JP2009234300A - Torque rod - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a torque rod capable of attaining outstanding weight reduction as compared with the conventional one. <P>SOLUTION: In the torque rod 22, a displacement restriction member 60 constituted using a cloth having flexibility is fixed to an inner cylinder part 34 of a second bushing 28, and an opposite side to a fixed side is extended to the other side. An extension portion is buries in a rubber elastic body 46 of the second bushing 28 and a buried rubber 58 at the inside of a connection part 30 and is adhered/fixed, and relative displacement in a direction pulling the displacement restriction member 60 is restricted by pulling resistance of the displacement restriction member 60. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a torque rod that is interposed between an engine side and a body side of a vehicle, regulates displacement in the roll direction and displacement in the front-rear direction of the engine, and performs vibration isolation between the engine side and the body side.

  Conventionally, first and second bushes at both ends respectively provided with a rigid outer cylinder part (outer part), an inner cylinder part (inner part), and a rubber elastic body interposed therebetween in a vehicle, A torque rod having a rigid connecting portion for connecting the first and second bushes is interposed between the engine side and the body side of the vehicle, and the engine is elastically supported in the roll direction by the torque rod. The torque rod receives torque from the engine and restricts the displacement in the roll direction and the displacement in the front-rear direction of the engine, and also insulates vibration between the engine side and the body side.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a conventionally known torque rod (Patent Document 1 below).
In the figure, reference numerals 200 and 202 denote a first bush and a second bush having rigid inner cylinder parts 204 and 206, outer cylinder parts 208 and 210, and rubber elastic bodies 212 and 214 interposed therebetween, respectively. The rods (connecting portions) 216 are connected to each other.

In this torque rod, the first bush 200, which is usually a small bush, is elastically coupled to the engine side of the vehicle, and the second bush 202, which is a large bush, is elastically coupled to the body side, so that the rubber elastic bodies 212 and 214 are elastically deformed. In response to the torque from the engine, the displacement of the engine in the roll direction and the displacement in the front-rear direction are regulated.
Further, vibration insulation is performed between the engine side and the body side based on the elasticity of the rubber elastic bodies 212 and 214.

In the conventional torque rod including the one shown in FIG. 7, the rubber elastic body 214 is provided with a straight portion 218 on the side opposite to the connecting rod 216 with respect to the inner cylindrical portion 206, and this straight portion 218. A rubber stopper 220 is provided.
When the outer cylinder portion 210 is about to be relatively displaced toward the first bush 200 with respect to the inner cylinder portion 206, the rubber stopper portion 220 is brought into contact with the main body portion 222 of the rubber elastic body 214, thereby acting as a stopper. Therefore, excessive displacement is regulated.

In this type of torque rod, the connecting rod 216 has been conventionally made of iron.
However, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for improving the fuel efficiency of vehicles, and in such circumstances, torque rods as vehicle parts are also strongly required to be reduced in weight.
In this respect, the conventional torque rod in which the connecting rod 216 is made of iron is insufficient in terms of weight reduction.

In order to reduce the weight of the torque rod, attempts have been made to make the connecting portion such as the connecting rod 216 made of aluminum (made of aluminum alloy) or resin, but in any case, the material is compared to iron. In any case, the thickness of the connecting portion must be increased from the viewpoint of securing the strength, and the effect of reducing the weight is not sufficient.
In addition, although what connected the connection part in a torque rod with materials other than iron, aluminum, and resin is disclosed by the following patent document 2, this is a thing with a different solution means from this invention. Are different.

JP-A-57-191129 JP 2007-239790 A

  The present invention has been made for the purpose of providing a torque rod that can be significantly reduced in weight as compared with the conventional one against the background described above.

