Fluid Pump

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a fluid pump such as a mechanically driven supercharger in an internal combustion engine.

2. Description of the Related Art

Known in the related art, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 62-61940, is a fluid pump having a rotary drive and a pair of rotors which are synchronously rotated by the rotary drive. This fluid pump comprises, as shown in FIG. 6, a drive shaft 40 which forms a part of the rotary drive and is driven by a drive source (not shown) such as a motor or a crankshaft of an engine, a pair of rotor shafts 41 and 42 supporting rotors 43 and 44, and identical mating gears 45 and 46 fixed on each end of the rotor shafts 41 and 42 and in mesh with each other. The rotor shaft 41 is rotated by the drive shaft 40 through the meshing of a gear 47 fixed thereto and another gear 48 fixed to the rotor shaft 41. In the above construction, since the drive-driven relationship between the rotor shafts 41 and 42 is unchangeable, then as shown in FIG. 7, only one tooth surface 49a of each tooth 49 of the gear 45 fixed on the rotor shaft 41 comes into contact with one tooth surface 50a of each tooth 50 of the gear 46 fixed on the rotor shaft 42. Additionally, loads in the direction of arrows F are imparted to bearings 51 and 52 supporting the rotor shafts 41 and 42 respectively, and therefore, both the gears 45 and 46, and the bearings 51 and 52 are worn nonuniformly, and thus the fluid pump has a poor durability.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fluid pump having an excellent durability.

According to the present invention, there is provided a fluid pump comprising: a housing having an inlet and an outlet; a pair of rotors rotatably arranged in the housing and engaged with each other; a pair of rotor shafts for supporting the rotors, respectively, and rotatably arranged in the housing; identical mating gears provided on the rotor shafts, respectively, and in mesh with each other; a rotary drive for driving either of the rotor shafts to rotate the rotors; a first clutch means provided between the rotary drive and one of the rotor shafts to transmit the rotation of the rotary drive to the rotor shaft; a second clutch means provided between the rotary drive and the other rotor shaft to transmit the rotation of the rotary drive to the other rotor shaft, when activated; and a clutch operating means which selectively operates either the first or the second clutch means to thereby change the drive-driven relationship between the rotor shafts.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the concept of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a first embodiment of a mechanically driven supercharger according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line III--III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a general view of a supercharger in which the speed of rotation of the rotor shafts can be varied in three stages, as a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a general view of a supercharger in which the speed of rotation of the rotor shafts can be varied in four stages as a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view cf a conventional fluid pump; and,

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of gears taken along the line VII--VII of FIG. 6.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a fluid pump showing the concepts of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a rotary drive, 2a and 2b a pair of rotors, 3a and 3b two rotor shafts, 4(4a, 4b) identical mating gears, 5a, a first clutch means, 5b a second clutch means, and 6 a clutch operating means.

In the condition shown in FIG. 1 the clutch operating means 6 has activated the first clutch means 5a so that the rotary drive 1 is connected to the rotor shaft 3a. In this case, a drive-driven relationship exists between two rotor shafts 3a and 3b, i.e., the rotor shaft 3a is the drive shaft and the rotor shaft 3b is the driven shaft.

On the other hand, as shown by a dotted line, if the clutch operating means 6 activates the second clutch means 5b so that the rotary drive 1 is connected to the rotor shaft 3b the relationship between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b that in which the rotor shaft 3b is the drive shaft and the rotor shaft 3a is the driven shaft. Namely, the drive-driven relationship between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b can be changed providing the first and second clutch means 5a and 5b between the rotary drive 1 and the rotor shafts 3a and 3b, respectively, and activating the clutch means 5a are 5b by the clutch operating means 6.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a mechanically driven supercharger able to be driven by a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine, and which embodies the above-mentioned concepts of the invention. In FIG. 2, elements similar to those of FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals, but elements corresponding to those of FIG. 1 are indicated by new reference numerals and parenthesized corresponding reference numerals of FIG. 1.

