JP5208071B2 - Support device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a support device that supports an end portion of a control cable. In particular, the present invention relates to a support device that supports an end portion of a control cable routed between a shift lever and a transmission of an automobile.

A control cable that transmits the operation of a shift lever to a transmission is known. The control cable has a cylindrical outer cable and an inner cable inserted through the outer cable. The inner cable transmits the operation (displacement) of the shift lever input by the driver to the transmission. The transmission switches gears based on the transmitted displacement. If the transmission loss (so-called stroke loss) of the inner cable is large, the displacement of the shift lever is not accurately transmitted to the transmission. Therefore, it is desirable for the support device to firmly support the end portion of the control cable (cannot be displaced) to reduce stroke loss.
On the other hand, one end of the outer cable is fixed to a cable fixing member in the engine room via a support device. For this reason, the vibration of the engine is transmitted to the shift lever side via the control cable, which causes noise (abnormal noise) in the vehicle. Therefore, it is desired that the support device softly (displaceably) support the end portion of the control cable to suppress vibrations from being transmitted through the control cable.

  In order to satisfy the above-described two demands, a support device of Patent Document 1 has been proposed. In the support device of Patent Document 1, the end portion of the outer cable is attached to the housing via an elastic member. A plurality of protrusions are formed on the surface of the elastic member that contacts the housing. By forming a plurality of protrusions on the contact surface with the housing, stroke loss can be reduced and vibration transmission can be suppressed.

JP 2008-019977 A

  However, only measures by improving the shape of the elastic member as shown in Patent Document 1 cannot sufficiently achieve both reduction of stroke loss and suppression of vibration transmission. That is, if the stroke loss can be sufficiently reduced, the transmission of vibration may not be sufficiently suppressed. When the transmission of vibration cannot be sufficiently suppressed, it is necessary to connect a damper having a desired weight to the control cable.

  In the present specification, a support device capable of sufficiently reducing stroke loss and sufficiently suppressing vibration transmission is provided.

The supporting device disclosed in the present specification supports one end of the control cable. The control cable has an outer cable through which the inner cable is inserted, and is routed between the shift lever and the transmission to transmit the operation of the shift lever to the transmission.
The support device includes a hub, an elastic member, and a housing. The hub is attached to the end portion of the outer cable and has a flange on the outer periphery thereof. The elastic member is disposed so as to surround the outer periphery of the hub, and is in contact with the flange from both the front and back surfaces of the flange. The housing has a housing portion that houses the elastic member.

In this support device, the housing portion has a first inner peripheral surface that faces the surface of the flange and a second inner peripheral surface that faces the back surface of the flange. The elastic member is in contact with the first inner peripheral surface and the second inner peripheral surface while being accommodated in the accommodating portion. This support device has the following three features.
(1) Ratio of “volume of elastic member in a state of being accommodated in the accommodating portion and not being subjected to an external force” to “a volume of a space formed between the inner peripheral surface of the accommodating portion and the outer peripheral surface of the hub” The volume ratio is 67.0 to 73.5%.
(2) The dynamic magnification of the elastic member is 1.3 to 1.8.
(3) The first thickness from the surface that contacts the surface of the flange of the elastic member to the surface that contacts the first inner peripheral surface of the housing portion, and the second inside of the housing portion from the surface that contacts the back surface of the flange of the elastic member The total thickness including the second thickness up to the surface contacting the peripheral surface is 3.0 to 14.0 mm in a state where the elastic member is not housed in the housing portion.

  In this support device, the vibration transmission can be sufficiently suppressed while sufficiently reducing the stroke loss by satisfying the above three conditions. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the need for a damper by using this support device even for a vehicle type that conventionally requires a damper to be connected. As a result, it is possible to expand the types of vehicles that can make the damper unnecessary.

