Adjustable Register Plate for Crankshaft-Transmission Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for aligning engine crankshafts and transmissions, particularly in aftermarket and race car environments where components from different manufacturers are involved, face challenges due to tolerances and alloy shrinkage, leading to potential damage from misalignment, and current solutions like adjustable dowels are cumbersome and not widely available.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable register plate system for the bell housing that allows lateral adjustment of the register plate relative to the bell housing using fasteners with specific hole configurations, enabling precise alignment of the engine crankshaft and transmission by loosening and tightening fasteners to achieve correct positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable dowels are used to align engine block and bell housing, then alignment adjustability is improved, but installation complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the alignment adjustment function into two independent parts: fixed attachment holes in the bell housing and adjustable holes in the register plate. This segmentation allows the register plate to be adjusted independently to achieve proper alignment while keeping the bell housing fixed, thereby reducing installation complexity while maintaining alignment adjustability.
Solution Approach 2:
The register plate serves as an intermediary component between the bell housing and the transmission. It provides the adjustable alignment function through its movable holes, while the fixed holes in the bell housing provide stable reference points. This intermediary approach simplifies the overall alignment process by isolating the adjustment function to a single component.
2Manufacturing precision
If custom adjustable dowels are made for each engine and bell housing combination, then alignment precision is improved, but manufacturing cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the register plate a universal component that can be used with different engine and bell housing combinations. The register plate includes multiple holes at different positions and angles, allowing it to accommodate various alignment requirements without requiring custom-made dowels for each combination, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining alignment precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The register plate provides alignment adjustment by changing the positional parameters of its holes relative to the bell housing. Instead of manufacturing custom dowels with different dimensions for each combination, the invention achieves precision by selecting and positioning holes with appropriate parameters (position, angle, orientation) on the adjustable register plate.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple selectable holes are provided in adaptor plate, then adaptability to different manufacturers' components is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the register plate dynamically adjustable rather than providing multiple fixed adaptor plates. The register plate can be positioned and oriented in different configurations to accommodate components from different manufacturers, reducing the overall system complexity by using a single adjustable component instead of multiple fixed adaptors.
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary embodiments are directed to a bell housing with an adjustable register plate for providing adjustable engine crankshaft-transmission alignment. The bell housing includes a body adapted for attachment to an engine block. The adjustable register plate includes a register bore for accommodating the transmission. The register plate can be secured to the bell housing by inserting register plate fasteners through register plate fastener holes into the corresponding register plate attachment holes of the bell housing. The alignment of the register plate relative to the bell housing, and thereby alignment of the transmission with the crankshaft, can be adjusted by loosening the fasteners and moving the register plate laterally, about the register plate fasteners, relative to the bell housing, and then tightening the fasteners to locate the register plate in the desired position.