Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Ryota Horie

Takahiro Yoshimura

Hideki Tamoto

Kunihiro Iwatsuki

Satoshi Shimizu

Keisuke Uchida

Hiroshi Tamura

Katsunori Suzuki

Yoshinori Maeda

Masaya Michishita

Shingo Iwatani

Norihiro Mizoguchi

Masayuki Hashimoto

Yoshiro Obayashi

Shintarou Mukougawa

A method of installing a drive shaft in a casing accommodating a drive pinion and a ring gear such that the drive shaft is connected to a coupling unit accommodated in the casing, the coupling unit including: an input rotary member, an output rotary member, a clutch, and a covering member. The method including steps of: fitting the stop ring in the annular groove, and inserting the engaging shaft portion of the drive shaft into the engaging hole of the output rotary member, until the stop ring is brought into expanded state thereof in the annular cutout portion; and detecting the expanded state of the stop ring in the annular cutout portion, by measuring a dimension between first and second measuring points set respectively on the drive shaft and the covering member.

Method of installing a drive shaft

A vehicle driving-force distributing device includes: first connecting/disconnecting teeth disposed on the inner circumferential side of the ring gear; a connecting/disconnecting mechanism that includes a cylindrical member and a connecting/disconnecting sleeve including second connecting/disconnecting teeth and spline-fitted movably in the rotation axis direction and relatively non-rotatably to the outer circumferential side of the shaft insertion portion and that connects and disconnects a power transmission path between the ring gear and the differential case by moving the connecting/disconnecting sleeve in the rotation axis direction between a meshing position at which the second connecting/disconnecting teeth are meshed with the first connecting/disconnecting teeth and a non-meshing position at which the second connecting/disconnecting teeth are not meshed with the first connecting/disconnecting teeth; and a synchronizing mechanism disposed between the ring gear and the cylindrical member and reducing a relative rotation between the first connecting/disconnecting teeth and the second connecting/disconnecting teeth.

Vehicle driving-force distributing device

A transfer includes a main body, a subassembly and a connecting-disconnecting mechanism. The main body includes a ring gear, a case and a third bearing. The subassembly includes an input shaft, a sleeve, a moving mechanism, a first bearing and a second bearing. The connecting-disconnecting mechanism selectively connects/disconnects the ring gear to/from the input shaft. The input shaft is arranged concentric with the ring gear and inside the ring gear. The input shaft includes a first end portion and a second end portion. The input shaft is supported at the first end portion and the second end portion by the case in a manner rotatable around the rotational axis via the first bearing and the second bearing.

Transfer

A butt position detecting method for a weld joint, when an arrangement direction of a first member and a second member is defined as a first direction, and a direction that is perpendicular to the first direction is defined as a second direction, the first member has a corner portion and a chamfer portion, and a two-dimensional displacement sensor is arranged at a position offset from the butt portion toward the first member side in the first direction, and such that an angle &#x3b8;s at which the second direction and an optical axis direction of irradiation light of the two-dimensional displacement sensor intersect with each other and an angle &#x3b8;a at which the second direction and a formation direction of the chamfer portion of the first member intersect with each other satisfy a condition expression: 0&#xb0;&#x3c;&#x3b8;s&#x3c;&#x3b8;a.

Method for detecting butt position of weld joint, device for detecting butt position of weld joint, and method for manufacturing weld joint

A four-wheel-drive vehicle includes a driving source, main driving wheels, auxiliary driving wheels, a power transmitting member, a first mesh clutch, and a second mesh clutch. Meshing teeth on the driving source side of the first mesh clutch each have, along an entire tooth width thereof, an inclined surface in which a length in a rotational axis direction increases in a direction in which the meshing teeth on the driving source side rotate when the four-wheel-drive vehicle is traveling forward. The meshing teeth on the power transmitting member side of the first mesh clutch each have, along an entire tooth width thereof, an inclined surface in which a length in a rotational axis direction decreases in a direction in which the meshing teeth on the driving source side rotate when the four-wheel-drive vehicle is traveling forward.

Four-wheel-drive vehicle

A rotation state of each rotating element of a four-wheel drive vehicle and an operating state of each engagement element of a disconnect mechanism, corresponding to an operating state of the disconnect mechanism, are displayed on or near a vehicle model image on a vehicle display. Thus, it is possible to inform a driver of the operating state of the disconnect mechanism at any time. Thus, the driver is able to recognize the operating state of the disconnect mechanism at any time, so the driver is able to carry out driving based on the operating state.

Control system for four-wheel drive vehicle

By driving a first electromagnetic solenoid and a second electromagnetic solenoid, if first cams of a first thrust force amplification mechanism and a second thrust force amplification mechanism are connected to non-rotary members, since second cams are rotated at rotating speeds that are proportional to a vehicle speed V, the relative rotations between the first cam and the second cam increase. Therefore, the first thrust force amplification mechanism and the second thrust force amplification mechanism can be actuated quickly, to thereby switch connection/disconnection states of the first connection/disconnection mechanism and the second connection/disconnection mechanism quickly.

Vehicle four-wheel drive apparatus

A differential device of a four-wheel drive vehicle which is operated in selected one of a two-wheel drive state in which a drive force from a drive power source is transmitted to left and right main drive wheels and a four-wheel drive state in which a drive force from the drive power source is transmitted to the left and right main drive wheels and left and right auxiliary drive wheels, the differential device including a disconnect mechanism with which a power transmission member for transmitting a drive force only to the auxiliary drive wheels in the four-wheel drive state is separated from the auxiliary drive wheels in the two-wheel drive state, the differential device comprising: a cylindrical ring gear supported rotatably around one rotation axis by a case; a differential case including one and the other cylindrical end portions in a rotation axis direction of the ring gear and supported at the one end portion by the ring gear and at the other end portion by the case rotatably and concentrically with the rotation axis; a sleeve fitted movably in the rotation axis direction in a power transmittable manner on the inner circumferential side of the one end portion of the differential case; and an actuator driving the sleeve via a thrust transmission mechanism between an engagement position at which outer circumferential teeth formed on the sleeve are engaged with inner circumferential teeth formed on the inner circumferential side of the ring gear and a release position at which the teeth are not engaged, the thrust transmission mechanism being at least partially located in a radial space between the ring gear and an axle penetrating the ring gear or a rotation shaft integrally rotating with the axle.

Differential device of four-wheel drive vehicle

A control apparatus for a vehicular 4-wheel drive system provided with: primary drive wheels to which a drive force is transmitted from a drive power source; auxiliary drive wheels to which the drive force is selectively transmitted; a first clutch configured to selectively place a first power transmitting path in a power transmitting state and a power cutoff state; and a second clutch disposed in a second power transmitting path to selectively place the second power transmitting path in a power transmitting state and a power cutoff state. The first and second clutches are placed in fully released states to establish a 2-wheel drive mode. The control apparatus includes a first-clutch control portion configured to bring the first clutch into a partially engaged state when a predetermined condition in which the vehicular 4-wheel drive system generates or is considered to generate a noise is satisfied in the 2-wheel drive mode.

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Ryota Horie