  Thus, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the first and second ends of the first and second ends each provided with a rigid outer part and an inner cylindrical part as an inner part, and rubber elastic bodies interposed between the outer part and the inner cylindrical part, respectively. 2 bushes and a rigid connecting portion for connecting the first and second bushes, and is assembled across the engine side and the body side of the vehicle to regulate displacement of the engine in the roll direction. In the torque rod, a displacement restricting member constituted by using a flexible cloth is fixed to at least one of the inner cylindrical portions of the first and second bushes, and the side opposite to the fixed side faces the other. The extended portion is embedded in the rubber elastic body of the one bush and the embedded rubber provided in a form continuous with the rubber elastic body of the one bush inside the connecting portion, and fixed by adhesion. , One that pulls the displacement regulating member Wherein the are without a relative displacement so as to be displaced restricted by the tensile resistance of the displacement regulating member.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the outer portion and the rubber elastic body in the bush on the side having the inner cylindrical portion to which the displacement regulating member is fixed are defined as the extending direction of the displacement regulating member. It is characterized by being partially cut away on the opposite side.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first and second aspects, the connecting portion extends in the direction in which the portion of the displacement regulating member extending into the buried rubber is partially sandwiched by the connecting portion. The embedding rubber is partially deformed on the side of the portion, and the thickness of the buried rubber is partially reduced in the deformed portion.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the displacement regulating member is sandwiched by the deformed portion in a state where the displacement regulating member is bent along the shape of the deformed portion. Features.

Effects and effects of the invention

  As described above, according to the present invention, the displacement regulating member configured using the flexible cloth is fixed to at least one inner cylinder portion of the first and second bushes, and the opposite side to the fixed side is the other side. The extension part is embedded in the rubber elastic body of one bush and the embedded rubber inside the connecting part and bonded and fixed, and the displacement of the torque rod is determined by the tensile resistance of the displacement regulating member. It was made to regulate in.

  According to the present invention, a stopper characteristic different from that of the torque rod shown in FIG. 7 can be imparted to the torque rod, for example, a displacement regulating member is fixed to the inner cylindrical portion 206 on the bush 202 side of FIG. When the side opposite to the fixed side is extended to the bush 200 side, the stopper action by the contact of the rubber stopper 220 of FIG. 7 with the rubber main body 222 is caused by the tensile resistance of the displacement regulating member. Accordingly, in this case, the rubber stopper portion 220, the straight portion 218, and the rubber main body portion 222 of the rubber main body portion 222 shown in FIG. A part of the outer cylinder portion 210 for forming the rubber stopper portion 220, the straight portion 218, and the portion of the rubber body portion 222 facing the rubber stopper portion 220 is omitted. Rukoto is possible.

  That is, according to claim 2, the outer part and the rubber elastic body in the bush having the inner cylinder part to which the displacement regulating member is fixed are partially cut out on the side opposite to the extending direction of the displacement regulating member. It becomes possible to form.

  Thus, in such a case, the weight of the bush having the inner cylinder portion to which the displacement regulating member is fixed can be significantly reduced, and the weight of the torque rod can be significantly and effectively reduced.

In the present invention, the connecting portion is partially deformed toward the extending portion in a direction in which the portion extending in the embedded rubber of the displacement regulating member is partially sandwiched by the connecting portion, and the embedded rubber is formed in the deformed portion. Can be partially reduced in thickness (claim 3).
In such a case, the deformation resistance of the rubber can be increased at a portion where the thickness of the buried rubber is partially reduced, and the stopper function can be further enhanced.

In this case, the displacement regulating member can be sandwiched by the deformed portion of the connecting portion in a form in which the displacement regulating member is bent along the shape of the deformed portion.
When it does in this way, the restraint force with respect to a displacement control member can be strengthened in the deformation | transformation part, and it becomes possible to exhibit the stopper effect | action based on the tensile resistance of a displacement control member more strongly.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, 10 is a suspension member (body) of a vehicle, and 12 is an engine elastically supported on the suspension member 10 via a left engine mount 14 and a right engine mount 16.
However, the engine mounts 14 and 16 support the weight of the entire power unit 20 formed by assembling the engine 12 and the transmission 18.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a torque rod interposed between the center frame 24 of the suspension member 10 and the lower part of the engine 12, and includes a first bush 26 made of a small bush, a second bush 28 made of a large bush, and the front and rear thereof. It consists of the connection part 30 connected to a direction.
The torque rod 22 has the first bush 26 side elastically coupled to the engine 12 and the second bush 28 elastically coupled to the center frame 24 of the suspension member 10.

  Here, an inner cylinder portion 36 to be described later is fixed to the engine 12 on the first bush 26 side, and an inner cylinder portion 34 is fastened and fixed to the center frame 24 of the suspension member 10 with bolts and nuts on the second bush 28 side. Is done.

