JPH0680335B2 - Automatic clutch gap adjustment device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a vehicle that automatically absorbs the occurrence of a gap due to wear of a pedal-operated clutch for a vehicle and appropriately maintains the clutch play. The present invention relates to a device for automatically adjusting a gap of a vehicle clutch.

(Prior Art) A pedal-operated clutch for a vehicle generally includes a clutch release fork lever that rotates a clutch release fork shaft in conjunction with depression of a clutch pedal to bring a clutch into a disengaged position. However, in this clutch, when the clutch facing wears due to long-term use, the clutch release fork lever is displaced toward the engagement position of the clutch, which reduces the play of the clutch pedal.

In the prior art, in order to ensure proper play of the clutch pedal, the wear of the clutch facing is detected by measuring the gap, and when the wear of a predetermined amount or more is detected, the control system of the clutch is adjusted. The clutch gap adjustment work was troublesome.

In addition, a clutch that adjusts the wear of the vehicle clutch by a wear adjusting mechanism provided in the clutch pedal (actually
No. 56-166536) and a clutch provided with a link mechanism that automatically adjusts the wear of the clutch between a floating clutch plate that makes the clutch plate engageable and a sliding member that moves the floating clutch plate forward and backward. Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-39613) has been proposed.

However, these conventional techniques have a drawback in that the structure of the clutch pedal or the clutch main body needs to be significantly changed, which makes the structure complicated.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to automatically adjust the gap due to wear of the clutch without changing the structure of the clutch pedal or the clutch main body, only by adding a simple structure in front of the clutch release fork shaft. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic clutch gap adjusting device for a vehicle.

(Structure of the Invention) An automatic clutch gap adjusting device for a vehicle according to the present invention includes a clutch release fork lever that rotates in conjunction with depression of a clutch pedal, and a clutch that rotates in response to rotation of the clutch release fork lever. In a vehicle clutch that is equipped with a release fork shaft and whose clutch facing is disengaged by rotation of this clutch release fork shaft, attaches to the shaft gear provided at the end of the clutch release fork shaft and the clutch release fork lever. A worm gear that is supported by the rotating support part that meshes with the shaft gear of the clutch release fork shaft, a pinion that has a one-way clutch that is provided at one end of the shaft of this worm gear, and is freely slidable on the clutch release fork lever. And a stopper that restricts the displacement of the rack so as to limit the rotation of the clutch release fork lever when the rotation of the clutch release fork lever increases due to wear of the clutch facing. It has a feature.

(Function) When the clutch facing wears, the clutch plate becomes thin and the pressure plate is displaced toward the clutch facing side when the clutch pedal is not stepped on, so the clutch release fork in the clutch body is displaced toward the clutch engaging position. To do. This means that there is less play in the clutch pedal, and the clutch will immediately disengage even if the clutch pedal is depressed a little.

On the other hand, since the rack is held by the clutch release fork lever, when the clutch facing wears and the clutch release fork lever is displaced from the normal state toward the clutch engagement position, the rack is displaced toward the stopper. Abut the stopper. At this time, since the reaction force in the opposite direction acts on the rack, the pinion rotates,
The worm that rotates together with the pinion and meshes with the shaft gear rotates. Therefore, the clutch release fork shaft integrated with the shaft gear rotates the clutch release fork lever toward the clutch non-engagement position, so that proper play of the clutch pedal can be maintained.

As described above, the automatic adjustment mechanism for maintaining the play of the clutch pedal even if the clutch facing is worn is additionally provided between the release fork shaft and the release fork lever. It turns out that there is no need to change the structure of the clutch pedal.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 shows a vehicle clutch 12 to which an automatic gap adjusting device 10 according to the present invention is applied. The clutch facing 44 provided between the wheel 40 and the pressure plate 42 and the support 47 provided on the clutch cover 46 fixed to the flywheel 40 serve as a fulcrum.
47a is pivotally supported and one end thereof is a pressure plate 4
2, a release lever 48 pivotally supported by the release lever 48, a release bearing 50 supported by a release bearing hub 51 and engaged with the other end of the release lever 48, and a clutch housing 52.
A clutch release fork 54 keyed to a clutch release fork shaft 16 that is rotatably supported by the clutch release fork 54.

