Cylinder block reinforcing plate and method for reinforcing cylinder block

Abstract

To provide a reinforcing plate and a cylinder block reinforcing method for efficiently reinforcing an open deck type cylinder block in the automobile maintenance market and the so-called engine tuning market which aims to improve the performance of automobile engines.SOLUTION: A cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 is for reinforcing a cylinder wall 2 of an open deck type cylinder block 1. The cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 is made of a plate material that is formed integrally by connecting together ring portions 51 of a required shape almost covering an opening 31. The cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 has: a plurality of through holes 52, 53, 54, 55 at required locations in a circumference direction, which penetrate from the upper surface to the under surface of the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 and function as cooling water channels and air vent holes; and a streak groove 6 that is engraved on the upper surface of the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 to connect upper openings of all of the through holes 52, 53, 54, 55.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a reinforcing plate that is a reinforcing member for an open-deck type cylinder block and a method for reinforcing a cylinder block. More specifically, the present invention relates to a reinforcing member that efficiently reinforces an open-deck type cylinder block and a method for reinforcing a cylinder block in the automobile maintenance market and the so-called engine tuning market, which improves the performance of automobile internal combustion engines (hereinafter referred to as engines). [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, cylinder blocks used in water-cooled engines are often so-called open-deck cylinder blocks, which are manufactured using aluminum die-casting and have cooling water channels between the block walls and cylinder walls that are open at the deck portion, which is the top surface of the cylinder block.

[0003] Open-deck cylinder blocks manufactured using aluminum die-casting have the advantages of being highly productive and enabling lightweight products and cost reductions. However, because the block wall and cylinder wall have an open space between them, there are problems with the strength of the cylinder wall and vibration of the block wall.

[0004] To address this problem, Patent Document 1 describes a structure in which multiple ribs acting as reinforcing members are provided between the block walls of a cylinder block at positions corresponding to the antinodes of a predetermined vibration wave of the block walls. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-317405 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in the cylinder block disclosed in Patent Document 1, the block wall and cylinder wall are only connected by ribs, so the strength of the cylinder wall near the deck section is insufficient, and the cylinder wall is prone to expansion and deformation due to the combustion pressure of the engine, resulting in problems with the combustion chamber not being able to be sealed. In particular, to prevent deformation and ensure sealing when the combustion pressure increases due to insufficient strength to withstand deterioration caused by repeated actual driving and engine tuning by automobile manufacturers to further improve the performance of engines installed in new cars, it was necessary to reinforce the strength of the cylinder wall, especially near the deck section.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and a specific object of the present invention is to provide a reinforcing plate and a method for reinforcing a cylinder block for efficiently reinforcing an open-deck type cylinder block in the market for automobile maintenance and the market for so-called engine tuning, which improves the performance of automobile engines. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention has been devised to achieve the above-mentioned object. More specifically, the present invention provides a cylinder block reinforcing plate for reinforcing the cylinder walls in the vicinity of the deck portion, which is the upper surface of an open-deck cylinder block, in which a piston is slidably fitted, a block wall spaced from the cylinder wall, a cooling water passage formed between the cylinder wall and the block wall, and an opening formed in the upper surface of the cooling water passage, the cylinder block reinforcing plate being made of a plate material formed by connecting together ring portions of a required shape that substantially completely cover the opening, the cylinder block reinforcing plate having a plurality of through holes that penetrate from the top to the bottom of the cylinder block reinforcing plate at required locations around the circumference and function as cooling water passages and as air vents to discharge gas mixed in the cooling water, and a concave groove engraved in the upper surface of the cylinder block reinforcing plate and connecting the upper openings of all of the through holes.

[0009] The cylinder block reinforcing plate of the present invention is press-fit flush with the deck surface, connecting the cylinder wall and block wall near the deck surface and reinforcing the strength of the cylinder wall. The concave grooves connecting the multiple through holes with the upper openings of each through hole provide a cooling effect by functioning as a cooling water channel for circulating cooling water, and also have the effect of efficiently discharging gas generated in the cooling water.