2 and 3, the configuration of the torque rod 22 is specifically shown.
In these drawings, the first bush 26 made of a small bush has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and has a rigid metal inner cylindrical portion (inner portion) 36 and a rigid outer cylindrical portion 38 that also has a cylindrical shape. And a rubber elastic body 40 interposed therebetween.
Here, the inner cylinder part 36, the outer cylinder part 38, and the rubber elastic body 40 are integrally vulcanized and bonded.
Note that a flange portion 42 is formed in the outer cylinder portion 38 on the outer peripheral side in a semicircular shape around the axis of the first bush 26. These hook-shaped portions 42 are arranged at intervals in the axial direction of the first bush 26, and a rubber elastic body 40 is filled between them.

In this embodiment, the second bushing 28 is provided at a 90 ° different orientation with respect to the first bushing 26.
The second bush 28 formed of the large bush has a rigid metal inner cylinder portion 34, a rigid outer portion 44, and a rubber elastic body 46 interposed therebetween.
Also in the second bush 28, the inner cylinder portion 34, the outer portion 44 and the rubber elastic body 46 are integrally vulcanized and bonded.

  In the second bush 28, a pair of straight portions 48 having an L shape are provided in the rubber elastic body 46 so as to penetrate the rubber elastic body 46 in the axial direction of the second bush 28. The right portion of the straight portion 48 in FIG. 3A forms the rubber main body portion 50, and the left portion in the drawing forms the rubber stopper portion 52.

In this embodiment, each of the outer cylindrical portion 38 in the first bush 26, the outer portion 44 and the connecting portion 30 in the second bush 28 is constituted by a pair of plate bodies 54-1 and 54-2. .
Specifically, one plate body 54-1 includes a plate-like portion 56, a half portion 38-1 of the outer cylinder portion 38 on the first bush 26 side, and a half portion 44-1 of the outer portion 44 of the second bush 28. The other plate body 54-2 includes a plate-like portion 56, a half portion 38-2 of the outer cylinder 38 of the first bush 26, and a half of the outer portion 44 on the second bush 28 side. And the pair of halves 38-1 and 38-2 form the outer cylindrical portion 38 of the first bush 26, and the halves 44-1 and 44-2. Thus, the outer portion 44 on the second bush 28 side is configured. Further, the connecting portion 30 is constituted by the pair of plate-like portions 56 and 56.

Here, the plate-like portions 56 and 56 are opposed to each other with a gap S therebetween, and the gap S is filled with a buried rubber 58 made of a rubber elastic body.
Here, the buried rubber 58 is continuously provided on the rubber elastic body 40 of the first bush 26 and the rubber elastic body 46 of the second bush 28.
The buried rubber 58 is also integrally vulcanized and bonded to each of the pair of plate-like portions 56.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the pair of plate-like portions 56, that is, the connecting portions 30 are formed with the same width in the axial direction of the outer cylinder portion 44 of the second bush 28 and the second bush 28. Yes.
In this embodiment, the pair of plate bodies 54-1 and 54-2 are made of metal (iron) here. However, it may be made of metal or resin other than iron.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3B, a displacement regulating member 60 configured using cloth is provided inside the rubber elastic body 46 and the buried rubber 58 of the second bush 28. And embedded in an adhesive state with respect to the embedded rubber 58.
The displacement restricting member 60 has substantially the same width as the connecting portion 30, more specifically, a width slightly smaller than this, and is wound around the inner cylindrical portion 34 of the second bush 28 as shown in FIG. The left end in the figure opposite to the fixed side extends leftward in the figure, and the extending portion is embedded in the rubber elastic body 46 and the embedded rubber 58.

The displacement regulating member 60 may be wound directly on the inner cylinder portion 34 on the right end side in the figure, or may be wound around the inner cylinder portion 34 with a thin rubber film interposed. May be.
Here, the displacement restricting member 60 extends leftward in the figure in a state where the leftward extending parts in the figure overlap each other.
In this embodiment, the displacement regulating member 60 is embedded in the embedded rubber 58 up to a position close to the first bush 26.

As shown in FIG. 5, the displacement regulating member 60 regulates the relative displacement by tensile resistance when the outer portion 44 of the second bush 28 is relatively displaced leftward in the drawing with respect to the inner cylinder portion 34. Work.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, when the outer portion 44 is displaced relative to the inner cylinder portion 34 in the left direction in the drawing, the regulating force due to the tensile resistance of the displacement regulating member 60 is the rubber elastic body 46, particularly This is transmitted to the connecting part 30 with elastic deformation of the buried rubber 58 inside the connecting part 30.

