JP4289199B2 - Suspension upper support structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an upper support structure for a strut suspension.

  The upper support that forms the connection between the suspension and the vehicle body separates the shock absorber input and the spring input, that is, supports each input with a separate mount cushion, and the same mount cushion without separating each input. It is divided roughly into what is supported by. Among these, as the former input separation type upper support structure, there is a structure as shown in Patent Document 1, for example.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a conventional input separation type upper support structure. The piston rod 62 of the shock absorber is connected to an insulator 61 that is integral with the mount rubber 64. The coil spring 68 is received by a spring seat 69. A bearing 70 is interposed between the spring seat 69 and the insulator bracket 67.

  A splash guard 73 is provided between the insulator bracket 67 and the spring seat 69 so as to surround the bearing 70 so that water, mud and the like do not enter the bearing 70 side.

In this configuration, the input from the coil spring 68 is transmitted to the vehicle body 71 side through the spring seat 69, the bearing 70 and the insulator bracket 67, and the input from the piston rod 62 of the shock absorber is transmitted through the insulator 61 to the vehicle body 71. To the side. In this way, the input from the road surface is separated into two paths.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-117607 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-101911 JP-A-8-93835 JP-A-9-303475

  However, in the conventional input-separated upper support structure, it is necessary to separately assemble the mount rubber and the bearing. In addition to the mount rubber, it is necessary to provide a dedicated rubber member for sealing the bearing.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for improving the assembling property of the upper support structure of the suspension.

  An embodiment of the present invention provides a suspension upper support structure including a shock absorber and a coil spring. The upper support structure includes an attachment member for attaching the upper support structure to the vehicle body, a first coupling member coupled to the piston rod of the shock absorber, and sandwiched between the attachment member and the first coupling member, A first mount rubber member for transmitting an input from a piston rod to the mounting member; a second coupling member coupled to the coil spring; a bearing for rotatably supporting the second coupling member; and the mounting member And a second mount rubber member that is sandwiched between the bearing and transmits an input from the coil spring to the mounting member, and the second mount rubber member extends to a side surface of the bearing. Is configured to hold.

  According to this aspect, in the input separated type upper support structure in which the input from the piston rod of the shock absorber is received by the first mount rubber member and the input from the coil spring is received by the second mount rubber member, the coil spring is Since the pivotable bearing is held by the second mount rubber member, the second mount rubber member and the bearing can be assembled together with the coil spring, and the assemblability is improved.

  The first mount rubber member and the second mount rubber member may be integrally formed. As a result, the assemblability is improved and the rubber vulcanization process becomes one, so that the cost is reduced.

  The upper support structure of the present invention may further include an annular lip portion extending outward of the bearing to seal the bearing, and the annular lip portion may be integrally formed with the second mount rubber member. According to this, since the lip member serving as a dust seal of the bearing is formed integrally with the mount rubber, the assemblability of the upper support structure is improved, the number of parts is reduced, and the cost is reduced.

  According to the suspension upper support structure of the present invention, the bearing that rotatably supports the coil spring is held by the second mount rubber member that receives the input from the coil spring. Improves.

  In an embodiment of the present invention, in an input separation type upper support structure that receives shock absorber input and coil spring input with rubber at different parts, the strut bearing is held by the mount rubber that receives input from the coil spring. It is a thing.

  The suspension upper support structure according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The upper support 10 is a structure for supporting a shock absorber and a coil spring in an anti-vibration manner and fixing them to a vehicle body in a strut suspension of a steered wheel. The piston rod 14 of the shock absorber 12 is inserted through the upper bracket 16. The piston rod 14 that moves in the axial direction with respect to the outer cylinder of the shock absorber 12 extends upward, and its upper end is coupled to the upper bracket 16 by a nut 58. The bound stopper 20 that absorbs the impact of the main body of the shock absorber 12 is fixed to the lower bracket 18.

  The upper end of the coil spring 30 is in contact with the upper insulator 32. The upper insulator 32 is received by an upper spring seat 46 having an inverted L-shaped cross section as shown. A lower spring seat (not shown) is fixed to the outer cylinder of the shock absorber 12 below the FIG. 1, and the lower end of the coil spring 30 is in contact with the lower spring seat.

