Valve opening/closing timing control device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9726053-B2
Application number	US-201414772144-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2014
Priority date	Jul 29, 2013
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

A valve opening/closing timing control device includes: an intermediate lock mechanism switchable between a locked state constraining a relative rotation phase to an intermediate locked phase, and an unlocked state releasing the constraint; a phase control unit controlling fluid supply to a retard chamber and fluid discharge from an advance chamber, or controlling fluid discharge from the retard chamber and fluid supply to the advance chamber, such that the lock member attains the intermediate locked phase; and a determination unit determining whether the lock member will attain the determination phase, when control has been performed to move the lock member toward a determination phase that has been set at a different position than the intermediate locked phase, after execution of control to either supply fluid to the retard chamber and discharge fluid from the advance chamber, or discharge fluid from the retard chamber and supply fluid to the advance chamber.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A valve opening/closing timing control device, comprising:
a drive-side rotary member that rotates synchronously with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine;
a driven-side rotary member that rotates in unity with a camshaft of the internal combustion engine, and is capable of relative rotation with respect to the drive-side rotary member;
a fluid pressure chamber that is formed by the drive-side rotary member and the driven-side rotary member;
a vane that is disposed within the fluid pressure chamber, and divides the fluid pressure chamber into a retard chamber and an advance chamber that permit inflow or discharge of a fluid, and selectively moves a relative rotation phase of the driven-side rotary member with respect to the drive-side rotary member between a retard direction in which volume within the retard chamber increases due to inflow of the fluid and an advance direction in which volume within the advance chamber increases due to inflow of the fluid;
an intermediate lock mechanism that includes a lock member provided in any one of the drive-side rotary member and the driven-side rotary member and is capable of moving with respect to an other of the drive-side rotary member and the driven-side rotary member, and a recess that extends in a circumferential direction and is provided in the other of the drive-side rotary member and the driven-side rotary member, the intermediate lock mechanism being capable of switching between a locked state in which the relative rotation phase is constrained to an intermediate locked phase between the most advanced phase and the most retarded phase by the lock member fitting into the recess, and an unlocked state in which the constraint has been released by the lock member withdrawing from the recess;
a phase control unit that controls supply of the fluid to the retard chamber and discharge of the fluid from the advance chamber, or controls discharge of the fluid from the retard chamber and supply of the fluid to the advance chamber, such that the lock member attains the intermediate locked phase; and
a determination unit that, after the phase control unit executes the control to supply the fluid to the retard chamber and discharge the fluid from the advance chamber, or executes the control to discharge the fluid from the retard chamber and supply the fluid to the advance chamber, when control has been performed such that the lock member moves toward a determination phase that has been set at a different position than the intermediate locked phase in the recess, determines whether the lock member will attain the determination phase, and when the result of that determination is that the lock member will not attain the determination phase, the determination unit determines that the relative rotation phase is in the locked state.

2. The valve opening/closing timing control device according to claim 1 ,
wherein after the phase control unit executes the control to supply the fluid to the retard chamber and discharge the fluid from the advance chamber or executes the control to discharge the fluid from the retard chamber and supply the fluid to the advance chamber, in a case where the determination unit determined that the lock member has not attained the determination phase, or when the determination unit determines whether the lock member will attain the determination phase, the phase control unit supplies the fluid alternately to each of the retard chamber and the advance chamber.

3. The valve opening/closing timing control device according to claim 1 ,
wherein two each of the recess and the lock member are provided, and
the determination phase is provided at any one of the two recesses, and when one of the lock members is in a state in which a phase change is restricted within a corresponding recess, the determination phase has been set to the recess that corresponds to a portion where a range of restriction for the intermediate locked phase is narrow.

4. The valve opening/closing timing control device according to claim 1 ,
wherein two recesses are provided, the length in the circumferential direction of one recess is shorter than the length of the other recess, and the determination phase is provided within the recess that has a shorter length in the circumferential direction.

5. The valve opening/closing timing control device according to claim 1 ,
wherein one each of the recess and the lock member are provided, the depth of the recess increases in steps in the retard direction, and the length in the circumferential direction of a portion of the recess that is deeper than other portions is set such that when the lock member has fitted into the deep portion of the recess, displacement of the relative rotation phase of the driven-side rotary member with respect to the drive-side rotary member is prohibited.

6. The valve opening/closing timing control device according to claim 1 ,
wherein one each of the recess and the lock member are provided, and the length in the circumferential direction of the recess is set such that in a case where the lock member has fitted into the recess, the relative rotation phase of the driven-side rotary member with respect to the drive-side rotary member is displaceable.

Assignees

• Aisin Seiki

Inventors

• Nunami Koji
• Iwaya Takashi
• Amano Hiroyuki
• Kobayashi Masaki

Classifications

• F01L2001/34483

  Phaser return springs · CPC title

• F01L2001/34473

  Lock movement perpendicular to camshaft axis · CPC title

• F01L2800/00

  Methods of operation using a variable valve timing mechanism · CPC title

• F01L2250/02

  the camshaft being driven by chains · CPC title

• F01L1/24 Primary

  by fluid means, e.g. hydraulically · CPC title