Title of Invention

A JOINT FASTENING STRUCTURE FOR AN AUTOMOTIVE POWER PLANT FASTENING PORTION

Abstract

There is provided a joint fastening structure which is commonly used as a fastening portion of an internal combustion engine main body and a transmission case and a fastening portion of the internal combustion engine main body and an accessory, wherein a threaded component passes through the transmission case and the internal combustion engine main body so as to be integrally fastened to internal threads in the accessory.

Full Text

The present invention relates to a joint fastening structure for an automotive power plant fastening portion in which an accessory is jointly fastened to the fastening portion. 2 . Description of the Related Art In a conventional power plant in which a transmission is integrally connected to an end face of an internal combustion engine on an output shaft end side, since an accessory needs to be disposed within a predetermined narrow space in an engine compartment, the accessory is secured to the housing at a portion of the internal combustion engine main body which is contiguous with the transmission with threaded components such as bolts and screws, and the housing is fastened to the cylinder block with threaded components. In addition, the cylinder block and the transmission case are fastened together with threaded components. In a mounting structure as described above, however, since the fastening portion where the accessory is mounted on the housing and the fastening portion where the housing is mounted on the internal combustion engine main body interfere with each other, there is caused a drawback that the .dispos ition of the accessory is limited whereby the degree of freedom in layout of the accessory is reduced. % t SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved automotive power plant fastening portion which has overcome the difficulty, and according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a joint fastening structure for an automotive power plant fastening portion which is commonly used as a fastening portion of an internal combustion engine main body and a transmission case and a fastening portion of said internal combustion engine said main body and an accessory, / joint fastening structure - characterized in that a threaded component passes said said through / transmission case and / internal combustion engine main body so as to be integrally fastened to internal said threads in / accessory. According to the first aspect of the invention, with the aforesaid structure, since the threaded component is inserted from the transmission case side, the internal combustion engine main body and the transmission case can easily be fastened together without being influenced by the mounting configuration of the accessory to the housing and the other accessories. In addition, since the accessory is jointly fastened to the internal combustion engine and the transmission which constitute the automotive power plant with the threaded component which integrally combines the internal combustion engine with the transmission, the fastening man-hours and number of fastening components can be reduced, and this leads to reduction in cost. In addition, according to a second aspect of the invention, portions at which the threaded component passes through the transmission case and the internal combustion engine main body are flanges. According to the construction of the second aspect of the invention, since the flange portions of the internal combustion engine main body and the transmission case are highly rigid, in addition to the advantage provided by the first aspect of the invention, there is provided an advantage that the fastening strength can be increased. Furthermore, according to a third aspect of the invention, the threaded component is disposed in the vicinity of a mating surface between the cylinder block and the oil pan. According to the construction of the third aspect of the invention, since the threaded component for use in attaching the accessory is allowed to pass through the highly rigid portion in the vicinity of the mating surface between the cylinder block and the oil pan, in addition to the advantages provided in accordance with the first and second aspects of the invention, there is further provided an advantage that the fastening strength of the accessory relative to the internal combustion engine main body and the transmission case can further be increased. In addition, while the accessory itself tends to be heated by virtue of heat conducted from the cylinder block of the internal combustion engine, according to a fourth aspect of the invention, a cooling water pipe member communicating with a radiator is disposed along the vicinity of the accessory. Thus, in addition to the advantages provided in accordance with the first, second and third aspects of the invention, there is provided an advantage that the accessory can be cooled by cooling water to thereby improve the durability since the temperature of the cooling water passing through the interior of the cooling water pipe member is lower than that of the accessory. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a view as seen in a direction indicated by an arrow II in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a view taken along the line III- III in Fig. