Balancer Housing Oil Strainer Design for Engine Vibration Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing balancer devices for internal combustion engines face challenges in precise assembly and alignment of radial bearings, leading to misalignment issues, increased manufacturing complexity, and reduced mechanical strength due to large communication holes for oil flow, which result in noise and reduced service life.
Innovation Solution
A balancer device design where radial bearings are formed solely in the balancer housing, eliminating the need for a pump cover with radial bearings, and incorporating a tubular wall with multiple communication holes to maintain mechanical strength and minimize flow resistance without increasing height, allowing for efficient oil flow and simplified assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pump cover with radial bearing is used to support the pump shaft, then the pump shaft can be supported, but precise alignment between the pump cover bearing and balancer housing bearing becomes difficult, leading to misalignment errors
Solution Approach 1:
The radial bearing for the pump shaft is extracted from the pump cover and relocated to the balancer housing. This eliminates the need for precise alignment between pump cover bearing and balancer housing bearing, as only one bearing is now present in the balancer housing. The pump cover no longer contains a radial bearing, simplifying the assembly process and eliminating misalignment errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The radial bearing function is merged into the balancer housing structure. Instead of having separate bearings in both the pump cover and balancer housing, the bearing is integrated solely into the balancer housing, combining the support function with the existing housing structure and eliminating the alignment interface between two separate components.
2Loss of energy
If a large diameter communication hole is used to reduce oil flow resistance, then oil flow resistance is reduced, but the mechanical strength and stiffness of the balancer housing are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The communication path is extended from a single large horizontal hole to a multi-dimensional path using multiple smaller holes arranged vertically and diagonally. The oil flows through a sequence of holes at different elevations and positions, creating a three-dimensional flow path that achieves adequate flow resistance reduction while preserving the horizontal stiffness of the housing wall.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating one large communication opening that compromises overall structural integrity, multiple smaller localized openings are distributed throughout the housing wall. Each small hole maintains local structural strength while the collective arrangement provides sufficient oil flow passage area to reduce flow resistance.
3Loss of energy
If multiple machining steps are required to create large communication holes, then oil flow resistance is reduced, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The communication path is segmented into multiple small holes rather than requiring one large hole. These segmented holes can be drilled independently using standard drilling operations, eliminating the need for costly large-hole machining processes while achieving equivalent or superior flow characteristics through the distributed path.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of machining large holes from the exterior surface, the communication path is created by drilling small holes from both interior and exterior surfaces and connecting them. This inverted approach uses simpler drilling operations rather than complex large-hole machining, reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining flow efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A balancer housing (30) consists of an upper housing (32) and a lower housing (31), and receives a pair of rotatably supported balancer shafts (11, 21) therein. An oil strainer mounting portion (37) is formed as a cylindrical wall extending downward from a bottom wall of the lower housing, and an inlet passage (67) leading to an inlet end of an oil pump (60) extends along a length of the balancer shafts adjacent to the oil strainer mounting portion. A communication passage consisting of a pair of circular holes (66) arranged along an axial line of the inlet passage is passed through a wall separating an interior of the oil strainer mounting portion with the inlet passage. The two holes provides an adequate cross sectional area without increasing the height of the balancer housing.