JPH0277387A - Motorcycle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To steer front and rear wheels in the same phase when a body banks by fitting front and rear wheel support frames to a center frame in such a manner as to turn clockwise and counter-clockwise and incline upward in the advancing direction through an oscillating shaft in a motorcycle having a flat tire. CONSTITUTION:A crank-like front frame 2 is connected to the front portion of a center frame 1 through the first oscillating shaft 10 integral with the center frame 1 in such a manner as to turn relatively. The oscillating member 10 is fitted in a Neidhart mechanism 11 and supported, so that when the oscillating member 10 is turned with respect to the Neidhart mechanism 11, it is always urged to be returned to the neutral state. A rear frame 3 formed by a power unit is similarly connected to the center frame 1 in such a manner as to turn through the second oscillating shaft 16 integral with the center frame 1. By this arrangement, when a body banks, the front and rear wheels can be automatically steered in the same phase.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a two-wheeled motor vehicle in which front and rear wheels equipped with flat tires can be steered in the same phase by means of a bank of the vehicle body.

[Prior art] A car body is divided into an upper and a lower part, and the upper car body is movably connected to the lower car body in the left-right direction via a swing axis provided horizontally in the front-rear direction, and the lower car body is flat in the front and rear directions. The applicant has already proposed a system in which the front and rear wheels equipped with tires are connected and the upper body part is banked during cornering, thereby steering the front and rear wheels with flat tires in the same way as a vehicle equipped with normal round tires. (Japanese Patent Application No. 62-59234).

The steering method used in this vehicle was to detect the bank state using a bank angle sensor provided on the upper vehicle body side, and use this detection signal to drive drive motors provided on the front and rear wheels for steering.

Note that a flat tire refers to a tire whose ground contact surface is flat enough to be able to stand on its own.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above structure requires special steering components such as a bank angle sensor, a drive motor, and a drive control device. Therefore, the structure becomes complicated and the cost becomes high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a two-wheeled motor vehicle that can automatically steer the front and rear wheels in response to the bank of the vehicle body by mechanical means without using such special steering components.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, a motorcycle according to the present invention has the following features:
A front frame that supports the front wheels equipped with flat tires and a rear frame that supports the rear wheels that are also equipped with flat tires are arranged in front and behind a center frame with a seat on the top. The front frame and the rear frame are each connected to the center frame by a swing shaft provided so as to be rotatable in the left and right direction and tilted upward in the direction of travel.

[Operation of the Invention] When the center frame is banked, each of the swing axes is tilted upward in the direction of travel, so they rotate together in the direction in which the center frame is tilted with respect to the center line of the vehicle body. The front frame and rear frame connected to this swing shaft can also swing together. As a result, the front wheels and rear wheels are steered in the same phase in accordance with the bank angle of the center frame so as to face the turning direction.

[Example] An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIGS. 1 and 2 conceptually show the left side and the top of a rear-wheel drive type two-wheeled motor vehicle in a straight-ahead state, respectively. The body of this two-wheeled motor vehicle is divided into a center frame 1, a front frame 2, and a rear frame 3.

Above the front of the center frame 1 is a handlebar post 4.
The handle 5 is rotatably supported by the handle 5, and the rotation is transmitted to the front wheel side, which will be described later, via the hydraulic cylinder 6 and the cable 7. Further, a seat 8 is provided behind the center frame 1, and a step 9 is provided below the seat 8.

The front frame 2 is a crank-shaped member, and is relatively rotatably connected to the front part of the center frame 1 via a first swing shaft 10 that is inclined upward at an angle α in the direction of travel. The first swing shaft 10 is integrated with the center frame 1, and when the center frame 1 swings in the left-right direction, the front end of the first swing shaft 10 (the end on the front frame 2 side) is centered with respect to the vehicle center line C. It swings in the same direction as frame 1. Further, the first swing shaft 10 is fitted and supported within a Neidhardt mechanism 11 provided on the center frame 1 side, and when the first swing shaft 10 rotates with respect to the Neidhardt mechanism 11, it is always rotated to a neutral state. energized to return automatically.

A front wheel 13 equipped with a flat tire is supported in front of the front frame 2 via a linked front swing arm 12 (see FIG. 2). A front suspension device 14 is provided between the front swing arm 12 and the front frame 2. Note that reference numeral 15 in FIG. 1 is a hydraulic cylinder 15 for hub steering provided at the hub portion of the front wheel 13, to which one end of the cable 7 is connected. This hydraulic cylinder 15
The front wheels 13 are steered according to the rotation of the handle 5.

The rear frame 3 is composed of a power unit, and is relatively rotatably connected to the rear part of the center frame 1 via a second swing shaft 16 that tilts upward at an angle β in the direction of travel, similar to the front frame 2. There is. Second swing axis 16
Like the first swing shaft 10, one end is supported by the center frame 1 via a Neidhardt mechanism 11. In addition, the front end of the second swing shaft 16 (the end on the center frame 1 side)
swings in the same direction as the center frame 1 with respect to the vehicle center line C. Note that the angles α and β can be arbitrarily set, including the same angle.

The power unit forming the rear frame 3 includes an engine 18 and a transmission 19 provided in a case 17.

A front end portion of a rear swing arm 20 is pivotally attached to the case 17, and a rear wheel 21 is supported at the rear end portion. A driven member 23 is attached to the drive shaft 22 of the rear wheel 21, and a rear suspension device 24 is attached between the case 17 and the rear swing arm 20. In addition, the driven member 2
A transmission member 26 made of a chain, a belt, etc. is wound between the output part 3 and the output part 25.

