Abstract:
A synchronizer sleeve adapted for use in a gear synchronizer mechanism of a power transmission, the synchronizer sleeve being formed at its inner periphery with inner spline teeth for meshing engagement to be meshed with a clutch gear of a change-speed gear train and inner spline teeth for synchronization positioned among the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement in a circumferential direction to be meshed with a synchronizer ring, wherein the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement and for synchronization are provided respectively at their one ends with a pair of chamfer surfaces formed by plastic deformation in a press-process, and wherein the inner spline teeth for synchronization are formed shorter in axial length than the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement. In the synchronizer sleeve, a ridge of each pair of the chamfer surfaces and an intersection of each of the chamfer surfaces and each tooth flank of the inner spline teeth are rounded off by plastic deformation in the press-process.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a synchronizer sleeve adapted for use in a gear synchronizer mechanism of a power transmission for an automotive vehicle and a press-forming apparatus for the synchronizer sleeve, and more particularly to a press-forming apparatus for forming a chamfer on each distal end of inner spline teeth of the synchronizer sleeve by plastic deformation.  
           [0003]    2. Discussion of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 48-67649 is a synchronizer sleeve S adapted for use in a gear synchronizer mechanism of a power transmission as shown in FIGS.  1 (A) and  1 (B). The synchronizer sleeve S is formed at its inner periphery with circumferentially spaced inner spline teeth  1  to be meshed with a clutch gear of a change-speed gear train and inner spline teeth  2  for synchronization shorter in axial direction than the inner spline teeth  1  for meshing engagement and positioned among them in a circumferential direction to be meshed with a synchronizer ring.  
           [0005]    In a conventional manufacturing process of the synchronizer sleeve, the inner spline teeth  1  for meshing engagement and the inner spline teeth  2  for synchronous engagement are formed by machining with a broach-cutter as shown in FIG. 2(A), and subsequently a chamfer  1   a  or  1   b  for meshing engagement is formed by an end-mill cutter on each distal end surface  3  of the inner spline teeth  1  indexed one by one tooth as shown in FIG. 2(B). Thereafter, the machining condition is changed as shown in FIG. 2(C), wherein a chamfer surface  2   a  or  2   b  for synchronous engagement is formed by a cutting tool such as an end-mill cutter on each distal end surface of the inner spline teeth  2  for synchronous engagement indexed as shown in the figure. After finish of the chamfer machining at one surface, the work piece of the synchronizer sleeve is reversed in position, and the chamfer machining is carried out by the cutting tool  4  such as the end-mill cutter in the same manner as described above as shown in FIGS.  2 (D) and  2 (E).  
           [0006]    In such a machining process as described above, there will occur the following problems.  
           [0007]    1) In the cutting process, the cutting time of the chamfers for meshing engagement and synchronous engagement inevitably becomes long, resulting in an increase of the manufacturing cost of the synchronizer sleeve S.  
           [0008]    2) In operation of the power transmission, the synchronizer sleeve is moved by shifting operation of a driver toward a synchronizer ring N and a clutch gear P (a piece gear) from a neutral position as shown in FIG. 3(A). In such operation, an intersection  2   d  of the chamfer surface  2   b  and a spline tooth flank of the synchronizer sleeve S is moved in slide engagement with the chamfer surface  6  of synchronizer ring N so that the rotation speed is synchronized by frictional engagement of the synchronizer ring N with the clutch gear P. To avoid seizure of the synchronizer mechanism during the synchronous operation, a copper material lower in hardness than the material of the synchronizer sleeve S is used as the raw material of the synchronizer ring N. For this reason, if the intersection  2 D of the chamfer surface  2   b  of synchronization and the spline tooth flank  2   f  of synchronizer sleeve S was not rounded off, the chamfer surface  6  of synchronizer ring N would be scraped at each shifting operation. This shorten the life span of synchronizer ring N and deteriorates the shift feeling in a short time.  
