
1b from the left half
case
body
1a of the crankcase
1, it is possible to remove the filter
flange
46 and the filter element
37 easily from the opening of the
left half case body
1a covered with the crank cover
1b.
Thus, the maintenance of the oil filtering device
24 can be improved.
Note that, as shown in FIG. 7, the pump drive shaft
31 is disposed in
the vicinity of the oil filtering device
24 to further miniaturize the crankcase
1 in the present embodiment. In this case, a balancer
33 which is
disposed on the tip of the pump drive shaft
31 for suppressing vibration
and the like and the lid
47 of the filter flange
46 are positioned
to interfere with each other when the filter flange is attached and removed. However,
as shown in FIG. 4, the balancer
33 has a shape in which part of a disc
is cut off. Thus, by rotating and moving the pump drive shaft
31 to position
a cutout part
33a of the balancer
33 above the lid
47,
it is possible to position the balancer
33 and the lid
47 not to
interfere with each other. Thus, the attachment and detachment of the filter flange
46 and the replacement of the filter element
37 are facilitated.
Having thus explained, according to the oil filtering device of the present
invention, the oil filtering device can be disposed in the crankcase by the filter
flange, and the flexibility of the disposal is improved. The oil filtering device
can be disposed at a position which does not interfere with other constituent members
disposed in the crankcase. Accordingly, it is possible to miniaturize the crankcase.
Moreover, by removing the filter flange attached to the crankcase, it is possible
to replace the filter element stored in the oil filtering device. The maintenance
of the oil filtering device is improved.
Moreover, the crankcase is constituted by the case main body and the cover
member which covers the crankshaft contained in the case main body from the axis
direction. The crankcase is structured so that one end of the filter flange is
locked with the case main body, and the other end is locked with the cover member
to retain the filter flange. Accordingly, by removing the cover member from the
case main body of the crankcase, it is possible to remove the filter flange and
the filter element from the crankcase easily. Thus, the maintenance of the oil
filtering device can be further improved.
Furthermore, by disposing the rotary member of the crankshaft and the
lid of the filter flange to partially overlap when viewed from a side from the
axis direction of the crankshaft, it is possible to dispose the rotary member and
the oil filtering device without interfering with each other, utilizing the space
in the crankcase. Therefore, the crankcase can be further miniaturized.
*