  The outer peripheral portion of the upper bracket 16 is fixed to the mount rubber 36 via a cylindrical member 56. The mount rubber 36 is attached to the vehicle body 22 by the attachment member 24. The mounting member 24 includes a horizontal portion 23 that extends substantially in the horizontal direction and is fixed to the vehicle body 22 by mounting bolts 26, a bent portion 28 that has a U-shaped cross section, and a vertical portion 34 that extends upward from the bent portion.

  The mount rubber 36 is insert-molded with the mounting member 24 as a core metal, whereby the mount rubber 36 and the mounting member 24 are configured as a single component. The mount rubber 36 goes around the bent portion 28 from the inner peripheral side of the vertical portion 34 of the mounting member 24 and further extends in the outer peripheral direction. Hereinafter, a portion of the mount rubber 36 surrounding the cylindrical member 56 is referred to as a “bracket holding portion 38”.

  The upper support 10 is provided with a strut bearing 50 for rotatably supporting the coil spring 30 during steering. The strut bearing 50 is interposed between the upper spring seat 46 and the mount rubber 36. Thus, when the vehicle steering is turned, the upper spring seat 46, the upper insulator 32, and the coil spring 30 rotate with respect to the mount rubber 36, the upper bracket 16, the lower bracket 18, and the attachment member 24. It becomes possible to move.

  The mount rubber 36 also extends to the upper surface of the strut bearing 50, and this portion is referred to as a “bearing upper surface portion 42”. The bearing upper surface portion 42 is also integrally formed with the mount rubber 36. For this reason, in the vicinity of the bent portion 28 of the mounting member 24, several rubber circulation holes (not shown) for connecting the portion formed inside the bent portion 28 of the mount rubber 36 and the bearing upper surface portion 42 are provided. Is provided.

  The strut bearing 50 has an inverted L shape as shown. The strut bearing 50 may have a shape other than the inverted L shape. The upper race 52 that rotates with respect to the lower race 54 contacts the bearing upper surface portion 42, and the upper race 52 extends to the inner peripheral side of the bearing, and this inner peripheral surface is also in contact with the mount rubber 36. It has become.

  The mount rubber 36 is designed to have a predetermined tightening allowance with respect to the outer periphery of the strut bearing 50. This will be described with reference to FIG. 2 which is an enlarged view of a portion A shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the outer periphery 45 of the bearing upper surface portion 42 of the mount rubber 36 has a cross-section bent into a “<” shape, and the upper race 52 of the strut bearing 50 is tightened by this bent portion. Is given. Since the bent portion is a portion having low rigidity, the rotation of the bearing is not affected even if the tightening margin is given.

  Thus, by providing the bent portion on the outer periphery 45 of the mount rubber 36, when the strut bearing 50 is fitted to the mount rubber 36, the strut bearing 50 can be transported and assembled without falling off. Therefore, the assembly of the upper support 10 becomes easy.

  Some conventional upper race structures directly hold the strut bearings with metal fittings. In this case, there is a problem that if the metal fittings for holding the strut bearings are tightened to improve the assemblability, the outer periphery of the bearings may be damaged or the torque will be difficult to control due to preloading inside the bearings. . On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the bearing and the metal fitting are not in direct contact with each other, and the rubber member holds the bearing, so that the above problem does not occur.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the load applied from the axle side connected to the lower end of the suspension is separated into an input from the coil spring 30 and an input from the shock absorber 12. That is, the input from the coil spring 30 is transmitted to the vehicle body 22 through a path of the upper insulator 32, the upper spring seat 46, the strut bearing 50, the bearing upper surface portion 42 of the mount rubber 36 and the mounting member 24. Input from the piston rod 14 of the shock absorber 12 is transmitted to the vehicle body 22 through a path of the upper bracket 16, the bracket holding portion 38 of the mount rubber 36 and the mounting member 24. Further, when a large input is applied to the shock absorber 12, the upper end of the body of the shock absorber 12 collides with the bound stopper 20, and the load acting on the bound stopper 20 at this time is the lower bracket 18, the upper bracket 16, the mount rubber. It is transmitted to the vehicle body 22 through a path of 36 bracket holding portions 38 and the attachment member 24. As described above, the input from the shock absorber 12 and the input from the coil spring 30 are received by different parts such as the bracket holding portion 38 or the bearing upper surface portion 42 of the mount rubber 36, respectively. In the present embodiment, since the bracket holding portion 38 and the bearing upper surface portion 42 are integrally formed around the mounting member 24, the assemblability is excellent.

