US 5,938,169 AGranted

Engine mounting for engine accessory

AssigneeSuzuki Motor Corporation

InventorsAkiteru Ogawa, Masako Ishikawa

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Abstract

An accessory such as an alternator is mounted to an automobile with a mounting that includes an upper mounting bracket and a lower mounting bracket, these brackets each being connected to the accessory and to the engine. One end of the upper mounting bracket is fixed to a side of the alternator. A length of the upper bracket is provided with an elongated slot and a fastener passing through the slot is fixed to an upper part of the engine such as at a water pump casing, the upper bracket thus being slidable on the fastener to adjust a positioning of the alternator relative to the engine and correspondingly altering a tension in an engine driven accessory drive belt. Because the upper bracket is thus at the accessory inner side, overall engine width is reduced and belt tensioning achieved in more efficient way. The lower mounting bracket is made from a flat stock plate which at one side is rolled into a cylinder and to which the accessory can be connected so that when installed, the accessory can be pivoted relative to the engine from the cylinder, an opposite flat side of the plate being fixed to the engine. A bend is formed intermediate the cylinder and opposite flat side to provide that the cylinder is offset away from the engine with the lower bracket mounted thereto. By this, the lower bracket is more simply and economically produced and it can be made smaller than heretofore.

A mounting for mounting an accessory to an engine, said mounting comprising the combination with an accessory and an engine,

a first bracket, the first bracket having an elongated slot in a first end portion thereof, and
a second bracket,
the second bracket being fixedly attachable to a surface of the engine, a side of an engine accessory being pivotably attachable to said second bracket,
a second side of the first bracket being attachable to one of an opposite side of the engine accessory and an engine part at a location distal the engine surface to which the second bracket is attachable, the opposite end portion of the first bracket elongated slot being captively slidably movable relative to a bolt passing through said slot and received in one of a other of said opposite side of said engine accessory and said engine part, a relative sliding movement between said slot and said bolt being effective to pivot the accessory at said second bracket toward and away from the engine and correspondingly alter a tension in an accessory drive belt connected to said accessory and a drive belt member on the engine, said second bracket being
a plate stock component having one side part rolled back from a side edge into a hollow cylinder for receiving a bolt passing through openings disposed in each of opposite accessory flanges positioned exteriorly alongside opposite ends of the hollow cylinder to pivotably attach the accessory to the second bracket, an axis of the cylinder defining an accessory pivot axis when the second bracket is attached to the engine surface,
a second side part of the plate stock component opposite said one side having a flat configuration with openings passing therethrough for reception of fasteners with which the second bracket can be attached to the engine surface, a center part of the plate stock component being bent with respect to the second side thereof whereby with the second bracket attached to the engine surface, the hollow cylinder is offset a distance outwardly of the engine, at least parts of the plate component center part having reinforcing ribs thereon, said reinforcing ribs extending between said one side part and said second side part to provide a strengthening of said center part.

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Abstract

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