JP2006015868A - Motor scooter type vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the degree of freedom of stroke setting of a rear suspension unit and lower the height of a vehicle body frame. <P>SOLUTION: A swing type power unit 17 is integrally equipped with an engine 18 and a transmission case 19 rotatably supporting a rear wheel 12. Mounting parts 39, 38 are provided on a rear frame 15, both end parts 32a, 32b of link 32 are pivotally mounted to pivots 36, 35 of the mounting part 38 and the upper end part 31b of a rod 31 respectively, and a lower end part 31a of the rod 31 is pivotally mounted to a pivot 34 of the left side part of the power unit 17. Both end parts of a rear suspension unit 33 are pivotally mounted to a pivot 43 of the other end part 32b of the link 32 and a pivot 37 of the mounting part 39. The rod 31 is extended to the almost vertical direction, the link 32 is tilted rearward, the rear suspension unit 33 is tilted forward, and these show approximate Y-shaped state in a side view of the vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a scooter type vehicle in which a swing type power unit is swingably supported on a body frame.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a scooter type vehicle in which a swing type power unit in which an engine and a conduction case for holding a rear wheel are integrally configured is swingably supported on a body frame. Such a scooter type vehicle is generally provided with a rear suspension unit for elastically supporting the swing type power unit.

For example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below, a swing type power unit is connected to a rear suspension unit via a link mechanism.
JP-A-2-310187 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-158484

  However, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, since the rear suspension unit is disposed in front of the swing type power unit and is disposed along the vertical direction, the storage space of the article storage chamber formed below the seating seat is used. In consideration of securing, there is a problem that the degree of freedom of stroke setting is small because the setting of the stroke of the rear suspension unit is restricted. Further, since the rear suspension unit is long in the vertical direction, it has been difficult to reduce the height of the body frame.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to increase the degree of freedom in setting the stroke of the rear suspension unit and to reduce the height of the vehicle body frame. To provide a vehicle.

  In order to achieve the above object, a scooter type vehicle according to claim 1 of the present invention is integrally provided with an engine and a conduction case that extends rearward from the engine and transmits a driving force to a rear wheel that is held at the rear end. A swing-type power unit is a scooter-type vehicle that is swingably supported by a body frame, and one end is connected to the swing-type power unit at the side of the rear wheel, and the other end is connected to the body frame. And a rear suspension unit that connects the link mechanism and the vehicle body frame and is forwardly inclined.

  According to the present invention, the freedom of setting the stroke of the rear suspension unit can be increased, and the height of the vehicle body frame can be decreased.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a left side view of a scooter type vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a left side view of the main part of the scooter type vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the scooter type vehicle of the present embodiment is supported by a front wheel 11 that is steered by a handle 46 and a rear wheel 12 that is driven by an engine 18 that is arranged substantially horizontally. The The scooter type vehicle has a body frame 13. The vehicle body frame 13 includes a down tube 14 and a pair of left and right rear frames 15 extending rearward and upward from a rear end portion of the down tube 14. A seating seat 16 is installed at an upper portion in a substantially central portion in the vehicle front-rear direction, and an article storage chamber 22 is formed below the seating seat 16. The lower half of the article storage chamber 22 is located between the pair of rear frames 15 and overlaps the substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the rear frame 15 in a side view of the vehicle. Thereby, a large volume of the article storage chamber 22 is ensured. A fuel tank 21 is disposed behind the article storage chamber 22. The scooter-type vehicle is almost entirely covered with a synthetic resin body cover 45 so that the appearance is adjusted.

  A swing type power unit (hereinafter simply referred to as “power unit”) 17 is provided below the article storage chamber 22 and the fuel tank 21. The power unit 17 is integrally provided with the engine 18 and a conductive case 19 that is connected to the left side of a crankcase 44 (see FIG. 2) of the engine 18 and extends rearward. The rear wheel 12 is pivotally supported by a rear axle shaft (not shown) at the rear portion of the conduction case 19. A power transmission device (not shown) that transmits the power of the engine 18 to the rear wheel 12 is accommodated inside the conduction case 19. In the present embodiment, engine 18 is configured as a four-cycle engine.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an exhaust pipe 28 is connected to the lower portion of the cylinder head 27 of the engine 18, and the exhaust pipe 28 continues to a muffler (not shown) disposed on the right side of the rear wheel 12. On the other hand, a carburetor 29 is disposed above the cylinder head 27, and an air cleaner 20 is disposed behind the carburetor 29. The air cleaner 20 is located above the rear half of the power unit 17, below the fuel tank 21, and on the left side of the rear wheel 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a suspension bracket 23 is fixed to the rear end portion of the down tube 14, and a pivot 25 is installed on the rear portion of the suspension bracket 23. A support arm 24 provided at the front lower portion of the power unit 17 is pivotally attached to the pivot 25. Thus, the power unit 17 is swingable up and down around the pivot 25 via the support arm 24.

