JP2015017624A - Lubricator for vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the air suction of an oil pump.SOLUTION: A suction oil passage 62 is provided, which is equipped with a strainer 54 stored in an oil pan 50, and guides oil from the oil pan 50 to an oil pump 52. A line pressure control valve 65 is provided, which is equipped with an introduction port 66 for guiding the oil discharged from the oil pump 52, and a decompression port 67 for discharging the oil when adjusting the oil to line pressure. A decompression oil passage 68 and a suction oil passage 71 are provided, which are arranged between the line pressure control valve 65 and the suction oil passage 62, and guide the oil discharged from the decompression port 67 to the suction oil passage 62. A switch valve 82 is provided, which is arranged between the decompression oil passage 68 and a lubrication portion 98, and adjusts the amount of the oil branched off from the decompression oil passage 68 and supplied to the lubrication portion 98. A control unit 55 is provided, which controls the switch valve 82 to decrease the amount of the oil supplied to the lubrication portion 98 when a vehicle behavior exceeds a reference value.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lubricating device that supplies oil discharged from an oil pump to a lubricating portion.

  The power train mounted on the vehicle incorporates a hydraulic control device such as an automatic transmission. In addition, an oil pump is installed in the power train to supply oil for control to the clutches and brakes constituting the automatic transmission and to supply oil for lubrication to the clutches and gears. It has been. The oil stored in the oil pan is sucked up by the oil pump and supplied to the clutch or the like, then flows down from the clutch or the like and is stored in the oil pan again. Thus, the oil stored in the oil pan is used for control and lubrication while circulating in the power train (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-294117 A

  By the way, in order to suppress agitation resistance of gears and rotating shafts incorporated in the power train, it is desirable to reduce the oil level and reduce the oil level of the oil pan. However, lowering the oil level of the oil pan invites air suction of the oil pump, which hinders normal operation of the powertrain. Even if a sufficient oil level is secured at room temperature, if the oil temperature drops significantly, the oil viscosity will rise and the return to the oil pan will be delayed. May decrease and cause air suction. Therefore, the lubricating device of Patent Document 1 prevents the oil level of the oil pan from being lowered by reducing the oil consumption when the oil temperature is lowered. However, the factor that temporarily lowers the oil level is not only the temperature factor, so it is desired to suppress the air suction of the oil pump under various circumstances.

  An object of the present invention is to suppress air suction of an oil pump.

  A vehicle lubrication device according to the present invention is a vehicle lubrication device that supplies oil discharged from an oil pump to a lubrication unit, and an oil pan that stores oil supplied to the lubrication unit, and the oil pan. An intake oil passage having an intake port portion to be accommodated, guiding oil from the oil pan to the oil pump, an input port for guiding oil discharged from the oil pump, and adjusting the oil to a line pressure And a discharge port through which oil is discharged, and is provided between the line pressure control valve and the suction oil passage, and guides the oil discharged from the discharge port to the suction oil passage. A return oil passage, an oil amount adjustment valve provided between the return oil passage and the lubrication portion, for adjusting the amount of oil branched from the return oil passage and supplied to the lubrication portion, and vehicle behavior Reference value If above, having a valve control unit for reducing the amount of oil supplied to the lubricating unit by controlling the oil amount adjusting valve.

  According to the present invention, when the vehicle behavior exceeds the reference value, the oil amount adjusting valve is controlled to reduce the amount of oil supplied to the lubrication unit. As a result, in a situation where the oil in the oil pan is shifted according to the vehicle behavior, the amount of oil supplied from the return oil passage to the oil pump without passing through the oil pan can be increased, and the oil pump is removed from the oil pan. Since the amount of oil to be sucked can be reduced, air suction of the oil pump can be suppressed.

It is the schematic which shows the power train mounted in a vehicle. It is the schematic which shows the lubricating device for vehicles which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of a switch valve. It is explanatory drawing which shows the supply condition of hydraulic oil. It is explanatory drawing which shows the supply condition of hydraulic oil.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a powertrain 10 mounted on a vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the powertrain 10 includes an engine 11 as a power source and a transmission 12 that transmits engine power to drive wheels. The transmission 12 has a mission case 13, and a torque converter 14, a forward / reverse switching mechanism 15, a continuously variable transmission mechanism 16, and the like are incorporated in the mission case 13.

