JP2009107510A - Stabilizer mounting structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of items of suspension components, and to reduce cost and weight. <P>SOLUTION: The stabilizer mounting structure has a stabilizer ring 64 for connecting a stabilizer 62 to a suspension, wherein the stabilizer ring 64 is directly fastened with the suspension component 20 without the interference of a bracket. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a stabilizer mounting structure suitable for use in an automobile.

Conventionally, various types of automobile suspensions have been developed or put into practical use depending on the purpose and application. For example, a strut suspension, a double wishbone suspension, a multi-link suspension, etc. are widely known. Yes.
In addition, the suspension may be provided with a stabilizer. The stabilizer is a member that connects the left and right suspensions in the independent suspension, and has a function of suppressing the roll of the vehicle. For example, when one of the left and right suspensions strokes, the stabilizer is torsionally deformed, so that the other suspension is also subjected to a force that causes the stroke to move in the same direction. .

  And as a technique regarding the attachment structure of such a stabilizer, patent document 1 is mentioned, for example. In the technique of Patent Document 1, a stabilizer is connected to a suspension component (in the case of Patent Document 1, a lower seat) via a stabilizer link and a bracket. Further, as a prior art of this Patent Document 1, a method of attaching a stabilizer to a suspension strut outer cylinder via a stabilizer link is also disclosed.

3 and 4 are views showing a front suspension of a so-called double knuckle type suspension, and FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the left front wheel as viewed obliquely from the rear, and FIG. 4 is viewed from the rear. It is typical sectional drawing. FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration when a stabilizer is attached to a double knuckle suspension.
Here, first, the structure of the double knuckle type suspension will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. This suspension mainly includes a strut 2, a knuckle 4, a lower arm 6, an upper housing 8, a lower housing 10, and a damper fork 20. It is composed of

  The strut 2 is a member having both a function as a shock absorber (buffer device) and a function as a suspension arm (support), and an upper housing 8 is fixed to the outer periphery of the strut 2. Further, the knuckle 4 is a component that rotatably supports the drive shaft 18 and the hub (axle) 19 shown in FIG. 3 and is swingably held by the upper housing 8 and the lower housing 10 from above and below.

That is, the upper end portion of the knuckle 4 is swingably attached to the upper housing 8 via a bearing (first shaft support means) 16, and the lower end portion is connected via a ball joint (second shaft support means) 14. It is also attached to the lower housing 10 so as to be swingable.
A line connecting the centers of the bearing portions 14 and 16 becomes a kingpin shaft (steering shaft or steering shaft) L _{KP of the} suspension, and the knuckle 4 rotates about the kingpin shaft L _KP .

The lower housing 10 is rotatably connected to the lower arm 6 via a bush 70. The lower arm 6 is swingably attached to a vehicle body or a suspension frame (not shown).
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper housing 8 and the lower housing 10 are connected via a damper fork 20. The damper fork 20 is composed of a front damper fork 20 f disposed forward of the drive shaft 18 and a rear damper fork 20 r disposed rearward of the drive shaft 18.

  In the upper part of the damper fork 20, the upper housing 8 is sandwiched between the front damper fork 20f and the rear damper fork 20r. Fixed. Similarly, the damper forks 20f and 20r and the lower housing 10 are fixed to the lower part of the damper fork using through bolts 38 and nuts (not shown).

In this suspension, the three constituent elements of the upper housing 8, the lower housing 10, and the damper fork 20 are integrated to function as one member, and an element in which these three members are integrated is called a support. .
In this example, a stabilizer bracket (stabilizer bracket) 60 is welded to the rear damper fork 20 r, and a stabilizer 62 is attached to the stabilizer bracket 60 via a stabilizer link 64.

Here, the stabilizer link 64 includes a rod 66 and ball joints 68 provided at both ends of the rod 66. The ball joint 68 is integrally formed with a stud 68b having a male screw. .
Then, the stabilizer 68 is attached by fastening the stud 68b of one ball joint 68 to the end of the stabilizer 62 with a nut and fastening the other stud 68b to the stabilizer bracket 60 with a nut.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-30493

However, in the conventional techniques including Patent Document 1, a stabilizer bracket is provided for each component of the suspension, and a stabilizer is attached to the stabilizer bracket via a stabilizer link. There was a problem that the weight increased.
In the case of the double knuckle type suspension as described above, the damper forks 20f and 20r are formed by press-molding a sheet metal, but are formed symmetrically by the front and rear damper forks 20f and 20r except for the stabilizer bracket 60. Has been. Therefore, if the stabilizer bracket 60 is not required, the rear damper fork 20r can be used as the front damper fork of the right suspension, and the number of parts can be reduced.

