JP2011098715A - Suspension for bicycle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of increasing cost for replacing an abrading part in a conventional cam device, in a suspension deice for a bicycle. <P>SOLUTION: A long size bolt 112 vertically movably arranged on the same axis in a pair of mutually expandably inserted upper-lower cylindrical members 113 and 114, is slidably supported in an upper end part by a bearing 103 fixed in the upper cylindrical member, and is threadedly engageably supported in a lower end part by a ring-shaped support base 110 fixed in the lower cylindrical member. A coil spring 106 for energizing the long size bolt upward is arranged between the long side bolt and the upper-lower cylindrical members. A suspension for a bicycle includes a rotation preventive mechanism structured of a pair of upper-lower rotation stopping holders 201 and 202 fixed to the upper-lower cylindrical members, and guide rails 210 and 211 fixed to any one or both of both end parts of the upper-lower rotation stopping holders and freely sliding in a guide hole 205 formed in any one or both of both end parts of the opposed rotation stopping holders. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a bicycle suspension, and in particular, a road bike, a city cycle, and an electric motor provided on a handle column and a saddle column in order to suppress vibration transmitted to a rider through the handle column and saddle column from an impact received by a front wheel and a rear wheel. The present invention relates to a bicycle suspension suitable for an assist bicycle.

  Conventionally, bicycles such as road bikes, city cycles, and electrically assisted bicycles are equipped with suspensions for absorbing shock transmitted from the front and rear wheels to the handlebars and saddles when traveling. It has been. For example, in Patent Document 1, a fork portion that supports a front wheel, a first fork stem that is rotatably supported by a head portion of a frame, and an axially movable inside of the first fork stem are disposed. A second fork stem, a coil spring that urges the two fork stems away from each other, an adjustment screw for moving back and forth in the axial direction to change the initial length of the coil spring, and an adjustment screw relative to the axial direction The suspension adjustment unit includes a load adjusting unit including a movable unit that is movable and relatively non-rotatably coupled, and a coupling unit that couples the first and second fork stems so as to be relatively movable and non-rotatable in the axial direction. A "bicycle suspension fork" that can be easily adjusted while riding is disclosed.

  Patent Document 2 has a configuration substantially similar to that of Patent Document 1, but includes a lower end bumper that regulates the amount of movement of the second fork stem while absorbing an impact at the moving end on the extension side of the second fork stem. Thus, there is disclosed a “bicycle suspension fork and bicycle” configured to reduce the generation of impact noise at the extended moving end.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-2221078 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-2221079 JP-A-9-221080

  However, in each of the conventional configurations described above, the coil spring is only housed in the cylindrical first fork stem, and the strength of the handle column depends solely on the strength of the first fork stem itself. In addition, since the slit groove is formed in the first fork stem in order to connect the first and second fork stems so that they can move relative to each other in the axial direction and cannot rotate, there is a problem in securing strength and stability in vertical movement. There is.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a suspension in which vertical movement is smooth and stable while ensuring the strength of a handle column.

  Therefore, a bicycle suspension according to the present invention is a bicycle suspension for absorbing an impact applied to a bicycle wheel, and a pair of upper and lower cylindrical members inserted in a mutually expandable manner and the same inside the upper and lower cylindrical members. A long bolt arranged on the shaft so as to be movable up and down, a bearing fixed in the upper cylindrical member and through which the bolt is inserted, and fixed in the lower cylindrical member and supporting the long bolt A ring-shaped support base; a coil spring disposed between the upper and lower cylindrical members and the long bolt and supported at the upper and lower ends by the bearing and the support base; and a circumference of the pair of upper and lower cylindrical members A rotation prevention mechanism that prevents rotation in a direction, the rotation prevention mechanism comprising a pair of upper and lower rotation prevention holders respectively fixed to the upper and lower cylindrical members, and both end portions of the upper and lower rotation prevention holders And shift one of or guide rails which are fixed to both, formed on one or both either both end portions of the rotation stopper holder facing, has a configuration comprising a guide hole in which the guide rail through the sliding.

  The bearing and the support base are preferably fixed by spot welding a plurality of small welding holes formed through the peripheral walls of the upper cylindrical member and the lower cylindrical member.

  The long bolt is preferably supported by the support base via a nut screwed to the bolt, so that the lower position of the movable range of the suspension is securely fixed.