  The rear portion of the power unit 17 is supported on the left rear frame 15 by a link mechanism portion 30 including a rod 31 and a link 32 and a rear suspension unit 33. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the left rear frame 15 is formed with an attachment portion 39 for connecting the rear suspension unit 33, and further, an attachment portion for connecting the link 32 behind the attachment portion 39. 38 is formed. One end portion 32 a of the link 32 is pivotally attached to the pivot 36 of the attachment portion 38, and the other end portion 32 b is pivotally attached to the pivot 35 of the upper end portion 31 b of the rod 31. The rod 31 is disposed on the left side of the rear wheel 12 and the air cleaner 20, and the lower end 31 a of the rod 31 is pivotally attached to a pivot 34 provided on the left side of the power unit 17.

  Further, a pivot 43 is provided at the other end 32b of the link 32 and closer to the one end 32a than the pivot 35, and one end of the rear suspension unit 33 is pivotally attached to the pivot 43. The other end is pivotally attached to a pivot 37 provided on the attachment portion 39. The rod 31 extends substantially in the vertical direction, the link 32 is tilted rearward, and the rear suspension unit 33 is tilted forward, and these are substantially Y-shaped in a side view of the vehicle.

  Here, the pivot 34 is located slightly below the center (hereinafter referred to as “rear axle center”) P1 of the rear axle shaft, and the rod 31 overlaps the rear axle center P1 in a side view of the vehicle. Further, as can be seen from FIG. 1, almost the entire link 32 and the rear suspension unit 33 are covered with the vehicle body cover 45. Since the majority is hidden by the body cover 45, a good appearance is ensured. The swing arm 40 is employed in Modification 1 described later, and will be described later.

  In such a configuration, when the rear portion of the power unit 17 swings around the pivot 25 together with the rear wheel 12, the rod 31 and the link 32 rotate around the pivot 35. At this time, the movement of the rod 31 and the link 32 is caused. It is buffered by the rear suspension unit 33.

  According to the present embodiment, the rear suspension unit 33 is tilted forward and is connected to the rear portion of the power unit 17 via the link mechanism portion 30, so that the link ratio of the link mechanism portion 30 is appropriately set. Thus, the stroke of the rear suspension unit 33 can be set relatively freely while maintaining good buffer performance. For example, in the present embodiment, the rear suspension unit 33 can appropriately buffer the movement of the power unit 17 with a relatively small stroke setting with respect to the vertical swing amount of the rear portion of the power unit 17. Therefore, the degree of freedom of the stroke of the rear suspension unit 33 is higher than that of a general configuration in which the rear portion of the power unit and the rear frame are directly connected by the rear suspension unit arranged in a substantially vertical direction.

  Further, since the degree of freedom of the stroke is high, it is easy to set the buffer hardness as desired according to the character of the vehicle. Moreover, since the rear suspension unit 33 is inclined forward, the height of the rear frame 15 can be set low even if the stroke of the rear suspension unit 33 is increased. Since the height of the rear frame 15 can be set low, it is advantageous for securing the capacity of the article storage chamber 22, and the article storage chamber 22 is partially overlapped with the rear frame 15 in a side view of the vehicle. The volume of 22 can be secured more sufficiently. Furthermore, since the height of the rear frame 15 can be reduced, the height of the seating seat 16 can also be set low, which makes it easy to improve the rider's legging performance.

  Further, since the rod 31 passes through the rear axle center P1 and is supported by the pivot 34 lower than the rear axle center P1, the posture of the power unit 17 can be stabilized.

(Modification 1)
As described above, in the present embodiment, only one side (left side) of the rear wheel 12 is held by the power unit 17, and the link mechanism 30 and the rear suspension unit 33 are provided on the same side. However, in the modification 1, in addition to this, as shown in FIG. 2, the swing arm 40 is provided on the opposite side (right side) of the power unit 17 with the rear wheel 12 interposed therebetween, and the link mechanism portion 30 is provided on the right side of the vehicle. And the same mechanism (not shown) as the rear suspension unit 33 is provided symmetrically with these.

