JP2539603B2 - Automatic two-wheel scooter - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a two- or three-wheel scooter in which a wheel cover is attached to one steering front wheel.

(Background of the Invention) In a motorcycle, an engine is usually mounted behind a front wheel, and in a two- or three-wheel scooter, an engine and an intake air purifier are usually arranged below a vehicle body. Therefore, when a large turbulence occurs in the air flow behind the front wheels, dust and rainwater are thrown up by the turbulence, the engine and the lower part of the vehicle body are easily soiled, and air resistance increases. . Further, when traveling on a dusty road surface or in the rain, it is desirable that dust and rainwater are not concentrated in the center of the vehicle body as much as possible so that the intake cleaner does not easily inhale the dust and rainwater. In particular, when a scooter is equipped with a forced air cooling type engine, it is also required to prevent dust and rainwater from being sucked in together with engine cooling air.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances,
It suppresses the turbulence of the air below the vehicle body to make the engine and the lower part of the vehicle body less likely to get dirty, reduces air resistance, and makes it difficult for dust and rainwater to be sucked into the cooling system of the intake air purifier and the forced air-cooled engine. The purpose is to provide an automatic two-wheeled / three-wheeled scooter capable.

(Structure of the Invention) According to the present invention, this object has a leg shield that rises upward from a front portion of a substantially plate-shaped footrest, and one steering front wheel located below and in front of the leg shield. In an automatic two- or three-wheeled scooter, both sides of the front lower portion of the leg shield are extended forward so as to overlap with the front wheel in a side view, and substantially the entire outer surface of both side surfaces of the steering wheel except the tire portion of the steering front wheel is substantially outside. A two- and three-wheeled scooter characterized by being covered with a hemispherical wheel cover,
Is achieved by That is, a substantially hemispherical wheel cover is provided on both sides of the steering front wheel, and the airflow passing through the side of the front wheel is smoothly guided rearward along the spherical surface of the wheel cover to rectify the airflow below the vehicle body. It is a thing.
Here, the wheel cover has a sorting function that guides dust and rainwater, which are heavier than the air contained in the running wind, to the outside of the vehicle body by using these inertias. Clean air with a low density of rainwater will flow.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a right side view thereof, FIG. 3 is a left side view of a two-wheel scooter to which this embodiment is applied, and FIG. 4 is the same. FIG. 5 is a front view and FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the wheel cover.

Reference numeral 10 in the figure is a frame. The frame 10 includes a steering shaft tube 12, a front frame 14, and a front frame.
A pair of left and right rear frames 16 (only one is shown) extending obliquely upward and rearward from the lower end of 14 are provided.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a power unit in which a forced air cooling type two-cycle engine 20 and a transmission case 22 are integrally assembled.
The front portion of the transmission case 22 is vertically swingably connected to the rear frame 16 via a link (not shown). The rear portion of the transmission case 22 is elastically supported by the buffer unit 24. Reference numeral 26 is a rear wheel attached to the rear portion of the transmission case 22, 28 is an intake air purifier attached to the upper surface of the transmission case 22, and 30 is an operation seat attached on the rear frame 16.

A steering shaft (not shown) is rotatably held by the steering shaft cylinder 12, and a steering bar handle (not shown) is provided at the upper end thereof.
Has been fixed. A handle cover 32 is attached to the steering bar handle.

The upper ends of the inner cylinders of the pair of left and right front forks 34, 34 forming a cylindrical shock absorber are fixed to the lower end of the steering shaft. Steering front wheels 36 are rotatably attached to the lower ends of the outer cylinders of the front forks 34, 34. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the front wheel 36 includes a wheel 38 and a tire 40, and a brake drum 42 integrally formed with the wheel 38 is rotatably held by a front wheel shaft 44. A brake shoe plate 46 is opposed to the brake drum 42, and a brake shoe (not shown) attached to the shoe plate 46, a brake cam shaft 48, a brake lever 50, a brake wire 52, etc. and the brake drum 42 are known insides. An expandable drum brake is formed.

54 (54a, 54b) is a pair of substantially hemispherical wheel covers. The wheel cover 54 is made of synthetic resin so as to cover substantially the entire side surfaces of the wheel 38 except for the tire 40 of the front wheel 36. Four pairs of two engaging claws 56 are provided on the inner surface of the wheel cover 54 so as to project. These paired claws
56 is an engaging protrusion 5 integrally formed with the outer cylinder of the front fork 34.
8, 58 and engaging projections 62, 62 of a bracket 60 fastened to the front wheel shaft 44, respectively. That is, the tip ends of the pair of engaging claws 56 are formed on the slopes that are spaced apart from each other toward the tip, and when the wheel cover 54 is pressed against the wheel 38 from the outer side, the tip slopes of the pair of engaging claws 56 are formed. The engaging projections 58 or 62 are once spread and then returned to engage with the engaging projections 58 or 62.