Next, cornering will be explained. Now, when turning to the right as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, first bank the center frame 1 to move the weight toward the turning center (in the direction of arrow A), and tilt the center frame 1 at an angle θ (see Fig. 4). reference). Then, the first swing shaft 10, which is tilted upward by the angle α, falls in the direction of the turning center together with the center frame 1, so that its front end side, together with the front frame 2, is tilted in the direction of the turning center with respect to the vehicle center line C. sway to. As a result, the front wheels 13 supported by the front frame 2 are flat tires, so they do not tilt with respect to the ground, and are centered on a line that passes through the ground contact point and is perpendicular to the ground, as seen from above the vehicle body, as shown in Figure 3. Rotates in the turning direction by an angle θ□. Therefore, the front wheels 13 are steered in response to the banking of the center frame 1.

Similarly, on the rear wheel 21 side, the second swing shaft 16 is tilted forward and upward by the angle β, and the connection position with the center frame 1 is high, so when the center frame 1 is banked, this tilt As a result, the amount of rocking of the rear end of the second rocking shaft 16 (on the rear frame 3 side) is sufficiently large, so that the rear frame 3 also tilts toward the center of rotation, and as a result, the rear wheels 21 tilt as shown in FIG. also rotates toward the turning center by an angle θ2 when viewed from above the vehicle body. Therefore, by banking the center frame 1, both the front wheels 13 and the rear wheels 21 are automatically steered in the same phase in the turning direction in accordance with the amount of banking. This makes cornering extremely smooth.

5 and 6 show an embodiment of a rear wheel drive type using a drive shaft. It should be noted that each of the embodiments shown below differs only in the drive type and has many other parts unrelated to the drive system in common, so a description of the common parts will be omitted in principle for the sake of brevity. The same reference numerals will be used in explanations only when necessary.

The motorcycle of this embodiment includes an engine 18 at the bottom of the center frame 1, and transmits power from an output section 25 to a rear wheel 21 using a drive shaft type described later. Therefore, the rear frame 3 has a shape similar to the front frame 2, which has a cylindrical crank shape.

As shown in detail in Fig. 6, the power transmission structure includes the output section 2.
A drive shaft 31 having a bevel gear 30 at one end that engages with the second swing shaft 1 is configured as a hollow shaft.
The bevel gear 3 penetrates through the interior of the 6 and is provided at the rear end.
2 is a bevel gear 33 provided on the rear frame 3 side,
The signal is transmitted from the drive sprocket 36 to the driven member 23 via the transmission member 26 via the gears 34 and 35, and further drives the rear wheel 21 by the drive shaft 22.

The periphery of the second swing shaft 16 is supported by the Neidhardt 11 mechanism, which functions similarly to the previous embodiment, and is inclined upward by an angle β toward the front. On the other hand, the first swing shaft 10 is also the same as in the previous embodiment, and is inclined upwardly by an angle α. Therefore, in conjunction with the banking of the center frame 1, the front wheels 13 and rear wheels 21 are steered in the same manner as in the previous embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a front-wheel drive type two-wheeled motor vehicle. That is, the front frame 2 is constructed in the same manner as the power unit in the first embodiment, and a drive shaft 22 that forms the axle of the front wheels 13 is attached to the case 17 of the front frame 2, and a driven member 23 and an output section 25 of the engine 18 that are integral with the drive shaft 22 are attached to the case 17. and are connected by a transmission member 26. Further, a front wheel 13 is supported at the front of the case 17 via a front swing arm 12, and a front suspension device 14 is provided between the case 17 and the front swing arm 12.

Note that the rear frame 3 side has the same structure as the front frame 2 side in the previous embodiment, and has a first swing shaft 10 and a second swing shaft.
Similarly to the previous embodiments, the swing shaft 16 is also provided so as to be inclined upwardly by angles α and β toward the front in the traveling direction. therefore,
In this example as well, the front wheels 13 and rear wheels 21 are steered in conjunction with the banking of the center frame 1 in the same manner as in the previous embodiments.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, a front frame and a rear frame are respectively disposed before and after a center frame, and the space between these frames is rotatable with respect to the center line of the vehicle body and tilted upward in the direction of travel. Since they are connected by a swing shaft, when cornering, even if a flat tire is installed, the front and rear wheels can automatically turn by mechanical means by simply banking the center frame, just like a conventional motorcycle. It can be steered to face the direction. Therefore, special steering parts such as a bank angle sensor and a drive motor are not required, and the structure can be simplified and costs can be reduced.

Furthermore, the front and rear wheels are steered in the same phase, making cornering smoother.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 7 show examples, FIGS. 1, 5, and 7 are side views conceptually showing a motorcycle, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are top views, and FIGS. FIG. 4 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of the main part. (Explanation of symbols) 1...Center frame, 2...Front frame, 3...Rear frame, 5...Handle, 10...
・First swing axis, 13...Front wheel, 16...Second swing axis, 21...Rear wheel, C...Vehicle body center line. Patent applicant: Agent for Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Patent attorney Kiyomitsu Komatsu

Claims (1)

[Claims] A front frame that supports the front wheels equipped with flat tires and a rear frame that supports the rear wheels that are also equipped with flat tires are arranged in front and behind a center frame with a seat on the top. The two-wheeled motor vehicle is characterized in that the front frame and the rear frame are connected to the center frame by a rocking shaft that is rotatable in the left and right directions and tilted upward in the direction of travel. car.