JP4396854B2 - Suspension arm reinforcement structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a reinforcement structure for a suspension arm.

  In the conventional suspension arm, since the ball joint connected to the knuckle of the wheel is attached to the upper member forming the arm body via the connecting member, the input from the road surface is transmitted to the upper member, and a force exceeding a predetermined value is transmitted. When transmitted, the bump stopper provided on the upper surface of the upper member comes into contact with the chassis frame of the vehicle and the swing of the suspension arm is suppressed.

That is, since the reaction force received by the input from the road surface and the bump stopper is absorbed only by the upper member, it is difficult to sufficiently secure the suspension arm.
Therefore, a configuration is disclosed in which the arm body has a closed cross-sectional structure formed of an upper member and a lower member, and a coupling member that couples the ball joint is overlapped with the upper member and the lower member and tightened and coupled (patent) Reference 1).
JP 2000-255235 A

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the strength of the suspension arm is reinforced by the connecting member of the forged or cast ball joint. If the distance from the bump stopper is increased, the connecting portion must be extended, which increases the weight and cost, which is not preferable.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a suspension arm reinforcement structure capable of ensuring sufficient strength while suppressing an increase in cost and weight. There is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the suspension arm reinforcement structure according to claim 1 is a suspension arm reinforcement structure in which one end supports a wheel and the other end is supported by a vehicle body, and includes an upper member, a lower member, An arm main body, a bump stopper provided at a predetermined position on the upper surface of the upper member, a first hole formed at a position corresponding to a position below the predetermined position of the lower member, and the upper A bottom plate portion between the member and the lower member, and having a second hole that is in contact with the upper surface of the lower member and has a smaller opening area than the first hole at a lower portion of the bump stopper; A reinforcing member having a U-shaped cross-section that includes a wall plate portion that extends from the periphery of the bottom plate portion to face each other and is in contact with the lower surface of the upper member, and at least the upper end of the wall plate portion and the upper portion Part Contact portion between the surface, and is characterized in that the step portion of the peripheral edge of the first hole of the peripheral edge and the lower member of the second hole of the bottom plate portion is formed by welding respectively.

That is, a U-shaped reinforcing member opened upward is provided between the upper member and the lower member and in the lower part of the bump stopper, and the reinforcing member abuts the upper end of the wall plate portion and the upper member. The portion and the step portion between the second hole of the bottom plate portion and the first hole of the lower member are welded.
The suspension arm reinforcing structure according to claim 2 is characterized in that both ends of the wall plate portion of the reinforcing member are in contact with side surfaces of the arm main body.

  That is, the reinforcing member is formed into a so-called box shape by bringing both ends of the wall plate portion of the reinforcing member into contact with the side surfaces of the arm main body.

  According to the suspension arm reinforcement structure of the present invention using the above means, the bump stopper can be easily attached by forming holes in the lower member of the lower portion of the bump stopper and the bottom plate portion of the reinforcement member. In addition, it is possible to secure sufficient strength with a simple configuration by fixing the reinforcing member having a U-shaped cross section by welding between the upper member and the lower member.

Thus, by obtaining sufficient strength, it is also possible to reduce the plate thickness of the arm body, thereby reducing the weight and cost.
As described above, sufficient strength can be ensured without increasing the weight and cost.
According to the reinforcing structure of the suspension arm of the second aspect, it is possible to ensure higher strength by making the box shape.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, FIG. 1 is a plan view of a suspension arm reinforcement structure according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the second reinforcement, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the second reinforcement, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. In addition, the arrow X of FIG. 1 has shown the vehicle body front direction, the arrow Y has shown the vehicle body outward direction, and the arrow Z of FIG. 2 has shown the vehicle body upward direction.

The suspension arm 1 is, for example, a lower arm in a double wishbone type rear suspension, and a ball joint 4 connected to a wheel knuckle (not shown) is provided at the outer end of the vehicle body of the arm body 2, The rear end is provided with a front bush 6 and a rear bush 8 that are swingably connected to the vehicle body.
In the arm body 2, an upper member 10 forming an upper surface and a lower member 12 forming a lower surface are joined at a side surface portion to form a closed cross-sectional structure made of sheet metal.

  Specifically, the ball joint 4 provided at one end of the arm body 2 has a structure in which a rod portion 4b extends from the sphere portion 4a, and the sphere portion 4a is fitted to one end of the connecting member 14 and supported. Has been. The connecting member 14 is fastened to the upper member by bolts 16a and 16b and nuts 17a and 17b at two locations in the substantially central portion in plan view, and the vehicle body inner end is sandwiched between the upper member 10 and the lower member 12. In this state, the bolts 18 and the nuts 19 are fastened together.

  Further, between the upper member 10 and the lower member 12, a first lean force 20 for increasing the overall strength of the arm body 2 from the substantially central portion of the arm body 2 in a plan view toward the rear bush 8. Is provided substantially integrally with the upper member 10. Specifically, in the first reinforcement 20 made of sheet metal, the upper surface of the upper plate portion 20a is in contact with the lower surface of the upper member 10, and the wall plate portion 20b is downward from the substantially front and rear periphery of the upper plate portion 20a. The lower end of the wall plate 20b is fixed to the inner side of the side wall of the upper member 10 by welding.

  A bump stopper 22 is provided on the upper surface of the upper member 10 at a predetermined position slightly behind the vehicle body from the central portion in plan view. The bump stopper 22 has a configuration in which an elastic body 22b having a substantially conical shape is provided on the support member 22a. The support member 22a is fastened together with the upper member 10 and the first lean force 20 by a bolt 24 and a nut 25. It is fixed. When the suspension arm 1 swings more than a predetermined amount, the bump stopper 22 comes into contact with a chassis frame (not shown) located above the bump stopper 22 and the elastic body 22b, and the suspension arm 1 swings while suppressing the impact. regulate.

