JP2005098386A - Vehicle suspension device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the position and constitution of a member in a vehicle suspension device for containing a motor. <P>SOLUTION: An electromagnetic suspension 4 is provided with a shock absorber 80 disposed between a car body and a wheel, a coil spring 22 to elastically support the sprung side to the upper side, and an upper support 70 to connect the shock absorber 80 to the car body. The motor 20 that contributes to control of the shock absorber 80 is contained and held in a support member 52 of the upper support 70. The support member 52 comprises a plate-shaped form having a bottom part. For restricting deposition of liquid in the support member 52, a hole 54 is provided for eliminating liquid penetrating into the support member 52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle suspension device, and more particularly to a vehicle suspension device that controls an absorber by a motor.

As a vehicle suspension technique, there is one that proposes an electromagnetic absorber having a motor and a ball screw (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This absorber reduces the unnecessary spring vibration by using a motor and a ball screw to generate a damping force between the unsprung and unsprung parts of the vehicle. It is an improvement. Moreover, in patent document 1, the motor which controls the absorber arrange | positioned between a vehicle body and a wheel is installed in the position comparatively separated from the rod which is a motor drive object. As another example of an electromagnetic absorber, there is one that proposes a technique for elastically supporting a motor inside a tube via a spring means (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2001-180244 A JP-A-8-197931

  In the vehicle attitude control device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, there is a possibility that stagnant water and dew condensation may occur due to the intrusion of rainwater on the member housing the motor. As a result, rust and corrosion occur, and there is room for improvement in terms of long-term reliability. In addition, since the distance between the motor and the rod is relatively long, there is room for improvement in terms of posture stability. Further, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, in view of storing the motor in the tube, there is room for improvement in terms of manufacturability and maintainability in the factory.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a technique capable of improving at least one of long-term reliability, posture stability, ease of manufacture and maintainability of a vehicle suspension system. It is to provide.

  In order to solve the above problems, an aspect of the present invention relates to a vehicle suspension device. This vehicle suspension device includes a motor that contributes to control of an absorber disposed between a vehicle body and wheels, a receiving support member having a bottom portion in order to accommodate and hold the motor, and a liquid in the support member. Suppression means for suppressing accumulation. The suppressing means may have a removing means for removing liquid accumulated in the support member. Further, the removing means may be a hole formed in the bottom of the support member. According to this configuration, since the suppressing means suppresses liquid accumulation, the problems such as rust and corrosion described above can be reduced, which contributes to improvement of long-term reliability. Further, since the support member is in the shape of a saucer, the motor can be easily accommodated, and the ease of manufacturing and maintainability in the factory are enhanced.

  The suppressing means may further include an intrusion suppressing means for suppressing liquid from entering the support member. By suppressing the permeation of the liquid itself, the above-mentioned problems such as rust and corrosion can be easily avoided.

  In addition, the overall configuration may be determined such that the bottom portion of the support member is positioned below the attachment portion where the mechanism including the support member is attached to the vehicle body side. The “mechanism portion including the support member” may be configured only by the support member. According to this configuration, since the distance between the motor that is the driving means and the driving target can be reduced, the posture stability of the entire system is increased.

  Another aspect of the present invention also relates to a vehicle suspension apparatus. This vehicle suspension system includes a motor that contributes to control of an absorber disposed between a vehicle body and wheels, and a support member that holds and holds the motor in a fixed manner, and a mechanism that includes the support member is attached to the vehicle body side. The whole structure is defined so that the bottom part of the support member is positioned below the part.

  Still another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a vehicle suspension device. The vehicle suspension device includes a motor that contributes to control of an absorber disposed between a vehicle body and wheels, and a support member that fixedly accommodates and holds the motor, and a mechanism including the support member is disposed on the vehicle body side. The overall configuration is defined such that the center of gravity of the motor is positioned below the attachment site to be attached.

  These configurations can also improve the motor posture stability. In addition, the entire volume including the motor can be reduced.

  These vehicle suspension apparatuses may further include a suppression unit that suppresses the accumulation of liquid in the support member. Thereby, the above-mentioned problems such as rust and corrosion can be reduced.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the vehicle suspension apparatus which can improve at least one of the long-term reliability of a vehicle suspension apparatus, attitude | position stability, the manufacture ease in a factory, and maintainability can be provided.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a vehicle 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle 1 includes a vehicle body 2, a wheel 3a that is a left front wheel, a wheel 3b that is a right front wheel, a wheel 3c that is a left rear wheel, and a wheel 3d that is a right rear wheel (hereinafter collectively referred to as "wheel 3" as appropriate). Prepare. The wheel 3 is composed of a wheel and a rubber tire. The vehicle body 2 and the wheels 3 are connected to each other via an electromagnetic suspension which is an example of a vehicle suspension device provided with an absorber that generates a spring force and an unsprung damping force of the vehicle 1 using a motor. The position of the member supported by the spring of the electromagnetic suspension is referred to as “sprung”, and the position of the member not supported by the spring is referred to as “unsprung”. That is, the sprung is on the vehicle body 2 side, and the unsprung is on the wheel 3 side. In this example, the wheel 3a is attached to the electromagnetic suspension 4a, the wheel 3b is attached to the electromagnetic suspension 4b, the wheel 3c is attached to the electromagnetic suspension 4c, and the wheel 3d is attached to the electromagnetic suspension 4d. Hereinafter, the electromagnetic suspensions 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d are collectively referred to as “electromagnetic suspension 4”. Each electromagnetic suspension 4 is independently controlled by an electronic control device (hereinafter, the electronic control device is referred to as “ECU”) 10. The ECU 10 includes a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM.