           [0009]    In addition, when the synchronizer sleeve S is brought into meshing engagement with the clutch gear P as shown in FIG. 2(D) after passed through the synchronizer ring N as shown in FIG. 3(C) in the shifting operation, the chamfer ridge  1   c  of synchronizer sleeve S tends to abut against the chamfer ridge  7  of clutch gear P. In such an instance, if the chamfer ridge  1   c  was not rounded off, the chamfer ridge  1   c  would be damaged since the harness of the raw material of the synchronizer sleeve is the same as that of the clutch gear P, resulting in deterioration of the shift feeling. Accordingly, it required in the synchronizer sleeve S to round off the intersection  2 e of the chamfer surface  2   a  for synchronization and the spline tooth flank  2   f , the intersection  2   d  of the chamfer surface  2   b  for synchronization and the spline tooth flank  2   f  and the ridge  1   c  of the chamfer surfaces  1  for meshing engagement. It is, however, impossible to round off the intersections  2   e ,  2   d  and the chamfer ridge  1   c  by cutting as shown in FIGS.  2 (A)- 2 IE). For this reason, the intersections  2   e ,  2   d  and the chamfer ridge  1   c  must be rounded off respectively at different steps, resulting in an increase of the manufacturing cost of the synchronizer sleeve.  
           [0010]    3) In the synchronizer sleeve S whose inner spline teeth  2  for synchronization to be meshed with the synchronizer ring are formed shorter in axial length than the inner spline teeth  1  to be meshed with the change-speed gear and positioned among the inner spline teeth  1  as shown in FIGS.  1 (A) and  1 (B), each chamfer of the inner spline teeth  2  for synchronization is formed in a position displaced axially inwardly from the chamfers of inner spline teeth  1  for meshing engagement. In the case that the chamfers of inner spline teeth  2  are formed by cut-machining described above, the cutting work is restricted due to relative position of the chamfers of inner spline teeth  2  for synchronization to the chamfers of inner spline teeth  1  for meshing engagement. Accordingly, in a condition where the chamfer portion of inner spline teeth  2  for synchronization is spaced in a large distance from the chamfer portion of inner spline teeth  1  for meshing engagement, as shown in FIG. 4(A), the chamfers of inner spline teeth  2  for synchronization may not be formed by the cutting tool  4  such as the end-mill cutter since the cutting tool is interfered with the chamfers of inner spline teeth  1  for meshing engagement at a portion  8  in contact therewith. In such a case, it is obliged to reduce the space L between the chamfer portion of inner spline teeth  1  and the chamfer portion of inner spline teeth  2 . This means that the synchronizer sleeve has to be designed at the sacrifice of shift feeling. To avoid such problems, proposed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication Nos. 49-83448 and 50-122732 is a synchronizer sleeve whose chamfers are formed asymmetrical in a circumferential direction. In the cutting process of the synchronizer sleeve, however, the end-mill cutter  4  is interfered with a chamfer  9  of an adjacent spline tooth, resulting in restriction of the offset amount of the chamfer ridge and the shape of the chamfer surface. This means also that the synchronizer sleeve has to be designed at the sacrifice of shift feeling.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    To avoid the problems in the cutting process discussed above, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a synchronizer sleeve whose inner spline teeth for meshing engagement and inner spline teeth for synchronization can be formed respectively at their distal ends with a pair of chamfer surfaces and rounded off at a ridge of each pair of the chamfer surfaces and an intersection of each chamfer surface and each tooth flank of the inner spline teeth.  
           [0012]    A secondary object of the present invention is to provide a press-forming apparatus capable of forming a pair of chamfer surfaces on each distal end of inner spline teeth for meshing engagement and inner spline teeth for sychornization and rounding off a ridge of each pair of the chamfer surfaces and an intersection of each chamfer surface and each tooth flank of the inner spline teeth and of forming the inner spline teeth for synchronization shorter in axial length than the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement.  
           [0013]    According to the present invention, the primary object is accomplished by providing a synchronizer sleeve adapted for use in a gear synchronizer mechanism of a power transmission, the synchronizer sleeve being formed at its inner periphery with inner spline teeth for meshing engagement to be meshed with a clutch gear of a change-speed gear train and inner spline teeth for synchronization positioned among the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement in a circumferential direction to be meshed with a synchronizer ring, wherein the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement and for synchronization are provided respectively at their one ends with a pair of chamfer surfaces formed by plastic deformation in a press-process, and wherein the inner spline teeth for synchronization are formed shorter in axial length than the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement. In the synchronizer sleeve, a ridge of each pair of the chamfer surfaces and an intersection of each of the chamfer surfaces and each tooth flank of the inner spline teeth can be rounded off by plastic deformation in the press-process. This is useful to enhance the durability of the synchronizer ring and to eliminate damage of the ridge of the chamfer surfaces formed on each distal end of the inner spline teeth.  
