JPH02204132A - Driving shaft for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attempt elongation, weight reducing and so forth of a driving shaft for a car by forming a splined sleeve at an end part of the shaft made of an FRP pipe and by attaching a hollow spline axis to which a yoke is adhered to this. CONSTITUTION:A sleeve 2 is connected to an end part of a shaft 1 made of an FRP pipe. And a yoke 3 is adhered to or formed in a body with the outer end part of the sleeve 2. And a sleeve 4 is connected to the other end part of the shaft 1, and a spline 5 is formed in the sleeve 4. And a hollow spline axis 7 to which a yoke 6 is adhered is attached to the outer end part of the spline 5. On the other and, each of back-up rings 8 are attached to the outer circumferences of both the end parts of the shaft 1. By this, elongation of the shaft 1 and weight reducing of the hollow spline axis 7 as well as reduction in vibration, noise and so forth can be achieved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a vehicle drive shaft made of fiber-reinforced plastic (hereinafter abbreviated as "rFRP"), and particularly to an automobile propeller shaft.

(Prior art) A propeller shaft is a drive component that is connected to a yoke, spline, etc. and transmits rotation from a power source to an actuator. Conventionally, the propeller shaft is manufactured by joining a yoke, etc. to a steel tube type propeller shaft by welding. It had been. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for improvements in fuel efficiency by reducing vehicle weight, as well as improvements in ride comfort such as low noise and vibration.

In response to this demand, attempts have been made to reduce the weight by replacing the propeller shaft from steel to FRP.

As a conventional FRP propeller shaft,
-8568 publication describes a propeller shaft in which the outer periphery of a metal cylindrical tube is coated with FRP and a yoke is attached to both ends;
■Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-36513 discloses an FRP propeller shaft with a yoke end and a weldable metal vibrator embedded in both ends and integrated by simultaneous molding.
Japanese Patent No. 04716 discloses an FRP propeller shaft with a metal joint attached to the end. These■
~■ By using FRP propeller shaft,
Although they are lighter than steel propeller shafts, when using these propeller shafts, it is necessary to separately provide a spline section, so there is the problem of increased weight due to the metal spline section. The change will be insignificant.

Note that this spline is necessary to adjust the length of the propeller shaft in response to expansion and contraction of the propeller shaft due to vibration and deflection during rotation when rotation is transmitted from the power source to the actuator. In addition, since the deflection and vibration during rotation are large, it is necessary to provide a bearing in the middle, which causes problems such as further weight increase and a complicated structure.

In addition, JP-A-58-21022 discloses an FRP propeller shaft in which a spline is extrapolated to one end of the propeller shaft and the shaft part and spline part are integrated. In the structure, resonance occurs during high-speed rotation due to lack of specific rigidity, so the length of the shaft has to be shortened. Bearings are installed between the shafts to support them, which increases weight and reduces the structure. There is a problem that can be complicated.

Furthermore, since it is difficult to connect the FRP propeller shaft and the metal sleeve, the metal sleeve is grooved or knurled to improve the joint strength of the contact area, and the shape of the sleeve is circular. Make it into a square shape,
There are also methods to prevent slipping.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, even the above-mentioned technology still has the following problems.

■ Since there is a spline part, the length of the shaft part has to be shortened in order to handle high speed rotation, and the weight is not sufficiently reduced.

■ It is difficult to connect the FRP propeller shaft and the metal sleeve, especially for large trucks that require high torque, and if the joint is not strong enough, the joint may separate during rotation, leading to an accident.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides a drive shaft for vehicles that has a spline function and uses a long FRP propeller shaft to omit the intermediate bearing to reduce weight and achieve low noise and low vibration. The purpose is to provide the following.

(Means for Solving the Problem) As a result of the deflection analysis of propeller shafts of various shapes by the present inventors, it was found that the metal spline shaft and the sleeve portion were the cause of increasing the deflection. Therefore, the present inventors proposed that if the sleeve to be joined to one end is a sleeve with spline processing on the inner surface, the spline part can be inserted into the end of the FRP shaft. We have discovered that deflection can be reduced. Furthermore, it has been found that by making the spline shaft inserted into the other end hollow, the deflection can be further reduced, the resonance rotation speed can be increased, and a propeller shaft suitable for high-speed rotation can be obtained.

