JPH0129982B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sheet metal oil pan used in automobile engines and the like.

[Prior Art] This type of oil pan made of sheet metal has a flange a at its upper opening edge, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the mating surface b of the flange a is connected to the cylinder. Generally, the block c is joined to the mating surface d of the block c via a liquid gasket e, and the flanges a thereof are fixed to the mating surface d using a plurality of bolts f which are arranged intermittently. It is.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, in the case where the sealing between the mating surfaces b and d is performed by the liquid gasket e as described above, a large surface pressure is not required to ensure sealing performance. , Strap to increase the rigidity of flange a (button attached to the bottom surface of the flange)
At the same time, there is a tendency to set the distance between each mounting bolt f, that is, the bolt pitch p, relatively large. For this reason, a portion of the flange a located between the mounting bolts f and the mounting bolts f may bend downward during operation. Since the liquid gasket e has elasticity, it follows the deflection to some extent, but there is a limit to its elongation rate. In particular, conventional oil pans have flange a
Since the mating surface b of the cylinder block C is made parallel to the mating surface d of the cylinder block c, the liquid gasket e interposed between the mating surfaces b and d is uniformly rolled and becomes extremely thin. Therefore, followability in the thickness direction is poor. Therefore, when the flange a bends downward as shown by the imaginary lines in FIGS. 2 and 3, the liquid gasket e is applied to the mating surface b of the flange a or the mating surface d of the cylinder block c. This tends to cause the inconvenience of peeling off from the surface and losing the sealing function.

As a measure to eliminate such inconveniences, for example, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a recess g is formed in the portion of the flange a' where large deflection occurs.
A liquid gasket is provided inside this concave portion g.
One possibility is to fill e′. With such a structure, the thickness of the liquid gasket e' at the part where the recessed part g is provided is sufficiently large, so that even if the flange a' bends greatly, the liquid gasket e' can easily follow it. As a result, sealing performance is maintained. However, in order to provide the recesses g on the mating surface b' of the flange a', there is an inconvenience that the shape of the mold for manufacturing the oil pan must be complicated. In addition, in order to fill the concave portion g with liquid gasket e', it is not enough to simply apply liquid gasket e' to mating surface b' using a simple template as in the past; There is also the problem of complication.

The present invention aims to solve the above problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve such objects, the present invention has the following features:
The following configuration is adopted.

That is, the oil pan according to the present invention connects the mating surface of the flange provided on the opening edge to the mating surface of the cylinder block via a liquid gasket, and uses a plurality of fasteners in which the flanges are arranged intermittently. The oil pan is made of a sheet metal and can be fixed to the mating surface of the cylinder block, and the mating surface of the flange is fixed to the cylinder block so that a space having a wedge-shaped cross section can be formed between the two mating surfaces. It is characterized in that the entire surface from the outer circumferential edge to the inner circumferential edge is inclined with respect to the mating surface.

[Function] As mentioned above, the mating surface of the flange of this oil pan is inclined as a whole with respect to the mating surface of the cylinder block, so when the oil pan is mounted on the cylinder block, the fastening tool A space having a wedge-shaped cross section extending from the outer circumferential edge to the inner circumferential edge of the flange is formed between the mating surfaces at the intermediate portion between the flange and the fastener, and this space is filled with the liquid gasket. Therefore, the thickness of the liquid gasket in the intermediate portion exhibits a large value over a wide range. Therefore, even if a phenomenon peculiar to sheet metal oil pans occurs, that is, the middle part of the flange bends downward due to vibrations of the oil stored inside, the middle part of the flange bends downward. Because the liquid gasket in the part is maintained in a thick state over a wide range,
The liquid gasket easily follows the deflection due to elastic deformation. Therefore, oil leakage from the joint portion can be effectively prevented without reinforcing the flange with a strap or the like.

Moreover, this product does not have unevenness or stepped parts on the flange, but simply slopes the mating surface of the flange as a whole, so the mold for molding this oil pan is There is no need to provide complex irregularities that tend to cause problems in terms of durability, etc. Moreover, the mating surface of this flange is
Since it consists of a simple flat surface, no special operations are required to apply the liquid gasket.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

1 in the figure is an oil pan according to the present invention. The oil pan 1 is formed by deep drawing a steel plate into a housing shape, and has a flange 2 formed around the entire circumference at the upper opening edge. The flange 2 is a flat plate having a rib on the outer circumferential edge 2b, and is entirely inclined from the outer circumferential edge 2b to the inner circumferential edge 2c. In addition, this flange 2 has
A plurality of bolt holes 4 are drilled at required intervals for passing mounting bolts 3 serving as fasteners.

