Title of Invention

INTAKE DEVICE OF ENGINE

Abstract

An air cleaner is disposed above a cylinder head cover. An intake duct is disposed above the cylinder head cover. A coil cover is attached to the cylinder head cover and covers an ignition coil. The intake duct is integrally formed with the coil cover so that the intake duct and the air cleaner are arranged in a direction of a cylinder bank of the engine. The intake duct is fitted to an air inlet of the air cleaner. The coil cover is locked to the air cleaner by locking means. End portions of the air cleaner is supported in the cylinder head cover by supporting portions respectively provided in the intake duct and the coil cover.

Full Text

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-127516 filed on May 14, 2007 including specification, drawings and claims is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND The present invention relates to an intake device of an engine configured such that an air cleaner, an intake duct, and a coil cover are disposed above a cylinder head cover. Some engines are known in which an air cleaner and an intake duct are disposed above a cylinder head cover and a coil cover covering an ignition coil is attached to the cylinder head cover. Among such engines, Patent Document 1 proposes an engine in which the coil cover is incorporated into the air cleaner as a peripheral component thereof to thereby reduce a space occupied by the peripheral components of the coil cover. Patent Document l: Japanese Patent Publication No.2005"248779A However, when the coil cover is incorporated into the air cleaner as proposed in Patent Document 1, a problem arises in that the air cleaner cannot be commonly used for engines having different number of cylinders and productivity of the engine is poor. Additionally, the air cleaner is connected to the intake duct for introducing the atmosphere thereinto. At this time, although it is easy to introduce the atmosphere from the front of the vehicle to the air cleaner when the intake duct is disposed above the cylinder head cover, since it is necessary to provide many supporting points for the cylinder head cover so as to support the intake duct, a problem arises in that a mounting operation of the intake duct is poor. SUMMARY It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an intake device of an engine that is designed to improve productivity of an engine by commonly using the air cleaner with other engines having different number of cylinders and to improve an operation in which the intake duct, the coil cover, and the air cleaner are mounted to the cylinder head cover. In order to achieve the above-described objects, according to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an intake device of an engine, comprising: an air cleaner disposed above a cylinder head cover! an intake duct disposed above the cylinder head cover,' and a coil cover attached to the cylinder head cover and covering an ignition coil, wherein the intake duct is integrally formed with the coil cover so that the intake duct and the air cleaner are arranged in a direction of a cylinder bank of the engine,' wherein the intake duct is fitted to an air inlet of the air cleaner; wherein the coil cover is locked to the air cleaner by locking means; and wherein end portions of the air cleaner is supported in the cylinder head cover by supporting portions respectively provided in the intake duct and the coil cover. With the above configuration, since the coil cover is formed into a member separated from the air cleaner, it is possible to commonly use the air cleaner with engines having different number of cylinders, thereby improving productivity of the engine. Additionally, since the intake duct integrally formed with the coil cover is fitted to the air inlet of the air cleaner and the coil cover is locked to the air cleaner by the locking means, it is possible to integrally form three components of the intake duct, the coil cover, and the air cleaner with one another, thereby improving an operation in which the intake device including them is mounted to the cylinder head cover. Additionally, since the ends of the air cleaner is supported in the cylinder head cover by the supporting portions respectively formed in the intake duct and the coil cover, it is possible to support the three components of the intake duct, the coil cover, and the air cleaner which are integrally formed with one another in the cylinder head in a stable manner by using a small number of supporting portions. One of the supporting portions may be provided in an end of the intake duct protruding from the coil cover in the direction of the cylinder bank. With the above configuration, since the supporting portion is formed in the end (overhang portion) protruding from the coil cover of the intake duct in the direction of the cylinder bank, it is possible to suppress vibration of the intake duct. Additionally, it is possible to enlarge an attachment pitch of the supporting portion of the intake duct to the cylinder head cover and it is possible to support the intake device in the cylinder head cover using a small number of supporting points. Each of the supporting portions may include a pin which is protruded from the intake duct or the coil cover, a grommet which is formed into a cylindrical shape with a pin hole into which the pin is inserted, and a grommet insertion hole which is formed in the cylinder head cover! and a protrusion portion may be provided in an outer circumferential surface of the grommet. With the above configuration, it