  That is, a pivot (not shown) is provided at the rear of the swing arm 40 at a position symmetrical to the pivot 34, and the lower end of the rod of the right link mechanism is pivotally attached to this pivot. Further, both the link of the right link mechanism and the right rear suspension unit are connected to the right rear frame 15. Further, the upper and lower portions of the front end portion of the swing arm 40 are fixed to the crankcase 44 of the engine 18 with bolts 41, 42 and the like so that the swing arm 40 swings integrally with the power unit 17.

  According to the first modification, not only can the rear wheel 12 be supported more stably to improve the maneuverability and the ride comfort, but also the shock absorbing performance by the rear suspension unit can be improved. It is possible to suppress twisting and the like.

(Modification 2)
As described above, in the present embodiment, the pivot 43 for pivotally attaching the rear suspension unit 33 to the link 32 is provided closer to the one end 32a than the pivot 35 in the link 32. The arrangement position is not limited to this.

  FIG. 3 is a side view showing a link mechanism portion and a rear suspension unit of a scooter type vehicle according to Modification 2 of the present embodiment. In the second modification, the configuration of the rod 31 is the same as in the example of FIGS. The link 132 corresponding to the link 32 has an extending portion 132 c that extends further forward and downward than the pivot 35, and the extending portion 132 c is provided with a pivot 143 that corresponds to the pivot 43. A mounting portion 139 corresponding to the mounting portion 39 is provided on the rear frame 15 slightly ahead of the mounting portion 39, and a rear suspension unit 133 is pivotally attached to a pivot 137 and a pivot 143 provided on the mounting portion 139. Connected.

  Also according to the second modification, the same effect as in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be obtained.

  In the second modification, as shown in the first modification, a swing arm, a link mechanism, and a rear suspension unit may be additionally provided on the right side of the vehicle.

  In the example of FIGS. 1 to 3, the pivot 34 on which the lower end 31a of the rod 31 is pivotally mounted is disposed below the rear axle center P1 in order to stabilize the posture of the power unit 17, but the posture is stabilized to some extent. From the viewpoint of obtaining the above effect, the power unit 17 above the rear axle center P1 is positioned so that the position of the pivot 34 coincides with the rear axle center P1 or the rear axle center P1 is positioned on the virtual extension line of the rod 31. You may arrange in the right place. Further, as long as the degree of freedom in setting the stroke of the rear suspension unit 33 is limited, such an arrangement is not necessarily adopted, and the pivot 34 may be arranged at any position of the power unit 17. .

  In the example of FIGS. 1 to 3, the link mechanism portion is composed of one rod and one link. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and there are two or more links. Units may be connected.

1 is a left side view of a scooter type vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a left view of the principal part of the scooter type vehicle. It is a side view which shows the link mechanism part and rear suspension unit of the scooter type vehicle of the modification 2 of this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

12 Rear wheel 13 Body frame 15 Rear frame 16 Seating seat 17 Swing type power unit 18 Engine 19 Conduction case 22 Article storage chamber 30 Link mechanism 31 Rod 31a Lower end (one end)
32 link 32a one end (the other end)
33 Rear suspension unit 45 Body cover P1 Rear axle center

Claims (5)

A swing type power unit that integrally includes an engine and a conductive case that conducts driving force to a rear wheel that extends rearward from the engine and is held at its rear end is a scooter type vehicle that is swingably supported by a body frame. And
A link mechanism portion having one end connected to the swing type power unit on the side of the rear wheel and the other end connected to the vehicle body frame,
A scooter-type vehicle, comprising: a rear suspension unit that connects the link mechanism portion and the vehicle body frame and is disposed forwardly.   The link mechanism portion includes a rod connected to the swing type power unit and a link connected to the vehicle body frame, and the rod overlaps the center of the rear axle in a side view of the vehicle. The scooter type vehicle according to claim 1, wherein   The scooter type vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an article storage chamber formed below a seating seat, wherein the article storage chamber overlaps the vehicle body frame in a side view of the vehicle.   The scooter type vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the link mechanism portion and the rear suspension unit are provided on both left and right sides of the vehicle.   The scooter type vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein substantially all of the link and the rear suspension unit of the link mechanism portion are covered with a vehicle body cover.

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