JP2023037290A - vehicle structure - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a vehicle structure that allows for the use of a common ring gear fixed to multiple types of impeller shells and impeller plates without compromising quality or productivity. [Solution] A drive plate (1) is constructed by welding a ring gear (4) to an impeller plate (2). The ring gear (4) is formed with an L-shaped cross section, with the inner periphery protruding in the tooth width direction. A spatter cover is fitted to the inner corner of the L-shape of the ring gear (4) to cover the teeth (6). A plurality of welding positions (7) set at the protruding tip of the ring gear (4) are welded to the impeller plate (2). Balance holes (8) in the ring gear (4) are formed in the protruding portion to lengthen them, thereby reducing the diameter of the balance holes (8) and reducing the number of holes. When the outer diameter of the impeller plate (2) is increased, the bottom plate (5) can be made thinner, allowing the ring gear (4) to maintain a predetermined outer diameter. [Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle structure in which a ring gear is welded and fixed to an impeller shell or another part that rotates integrally with the impeller shell.

In general, a torque converter, which forms part of the vehicle structure, has a structure in which a ring gear for starting the engine is welded and fixed to the outer periphery of the impeller shell and the outer periphery of the impeller plate that rotates together with the impeller shell. (For example, Patent Document 1).

As shown in FIG. 4, the ring gear 101 has a structure in which tooth portions 104 protrude radially outward from a ring-shaped bottom plate 102, and welding positions 103 set at a plurality of locations near the bottom surface of the bottom plate 102 are welded to the impeller. Welded to the shell, etc.

The ring gear 101 has a sufficiently thick bottom plate 102 by setting the overall height (H) large. It becomes difficult to adhere to the portion 104 . Also, normally, the bottom plate 102 is formed with a balance hole 108 for balancing. The number of balance holes 108 is suppressed to improve productivity.

JP 2006-258265 A

By the way, for multiple types of impeller shells with different outer diameters, by setting the same outer diameter of the ring gear fixed to it and setting a common tooth shape, it is possible to share the processing equipment and various parts related to the ring gear. can be considered.

However, if the outer diameter of the ring gear is kept constant and the common tooth shape is used, if the outer diameter of the impeller shell or the like is increased, the bottom plate of the ring gear needs to be made thinner accordingly.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the bottom plate 102 is made thin so that the overall height (h) of the ring gear 101 is set small, the welding positions 103 set near the bottom surface of the bottom plate 102 are close to the teeth 104. Spatter 107 tends to adhere to tooth portion 104 during welding. To address this, it is conceivable to cover the tooth portion 104 with the spatter cover 105, but since the position of the spatter cover 105 is likely to shift, the tooth portion 104 cannot be sufficiently covered, and the spatter cover 105 cannot be used during welding. The spatter 107 entering from the gap 106 may adhere to the tooth portion 104 . In addition, since the welding position 103 is close to the toothed portion 104, the toothed portion 104 may be affected by heat and its strength may be reduced.

Further, by making the bottom plate 102 thin, it is necessary to reduce the hole diameter of the balance hole 108, which increases the number of the balance holes 108, which may reduce productivity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle structure capable of communalizing a ring gear fixed to a plurality of types of impeller shells without degrading quality and productivity.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle structure according to the present invention has a ring gear welded and fixed to an impeller shell or a separate part that rotates integrally with the impeller shell. At least a portion of the projecting tip is welded to the impeller shell or another component.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the ring gear is formed to have an L-shaped cross section, it is possible to increase the distance from the welding position set at the tip of the ring gear to the teeth. can make it difficult to adhere. Furthermore, when a spatter cover is used, the spatter cover can be fitted to the inner corner of the L-shaped ring gear to reliably cover the teeth without misalignment, thereby reducing spatter during welding. Adhesion to the teeth can be prevented. Moreover, since the welding position can be separated from the tooth portion, it is possible to prevent the strength of the tooth portion from decreasing due to the heat effect.

In addition, since the ring gear is formed to have an L-shaped cross section and the inner peripheral side protrudes in the face width direction, the length of the balance hole formed in this portion can be set long, and the balance hole can be set to have a small diameter, An increase in the number of balance holes can be made unnecessary. As a result, the bottom plate can be thinned by setting the balance hole to a small diameter without causing a decrease in productivity due to an increase in the number of balance holes. can be maintained at a predetermined outer diameter.

