JP7433733B2 - elastic support member - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an elastic support member, and for example, to what is called a spring seat rubber that is interposed between the lower end of a coil spring and a suspension arm in a vehicle suspension system.

In a vehicle suspension device, a coil spring is interposed between, for example, a suspension arm that supports wheels and a vehicle body, and vibrations from the road surface are damped.

For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, the lower end of a coil spring in a suspension device is seated on a spring seat provided on a suspension arm via an elastic support member called a spring seat rubber.

The spring seat rubber prevents direct contact between the coil spring and the suspension arm when assembled to avoid noise or damage to the coil spring or suspension arm due to impact. Plays a stabilizing role.

The spring seat rubber described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a stopper that receives the end of the wire at the lower end of the coil spring, and a tunnel-shaped insertion portion that passes through the end of the wire and prevents it from rising.

To assemble the coil spring, rotate the suspension arm significantly downward to widen the gap between the vehicle body and the spring seat, and then attach the coil spring to the vehicle body so that its lower end is properly seated on the spring seat rubber. This is done by interposing it between the suspension arm and the suspension arm, and then rotating the suspension arm upward to the normal rotation position.

Due to its nature, when a coil spring is compressed, a force acts on the end of the wire element to rotate around the axis of the coil spring. The spring seat rubber described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a stopper that receives the end of the wire element and an insertion part that prevents the end of the wire element from lifting up, but the vertical height of the insertion part is determined by the height of the coil spring. Because the wire is large compared to the diameter of the wire, when the coil spring is compressed when the coil spring is assembled, the end of the wire is rotated around the axis of the coil spring due to the reaction force, causing it to move away from its original position. There was a concern that the coil spring would shift in the radial direction, making it impossible to complete the proper assembly of the coil spring.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-063200

The present invention was conceived under the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an elastic support member that allows a coil spring to be properly assembled in a vehicle suspension device.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following technical means.

That is, the Danze support member provided by the present invention includes a cylindrical portion having an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the end portion of the suspension coil spring, and a seat portion extending in a flange shape from the outer periphery of the lower end of the cylindrical portion. and an elastic support member provided between the coil spring and the spring seat, wherein the cylindrical portion has an eaves portion extending radially outward from the cylindrical portion at a predetermined angle in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion. The eave portion is provided over a range, and is characterized in that the eave portion restricts vertical movement of the wire element of the coil spring located between the eave portion and the seat portion.

In a preferred embodiment, a stopper portion against which the tip of the wire of the coil spring abuts is supported by the seat portion and the cylindrical portion, and the stopper portion and the eaves portion are connected in plan view. A gap is formed between them.

When assembling a coil spring with the suspension arm rotated downward relative to the vehicle body, the axis of the coil spring should be on the rotation fulcrum side of the suspension arm with respect to the axis of the cylindrical portion of the elastic support member. It will be inclined to. At this time, if the wire ends of the coil springs are held between the eaves section and the seat on the rotation fulcrum side of the suspension arm, the wire ends will be held on the lower surface of the eaves section. It is firmly held at three points: both circumferential ends of the cylinder and the seat. Therefore, when the suspension arm is rotated upward to compress the coil spring in order to return to the normal state, it is possible to prevent the coil spring from inadvertently shifting in the radial direction.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given below with reference to the drawings.

1 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of a trailing suspension to which an elastic support member according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an elastic support member according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a plan view of the elastic support member shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a side view of the elastic support member shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which the coil spring is assembled to the elastic support member shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 3 is a front view (view from the front side of the vehicle body) showing a state in which the coil spring is assembled to the elastic support member shown in FIG. 2;

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In these figures, the front is indicated by fr and the rear is indicated by rr.

Note that the embodiment shown in the figure uses elastic support as a spring rubber interposed between the lower end 110 of the coil spring 100 provided in the trailing type rear suspension B and the spring seat 210 provided in the trailing arm 200. The present invention is applied to a member 300.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the relationship between a vehicle body A, a trailing arm 200, and a coil spring 100 provided between them in a trailing rear suspension B. In the trailing rear suspension B, a damper device (not shown) is interposed between the vehicle body A and the trailing arm 200.

The trailing arm 200 extends rearward so as to be able to rotate up and down about a rotational fulcrum 201, and receives the lower end 110 of the coil spring 100 through an elastic support member 300 on its upper surface. A spring seat 210 is formed.

In this embodiment, the spring seat 210 is formed integrally with a sheet metal member that constitutes the trailing arm 200, as shown in FIG. It has a cylindrical bulge 215 for holding the elastic support member 300 in place.

The elastic support member 300 is made of rubber, and as shown in FIGS. 2 to 7, includes a cylindrical portion 310 having an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the lower end portion 110 of the coil spring 100, and Basically, it has a donut-shaped seat portion 320 extending like a flange.

As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 7, the elastic support member 300 also has a stopper portion 330 against which the tip 121 of the wire element 120 of the lower end portion 110 of the coil spring 100 is located between the seat portion 320 and the cylindrical portion 310. It is integrally formed so as to be supported over the outer surface, and an eaves portion 340 extending radially outward from the cylindrical portion 310 is integrally formed. Moreover, a gap S (FIG. 3) is formed between the stopper part 330 and the eaves part 340 in a plan view.

