JP2512822Y2 - Rear suspension vehicle control system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a toe control device for a vehicle rear suspension.

2. Description of the Related Art If a brake is applied while the vehicle is turning, the lateral force of the rear wheels may be insufficient and the vehicle may spin. To prevent this, a toe control device has been developed that attempts to change the toe angle of the rear wheels in the toe-in direction by utilizing the rearward force applied to the rear suspension during braking.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-42041, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-79606, etc.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention The conventional toe control device is a rear suspension in which a rear wheel is vertically swingably supported by a trailing arm and a pair of upper and lower lateral arms. The part is integrally formed with its center line having a rear opening angle with respect to the vehicle traveling direction,
The rear end of the toe control arm is pivotally mounted in the compartment so that the toe control arm can rotate slightly in a substantially horizontal plane, and the front end of the toe control arm is vertically attached to the vehicle body side through a bush made of an elastic material such as rubber. The trailing arm front end is pivoted inward around the pivot point of the trailing arm and toe control arm due to the backward force acting on the trailing arm during braking. Then, the toe angle of the rear wheel is changed in the toe-in direction.

However, during turning, a roll angle is generated on the vehicle body,
In the case where the toe control arm is attached to the trailing arm side like the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, the toe control arm swings up and down together with the trailing arm, so that when the roll angle occurs, the toe control arm moves The outer wheel side is turned upward and the inner wheel side is turned downward with the front end portion pivotally attached to the vehicle body as a center.

Therefore, when the foot brake is applied and the braking force F acts rearward on the ground contact point of the rear wheel tire, the reaction force is supported by the rocking bearing at the front end of the trailing arm, so that the ground height at the rocking center of the trailing arm is R. The trailing arm is loaded with a moment of F × R, and if the length of the trailing arm is L, the trailing ring arm swings at the center of the swing end in addition to the backward force F caused by the braking force and the downward force caused by the moment. Force F × R / L is applied.

Therefore, as described above, the toe control arm, which has an angle of upward on the outer wheel side and downward on the inner wheel side due to the generation of the vehicle body roll angle due to the turning, causes the downward force F × R / L generated by the braking moment to cause the inner / outer wheel to rotate. Both sides rotate downward. When the outer wheel side toe control arm that has been in the upward state due to the roll angle rotates downward, the outer wheel changes the toe angle in the toe-out direction until the downward rotation angle is less than twice the vehicle body roll angle. When the inner wheel side toe control arm that was in the downward state due to the angle rotates downward, the inner wheel changes the toe angle in the toe-in direction.

When the brake is applied during turning, the outer wheel is toe-in,
The toe-out of the inner ring is effective for maintaining the safety of the vehicle, but as described above, the conventional one may not be able to satisfy the demand.

The present invention is mainly intended to address the above problems of the conventional toe control device.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a sleeve, a toe control arm concentrically arranged in the sleeve, and a toe control arm connected to the sleeve by a joint so that a proximal end portion can swing in all directions. The toe control mechanism is composed of a bush made of an elastic material such as rubber interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the toe control arm and the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve. The trailing arm is fixed to the body-side member in a closed state, and the rear end is integrally connected to the housing that rotatably supports the rear wheel.The front end of the trailing arm is attached to the tip of the toe control arm with a ball joint in all directions. It is characterized in that it is rotatably connected to.

Action As described above, when the vehicle body rolls during turning of the vehicle, the toe control arm is tilted downward together with the vehicle body toward the outer wheel side and upward toward the inner wheel side. When the foot brake is applied in that state and a rearward braking force is generated at the rear tire contact point, a downward moment is generated in the trailing arm based on the braking force, and the outer wheel side toe control arm rotates further downward. The ball joint section is further displaced inward to increase the degree of toe-in, and the toe control arm on the inner ring side is rotated downward, so that the ball joint section is displaced outward and the toe-out or toe angle becomes zero, which results in It can be stabilized.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the figure, 1 and 1 are the left and right rear wheels, respectively.
It is rotatably supported by 2 and 2. 3 is a trailing arm whose rear end is integrally connected to the front side of the housing 2 and whose front end is connected to a toe control arm 7 which will be described later by a ball joint 11. 4,5 are outer ends of the rear side of the housing. Upper and lower lateral arms, which are axially attached to the upper and lower parts of the vehicle through bushes made of elastic material such as rubber and whose inner ends are axially attached to the vehicle body side member via bushes made of elastic material such as rubber. Is a strut whose lower end and upper end are respectively connected to the housing 2 and a vehicle body member above the housing 2 via bushes made of an elastic material such as rubber. The left and right rear wheels 1, 1 are the trailing arms 3, It is attached to the vehicle body so as to be able to swing up and down by the upper and lower lateral arms 4 and 5 and is spring-supported by the suspension spring 6a of the strut 6.