  The continuously variable transmission mechanism 16 includes a primary shaft 20 that is driven by the engine 11 and a secondary shaft 21 that is parallel to the primary shaft 20. A primary pulley 22 is provided on the primary shaft 20, and a primary chamber 23 is defined on the back side of the primary pulley 22. The secondary shaft 21 is provided with a secondary pulley 24, and a secondary chamber 25 is defined on the back side of the secondary pulley 24. Further, a drive chain 26 is wound around the primary pulley 22 and the secondary pulley 24. By adjusting the hydraulic pressure supplied to the primary chamber 23 and the secondary chamber 25, it is possible to change the pulley groove width and change the winding diameter of the drive chain 26.

  In order to transmit engine power to the continuously variable transmission mechanism 16, a torque converter 14 and a forward / reverse switching mechanism 15 are provided between the crankshaft 30 and the primary shaft 20. The torque converter 14 includes a pump impeller 32 connected to the crankshaft 30 via a front cover 31, and a turbine runner 34 facing the pump impeller 32 and connected to the turbine shaft 33. The forward / reverse switching mechanism 15 includes a planetary gear train 35, a forward clutch 36 and a reverse brake 37. By fastening the forward clutch 36 and the reverse brake 37, the rotation direction of the primary shaft 20 can be controlled.

  The transmission case 13 houses a front wheel output shaft 40 that is parallel to the secondary shaft 21. The secondary shaft 21 and the front wheel output shaft 40 are connected via a gear train 41, and the front wheel output shaft 40 is connected to a front wheel (not shown) via a front differential mechanism 42. Further, the transmission case 13 accommodates a rear wheel output shaft 43 that is parallel to the front wheel output shaft 40. The front wheel output shaft 40 and the rear wheel output shaft 43 are connected via a gear train 44 and a transfer clutch 45, and the rear wheel output shaft 43 is connected to a rear wheel via a propeller shaft and a rear differential mechanism (not shown). .

  In order to supply hydraulic oil for control and lubrication to the torque converter 14, the forward / reverse switching mechanism 15, the continuously variable transmission mechanism 16, and the like, the oil pan 50 provided at the lower portion of the transmission case 13 is operated. Oil is stored. An oil pump 52 is connected to the pump impeller 32 of the torque converter 14 via a chain mechanism 51. Further, the mission case 13 accommodates a valve unit 53 constituted by a plurality of electromagnetic valves and oil passages. When the engine 11 is started and the oil pump 52 is driven, the working oil is sucked up from the strainer 54 inserted into the oil pan 50, and the sucked working oil is supplied to the valve unit 53 through the oil pump 52. The hydraulic oil supplied to the valve unit 53 is supplied from the valve unit 53 to the forward / reverse switching mechanism 15, the continuously variable transmission mechanism 16, and the like. The control unit 55 that controls the valve unit 53 includes a CPU that calculates control signals and the like, a ROM that stores control programs, arithmetic expressions and map data, a RAM that temporarily stores data, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a vehicle lubricating device 60 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2, the same members as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 2, a suction oil passage 62 is connected to the suction port 61 of the oil pump 52, and a strainer (suction port portion) 54 provided at the end of the suction oil passage 62 is accommodated in the oil pan 50. The A line pressure path 64 is connected to the discharge port 63 of the oil pump 52, and an introduction port (input port) 66 of the line pressure control valve 65 is connected to the line pressure path 64. The line pressure control valve 65 includes a pressure reducing port (discharge port) 67, and a pressure reducing oil path (return oil path) 68 is connected to the pressure reducing port 67. In order to reduce the hydraulic oil discharged from the oil pump 52 to the target line pressure, the line pressure control valve 65 controls the communication state between the introduction port 66 and the pressure reduction port 67. That is, when reducing the pressure in the line pressure path 64, the amount of hydraulic oil discharged from the line pressure path 64 to the pressure reduction oil path 68 is increased by increasing the communication area between the introduction port 66 and the pressure reduction port 67. increase. On the other hand, when the pressure in the line pressure passage 64 is increased, the amount of hydraulic oil discharged from the line pressure passage 64 to the pressure reduction oil passage 68 is reduced by reducing the communication area between the introduction port 66 and the pressure reduction port 67. Decrease. The line pressure path 64 is connected to a branch oil path 69 that supplies hydraulic fluid for control toward the torque converter 14, the continuously variable transmission mechanism 16, and the like.

  Further, a suction oil passage (return oil passage) 71 is connected to the decompression oil passage 68 via a lubricating pressure adjusting valve 70, and the suction oil passage 71 is connected to a suction oil passage 62. The lubrication pressure adjusting valve 70 has a housing 72 and a spool valve shaft 73 that is movably accommodated in the housing 72. The housing 72 is formed with an input port 75 to which a branch oil passage (return oil passage) 74 branched from the decompression oil passage 68 is connected, and an output port 76 to which the suction oil passage 71 is connected. . The housing 72 is formed with a pilot port 78 to which a branch oil passage 77 branched from the decompression oil passage 68 is connected. Further, in order to move the spool valve shaft 73 in the axial direction, a pilot chamber 79 communicating with the pilot port 78 is defined in the housing 72 and a spring chamber 81 in which the spring 80 is accommodated is defined.