is possible to fix the intake duct and the coil cover which are integrally formed with each other to the cylinder head cover in a one-touch manner, thereby improving an operation in which they are mounted to the cylinder head cover. Additionally, when the pin is inserted into the grommet insertion hole, a protrusion portion formed in the outer circumferential surface of the grommet is press-bonded to the inner circumferential surface of the grommet insertion hole, the pin is prevented from coming out therefrom, thereby surely fixing the intake duct and the coil cover to the cylinder head cover. Also, vibration of the engine can be absorbed by the protrusion portion, thereby suppressing vibration of the intake device including the air cleaner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, where in: Fig. 1 is a top view illustrating an engine with an intake device according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a right view illustrating the engine with the intake device according to the embodiment; Fig. 3 is a front view illustrating the engine with the intake device according to the embodiment; Fig. 4 is a top view illustrating a state in which a coil cover, an intake duct, and an upstream case of an air cleaner of the engine with the intake device according to the embodiment are detached; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line A-A shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a right view illustrating the air cleaner, the intake duct, and the coil cover of the intake device according to the embodiment; Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B shown in Fig. 6; and Fig. 8 is a bottom view illustrating the air cleaner, the intake duct, and the coil cover of the intake device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. An engine 1 according to the embodiment of the invention is a serial four-cylinder engine for a vehicle, and is mounted to a vehicle in such a manner that a crank shaft 2 is disposed in a width direction of a vehicle (in a direction perpendicular to a sheet surface of Fig. 2) and a cylinder axis line L is inclined by 0 with respect to a vertical line N as shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the crank shaft 2 is rotatably supported by a cylinder block 3 and four cylinders (not shown) are disposed in parallel in the cylinder block 3 in the width direction of the vehicle (in the transverse direction shown in Fig. 1). Additionally, although it is not shown, a piston is slidably fitted and inserted to each cylinder of the cylinder block and each piston is connected to the crank shaft 2 through a connecting rod, so that linear reciprocating motion of each piston moving along the cylinder is converted into rotating motion of the crank shaft 2 by the connecting rod. Additionally, as shown in Fig. 2, a cylinder head 4 is adhered to the upper surface of the cylinder block 3, an oil pan 5 is adhered to the lower surface of the cylinder block 3, and then a cylinder head cover 6 is adhered to the upper portion of the cylinder head 4. Further, an intake port and an exhaust port (which are not shown) are respectively formed in each cylinder of the cylinder head 4, and an intake manifold 7, which is communicated with the intake port, is connected to the end surface (rear end surface) close to an intake portion of the cylinder head 4 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Here, four manifolds 7 are collected and connected to a surge tank 8, and an upstream side of the surge tank 8 is connected to an air cleaner 9 which is disposed above the cylinder head cover 6. Meanwhile, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the end surface (front end surface) of the cylinder head 4 is connected to an exhaust manifold 10 which is connected to the exhaust port, and four exhaust manifolds 10 are collected and connected to a catalytic converter 11. Then, the catalytic converter 11 is connected to an exhaust pipe 12, and the exhaust pipe 12 extends toward the backside of the vehicle so that the rear end thereof is opened to the atmosphere. Further, as shown in Fig. 2, auxiliaries as a water pump 13, an alternator 14, and an air-con compressor 15 are disposed in the right part of the cylinder block 3, and pulleys 16, 17, and 18 are tied to input shafts thereof. Then, a drive pulley 19 is tied to the right end protruding from the cylinder block 3 of the crank shaft 2. At this time, an endless drive belt 20 is wound around the drive pulley 19, the pulley 16, and the pulley 17, and an endless drive belt 22 is wound around the drive pulley 19, an idle pulley 21, and the pulley 18. However, as shown in Fig. 4, an ignition coil 23 is provided in the upper portion of the cylinder head 4 so as to correspond to each cylinder, and the ignition coils 23 are covered by a coil cover 24 shown in Figs. 1 to 3. In addition, although an intake duct 25 which is connected to the air cleaner 9 is transversely disposed above the cylinder head cover 6 and the coil cover 24, the intake duct 25 and an air cleaner 9 are disposed in parallel above the cylinder head cover 6 in a direction of a cylinder bank (in the transverse direction shown in Figs. 1 and 3). The intake duct 25 and the coil cover 24 are formed integrally with each other by resin, and a pin 25a forming a first supporting portion Si protrudes from the lower surface of the end protruding from the coil cover 24 of the intake duct 25 in the direction of the cylinder bank as shown in Fig. 8. In addition, a pin 24a forming a second supporting portion S2 and a