As shown in FIG. 4, the toe control arm 7 is concentrically fitted into a sleeve 8 whose axis center line is fixed at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the vehicle body front-rear direction XX, and the front end portion of the toe control arm 7 is mounted. Is coupled to the sleeve 8 by a joint 9 such as a ball joint so as to swing in all directions, and a bush made of an elastic material such as rubber is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the toe control arm 7 and the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve 8. The toe control arm 7 is elastically connected at 10, and the front end of the trailing arm 3 is rotatable in all directions by the ball joint 11 at the end of the toe control arm 7 protruding from the sleeve 8 as described above. Be connected.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which a joint consisting of a horizontal axis and a vertical axis is used instead of the ball joint of FIG. 4 as the joint 9 for connecting one end of the toe control arm 7 to the sleeve 8. The joint 9 may have any joint structure that allows the toe control arm 7 to rotate with respect to the sleeve 8 in a horizontal plane and a vertical plane within the range of elastic deformation of the bush 10.

 The operation of the present invention will be described below.

Toe control arm 7 under normal running conditions
Is located at the center of the sleeve 8 and is maintained in a substantially horizontal state, and the rear wheel 1 expands and contracts the suspension spring 6a about the ball joint 11 and the axial attachment portions of the upper and lower lateral arms 4 and 5 to the vehicle body side. It moves up and down while making it.

When a roll occurs in the vehicle body during turning, the sleeve 8 is fixed to the vehicle body side. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the sleeve 8 and the toe control arm 7 supported by the sleeve 8 are attached to the outer wheel side along with the vehicle body roll. Is downward and the inner ring side is upward. At this time, when the foot brake is applied and the rearward braking force acts on the rear wheel tire ground contact point, a downward moment is generated in the trailing arm 3 as described above, and the swing center of the trailing arm 3, that is, the ball joint.
A downward force is applied to the 11th portion in addition to the backward braking force, and the downward force causes the toe control arm 7 to rotate downward while bending the bush 10 about the joint 9.

On the outer wheel side, the toe control arm 7, which is tilted downward by the vehicle body roll, rotates further downward due to the moment due to the braking force, so that the ball joint 11 part is displaced further inward to strengthen the toe-in tendency of the outer wheel, On the side, the toe control arm 7 tilted upward by the vehicle body roll rotates downward due to the moment due to the braking force. Therefore, if the downward rotation angle is less than twice the upward angle produced by the vehicle body roll, 11 ball joints Is displaced to the outside and the toe angle of the inner wheel is changed in the toe-out direction, the outer wheel is toe-in, and the inner wheel is toe-out, which is a sufficient condition for ensuring vehicle stability when the foot brake is applied during turning.

In the above case, a backward force due to the braking force naturally acts on the ball joint 11 part, and the toe control arm 7 pivots inward about the joint 9 part, and the outer ring further strengthens the toe-in tendency. Since the ground resistance is small and the rearward braking force is smaller than that on the outer wheel side, the change in the toe-in direction due to the rearward force is also small, and the outer wheel side is inward due to the lateral force of the rear wheel tire during turning. Since the toe control arm 7 rotates outward on the inner wheel side, the outer wheel tends to toe-in, and the inner wheel tends to toe-out. Therefore, even if the backward force due to the braking force acts, the inner wheel is in a toe-out state or a toe angle zero state. Becomes

When the foot brake is applied in a straight running state, both the left and right rear wheels tend to toe in due to the downward force and the backward force acting on the ball joint 11 part.

In the illustrated embodiment, the inclination angle θ of the sleeve 8 and the toe control arm 7 supported by the sleeve 8 with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction XX is set to approximately 45 °, but the θ is in the range of 0 ° <θ90. Can be selected arbitrarily.

As described above, according to the present invention, a sleeve and a toe control arm concentrically arranged in the sleeve and connected to the sleeve by a joint so that the base end can swing in all directions. A toe control mechanism including a bush interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the toe control arm and the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve, the toe control mechanism having the axial center line at a predetermined angle .theta. Fixed to the member,
By adopting a structure in which the front end of the trailing arm is connected to the tip of the toe control arm by a ball joint so as to be rotatable in all directions, the outer wheel is toe-in and the inner wheel is toe-out or when the vehicle is braking during braking. The toe angle changes to zero, the lateral force of the rear wheels is prevented from decreasing, and the behavior of the vehicle can be stabilized. This is a great contribution to improving the safety of the vehicle.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 are schematic diagrams showing an embodiment of a rear suspension equipped with a toe control mechanism according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view, FIG. 2 is a rear view, and FIG. Is a side view. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of the toe control mechanism section, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional plan view of a main portion showing another example of the toe control mechanism section. 1 ... rear wheel, 2 ... housing, 3 ... trailing arm, 4,5 ... lateral arm, 6 ... struts, 7
...... Toe control arm, 8 ...... Sleeve, 9 ......
Joint, 10 …… Bush, 11 …… Ball joint.

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A trailing arm having a rear end integrally connected to a housing for rotatably supporting a rear wheel, a suspension arm supporting the rear wheel so as to be vertically swingable, and an outer end portion and an inner end portion. In a rear suspension of a vehicle, which is a housing and a lateral arm rotatably attached to a member on the vehicle body side, a sleeve and a base end portion concentrically arranged in the sleeve and a base end portion swings in all directions to the sleeve. A toe control mechanism including a toe control arm that is operably coupled and a bush made of an elastic material such as rubber interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the toe control arm and the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve has a shaft center line. The front end of the trailing arm is attached to the tip of the toe control arm at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and the front end of the trailing arm is attached to the ball joint. Toe control device of the rear suspension for a vehicle, characterized in that linked to be rotatable in all directions with cement.