This pressure plate 42
It is normally pressed against the clutch facing 44 by a clutch spring 56 arranged between the 42 and the clutch cover 46.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the clutch pedal 14 is
It is connected to a clutch booster 19 via a hydraulic system 15, and the output side of this clutch booster 19 is connected to a clutch release fork lever 18 that rotates a clutch release fork shaft 16.

Therefore, when the clutch pedal 14 is depressed, the clutch release fork lever 18 is moved to the third position via the clutch booster 19.
Rotate in the direction of A in the figure to rotate the clutch release fork shaft 16 counterclockwise,
Since 54 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1, the release bearing 50 is moved leftward and the release lever 48 is rotated counterclockwise (both are shown in FIG. 1). Therefore, the pressure plate 42 separates from the clutch facing 44 and brings the clutch 12 into the disengaged position (disengaged position).

When the clutch pedal 14 is released, the clutch release fork lever 18 and the clutch release fork shaft are released.
Since the force for rotating 16 in the direction A of FIG. 3 (the direction of disengaging the clutch) is released, the clutch release fork 54 is allowed to rotate clockwise in FIG. Therefore, since the pressure plate 42 is pressed against the clutch facing 44 by the clutch spring 56, the release lever 48 rotates clockwise in FIG. 1, the release bearing 50 is displaced to the right in FIG. 1, and the clutch release fork is released. The clutch 54 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 to the clutch engagement position (position where the clutch is engaged).

As shown in Fig. 3, the clutch release fork lever
A return spring 30 for connecting the clutch release fork lever 18 to the clutch non-engaging position in the direction A of FIG. 3 is connected to the return spring 30, and the return spring 30 connects the release bearing 56 and the release lever 48. It has the function of eliminating the gap between.

The automatic gap adjusting device 10 according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, has a clutch release fork shaft.
A shaft gear 16a provided at the end of 16 and a worm gear 32 which is rotatably supported by the clutch release fork lever 18 by rotation supporting portions 17 and 17 'and meshes with the shaft gear 16a of the clutch release fork shaft 16.
A pinion 22 having a one-way clutch 20 (see FIG. 4) provided at one end of the shaft 32a of the worm gear 32, a rack 24 slidably held by the clutch release fork lever 18 and meshing with the pinion 22, and wear of the clutch facing. When the rotation of the clutch release fork lever 18 increases in response to this, a stopper 28 for restricting the displacement of the rack 24 is provided so as to limit the rotation.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, the stopper 28 is attached to the clutch housing 52. This stopper 28 is
The rack 24 does not collide in the rotation range of the clutch release fork lever 18 when the clutch facing is not worn, but the clutch facing wears and the clutch release fork lever 18 exceeds the normal rotation range. When rotated, the rack 24 held by the clutch release fork lever 18 is attached at a position where it abuts.

As can be seen from FIGS. 3 to 5, the rack 24 is slidably held by the guide portion 18a of the clutch release fork lever 18, and a rack return spring is provided between the clutch release fork lever 18 and the rack 24. 34 is provided,
The rack return spring 34 is wound around a pin 36 attached to the clutch release fork lever 18, one end of which is hooked to a stop pin 18b attached to the clutch release fork lever 18, and the other end is attached to the rack 24. It is hooked on the retaining pin 24a. Therefore, the clutch release fork lever 18 and the rack 24 are elastically connected via the rack return spring 34.

Next, the vehicle clutch automatic gap adjusting device of the present invention
When the operation of 10 is added, as already mentioned, in the normal state where the clutch facing is not worn, when the clutch pedal 14 is depressed or the clutch pedal 14 is released,
The clutch release fork lever 18 rotates to the A side or B side in FIG. 3 to bring the clutch to the disengaged position or the engaged position. At this time, the rack 24 is also displaced to the A side or B side in FIG. 3 together with the clutch release fork lever 18.
This displacement does not reach the range where it abuts against the stopper 28.

On the other hand, when the clutch facing wears, the clutch facing becomes thin. Therefore, when the clutch facing is in the clutch engagement position without stepping on the clutch pedal 14, the pressure plate 42 is worn by the clutch facing 1st.
It moves to the left side of the figure, and the release lever 48 rotates clockwise in FIG. 1 via the fulcrum 47a.

