JP2000329154A - Flexible coupling - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To manufacture a cord wound between a driving-side connecting element and a driven-side connecting element by using a cord that does not require loosening caused by winding and does not require terminal treatment, and And reduce variations in characteristics and durability. SOLUTION: An integral cord 20 integrally formed of a thermoplastic elastomer is wound between adjacent connection elements 1 and 2. The integral cord 20 and the connection elements 1 and 2 are embedded in the elastic body 5 made of rubber or the above-mentioned elastomer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a general industrial machine,
The present invention relates to a flexible coupling for transmitting torque from a drive shaft of a vehicle or the like to a driven shaft.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A flexible coupling is used as a joint part connecting a propeller shaft of a vehicle and an output shaft of a transmission or a propeller shaft and an input shaft of a differential gear, and transmits rotational torque between the two while suppressing vibration. It is.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show such a flexible coupling described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-52427. A plurality of cylindrical driving-side connection elements 1 bolted to the driving body and a plurality of cylindrical driven-side connection elements 2 bolted to the driven body are alternately arranged at equal intervals on a concentric circumference, and these connections are made. A strip-shaped cord 4 formed by winding a reinforcing cord 3 such as a polyester thread in multiple layers is wound between adjacent driving-side connecting elements 1 and driven-side connecting elements 2 of the elements 1 and 2. By being embedded in an elastic body 5 such as rubber so that both ends in the axial direction are exposed to the outside, they are integrally formed into an annular shape having a rectangular cross section.

A pair of collars 6 are fitted around the outer periphery of the connection elements 1 and 2 at a predetermined interval.
Has a U-shaped cross section in which both ends of a short cylindrical portion 7 fitted into the outer periphery of the connection elements 1 and 2 are bent and erected in the radial direction to integrally form a flange portion 8. The outer cord 4 is stored and held in a U-shaped groove 9 formed in the collar 6, and is defined by the flange 8 of one collar 6, the flange 8 of the other collar 6, and the outer peripheral surfaces of the connection elements 1 and 2. The inner cord 4 is housed and held in the groove 10 thus formed, which prevents the cord 4 from breaking down and the arrangement of the reinforcing cords 3 from being disturbed. In addition,
In the figure, 11 is a central hole of the connection elements 1 and 2, and 12 is a hole.

[0005] With this configuration, the rotational torque of the driving body is transmitted to the drive-side connection element 1 of the flexible coupling via the bolt, and the drive-side connection element 1 transmits the rotational torque via the cord 4 to the driven-side connection element. 2 Then, the rotational torque is transmitted to the driven body connected to the driven-side connection element 2. At this time, the elastic body 5 absorbs torsional vibration of the driving body and the driven body.

[0006]

The above-mentioned conventional flexible coupling has the following problems. (A) The cord is formed by winding the reinforcing cord several hundred times between adjacent connection elements, which causes an increase in manufacturing time and man-hour. (B) Since the cord is wound in multiple layers, the cord is likely to be loosened, and the spring characteristics and durability may vary. (C) Terminal treatment of the cord is required after winding the cord, and if this treatment is inappropriate, a defect such as exposure of the cord during vulcanization may occur.

In addition to the power transmission function, the flexible coupling also needs to have a function of absorbing fluctuations in the rotation of the engine to prevent noise, abnormal noise, vibration, and the like, so that the spring characteristic is non-linear. It is desirable. In order to realize this, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-69444 describes that the cord is slackened by bending the cord outward between the connecting elements to be wound. Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-39429 discloses that the pitch diameter of the yoke on the drive shaft side and the yoke on the driven shaft side is smaller than the pitch diameter of the flexible coupling when the flexible coupling is mounted. Have been. However, in any case, some contrivance is required at the time of manufacturing and mounting, and it is not possible to easily obtain nonlinear characteristics.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a flexible coupling which is stable in quality, has high reliability, and can easily obtain desired characteristics.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, an adjacent drive side connection element and a follower side connection element are provided by using a cord integrally formed of elastic plastic instead of a conventional cord composed of a fiber bundle. The cord and the connection element are wound around the element and embedded in an elastic body made of rubber or the plastic. As the plastic having this elasticity, a thermoplastic elastomer is suitable from the viewpoint of strength.

As described above, the use of the integrally molded plastic cord has a novel structure completely different from the cord composed of the fiber bundle. Therefore, the conventional flexible coupling is loosened due to the cord and the man-hour is increased. There is no room for such problems. Further, since the shape of the cord can be easily changed, desired spring characteristics can be easily obtained.

[0011]

1 and 2 show a flexible coupling according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flexible coupling includes a cylindrical drive-side connection element 1 connected to a drive body such as a yoke on the drive shaft side, and a cylindrical driven-side connection element 2 connected to a driven body such as a yoke on the driven shaft side. , A plurality of collars 6 fitted on the outer periphery of each connection element 1, 2 and an integral cord 20 wound between adjacent connection elements 1, 2
And an elastic body 5 in which the integral cord 20 and the connection elements 1 and 2 are embedded.
Is the same as that shown in FIG.

