JP3009841B2 - Body mounting structure of strut suspension - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a strut type suspension for a motor vehicle, and more particularly to an upper end of a spring means disposed around a shock absorber, which is supported on a vehicle body via a thrust bearing and a casing of a strut mount. The present invention relates to a strut type suspension body mounting structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a vehicle suspension, there is a strut suspension in which a shock absorber is directly and rigidly connected to a spindle or the like of a wheel portion, thereby using the shock absorber for positioning a wheel.

[0003] As this strut type suspension,
Conventionally, the one shown in FIG. 4 has been developed.

[0004] This suspension is of a type employed on the front side of a vehicle body.
And a coil spring 2 serving as a spring means, and a lower end of an outer cylinder (not shown) of the shock absorber 1 is coupled to a spindle (not shown), while a piston of the shock absorber 1 is connected. The upper end of the rod 4 is attached to a vehicle body panel 7 via an insulator rubber 6 of a strut mount 5. The strut mount 5 is an insulator rubber 6
Are accommodated in their peripheral flanges 9
case body 9 and lower cover 10 joined to each other
And a peripheral flange 9 which is a joint between the two.
a, 10a are connected to the vehicle body panel 7 by bolts and nuts 11. The coil spring 2 is disposed between a lower spring seat (not shown) fixed to the outer cylinder of the shock absorber 1 and an upper spring seat 12 disposed below the lower cover 10. The spring seat 12 is supported on the lower surface of the lower cover 10 via a thrust bearing 13. That is, the coil spring 2 is supported between the shock absorber 1 and the lower cover 10 via the thrust bearing 13.

In the suspension configured as described above, the load transmission path between the wheel portion and the vehicle body is defined as the path transmitted from the coil spring 2 to the vehicle body via the thrust bearing 13 and the lower cover 10 of the strut mount 5. Since there are two systems of a path that is transmitted from the piston rod 4 of the shock absorber 1 to the vehicle body via the insulator rubber 6 of the strut mount 5, the spring constant of the insulator rubber 6 is reduced to be input from the piston rod 4. The vibration absorption performance against a slight vibration can be improved.
Further, in the case of the strut type suspension, the lower end of the shock absorber 1 is rigidly connected to the spindle, so that the shock absorber 1 and the coil spring 2 rotate around their axes due to the swinging of the wheel portion during steering, and the coil The upper spring seat 12 that supports the upper end of the spring 2 rotates relative to the lower cover 10, but since the thrust bearing 13 is interposed between the upper spring seat 12 and the lower cover 10, both of them are rotated. There is no significant sliding friction between them.

[0006] This technique is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-19 / 1982.
No. 1110 and the like.

[0007]

However, in such a strut type suspension, since the vehicle body mounting portion is arranged above the wheel portion,
Muddy water, rainwater, dust, and the like, which jump up from the road surface when the vehicle is running, easily enter the thrust bearing 13 of the mounting portion thereof, and there is a fear that the performance of the thrust bearing 13 may be deteriorated with use over time.

Accordingly, the present invention can reliably prevent infiltration of muddy water or the like into a thrust bearing interposed between a casing of a strut mount and a spring means, and can maintain desired performance for a long period of time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a body mounting structure for a strut suspension.

[0009]

According to the present invention, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, an upper end of a piston rod of a shock absorber is attached to a vehicle body via an insulator rubber of a strut mount, and is disposed around the shock absorber. The upper end of the spring means is located above the upper spring seat
A strut-type suspension body mounting structure supported by the vehicle body via a thrust bearing and a strut mount casing, wherein the strut mount casing is formed from a case body and a lower cover having their peripheral edges joined together. It is configured, in which the thrust bearing is disposed on the lower surface of the lower cover, the upper
・ Below the spring seat from the outer peripheral edge of the bearing support surface
Provide a cylindrical wall that bends toward the bottom, on the lower surface of the lower cover,
A rubber annular lip that covers the peripheral area of the thrust bearing is extended.
This annular lip is attached to the upper spring seat
Tip so that it faces the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical wall with a gap.
The annular lip is extended to the outer region of the cylindrical wall to prevent intrusion of muddy water or the like into the thrust bearing. In addition, a seal lip for preventing water intrusion extends from an inner peripheral edge of a joint portion of the lower cover with the case body, and the seal lip and the annular lip are integrally formed to form a water droplet on a casing of a strut mount. And the intrusion of muddy water and the like into the thrust bearing can be simultaneously realized without increasing the cost.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. It is to be noted that the same reference numerals are used for the same portions as the conventional one shown in FIG.