[0010] The present invention includes a configuration in which some of the multiple through holes formed in the cylinder block reinforcing plate are connected approximately vertically to the through holes of the head gasket that is stacked and assembled on the upper surface of the deck portion of the cylinder block, and are further connected approximately vertically to the cooling water passages of the cylinder head that is placed and assembled above the head gasket.

[0011] The cylinder block reinforcing plate of the present invention has through holes that function as cooling water channels and air vent holes, which are engraved at positions that connect approximately vertically to the cooling water channels of the cylinder head via the cooling water channel holes in the head gasket, thereby improving the efficiency of air venting and cooling water circulation.

[0012] The present invention also includes a configuration in which, among the multiple through holes formed through the cylinder block reinforcing plate, the inner diameter of the through hole formed near the apex of the connecting portion that connects the ring portions to each other is formed to be larger than the inner diameters of the other through holes formed at other positions.

[0013] The through holes formed in the cylinder block reinforcing plate of the present invention have the effect of improving the circulation efficiency of the cooling water by setting the inner diameters of the through holes formed in required locations and the through holes formed in other locations to be larger or smaller.

[0014] Furthermore, the present invention includes a method for efficiently reinforcing open-deck cylinder blocks for use in the automobile maintenance market and the so-called engine tuning market, which aims to improve the performance of automobile engines. The method comprises a cylinder block additional processing step of widening the opening of a cooling water passage in the deck portion of the cylinder block to a required shape, a reinforcing plate press-in step of press-fitting a cylinder block reinforcing plate as described in any one of claims 1 to 3 from the top side into the opening widened in the cylinder block additional processing step, a cylinder block upper surface processing step of smoothing the deck portion of the cylinder block after the cylinder block reinforcing plate has been press-fitted, a cylinder bore boring step of smoothing the inner wall of the cylinder after smoothing the deck portion, and a cylinder bore honing step of finishing the surface of the inner wall of the cylinder after smoothing.

[0015] The cylinder block reinforcement method of the present invention can be carried out using general or professional equipment in markets such as those where engines are disassembled and serviced after the vehicle has been used, and in the engine tuning market where engines assembled at the automobile manufacturer when the vehicle is first produced are disassembled to improve performance after being released to the market.Therefore, even when deterioration over time is expected due to use or high loads are expected due to engine tuning, the durability of the cylinder block can be effectively improved in each market. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] The cylinder block reinforcing plate of the present invention is press-fit flush with the deck surface to reinforce the strength of the upper end of the cylinder wall, and the upper surface of the cylinder block reinforcing plate other than the groove portion contributes to improving the air-tightness and liquid-tightness with the head gasket. In addition, the different inner diameters of the multiple through holes and the concave grooves connecting the upper openings of each through hole provide a cooling water circulation effect and the efficient exhaust of gases generated in the cooling water.

[0017] The cylinder block reinforcement method of the present invention can be carried out using equipment generally or professionally used not by automobile manufacturers or engine manufacturers, but in the automobile maintenance market or the so-called engine tuning market, which improves the performance of automobile engines.Therefore, in addition to being able to reinforce the strength of the cylinder walls required for engine tuning, it also has the effect of being able to reinforce and reuse the cylinder block itself in automobile maintenance, which is carried out when the automobile deteriorates over time due to use. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a deck portion in a state where a cylinder block reinforcing plate according to the present invention is installed; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a cylinder block reinforcing plate according to the present invention. [Figure 3]FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of an opening of a cooling water passage. [Figure 4] 4 is an explanatory view showing an example of processing the opening shown in FIG. 3. FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a head gasket used in the present embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing an example of an engine configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of the cylinder head according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] 3 is a flowchart showing steps of a cylinder block reinforcing method according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the drawings are schematic illustrations and do not necessarily correspond to actual dimensions, ratios, etc. Furthermore, the drawings may include portions where the dimensional relationships and ratios differ from one another.

[0020] The head gasket 60 shown in Fig. 6 is a cross section taken along the line AA in Fig. 5, and the cylinder block 1 shown in Fig. 6 is a cross section taken along the line AA in Fig. 3. Also, Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross section of the cylinder block 1, which is a main part of Fig. 6.

