Hybrid Drive Rotor Support Structure for Clutch Torque and Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hybrid drive devices face challenges in ensuring sufficient torque capacity of the clutch while accurately aligning the rotor of the rotary electric machine with respect to the shaft centers of the engine and transmission.
Innovation Solution
The hybrid drive device incorporates a rotor support member that functions as a clutch drum, featuring a tubular support portion, a flange portion, an annular wall portion, and an annular member. This configuration allows for accurate alignment of the rotor and ensures a sufficient disposition space for the clutch, enabling the placement of multiple friction engagement plates to achieve the required torque capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the clutch drum or plate-shaped member is fitted in the tubular portion of the rotor support member, then the rotor of the rotary electric machine can be aligned with respect to the shaft center of the hybrid drive device, but the axial length of the disposition space of the clutch becomes short
Solution Approach 1:
The invention reconfigures the spatial arrangement by extending the tubular portion axially beyond the rotor support member, creating additional axial space for the clutch drum. This dimensional extension resolves the contradiction by providing sufficient axial length for the clutch while maintaining the alignment function through the extended tubular structure that still centers the rotor.
2Power
If the axial length of the disposition space of the clutch is increased, then the torque capacity of the clutch can be sufficiently ensured, but the alignment accuracy of the rotor with respect to shaft centers may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The invention separates the alignment function from the torque transmission function by using the extended tubular portion for alignment while accommodating the clutch drum with multiple friction engagement plates for torque capacity. This segmentation allows each function to be optimized independently - the tubular portion ensures alignment accuracy while the enlarged clutch drum provides sufficient torque capacity.
3Power
If multiple friction engagement plates are placed in the clutch, then the torque capacity is increased, but the axial space required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates additional axial space by extending the tubular portion beyond the rotor support member in the axial direction. This dimensional change provides the necessary axial length to accommodate multiple friction engagement plates within the clutch drum, thereby increasing torque capacity without compromising the overall compactness of the assembly.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design effectively ensures a sufficient torque capacity of the clutch while maintaining accurate alignment of the rotor with respect to the engine and transmission shaft centers, thereby enhancing the overall performance and reliability of the hybrid drive device.
Implementation Method 1
the annular wall portion and the annular member of the rotor support member are each supported in a radial direction by the case via a bearing
Implementation Method 2
a tubular support portion in which the rotor is fixed to an outer peripheral portion and in which a friction engagement plate of the clutch is fitted in an inner peripheral portion
Data Source
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AI summary
In a hybrid drive device of the present disclosure, a rotor support member includes a tubular support portion in which a rotor of a rotary electric machine is fixed to an outer peripheral portion and in which a friction engagement plate of a clutch is fitted in an inner peripheral portion, a flange portion that is extended radially outward from one end of the tubular support portion, an annular wall portion that is extended radially inward from the other end side of the tubular support portion, and an annular member that is coupled to the flange portion so as to face the annular wall portion at a distance. The annular member is coupled to the flange portion in a state of being in contact with an end surface on an opposite side of the flange portion from the rotor side, and The flange portion includes a protruding portion that protrudes from an outer peripheral portion of the end surface to an opposite side from the rotor side, and that supports an outer peripheral surface of the annular member in the radial direction. The annular wall portion and the annular member are each supported in the radial direction by the case via a bearing. As a result, it is possible to secure a sufficient torque capacity of the clutch while centering the rotor with high accuracy.