In the flexible coupling according to the present embodiment, unlike the conventional cord 4 in which a reinforcing cord is wound in multiple layers, the integral cord 20 is integrally formed from an elastic plastic. As the plastic having elasticity, a thermoplastic elastomer, for example, a polyester elastomer is used. In addition, a polyurethane elastomer, a polyamide elastomer, or a polyvinyl chloride elastomer may be used. Here, rubber may be considered as a material of the integrated cord 20.
Rubber cannot withstand the strength to transmit power at high torque, and the above elastomer is suitable.

In the method of forming the integral cord 20, a mold is fitted so as to surround the adjacent connection elements 1 and 2 in which the collar 6 is fitted, and the above-mentioned elastomer is poured. Then 2
It is formed into a link shape connecting the two connection elements 1 and 2 or an endless belt shape wound around the two connection elements 1 and 2 with a predetermined thickness. Therefore, the integral cord 20 is housed and held in the groove defined by the collar 6. That is, the outer integral cord 20 is housed in the U-shaped groove 9 of the collar 6, and the inner integral cord 20 is formed by being sandwiched between the flange 8 of one collar 6 and the flange 8 of the other collar 6. In the groove 10.

Therefore, the thickness of the integral cord 20 becomes the same as the height of the flange 8 of the collar 6, and the thickness of the integral cord 20 can be changed by changing the height of the flange 8. The thickness of the integral cord 20 may be lower than the height of the collar 8 of the collar 6. By storing the integral cord 20 in the collar 6 in this manner, deformation and displacement of the integral cord 20 can be prevented, and the life of the integral cord 20 can be extended. In addition, by changing the cross-sectional area of the integral cord 20, tuning of characteristics such as torsion, twisting, and spring property in the axial direction, and strength and durability can be easily performed.

The material of the elastic body 5 is not limited to the conventional rubber, but may be the same thermoplastic elastomer as that of the integral cord 20 or another thermoplastic elastomer. At this time, the hardness of the rubber or the elastomer can be set to be the same as or different from the hardness of the integrated cord 20 so that a desired function can be exhibited.

By integrally molding the integral cord 20 with the thermoplastic elastomer, the shape of the integral cord 20 can be set arbitrarily. Therefore, to provide a non-linear characteristic as a spring characteristic, the integral cord 20 is used.
May be formed so as to have a slack, and by moving the integrated cord 20 from the slack state to the taut state, a non-linear characteristic can be obtained. Therefore, only a simple change of the mold is required, and a separate step for deforming the cord as in the related art is not required, and a desired spring characteristic can be easily obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and many modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, three integrated cords are wound around the connection element, but two integrated cords may be wound, or four or more integrated cords may be wound. Alternatively, the integrated cord may be directly wound around the connection element without using a collar,
In order to enhance the durability of the integrated cord, a protective layer may be provided on the outer periphery of the connection element.

[0018]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the cord wound between the drive-side connection element and the driven-side connection element has a structure integrally formed of an elastic plastic such as thermoplastic elastomer. So there ’s no need to wind the code many times,
In addition, code terminal processing is not required, so that man-hours during manufacturing can be reduced, and manufacturing time and cost can be reduced.

Also, since the number of cords is one, there is no problem that individual cords are loosened, and there is no variation in spring characteristics and durability as a product, so that stable quality is obtained and reliability is improved.

Moreover, since the cord can be formed into an arbitrary shape, a non-linear spring characteristic can be easily obtained by bending the cord to have a looseness. Further, by changing the cross-sectional shape of the cord, it is possible to easily tune the strength and durability according to the purpose of use. Therefore, a high-performance flexible coupling that can increase the strength of the cord and transmit power with high torque and has excellent durability can be provided at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the internal structure of a flexible coupling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the internal structure of a conventional flexible coupling.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 drive side connection element 2 driven side connection element 5 elastic body 6 collar 9 U-shaped groove 10 groove 20 integrated cord

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Katsushi Saito 1-17-18 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (72) Moriya Takeshita 1-1-17 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka, Osaka No. 18 Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhei Otani 1-17-18 Edobori Nishi-ku Osaka-shi, Osaka Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A plurality of driving-side connection elements connected to a driving body and a plurality of driven-side connection elements connected to a driven body are alternately arranged in a circumferential direction, and have elasticity between adjacent connection elements. A flexible coupling, wherein a plastic integrally formed cord is wound, and the cord and the connection element are embedded in an elastic body. 2. A plurality of cylindrical driving-side connection elements connected to a driving body and a plurality of cylindrical driven-side connection elements connected to a driven body are alternately arranged in a circumferential direction, and each of the plurality of cylindrical driving-side connection elements is arranged in a circumferential direction. A plurality of collars that divide the outer periphery in the longitudinal direction are fitted to each connection element, and a plastic integrally molded cord having elasticity is wound between adjacent connection elements,
A flexible coupling, wherein the cord is housed in a groove defined by the collar, and the cord and the connection element are embedded in an elastic body made of rubber or the plastic. 3. The flexible coupling according to claim 1, wherein a thermoplastic elastomer is used as the plastic.