  In the above-described elastic member, a plurality of protrusions may be arranged at intervals between at least one of a surface that contacts the first inner peripheral surface and a surface that contacts the second inner peripheral surface of the housing portion. . In the above-described elastic member, a plurality of protrusions may be arranged on the surface contacting the front surface or the back surface of the flange with a space therebetween. By forming the protrusion on the elastic member, vibration transmission can be further suppressed.

The figure which shows typically the mode of AT cable 30 using the support apparatus 10. FIG. Sectional drawing when the support apparatus 10 is cut | disconnected by the surface which passes along a cable axis line. Sectional drawing of the cushion 14. FIG. The figure which expands and shows the IV section of FIG. The figure which looked at the bracket 18 from the left side of FIG. VI-VI sectional view taken on the line of FIG. The figure for demonstrating the cushion volume ratio K. FIG. The figure for demonstrating the cushion volume ratio K. FIG. The figure which shows the relationship between the cushion volume ratio K, the stroke loss S, and the vibration magnification D.

Listed below are some of the techniques described in the examples described in detail below.
(Mode 1) The elastic member includes a first elastic member that abuts on the surface of the flange and a second elastic member that abuts on the back surface of the flange.
(Mode 2) On the surface of the elastic member that is in contact with the cylindrical portion (portion other than the flange) of the hub, a plurality of protrusions arranged at intervals are formed.
(Mode 3) A plurality of protrusions arranged at intervals are formed on a surface of the elastic member that contacts the side wall surface of the accommodating portion.

  A support device for supporting an end portion of an automatic transmission cable (hereinafter abbreviated as AT cable) routed between a shift lever and an automatic transmission (hereinafter abbreviated as transmission) of an automobile. Will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the AT cable 30 includes an inner cable 29 and an outer cable 34. The outer cable 34 includes a resinous liner 31 and a covering portion 32 that covers the outer periphery of the resinous liner 31. The coating | coated part 32 is comprised by the strand wire and resin coating. The inner cable 29 is inserted into the outer cable 34 and can move forward and backward in the outer cable 34. The input rod 20 is connected to one end of the inner cable 29, and the output rod 23 is connected to the other end.

  A hole 20 a is formed at the tip of the input rod 20. A shift lever (not shown) is connected to the hole 20a. The tip of the output rod 23 is connected to a transmission (not shown) disposed in the engine room via a link member 22. The operation (displacement) input to the shift lever by the driver is transmitted to the inner cable 29 via the input rod 20. The displacement transmitted to the inner cable 29 is transmitted to the transmission via the output rod 23 and the link member 22.

  The end of the outer cable 34 on the input rod 20 side is supported by the support device 11. The support device 11 is fixed to the housing of the shift lever device. The end of the outer cable 34 on the output rod 23 side is supported by the support device 10. The support device 10 is fixed to a cable fixing member 26 in the engine room. An intermediate portion of the outer cable 34 is clamped at a predetermined position of the vehicle body by the stopper 24 and the retainer 28. In addition, since the support apparatus 11 is the same structure as a conventionally well-known support apparatus, in the following description, the support apparatus 10 is demonstrated.

With reference to FIG. 2, the structure of the support apparatus 10 of a present Example is demonstrated. The support device 10 is mainly configured by a hub 12, a cushion 14 (an example of an elastic member), and a housing 17. The housing 17 has a mounting plate 16 and a bracket 18.
The hub 12 is composed of a main body portion 12a and a guide pipe 12c. A guide pipe 12c is fixed substantially coaxially at one end of the main body 12a. The main body 12a and the guide pipe 12c are integrally formed by insert molding. Both the main body portion 12a and the guide pipe 12c have a cylindrical shape, and the main body portion 12a and the guide pipe 12c are formed with a through hole 12d that communicates both. As shown in FIG. 1, when the AT cable 30 is connected to the hub 12, the inner cable 29 is inserted into the through hole 12d, and the outer cable 34 extends from the guide pipe 12c side (right side in FIG. 1) to the through hole 12d. And is fixed to the guide pipe 12c. Further, a flange 12b is formed on the main body 12a. The flange 12b is formed in the outer periphery of the main-body part 12a, and is formed radially in the radial direction of the main-body part 12a.