  When the pilot pressure supplied to the pilot chamber 79 of the lubrication pressure adjusting valve 70 increases, the spool valve shaft 73 compresses the spring 80 in the communication direction (arrow A1 direction) that allows the input port 75 and the output port 76 to communicate with each other. Moving. On the other hand, when the pilot pressure supplied to the pilot chamber 79 decreases, the spool valve shaft 73 moves in the blocking direction (arrow A2 direction) that blocks the input port 75 and the output port 76 by the spring force of the spring 80. Therefore, when the pressure in the reduced pressure oil passage 68 increases, the spool valve shaft 73 moves in the communication direction, and the working oil is guided from the reduced pressure oil passage 68 to the suction oil passage 71. The pressure will decrease. On the other hand, when the pressure in the decompression oil passage 68 decreases, the spool valve shaft 73 moves in the shut-off direction and the supply of hydraulic oil to the suction oil passage 71 is shut off. Will rise. Thus, by providing the lubricating pressure adjusting valve 70, it is possible to keep the upper limit pressure in the pressure reducing oil passage 68 constant. As described above, the pressure reducing port 67 of the line pressure control valve 65 and the suction oil passage 62 are connected via the pressure reducing oil passage 68, the branch oil passage 74, and the suction oil passage 71. That is, the return oil path is constituted by the decompression oil path 68, the branch oil path 74 and the suction oil path 71.

  Further, a switch valve (oil amount adjusting valve) 82 is connected to the pressure reducing oil passage 68. The switch valve 82 has a housing 83 and a spool valve shaft 84 that is movably accommodated in the housing 83. The housing 83 is formed with an input port 85 to which the decompression oil passage 68 is connected. The housing 83 is formed with a first output port 87 to which a small diameter oil passage 86 is connected, and a second output port 89 to which a large diameter oil passage 88 is connected. The housing 83 is formed with a pilot port 92 to which the pilot pressure path 91 of the pilot solenoid valve 90 is connected. Further, in order to move the spool valve shaft 84 in the axial direction, a pilot chamber 93 communicating with the pilot port 92 is defined in the housing 83 and a spring chamber 95 in which the spring 94 is accommodated is defined.

  When the pilot pressure supplied to the pilot chamber 93 of the switch valve 82 increases, the spool valve shaft 84 compresses the spring 94 while reducing the direction in which the input port 85 and the first output port 87 communicate with each other (arrow B1 direction). Moving. On the other hand, when the pilot pressure supplied to the pilot chamber 93 decreases, the spool valve shaft 84 moves in the increasing direction (arrow B2 direction) that causes the input port 85 and the second output port 89 to communicate with each other by the spring force of the spring 94. . Therefore, by outputting the pilot pressure from the pilot solenoid valve 90, the switch valve 82 is switched to a reduced state in which the spool valve shaft 84 is moved in the decreasing direction, and the pressure reducing oil passage 68 is changed to a small-diameter oil passage 86 having a small passage area. Hydraulic oil is guided. On the other hand, by stopping the output of the pilot pressure by the pilot solenoid valve 90, the switch valve 82 is switched to the increasing state in which the spool valve shaft 84 is moved in the increasing direction, and the large-diameter oil having a large flow area from the decompression oil passage 68 is switched. The hydraulic oil is guided to the path 88.

  The small-diameter oil path 86 and the large-diameter oil path 88 are connected to the lubricating oil path 97 via a poppet valve 96 that is opened at a predetermined pressure or higher. A plurality of lubricating oil passages 97 that branch into a plurality guide the lubricating oil to the lubricating portion 98 in the transmission 12. Examples of the lubrication section 98 include a bearing 99 of the continuously variable transmission mechanism 16, a chain mechanism 51 of the oil pump 52, the forward clutch 36, the reverse brake 37, and the transfer clutch 45. When the above-described switch valve 82 is switched to the reduced amount state, the hydraulic oil is supplied from the pressure reducing oil passage 68 to the lubricating portion 98 through the small diameter oil passage 86. On the other hand, when the switch valve 82 is switched to the increased state, the hydraulic oil is supplied from the reduced pressure oil path 68 to the lubrication unit 98 via the large diameter oil path 88. The hydraulic oil supplied from the lubricating oil passage 97 to the lubricating portion 98 flows down after lubricating the lubricating portion 98 and is stored in the oil pan 50 again. As described above, the hydraulic oil supplied to the lubrication unit 98 is once returned to the oil pan 50 and then sucked into the oil pump 52 again.