On the contrary, if the stabilizer bracket 60 is provided, the front damper fork and the rear damper fork of the left suspension and the front damper fork and the left damper fork of the right suspension need to be provided independently. There is a problem that parts management becomes complicated as it rises.
Therefore, we would like to abolish the stabilizer bracket and manufacture and manage parts as "front damper fork of left suspension = rear damper fork of right suspension" and "rear damper fork of left suspension = front damper fork of right suspension" There was a request.

  The present invention was devised in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stabilizer mounting structure that is intended to reduce the number of parts of suspension parts and to reduce cost and weight.

Therefore, the stabilizer mounting structure according to claim 1 is a stabilizer mounting structure having a stabilizer link for connecting the stabilizer to the suspension, and the stabilizer link is directly fastened to the suspension member without interposing a bracket. It is said.
In addition to the structure of claim 1, the stabilizer mounting structure according to claim 2 is configured such that the stabilizer link includes a stabilizer link main body and a ball joint provided at an end of the stabilizer link main body. The ball joint includes a spherical bearing portion that allows swinging with the stabilizer link main body, and a stud portion that is formed integrally with the bearing portion, and the stud portion is formed of the suspension member. It also has a function as a fastening bolt of the fastening part.

  Further, in the stabilizer mounting structure according to claim 3, in addition to the configuration according to claim 2, the suspension is fixed to the first member for rotatably supporting the axle of the vehicle and the strut of the vehicle. A second member that pivotably supports the upper end side of the first member via the first pivot support means, and a lower end side of the first member pivotable via the second pivot support means. A third member that pivotally supports, two sheet metal-like fourth members that fasten the first member and the second member, and a tip end side that is swingably connected to the third member; The base end side is provided with a lower arm that is swingably connected to the vehicle, and the two sheet metal-like fourth members are sandwiched from above in the vehicle front-rear direction to fasten the second member, In the lower part, the third member is fastened by being sandwiched from the vehicle front-rear direction. And the stud portion is configured to be used as a through bolt of a fastening portion between the fourth member and the second member or a fastening portion between the fourth member and the third member. It is characterized by being.

According to the stabilizer mounting structure of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and the weight by the amount that the bracket is abolished, and the cost can be reduced. Further, the assembly workability is improved by reducing the number of parts (claim 1).
Further, since the stud portion of the stabilizer link also functions as a fastening bolt of the suspension member, the number of parts can be reduced by this amount, and the cost can also be reduced (claim 2).

  Further, it is not necessary to provide the fourth member independently for each of the left and right suspensions, and the type of parts can be reduced. For this reason, there is an advantage that the load of parts management is also reduced (claim 3).

Hereinafter, a stabilizer mounting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration, and FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the main configuration.
First, the structure of the suspension will be described with reference to FIG. This suspension is configured in the same manner as the double knuckle type suspension described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 unless otherwise specified, and corresponding members will be described with the same reference numerals. Further, in the present embodiment, the description will be made using the suspension on the left side of the front wheel, but the suspension is configured symmetrically, and the right side suspension is configured similarly to the left side suspension. Therefore, the description of the configuration of the right suspension is omitted below.

As shown in FIG. 1, this suspension mainly includes a strut 2, a knuckle (first member) 4, a lower arm 6, an upper housing (second member) 8, a lower housing (third member) 10, and a damper fork ( (Fourth member) 20.
The strut 2 is a member having both a function as a shock absorber (buffer device) and a function as a suspension arm (support), and supports the upper side of the knuckle 4 via an upper housing 8 described later. Here, the strut 2 itself is a known one, and a cylinder (not shown) is provided in a cylinder formed inside the strut outer cylinder, and the cylinder is filled with oil. When the input acts on the suspension, the input is buffered by moving the piston back and forth while receiving the resistance of the oil.

The knuckle 4 is a component that rotatably supports the drive shaft 18 and the hub (axle) 19, and has an upper end portion attached to the upper housing 8 and a lower end portion attached to the lower housing 10.
A knuckle arm 4a is formed on the knuckle 4, and a tie rod 12 is connected to the knuckle arm 4a. As a result, the steering force of the driver is transmitted from the steering gear box (not shown) to the knuckle 4 via the tie rod 12, so that the knuckle 4 rotates and the wheels are steered.

Further, the knuckle 4 is provided with bearings (first shaft support means) and ball joints (second shaft support means; neither of the shaft support means is shown) at two locations on the upper and lower sides. A line connecting the centers of the joints becomes a kingpin axis (steering axis or steering axis) L _{KP of the} suspension. The knuckle 4 is connected to the upper housing 8 and the lower housing 10 through these bearings and ball joints, so that the knuckle 4 is swingably held from above and below.