[0021] The cylinder block 1 shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 6 is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and is used in a water-cooled four-cylinder engine mounted on an automobile, and is cast by die-casting using a mold.

[0022] The cylinder block 1 has four cylinder walls 2 arranged in series, into which the pistons 100 are slidably fitted, and adjacent cylinder walls 2 are connected to each other by connecting portions 22. A block wall 4 is spaced apart from the cylinder walls 2, and a cooling water passage 3 is formed between the cylinder walls 2 and the block wall 4. An opening 31 for the cooling water passage 3 is formed in a deck portion 11, which is the upper surface of the cylinder block 1. The cylinder block 1 is also formed as a so-called open deck type having a plurality of rib portions 5 connecting the block walls 4 and the cylinder walls 2.

[0023] The cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 of the present invention shown in Figures 2 and 7 is intended to reinforce the cylinder wall 2 in the vicinity of the deck portion 11, and is made of an aluminum alloy plate material formed integrally by connecting together ring portions 51 of a required shape that almost completely covers the opening 31 of the cylinder block 1 to be used.

[0024] The cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 has a plurality of through holes 52, 53, 54, and 55 that penetrate from the top to the bottom of the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 at required locations around the circumference and function as channels for cooling water while also having the effect of discharging gas that gets mixed in with the cooling water. The cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 also has a single groove 6 that is engraved on the top surface of the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 and has a generally concave shape in cross section that connects the upper openings of all of the through holes 52, 53, 54, and 55 so as to function as a channel for cooling water.

[0025] The through holes formed in the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 include through holes 52 and 53 formed near the vertices of the connecting portions where the ring portions 51 are connected to each other, through holes 53 and 54 which are formed so as to communicate approximately vertically with a plurality of through holes 61 formed in a head gasket 60 which is layered and assembled on the deck portion of the cylinder block shown in Figures 5 and 6 and which are further formed so as to communicate approximately vertically with a cooling water passage (not shown) of a cylinder head 70 which is placed and assembled above the head gasket 60, and through holes 55 other than those mentioned above which are formed at required locations around the circumference of the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50.

[0026] The inner diameters of the through holes 52 and 53 formed near the apex of the connecting portion are larger than the inner diameters of the through holes 54 and 55 formed at other positions. 2. All of the through holes shown in FIG. 2 that are not assigned with reference numerals are through holes 55.

[0027] The cylinder block reinforcement method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 8. The explanatory diagram shown in Fig. 4 explains an example of additional machining of the opening of a cooling water passage, with the opening 31 and rib portion 5 before machining indicated by dashed lines and the opening 32 after machining indicated by a solid line.

[0028] First, an additional cylinder block processing step (S001) is carried out in which the pre-machining opening 31 and rib portion 5, which have the shape shown by the dashed line in Figure 4, are expanded to the shape shown by the solid line to create a post-machining opening 32, which is cut to a depth approximately equal to the thickness of the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50.

[0029] Next, a reinforcing plate press-in process (S002) is carried out to uniformly press the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 into the post-processing opening 32 from the top surface, and a cylinder block top surface processing process (S003) is carried out to process the deck portion 11 into a smooth state after the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 has been pressed in.

[0030] Finally, after the deck portion 11 has been machined to a smooth state, the cylinder inner wall 23 is machined to a perfect circle in a cylinder bore boring process (S004), and the reinforcement work is completed with a cylinder bore honing process (S005) in which the inner diameter tolerance and roughness of the surface of the cylinder inner wall 23 after the perfect circle machining are finished by honing.

[0031] As described above, the method of joining the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 and the cylinder block 1 is by press-fitting only, a so-called interference fit. Therefore, the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 and the post-machining opening 32 require a required level of precision. Therefore, the machining of the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 and the cylinder block additional machining step (S001) are performed using a wire electric discharge machine or a machining center cutting machine.

[0032] The cylinder block top surface processing step (S003) is a process for finishing the top surface to a smooth state in order to improve the airtightness and liquid tightness between the deck portion 11 and the head gasket 60. A milling machine can be used for the processing.