The drawings show a vehicle body mounting portion structure of a strut type suspension according to the present invention. The strut of the suspension has a lower end connected to a spindle (not shown) of a front wheel portion. When,
The outer cylinder 3 of the shock absorber 1 is provided with a coil spring 2 as a spring means whose lower end is supported. The upper end of this strut is attached to a vehicle body panel via a strut mount 15.

The strut mount 15 has a casing 16 composed of a bottomed cylindrical case body 9 having a peripheral flange 9a and a thick lower cover 17 for closing the lower surface of the case body 9. It is formed in a concave shape conforming to the cylindrical shape of the case main body 9, and its peripheral flange 17 a is joined to the peripheral flange 9 a of the case main body 9 by bolts and nuts 11 for connecting both to the vehicle body panel 7. I have. An insulator rubber 6 having a cylindrical metal 18 vulcanized and bonded to the outer periphery thereof is press-fitted and fixed in the casing 16, and a core metal 19 is buried substantially in the center of the insulator rubber 6. A rod insertion hole 20 and a working hole 21 are provided substantially in the center of the lower cover 17 of the casing 16 and the case body 9 respectively.
The upper end of the piston rod 4 of the shock absorber 1 is inserted into the center of the cored bar 19 through the rod insertion hole 20 of the lower cover 17, and a case is attached to the tip of the piston rod 4 penetrating the cored bar 19. A mounting nut 22 is screwed through a working hole 21 of the main body 9. Further, a thrust bearing 13 such as a needle bearing or a ball bearing is disposed on an outer peripheral edge of the rod insertion hole 20 on the lower surface of the lower cover 17.
3, an upper spring seat 12 for supporting the upper end of the coil spring 2 is supported. Accordingly, the upper spring seat 12 and the lower cover 17 are rotatable via the thrust bearing 13, so that the coil spring 2 and the upper spring seat 12 can be freely rotated during steering. Incidentally, 23
Is an insulator rubber interposed between the upper spring seat 12 and the coil spring 2.

The lower cover 17 constituting the casing 16 of the strut mount 15 has an annular lip 2 on its lower surface for covering the peripheral area of the thrust bearing 13.
4 and an annular seal lip 25 that seals a joint (peripheral flange 9a, 17a) with the case body 9 extends on the upper surface side. The annular lip 24 is for preventing muddy water or the like from entering the thrust bearing 13, and has a leading end extending to the outer region of the cylindrical wall 12 a of the upper spring seat 12. However, a slight gap d is provided between the annular lip 24 and the upper spring seat 12, and when the coil spring 2 and the upper spring seat 12 rotate with steering,
The annular lip 24 does not come into frictional contact with the upper spring seat 12 to break the surface treatment layer (cation layer) of the upper spring seat 12.
The seal lip 25 is for preventing rainwater or the like from entering the inside of the casing 16 from the joint (peripheral flanges 17a, 9a) between the lower cover 17 and the case body 9. When joined to the case body, the distal end portion comes into close contact with the inner peripheral edge of the peripheral flange 9a of the case main body 9.

These annular lip 24 and seal lip 2
5 are both from the bottom of the lower cover 17 to the peripheral flange 17.
The rising wall 17b extending toward the upper side a extends almost at the same position on the front and back sides, but these are integrated through a through hole 26 formed in the rising wall 17b of the lower cover 17a. That is, the two lips 24 and 25 are formed by simultaneously vulcanizing and bonding the same rubber material to the front and back surfaces of the lower cover 17 at the time of manufacturing, and the two lips 24 and 25 are integrated by the rubber material flowing into the through hole 26 at that time. Have been.

A dust cover 27 is attached to the upper spring seat 12 via a retainer 28, and a bumper bar 29 is attached to the lower surface of the retainer 28 to restrict an excessive stroke of the shock absorber 1. It is.