Further, a second lean force 26 (reinforcing member) is provided between the upper member 10 and the lower member 12 in the lower portion of the bump stopper 22 to increase local strength.
The second lean force 26 made of sheet metal extends from the rear wall plate portion 20b of the first lean force 20 to the front front plate portion 20b substantially perpendicularly, and has a U-shaped cross-section with the top opened. . Specifically, the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 26a of the second lean force 26 is in contact with the upper surface of the lower member 12, and the wall plate portion extends upward from the peripheral edge of the bottom plate portion 26a on the ball joint 4 side and the rear bush 8 side. 26b extends, and the upper end is in contact with the upper plate portion 20a of the first lean force 20 so as to be substantially perpendicular, and both ends are in contact with the wall plate portion 20b of the first lean force 20. That is, the second lean force 26 forms a so-called box shape below the bump stopper 22.

  Further, work holes 30 a and 30 b are formed in the lower member 12 and the second lean force 26 immediately below the bump stopper 22. Specifically, the working hole 30b drilled in the bottom plate portion 26a of the second lean force 26 has a smaller diameter than the working hole 30a (first hole) drilled in the lower member 12. The peripheral edge of the working hole 30 as a whole forms a step that expands downward by one step.

Then, the second lean force 26 is arc welded (for example, CO ₂ welding) with the entire circumference of the step portion around the periphery of the work hole 30 and the outer portion of the contact portion between the upper end of the wall plate portion 26b and the first lean force 26. It is welded and fixed by fillet.
In the suspension arm 1 having such a configuration, for example, when the wheel receives an upward force, the force is input to the ball joint 4 through the knuckle, and the input force is transmitted from the connecting member 14 to the bolt 18 portion. The upper member 10 and the lower member 12 are transmitted separately. The forces transmitted to the upper member 10 and the lower member 12 are also dispersed by the first lean force 20 and the second lean force 26.

  Further, when the arm body 2 swings more than a predetermined amount, the elastic body 22b of the bump stopper 22 abuts against a chassis frame (not shown) of the vehicle body above the bump stopper 22 to restrict the swinging. The reaction force received from the chassis frame is distributed to the upper member 10, the lower member 12, and the first lean force 20 by the second lean force 26 having the wall plate portion 26b perpendicular to the direction of the reaction force.

From the above, the force received by the arm body 2 by the first lean force 20 and the second lean force 26 can be well dispersed, and the force can be received not only by the upper member 10 but also by the lower member 12, and sufficient strength can be obtained. Can be secured. In particular, since the second lean force is fillet welded, it can be firmly fixed.
Further, since the first lean force 20 and the second lean force 26 are made of sheet metal, an increase in weight and cost can be suppressed.

In addition, since sufficient strength can be obtained in this way, it is possible to reduce the plate thickness of the arm main body, thereby reducing the weight and cost.
Further, since the work holes 30a and 30b are formed, the bump stopper 22 can be easily attached and maintained.
Thus, the suspension arm reinforcement structure according to the present invention can ensure sufficient strength without increasing the weight and cost.

Although the description of the embodiment of the suspension arm reinforcing structure according to the present invention has been completed above, the embodiment is not limited to the above embodiment.
For example, in the above embodiment, the first lean force 20 is provided between the upper member 10 and the lower member 12, but only the second lean force 26 is provided without the first lean force 20. It doesn't matter. In that case, the upper end and both ends of the wall plate portion 26 b of the second lean force 26 come into contact with the upper member 10.

In the above embodiment, the work holes 30a and 30b are circular. However, the work holes 30a and 30b are not limited to a circular shape, and may have other shapes such as a rectangular shape.
In the above embodiment, the second lean force 26 is fillet welded at the outer portion of the contact portion between the upper end of the wall plate portion 26b and the first lean force 20, but for example, the upper end of the wall plate portion 26b You may fillet-weld the inner part of the contact part with the 1st lean force 26. FIG.

  In the above embodiment, the bump stopper is provided at a position slightly rearward from the central portion in plan view. However, the present invention is not limited to this position.

It is a top view of the reinforcement structure of the suspension arm concerning the present invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the 1st lean force. It is a perspective view of the 2nd lean force. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Suspension arm 2 Arm main body 4 Ball joint 10 Upper member 12 Lower member 14 Connecting member 20 1st lean force 22 Bump stopper 26 2nd lean force (reinforcing member)
26a Bottom plate portion 26b Wall plate portion 30a Working hole (first hole)
30b Working hole (second hole)

Claims (2)

A suspension arm reinforcement structure with one end supporting the wheel and the other end supported by the vehicle body,
An arm body composed of an upper member and a lower member;
A bump stopper provided at a predetermined position on the upper surface of the upper member;
A first hole drilled at a position corresponding to a lower portion of the predetermined position of the lower member;
A bottom plate portion between the upper member and the lower member, and having a second hole that is in contact with the upper surface of the lower member and has a smaller opening area than the first hole at a lower portion of the bump stopper And a U-shaped reinforcing member having a U-shaped cross-section extending from the peripheral edge of the bottom plate portion and facing upward, and a wall plate portion that contacts the lower surface of the upper member,
At least a contact portion between the upper end of the wall plate portion and the lower surface of the upper member, and a step portion between the peripheral edge of the second hole of the bottom plate portion and the peripheral edge of the first hole of the lower member are respectively welded. A suspension arm reinforcement structure characterized by that.   The suspension arm reinforcement structure according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the wall plate portion of the reinforcement member are in contact with side surfaces of the arm main body.

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