Therefore, the release bearing 50 is displaced to the right in FIG. 1 together with the release bearing hub 51, and the clutch release fork 54 rotates clockwise in FIG. 1, which causes the clutch release fork shaft 16 to move in the direction shown in FIG. It rotates in the C direction, and along with it, the clutch release fork lever 18
Is rotated clockwise (direction B) in FIG. Since this rotation range of the clutch release fork lever 18 exceeds the normal rotation range, this clutch release fork lever 18
The rack 24 held by 18 abuts the stopper 28.

At this time, the reaction force in the left direction in FIG. 3 acts on the rack 24 against the rack return spring 34, so that the pinion 22
The worm gear 32 and the clutch release fork shaft which rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 4 and are integrated with the pinion 22.
Rotate the clutch release fork shaft 16 in the direction opposite to the C direction in FIG. 3 through the shaft gear 16a integrated with the 16 and rotate the clutch release fork lever 18 in the counterclockwise direction (A direction) in FIG. Move. Therefore, the strokes of the clutch release fork lever 18 and the clutch booster 19 are always kept constant, and the play of the clutch pedal 14 can be prevented from decreasing.

In this way, the clutch pedal 14 is adjusted so as to maintain the play, but at this time, when the rack 24 is returned by the rack return spring 34 on the clutch release fork lever 18, the one-way clutch 20 causes the worm gear 32 to move. It is not rotated and therefore the clutch release fork shaft 16 is not rotated.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, as described above, the play of the clutch pedal caused by the wear of the clutch facing is automatically adjusted. The mechanism required for this automatic adjustment is the clutch main body or the clutch pedal. Instead of being installed inside
Since it is additionally provided between the clutch release fork shaft and the clutch fork lever, it is not necessary to modify the clutch body or the clutch pedal, and the mounting is easy.

In addition, the rack held by the clutch release fork lever is abutted against the stopper by utilizing the displacement of the clutch release fork lever which exceeds the predetermined range due to the wear of the clutch facing, and the rack displacement and the pinion due to the reaction force are applied. The play of the clutch pedal is adjusted by returning the clutch release fork lever to its original position by rotating the clutch release lever. Therefore, it can be economically obtained by only adding a simple mechanism to the clutch release fork lever.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a vehicle clutch to which the present invention is applied,
FIG. 2 is a schematic system diagram of an automatic gap adjusting device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are a front view, a plan view and a side view, respectively, of the automatic gap adjusting device of the present invention. 10 …… Automatic gap adjuster, 12 …… Clutch, 14 ……
Clutch pedal, 16 ... Clutch release fork shaft, 16a ... Shaft gear, 17, 17 '... Rotation support part, 18 ... Small diameter part, 18a ... Guide part, 18b ... Stop pin, 20 ... One-way clutch , 22 …… pinion, 24…
… Rack, 24a …… Stop pin, 28 …… Stopper, 30 ……
Return spring, 32 ... worm gear, 32a ... Shaft, 34 ... Rack return spring, 36 ... Pin, 40 ... Flywheel, 42 ... Pressure plate, 44 ... Clutch facing, 48 ... Clutch release lever, 50 …… Clutch release bearing, 54 …… Clutch release fork, 56 …… Clutch spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A clutch release fork lever (18) that rotates in conjunction with the depression of a clutch pedal (14) and a clutch release fork shaft (16) that rotates according to the rotation of the clutch release fork lever (18). In a vehicle clutch in which the clutch facing is disengaged by the rotation of the fork shaft 16, a shaft gear 16a provided at an end of the clutch release fork shaft 16 and a rotation support attached to the clutch release fork lever 18. A worm gear 32 which is supported by the shaft portion and meshes with the shaft gear 16a,
A pinion 22 having a one-way clutch 20 provided at one end of the shaft 32a of the worm gear 32, a rack 24 slidably held by the clutch release fork lever 18 and meshed with the pinion 22, and the rack facing in accordance with wear of the clutch facing. An automatic clutch gap adjusting device for a vehicle, comprising: a stopper 28 for restricting the displacement of the rack 24 so as to limit the rotation of the clutch release fork lever 18 when the rotation increases.