The lower housing 10 is rotatably connected to the lower arm 6 via bushes and bolts 6c (not shown). The lower arm 6 is swingably attached to a vehicle body or a suspension frame (not shown) at the center side end portion (base end portion) of the vehicle. Further, a bush (not shown) is attached to the distal end side of the lower arm 6.
Further, the upper housing 8 and the lower housing 10 are connected via a damper fork 20. In this embodiment, the damper fork 20 includes a front damper fork 20f disposed in front of the drive shaft 18 and a rear damper fork 20r disposed in the rear of the drive shaft 18. These damper forks 20f and 20r are configured in the same manner except that they are formed symmetrically. Therefore, hereinafter, the two damper forks 20f and 20r are simply referred to as a damper fork 20 unless otherwise distinguished. The damper fork 20 is formed by pressing a sheet metal.

In the present embodiment, the three constituent elements of the upper housing 8, the lower housing 10, and the damper fork 20 are integrated to function as one member, and an element obtained by integrating these three members is used. It is called support.
Here, it is conceivable that the support is integrally formed of aluminum or the like, but in the present embodiment, in consideration of cost, weight, and assembly workability, the upper housing 8, the lower housing 10, and the damper fork 20 are as described above. By dividing into three members and further dividing the damper fork 20 into two front and rear, it is supported while avoiding interference with the drive shaft 18 to ensure sufficient strength.

  In other words, if the support is an integrally molded product, the support is increased in size and weight in order to obtain sufficient rigidity, and the cost is increased. Further, the increase in weight increases the unsprung weight, which affects the operability. Furthermore, when the support is integrally molded, it is necessary to provide a hole for passing the drive shaft 18, but when the suspension is assembled, work for passing the drive shaft 18 through the support is required, and workability is reduced. To do.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the support is divided into the three components of the upper housing 8, the lower housing 10, and the damper fork 20, thereby reducing the weight and improving the assembling workability. It is.
Incidentally, a stabilizer 62 is attached to the rear damper fork 20 via a stabilizer link (hereinafter abbreviated as a stabilizer link) 64. Here, the stabilizer link 64 includes a rod (stabilizer link main body or stabilizer link main body) 66 and ball joints 68 provided at both ends of the rod 66. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, these ball joints 68 include a spherical bearing portion 68a that allows the rod 66 to swing, and a stud portion 68b that is formed integrally with the bearing portion 68a. A male screw 68c is formed at the tip of the stud portion 68b.

  However, of these two ball joints 68, the rod 68b on the other end side (suspension side) of the rod 66 has a clearly longer dimension than the rod 68b on the one end side (stabilizer side). FIG. 2 shows the ball joint 68 on the other end side. Here, the rod 68b of the ball joint 68 on the other end side is set to a length in consideration of the width dimension of the upper housing 8 and the thickness dimension of the two damper forks 20f and 20r.

Then, a stud (not shown) of the ball joint 68 on one end side of the stabilizer link 64 is inserted into an attachment hole (not shown) formed in the end portion of the stabilizer 62, and a nut (not shown) is also screwed into the stud. Thus, the stabilizer 62 and the stabilizer link 64 are connected.
The stud 68b of the ball joint 68 on the other end side of the stabilizer link 64 is directly fastened to the suspension member (here, the damper fork 20) without using a stabilizer bracket.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stud portion 68b is not used only as a member for fastening the stabilizer link 64, but for fastening the upper housing 8 and the front and rear damper forks 20f, 20r. It is also used as a through bolt. In other words, in addition to the original function of connecting the stabilizer 62 to the stud portion 68b of the stabilizer link 64, the function of co-fastening the suspension member (upper housing 8, damper forks 20f, 20r) is also used. . Thereby, the stabilizer 62 can be attached to the stabilizer 64 without using a stabilizer bracket, and the bolts for fastening the upper housing 8 and the damper fork 20 can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the upper housing 8 and the front and rear damper forks 20 f and 20 r are fastened at two locations, and one of these locations is fastened using a stabilizer link 64. The other part is fastened by a normal through bolt 32 and a nut (not shown).
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a hexagonal recess 68d is formed at the tip of the stud 68b. The recess 68d is formed for the purpose of improving workability during assembly. When the stabilizer 64 is attached, a hexagonal tool is inserted into the recess 68d to restrict the rotation of the stud 68b. The nut 46 screwed to 68c is rotated.