Below the steering wheel cover 32 and the driving seat 30,
A substantially plate-shaped footrest 64 that encloses the lower portion of the front frame 14 and the front portion of the rear frame 16 is formed. This footrest 64
The rear portion is connected to the power unit 18 and a rear cover 66 that covers the upper side of the rear wheel 26. Further, the front part of the footrest stand 64 is connected to a leg shield 68 that wraps around the steering shaft tube 12 and the front frame 14 from the front and back. The lower parts on the left and right sides of the leg shield 68 extend toward the sides of the front wheel 36 and overlap the front wheel 36 in a side view.

When the scooter is traveling, the traveling wind flows backward along the wheel covers 54 arranged on both sides of the front wheel 36, as shown in FIG. Since the wheel cover 54 is formed in a substantially hemispherical shape, the running wind smoothly flows along the spherical surface and is guided to the inner surface of the portion extending from the lower front portion of the leg shield 68 to the both sides of the front wheel 36. And flows backward. Therefore, the air flow behind the front wheels 36 is rectified. Therefore, dust and rainwater are less likely to wind up due to the turbulent flow, and air resistance is also reduced.

On the other hand, when traveling on a road with a lot of dust or in the rain, the traveling wind hits the front wheels 36 in a state where dust and rainwater are mixed. In this case, since the specific gravity of dust and rainwater is larger than that of air, when the traveling wind is guided to the outside of the front wheel 36 by the spherical surface of the front half of the wheel cover 54, a large inertial force to the outside is given to the dust and rainwater. For this reason the front wheels 36
At the rear, when the traveling wind is guided inward by the spherical surface of the latter half of the wheel cover 54, light air collects inward, and heavy dust and rainwater collect outward. That is, the wheel cover 54 has a function of selecting dust or rainwater and air due to the difference in specific gravity. For this reason, dust and rainwater are less likely to concentrate in the center of the vehicle body, and are less likely to be sucked into the intake purifier 28 and the cooling system of the forced air-cooled engine 20.

Hemispherical wheel cover 54 and leg shield
Since the wheel cover 54 has a spherical surface, the distance from the lower portion 68 is substantially constant even when the front wheels 36 are steered, so that a predetermined effect such as almost constant rectifying action can be obtained.

Further, in this embodiment, since the wheel cover 54 is fixed to the front fork 34, the rotation moment of the front wheel is smaller than that in the case where it is fixed to the front wheel 36, and the acceleration / deceleration performance is not deteriorated. However, the present invention also includes a case in which one wheel cover is fixed to the fork and the other wheel cover is fixed to the wheel, for example, in the case of a cantilever fork in which the front wheel is supported by one fork. Furthermore, the present invention also includes the case of being applied to a tricycle having one steering front wheel.

(Effect of the invention) As described above, according to the present invention, both sides of the front lower part of the leg shield are extended forward so as to overlap with the front wheel in a side view, and substantially the entire side surfaces of one steering front wheel are substantially formed. Since it is covered with a hemispherical wheel cover, the running wind is rectified by this wheel cover and is guided to the inner surface of the part extending from the lower front part of the leg shield to the side of the front wheel, and the running wind at the lower part of the vehicle body. Turbulence can be suppressed. Therefore, dust and dirt are less likely to adhere to the lower part of the vehicle body and the lower part of the engine.
Also, air resistance is reduced. On the other hand, since the wheel cover is formed in a substantially hemispherical shape, the spherical surface causes the dust and rainwater to be separated from the air, and collects air with little dust and rainwater on the center line side of the vehicle body. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an effect that dust and rainwater are less likely to be sucked into the intake air purifier, and dust and rainwater are less likely to be sucked into the engine cooling system in the case of the forced air cooling type engine.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a right side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a left side view of a two-wheel scooter to which this embodiment is applied. FIG. 4 is a front view of the same, and FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the wheel cover. 36 …… Steering front wheel, 38 …… Wheel, 40 …… Tire, 54…
… Wheel covers, 64 …… Stands, 68 …… Leg shields.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A two-wheeled and three-wheeled scooter having a leg shield that rises upward from a front portion of a substantially plate-shaped footrest, and one steering front wheel that is located in front of and below the leg shield. A wheel cover in which both sides of the front lower part of the shield are extended forward so as to overlap with the front wheel in a side view, and substantially the entire outer surfaces of both side surfaces of the wheel except the tire portion of the steering front wheel are formed in a substantially hemispherical shape. An automatic two- and three-wheeled scooter characterized by being covered with.