The oil pan 1 is covered with a lid on the lower opening of the cylinder block 5. That is, the mating surface 2a (upper surface) of the flange 2 of the oil pan 1
is joined to the mating surface 5a of the cylinder block 5 via the liquid gasket 6, and the flange 2 is fixed to the mating surface 5a of the cylinder block 5 using the mounting bolts 3 installed in the respective bolt holes 4. I'm wearing it. In this case, the liquid gasket 6 used is, for example, FIPG (formed, in, place, gasket), which has an elongation of about 170%.

If the configuration is like this, oil pan 1
The mating surface 2a of the flange 2 is the cylinder block 5.
Since it is inclined with respect to the mating surface 5a of
When the oil pan 1 is mounted on the cylinder block 1, a wedge-shaped space in cross section is formed between the mating surfaces 2a and 5a at the intermediate portion A between the mounting bolts 3, as shown in FIG. is formed, and this space is filled with the liquid gasket 6. Therefore, the thickness t of the liquid gasket 6 at the intermediate portion A can be made sufficiently large, and the same effect as that obtained by providing a concave portion in the flange (see FIGS. 4 and 5) can be obtained.
That is, even if the flange 2 is bent into a shape similar to that shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 2, the liquid gasket 6 can easily follow the bending, and the sealing performance is maintained. Therefore, oil leakage can be effectively prevented without reinforcing the flange 2 with a strap made of band iron or the like. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced, and the weight can be reasonably reduced.

In addition, since this oil pan 1 is simply made by slanting the mating surface 2a of the flange 2, there is no need for a complicated mold for manufacturing the oil pan 1. The work of applying the gasket 6 can also be easily done using a template similar to that used for the conventional oil pan shown in FIGS. 1-3.

In the illustrated embodiment, a case has been described in which the mating surfaces of the flanges are inclined in a direction in which the outer peripheral edge of the flange is higher than the inner peripheral edge, but the present invention is of course not limited to this. For example, the mating surface may be inclined in a direction in which the inner circumferential edge of the flange is higher than the outer circumferential edge. However, if the oil pan is inclined in the direction shown in the illustrated embodiment, there is an advantage that the degree of deep drawing is reduced when manufacturing the oil pan, which is favorable in terms of strength.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention is characterized in that the mating surface of the flange is inclined with respect to the mating surface of the cylinder block so that a space having a wedge-shaped cross section can be formed between these two mating surfaces. Therefore, the thickness of the liquid gasket can be ensured. Therefore, even if a phenomenon peculiar to sheet metal products occurs, that is, the flange bends in the thickness direction due to gravity, inertia, etc. acting on the stored oil,
Can maintain sealing performance. Therefore, oil leakage can be effectively prevented without reinforcing the strap, and the weight can be reasonably reduced by reducing the number of parts.

In addition, since the flange is inclined as a whole from the outer circumferential edge to the inner circumferential edge, it is possible to provide an oil pan that does not complicate the manufacturing mold or complicate the liquid gasket application work. It is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show a conventional example, in which FIG. 1 is a front sectional view, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 2. Figures 4 and 5 show other conventional examples, with Figure 4 being a perspective view and Figure 5 being a perspective view.
The figure is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3. 6 to 8 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a front sectional view,
FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Oil pan, 2... Flange, 2a... Matching surface, 2b... Outer periphery, 2c... Inner periphery, 3... Fastener (mounting bolt), 5... Cylinder block, 5a... Matching surface, 6... Liquid gasket.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The mating surface of the flange provided on the opening edge is joined to the mating surface of the cylinder block via a liquid gasket, and the flange is fixed to the mating surface of the cylinder block using a plurality of fasteners arranged intermittently. In the sheet metal oil pan thus obtained, the mating surface of the flange is set from the outer peripheral edge of the mating surface of the cylinder block so that a space having a wedge-shaped cross section can be formed between the two mating surfaces. An oil pan characterized in that the entire inner periphery is sloped.