  The mount rubber 36 further includes an annular lip portion 44 that extends from the bearing upper surface portion 42 to the outside of the strut bearing 50 and contacts the upper surface of the upper spring seat 46. The annular lip portion 44 is in pressure contact with the upper surface of the upper spring seat 46 so as to be rotatable and slidable with a slight allowance due to its own elasticity. As a result, the annular lip portion 44 dust seals the gap between the mount rubber 36 and the upper surface of the upper spring seat 46, and prevents sewage and mud from entering the strut bearing 50 through the gap. Since the annular lip portion 44 is formed integrally with the mount rubber 36, the assemblability is superior to the case where the dedicated seal member is provided separately from the mount rubber.

  As described above, in the upper support 10 of the input separation type suspension according to the present embodiment, a tightening margin is given to the outer peripheral portion of the mount rubber 36 that receives the input from the coil spring 30, and the strut bearing 50 is formed by the mount rubber 36. Since the mounting rubber 36 and the strut bearing 50 can be assembled together, the assembling workability is improved.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the coil spring 30 is also damped by the bearing upper surface portion 42 of the mount rubber 36 in addition to the upper insulator 32, road noise blocking performance and riding comfort are improved.

  Furthermore, since the annular lip portion 44 is integrally formed with the mount rubber 36 and the strut bearing 50 is sealed between the annular lip portion 44 and the upper spring seat 46, a seal member dedicated to the strut bearing is provided, Or it becomes unnecessary to provide a labyrinth structure in a bearing. Further, since the rubber vulcanization process becomes one, the manufacturing cost is reduced.

  Here, the correspondence between the upper support 10 of the present embodiment and the members of the claims is illustrated. The upper bracket 16 of FIG. 1 is mainly used as the “first coupling member” of claim 1, the upper insulator 32 and the upper spring seat 46 are used as the “second coupling member”, the bracket holding portion 38 of the mount rubber 36 and the upper surface portion of the bearing. 42 corresponds to the “first mount rubber member” and the “second mount rubber member” of claim 1, respectively.

  The present invention has been described above based on the embodiment. It is to be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are exemplifications, and various modifications can be made to the combination of each component, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. Such modifications will be described below.

  The bracket holding portion 38 that receives the input from the piston rod 14 of the shock absorber 12 and the bearing upper surface portion 42 that receives the input from the coil spring 30 via the strut bearing 50 are like the mount rubber 36 of the embodiment. A separate member may be used instead of being integrally molded.

It is a figure which shows the upper support structure of the suspension which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged view of the A section of FIG. It is a figure which shows the upper support structure by a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

10 Upper support, 12 Shock absorber, 14 Piston rod, 16 Upper bracket, 18 Lower bracket, 20 Bound stopper, 22 Car body, 24 Mounting member, 26 Mounting bolt, 30 Coil spring, 32 Upper insulator, 36 Mount rubber, 38 Bracket holding Part, 42 bearing top face part, 44 annular lip part, 46 upper spring seat, 50 strut bearing.

Claims (3)

In the upper support structure of the suspension with shock absorber and coil spring,
A mounting member for attaching the upper support structure to the vehicle body;
A first coupling member coupled to the piston rod of the shock absorber;
A first mount rubber member that is sandwiched between the attachment member and the first coupling member and transmits an input from the piston rod to the attachment member;
A second coupling member coupled to the coil spring;
A bearing that rotatably supports the second coupling member;
A second mount rubber member that is sandwiched between the mounting member and the bearing and transmits an input from the coil spring to the mounting member;
The second mount rubber member extends to a side surface of the bearing to hold the bearing ;
An upper support structure for a suspension, wherein the second mount rubber member includes a bent portion that abuts against the bearing and provides a tightening margin at an outer peripheral portion extending outward of the bearing .   The suspension upper support structure according to claim 1, wherein the first mount rubber member and the second mount rubber member are integrally formed.   3. The suspension according to claim 1, further comprising an annular lip portion that extends outward of the bearing and seals the bearing, and the annular lip portion is integrally formed with the second mount rubber member. Upper support structure.

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