JPH02117471A - Vehicle suspension arm mounting construction - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the freedom of layout in a suspension arm, by fitting a spindle into the space of a spacer vertically provided within a front frame, the spindle being provided for pivotally supporting an end portion of the suspension arm that is inserted into the opening of an outer panel. CONSTITUTION:A front frame 1 is disposed at each side of the lower portion of an engine room so that its outer and inner panels 2, 3 form respective longitudinal closed sections. An end portion of a suspension arm (upper arm) 8 is pivotally supported to both ends of a spindle and also a fixing portion 13a provided at the spindle is inserted into an opening 14 formed through the outer panel 2. The fixing portion 13a is then positioned within the space 16 of a spacer 15 vertically placed in the front frame 1 and is also fixed thereto by means of bolt 27 passing through the spacer 15. The spacer 15 is then formed by junction of its upper and lower portions 17, 18 to each other at a junction portion 19 so that the space 16 is provided at its middle portion.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a suspension arm mounting structure for a vehicle.
Specifically, the present invention relates to a mounting structure for a suspension arm in a front wheel suspension system installed in a vehicle such as an automobile.

[Conventional technology]

In a double wishbone type front wheel suspension installed in an automobile, the base end of the lower arm is attached to a support provided at the end of a suspension cross member arranged in the vehicle width direction, and the base end of the upper arm is attached to the front suspension cross member. They are often pivoted to support parts provided at the top of the frame. The support portion of the upper arm is usually formed of a separate member from the front frame, and is disposed within the engine room. For example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 63-15277, a shock absorber tower is provided on the hood ridge panel connected to the upper part of the front frame that is connected to the suspension cross member, and the vertical wall of the shock absorber tower is installed inside the engine room. A suspension mounting device for an automobile is described in which a support portion of an upper arm is formed to bulge toward the vehicle.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Incidentally, in recent years, bonnets have been getting lower, mainly from a design standpoint. If the bonnet is too low, the space in the engine room will be restricted and the freedom of layout of the engine and other onboard equipment may be hindered. Therefore, the body structure in the engine room should be designed so as not to restrict internal space as much as possible. It is preferable that it be configured.

On the other hand, in order to improve the steering stability of an automobile, it is necessary to have a degree of freedom in the layout of the lower arm and the upper arm that constitutes the link mechanism.

This is because the camber change of the front wheel can be adjusted by changing the layout of the upper arm relative to the lower arm.

However, in the conventional suspension arm support structure described above, the support part that pivots the base end of the upper arm is located above the front frame and protrudes into the engine room, so it is difficult to support it. The space in the engine room will be restricted depending on the area. Therefore, in order to secure space in the engine room, the setting position of the support portion of the upper arm tends to be pushed outward, and there is also the problem that the degree of freedom in layout of the upper arm is hindered.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a suspension arm mounting structure for a vehicle that does not restrict the space in the engine room and can expand the degree of freedom in the layout of the upper arm. There is.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problem in a suspension arm mounting structure for a vehicle such as an automobile, the present invention provides a front frame so that an outer panel and an inner panel form a closed cross section in the front and back direction, and A spacer that extends in the vertical direction and has a gap in the vertical direction is fixed to the spacer in the vertical direction, while an opening is formed in the outer panel, and the base end of the suspension arm inserted through the opening is pivoted. Insert and insert the supporting spindle into the gap between the spacers,
It is fixed by a bolt member passing through the spacer.

[For production]

A spacer that extends vertically and has a vertical gap in the middle of the front frame that does not affect the space in the engine room is fixed upright, and the opening of the outer panel is installed in the gap between the spacers. By fitting and fixing the spindle that pivotally supports the base end of the suspension arm inserted from the engine compartment, space in the engine room is not restricted. Furthermore, the fixed part of the spindle that pivotally supports the suspension arm is no longer forced outward in order to secure space in the engine room, and the degree of freedom in layout of the suspension arm is expanded.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the vehicle suspension arm mounting structure of the present invention, a front frame is provided so that an outer panel and an inner panel form a closed cross section in the front and back direction, and extends in the vertical direction, and has a vertical gap in the middle part in the vertical direction. A spacer consisting of the above-mentioned spacer is erected and fixed in the front frame, and a spindle that pivotally supports the base end of the suspension arm inserted through the opening formed in the outer panel is inserted and positioned in the gap between the spacers. Since it is fixed by a bolt member that passes through the spacer, the space in the engine room is not restricted and the degree of freedom in layout of the suspension arm is expanded.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below based on examples thereof.

The suspension arm mounting structure of the vehicle shown in this embodiment is related to a double wishbone front wheel suspension system, and allows the upper arm layout to be expanded without restricting the space in the engine compartment. It is designed to improve ease of assembly and is constructed as follows.

As shown in FIG. 2, a front frame 1 provided at the front of an automobile body has an outer panel 2 and an inner panel 3.
They are arranged at the lower portions of both sides of the engine room 5 so as to form a closed section 4 in the longitudinal direction. A knuckle spindle 7 that pivotally supports the front wheel 6 is connected to the vehicle body by an upper arm 8 and a lower arm 9, and the front wheels 6 are suspended independently on the left and right sides by a spring 10 and a damper 11 interposed between the vehicle body and the lower arm 9. Ru.