  The current flowing through the motor of the electromagnetic suspension 4 is detected by a current sensor. A current sensor 5a is provided for the electromagnetic suspension 4a, a current sensor 5b is provided for the electromagnetic suspension 4b, a current sensor 5c is provided for the electromagnetic suspension 4c, and a current sensor 5d is provided for the electromagnetic suspension 4d. Hereinafter, the current sensors 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d are collectively referred to as “current sensor 5”. The detection result of each current sensor 5 is transmitted to the ECU 10. The current detection function by the current sensor 5 may be realized by the ECU 10.

  By providing the electromagnetic suspension 4 for each wheel 3, the ECU 10 can independently control the current applied to the motor of the electromagnetic suspension 4 according to the state of each wheel 3. Further, by adopting the electromagnetic suspension 4, it is possible to realize control with excellent responsiveness.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the electromagnetic suspension 4. The electromagnetic suspension 4 includes a motor 20, a ball screw 24, a ball screw nut 26, a rod 28, an outer shell 30, bearings 32, 34 and 36, a dust seal 38 and a rotation angle sensor 44, and a spring under the spring. A coil spring 22 elastically supported on the upper side and an upper support 70 for coupling the shock absorber 80 to the vehicle body 2 are provided. The bearing 32 rotatably supports the ball screw 24 inside the rod 28, and the bearings 34 and 36 support the rod 28 slidably inside the outer shell 30. The dust seal 38 prevents foreign matters such as dust from entering the outer shell 30. The rotation angle sensor 44 detects the amount of rotation of the motor 20. The detection result of the rotation angle sensor 44 is transmitted to the ECU 10. The rotation angle sensor 44 may be provided outside the motor 20 or may be provided inside the motor 20. The electromagnetic suspension 4 is attached to the configuration on the vehicle body 2 side at the first attachment portion 40, and is attached to the configuration on the wheel 3 side at the second attachment portion 46. The coil spring 22 is contracted between the body surface in the vicinity of the first mounting portion 40 and the spring seat 42, and is given a predetermined load in advance.

  The coil spring 22 supports the weight of the sprung portion of the vehicle 1 and prevents vibrations and shocks from the road surface from being transmitted to the vehicle body 2 through the wheels 3. The shock absorber 80 attenuates the vertical vibration of the vehicle body 2 caused by the coil spring 22. The shock absorber 80 can generate a damping force between the sprung and unsprung parts of the vehicle 1 using the motor 20 and has excellent control response.

  The ball screw 24, the rod 28 and the outer shell 30 are arranged coaxially. The outer shell 30 is internally provided with a ball screw nut 26 having a female screw portion. The ball screw 24 has a male screw portion and is in a state of being screwed into the ball screw nut 26. The motor 20 supports one end of the ball screw 24 by serration so as to be rotatable. When the motor 20 is driven, the ball screw 24 rotates relative to the ball screw nut 26, and the outer shell 30 is pushed downward or lifted upward with respect to the motor 20. In this embodiment, an example in which the ball screw 24 is provided on the vehicle spring and the ball screw nut 26 is provided below the vehicle spring will be described. Conversely, the ball screw 24 is provided below the vehicle spring. A screw nut 26 may be provided on the spring of the vehicle.

  When the vehicle 1 is traveling on a good road, the ECU 10 sets the current value applied to the motor 20 of each electromagnetic suspension 4 to a reference current value, for example, 0A. When the road surface is uneven and the wheel 3 moves up and down, the coil spring 22 expands and contracts due to the relative movement between the rod 28 and the outer shell 30. At this time, when the ball screw 24 rotates relative to the ball screw nut 26, the motor 20 rotates and acts as a generator, and a damping force is generated by the resistance force generated at this time. The current sensor 5 detects a current generated by electromagnetic induction inside the motor 20 and transmits it to the ECU 10. The ECU 10 applies to the motor 20 a current in a direction that suppresses expansion and contraction of the coil spring 22, that is, a current that is opposite to the current generated by electromagnetic induction. ECU10 sets the electric current applied to the motor 20 according to the acceleration of the up-down direction of the vehicle body 2, and adjusts damping force. Thus, the shock absorber 80 of the present embodiment functions as an electromagnetic shock absorber. Further, since the vehicle body 2 can be displaced in the vertical direction by rotating the ball screw 24, the shock absorber 80 of the present embodiment can be used for controlling the posture of the vehicle body 2.

  The shock absorber 80 is controlled by the rotation of the motor 20. However, since inertial force acts on the rotor of the motor 20, when high-frequency vibration is input from the road surface, the control cannot follow, and the vehicle body 2 is vibrated. There is a case where the ride comfort is worsened. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to absorb high-frequency vibration, the shock absorber 80 is coupled to the vehicle body 2 via the upper support 70 including the vibration absorbing member 50 made of an elastic body such as rubber. Thereby, comfortable riding comfort can be realized.