In this embodiment, a mechanically driven supercharger, generally designated by reference numeral 20, comprises a housing assembly composed of housing parts 21 and 22, wherein the housing part 21 is provided with an inlet and an outlet (not shown in FIG. 1) through which intake air is passed, and a pair of rotors 2a and 2b are rotatably arranged in the housing 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotors 2a and 2b have lobed cocoon-like configurations in cross section nave and rotate synchronously with each other in the housing 20.

The rotors 2a and 2b are supported respectively by the rotor shafts 3a and 3b and are fixed thereto by pins 25a, and 25b. The rotor shafts 3a and 3b are provided at one end thereof (right hand in FIG. 2) with identical mating gears 4a and 4b, which mesh with each other, and the rotor shafts 3a and 3b are rotatably supported in the housing 20 by ball bearings 26a and 26b, bearing parts 27a, and 27b, etc. The other end of the rotor shaft 3b passing through the housing 20 (left hand in FIG. 2) is provided with a small sub-gear 28 fixed thereto. Note, reference numerals 29a and 29b denote oil seals.

Provided in alignment with the rotor shaft 3a is a pulley 30 which forms a part of &.he rotary drive 1 of FIG. 1. This pulley 30 is driven by a crankshaft of an engine through the intermediary of a belt (not shown in FIG. 2). Inside the pulley 30 is provided a drive rotor 31, which also forms a part of the rotary drive 1 of FIG. 1, and which is fixed to the pulley 30.

Provided between the drive rotor 31 and one end of the rotor shaft 2a and inside the drive rotor 31 is a one-way clutch 32 which corresponds to the first clutch means 5a, of FIG. 1 and which transmits the rotation of the drive rotor 31 to the rotor shaft 3a. This one-way clutch 32, the construction of which is well known by those skilled in the art, transmits the rotation of the rotary drive 1 to the rotor shaft 2a when the drive rotor 31 is rotating in one direction and runs free when the drive rotor 31 is rotating in the opposite direction. The one-way clutch 32 comprises an element 32a which cooperates with the drive rotor 31 and an another element 32b which cooperates with the rotor shaft 2a, and accordingly, if the one-way clutch 32 is in the operative condition, i.e., transmitting rotation, the rotor shaft 3a becomes the drive shaft, and conversely, the rotor shaft 3b becomes the driven shaft.

Provided between the drive rotor 31 and the rotor shaft 2b, and outside of the drive rotor 31, is a multiple-disc clutch 33 which focus a part of the second clutch means 5b of FIG. 1 and which transmits the rotation of the drive rotor 31 to the rotor shaft 3b. The multiple-disc clutch 33 comprises a number of plates, some of which cooperate with the drive rotor 31, and the others of which cooperated with a large free-gear 34. According to this embodiment, the clutch 33 is activated by a magnetic force generated by coils 35 in the vicinity of the clutch 33. The coils 35 correspond to the clutch operating means 6 of FIG. 1.

The free-gear 34 is rotatably mounted on the cylindrical bearing part 27a of the housing 20 through the intermediary of a ball bearing 36, and engages the small sub-gear 28.

The operation of the supercharger 20 is as follows. When the coil 35 is not energized, the rotating force transmitted from the crankshaft to the pulley 30 is transmitted to the rotor shaft 3a through the intermediary of the drive rotor 31 ant the one-way clutch 5a, as shown by a solid line and arrow in FIG. 2, and this rotating force is finally transmitted to the rotor shaft 3b through the mating gears 4a and 4b. Consequently, in this case, a drive-driven relationship exists between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b wherein the former is the drive shaft and the later is the driven shaft, and the one-way clutch 5a transmits the rotation of the drive rotor 31 to the rotor shaft 3a. On the other hand, when the coil 35 is energized, the multiple-disc clutch 33 is made to connect the drive rotor 31 with the free-gear 34 by the magnetic force generated from the coil 35. Therefore, the rotation of the pulley 30 is transmitted to the sub-gear 28 through the intermediary of the drive rotor 31, the clutch 33, and the free-gear 34, and thus the rotor shaft 3b is rotated, as shown by a dotted line and arrow in FIG. 2, and then, the rotation of the rotor shaft 3b, is finally transmitted to the rotor shaft 3a through the mating gears 4b and 4a. Namely, in this case, a drive-driven relationship exists between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b wherein the former is the driven shaft and the latter is the drive shaft. When the above relationship is realized, the one-way clutch 5a, is in an inoperative, i.e., free-running, condition. Namely in detail, the speed of the element 32b is raised due to the gear-ratio of the free-gear 34 and the sub-gear 28, and becomes higher than that of the element 32a.

