Gear lubrication structure

Abstract

The present invention provides a gear lubrication structure that allows lubricating oil to be distributed throughout the entire meshing portion between the first helical gear and the second helical gear. [Solution] In the gear lubrication structure according to the present invention, the lubricating oil OL is supplied so as to straddle the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2, which constitute the gear G, toward the position S where the meshing of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 begins. This makes it possible to reduce the proportion of the lubricating oil OL that is repelled by the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2. As a result, the lubricating oil OL can be spread throughout the entire meshing portion of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a lubrication structure for gears.

Background Art

[0002] As a conventional lubrication structure for gears, for example, the one described in Patent Document 1 below is known.

[0003] This conventional lubrication structure for gears has a pair of spur gears including a large-diameter first spur gear and a second spur gear having a tooth width larger than that of the first spur gear and an outer diameter smaller than that of the first spur gear. Lubrication of the first spur gear and the second spur gear is achieved by lubricating oil injected along a direction substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the first spur gear and the rotation axis of the second spur gear.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the conventional lubrication structure for gears, lubricating oil is injected along a direction substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the first spur gear and the rotation axis of the second spur gear. Therefore, especially when the gears rotate at a high speed, the lubricating oil is repelled by the tooth surfaces of the first spur gear and the second spur gear, and as a result, there is still room for improvement in that the lubricating oil may not be sufficiently distributed to the first spur gear and the second spur gear.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention has been devised in view of the technical problems of the conventional lubrication structure for gears, and an object thereof is to provide a lubrication structure for gears that can distribute lubricating oil over the entire meshing portion between the first spur gear and the second spur gear. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In one aspect, the present invention provides a gear lubrication structure for supplying lubricating oil to lubricate the meshing between a first helical gear and a second helical gear, wherein the lubricating oil is supplied at the position where the meshing between the first helical gear and the second helical gear begins, so as to straddle the first helical gear and the second helical gear. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, lubricating oil is supplied to the position where the first helical gear and the second helical gear begin to mesh, so as to straddle both the first and second helical gears. This makes it possible to reduce the proportion of lubricating oil that is repelled by the first and second helical gears. As a result, the lubricating oil can be distributed throughout the entire meshing portion of the first and second helical gears. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view of the vicinity of the meshing portion of a gear to which the present invention is applied. [Figure 2] This is a plan view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, with the meshing surfaces of a gear to which the present invention is applied displayed in perspective. [Figure 3] This figure shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and is a plan view showing the meshing surfaces of the gears shown in Figure 2. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The following describes in detail, with reference to the drawings, various embodiments of the gear lubrication structure according to the present invention.

[0011] [First Embodiment] Figures 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the gear lubrication structure according to the present invention. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 near the meshing portion of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2. Figure 2 is a plan view of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 with the meshing surfaces of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 as seen through to the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 according to this embodiment.

[0012] (Gear configuration) In particular, as shown in Figure 1, the gear G according to this embodiment is composed of a first helical gear 1 having a helical first tooth surface 10 formed on its outer circumference, and a second helical gear 2 arranged radially opposite to the first helical gear 1 and having a helical second tooth surface 20 formed on its outer circumference that meshes with the first tooth surface 10.

[0013] The first helical gear 1 is formed to have a relatively large diameter, having a larger outer diameter relative to the second helical gear 2, and rotates integrally with the first shaft member 3, which passes through its center. In this embodiment, the first helical gear 1 rotates around the axis of rotation Z in the direction of arrow R1 in the figure as the first shaft member 3 rotates.

[0014] The second helical gear 2 is formed to have a relatively small diameter, having an outer diameter smaller than that of the first helical gear 1, and rotates integrally with the second shaft member 4, which extends parallel to the first shaft member 3 and passes through its center. In this embodiment, the second helical gear 2 rotates around the axis of rotation Z in the direction of arrow R2 in the figure as the second shaft member 4 rotates.

[0015] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 2, the tooth width of the second helical gear 2 is set to be approximately equal to the tooth width of the first helical gear 1. In other words, the axial width W2 of the second helical gear 2 is configured to be approximately equal to the axial width W1 of the first helical gear 1.

[0016] (Explanation of gear lubrication structure) And, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the gear G according to the present embodiment is lubricated between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 by supplying lubricating oil OL to the first tooth surface 10 and the second tooth surface 20.

[0017] The lubricating oil OL is supplied so as to straddle the first tooth surface 10 and the second tooth surface 20 by being injected at the position of the start S of meshing between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2. Specifically, as particularly shown in FIG. 2, the lubricating oil OL is supplied substantially perpendicular to the twist angle θ between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2.

[0018] With such a supply mode, the lubricating oil OL injected against the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 spreads from the position of the start S of meshing between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 to the position of the end E of meshing between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2, and reaches the entire meshing portion between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 where the first tooth surface 10 and the second tooth surface 20 mesh with each other.