           [0014]    According to the present invention, the secondary object is accomplished by providing a press-forming apparatus for a synchronizer sleeve formed at its inner periphery with inner spline teeth for meshing engagement to be meshed with a clutch gear of a change-speed gear train and inner spline teeth for synchronization positioned among the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement in a circumferential direction to be meshed with a synchronizer ring, which press-forming apparatus comprises a pair of upper and lower dies respectively provided with a first chamfer forming portion to be coupled with the inner spline teeth of the synchronizer sleeve for meshing engagement and a second chamfer forming portion smaller in depth than the first chamfer forming portion to be coupled with the inner spline teeth of the synchronizer sleeve for synchronization, said first and second chamfer forming portions being provided respectively with outer spline teeth which are formed to correspond with the inner spline teeth of the synchronizer sleeve for meshing engagement and for synchronization and formed at their proximal ends with a pair of chamfer forming surfaces in a condition where a ridge of the chamfer forming surfaces and an intersection of each of the chamfer forming surfaces and each tooth flank of the outer spline teeth are rounded off, wherein the synchronizer sleeve is pressed in a condition where the inner spline teeth of the synchronizer sleeve for meshing engagement and for synchronization have been vertically coupled at their one ends with the chamfer forming portions of the lower die and at their other ends with the chamfer forming portions of the upper die thereby to form a pair of chamfer surfaces respectively on opposite ends of the inner spline teeth of the synchronizer sleeve for the meshing engagement and for synchronization and to form the inner spline teeth for synchronization shorter in axial length than, the inner spline teeth for meshing engagement.  
           [0015]    In the press-forming apparatus, the pair of chamfer surfaces can be formed by plastic deformation on each distal end of the inner spline teeth of the synchronizer sleeve for meshing engagement and for synchronization without any restriction in position and shape of the chamfer surfaces, and simultaneously the ridge of each of the chamfer surfaces and the intersection of each of the chamfer surfaces and each tooth flank of the inner spline teeth can be accurately rounded off 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily appreciated from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1(A) is a sectional view of a synchronizer sleeve adapted for use in a gear transmission;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1(B) is an illustration of arrangement of inner spline teeth for meshing engagement and for synchronization shown in FIG. 1(A);  
         [0019]    FIGS.  2 (A)- 2 (E) illustrates a conventional cutting process of forming a chamfer surface on the inner spline teeth of the synchronizer sleeve shown in FIG. 1(A);  
         [0020]    FIGS.  3 (A)- 3 D) illustrates an engagement condition of the synchronizer sleeve shown in FIG. 1(A) with a synchronizer ring and a piece gear in shifting operation;  
         [0021]    FIGS.  4 (A)- 4 (B) illustrates a cutting process of forming chamfers for meshing engagement and for synchronization on inner spline teeth of a conventional synchronizer sleeve;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a press-forming apparatus for a synchronizer sleeve in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6(A) is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a lower die shown in FIG. 5;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6(B) is an enlarged plan view of the lower die shown in FIG. 5;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 7(A) is a partly enlarged view of a chamfer forming portion for meshing engagement and a chamfer forming portion for synchronization formed on the lower die shown in FIG. 6(A);  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 7(B) is an enlarged view showing a small diameter portion of spline teeth in the chamfer forming portion shown in FIG. 7(A);  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 8(A) is an enlarged vertical sectional view of an upper die shown in FIG. 5;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 8(B) is an enlarge plan view of the upper die shown in FIG. 5;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 9(A) is a partly enlarged view of a chamfer forming portion for meshing engagement and a chamfer forming portion for synchronization formed on the upper die shown in FIG. 8(A);  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 9(B) is an enlarge view showing a small diameter portion of spline teeth in the chamfer forming portion shown I FIG. 9(A);  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view illustrating an operated condition of the press-forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5; and  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view illustrating an operated condition of the press-forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0033]    Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Illustrated in FIG. 5 is a press-forming apparatus of a synchronizer sleeve in accordance with the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, a work piece W pressed by the press-forming apparatus is in the form of a sleeve preliminarily formed with inner splines W 1  and W 2  in a cutting process or a plastic machining process. The inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  are formed respectively as inner spline teeth for meshing engagement with a clutch gear P of a change-speed gear train and for synchronization.  
