DE20080308U1 - Universal circuit board for automotive alternator - Google Patents

Description

Universal board for automotive alternator

The present invention relates to accessories used in motor vehicles and, more particularly, to a universal circuit board for an automotive alternator.

The electrical equipment and accessories used in the motor vehicle sector are very diverse and are often precisely adapted to specific models of vehicle, such as passenger cars or commercial vehicles. This can be said in particular for the alternators fitted to motor vehicles, which are rarely interchangeable. Sometimes even the same alternator cannot be used in the same vehicle model from one year to the next.

One of the main disadvantages in this technical field is that the equipment manufacturers and the workshops responsible for repairing and replacing parts are obliged to maintain a large stock of components with very different characteristics, adapted to the numerous models available. Thus, a motor vehicle workshop is generally obliged to maintain a permanent stock of more than 60 models of alternators in order to meet the high demand resulting from the need to replace alternators regularly.

Wholesalers of mechanical automotive components must be able to respond continuously to the procurement requests of workshops and are therefore faced with a difficult stock problem because they have to maintain even larger stocks, sometimes more than 100 models of interchangeable

Power generators must be kept available.

There is therefore a need for motor vehicle repair shops to be able to provide alternators that can be adapted to different vehicle models in order to reduce the size of the stocks held by component wholesalers and motor vehicle repair shops and to be able to carry out repair and maintenance operations on different motor vehicle models using as few alternators and replacement parts as possible.

It therefore seemed desirable to be able to create a device which would enable the use of a reduced number of alternator models, or even a single model, in different vehicles.

The present invention therefore relates to a carrier board which makes it possible to adapt a small number of alternators, or even a single alternator, to a large number of motor vehicle models.

The automotive alternator board according to the present invention allows the use of an alternator of the standard type driven by the engine via a belt, the board being adaptable to various vehicle engines and comprising means for fixing the alternator, means for mechanically and electrically connecting the alternator to the engine and means for tensioning the belt, it being particularly characterized in that it comprises at least one lower hook for fixing to the vehicle engine and at least two adjustable upper hooks for tensioning the belt

having.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the alternator plate comprises two lower hooks, at least one of which is rotatably and/or translatorily movable. According to a preferred embodiment of the plate, one of the lower hooks is translatorily movable along an axis parallel to the shaft of the alternator.

The adjustable upper hooks for tensioning the alternator belt are positioned by fastening to the alternator bearing, preferably cooperating with circumferential fastening and positioning holes provided on the alternator front bearing.

This arrangement of the lower fixing hooks allows the alternator-supporting plate to be fixed to the engine of different models of motor vehicle, while still allowing the belt attachment to be adapted by means of the upper hooks which are integral with the alternator bearing. This can be done without it being necessary to modify the engines or the alternator supports of existing engines. The type of alternator to be mounted on the plate according to the present invention is thus of a conventional and standardized type.

In particular, the possibility of fixing the board to the engine by means of two adjustable lower fixing hooks ensures that the same board and, consequently, the same alternator can be mounted on different vehicles. Thus, a motor vehicle repair shop only needs one board in stock, instead of several dozen models, as is the case with traditional alternators.

maintain a single alternator model or a maximum of two models.

Where appropriate, the fixing hooks can be adapted to different categories of motor vehicle engines. The material thus made available to motor vehicle workshops is therefore simply formed by a single plate model combined with a set of lower fixing hooks that facilitate adaptation to the various existing engines.

The features and advantages of the invention will become clearer in the following description, which is given for two preferred embodiments and which refers to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a circuit board according to the invention in combination with a standard alternator;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the circuit board and alternator shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view of a modification of the design of the circuit board according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic of a standard alternator (1) mounted on the lower fastening hooks (2a) and (2b). These two lower hooks serve as a circuit board, but of course an intermediate circuit board can be provided between the fastening hooks and the alternator.

The upper hooks (3) for tensioning the alternator belt are attached to the bearing (4), as shown in more detail in Fig. 2. A pulley (5) is attached to

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the shaft (6) of the alternator (1) passing through the surface of the front bearing (4) and is rotationally driven by a belt (not shown) which in turn is driven by the vehicle engine in the usual manner.

The lower hooks (2a and 2b) can slide on guides (7) integral with the alternator bearing. Their blocking in a given position is ensured by screws, as shown in Fig. 2.

The rear bearing of the alternator accommodates conventional components for controlling and regulating the electrical current produced by the alternator, protected by a cap (8) having conventional ventilation holes (not shown) to ensure good cooling of the alternator.

Fig. 2 shows the alternator of Fig. 1 in a front view showing the front bearing (4) to which the lower fastening hooks (2) are attached.

The three upper hooks (3a, 3b, 3c) for tensioning the alternator belt (1) are secured by means of screws which cooperate with peripheral fixing and positioning holes (9) located on the edge (10) of the alternator front bearing (4). These positioning holes (9) are equally spaced and arranged on a circular arc centred on the alternator shaft. The upper hooks contain slots (11) which allow the belt tension adjustment to be made according to a conventional technique.

Fig. 3 shows a modification of the alternator

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of Fig. 1, which comprises only a single lower hook (2) for attaching the alternator to the vehicle engine.

The alternator also includes conventional means for electrical connection, not shown here.

Claims (5)

1. Board for a motor vehicle alternator driven by the engine via a belt, the board being adaptable to various vehicle engines and being of the type comprising means for fixing an alternator, means for mechanically and electrically connecting the alternator to the engine and means for tensioning the belt, characterized in that it comprises at least one lower hook for fixing to the vehicle engine and at least two adjustable upper hooks for tensioning the belt. 2. Circuit board for motor vehicle alternator according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises two lower hooks, at least one of which is rotatory and/or translatory movable. 3. Circuit board for automotive alternator according to claim 2, characterized in that at least one of the lower hooks is movable in translation along an axis parallel to the shaft of the alternator. 4. Automotive alternator board according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjustable upper hooks are positioned by fastening to the alternator bearing. 5. Automotive alternator board according to claim 4, characterized in that the upper hooks cooperate with peripheral fixing and positioning holes provided on the front bearing of the alternator.