  The cushion 14 is disposed on the outer periphery of the hub 12 (main body portion 12a) so as to surround the flange 12b. The cushion 14 includes a first cushion 14a and a second cushion 14b. The first cushion 14a and the second cushion 14b are elastic members having the same shape and the same material arranged symmetrically (that is, the same member). The first cushion 14a includes a front surface 12e of the flange 12b, an outer peripheral surface of the main body 12a on the transmission side with respect to the flange 12b, and a rear surface 16a of the mounting plate 16 facing the front surface 12e of the flange 12b (an example of a first inner peripheral surface). ) And the side wall surface 18 b of the bracket 18. The second cushion 14b includes a rear surface 12f of the flange 12b, an outer peripheral surface of the main body 12a on the shift lever side with respect to the flange 12b, and an inner peripheral surface 18a (second inner peripheral surface) of the bracket 18 facing the rear surface 12f of the flange 12b. An example) and the side wall surface 18 b of the bracket 18. The first cushion 14a and the second cushion 14b are also arranged on the outer side of the flange 12b, abut against the outer peripheral surface of the flange 12b, and abut against each other outside the flange 12b.

The structure of the first and second cushions 14a and 14b will be described with reference to FIGS. As described above, since the first cushion 14a and the second cushion 14b are the same member, only the second cushion 14b will be described here.
The second cushion 14b includes a first surface 40 in contact with the back surface 12f of the flange 12b, a second surface 44 in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the main body 12a (excluding the flange 12b), and the inner peripheral surface 18a of the housing portion 19. It has the 3rd surface 50 which touches, and the 4th surface 54 which contact | connects the side wall surface 18b of the accommodating part 19. As shown in FIG. A plurality of first protrusions 42 are formed on the first surface 40 so as to be spaced from each other. A plurality of second protrusions 46 are formed on the second surface 44 so as to be spaced from each other. A plurality of third protrusions 52 are formed on the third surface 50 so as to be spaced from each other. A plurality of fourth protrusions 56 are formed on the fourth surface 54 so as to be spaced from each other.

  In this embodiment, the protrusions 42, 46, 52, 56 are formed on the cushions 14 a, 14 b, thereby reducing the contact area between the cushions 14 a, 14 b and the hub 12, and between the cushions 14 a, 14 b and the housing 17. The contact area is reduced. For this reason, the vibration transmitted to the housing 17 from the cable fixing member 26 in the engine eroom is suppressed from being transmitted to the AT cable 30 via the cushions 14a and 14b and the hub 12.

  When the protrusion is formed on the cushion, the cushion is easily deformed and the stroke loss is likely to increase. In the cushions 14a and 14b of the present embodiment, the protrusions 42 and 52 are formed on the surfaces 40 and 50 on which the operation force of the shift lever (force in the axial direction of the AT cable 30) acts. 42 and 52 can be suitably received. For this reason, the deformation of the cushions 14a and 14b can be suppressed, and the stroke loss can be reduced.

The structure of the bracket 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. The bracket 18 is made of a metal such as iron and has an accommodating portion 19 that accommodates the cushion 14. When the cushion 14 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 19, the cushion 14 contacts the outer periphery of the hub 12 (including the front surface 12e and the back surface 12f of the flange 12b). The accommodating part 19 is opened to the surface side (left side of FIG. 6). An opening hole 62 having an opening area smaller than the opening 60 is formed in the bottom surface of the housing part 19, that is, the inner peripheral surface 18 a of the housing part 19.
As shown in FIG. 5, mounting holes 64, 66, and 68 for fixing the bracket 18 to the mounting plate 16 are formed around the housing portion 19 of the bracket 18. The bracket 18 is formed with a positioning hole 70 for determining the relative position of the bracket 18 and the mounting plate 16 when the bracket 18 is fixed to the mounting plate 16.