circular hole 24b forming a locking portion K are formed in the lower surface of the end of the coil cover 24 (right end of the vehicle). Meanwhile, the air cleaner 9 is formed into a rectangular box shape which is separated into two parts, that is, an upstream case 9A and a downstream case 9B formed of resin so as to be put together and to be fixed to each other by a clip 26 with a plate spring shape, and has a filter element 27 (shown in Fig. 4) received therein. Then, as shown in Fig. 8, a pin 9a forming a third supporting portion S3 protrudes from the center of the lower surface of the upstream case 9A of the air cleaner 9, and a circular hole 9b forming a fourth supporting portion S4 is formed in the end of the downstream case 9B. Further, as shown in Fig. 1, a circular air inlet 9c, which is opened toward the right side of the vehicle (in the left direction shown in Fig. l), is integrally formed with the end of the upstream case 9A close to the front side of the vehicle. In this way, the intake device according to the invention includes the coil cover 24, the intake duct 25, and the air cleaner 9, and then the coil cover 24, the intake duct 25, and the air cleaner 9 are mounted to the cylinder head cover 6 in the manner as below. First, the coil cover 24 and the intake duct 25 which are integrally formed with each other are mounted to the air cleaner 9 in such a manner that the downstream end of the intake duct 25 is fitted to the air inlet 9c of the air cleaner 9 and then is locked to the air cleaner 9 by the locking portion K formed in the coil cover 24. Here, in the locking portion K shown in Fig. 5, since a grommet 28 is inserted into the circular hole 24b formed in the coil cover 24 and a circular hole 9d formed in the bottom wall of the air cleaner 9 from the downside and then a pin 29 is pushed into the grommet 28 from the downside to thereby push and widen the grommet 28, the coil cover 24 and the intake duct 25 which are integrally formed with each other are locked and fixed to the air cleaner 9, thereby integrally forming three components, that is, the coil cover 24, the intake duct 25, and the air cleaner 9 with one another. Next, as described above, the coil cover 24, the intake duct 25, and the air cleaner 9 which are integrally formed with one another are mounted to the cylinder head cover 6 by the first supporting portion Si formed in the intake duct 25, the second supporting portion S2 formed in the coil cover 24, and the third supporting portion S3 formed in the air cleaner 9 (in the upstream case 9A) in a one-touch manner. Here, a structure in which the intake duct 25 is mounted to the cylinder head cover 6 by the first supporting portion SI is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. At this time, a grommet insertion hole 6a is formed in the upper surface of the cylinder head cover 6, and a grommet 30 is inserted into the grommet insertion hole 6a from the upside. A pin hole 30a is formed in the center of the grommet 30, and three stages of protrusion portions 30b with a saw blade shape are formed in the outer circumferential surface thereof in a vertical direction. In this way, when the pin 25a protruding from the intake duct 25 is inserted from the upside into the pin hole 30a of the grommet 30 inserted in the grommet insertion hole 6a of the cylinder head cover 6, since the grommet 30 is pushed and widened so that the protrusion portions 30b formed in the outer circumferential surface thereof are press-bonded to the inner circumferential surface of the grommet insertion hole 6a, the pin 25a is prevented from coming out therefrom, thereby surely fixing the intake duct 25 and the coil cover 24 to the cylinder head cover 6. Also, vibration of an engine is absorbed by the protrusion portions 30b, thereby suppressing vibration of the intake device including the air cleaner 9 to be small. In addition, although it is not shown, the coil cover 24 and the air cleaner 9 are fixed to the cylinder head cover 6 in the same manner by the second supporting portion S2 and the third supporting portion S3 having the same mounting structure as that of the first supporting portion SI shown in Fig. 7. Accordingly, the coil cover 24, the intake duct 25, and the air cleaner 9 which are integrally formed with another are easily mounted to the cylinder head cover 6 in a one-touch manner as described above without a tool, and are finally mounted to the intake manifold 7 by a bolt which is inserted through the circular hole 9b forming the fourth supporting portion S4 formed in the air cleaner 9 (in the downstream case 9B). However, in order to carry out a maintenance that the filter element 27 is exchanged or the ignition coil 23 is inspected, when the clip 26 is separated therefrom in the state that the downstream case 9B of the air cleaner 9 is fixed and then the upstream case 9A, the intake duct 25, and the coil cover 24 are just pulled up, it is possible to easily separate them from the cylinder head cover 6 and to carry out the necessary maintenance in such a state. Then, when the maintenance is ended, the upstream case 9A of the air cleaner 9, the intake duct 25, and the coil cover 24 are mounted to the cylinder head cover 6 in the manner described above. Subsequently, when the upstream case 9A is attached to the downstream case 9B to be thereby fixed to each other by the clip 26, it is possible to use the intake device again. Therefore, when the engine 1 is started, intake negative pressure generated from each cylinder of the cylinder head 4 derives new air from the upstream opening