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 will be described below. An automotive power plant 1 mounted at a front portion of a vehicle body of a passenger car, not shown, is an in-line four-cylinder four-stroke-cycle engine with DOHC (double overhead camshafts) , and as shown in Fig. 1, the automotive power plant 1 comprises an internal combustion engine 2 and a transmission 3. In a main body of the internal combustion engine 2, a cylinder block 4 and an oil pan 5 are brought into abutment with each other at a mating surface 6, an upper surface of the cylinder block 4 and a lower face of a cylinder head 29 are brought into abutment with each other. The cylinder block 4, the oil pan 5 and the cylinder head 29 are combined with each other with bolts or stud bolts which are not shown. In addition, an end face of a flange 9 of a case of the transmission 3 is brought into abutment with end faces (right end faces as viewed in Fig. 1, or portions of Fig. 3 where many dots are provided and many doted lines are caused to intersect with each other) of a flange 7 of the cylinder block 4 and a flange 8 of the oil pan 5. A housing flange 11 of a starter motor 10 is brought into abutment with the other end face (a left end face as viewed in Fig. 1) of the flange 7 of the cylinder block 4. Then, a distal externally threaded portion 13 of a bolt 12 passing through a bolt hole 9a in the flange 9 of the transmission 3 and a bolt hole 7a in the flange 7 of the cylinder block 4 from right to left is fastened into an internally threaded hole 14 in the housing flange 11 of the starter motor 10, whereby the transmission 3, the cylinder block 4 and the starter motor 10 are constructed so as to be integrally jointly fastened together with the bolt 12. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 1, a bolt 15 passes through an upper portion of the flange 9 of the case of the transmission 3 from right to left to be fastened into a bolt hole 7b in an upper portion of the flange 7 of the cylinder block 4 (refer to Figs 2 and 3) . And, a bolt 16 passes through a bolt hole 8a in a lower portion of the flange 8 of the oil pan 5 (refer to Figs. 2 and 3) from left to right to be fastened into a lower portion of the flange 9 of the case of the transmission 3. Bolts, not shown, other than but similar to the bolt 15 or bolt 16 are fastened along the full circumference of the transmission 3 at required intervals. Moreover, as shown in Fig. 1, the housing flange 11 of the starter motor 10 is brought into abutment with a bottom portion 18 of a main body 17 of the starter motor 10 from left, and as shown in Fig. 2, protruding lugs 20 are.integrally provided on a top portion 19 of the main body 17 of the starter motor 10 diametrically across the center of the main body 17. Then, as shown in Fig. 1, an externally threaded portion 22 of a machine screw 21 passing through the protruding lug 20 from left to right is fastened into an internally threaded portion 23 of the housing flange 11 of the starter motor 10. Moreover, as shown in Fig. 2, a magnet switch 24 is integrally assembled the main body 17 of the starter motor 10. In addition, as illustrated in Fig. 1, an air conditioner compressor 25 is integrally mounted on the cylinder block 4 at a position below the lower surface of the cylinder block 4 on a left end side thereof with a mounting member, not shown. And, a cooling water pump 2 6 is integrally mounted on the cylinder block 4 with a mounting member, not shown, at a position above the air conditioner compressor 25 and on this side of the cylinder block 4 as viewed in Fig. 1. Further, an ACG 27, which is an alternate current generator, is integrally mounted on the cylinder block 4 with a mounting member, not shown, at a position above the cooling water pump 26. The cooling water pump 26 and an upper right-hand side portion (as viewed in Fig. 1) of the cylinder block 4 are connected to each other via a cooling water pipe 28 so as to provide a communication therebetween, the cooling water pipe 28 being a cooling water pipe member which connects to a radiator, not shown. The embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 is constructed as described above, and at the position where the starter motor 10 is mounted on the cylinder block 4, the housing flange 11 of the starter motor 10 is integrally jointly fastened to the flange 7 of the cylinder block 7 and the flange 9 of the transmission 3 with the bolts 12 which pass through the bolt hole 9a in the flange 9 of the transmission 7 and the bolt hole 7a in the flange 7 of the cylinder block 4 from right to left as viewed in Fig. 1 to be fastened into the internally threaded hole 14 in the housing flange 11 of the starter motor 10. Therefore, the cylinder block 4 and the transmission 3 need to be fastened together with no other bolt, whereby the fastening man-hours and number of fastening bolts can be reduced, this leading to reduction in production costs. Furthermore, since the bolt 12 is fastened from the transmission 3 side toward the cylinder block 4 side of the internal combustion engine 2, the fastening work of the bolt 12 can easily be implemented without any interference with the starter motor 10, the magnet switch 24 and the cooling water pipe 28. Moreover, while the starter motor 10 tends to be heated to a high temperature when receiving heat from the cylinder block 4 which is heated to a high temperature and heat from the atmosphere within the engine compartment, since the temperature of the cooling water in the cooling waterpipe 28 is lower than the temperatures of the cylinder block 4 and the starter motor 10 irrespective of the running condition of the internal combustion engine 2, the starter motor 10 is cooled by the cooling water running through the cooling water pipe 28, the durability being thereby increased. While only certain embodiments of the invention have been specifically described herein, it will apparent that numerous modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. WE CLAIM 1. A joint fastening structure for an automotive power plant fastening portion, which is commonly used as a fastening portion of an internal combustion engine main body and a transmission case and a fastening portion of said internal combustion engine main body and an accessory, said joint fastening structure characterized in that: a threaded component passes through said transmission case and said internal combustion engine main body so as to be integrally fastened to internal threads in said accessory. 