Oil pan of internal combustion engine

Details Oil pan of internal combustion engine Oil pan of internal combustion engine

1998-06-15

2000-03-28

Wolfe, Willis R.

Internal-combustion engines

Frame construction

Horizontal cylinder

123198E, 184 65, 184106, F02F 700, F01M 104

Patent

active

06041751&

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to improvements in structure of an oil pan of an internal combustion engine to prevent vibration of the oil pan, and more particularly to a technique for suppressing vibration of a deep pan section of the oil pan which vibration serves as a major source of noise generated from the oil pan.


BACKGROUND ART

Most internal combustion engines such as automotive internal combustion engines are provided with an oil pan which is located beneath a cylinder block and formed relatively deep. The oil pan stores therein lubricating oil which is sucked by an oil pump and fed under pressure to a variety of engine parts. Such an oil pan is generally formed of a metal such as aluminum alloy or the like and fabricated to have a thin wall structure, and therefore tends to make its diaphragm vibration under input of vibration of the engine thereby to generate or radiate relatively high level noise.
In view of the above, a variety of structures of oil pan have been hitherto proposed to suppress generation of noise from the oil pan, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-166834, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 6-336952, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-83112, Japanese Utility Model Provisional Publication No. 61-91047, and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-110553. For example, in the noise generation suppression structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-166834, an inner pan is provided having bottom and side walls similar in shape to the inner surfaces of the bottom and side walls of the shallow pan section of an oil pan, and disposed in such as a manner as to lie over the shallow pan section without being fixed to the oil pan. The inner pan is provided with an oil maintaining wall to maintain therein lubricating oil, thereby suppressing generation of noise from the shallow pan section of the oil pan.
However, the above conventional noise generation suppression structure as disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-166834 and similar structures as disclosed in other conventional structures disclosed in the other Publications cannot be expected to offer an effect to suppress vibration of the deep pan section of the oil pan which vibration serves as a major source of noise generated from the whole oil pan. Additionally, the conventional technique having the inner pan invites an increase in weight and therefore is problematic from the viewpoint of weight-lightening of the oil pan and the engine.
Additionally, the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-83112 uses a baffle plate which is fixedly disposed at the upper opening of an oil pan in order to suppress movement (such as waving) of the surface of lubricating oil inside the oil pan for the purpose of stabilizing the lubricating oil surface. However, even this technique never offers an effect to suppress noise generation from the deep pan section of the oil pan.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved oil pan of an internal combustion engine, which can effectively overcome drawbacks encountered in conventional oil pans of internal combustion engines.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved oil pan of an internal combustion engine, which can effectively suppress noise generation from the oil pan while achieving the weight-lightening of the oil pan.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved oil pan of an internal combustion engine, in which noise generation from the deep pan section of the oil pan can be effectively suppressed under the action of a baffle plate which covers the inside of the deep pan section and retains thereon lubricating oil.
An aspect of the present invention resides in an oil pan to be installed to a cylinder block of an internal combustion engine. The oil pan comprises an oil pan main body section which includes a deep pan section for storing lubricating oil, and a shallow pa

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