  In the present embodiment, the vibration absorbing member 50 is provided at a position around the shock absorber 80, and the motor 20 is arranged using the remaining space between the shock absorber 80 and the vehicle body 2. Thereby, the volume of the whole electromagnetic suspension 4 can be made small. The support member 52 that holds and holds the motor 20 in a fixed manner has a saucer-like shape having a bottom portion below. Thereby, since accommodation of motor 20 becomes easy, while being able to improve manufacture ease and maintenance nature in a factory, accommodation stability of motor 20 can be improved.

  Unlike the example described in Patent Document 1, the bottom portion of the support member 52 that accommodates and holds the motor 20 is lower than the first attachment portion 40 that attaches the mechanism including the support member 52, that is, the upper support 70 to the vehicle body side. Since the entire configuration is determined so as to be positioned, the posture stability is excellent. Further, by determining the overall configuration so that the center of gravity of the motor 20 is positioned below the first mounting portion 40, posture stability can be further improved. Further, unlike the example described in Patent Document 2, since the motor 20 is fixedly accommodated in the support member 52, the stability of the motor 20 is good and the overall volume can be small.

  Since the support member 52 has a saucer-like shape having a bottom portion below for reasons such as storage stability, there is a possibility that liquid may accumulate inside due to condensation or intrusion of rainwater from the outside. . If it is left for a long period of time with liquid accumulated inside, there are concerns about problems such as rust and corrosion. In the present embodiment, a hole 54 for removing the liquid deposited in the support member 52 is formed at the bottom of the support member 52 in order to prevent the liquid from depositing in the support member 52.

FIG. 3 shows the bottom surface of the support member 52. In the vicinity of the periphery of the bottom surface of the support member 52, four holes 54 are formed almost equally. The liquid that has entered the support member 52 is removed from the hole 54 to the outside. Thereby, accumulation of the liquid in the support member 52 is suppressed, and problems, such as rust and corrosion, can be reduced. The number of the holes 54 may be any number, and the position where the holes 54 are arranged may be arbitrary, but it is preferable that the holes 54 are arranged almost evenly in order to efficiently discharge the liquid to the outside. .
(Second Embodiment)
In the present embodiment, as another example of the restraining means for restraining liquid from accumulating in the support member 52, a vehicle suspension system provided with an intrusion restraining means for restraining liquid from entering the support member 52 is proposed. To do.

  FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the electromagnetic suspension 4 according to the second embodiment. The electromagnetic suspension 4 according to the present embodiment replaces the hole 54 provided in the support member 52 of the electromagnetic suspension 4 according to the first embodiment, and prevents the liquid from entering the support member 52. The boot 56 which is an example of is provided. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are given to the same configurations. Also with this configuration, it is possible to suppress the accumulation of liquid inside the support member 52, so that problems such as rust and corrosion can be reduced and long-term reliability can be improved. Further, since the support member 52 has a tray shape, the motor 20 can be easily accommodated, and the ease of manufacture and maintenance at the factory can be improved.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. is there.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the vehicle which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the electromagnetic suspension which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the bottom face of the support member which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the electromagnetic suspension which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  1 vehicle, 2 vehicle body, 3 wheels, 4 electromagnetic suspension, 5 current sensor, 10 ECU, 20 motor, 22 coil spring, 24 ball screw, 26 ball screw nut, 28 rod, 30 outer shell, 50 vibration absorbing member, 52 support Member, 54 holes, 56 boots, 70 upper support, 80 shock absorber.

Claims (8)

A motor that contributes to the control of the absorber disposed between the vehicle body and the wheels;
In order to accommodate and hold the motor, a saucer-shaped support member having a bottom portion below,
A vehicle suspension device comprising: suppression means for suppressing liquid from accumulating in the support member.   The vehicle suspension apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suppressing unit includes a removing unit that removes liquid accumulated in the support member.   The vehicle suspension apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the removing means is a hole formed in a bottom portion of the support member.   The vehicle suspension apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suppressing unit includes an intrusion suppressing unit that suppresses intrusion of liquid into the support member.   5. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an overall configuration is determined such that a bottom portion of the support member is positioned below a mounting portion where a mechanism including the support member is attached to a vehicle body side. Suspension device. A motor that contributes to the control of the absorber disposed between the vehicle body and the wheels;
A support member for fixedly accommodating and holding the motor,
A vehicle suspension system characterized in that an overall configuration is determined such that a bottom portion of the support member is positioned below a mounting portion where a mechanism including the support member is attached to a vehicle body side. A motor that contributes to the control of the absorber disposed between the vehicle body and the wheels;
A support member for fixedly accommodating and holding the motor,
A vehicle suspension apparatus characterized in that an overall configuration is determined such that a center of gravity of the motor is positioned below a mounting portion where a mechanism including the support member is attached to a vehicle body side.   The vehicle suspension apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a suppression unit that suppresses the accumulation of liquid in the support member.

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