  The mounting plate 16 is made of a metal such as iron and is provided with positioning pins corresponding to the positioning holes 70 of the bracket 18. The mounting plate 16 is provided with mounting holes corresponding to the mounting holes 64, 66 and 68 of the bracket 18. When the bracket 18 is attached to the mounting plate 16, first, the positions of both are adjusted so that the positioning pins of the mounting plate 16 are inserted into the positioning holes 70 of the bracket 18, and then a fixing jig such as a bolt or nut is fixed. The mounting holes of the bracket 18 and the mounting plate 16 are fixed using. The attachment plate 16 is attached to a cable fixing member 26 in the engine room.

  In the support device 10 of the present embodiment, the cushion 14 and the housing 17 have the following three features in order to satisfy the two demands of reducing the stroke loss of the AT cable 30 and suppressing the transmission of vibration.

(1) The dynamic magnification of the cushion 14 is set to 1.3 to 1.8. The dynamic magnification represents the ratio of the dynamic spring constant to the static spring constant, and the smaller the value, the higher the effect of suppressing vibration. That is, the fact that the dynamic spring constant is smaller than the static spring constant is a large spring constant for a static load and a small spring constant for a dynamic load. For this reason, the smaller the dynamic magnification, the higher the effect of suppressing vibrations and the higher the effect of reducing stroke loss. However, the smaller the dynamic magnification, the more difficult the molding. In the present embodiment, the dynamic magnification of the cushion 14 is set to a range lower than usual (dynamic magnification = 1.3 to 1.8) within the moldable range. That is, the moldability is ensured by setting the dynamic magnification to 1.3 or more while enhancing the effect of suppressing vibration by setting the dynamic magnification to 1.8 or less. Thereby, the effect which suppresses that an engine vibration transmits to a shift lever is improved, suppressing a stroke loss.

(2) In a state where the cushion 14 is not housed in the housing portion 19, the total thickness L1 from the surface of the first protrusion 42 to the surface of the third protrusion 52 of the first cushion 14a and the second cushion 14b is It is set to 3.0 to 14.0 mm. As the thickness of the cushion 14 increases, the effect of suppressing vibration can be improved. On the other hand, if the cushion 14 is too thick, the displacement of the shift lever is difficult to be transmitted, and the stroke loss of the AT cable 30 is reduced. That is, as the thickness of the cushion 14 increases, the amount of deformation of the cushion 14 due to the operating force when operating the shift lever increases and the stroke loss increases. In this embodiment, the thickness of the cushion 14 is set to be thicker than usual (thickness = 3.0 to 14.0 mm). That is, when the thickness is set to 3.0 mm or more, the vibration suppressing effect is sufficiently exhibited, and when the thickness is set to 14.0 mm or less, the stroke loss is reduced. Thereby, both the reduction of the stroke loss of the AT cable 30 and the suppression of vibration transmission are improved.

(3) The cushion volume ratio K of the housing 17 is set to 67.0 to 73.5%. The cushion volume ratio K is a parameter set as follows. As shown in FIG. 7, the volume of the space (hereinafter referred to as the entire space) within the range X from the opening 60 to the inner peripheral surface 18a out of the volume of the accommodating portion 19 is defined as the total space volume V1. A volume of a space (hereinafter referred to as a hub space) that is accommodated in the entire space and that is on the inner side of the outer peripheral surface of the hub 12 is referred to as a hub volume V2. In this case, the difference volume V3 between the total space volume V1 and the hub volume V2 (which is equal to the volume of the space between the outer peripheral surface of the hub 12 and the inner peripheral surface 18a and the side wall surface 18b of the accommodating portion 19) is V1. -V2 (shaded area in FIG. 7). As shown in FIG. 8, when the cushion 14 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 19, a part of the cushion 14 is accommodated in a space obtained by subtracting the hub space from the entire space (hereinafter referred to as a differential space). The cushion 14 is accommodated in a compressed state in the accommodating portion 19. For this reason, the volume of the part accommodated in difference space among cushions 14 is smaller than difference volume V3 in the state where external force does not act on cushion 14, and the volume is made into cushion volume V4 (shaded part of Drawing 8). The cushion volume ratio K is set as K = V4 / V3 = V4 / (V1-V2) using the differential volume V3 and the cushion volume V4.