That is, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the drive-driven relationship between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b can be easily changed by energizing or de-energizing the coil 34, and therefore the life of the mating gears 4a and 4b is prolonged because both tooth surfaces (49a, 49b, 50a, 50b: FIG. 7) of each tooth of the gears 4a and 4b are used properly. Further, the loads imposed on the supporting elements such as the ball bearings 26a and 26b, the oil seals 29a and 29b, and the bearings 23a and 23b of the housing 26, can be evenly spread and thus extend the life of the supercharger 20.

Note, in this embodiment, the changes of the drive-driven relationship are preferably made in accordance with the engine driving conditions, which may require the supercharger 20 to be driven at a high speed or a low speed.

In the above embodiment, the multiple-disc clutch 33 is electro-magnetically activated by the coil 34, but the clutch 33 can be hydraulically activated, as an another embodiment, and with regard to the construction of the supercharger 20, the mating gears 4a and 4b may be arranged in the vicinity of the free-gear 34 and the sub-gear 28, respectively to thereby reduce the size of the supercharger.

In the conventional supercharger not having a speed-up mechanism, if the design of supercharger is directed only to an increase of the volume of air discharged therefrom, i.e., to emphasis the supercharging of the engine, too much air will be discharged from the engine during scavenging, and thus the output of engine will be lowered. The supercharger having the speed-up mechanism as shown in FIG. 2 solves this problem since the volume of air discharged therefrom can be varied as required.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show superchargers having a prolonged life and wherein the speed of rotation of the rotors can be varied in multistages, i.e., two or more stages, to better cope with the various engine driving conditions.

The constructions and operations of these superchargers are as follows.

Note, in these figures, element similar to those of FIGS. 1 and 2 are indicated by the same reference numerals and elements corresponding to those of FIGS. 1 and 2 are indicated by the same reference numerals suffixed with a prime. As in the previous embodiments, the constructions of these superchargers are illustrated schematically in these figures.

Referring to FIG. 4, a shaft 31, fixed to the pulley 30 is provided with two multiple-disc clutches 33, and 37. The multiple-disc clutch 37 cooperates with the free-gear 34, which is engaged with the sub-gear 28 fixed to the rotor shaft 3b.

The other multiple-disc clutch 33', which corresponds to the second clutch means 5b in FIG. 1, connects the pulley shaft 31, with the rotor shaft 3a when the clutch 33' is activated.

The pulley shaft 31, is provided with a small gear 38 which meshes with a large gear 39 arranged coaxially with the rotor shaft 3b. The large gear 39 cooperates with the rotor shaft 3b through the one-way clutch 32' corresponding to the first clutch means 5a in FIG. 1. Namely, when the large gear 39 is driven in one rotational direction, the one-way clutch 32, transmits the rotation thereof to the rotor shaft 3b.

Note, as in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the rotor shafts 3a and 3b are provided one end thereof, respectively, with the identical mating gears 4a and 4b which rotate synchronously.

The operation of supercharger shown in FIG. 4 is as follows.

When the speed of rotation of the pulley 30 is reduced while driving the rotors 2a and 2b, both of the multiple-disc clutches 33' and 37 are inactivated, and as a result, the rotation of the pulley shaft 31' is transmitted to the large gear 39 through the small gear 38, and thus the large gear 39 drives the rotor shaft 3b through the intermediary of the operative one-way clutch 32'. The rotation of the rotor shaft 3b is finally transmitted to the other rotor shaft 3a through the mating gears 4b and 4a, and consequently, a drive-driven relationship exists between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b wherein the rotor shaft 3b is the drive shaft and the rotor shaft 3a is the driven shaft, and at the same time, the one/-way clutch 32' operates as a connecting means for transmitting the drive force of the rotor shaft 3b. Note that, in this case the speed of rotation of the pulley 30 is reduced by the gear ratio of the small gear 38 and the large gear 39, and thus rotor shafts 3a and 3b are rotated at a speed of rotation lower than that of the shaft 31'.