At this time, the greater the relative displacement, the greater the deformation resistance of the buried rubber 58 and the greater the restricting force for the relative displacement between the inner cylinder portion 34 and the outer portion 44.
Then, when the deformation of the buried rubber 58 is close to the limit, the restricting force with respect to the relative displacement between the inner cylindrical portion 34 and the outer portion 44 is rapidly increased, and the relative displacement between the inner cylindrical portion 34 and the outer portion 44 is set. Regulate below the maximum displacement.

Here, the displacement regulating member 60 is made of cloth as described above, and is not in a tensile state in the initial state, and the fibers constituting the displacement regulating member 60 have a slight slack. Yes.
In the course of the displacement, the looseness of the fibers disappears and the displacement regulating member 60 enters a tensile state. At that time, the tensile resistance is greatly expressed.

In the present embodiment, it is particularly preferable to use a canvas composed of an aramid fiber having excellent strength as the displacement regulating member 60. However, the fabric is made of fibers made of various other materials, that is, the displacement regulating member. The member 60 can also be configured.
For example, in addition to the above aramid fibers, rayon fibers, polyamide fibers, polyester fibers, vinylon fibers, vinyl chloride fibers, acrylonitrile fibers, polyethylene fibers, polypropylene fibers, and other synthetic fibers, natural fibers, and organic fibers It is possible to use inorganic fibers or the like.

The cloth structure can be various kinds of cloth structures such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, and ropes, and a predetermined elongation can be given or the elongation can be changed as appropriate depending on the fabric structure, fiber density, and the like.
However, basically, the displacement regulating member 60 using this cloth has a small elongation, and it is desirable here to have an elongation of about 10 mm or less in the tension direction from the tension state.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3A, the substantially right half of the second bush 28, which is a large bush, that is, the portion opposite to the extending direction of the displacement regulating member 60 is formed. The cylindrical body is cut out almost half. Specifically, the rubber elastic body 46 and the outer portion 44 are configured by cutting out a substantially half on the right side of the cylindrical body in the drawing.

  In the conventional torque rod, when the second bush 28 is formed, both the rubber elastic body 46 and the outer portion 44 are formed in a cylindrical shape, but in this embodiment, a part on the right side of the center line P in the figure is left. And other parts are cut out.

Specifically, in the second bush 28, the outer portion 44 and the rubber elastic body 46 are both semicircular in cross section on the left side of the center line P in the drawing.
However, in this embodiment, the outer portion 44 and the rubber elastic body 46 are not positioned at the center line P at the right end, and an extension is formed on the right side of the center line P over a certain dimension.
In the figure, 44A represents an extension of the outer portion 44, and 46A represents an extension of the rubber elastic body 46.
Here, the extended portion 44A of the outer portion 44 extends in a direction parallel to the direction in which the connecting portion 30 extends from the center line P, and the extended portion 46A of the rubber elastic body 46 is between the extended portions 44A and 44A. Buried.
In addition, as for this extension part 46A, the intermediate part of the up-down direction in FIG. 1 (A) has comprised the circular arc shape around the inner cylinder part 34. As shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, when the inner cylinder part 34 and the outer part 44 are relatively displaced in the direction in which the displacement regulating member 60 is pulled, that is, the outer part 44 is the first bush 26 with respect to the inner cylinder part 34. The relative displacement is regulated to a certain level or less by a tensile resistance when the relative displacement is made on the side of the wire.

On the other hand, when the outer portion 44 is displaced relative to the inner cylinder portion 34 in the opposite direction, that is, when the outer portion 44 is displaced relative to the inner cylinder portion 34 in the right direction in FIG. 5, the rubber stopper portion 52 and the rubber main body portion 50. Excessive displacement in the same direction is defined by the stopper action due to contact with the.
Note that the relative displacement of the outer portion 44 toward the left in FIG. 5 with respect to the inner cylindrical portion 34 is a relative displacement that occurs during vehicle acceleration in this embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a stopper characteristic different from that of the torque rod shown in FIG. 7 can be imparted to the torque rod, and the second bush on the side having the inner cylindrical portion 34 to which the displacement regulating member 60 is fixed. The outer portion 44 and the rubber elastic body 46 in 28 can be configured such that the cylindrical body is partially cut away on the side opposite to the extending direction of the displacement regulating member 60.
As a result, the weight of the second bush 28 can be reduced, and the weight of the torque rod 22 can be significantly and effectively reduced.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
In this example, the plate-like portion 56 in the plate body 54-1 is bent toward the buried rubber 58, the corresponding portion of the plate-like portion 56 in the other plate body 54-2 is bent in the same direction, and The displacement regulating member 60 is sandwiched between the convex curved portion 62 on the plate body 54-1 side and the concave curved portion 64 on the plate body 54-2 side via the thin wall portion 66 of the embedded rubber 58 formed there. There is.