         [0034]    The press-forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5 includes a lower die  10  formed at its upper portion with outer spline teeth  10   a  to be coupled with the inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  of the work piece W as shown in FIGS.  6 (A) and  6 (B). The outer spline teeth  10   a  of lower die  10  are formed at their lower ends with a chamfer forming portion lob for forming a pair of chamfer surfaces on each distal end of the inner spline teeth W 2  for for synchronization and a chamfer forming portion  10   c  for forming a pair of chamfer surfaces on each distal end of the inner spline teeth W  1  for meshing engagement. In the chamfer forming portion lob, as shown by an enlarged scale in FIGS.  7 (A),  7 (B), a ridge  10   h  of the pair of chamfer surfaces and an intersection  10   m  of each chamfer surface and each tooth flank of the outer spline teeth  10   a  are rounded off. Similarly, in the chamfer forming portion  10   c , a ridge 10k of the pair of chamfer surfaces and an intersection  10   n  of each chamfer surface and each tooth flank of the outer spline teeth  10   a . The chamfer forming portion lob for the inner spline teeth W 2  for synchronization is located above the chamfer forming portion  10   c  for the inner spline teeth W 1  for meshing engagement to plastically deform the inner spline teeth W 2  of work piece W shorter in axial length than the inner spline teeth W 1  as described later. With such arrangement, the raw material of inner spline teeth W 1  for synchronization is deformed by the chamfer forming portion  10   b  larger than that under pressure of the chamfer forming portion  10   c  when the inner spline teeth WI and W 2  of work piece W are formed with the chamfers. That is to say, the pressure caused by the chamfer forming portion  10   b  in a chamfer forming process becomes higher than that under the chamfer forming portion  10   c . As a result, there is a possibility of damage of the lower die  10  caused by unbalance of the pressure. To avoid such damage of the lower die  10 , a small diameter portion  10   d  of the chamfer forming portion  10   b  is formed smaller than a small diameter portion  10   e  of the chamfer forming portion  10   c  to uniform the balance of pressure in the press-forming process. Although the chamfer ridge  10   k  for meshing engagement is offset from the center of each outer spline tooth  10   a  as shown in FIG. 7(A), the chamfer ridge  10   k  may be formed at the center of each outer spline tooth  10   a  as in the chamfer ridge  10   m  for synchronization. In addition, the lower die  10  is formed thereon with a guide projection  11   f  of triangle in cross-section to be coupled with an upper die  11 . With this guide projection  11   f , the upper and lower outer spline portions are accurately positioned in phase when the upper die  11  is coupled with the lower die  10 . The lower die  10  is formed at its bottom with an annular flange formed with circumferentially equally spaced holes  10   g  through which knockout pins  12  are inserted.  
         [0035]    As shown in FIG. 5, the lower die  10  is mounted on a base of a press-machine together with an inner dice  14 , an outer dice  15 , a dice-holder  16 , a plate  17 , a packing plate  18  and a ring  19 . The inner dice  14  is integrally assembled with the outer dice  15  by press-fit therein. The inner dice  14  is machined slightly larger in its inner diameter  14   a  than the outer diameter of the work piece to prevent deformation of the work piece W more than a predetermined value when the chamfers are formed on the inner spline teeth. A knockout sleeve  13  is assembled between the inner dice  14  and the dice-holder  16  to be moved by the knockout pins  12  in a vertical direction.  