When driving the rotors 2a and 2b without changing the speed of rotation of the pulley 30, only the multiple-disc clutch 33', which corresponds to the second clutch means 5b of the first embodiment, is activated by the clutch operating means to connect the pulley shaft 31, and the rotor shaft 3a. Consequently, the rotation of the pulley shaft 31' is transmitted to the rotor shaft 3a through the multiple-disc clutch 33' and thus the rotor shafts 3a and 3b are rotated at the same speed of rotation as that of the pulley shaft 31'. Namely, in this case, a drive-driven relationship exists between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b wherein the rotor shaft 3a is the drive shaft and the rotor shaft 3b is the driven shaft. When the above relationship is realized, the one-way clutch 32' is in the inoperative i.e., free-running, condition wherein the speed of rotation of a member (not shown) cooperating with the rotor shaft 3b is higher than that of a member (not shown) which is cooperating with the large gear 39, the speed of rotation of which is reduced by the gear ratio of the small gear 38 and the large gear 39.

When the speed of rotation of the pulley 30 is increased while driving the rotors 2a and 2b, only the multiple-disc clutch 37 is activated by the clutch operating means. Therefore, the rotation of the pulley shaft 31' is transmitted to the free-gear 34 through the operative clutch 37 and accordingly, the speed of rotation of the rotor shaft 3b is raised through the sub-gear 28 engaged with the free-gear 34, and finally the rotation of the rotor shaft 3b is transmitted to the rotor shaft 3a through the mating gears 4b and 4a. Therefore, during this operation, a drive-driven relationship exists between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b wherein the former is the driven shaft and the latter is the drive shaft, and the one-way clutch 5a is in the inoperative condition.

Namely, the supercharger according to the second embodiment in FIG. 4 is provided with a mechanism by which the speed of rotation of the rotors 2a and 2b can be varied in three stages, i.e. deceleration, direct connection, and acceleration. Note, preferably these stages are varied in accordance with the engine load; for example, the decelerating stage is used during an engine idling condition, the direct connecting stage is used when going from the idling condition to a medium engine load condition, and the accelerating stage is used during a high engine load condition.

The above-mentioned operations of the clutches 32'(5a), 33'(5b), and 37, which correspond to each stage are shown in the following table.

FIG. 5 shows a supercharger wherein the speed cf rotation of the rotors can be varied over four stages.

In this embodiment, the rotary drive of the supercharger comprises a pulley shaft 31", a small pulley 30 arranged coaxially with the shaft 31", and a large pulley 30" also arranged coaxially with the shaft 31". A multiple-disc clutch 50 is arranged between the small pulley 30' and the pulley shaft 31", to transmit the rotation of the pulley 30' to the shaft 31" when activated by the clutch operating means. Also a one-way clutch 51 is arranged between the large pulley 30" and the shaft 31", to transmit the rotation of the pulley 30" to the pulley shaft 31" in one rotational direction.

The small pulley 30' is connected to another large pulley 52 fixed to a drive source 53 such as a crankshaft of an engine, through the intermediary of a belt 54, and the large pulley 30" is connected to another small pulley 55 fixed to the drive source 53 through a belt 56.

As in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the multiple-disc clutch 33 is provided for transmitting the rotation of the shaft 31" to the rotor shaft 3b, and the one-way clutch 32 is provided for transmitting the rotation of the shaft 31" to the rotor shaft 3a. Furthermore, the rotor shaft 3b is provided at one end with the sub-gear 28 which meshes with the free-gear 36, and at the other end, with the mating gear 4b which meshes with the identical mating gear 4a fixed to the rotor shaft 3a. Note that, in this embodiment, the one-way clutch 32 corresponds to the first clutch means 5a, and the multiple-disc clutch 33 corresponds to the second clutch means 5b. As apparent from the foregoing, construction of the supercharger in this embodiment is similar to that of FIG. 2, except for the construction of the rotary drive.

