GB2212243A

GB2212243A - Automobile parts supporting structure

Info

Publication number: GB2212243A
Application number: GB8826069A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Masaya Nikaido; Kazuo Yagihashi; Kazuo Saito
Original assignee: Jidosha Kiki Co Ltd; Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd
Current assignee: Jidosha Kiki Co Ltd; Subaru Corp
Priority date: 1987-11-10
Filing date: 1988-11-07
Publication date: 1989-07-19
Anticipated expiration: 2008-11-07
Also published as: GB8826069D0; GB2212243B; JPH0176577U; DE3837929A1; IT8822573A0

Description

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A 2212243 Automobile Parts Supporting Structure Background of the Invention

The present invention relates to an automobile parts supporting structure which can be suitably adopted to various pump apparatuses such as an oil pump in an electric hydraulic power steering apparatus.

As an oil pump serving as an oil pressure generating source in a power steering apparatus for generating an auxiliary steering force in association with a steering operation, an electric one which is driven by a motor is proposed instead of a conventional engine-driven type. An oil pump in such an electric hydraulic power steering apparatus need only be driven at a desired rotational speed by not an engine but a motor as needed. Therefore, an arrangement can be simplified because a flow control valve and the like are not necessary, and energy saving can be achieved. In addition, as compared with a conventional engine-driven type, a mounting position can be freely selected. Since a degree of freedom of a mounting space is large, this oil pump can be advantageously disposed in an automobile engine room with a limited space.

A pump appara tus of the electrical oil pump or the like as described above cannot be driven wi-L-houl vibrations. Therefore, in order to mount and fix the pump 1 apparatus in a vehicle body, a floating elastic supporting structure (e.g. , Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-30431) using damping rubber or the like must be used. That is, if such vibrations are transmitted from the pump to the body, a noise level in the interior of a vehicle is increased by vibration transmission noise or the like. Therefore, in order to prevent such a problem, the pump must be elastically supported against a fixing portion such as a vehicle body so that vibrations or the like are not transmitted to the body and a proper and reliable damping effect is achieved.

As a floating pump elastic supporting structure of this type, an elastic supporting member utilizing a bush 1 consisting of damping rubber as shown in Fig. 5 is conventionally used. More specifically, in Fig. 5, reference numeral 2 denotes a mounting bracket at a fixing portion side such as a vehicle body; 3, a mounting bracket at a pump side as a member to be supported; 4, a cylindrical spacer a flange portion 4a at one end of which is placed on the mounting bracket 2 when the spacer 4 is inserted in the bush 1; 5, a bolt having a shaft portion 5a to be inserted in the spacer 4; and 6, a nut to be threadably engaged with a distal end threaded portion 5b of the bolt S. The elastic supporting member consisting of the bush 1 and the spacer 4 are assembled to the brackets 2 and 3 by the bolt 5 and the nut 6, thereby elastically - the supporting the pump against the fixing portion so that j :1 1 pump can float. Note that in Fig. 5, reference numerals la denote annular groove portions formed in the inner surface of the bush I to reduce a vibration transmission surface with respect to the spacer 4.

According to the above conventional supporting structure, vibration transmission is inevitably generated between the spacer 4 to which vibrations at the pump side are transmitted through the bush 1 and the bolt shaft portion 5a inserted in the spacer 4 with a slight clearance or between the flange 4a of the spacer 4 and the mounting bracket 2, thereby posing a noise problem when the pump is driven. Therefore, a demand has arisen for a certain countermeasure which can solve the above problem. This is a problem which must be solved in order to dispose a pump apparatus such as an oil pump of the electric hydraulic power steering apparatus described above at a panel or the like in an engine room located in front of a driver.

In particular, in order to improve a damping effect to the pump in the above conventional supporting structure, hardness (spring constant) of the damping rubber constituting the bush 1 may be set lower. if the hardness of rubber is reduced, however, an amplitude at the pump side is unnecessarily increased, while a vibration attenuating effect is improved. As a result, the pump becomes unstable to pose a problem of vibration resisting strength. Therefore, the damping rubber hardness is determined in consideration of both the factors, i.e., determined so as to maintain the damping effect while a sufficient vibration resisting strength can be obtained.

In this case, however, if the damping rubber hardness is unnecessarily increased, vibrations at the pump side are easily transmitted to the spacer 4. As a result, vibrations are sometimes transmitted between the bush 1 consisting of the damping rubber and the spacer 4, and the noise problem described above becomes more serious. Summary of the Invention

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an automobile parts supporting structure which can improve a damping effect, which can maintain a sufficient vibration resisting strength, and which can significantly improve a noise problem caused by vibrations.