         [0036]    As shown in FIG. 5 and FIGS.  8 (A),  8 (B), the upper die  11  is formed with outer splines  11   a  to be coupled with the inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  of work piece W. The outer spline teeth  11   a  of upper die  11  are formed at their upper ends with a chamfer forming portion  11   b  for forming a pair of chamfer surfaces on the other distal ends of inner spline teeth W 2  of work piece W and a chamfer forming portion for forming a pair of chamfer surfaces on the other distal ends of inner spline teeth W 1  of work piece W. In the chamfer forming portion  11   b , as shown in FIGS.  9 (A),  9 (B), a ridge  11   g  of the pair of chamfer surfaces and an intersection  11   k  of each chamfer surface and each tooth flank of the outer spline teeth  11   a  are rounded off. Similarly, in the chamfer forming portion  11   c , a ridge  11   h  of the pair of chamfer surfaces and an intersection  11   m  of each chamfer surface and each tooth flank of the outer spline teeth  11   a  are rounded off. The chamfer forming portion  11   b  is located lower than the chamfer forming portion  11   c . With such arrangement of the chamfer forming portions  11   b  and  11   c , there is a possibility of damage of the outer spline teeth  11   a  of upper die  11  caused by unbalance of the pressure as in the lower die  10 . To avoid such damage of the upper die  10 , a small diameter portion  11   d  of the chamfer forming portion  11   b  is formed smaller that a small diameter portion  11   e  of the chamfer forming portion  11   c  to uniform the balance of pressure in the press-forming process. Although the chamfer ridge  11   h  for meshing engagement is offset from the center of each outer spline tooth  11   a  as shown in FIGS.  9 (A), the chamfer ridge  11   h  may be formed at the center of each outer spline tooth  11   a  as in the chamfer ridge  11   g  for synchronization. In addition, the upper die  11  is formed with an engagement bore  11   f  to be coupled with the guide projection  10   f  of lower die  10   g  for positioning the upper and lower outer spline teeth accurately in phase when the upper die  11  is coupled with the lower die  10 . As shown in FIG. 5, the upper die  11  is mounted on a ram of the press-machine together with a stopper  20  and an upper die holder  21 .  
         [0037]    In the press-forming apparatus as described above, the work piece W is mounted on the lower die  10  in such a manner that the inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  of work piece W are vertically coupled with the outer spline teeth  10   a  of lower die  10 . Thereafter, the ram of the press-machine is moved down so that the engagement bore  11   f  of upper die  11  is coupled with the guide projection  10   f  of lower die  10 . Thus, the outer spline teeth  10   a  of lower die  10  and the outer spline teeth  11  a of upper die  11  are accurately positioned in phase, and the outer spline teeth  11   a  of upper die  11  are coupled with an upper portion of the inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  of work piece W. In such a condition, the ram of the press-machine is further moved down to press the upper die  11  against the lower die  10 . Under such pressure of the upper die  11 , as shown in FIG. 10, the lower end portion of the inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  of work piece W is plastically deformed by the chamfer forming portions  10   b  and  10   c  of lower die  10 , while the upper end portion of the inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  of work piece W is plastically deformed by the chamfer forming portions  11   b  and  11   c  of upper die  11 . In this pressure process, the inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  of work piece W are formed respectively at their lower ends with a pair of chamfer surfaces for synchronization and a pair of chamfer surfaces for meshing engagement, and a ridge of each pair of the chamfer surfaces and an intersection of each chamfer surface and each tooth flank of the inner spline teeth are rounded off by plastic deformation. On the other hand, the inner spline teeth W 1  and W 2  of work piece W are formed respectively at their upper ends with a pair of chamfer surfaces for synchronization and a pair of chamfer surfaces for meshing engagement, and a ridge of each pair of the chamfer surfaces and an intersection of each chamfer surface and each tooth flank of the inner spline teeth are rounded off by plastic deformation.  
         [0038]    Thus, the inner spline teeth W 2  of work piece W are formed shorter in axial length than the inner spline teeth W 1  by plastic deformation under pressure and formed by press in the form of spline teeth  2  for synchronization shown in FIGS.  1 (A),  1 (B). In addition, the downward movement amount of the upper die  11  relative to the lower die  10  can be defined by abutment of the stopper  20  against the inner dice  14  and outer dice  15 . When the ram of the press-machine is lifted after finish of the pressure process, the upper die  11  is moved upward, and the work piece W is raised by upward movement of the knockout pins  12  as shown in FIG. 11 and removed from the lower die  10  and inner dice  14 .