As shown in FIG. 5, the base end portion 12 of the upper arm 8 is pivotally supported at both ends of a spindle 13, and a fixing portion 13a integrally fixed to the spindle 13 is attached to an outer panel as shown in FIG. The spacer 15 is inserted through an opening 14 formed in the front frame 1, and is positioned and fitted into the gap 16 of a spacer 15 that is fixed upright in the front frame 1, and is fixed with a bolt member 27 that passes through the spacer 15.

That is, as will be described later, the spacer 15 has an upper portion 17 and a lower portion 18 that are integrally joined and fixed by a joining member 19 with a gap 16 in the middle portion into which the fixing portion 13a fits. It is formed. On the other hand, the base end portion 20 of the lower arm 90 (see FIG. 2) is pivotally supported at the lower part of a suspension cross member 21 that is arranged in the vehicle width direction and joined to the front frame 1 at both ends thereof.

To explain the above configuration in detail, a joining member 19 joins the upper part 17 and the lower part 18 of the spacer 15.
As shown in FIG. 3, an upper mounting part 22 and a lower mounting part 23, which are formed in a curved shape corresponding to the outer surface of the spacer 15, are provided above and below, and a fixing part for the spindle 13 is provided in the middle. An intermediate portion 24 bent into a concave shape is formed in order to fit the portion 13a into the intermediate portion 24. This joining member 19
As shown in FIG. 4, the upper portion 17 and lower portion 18 of the spacer 15 are welded in advance so as to have a predetermined gap 16 therebetween. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper end of the upper part 17 is inserted into a through hole formed in the upper surface of the inner panel 3, and the lower end of the lower part 17 is formed in a through hole formed in the lower surface of the inner panel 3. They are inserted into the through-holes and fixed by welding.

Spindle 1 inserted into gap 16 of spacer 15
As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of fixing parts 13a of No. 3 are integrally fixed to the inside of both ends of the spindle 13 which pivotally supports both base ends 12 of the upper arm 8, and have bolt holes 25 for attachment. have.

This spindle 13 is previously assembled integrally with the upper arm 8 to form an upper arm structure.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
The opening 14 for inserting the opening 3a is formed,
The fixing part 13a inserted through the opening 14 is fitted into the gap 16 of the spacer 15. Then, a bolt 27 inserted from a through hole drilled in the suspension cross member 21 is inserted through the spacer 15 and the bolt hole 25 of the fixing part 13a, and fastened with a NAND 28.
Positioning and assembly of the upper arm structure can be completed easily and quickly.

Although the outer panel 2 is provided with an opening 14, it is strongly reinforced by a spacer 15 vertically installed and fixed in the inner panel 3 corresponding to the opening 14 and a bolt 27 fastened through the spacer 15. There is. Spacer 15
As described above, since the upper portion 17 and the lower portion 18 are integrally joined by the joining member 19 and the bending rigidity is improved, sufficient rigidity is exhibited even against lateral loads. Therefore, with this configuration, stress due to lateral loads and torsional loads received from the upper arm 8 can be effectively dispersed, and a suspension arm mounting structure with sufficient strength and rigidity can be obtained.

Since the fixed portion 13a is housed within the front frame 1, the space within the engine room is not restricted, and the degree of freedom in layout of the engine and mounted equipment is improved.

Further, in order to secure the space in the engine room 5, the fixed portion 13a is not pushed to the outside position, and the upper arm 8 can be set relatively long. Therefore, the steering stability of the vehicle can be improved. This is the case when the upper arm 8 is set to the required length (solid line) in Figure 6, which shows the camber change with respect to the amount of wheel bump.
This can be confirmed from a graph comparing the case where it is made slightly shorter than that (-dotted chain line). That is,
This graph shows that as the upper arm 8 becomes shorter, the camber change with respect to the bump amount increases, and the steering stability decreases.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the suspension arm mounting structure for a vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the suspension arm mounting structure, FIG. 2 is a front view of the suspension arm mounting structure, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the connection member. A perspective view, FIG. 4 is a side view of a spacer formed by integrally joining an upper part and a lower part by a joining member, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the upper arm structure, and FIG. It is a graph showing camber change. 1.-Front frame, 2-.-Outer panel, 36
．． - Inner panel, 4-M cross section, 8... Suspension arm (upper arm), 12-... Base end, 14...
- opening, 15- spacer, 16-... gap, 27-...
Bolt parts. Patent Applicant Mazda Motor Corporation Agent Patent Attorney Katsutoshi Yoshiso (and 1 other person) 2nd I! f 1st rM Figure Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A front frame is provided so that an outer panel and an inner panel form a closed section in the front-rear direction, and within the front frame is a spacer that extends in the vertical direction and has a gap in the vertical direction at an intermediate portion in the vertical direction. is fixed upright, an opening is formed in the outer panel, and a spindle that pivots the base end of the suspension arm inserted through the opening is inserted and positioned in the gap between the spacers, and the spindle is inserted into the spacer while being positioned in the gap between the spacers. A suspension arm mounting structure for a vehicle, characterized in that it is fixed by a bolt member penetrating the inside.