end of the intake duct 25 to the intake duct 25. Then, the new air derived to the intake duct 25 is introduced into the air cleaner 9, and passes the filter element 27 received in the air cleaner 9 to thereby be cleaned. Subsequently, the cleaned air is measured by a throttle valve (not shown), and then is introduced from the surge tank 8 into each cylinder of the cylinder head 4 through the intake manifold 7. In the cylinder head 4, a predetermined amount of fuel is sprayed from an injector (not shown) formed in each cylinder to the new air to thereby form a mixture of a predetermined air/fuel ratio (A/F), and the mixture used for a combustion is supplied to a combustion chamber of each cylinder. Then, a part of heat generated from combustion of the mixture is converted into rotating energy of the crank shaft, and exhaust gas generated from combustion of the mixture is introduced from the exhaust manifold 10 into the catalytic converter 11 to be cleaned. Subsequently, the cleaned gas is discharged to the atmosphere through the exhaust pipe 12. Although the above-described cycle is repeated to continuously drive the engine 1, rotating motion of the crank shaft 2 is transmitted to the water pump 13, the alternator 14, and the air-con compressor 15 through the drive belts 20 and 22 to thereby drive the auxiliaries thereof. As described above, in the intake device according to the invention, since the coil cover 24 is formed into a member separated from the air cleaner 9, it is possible to commonly use the air cleaner 9 with engines having different number of cylinders, thereby improving productivity of the engine 1. Additionally, since the intake duct 25 formed integrally with the coil cover 24 is fitted to the air inlet 9c of the air cleaner 9 and the coil cover 24 is locked to the air cleaner 9 by the locking portion K, the three components, that is, the intake duct 25, the coil cover 24, and the air cleaner 9 are integrally formed with one another, thereby improving an operation in which the intake device is mounted to the cylinder head cover 6. Further, since the end of the air cleaner 9 is supported in the cylinder head cover 6 by the first to third supporting portions Si, S2, and S3 which are respectively formed in the intake duct 25 and the coil cover 24, it is possible to support three components of the intake duct 25, the coil cover 24, and the air cleaner 9 in the cylinder head cover 6 in a stable manner by using a small number of supporting portions Si to S3. Furthermore, since the first supporting portion SI is formed in the end (overhang portion) protruding from the coil cover 24 of the intake duct 25 in the direction of the cylinder bank, it is possible to suppress vibration of the intake duct 25. Also, it is possible to enlarge an attachment pitch of the supporting portion of the intake duct 25 to the cylinder head cover 6 with respect to other supporting portions, and then it is possible to support the intake device in the cylinder head cover 6 in a stable manner using a small number of supporting points. While the preferred embodiment has been described about the exemplary intake device of the four-cylinder engine for the vehicle, the invention may be, of course, applied to arbitrary intake devices of multiple-cylinder engine in the same way. Although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to specific preferred embodiments, various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein. Such changes and modifications as are obvious are deemed to come within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the invention as defined in the appended claims. WE CLAIM: 1. An intake device of an engine, comprising: an air cleaner disposed above a cylinder head cover; an intake duct disposed above the cylinder head cover; and a coil cover attached to the cylinder head cover and covering an ignition coil, wherein the intake duct is integrally formed with the coil cover so that the intake duct and the air cleaner are arranged in a direction of a cylinder bank of the engine, wherein the intake duct is fitted to an air inlet of the air cleaner; wherein the coil cover is locked to the air cleaner by locking means; and wherein end portions of the air cleaner is supported in the cylinder head cover by supporting portions respectively provided in the intake duct and the coil cover. 2. The intake device as set forth in claim 1, wherein one of the supporting portions is provided in an end of the intake duct protruding from the coil cover in the direction of the cylinder bank. 3. The intake device as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the supporting portions includes a pin which is protruded from the intake duct or the coil cover, a grommet which is formed into a cylindrical shape with a pin hole into which the pin is inserted, and a grommet insertion hole which is formed in the cylinder head cover; and wherein a protrusion portion is provided in an outer circumferential surface of the grommet.

Documents:

1192-del-2008-abstract.pdf

1192-del-2008-claims.pdf

1192-del-2008-Correspondence-Others-(23-09-2013).pdf

1192-del-2008-correspondence-others.pdf

1192-del-2008-description(complete).pdf

1192-del-2008-drawings.pdf

1192-del-2008-form-1.pdf

1192-del-2008-form-2.pdf

1192-del-2008-form-26.pdf

1192-del-2008-form-3.pdf

1192-del-2008-form-5.pdf

18-12-2013_1192-del-2008-description(complete).pdf

18-12-2013_Abstract.pdf

18-12-2013_Amended claims.pdf

18-12-2013_Others.pdf

18-12-2013_Reply to FER.pdf

Abstract.pdf

Amended claims.pdf

Others.pdf

Reply to FER.pdf