  Next, switching control of the switch valve 82 executed by the control unit 55 as a valve control unit will be described. Here, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for switching control of the switch valve 82. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams showing the supply state of hydraulic oil. 4 and 5 show the supply state of hydraulic oil using white arrows. 4 and 5, the same members as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. First, as shown in FIG. 3, in step S1, the control unit 55 determines whether or not the acceleration acting on the vehicle exceeds a reference value based on a detection signal from the acceleration sensor 100 provided in the vehicle. That is, in step S1, the control unit 55 determines whether or not the vehicle behavior exceeds the reference value.

  If it is determined in step S1 that the acceleration exceeds the reference value, the process proceeds to step S2 where the pilot pressure is output from the pilot solenoid valve 90 toward the switch valve 82. Thereby, as shown in step S <b> 3, the switch valve 82 is switched to the reduced amount state, and the decompression oil passage 68 is connected to the small-diameter oil passage 86. Then, as shown in step S4, the amount of hydraulic oil (oil amount, lubricating oil amount) supplied to the lubrication unit 98 decreases, while the amount of hydraulic oil (return oil amount) supplied to the suction oil passage 71 increases. Will do. Thereby, since the amount of suction from the strainer 54 can be suppressed, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of air suction in the oil pump 52. That is, it is possible to suppress air from being sucked together with the hydraulic oil from the strainer 54.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the traveling situation in which the acceleration exceeds the reference value is a traveling situation in which the vehicle behavior becomes large due to a sudden turn or the like, and therefore the hydraulic oil stored in the oil pan 50 is largely offset. It becomes. In this manner, in a situation where the oil level of the oil pan 50 is partially reduced, air suction of the oil pump 52 may occur. Therefore, by switching the switch valve 82 to the reduced state, the switch valve 82 The amount of hydraulic oil supplied to the lubrication unit 98 is reduced. In this way, by reducing the amount of hydraulic oil supplied to the lubrication section 98, the amount of hydraulic oil supplied from the lubricating pressure adjusting valve 70 to the suction oil passage 62 through the suction oil passage 71 can be increased. It becomes possible. Accordingly, since much of the hydraulic oil sucked by the oil pump 52 can be supplied from the suction oil passage 71, the amount of hydraulic oil sucked by the oil pump 52 from the oil pan 50 can be suppressed. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of air suction.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, when it is determined in step S <b> 1 that the acceleration is equal to or less than the reference value, the process proceeds to step S <b> 5 and the pilot pressure output by the pilot solenoid valve 90 is stopped. Thereby, as shown in step S <b> 6, the switch valve 82 is switched to the increased state, and the decompression oil passage 68 is connected to the large-diameter oil passage 88. As shown in step S7, the amount of hydraulic oil (lubricating oil amount) supplied to the lubrication unit 98 increases, while the amount of hydraulic oil (return oil amount) supplied to the suction oil passage 71 decreases. Become. Thus, since the hydraulic fluid supplied to the lubrication part 98 can be increased, the lubrication part 98 can fully be lubricated.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the traveling state in which the acceleration is equal to or less than the reference value is a traveling state in which the vehicle behavior such as straight traveling is small, so that the hydraulic oil stored in the oil pan 50 may be largely offset. Absent. In this way, in a situation where the oil level of the oil pan 50 is substantially uniform, the risk of air suction by the oil pump 52 is reduced, so that the switch valve 82 is lubricated from the switch valve 82 by switching to the increased state. The amount of hydraulic oil supplied to the section 98 is increased. Thus, in a situation where there is no fear of air suction by the oil pump 52, a large amount of hydraulic oil is supplied to the lubrication unit 98.

  As described above, when the vehicle behavior exceeds the reference value, the operation supplied to the oil pump 52 from the suction oil passage 71 without passing through the oil pan 50 by switching the switch valve 82 to the reduced state. Increasing oil quantity. Thereby, the amount of hydraulic oil sucked from the oil pan 50 is reduced, and the occurrence of air suction in the oil pump 52 is suppressed. As described above, the control of the switch valve 82 based on the vehicle behavior may be executed regardless of the temperature of the hydraulic oil. However, when the hydraulic oil temperature is high and the viscosity decreases, the hydraulic oil returns quickly. Since the oil level is difficult to decrease, the control of the switch valve 82 based on the vehicle behavior may be stopped. That is, when the hydraulic oil temperature falls below a predetermined temperature (for example, 40 ° C.), the switch valve 82 is switched between the increased state and the decreased state based on the vehicle behavior, and the hydraulic oil temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature (for example, 40 ° C.) In this case, the switch valve 82 may be held in an increased state regardless of the vehicle behavior.