  Since the stabilizer mounting structure according to one embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, when mounting the stabilizer 62, first, the suspension upper housing 8 and the front and rear damper forks 20f and 20r are previously bolted. In this state, as shown in FIG. 2, the stud 68b of the ball joint 68 on the other end side of the stabilizer link 64 is placed in the order of the rear damper fork 20r, the upper housing 8 and the front damper fork 20f. The stabilizer link 64 is attached at the same time as the suspension members 8, 20f, and 20r are fastened. Then, fastening of the stabilizer 62 is completed by fastening the ball joint 68 on one end side of the stabilizer link 64 with the end portion of the stabilizer 62.

In consideration of workability, contrary to the above, the end portion of the stabilizer 62 is fastened first, and then the upper housing 8 and the front and rear damper forks 20f and 20r are fastened using the ball joint 64. May be.
As described above, according to the stabilizer mounting structure according to the embodiment of the present invention, the stabilizer link 64 is directly fastened to the suspension member (here, the damper fork 20r) without interposing the bracket, thereby reducing the bracket. As a result, the number of parts and weight can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. In particular, when applied to the double knuckle suspension as in the present embodiment, since the bracket is conventionally welded to the damper fork 20r, the front and rear damper forks 20f and 20r are formed separately, and further symmetrical. According to the present invention, the front damper fork 20f of the left suspension can be used as the rear damper fork of the right suspension, and the rear damper fork 20f of the left suspension is used as the right suspension. It can be used as a front damper fork. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the type of parts, and therefore, the load of parts management is also reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

Moreover, since the stud portion 68b of the stabilizer link 64 also functions as a fastening bolt (through bolt) of the suspension member, the number of parts can be further reduced, and further cost reduction can be achieved. Although an example of an embodiment of the invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be variously modified. For example, in the above description, the case where the present invention is applied to a front suspension of a vehicle has been described. However, the present invention may be applied to a rear suspension.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to the fastening of the damper fork 20 and the lower housing 10 as long as the operation amount of the stabilizer and the operation angle of the stabilizer link do not interfere with other members. Further, the stabilizer link may be fastened to the front damper fork, and further, the present invention can be widely applied to fastening portions of other suspension members other than the damper fork. The suspension type to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the above-described double knuckle type suspension, and it goes without saying that the present invention is applicable to other various suspension types. Further, other detailed configurations can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the embodiment, the upper end portion of the knuckle 4 is attached to the upper housing 8 via the bearing 16, but a ball joint may be applied in the same manner as the lower end portion instead of the bearing 16.

It is a mimetic diagram showing composition of a suspension to which a stabilizer attachment structure concerning one embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the principal part structure of the stabilizer attachment structure which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining a prior art. It is a figure explaining a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

2 Strut (suspension member)
4 First member (knuckle; suspension member)
6 Lower arm (suspension member)
8 Second member (upper housing; suspension member)
10 Third member (lower housing; suspension member)
18 Drive shaft 19 Hub (axle)
20 Fourth member (damper fork; suspension member)
20f Front damper fork 20r Rear damper fork 62 Stabilizer 64 Stabil link (Stabilizer link)
66 Rod (Stabilizer link body)
68 Ball joint 68a Bearing portion 68b Through bolt and stud portion 68c Male screw 68d Recessed portion

Claims (3)

A stabilizer mounting structure having a stabilizer link for connecting the stabilizer to the suspension,
The stabilizer mounting structure, wherein the stabilizer link is directly fastened to the suspension member without interposing a bracket. The stabilizer link is composed of a stabilizer link body and a ball joint provided at an end of the stabilizer link body,
The ball joint is composed of a spherical bearing portion that allows swinging with the stabilizer link body, and a stud portion that is formed integrally with the bearing portion,
The stabilizer mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the stud portion also has a function as a fastening bolt of a fastening portion of the suspension member. The suspension
A first member for rotatably supporting the axle of the vehicle;
A second member fixed to the strut of the vehicle and pivotally supporting the upper end side of the first member via the first pivot support means;
A third member that pivotably supports the lower end side of the first member via a second pivot support means;
Two sheet metal-like fourth members for fastening the first member and the second member;
A front end side is swingably connected to the third member, and a base end side is swingably connected to the vehicle;
The two sheet metal-like fourth members are sandwiched from above in the vehicle front-rear direction to fasten the second member, and are sandwiched from below in the vehicle front-rear direction to fasten the third member. And
And this stud part is constituted so that it may be used as a through bolt of a fastening part of this 4th member and this 2nd member, or a fastening part of this 4th member and this 3rd member. The stabilizer mounting structure according to claim 2, wherein

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