In addition, in order to ensure the connection between the FRP shaft and the metal sleeve, the shape of the sleeve may be polygonal, and in order to further improve the reliability of the connection, the outer periphery of the shaft end should be Just attach a backup ring.

That is, the gist of the first invention is to integrally form a sleeve with a yoke joined to one end of the FRP pipe and a splined sleeve at the other end, and to attach the yoke to the splined sleeve. It is made by inserting a joined hollow spline shaft. Further, the second aspect of the present invention is that at least one of the sleeves has a polygonal outer shape and is formed by joining or integrally molding the sleeve with FRP pipe manufacturing. Furthermore, the third gist of the present invention is that a backup ring is attached to the outer periphery of at least one end of the FRP pipe.

(Function) Since the vehicle drive shaft according to the present invention has the above-described structure, it is possible to make the shaft longer, thereby eliminating the need for an intermediate bearing and reducing weight. Low noise and low vibration can be achieved.

(Embodiments) The present invention will be described below based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional front view of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a shaft made of FRP, and 2 is a sleeve connected to one end of the shaft 1. FIG. A yoke 3 is joined or integrally formed at the outer end of the sleeve 2.

A sleeve 4 is connected to the other end of the shaft 1, and a spline 5 is formed inside the sleeve. A hollow spline shaft 7 having a yoke 6 joined to its outer end is inserted into the smooth line 5.

By the way, the sleeves 2 and 4 and the shaft 1 can be connected by (1) integrally molding them when forming the shaft 1 using the filament winding method, or (2) bonding them later with adhesive. A method using glue is used for fishing.

Further, the outer shape of one or both of the sleeves 2 and 4 is made into a non-circular shape such as a polygonal shape as shown in FIG. If the shape is the same as shown in FIG. 3, high torque can be transmitted.

Furthermore, if a back-up ring 8, as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1, is attached to the end of the shirt 1, the reliability of the connection between the shaft 1 and the sleeve 2.4 is improved.

Next, the effect of the present invention is f! We will explain the results of tests conducted to confirm the

The FRP shaft has an outer diameter of φ120a and a wall thickness of 8II11.
, and the length was 1400 m, and the molding was performed using the filament winding method.

The fibers used were a layer with glass fibers oriented at ±45° on the inside, a layer with carbon fibers oriented at ±10'' on the outside, and a layer with glass fibers oriented at approximately 90' on the outside. .

Note that the resin used was epoxy resin.

A sleeve, a yoke, and a splined sleeve having the shapes shown in FIG. 1 were adhered to the FRP shaft using an epoxy adhesive.

For comparison, an FRP propeller shaft with the same outer diameter and the same outer diameter as the example shown in FIG. I made one of the same length. Note that 9 in FIG. 2 indicates a spline sleeve having a yoke 6 joined to its outer end.

In the test, the resonant rotation speed was measured using a rotation tester, and as shown in the table below (the product of the present invention exhibits a higher resonant rotation speed than the conventional product, and is well suited for high-speed rotation. confirmed.

The state of the joint between the sleeve and shaft of the test product of the present invention was investigated, but no peeling or the like was observed at the joint.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention makes the FRP shaft longer by inserting the spline part into the shaft, and furthermore, by making the spline shaft hollow, the weight can be reduced and the runout can be reduced. It is smaller, has lower noise and vibration, and has improved ride comfort.

Furthermore, by making the sleeve polygonal in shape and attaching a backup ring to the outer surface of the shaft end, it can withstand rotation at high torque and can be put to practical use in large trucks.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention in cross section, FIG. 2 is a front view showing a comparative example in cross section, FIG. 3 is a drawing showing an example of a cross sectional view of a sleeve, and FIG. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the end of a shaft that fits into a sleeve having the cross-section of Figure 3; 1 is the shaft; 2. 4 is a sleeve, 3 is a yoke, 5 is a spline, 6 is a yoke, 7 is a hollow spline shaft, and 8 is a backup ring. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A sleeve with a yoke joined to one end of a fiber-reinforced plastic tube body and a sleeve with a spline attached to the other end are integrally formed, and a hollow spline shaft with a yoke joined to the splined sleeve is inserted into the splined sleeve. A vehicle drive shaft characterized by: (2) The vehicle drive shaft according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the sleeves has a polygonal outer shape and is fitted or integrally formed with a fiber-reinforced plastic tube. (3) The vehicle drive shaft according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a backup ring is attached to the outer periphery of at least one end of the fiber-reinforced plastic tube.