Since the body mounting structure of this strut type suspension is constructed as described above, the peripheral region of the thrust bearing 13 between the upper spring seat 12 and the lower cover 17 is almost completely covered by the annular lip 24. That is, muddy water and the like jumped up from the wheel are blocked by the annular lip 24 and do not enter the inside of the thrust bearing 13. Therefore, the thrust bearing 13 does not cause malfunction due to the bite of mud or dust or the generation of rust, and the suspension can maintain the expected performance for a long time.

The joint between the case body 9 of the strut mount 15 and the lower cover 17 is formed by an annular seal lip 2.
Since the casing 5 is completely sealed, rainwater or the like infiltrates into the casing 16 from this joint portion, and there is no problem such as generation of abnormal noise between the casing 16 and the insulator rubber 6.

Further, since the annular lip 24 and the seal lip 25 are integrally formed on the front and back of the lower cover 17 through the through hole 26, it can be manufactured at low cost, and the lower covers of the lips 24, 25 can be formed. The adhesive strength (peeling strength) with respect to No. 17 also surely increases. In particular, as in this embodiment, both lips 24, 2
5 are connected to each other, the two lips 2
4, 25 can further increase the adhesive strength.

The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described above. For example, the spring means used for the strut may be an air spring instead of a coil spring.

[0020]

As described above, the present invention provides an upper split
Bent downward from the outer periphery of the bearing support surface
A thrust bearing is provided on the lower surface of the lower cover.
Extend a rubber annular lip that covers the circumference of the
With the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical wall of the upper spring seat.
The front end is positioned outside the cylindrical wall so that they face each other with a gap
Until is extended, because this was to prevent the intrusion of muddy water or the like in the thrust bearing by an annular lip increases the durability of the thrust bearing, comprising the expected performance of the suspension to a long period of time can be maintained. In addition, the annular lip
Always in contact with the rotating upper spring seat
The contact is maintained, and even if it comes in contact, the rubber material makes elastic contact
Surface treatment of the upper spring seat
Destruction of the surface layer is surely prevented, resulting from the destruction of the surface treatment layer
Rust can be prevented from occurring.

Further, when a seal lip for preventing water intrusion is extended from an inner peripheral edge of a joint portion of the lower cover with the case body, and the seal lip and the annular lip are integrally formed. Thus, the prevention of water droplets from entering the casing of the strut mount and the prevention of muddy water and the like from entering the thrust bearing can be realized at the same time without increasing costs. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the generation of abnormal noise between the insulator rubber and the casing and prevent the performance of the thrust bearing from lowering at a low cost. Furthermore, since the seal lip on the upper surface side of the lower cover and the annular lip on the lower surface side are integrated, the adhesive strength of both to the lower cover can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a lower cover showing the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2 showing the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Buffer, 2 ... Coil spring (spring means), 4 ... Piston rod, 6 ... Insulator rubber, 9 ... Case body, 13 ... Thrust bearing, 15 ... Strut mount, 16 ... Casing, 17 ... Lower cover, 24 ... Annular lip. 25 ... Seal lip.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-252626 (JP, A) JP-A-63-19439 (JP, A) JP-A-4-63839 (JP, U) JP-A-63-182913 (JP) 58-50336 (JP, U) JP 221-211 (JP, U) JP 61-1141 (JP, U) JP 6-45693 (JP, Y2) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16F 9/54 B60G 7/00 B60G 15/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An upper end of a piston means of a shock absorber is attached to a vehicle body via an insulator rubber of a strut mount, and an upper end of a spring means disposed around the shock absorber.
Is a strut-type suspension body mounting structure supported by the vehicle body via a thrust bearing and a strut mount casing disposed above the upper spring seat , wherein the strut mount casing is , it is composed of a case body and a lower cover which is joined to the periphery of each other, in which the thrust bearing is disposed on the lower surface of the lower cover, the upper spring seat, outside the bearing support surface
A cylindrical wall which is bent downward from a peripheral edge;
A rubber ring covering the thrust bearing's peripheral area
Extend the lip and attach this annular lip to the upper split
Confront the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical wall of the
The tip portion is extended to the outer region of the cylindrical wall
The body mounting structure of the strut suspension. 2. A seal lip for preventing water intrusion from extending to an inner peripheral edge of a joint portion of the lower cover with a case body, and the seal lip and the annular lip are integrally formed. A vehicle body mounting structure for the strut type suspension according to claim 1.