  The bearing is provided with an oilless bush fitted to the inner peripheral surface, and the upper end of the oilless bush is slightly lower than the upper end of the bearing to provide a space for filling grease between the outer circumference of the long bolt and the bearing. By forming it, the vertical movement of the long bolt becomes smoother.

  The anti-rotation holder includes a shaft hole through which an upper and lower cylindrical member formed at the center is inserted, a guide hole formed at one end, and a fixing hole through which the guide rail is formed and fixed at the other end. A communication hole that communicates between the fixed hole and the shaft hole is formed, and a tightening hole that penetrates both side walls of the communication hole is formed, and the shaft hole is formed by a tightening bolt that is inserted into the tightening hole. And by fixing the diameter of the fixing hole to the upper and lower cylindrical members, the guide rail is fixed to the fixing hole and the leading end side of the guide rail is inserted into the guide hole of the opposing rotation stopping holder. It is preferable.

  The tightening hole is composed of a through-hole into which a tightening bolt formed on one side wall of both walls of the communication hole can be inserted, and a screw hole having a thread on the inner peripheral surface formed on the other side wall, Two sets of upper and lower tightening holes are formed, and each tightening hole is arranged in a staggered manner so that the insertion direction of the tightening bolts is opposite. preferable.

  The inner diameter of the lower cylindrical member is formed to be large so that the upper cylindrical member can be inserted, and the upper end of the lower cylindrical member is positioned below the upper end surface of the lower antirotational holder. It is preferable to form a grease storage space between the outer peripheral surface of the upper cylindrical member and the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole of the lower anti-rotation holder for smooth sliding movement between the upper and lower cylindrical members. .

  The guide rail is formed of a cylindrical body, and the cylindrical body includes a lubricating oil tank that can be replenished with a lubricating oil whose top and bottom are sealed with a sealing cap, and an outer peripheral wall of the lubricating oil tank In order to smoothly move the guide rail in the guide hole, it is preferable that an oil supply port for automatically supplying the lubricating oil is formed.

  According to the bicycle suspension of the present invention, the long bolts having the same axial center are arranged inside the cylindrical body, and the rotation stop holder prevents the upper and lower cylindrical bodies from rotating in the circumferential direction. Strong and excellent in stability, it is useful as a suspension for handle columns and saddle columns.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline | summary of the suspension for bicycles based on the Example of this invention partially disassembled. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the cylindrical body which comprises the suspension. It is a front view which shows the long volt | bolt and coil spring with which it mounts in the same cylindrical body in a partial cross section. It is a front view which shows the up-and-down support aspect of the coil spring. It is a front view which shows the state which attached the rotation-stop holder to the same up-and-down cylindrical body in part longitudinal cross-section. It is a plane sectional view showing the rotation stop holder. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the rotation stop holder. It is AA sectional view which shows the rotation stop holder with a fastening bolt. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state by which a tubular guide rail is penetrated between the rotation stop holders. It is a front view which shows the other embodiment of an up-and-down cylindrical member and a guide rail. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the lubrication system of a guide rail. It is a longitudinal section showing a handle column to which the suspension is applied. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the Example of the suspension in the case of applying to a saddle support | pillar.

  The bicycle suspension according to the present invention is applied to a handle column and a saddle column in order to absorb the impact generated on the front and rear wheels of the bicycle. As shown in FIG. A pair of upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114 inserted into the upper and lower cylindrical members, a long bolt 112 disposed in the upper and lower cylindrical members so as to be vertically movable, a bearing 103 through which the bolt is inserted, and a screw of the bolt The ring-shaped support base 110 with which the parts are screwed together, the coil spring 106 disposed between the upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114 and the long bolt 112, and the rotation of the pair of upper and lower cylindrical members in the circumferential direction are prevented. And a rotation stopping mechanism.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the bearing 103 and the support base 110 are fixed to each other by spot welding by forming a plurality of small welding holes 115 through the peripheral walls of the upper cylindrical member 113 and the lower cylindrical member 114. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, an oil-free bushing 104 is attached to the inside of the bearing 103, and the oil-free bushing 104 slides on the shaft on the head side where the thread of the long bolt 112 is not formed. Supports freely. A washer 101 and a rubber gasket 102 are sandwiched between the bearing 103 and the bolt head portion 112a to attenuate an impact generated between the bearing 103 and the bolt head portion 112a. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the non-lubricating bush 104 is filled with grease in a space 105 formed between the outer periphery of the long bolt 112 and the bearing 103 with the upper end slightly lowered from the upper end of the bearing 103.