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, there is provided an automobile parts supporting structure, comprising a plurality of elastic supporting members located between automobile parts and a mounting member and fixed at both ends thereof to the automobile parts and the mounting member, and a stopper mechanism for regulating a stationary positional deviation of the automobile parts with respect to the mounting member within a predetermined range.

Brief Description of the Invention

Figs. 1 and 2 are front and side views showing a d - 1 1 C z main part of an embodiment in which a pump supporting structure according to the present invention is applied to an oil pump with a motor in an electric hydraulic power steering apparatus; Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged view showing a main part of an elastic supporting member; Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing a conventional elastic supporting member; and Figs. 6 and 7 are front and sectional views showing other embodiments of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embod 14ment

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanving drawings.

Figs. 1 to 3 show an embodiment in which a pump supporting structure according to the present invention is applied to an oil pump with a motor in an electric hydraulic power steering apparatus. In Figs. 1 to 3, a pump apparatus denoted by reference numeral 10 comprises an oil pump 12 driven by a motor 11 and an oil reserver 13 which is integrally formed around the oil pump 12.

An arrangement of the pump apparatus 10 will be briefly described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. As shown in Fig. 3, the oil pump 12 includes a rotor having a vane mounted on an output shaft lla from the motor 11 posltionel is 1 at an opening end side of a cup-like-member which constitutes the oil reserver 13, a cam ring located around the rotor, and a pump element 14 consisting of a pair of plates located at both ends of the cam ring. The rotor, the cam ring, and the pump element 14 are incorporated in a pump body denoted by reference numeral 15. When the rotor is rotated by the output shaft lla of the motor 11, an working oil in the oil reserver 13 is pumped up and injected into a power cylinder (not shown).

The oil reserver 13 has an oil supplying filler portion 16 which consists of a pipe member projecting upward and is normally closed by a cap, and has at its end face an outlet port 17 from the pump 12 and a reflux path 18 for the working oil from the power cylinder (not shown).

According to the present invention, the pump apparatus 10 comprising the oil pump 12 with the motor 11 in the electric hydraulic power steering apparatus as described above includes a plurality of elastic supporting members 25, located between mounting brackets 20 which are integrally formed at the pump apparatus 10 (around the motor 11 in this embodiment) and mounting brackets 21 formed at a vehicle body as a fixing portion of the mounting brackets 20, and stopper members 27 extending from the fixing portion (mounting brackets 21) to be inserted in bushes 26 consisting of elastic members located in the mounting brackets 20 at the pump apparatus 10 side. The pump apparatus 10 is elastically supported against the 7- 1; fixing portion by the elastic supporting members 25, while its movement is restricted within a predetermined range by the stopper members 27. As is apparent from Fig. 4, each elastic supporting member consists of a pillar elastic body 22 for elastically supporting the mounting bracket 20 at the pump apparatus 10 on the mounting bracket 21 at the vehicle body side and metal threaded portions or heads of bolts 23 and 24 for fixing both end portions of the pillar elastic body 22 to the brackets 20 and 21, respectively.

Examples of damping rubber constituting the pillar elastic body 22 are natural rubber and synthetic rubber such as -ic bodv 22 nitrile rubber and chloroprene. The pillar elasjL is adhered to the threaded portions 23 and 24 by baking or using an adhesive. As is apparent from Fig. 1, each is stopper member 27 has a shaft portion 27a to be inserted with a clearance in the bush 26 consisting of the elastic member and located in the mounting bracket 20 at the pump apparatus 10 side and a large-diameter portion 27b located at the upper end of the shaft portion 27a so as to oppose the bush end face 26a with a predetermined interval. Each stopper member 27 extends from the fixing portion (mounting bracket 21).

In the drawings, reference numerals 28a and 28b denote nuts for fixing the metal threaded portions 23 and 24 of the elastic supporting member 25 to the brackets 20 and 21, respectively; and 29, a nut for fixing a lower end threaded portion 27c of. the stopper member 27 to the 7 mounting bracket 21 at the fixingportion. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 3, four positions of the mounting brackets 20 at the pump apparatus 10 are elastically supported against the mounting brackets 21 at the fixing portion by the elastic supporting members 25, and the stopper members 27 are located at two positions o. the mounting brackets 20.