The operation of the above supercharger is as follows. In the engine idling condition, the multiple-disc clutches 33 and 50 are not activated, to reduce the speed of rotation of the rotors 2a and 2b as much as possible, as a first speed stage, and consequently, the rotation of the small pulley 30' is not transmitted to the shaft 31". Nevertheless, the rotation of the crankshaft 53 is transmitted to the shaft 31" through the intermediary of the small pulley 55, the belt 50, the large pulley 30" and the one-way clutch 51 with a reduction ratio corresponding to a ratio of the diameters of the pulleys 55 and 30". Then, the rotation of the shaft 31" is transmitted to the rotor shaft 3a through the intermediary of the one-way clutch 5a, and finally, the rotor shaft 3b is rotated by the mating gears 4a and 4b, Namely, in this case, the one-way clutch 5a is made operative and a relationship between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b exists wherein the former is the drive shaft and the latter is the driven shaft.

At a second speed stage selected in the case of a low engine load, the multiple-disc clutch 33 corresponding to the second clutch means 5b of the invention is activated by the clutch operating means, so that the rotation of the crankshaft 53 transmitted to the shaft 31" through the intermediary of the small pulley 55, the large pulley 30" and the one-way clutch 51, is transmitted to the rotor shaft 3b through the intermediary of the multiple-disc clutch 33, the free-gear 36, and the sub-gear 28. Therefore, in this case, the speed of rotation of the rotors 2a and 2b is increased in comparison with that at the first speed stage, due to the gear ratio between the free gear 36 and the sub-gear 28. In this second speed stage, the one-way clutch 5a is inoperative and the speed of rotation of element of the rotor shaft 3a is higher than that of the element of the shaft 31", and thus a relationship between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b exists wherein the former is the driven shaft and the latter is the drive shaft.

At the third speed stage selected in the case of a medium engine load, the multiple-disc clutch 50 is activated by the clutch operating means so that the rotation of the crankshaft 53 is transmitted to the shaft 31" through the large pulley 52, the belt 54, the small pulley 30', and the clutch 50, by an acceleration ratio corresponding to a ratio of the diameters of the pulleys 52 and 30'. In this case, the one-way clutch 51 is inoperative and the speed of rotation of the element of the shaft 31", which is raised due to the ratio of the diameters of the pulleys 52 and 30', is higher than that of the element of the pulley 30", which is reduced due to the ratio of the diameters of the pulleys 55 and 30", The rotation of the shaft 31" is transmitted to the rotor shaft 3a through the one-way clutch 32, to thereby rotate the rotor shaft 3b through the mating gears 4a and 4b, and therefore, a relationship between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b exists wherein the former is the drive shaft and the latter is the driven shaft.

At the fourth speed stage selected in the case of a high engine load, both of the multiple-disc clutches 33 and 50 are activated by the clutch operating means, so that the speed of rotation of the shaft 31" transmitted through the large pulley 52, the belt 54, the small pulley 30', and the multiple-disc clutch 50 is raised by transmission thereof through the multiple-disc clutch 33, the free gear 36, and the small gear 28, to thereby rotate the rotor shafts 3b, and 3a. Therefore, at this stage, a relationship between the rotor shafts 3a and 3b exists wherein the former is the driven shaft and the latter is the drive shaft.

Note that, during this stage, both of the one-way clutches 51 and 32 are inoperative.

The above-mentioned operations of the clutches 32, 33, 50, and 51, corresponding to each of the above stages, are shown in the following table.

As apparent from the foregoing, according to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, non uniform wear of the mating gears 4a and 4b and the elements which support the rotor shafts 3a and 3b can be eliminated by varying the acceleration or deceleration ratio corresponding to the engine driving condition, to thereby change the drive-driven relationship of the rotor shafts 3a, and 3b. Also, it is possible to reduce the noise from the supercharger and to extend the life of the belts 54 and 56 which connect the crankshaft 53 to the pulley shaft 31", since the supercharger can be operated at a lower speed of rotation than that of the conventional supercharger.

Finally, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description is of preferred embodiments of the disclosed fluid pump, and that various changes and modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.