  The upper end of the coil spring 106 is in contact with the lower end of the bearing 103, and the upper end is fitted to the outer periphery of the oilless bush 104. On the other hand, the lower end of the coil spring 106 is abutted and supported by a nut 108 screwed into the thread of the long bolt 112, and is also a cylindrical shape that is screwed into the screw thread and abutted at the lower end on the nut. The lower end of the collar 107 is fitted on the outer periphery. A thread is formed on the inner periphery of the collar, and the collar 107 and the nut 108, which are screwed into the thread of the long bolt 112, are pressed against each other to prevent rotation due to vibration. The nut 108 is placed on the support base 110 via a washer 109. Reference numeral 111 denotes a contact surface between the nut 108 and the washer 109.

  A through hole having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the long bolt 112 is formed in the center of the support base 110. When assembling the suspension 100, first, as shown in FIG. 3, a washer 101, a rubber gasket 102, a bearing 103, an oilless bush 104, a coil spring 106, a collar 107, a nut 108, and a support base 110 are previously long bolts. 112 is attached. This is inserted into the upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114 and spot-welded in the welding holes 115 to fix the bearing 103 and the support base 110 to the upper cylindrical member 113 and the lower cylindrical member 114, respectively. Finally, an anti-rotation mechanism for preventing the upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114 from rotating is mounted to complete the assembly.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the anti-rotation mechanism includes a pair of upper and lower anti-rotation holders 201 and 202 fixed to upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114, and one end side and lower rotation of the upper anti-rotation holder 201, respectively. From the guide rails 210 and 211 fixed to the mating positions on the other end side of the stop holder 202, and the guide holes 205 and 205 through which the guide rails formed in the opposing rotation stop holders 202 and 201 respectively slide. Composed.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, the anti-rotation holder 202 has discs having a diameter slightly smaller than the disc diameter on both sides of a disc in which a shaft hole 203 through which the lower cylindrical member 114 is inserted is formed at the center. A bulging thick plate material is formed with a guide hole 205 fitted with an oil-free bush on one of the left and right bulging parts, and a fixing hole 204 is formed on the other for inserting and fixing the guide rail 211. Yes. A communication hole 207 is formed between the fixed hole 204 and the shaft hole 203 so as to be cut and communicated with each other with a predetermined width, and a tightening hole 208 penetrating both side walls of the communication hole is formed. Yes.

  The tightening hole 208 is formed on one side wall of both walls of the communication hole 207, and a through hole 208a through which the tightening bolt 209 can be inserted, and a screw having a thread on the inner peripheral surface formed on the other side wall. It is comprised from the hole 208b. Two pairs of upper and lower tightening holes 208 having such a configuration are formed, and the upper and lower screw holes 208b are alternately arranged so that the tightening holes face each other in the insertion direction of the tightening bolt 209.

  The width of the communication hole 207 is narrowed by inserting the tightening bolt 209 from the through hole 208a side into the tightening hole 208 configured as described above, and screwing and tightening the screw bolt 208b. At the same time as the width of the communication hole 207 is reduced, the diameters of the shaft hole 203 and the fixing hole 204 are reduced, and the lower anti-rotation holder 202 is fixed to the lower cylindrical member 114. At the same time, the diameter of the fixing hole 204 is reduced and the guide rail 211 is It is fixed to the fixing hole 204.

  The configuration of the upper anti-rotation holder 201 is exactly the same as that of the lower anti-rotation holder 202 except that the diameter dimension of the shaft hole 203 is substantially smaller by the thickness of the lower cylindrical member 113 in accordance with the outer diameter of the upper cylindrical member 113. It is. Therefore, the attachment method to the upper cylindrical member 113 is the same. However, the fixing holes for attaching the guide rails 210 are arranged corresponding to the guide holes 205, and are arranged in pairs such that the guide holes are arranged at positions corresponding to the fixing holes 204 of the lower anti-rotation holder 202. An elastic ring 212 is inserted into each guide rail 210, 211 on the side of each fixed hole.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the lower rotation stopper holder 202 is fixed at a position where the upper end of the lower cylindrical member 114 is slightly lower than the upper surface of the lower rotation stopper holder 202 and rotates downward with the outer peripheral surface of the lower cylindrical member 114. A space formed between the inner peripheral surfaces of the stopper holder 202 is a grease storage portion 117 that fills with grease. The opening of the grease storage portion 117 is closed by a metal ring-shaped cover 118 inserted into the upper cylindrical member 113. In this way, by supplying grease to the upper and lower sliding surfaces 116 of the upper cylindrical member 113 and the lower cylindrical member 114, the sliding of the upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114 becomes smooth and at the same time the airtightness of the contact portions is maintained. As a result, an air compression effect is produced, so that it also has an air suspension function.