2. The joint fastening structure for an automotive power plant fastening portion as set forth in Claim 1, wherein portions at which said threaded component passes through said transmission case and said internal combustion engine main body are flanges. 3. The joint fastening structure for an automotive power plant fastening portion as set forth inClaimlor2, wherein saidthreaded component is disposed in the vicinity of a mating surface between said cylinder block and said oil pan. 4 . The joint fastening structure for an automotive power plant fastening portion as set forth in any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein a cooling water pipe member communicating with a radiator is disposed along the vicinity of said accessory. 10 The invention relates to a blower assembly for a split air conditioner. The split air conditioner is having a multi segmented blower assembly. FIG. 9 shows a conventional blower assembly A for a split air conditioner including a blower B having a number of blower units and having only the ends rotatably mounted by a shaft Cl of a motor C and a bearing D, such that the blower B may curve downward and may generate vibrations and noises after use. It is an object of the invention to provide a blower assembly for a split air conditioner including a blower having one or more middle supports. Accordingly the present invention provides a blower assembly for a split air conditioner, characterized in that: the blower assembly comprises a blower comprising two ends and a middle portion, and at least one support device for supporting the middle portion of the blower. FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a blower assembly for a split air conditioner; FIGS. 2, 3 are partial perspective views; FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing another embodiment of the blower assembly; FIGS. 5, 6 are partial exploded views showing two further embodiments of the blower assembly; FIGS. 7, 8 are perspective views of the split air conditioners as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 respectively; and FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view showing a typical blower assembly for the air conditioner. As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a blower assembly for a split air conditioner is to be mounted in a building, and comprises a casing 10 including a trough 11 in one end, two troughs 12 in the other end, one or more posts 13 in the middle portion and each having a screw hole 131. A blower 20 includes a motor 24 having a shaft 242 rotatably supported on the casing 10 with two end bushes 241 which are supported on the troughs 12 and secured to the casing 10 with plates 25 and fasteners 26 that are threaded with the screw holes 251 of the plates 25. A seat 22 includes one or more holes 224 for receiving fasteners 26 which may be threaded to the posts 13, and a trough 221 for supporting a bearing 23, a cavity 222 (FIG. 5) for receiving one end of a plate 251. A fastener 26 may be threaded through a screw hole 251 of the plate 25 and threaded with a stud 223. A blower unit 21 has an end hole 211 for receiving the shaft 242 of the motor 24, and a rod 212 extended from the other end for engaging through the middle bearing 23 and into the hole 231 of the other blower unit 21 which has a rod 212 supported by the other bearing 23 that is supported on the trough 11 of the casing 10. The blower 20 may include three or more blower units 21 (FIGS. 4, 5) supported by two or more bearings 23 each and driven by two or more motors 24 (FIG. 4). As shown in FIG. 6, a seat 22' may include two or more troughs 221' for receiving two or more bearings 23. The split air conditioner may include two air openings (FIG> 7) or three or more air openings (FIG.8) formed by two or more blower units 21 that are supported by one or more middle support seats 22. I CLAIM : 1. A blower assembly for a split air conditioner, characterized in that: the blower assembly comprises a blower (20) comprising two ends and a middle portion, and at least one support device (22) for supporting the middle portion of the blower (20). 2. The blower assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blower (20) comprises at least two blower units (21). 3. The blower assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the blower assembly comprises one or more motors (24) for driving the blower units (21). 4. The blower assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the motor (24) comprises a shaft (242) rotatably supported by two or more bushes (241). 5. The blower assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein blower assembly comprises a casing (10) having two or more troughs (12) for supporting the bushes (241). 6. The blower assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support device (22) comprises a seat (22), and a bearing (23) received in the seat (22). 7. The blower assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the seat (22) comprises one or more troughs (221) for supporting bearings (23). 8. A blower assembly for a split air conditioner, substantially as hereinabove described and illustrated with reference to figures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

0830-mas-2001 abstract-duplicate.pdf

0830-mas-2001 abstract.jpg

0830-mas-2001 claims-duplicate.pdf

0830-mas-2001 description (complete)-duplicate.pdf

0830-mas-2001 form-18.pdf

0830-mas-2001 petition.pdf

830-mas-2001 - abstract.pdf

830-mas-2001 - claims.pdf

830-mas-2001 - correspondence others.pdf

830-mas-2001 - correspondence po.pdf

830-mas-2001 - description complete.pdf

830-mas-2001 - drawings.pdf

830-mas-2001 - form 1.pdf

830-mas-2001 - form 19.pdf

830-mas-2001 - form 26.pdf

830-mas-2001 - form 3.pdf

830-mas-2001 - form 5.pdf