[0019] (Function and effect of this embodiment) According to the lubrication structure of the gear G according to the present embodiment, from the above configuration, the lubricating oil OL is supplied in a manner straddling the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 at the position of the start S of meshing between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the ratio at which the lubricating oil OL is repelled by the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2. As a result, the lubricating oil OL can be spread over the entire meshing portion between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2.

[0020] Also, in the present embodiment, when the lubricating oil OL is supplied by injection, the lubricating oil OL is supplied substantially perpendicular to the twist angle θ between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2. Therefore, by the injected lubricating oil OL colliding with the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2, it is possible to disperse the lubricating oil OL over a wide range. As a result, the lubricating oil OL can be more effectively spread over the entire meshing portion between the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2.

[0021] Also, in the present embodiment, the tooth width of the first spur gear 1 and the tooth width of the second spur gear 2 are set to be approximately equal. Therefore, compared with the case where the tooth width of the second spur gear 2 is set larger than the tooth width of the first spur gear 1 as in the prior art, the weight reduction of the second spur gear 2 and the reduction of the manufacturing cost can be achieved.

[0022] 〔Second Embodiment〕 FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the lubrication structure of the gear according to the present invention, in which the supply mode of the lubricating oil OL is changed. Since the basic configuration other than the changed points is the same as that of the first embodiment, the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

[0023] (Description of the Lubrication Structure of the Gear) FIG. 3 is a plan view of the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2 in which the meshing surface of the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2 according to the present embodiment is seen through. The region IA surrounded by the square in FIG. 3 indicates the meshing region of the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2.

[0024] That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the lubrication structure of the gear G according to the present embodiment is such that the lubricating oil OL is supplied substantially parallel to the diagonal line CL of the meshing portion of the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2, which is indicated by the diagonal line of the meshing region IA of the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2, at the position S where the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2 start to mesh.

[0025] Thus, the lubricating oil OL jetted obliquely with respect to the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2 is likely to spread from the position S where the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2 start to mesh to the position E where the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2 end meshing, and more effectively reaches the entire meshing portion of the first spur gear 1 and the second spur gear 2 where the first tooth surface 10 and the second tooth surface 20 mesh.

[0026] (Effects of this embodiment) In particular, in a configuration where the tooth width of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 is wide, if the lubricating oil OL is supplied approximately perpendicular to the helix angle θ of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2, there is a risk that the lubricating oil OL may not reach the end of the meshing process E sufficiently.

[0027] In contrast, in this embodiment, the lubricating oil OL is supplied approximately parallel to the diagonal line CL of the meshing portion of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2. By supplying the lubricating oil obliquely to the first tooth surface 10 of the first helical gear 1 and the second tooth surface 20 of the second helical gear 2 in this way, the lubricating oil OL can be supplied approximately perpendicular to the helix angle θ of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2, compared to the previous first embodiment, in which the lubricating oil OL is supplied approximately perpendicular to the helix angle θ of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2.

[0028] The present invention is not limited to the configurations exemplified in the above embodiments, and can be freely modified according to the specifications of the gear to which the present invention is applied.

[0029] In particular, the spray direction of the lubricating oil OL is not limited to the direction that is approximately perpendicular to the helix angle θ of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 as disclosed in the first embodiment (see Figure 2), or the direction that is approximately parallel to the diagonal CL of the meshing portion of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 as disclosed in the second embodiment (see Figure 3), depending on the specifications of the gear G, such as the tooth width of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2. For example, it can be appropriately changed to the optimal direction between the direction that is approximately perpendicular to the helix angle θ of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 (see Figure 2) and the direction that is approximately parallel to the diagonal CL of the meshing portion of the first helical gear 1 and the second helical gear 2 (see Figure 3). [Explanation of Symbols]

[0030] 1... The first helical gear 10…First tooth surface 2... The second helical gear 20...Second tooth surface 3...First shaft member 4...Second shaft member S... Beginning to interlock E... The meshing is finished. θ...angle of twist CL... diagonal W1,W2…Axial width

Claims

1. A gear lubrication structure that supplies lubricating oil to lubricate the meshing between a first helical gear and a second helical gear, The lubricating oil is supplied so as to straddle the first helical gear and the second helical gear at the position where the first helical gear and the second helical gear begin to mesh. Lubrication structure of gears.

2. A gear lubrication structure according to claim 1, The lubricating oil is supplied approximately perpendicular to the helix angles of the first helical gear and the second helical gear. Lubrication structure of gears.

3. A gear lubrication structure according to claim 1, The lubricating oil is supplied approximately parallel to the diagonal of the meshing portion between the first helical gear and the second helical gear. Lubrication structure of gears.

4. A gear lubrication structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The tooth width of the first helical gear and the tooth width of the second helical gear are set to be approximately equal. Lubrication structure of gears.

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