Simply setting the dynamic ratio of the cushion 14 to a range lower than usual and making the above thickness thicker than usual can improve the vibration suppression effect, but increases the stroke loss of the AT cable. In this embodiment, the dynamic ratio of the cushion 14 is set to a range lower than usual, the thickness range is set to a range thicker than usual, and the volume ratio of the cushion 14 accommodated in the accommodating portion 19 is changed. By setting the dynamic magnification of the cushion 14, the volume ratio of the cushion 14, and the above thickness to an appropriate range, the stroke loss and vibration transmission of the AT cable 30 were successfully suppressed at the same time.
In this embodiment, the cushion volume ratio K is set to 67.0 to 73.5%. The larger the value of the cushion volume ratio K is, the higher the density of the accommodating portion 19 is filled with the cushion 14, and the easier it is to conduct the displacement of the AT cable 30. On the other hand, as the cushion volume ratio K is smaller, a gap is formed between the accommodating portion 19 and the cushion 14, and vibration transmitted to the AT cable 30 can be reduced. In this embodiment, the cushion volume ratio K is set to a higher range than usual (in the conventional support device, the cushion volume ratio K = about 65%). This improves the effect of reducing the AT cable stroke loss. At the same time, the vibration transmitted to the AT cable 30 is suppressed by setting the dynamic magnification and the thickness within an appropriate range.

  Table 1 and FIG. 9 show the measurement results of the stroke loss S and the vibration magnification D of the support device 10 when the cushion volume ratio K is changed in a range including 67.0 to 73.5%. In Table 1 and FIG. 9, the hub volume V2 and the cushion volume V4 are kept constant, and the total space volume V1 is changed to change the cushion volume ratio K. The dynamic magnification of the cushion 14 used for the measurement was 1.4, and the thickness of the cushion 14 was 12.0 mm. Here, the stroke loss S and the vibration magnification D were measured by the following methods.

  In the measurement of the stroke loss S, a static load (15 kgf) of a certain size is applied to either the front surface or the back surface of the hub 12, the first displacement s1 of the surface on which the static load is applied, and the opposite side The second displacement s2 of the surface is measured, and a differential displacement obtained by subtracting the second displacement s2 from the first displacement s1 is obtained. In this measurement, a first differential displacement S1 when a static load is applied to the surface of the hub 12 and a second differential displacement S2 when a static load is applied to the back surface of the hub 12 are obtained, and the first differential displacement S1 is calculated. An average differential displacement with the second differential displacement S2 is calculated as a stroke loss S.

  In the measurement of the vibration magnification D, the support device 10 is connected to one end of the AT cable 30 and an impact (impulse impact) is applied to the other end side of the outer cable 34. And the vibration transmitted to the one end side of the inner cable 29 via the support device 10 is measured. More specifically, the amplitude ratio for each frequency of vibration transmitted to the inner cable 29 (measured vibration amplitude / input vibration amplitude) is measured. Next, the average value of the amplitude ratio is calculated for the frequency band of vibration input from the engine, and the average value is set as the vibration magnification D.

  In the support device 10 of the present embodiment, the stroke loss S can be suppressed to be smaller than 1.18 by setting the cushion volume ratio K to 67.0% or more. This numerical value of “1.18” is a required value required for the design of an automobile control cable from the viewpoint of ensuring a reliable operation. Therefore, when the engine gear is switched by the shift lever, the engine gear is prevented from being switched correctly. Further, by setting the cushion volume ratio K to 73.5% or less, the vibration magnification D can be suppressed to be smaller than 36.9 dB. As a result, when a conventional support device is used, it is necessary to connect a damper to the AT cable (in this model, the vibration magnification is 36.9 dB with the damper connected to the AT cable). )), The vibration magnification can be sufficiently reduced without a damper, and there is no need to connect a damper to the AT cable. As a result, the mass can be reduced by eliminating the damper, and the work required for the wiring can be simplified by reducing the mass of the AT cable 30, and the cost can be reduced.

