Tsubakimoto Chain Company

Tsubaki Deutschland Gmbh

Munehiro Maeda

Yuji Kurematsu

Osamu Yoshida

Akira Ishii

Seigo Ohsawa

Yuji Oshima

Volkmar Nyga

Sung-Hwan Lim

Masahiko Konno

Kaori Mori

Toyonaga Saitoh

Yudai Takagi

Yasuyuki Takagi

Meher Hafdallaoui

Stefan Belmer

To provide a chain guide, chain drive device, and transmission system, with which an amount of lubricating oil supplied to guide surfaces is increased. The chain guide includes an upper additional extension formed to extend from an upper end of a sliding guide part in the guide longitudinal direction and having an oil-recovery guide surface positioned opposite and spaced from the chain.

Chain guide, chain drive device, and transmission system

To provide a simple-structured chain guide assembly frame capable of reliably maintaining a correct positional relationship between a driven sprocket and a sprocket holding portion without the possibility of driven sprocket detachment. The chain guide assembly frame includes a main body having a fixed-guide-side sprocket holding portion and a pivoting-guide-side sprocket holding portion. The fixed-guide-side sprocket holding portion includes a first fixed-guide-side support portion that supports a driven sprocket at a first contact point, and a second fixed-guide-side support portion that supports the driven sprocket at a second contact point located more outside than the first contact point. When the driven sprocket is in an erected state in which the driven sprocket is supported at the first contact point and second contact point, the vector of gravity acting on the gravity center of the driven sprocket points between the first contact point and second contact point.

Chain guide assembly frame

To provide a chain guide assembly frame capable of efficiently collecting the oil that adhered to various parts of the chain guide assembly, and guiding the collected oil to predetermined locations, to allow efficient use of oil, with a simple structure. The chain guide assembly frame includes driven sprocket holding portions, a fixed chain guide, and a pivoting chain guide holding portion on a main body. A drive sprocket holding portion is provided at a position lower than the driven sprocket holding portions. The main body includes a concave and/or convex oil passage that extends from an upper part toward a lower part to guide the oil toward above the drive sprocket holding portion.

An object of the present invention is to provide a chain guide mechanism that can readily integrate all the components in a simple structure and enhance work efficiency during assembly or maintenance. The chain guide mechanism of the present invention is configured to be able to integrally support, on a frame, components including a plurality of sprockets, a chain, a fixed chain guide, and a pivoting chain guide. The frame includes a pivoting chain guide holding part that holds a mounting boss of the pivoting chain guide in a state of a loose fit. The pivoting chain guide holding part is configured to allow the mounting boss to be fitted therethrough from one side.

Chain guide mechanism

An object of the present invention is to provide a chain guide, which allows easy assembling of a guide shoe to a base member, and reliably prevents detachment of the guide shoe from the base member resulting from vibration or the like during the running of a chain. Provided is a chain guide wherein a base member includes an attachment extension extending upward from a base body part beyond a support surface, and a base-side engaged part formed in the attachment extension, a guide shoe includes a flexible extension extending from a shoe body part, and a shoe-side engaging part formed in the flexible extension, and the shoe-side engaging part is hooked to the base-side engaged part from below, or diagonally from below, or from front or back, to be positioned on the far side of the base-side engaged part during engagement therebetween.

Chain guide

To provide a chain guide mechanism that enables a plurality of chain guides, a chain, and a sprocket to be held together with a simple structure, such that work efficiency during assembly and maintenance is improved. The chain guide mechanism joins a plurality of chain guides that slidably guide a chain; and a connection unit is made up of arm members that extend from both sides of the chain on a chain running surface of a fixed chain guide toward a pivoting chain guide, and a coupling member including a fitting hole for a mounting boss of the pivoting chain guide to fit in.

Provided is a tensioner which can ensure, with a simple structure, both the stability of the installation state of a check valve and the capacity of an oil storage chamber. A tensioner has a plunger, a housing, a check valve, and a coil spring. The plunger has a front-side plunger part having a pressing front end portion, and a rear-side plunger part disposed on the rear side of the front-side plunger part and having a valve movement restricting portion. The check valve is disposed on the rear side of the valve movement restricting portion. The coil spring is disposed so that one end thereof is in contact with a housing bottom portion and the other end thereof is in contact with the rear side of the check valve.

Tensioner

An object of the present invention is to provide a tensioner and a rocking lever that have simple configurations and that enable an increase in the volume of a space provided inside a plunger, the tensioner and the rocking lever being capable of preventing a stopper pin from being damaged or falling out. A plunger pin holeis formed in a plungerof a tensioner. In a tensioner body, a body pin holeis formed in a tip protruding portionprovided so as to protrude from a side of an opening of the plunger housing hole. One of lipsprovided on opposite sides, in a width direction, of the pressing surfaceof a rocking leverso as to protrude from the pressing surface, has a thinned portionthinned in the width direction.

Tensioner and rocking lever

To provide a tensioner which can circulate a sufficient amount of oil even if there is a long time lag until pressurized oil starts to be supplied, and which exhibits a lower level of leak of oil stored therein, and which is structured simply without increasing the number of components therefore. The tensioner includes: a tensioner body having a plunger bore; a cylindrical plunger slidably inserted into the plunger bore; and biasing means for urging the plunger outward. When the tensioner is fixed to a wall surface, a body hole that extends from the wall surface up to a circumferential surface of the plunger bore is located lower than an oil discharge hole in the wall surface.