[0033] As mentioned above, the cylinder bore boring process (S004) and cylinder bore honing process (S005) involve machining the cylinder inner wall 23 to make it perfectly round and finishing the surface roughness. Finishing this process with high precision is an important process that stabilizes engine output and improves engine durability. The cylinder bore boring process (S004) uses a processing machine known as a boring machine or a machining center cutting machine, while the cylinder bore honing process (S005) uses a grinding machine known as a honing machine.

[0034] The cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 of this embodiment can be made of an aluminum alloy selected from A6061, A2017, A7075, etc., taking into consideration the output of the engine in which the cylinder block reinforcing plate 50 is used, material costs, etc.

[0035] As described above, the best configuration, method, etc. for carrying out the present invention have been disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention has been described as being used in a cylinder block of a four-cylinder engine, but it is not particularly limited to four cylinders and can also be carried out in a six-cylinder, two-cylinder, single-cylinder, etc.

[0036] In other words, those skilled in the art can make various changes to the shapes, materials, quantities, intended uses, positions, or arrangements of the above-described embodiments and examples without departing from the scope of the technical idea and purpose of the present invention. Therefore, the descriptions that limit the shapes, etc. already disclosed are shown as examples to facilitate understanding of the present invention and do not limit the present invention, and therefore descriptions using the names of components that have been partially or completely removed from the limitations on the shapes, etc. are included in the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1 Cylinder block 2 Cylinder wall 3 Cooling channel 4 Block Wall 5 Rib section 6 grooves 11 Deck section 22 Connecting part 23 Cylinder inner wall 30 Main tube 31 Opening (unprocessed) 32 Opening after processing 50 Cylinder block reinforcement plate 51 Ring section 52 Through hole (connection part) 53 Through hole (connection part / communication point) 54 Through hole (circumferential direction, communication point) 55 Through hole (circumferential direction) 60 Head gasket 61 Through hole (head gasket) 70 cylinder head 100 pistons

Claims

1. 1. A cylinder block reinforcing plate for reinforcing the cylinder walls of an open-deck cylinder block having a cylinder wall into which a piston is slidably fitted, a block wall spaced from the cylinder wall, a cooling water passage formed between the cylinder wall and the block wall, and an opening formed in a deck portion on the upper side of the cooling water passage, wherein the cylinder block reinforcing plate is made of a plate material formed integrally by connecting together ring portions of a required shape that almost completely cover the opening, and the cylinder block reinforcing plate has, at required locations in the circumferential direction, a plurality of through holes that penetrate from the top to the bottom of the cylinder block reinforcing plate and function as cooling water passages and air vent holes, and a groove engraved in the top surface of the cylinder block reinforcing plate that connects the upper openings of all of the through holes.

2. 2. The cylinder block reinforcing plate according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the through hole formed in the cylinder block reinforcing plate is in communication with a through hole of a head gasket that is stacked and assembled to the deck portion of the cylinder block, and is further in communication with a cooling water passage of a cylinder head that is placed and assembled above the head gasket.

3. 3. The cylinder block reinforcing plate according to claim 1, wherein the inner diameter of the through hole formed in the cylinder block reinforcing plate near the apex of the connecting portion connecting the ring portions to each other is larger than the inner diameters of the other through holes formed in other positions.

4. 1. A method for efficiently reinforcing an open-deck cylinder block in the automotive maintenance market and the so-called engine tuning market, which aims to improve the performance of automotive engines. The method comprises the steps of: a cylinder block additional processing step of widening the opening of a cooling water passage in the deck portion of the cylinder block to a required shape; a reinforcing plate press-fitting step of press-fitting the cylinder block reinforcing plate according to any one of claims 1 to 3 from the top side into the opening widened in the cylinder block additional processing step; a cylinder block upper surface processing step of smoothing the deck portion of the cylinder block after the press-fitting of the cylinder block reinforcing plate; a cylinder bore boring step of smoothing the inner cylinder wall after smoothing the deck portion; and a cylinder bore honing step of finishing the surface of the cylinder inner wall after smoothing.

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