  As explained above, in the support device 10 of the present embodiment, the three parameters of the cushion volume ratio K, the dynamic ratio of the cushion 14 and the thickness L of the cushion 14 are set within an appropriate range. As a result, it is possible to achieve both a reduction in stroke loss of the AT cable and suppression of vibration transmission, and it is possible to dispense with a damper for a vehicle type that conventionally requires a damper.

As mentioned above, although the specific example of the support apparatus disclosed by this specification was demonstrated in detail, these are only illustrations and do not limit a claim. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above.
In the embodiment described above, the support device 10 is fixed to the cable fixing member 26 in the engine room via the mounting plate 16, but the mounting plate 16 is not necessarily required. The bracket 18 may be directly fixed to the cable fixing member 26 in the engine room. In the above-described embodiment, only the end portion on the transmission side is supported by the support device according to the present application. However, the end portion on the shift lever side may be supported by the support device according to the present application. Or you may make it support both the edge part by the side of a transmission, and the edge part by the side of a shift lever.

  The technical elements described in this specification or the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technology illustrated in the present specification or the drawings achieves a plurality of objects at the same time, and has technical utility by achieving one of the objects.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 11 Support apparatus 12 Hub 12a Body part 12b Flange 12c Guide pipe 14 Cushion 16 Mounting plate 17 Housing 18 Bracket 19 Housing part 20 Input rod 22 Link member 23 Output rod 28 Retainer 29 Inner cable 30 AT cable 31 Liner 32 Covering part 34 Outer cable 40 First surface 42 First protrusion 44 Second surface 46 Second protrusion 50 Third surface 52 Third protrusion 54 Fourth surface 56 Fourth protrusion L Thickness K Cushion volume ratio S Stroke loss D Vibration magnification

Claims (3)

A support device that has an outer cable through which an inner cable is inserted and that supports one end of a control cable that is routed between the shift lever and the transmission and transmits the operation of the shift lever to the transmission. There,
A hub attached to the end of the outer cable and having a flange on its outer periphery;
An elastic member arranged so as to surround the outer periphery of the hub and abutting the flange from both the front and back surfaces of the flange;
A housing having an accommodating portion for accommodating the elastic member,
The housing portion has a first inner peripheral surface facing the surface of the flange and a second inner peripheral surface facing the rear surface of the flange.
In a state where the elastic member is accommodated in the accommodating portion, the elastic member abuts on the first inner peripheral surface of the accommodating portion and abuts on the second inner peripheral surface of the accommodating portion,
Volume that is the ratio of the volume of the elastic member that is accommodated in the accommodating portion and in which no external force is applied to the volume of the space formed between the inner peripheral surface of the accommodating portion and the outer peripheral surface of the hub The rate is 67.0-73.5%,
The dynamic magnification of the elastic member is 1.3 to 1.8,
The first thickness from the surface that contacts the surface of the flange of the elastic member to the surface that contacts the first inner peripheral surface of the housing portion, and the surface that contacts the back surface of the flange of the elastic member to the second inner peripheral surface of the housing portion The total thickness including the second thickness up to the abutting surface is 3.0 to 14.0 mm in a state where the elastic member is not accommodated in the accommodating portion.   The elastic member is characterized in that a plurality of protrusions are arranged at intervals on at least one of a surface contacting the first inner peripheral surface and a surface contacting the second inner peripheral surface of the accommodating portion. The support device according to claim 1.   The support device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of protrusions are disposed on a surface of the elastic member that contacts the front surface or the back surface of the flange at intervals.

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