  The convex curved portion 62 and the concave curved portion 64 may be provided by deforming the plate bodies 54-1 and 54-2 after forming the torque rod 22 shown in FIG. Protruding portions 62 and 64 are provided on the bodies 54-1 and 54-2, the displacement regulating member 60 is set in that state, and then the rubber elastic bodies 46 and 40 and the embedded rubber 58 are vulcanized and molded. Thus, the state shown in FIG. 6 may be realized.

  In this embodiment, the thin portion 66 of the buried rubber 58 can increase the deformation resistance of the rubber, and the stopper function can be further enhanced.

  Further, in this embodiment, the displacement regulating member 60 is sandwiched in a form bent along the convex curved portion 62 and the concave curved portion 64, and the binding force on the displacement regulating member 60 can be strengthened. Thereby, the stopper action based on the tensile resistance of the displacement regulating member 60 can be exerted more strongly.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, this is merely an example.
For example, in the above example, the first bush 26 is configured as a small bush and the second bush 28 is configured as a large bush. However, this is merely an example, and the bushes are configured in various other sizes and shapes. In this case, the displacement regulating member 60 is fixed to the inner cylinder portion on the first bush side, and the side opposite to the fixed side is extended to the second bush side. Alternatively, it is also possible to fix the displacement regulating member 60 to each inner cylinder portion in each of the first bush and the second bush and embed the extended portion in the buried rubber 58. is there.

In particular, when the displacement restricting member 60 is fixed to the respective inner cylindrical portions of the first bush and the second bush, and the displacement restricting member 60 is extended to the other bush, the first bush and It is preferable that the direction of the second bush is the same.
In addition, this invention can be comprised in the form which added the various change in the range which does not deviate from the meaning.

It is a figure which shows the torque rod of one Embodiment of this invention in the attachment state to a vehicle. It is a perspective view of the torque rod of the embodiment. It is the plane sectional view and side surface sectional view of the torque rod of the embodiment. It is a figure of the displacement control member in the embodiment. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the embodiment. It is a figure of other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a conventionally well-known torque rod.

Explanation of symbols

22 Torque rod 26 1st bush 28 2nd bush 30 Connection part 34,36 Inner cylinder part 40,46 Rubber elastic body 58 Embedded rubber 60 Displacement restricting member 62 Convex part 64 Concave part 66 Thin part

Claims (4)

First and second bushes at both ends each provided with a rigid outer part and an inner cylinder part as an inner part, and rubber elastic bodies interposed between the outer part and the inner cylinder part, respectively. And a flexible connecting portion of the torque rod that restricts displacement in the roll direction of the engine, and is assembled over the engine side and the body side of the vehicle. The displacement restricting member configured by using the first and second bushes is fixed to at least one of the inner cylindrical portions, and the opposite side to the fixed side is extended toward the other, and the extended portion is the one of the first and second bushes. Relative to the rubber elastic body of the bushing and the connecting portion in the direction in which the displacement regulating member is pulled by being embedded and fixed in buried rubber provided in a form continuous with the rubber elastic body of the one bushing Displacement to the displacement regulating part A torque rod characterized in that the displacement is restricted by the tensile resistance of the material.   2. The outer body and the rubber elastic body in the bush having the inner cylinder portion to which the displacement regulating member is fixed are partially cut on the side opposite to the extending direction of the displacement regulating member. Torque rod characterized by lacking form.   3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion is partially disposed on the side of the extending portion in a direction in which the portion of the displacement regulating member extending into the buried rubber is partially sandwiched by the connecting portion. A torque rod, wherein the torque rod is deformed, and the thickness of the buried rubber is partially reduced in the deformed portion.   4. The torque rod according to claim 3, wherein the displacement regulating member is sandwiched by the deformed portion in a state where the displacement regulating member is bent along the shape of the deformed portion.

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