  The vertical movable stroke of the suspension 100 configured as described above is set to a vertical rotation-stop holder dimension S shown in FIG. The vertical anti-rotation holder dimension S is determined by the attachment position of the long bolt 112 to the support base 110, and the position is determined by the fixing position of the nut 108. The lengths of the guide rails 210 and 211 are such that the tips of the guide rails 210 and 211 are in the middle of the guide hole 205 at the maximum stroke of the suspension 100 as shown in FIGS. The length is left. As a result, the protruding length of each guide rail from the guide hole during compression can be made as short as possible. Since the two guide rails 210 and 211 are thus always inserted through the guide holes 205 of the upper and lower rotation prevention holders 202 and 203 fixed to the upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114, the upper cylinder The member 113 and the lower cylindrical member 114 do not rotate independently of each other. Therefore, the entire upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114 are not rotated by fixing the lower cylindrical member 114.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the upper and lower cylindrical members 113 and 114 and the guide rails 210 and 211 are subjected to surface treatment on the outer peripheral surfaces corresponding to the shaft holes 203 and the fixing holes 204 of the anti-rotation holders 201 and 202, respectively. It is preferable to increase the frictional force by forming the uneven surfaces 113a, 114a and 211a.

  FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the lubrication system of the guide rails 210 and 211. Both guide rails 210 and 211 are configured by cylindrical pipes, and are provided with lubricating oil storage chambers 216 and 217, respectively. In the guide rail 210 whose lower end is inserted into the guide hole 205, the lower end opening is sealed and the upper end opening is also sealed, a lubricating oil injection port 215 is formed in the upper lid, and the lower end outer wall inserted through the guide hole 205 is lubricated. An oil supply port 217 is formed. On the other hand, in the guide rail 211 whose upper end side is inserted into the guide hole 205, a sealing cap 214 is provided at the upper end portion inserted into the guide hole 205, the upper end opening is sealed, and the lubricating oil injection port 215 is formed in the upper lid. A lubricating oil supply port 217 is formed on the outer wall of the upper end portion inserted through the hole 205.

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which the present suspension 100 is applied to a handle column. The long bolt 112 is formed long in order to function as a pull-up bolt, and the lower end 305 of the lower cylindrical member 114 is a fork control tube ( It is formed in an oblique wedge shape in accordance with a fixing metal fitting (light) 306 for fixing to a not shown. The distal end of the long bolt 112 is screwed into the screw hole of the fixing bracket 306 and pulled up to fix the fixing bracket 306 in the control tube of the fork, thereby fixing the suspension 100. On the other hand, a lower end portion 302 of an aluminum handle stem 301 is fitted and fixed to the upper end portion of the upper cylindrical member 113. A hexagonal cylindrical screw cap insertion hole 303 is formed at the upper end of the handle stem 301 having the same axis as that of the suspension 100, and the screw cap 304 is covered with a screw hole formed at the bottom thereof.

  FIG. 11 shows an embodiment in which the present suspension is applied to a saddle strut. The suspension is short enough to connect the long bolt 112 to the support base 110 and is perpendicular to the lower end of the lower cylindrical member 114. It is almost the same as the above embodiment except that it is cut out. That is, the tip of the long bolt 112 is fixed by sandwiching the support base 110 between the nut 108 and the collar 107. Here, since the tip end of the guide rail 211 is located in the middle of the guide hole at the time of the maximum vertical movement stroke in the suspension 100, the protrusion length of the guide rail tip from the guide hole at the time of compression is set. It can be as short as possible, saving space and shortening the minimum dimension under the saddle.

  The bicycle suspension according to the present invention is particularly applicable to road bikes, city cycles, handle columns and saddle columns of electrically assisted bicycles.