  It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above description, the oil pump 52 is driven by the engine 11, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the oil pump 52 may be driven by an electric motor. Further, the type of the oil pump 52 is not limited to the illustrated internal gear pump, and may be an external gear pump or another type of oil pump.

  In the above description, the switch valve 82 for switching the branch destination of the decompression oil path 68 to the large diameter oil path 88 and the small diameter oil path 86 is provided. However, as the oil amount adjusting valve, the oil path switching such as the switch valve 82 is provided. It is not limited to a valve, and a flow rate control valve that can freely adjust the amount of hydraulic oil supplied to the lubrication unit 98 may be adopted as an oil amount adjusting valve. In addition, the two oil paths of the large diameter oil path 88 and the small diameter oil path 86 are connected to the switch valve 82, but the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more oil paths are connected to the switch valve 82. You may do it.

  In the above description, the switch valve 82 is controlled by the pilot pressure from the pilot solenoid valve 90. However, the switch valve 82 is not limited to this, and is a directly operated switch valve that is directly driven by the force of the solenoid. Also good. In the above description, the lubrication pressure adjusting valve 70 that keeps the upper limit pressure in the decompression oil passage 68 constant is provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the decompression oil passage is omitted by omitting the lubrication pressure adjustment valve 70. 68 and the suction oil passage 71 may be directly connected.

  In the above description, the vehicle behavior is determined based on the acceleration acting on the vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the vehicle behavior may be determined based on other information. For example, the magnitude of the vehicle behavior may be determined based on the difference in rotational speed between the wheels, the steering angle of the steering, or the like. In addition, as an acceleration at the time of determining a vehicle behavior, the acceleration which acts on the left-right direction of a vehicle may be sufficient, for example, and the acceleration which acts on the front-back direction of a vehicle may be sufficient.

  In the above description, the present invention is applied to a vehicle including only the engine 11 as a power source. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is applied to a hybrid vehicle including the engine 11 and an electric motor as power sources. May be. In the above description, the continuously variable transmission mechanism 16 is incorporated in the power train 10, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a planetary gear type or parallel shaft type automatic transmission mechanism may be incorporated in the power train 10.

50 Oil pan 52 Oil pump 54 Strainer (suction port)
55 Control unit (valve controller)
60 Lubricating device for vehicle 62 Suction oil passage 65 Line pressure control valve 66 Introduction port (input port)
67 Decompression port (discharge port)
68 Depressurized oil passage (return oil passage)
71 Suction oil passage (return oil passage)
74 Branch oil passage (return oil passage)
82 Switch valve (oil adjustment valve)
86 Small diameter oil path 88 Large diameter oil path 98 Lubrication part

Claims (4)

A vehicle lubricating device for supplying oil discharged from an oil pump to a lubricating part,
An oil pan in which oil supplied to the lubrication unit is stored;
A suction port that is housed in the oil pan, and a suction oil passage that guides oil from the oil pan to the oil pump;
A line pressure control valve comprising: an input port through which oil discharged from the oil pump is guided; and a discharge port through which oil is discharged when adjusting the oil to the line pressure;
A return oil passage that is provided between the line pressure control valve and the suction oil passage and guides oil discharged from the discharge port to the suction oil passage;
An oil amount adjusting valve that is provided between the return oil passage and the lubricating portion, and that adjusts the amount of oil that is branched from the return oil passage and supplied to the lubricating portion;
A valve control unit that controls the oil amount adjustment valve to reduce the amount of oil supplied to the lubrication unit when vehicle behavior exceeds a reference value;
A vehicular lubricating device. The vehicle lubricating device according to claim 1,
The vehicle lubricating device, wherein the vehicle behavior is determined based on an acceleration acting on the vehicle. The vehicle lubricating device according to claim 1 or 2,
The vehicle lubricating device, wherein the return oil passage is connected to the suction oil passage. In the vehicle lubricating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A large-diameter oil passage that guides oil to the lubrication part and a small-diameter oil path that guides oil to the lubrication part are connected to the oil amount adjustment valve,
The oil amount adjusting valve is a vehicle lubricating device that switches a branch destination of the return oil passage from the large-diameter oil passage to the small-diameter oil passage when reducing the amount of oil supplied to the lubrication unit.

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