According to the pump supporting structure having the above arrangement, the pump apparatus 10 is elastically supported against the fixing portion (mounting brackets 21) by a plurality of elastic supporting members 25, and a vertical or lateral excessive rocking motion of the pump apparatus 10 can be properly and reliably regulated by the stopper members- 27. Therefore, the damping rubber hardness constituting the pillar elastic body 22 can be reduced to increase the vibration attenuating effect, thereby improving the damping effect. In addition, since the upper end portion of the shaft portion 27a of the stopper member 27 abuts against the inner wall surface of the bush 26 in which it is inserted with a clearance or the large-diameter portion 27b thereof abuts against the end face of the bush 26, the motion of the pump apparatus 10 can be regulated without generating impact noise or the like due to vibrations at the pump side. Therefore, the vibration 25 resisting strength can be properly and sufficiently maintained without an interference with other members. As a result, the conventional noise problem caused by 11 vibrations can be significantly improved. Therefore, according to the proper and reliable elastic supporting structure having the above arrangement, vibration transmission noise can be reduced, and a noise level to be 5 transmitted to the interior of a vehicle can be largely -he reduced. In addition, problems such as impact noise at IL supporting portion can be solved to advantageously reduce noise.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but the shapes, structures, and the like of the respective parts can be arbitrarily changed and modified. For example, in the above embodiment, the elastic supporting members 25 are located at four positions, and the stopper members 27 are located at two positions.

However, the present invention is not limited to this arrangement as long as the pump apparatus is stably supported against the fixing portion. In addition, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the pump apparatus 10 comprising the electric oil pump 11 in the electric hydraulic power steering apparatus. However, the present invention can be applied to various pump apparatuses to achieve the same effect. Moreover, in the above embodiment, the bushes 26 are located at the pump side. However, the bushes 26 may be located at the brackets 21. This state is shown in Fig. 6 in which the same reference numerals as in Fig. 1 denote the same parts. In this case, a stopper member is fixed to a bracket 20 extending from a pump 12 by a nut 29, and a bush 26 is mounted in a bracket 21. Furthermore, in Fig. 1, the metal threaded portions or heads of bolts 23 and 24 are embedded in both ends of the pillar elastic body 22. However, as shown in Fig. 7, metal nuts 40a and 40b may be embedded in both ends of an elastic body 22 and fixed to mounting brackets 20 and 21by bolts 41a and 41b, respectively. In this case, as shown in Fig. 7, each of the nuts 40a and 40b has a projecting threaded portion to be embedded in the elastic body 22. The nuts 40a and 40b are fixed to the elastic body 22 by baking or using an adhesive. J11he bolts and nuts associated with the elastic body may be made of plastic instead of a metal. As has been described above, the pump supporting structure according to the present invention employs a plurality of elastic supporting members located between the pump and the fixing portion of the pump and stopper members extending from the fixing portion to be inserted with a clearance in bushes consisting of elastic members and located at the pump side. Therefore, regardless of a simple and inexpensive arrangement, the pump can be properly, reliably and elastically supported against the fixing portion by a damping effect achieved by the elastic supporting members in which the damping rubber hardness is reduced to increase the vibration attenuating effect. In addition, an excessive rocking motion of the pump can be regulated by the stopper members and bushes to properly and 1.

sufficiently maintain the vibration resisting strength. Moreover, since the pump supporting structure is arranged such that collision noise between hard members is rarely generated, the conventional noise problem caused by vibrations can be significantly solved. That is, various superior effects can be achieved in practical use.

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Claims

1. An automobile parts supporting structure, comprising: a plurality of elastic supporting members located between automobile parts and a mounting member and fixed at both ends thereof to said automobile parts and said mounting member; and a stopper mechanism for regulating a stationary positional deviation of said automobile parts with respect to said mounting member within a predetermined range.

2. A structure according to claim 1, wherein each of said elastic supporting members comprises a pillar elastic body and threaded portions fixed to both ends of said pillar elastic body, said threaded portions being fixed to said automobile parts and said mounting member by nuts.

3.. A structure according to claim 2, wherein said threaded portions are made of a metal.

4. A structure according to claim 1, wherein each of said elastic supporting members comprises a pillar elastic body and nuts fixed to both ends of said pillar elastic body, said nuts being fixed to said automobile parts and said mounting member by bolts.

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5. A structure according to claim 4, wherein said nuts are made of a metal.

6. A structure according to claim 1, wherein said stopper mechanism comprises a stopper member extending from said mounting member and a bush mounted in said automobile parts and consisting of an elastic member having a hole in which said stopper member can be inserted with a clearance.

7. A structure according to claim 1, wherein said stopper mechanism comprises a stopper member extending from said automobile parts and a bush mounted in said mounting member and consisting of an elastic member having a hole in which said stopper member can be inserted with a clearance.

8. A structure according to claim 6, wherein said stopper member has a large-diameter portion at an upper end thereof to regulate movement of said stopper member of said automobile parts in a longitudinal direction.

9. A structure according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said stopper mechanisms are provided.,

10. An automobile parts supporting structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figs. 1 - 4, or Fig. 6 or Fig. 7 of the accompanying drawings.

Published 1989 at The Patent Office, State House,66.71 High Holborn, LondonWCIR4TP. Further copies maybe obtained from The Patentofffee. Sales Branch, St Maz7 Cray, Orpington, Rent BRS 3RD. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd, St Mary Cray, Kent, Con. 1/87