By forming the ring gear to have an L-shaped cross section in this way, the outer diameter of the ring gear fixed to impeller shells of different outer diameters can be adjusted without reducing quality and productivity. By setting the ring gear to have a common tooth shape, processing facilities and various parts related to the ring gear can be shared.

FIG. 2 shows a drive plate mounted on a vehicle structure according to the present invention, where (a) is a front view, (b) is a cross-sectional view along line AA, and (c) is an enlarged view of part B. Cross-sectional view of the main part showing a state in which the ring gear is covered with a spatter cover Cross-sectional view of the main parts of the ring gear with the spatter cover omitted Cross-sectional view of a conventional ring gear A cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state in which the bottom plate of a conventional ring gear is made thin and covered with a spatter cover.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the form for implementing the vehicle structure which concerns on this invention is demonstrated using drawing.

A vehicle structure according to the present invention is equipped with a drive plate 1 for starting an engine that rotates integrally with an impeller shell of a torque converter.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drive plate 1 is formed by bending an outer peripheral portion 3 of a disk-shaped impeller plate 2 toward the rear side into a flange shape, and a ring gear 4 is fitted onto the flange-shaped outer peripheral portion 3. It is a structure that is fixed by welding.

The ring gear 4 has a ring-shaped bottom plate 5 with teeth 6 protruding radially outward, and the bottom plate 5 on the inner peripheral side protrudes further toward the front side in the tooth width direction than the teeth 6 to form an L-shaped cross section. , and are welded to the impeller plate 2 at welding positions 7 set in the vicinity of the bottom surface of the projecting tip portion on the front side of the bottom plate 5 at a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction. Here, in order to form the ring gear 4 with an L-shaped cross section, the bottom plate 5 can be extended to the front side, or the toothed portion 6 can be cut. The width of the tooth portion 6 and the size of the L shape may be set so that the engagement is not affected even if the width of the portion 6 is reduced.

A plurality of, for example, about four balance holes 8 are recessed in the rear surface of the bottom plate 5, and the balance is achieved by these balance holes 8.例文帳に追加The balance hole 8 may not only be formed on the rear surface of the bottom plate 5 but may also be recessed on the front surface of the bottom plate 5 at a position shifted from the welding position 7 .

According to the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the ring gear 4 is formed to have an L-shaped cross section. A spatter cover 9 is fitted to the inner corner of the L-shape to reliably cover the teeth 6 and prevent spatters 10 from adhering to the teeth 6 during welding. Moreover, since the welding position 7 is set at the protruding tip of the bottom plate 5, the distance from the welding position 7 to the tooth 6 can be increased to prevent the strength of the tooth 6 from being reduced due to the heat effect.

In addition, since the bottom plate 5 protrudes in the tooth width direction, the length of the balance hole 8 can be set long. can be reduced and productivity can be improved.

Thus, by forming the ring gear 4 to have an L-shaped cross section, the bottom plate 5 can be set thin without causing adhesion of the spatter 10 or an increase in the number of the balance holes 8. If necessary, the outer diameter of the impeller plate 2 can be increased while maintaining a common tooth shape.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications can be made as appropriate within the scope of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, welding can be performed without the spatter cover 9, and by forming the ring gear 4 to have an L-shaped cross section, the distance from the welding position 7 at the projecting tip of the bottom plate 5 to the teeth 6 can be reduced. Since the distance is long, even if the spatter cover 9 is omitted, adhesion of the spatter 10 to the tooth portion 6 can be suppressed. Further, the ring gear 4 may be welded to the impeller plate 2 and fastened to the impeller shell, or may be directly welded to the impeller shell.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 drive plate 2 impeller plate 3 outer peripheral portion 4 ring gear 5 bottom plate 6 tooth portion 7 welding position 8 balance hole 9 spatter cover 10 spatter

Claims (1)

In a vehicle structure in which a ring gear is welded and fixed to an impeller shell or a separate part that rotates integrally with the impeller shell,
A vehicle structure according to claim 1, wherein the ring gear has an L-shaped cross section projecting in the tooth width direction on an inner peripheral side thereof, and at least a part of the projecting tip portion thereof is welded to the impeller shell or the separate component.

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