A ratchet-type tensioner, comprising: a housing; a plunger supported by the housing for movement in opposite advancing and setback directions, the plunger having rack teeth provided thereon, and being arranged to advance with respect to the housing along the advancing direction for applying tension to a traveling transmission medium engaged with rotating members; and a ratchet mechanism capable of restricting the plunger from setting back due to a reaction force acting in a setback direction from the transmission medium; said ratchet mechanism comprising: a ratchet-receiving hole provided within the housing; a ratchet element slidable in the ratchet-receiving hole and movable in a sliding direction transverse to the advancing and setback directions; ratchet teeth on the ratchet element engageable with the rack teeth of the plunger; and a ratchet-biasing means for biasing the ratchet element in an engaging direction along the sliding direction so that the ratchet teeth engage with the rack teeth; said ratchet mechanism being capable of restricting the plunger from being set back by a reaction force acting in a setback direction from the transmission medium; said rack teeth having a concave-convex form and being composed of stop surfaces facing in the setback direction and sliding surfaces facing in the advance direction, said sliding surfaces being inclined relative to the sliding direction and facing in a disengaging direction opposite from the engaging direction; each of said sliding surfaces having an entry starting location which the ratchet teeth first engage when starting to enter the rack teeth, and an entry ending location where the engagement of the ratchet teeth with the rack teeth ends; each said sliding surface being a curved surface, all of said curved surface, between said entry starting location and said entry ending location of said sliding surface, bulging in the advancing direction of the plunger and in the disengaging direction of the ratchet element from an imaginary reference plane intersecting said entry starting location and said entry ending location of said sliding surface and perpendicular to another imaginary plane to which the advancing and setback direction of the plunger and the sliding direction of the ratchet element are parallel; and at least a part of said curve midway along said curve between the entry starting location and the entry ending location is convex.

Ratchet-type tensioner

Deaeration of the high pressure oil chamber of a hydraulic tensioner takes place though a helical orifice formed by opposed flanks of the threads of a threaded hole in the tensioner housing and the threads of a screw inserted into the hole. The opposed flanks are maintained in spaced relationship by a force exerted by a spring washer disposed between the head of the screw and a surface of the tensioner housing surrounding the opening of the threaded hole. The flank of the thread of the hole that forms part of the boundary of the helical orifice can have a concave curvature in order to increase the aperture of the air flow path. A groove in the surface surrounding the opening of the threaded hole prevents the washer from sealing off the flow of air. This groove is disposed with its exit end at a level above its entry end.

Hydraulic tensioner

There is provided a ratchet-type tensioner whose spring stopping washer for seating a ratchet biasing spring is rigidly and readily assembled to a ratchet-receiving hole so as not to fall out of the ratchet-receiving hole and which reduces flapping noise and prevents seizure of the plunger by securely and stably operating a ratchet mechanism in operating an engine. The ratchet-type tensioneris arranged so that the spring stopping washer has a C-ring anchored in the rear-end area of the ratchet-receiving hole by fitting in a diameter-reduced state and by enlarging its diameter within an anchoring circumferential groove of the ratchet-receiving hole and a spring stopping piece extended from the C-ring to a ring center area to seat the ratchet biasing spring.

In a ratchet-type tensioner having a plunger with rack teeth formed thereon and a piston with ratchet teeth that engage the rack teeth, the ratchet teeth can be disengaged from the rack teeth by insertion of a tool through a tool insertion hole in the tensioner housing and exerting a prying action on the toothed end of the piston to move the piston away from the plunger. Alternatively if an oblique camming surface is formed on the toothed end of the piston, the ratchet teeth can be disengaged from the rack teeth by pushing the tool inward against the oblique camming surface. The piston and the hole in which it slides are shaped to prevent rotation of the piston. The ratchet teeth on the piston and the rack teeth on the plunger can be oblique to allow setback of the plunger when excessive force is exerted on the plunger.

In a ring-type tensioner, an expansible elastic ring disposed in a groove formed in the wall of a plunger-accommodating hole cooperates with teeth formed on the plunger to restrict axial movement of the plunger. The ring and the groove in the wall of the plunger-accommodating hole have flat radial surfaces for mutual engagement. However the ring also has oblique plunger-tooth engaging surfaces. The ring has manipulable end parts that can be locked in fixed relation to each other by a tool to secure the plunger against axial movement. The tool can also be inserted into a gap between the manipulable end parts to expand the ring and thereby release the plunger.

Ring-type tensioner

A ratchet-type tensioner capable of restricting setback of a plunger includes a ratchet mechanism that allows setback of the plunger by sliding a ratchet element in a disengaging direction to disengage ratchet teeth from rack teeth when a reaction force acts on the plunger as a result of excessive chain tension. The ratchet element is slidable in a ratchet-receiving hole, and an inclination suppressing structure that prevents the ratchet element from becoming skewed in the ratchet receiving hole to an extent such that its forward end contacts one side of the hole while its rearward end contacts the opposite sides of the hole.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Munehiro Maeda