The eaves section 340 is formed in a predetermined angular range in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical section 310, for example, in the range of 30 to 60 degrees, and the distance H between the lower surface of the eaves section 340 and the seat section 320 is equal to the lower end of the coil spring 100. (FIG. 4, FIG. 7). A positioning pin 321 is provided on the lower surface of the seat portion 320 for engaging a positioning hole 216 formed in the spring seat 210 to position the elastic support member 300 in the rotational direction around the cylindrical portion 310, and a spring seat. A locking protrusion 322 for engaging the locking hole 217 formed in the elastic support member 210 to prevent the elastic support member 300 from turning up is integrally formed.

The elastic support member 300 is also attached to the spring seat 210 so that the eaves portion 340 extends toward the front of the vehicle body, that is, toward the pivot point 201 of the trailing arm 200. That is, the cylindrical portion 310 is surrounded by the cylindrical bulge 215 of the spring seat 210, the positioning pin 321 is engaged with the positioning hole 216, and the locking projection 322 is engaged with the locking hole 217, respectively.

In this embodiment, the coil spring 100 is wound to the right and directed downward.

Next, the operation of the elastic support member 300 according to this embodiment will be explained.

In order to assemble the coil spring 100 in its natural state, the trailing arm 200 is rotated significantly downward, and the distance between the vehicle body A and the spring seat 210 is widened. In this state, the upper end of the coil spring 100 is held on the vehicle body side, and the lower end 110 is held on the trailing arm 200 side. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the lower end portion 110 of the coil spring 100 is held by the wire element 120 surrounding the cylindrical portion 310 of the elastic support member 300, and the tip 121 of the wire element 120 being held by the eaves portion 340. It is made so that it passes under and abuts against the stopper part 330. In this embodiment, since a gap S is formed between the stopper part 330 and the eaves part 340 in a plan view, it is possible to ensure that the tip 121 of the wire element 120 of the coil spring 100 properly contacts the stopper part 330. It can be confirmed.

In this state, the axis L1 of the coil spring 100 is largely inclined toward the pivot point 201 of the trailing arm 200 with respect to the axis L2 of the cylindrical portion 310 of the elastic support member 300 (FIG. 6). At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the wire element 120 makes strong contact at three points: both ends a and b in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical part 310 on the lower surface of the eave part 340, and a part c in the seat part 320, and firmly contacts. Retained. Therefore, when the trailing arm 200 is rotated upward to return to the normal state and the coil spring 100 is compressed, the coil spring 100 is prevented from rotating around the axis and inadvertently shifting in the radial direction. be able to. Therefore, when the trailing arm 200 is rotated upward to compress and deform the coil spring 100, there is no need for the operator to hold the coil spring 100 so that it does not shift in the radial direction. The workability of assembling the coil spring 100 is improved in assembling the coil spring 100.

Furthermore, a locking protrusion 322 provided on the lower surface of the elastic support member 300 on the side opposite to the eaves portion 340 in the radial direction of the cylinder portion 310 engages with a locking hole 217 provided in the spring seat 210. When the coil spring 100 is compressed and deformed as described above, it is also possible to prevent the seat portion 320 of the elastic support member 300 from being unintentionally rolled up.

Of course, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and all design changes within the scope of the claims are included within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the embodiment described above, the spring seat 210 is integrated with the sheet metal member that constitutes the trailing arm 200, but the spring seat 210, which is formed separately from the sheet metal member, is attached to the trailing arm 200. It may be attached by welding to the appropriate part of the

A Vehicle body B Trailing suspension L1 axis (coil spring)
L2 axis (of elastic support member)
S Gap H Distance (between eaves and seat)
d Diameter (of wire element)
100 Coil spring 110 Lower end (of the coil spring)
120 wire element (of coil spring)
121 Tip (of wire element)
200 Trailing arm 201 Rotation fulcrum 210 Spring seat 215 Cylindrical bulge 216 Positioning hole 217 Locking hole 300 Elastic support member (spring rubber)
310 Cylinder part 320 Seat part 321 Positioning pin 322 Locking protrusion 330 Stopper part 340 Eaves part

Claims (1)

It has a cylindrical part having an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the end of the suspension coil spring, and a seat part extending in a flange shape from the outer periphery of the lower end of the cylindrical part, and is provided between the coil spring and the spring seat. An elastic support member,
An eaves portion extending radially outward over a predetermined angular range in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion is formed on the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion,
The eaves portion regulates vertical movement of the wire elements of the coil spring located between the eaves portion and the seat portion,
A stopper portion against which the tip of the wire of the coil spring abuts is supported by the seat portion and the cylindrical portion, and a gap is formed between the stopper portion and the eaves portion in plan view. and
A convex portion that protrudes upward is provided in a part of the upper end of the cylindrical portion on the opposite side of the circumferential direction from the eave portion across the stopper portion,
The convex portion is such that both ends in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion are gently sloped toward the upper end of the cylindrical portion, and the outer surface is sloped such that as it goes upward, it is displaced inward in the radial direction of the cylindrical portion. An elastic support member characterized by:

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