100: Suspension device 101: Washer 102: Rubber gasket 103: Bearing 104: Oil-free bush 105: Grease filling space 106: Coil spring 107: Collar 108: Nut 109: Washer 110: Support base 112: Long bolt 113: Upper cylinder Member 114: Lower cylindrical member 115: Welding hole 116: Vertical sliding surface 117: Grease reservoir 118: Cover 201: Upper rotation stopper 202: Lower rotation holder 203: Shaft hole 204: Fixed hole 205: Guide hole 206: Oil-free bushing 207: Communication hole 208: Tightening hole 209: Tightening bolt 210, 211: Guide rail 212: Elastic ring 213: Guide hole margin 214: Sealing cap 215: Lubricating oil inlet 216: Lubricating oil storage chamber 217: Lubricating oil supply port 218: Stroke 301: Han Rusutemu 302: handlebar stem lower end portion 303: screw cap insertion hole 304: screw cap 305: fixing bracket receiving surface 306: fixing bracket

Claims (8)

A bicycle suspension for absorbing shocks applied to the bicycle wheel,
A pair of upper and lower cylindrical members inserted in a mutually stretchable manner;
A long bolt arranged so as to be movable up and down on the same axis within the upper and lower cylindrical members;
A bearing fixed in the upper cylindrical member and through which the bolt is inserted;
A ring-shaped support base fixed in the lower cylindrical member and supporting the long bolt;
A coil spring disposed between the upper and lower cylindrical members and the long bolt and having upper and lower ends supported by the bearing and the support base,
A rotation stop mechanism for preventing rotation of the pair of upper and lower cylindrical members in the circumferential direction;
The anti-rotation mechanism includes a pair of upper and lower anti-rotation holders fixed to the upper and lower cylindrical members, guide rails fixed to one or both ends of the upper and lower anti-rotation holders, and both ends of the opposite anti-rotation holders. The guide rail is formed in either one or both of the guide rails through which the guide rail slides,
A suspension for bicycles.   The bicycle suspension according to claim 1, wherein the bearing and the support base are fixed by spot welding a plurality of small welding holes formed through the peripheral walls of the upper cylindrical member and the lower cylindrical member.   The bicycle suspension according to claim 1, wherein the long bolt is supported by the support base via a nut screwed to the long bolt.   The bearing is provided with a non-lubricated bush fitted to the inner peripheral surface, and the upper end of the non-lubricated bush is slightly lower than the upper end of the bearing to provide a space for filling grease between the outer circumference of the long bolt and the bearing. The bicycle suspension according to claim 1 formed. The anti-rotation holder includes a shaft hole through which the upper and lower cylindrical members formed at the center are inserted, a guide hole formed at one end, and a fixing hole through which the guide rail formed at the other end is inserted and fixed.
Forming a communication hole communicating between the fixed hole and the shaft hole and forming a tightening hole penetrating both side walls of the communication hole;
By fixing the diameter of the shaft hole and the fixing hole with a tightening bolt inserted through the tightening hole, the vertical rotation stop holder is fixed to the upper and lower cylindrical members, and at the same time, the guide rail is fixed to the fixing hole and faces each other. The bicycle suspension according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the leading end side of the guide rail is inserted through the guide hole of the rotation stop holder.   The tightening hole is composed of a through-hole through which a tightening bolt formed on one side wall of both walls of the communication hole can be inserted, and a screw hole having a thread on the inner peripheral surface formed on the other side wall. The upper and lower two sets of tightening holes are formed, and the screw holes are alternately arranged in the upper and lower directions so that the tightening bolts are inserted in opposite directions. Or the suspension for bicycles of 3.   The inner diameter of the lower cylindrical member is formed to be large so that the upper cylindrical member can be inserted, and the upper end of the lower cylindrical member is positioned below the upper end surface of the lower antirotational holder. The bicycle suspension according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a grease storage space is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the upper cylindrical member and the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole of the lower anti-rotation holder. .   The guide rail is formed of a cylindrical body, and the cylindrical body includes a lubricating oil tank that can be replenished with a lubricating oil whose upper and lower portions are sealed with a sealing cap, and a lubricating oil tank is provided on an outer peripheral wall of the lubricating oil tank. The bicycle suspension according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a fuel filler opening for automatically refueling is formed.

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