JPH0325663B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an initial setting load adjusting device for a suspension spring in a hydraulic shock absorber.

As a method of adjusting the spring load of this kind of conventional rear cushion unit for motorcycles, etc.
As shown in the publication, an outer tube is extendably arranged around the outer circumference of the cylinder, a spring is interposed between a spring guide of the outer tube and a spring receiver on the piston rod side, and a plurality of cams are installed at the upper end of the outer tube. A jig is inserted into the boss of the outer cylinder, the outer cylinder is rotated against the spring, and the stopper on the cylinder side is thereby fitted to an arbitrary cam, and the height of this cam is adjusted. The spring load was set accordingly. In other words, rear suspensions for two-wheeled vehicles are designed to determine the fitting position of the cam and stopper depending on whether the bike is for one rider or two riders, or depending on the weight of the rider, and to set the spring load depending on the rider. .

Devices using such cams have been widely put into practical use, but in recent years, rear wheel hydraulic shock absorbers used on motorcycles have replaced the conventional rear wheel shock absorbers on both the left and right sides of the vehicle body with hydraulic shock absorbers. A car body structure was put into practical use that required only one device to carry the load. For this reason, the spring constant of the suspension spring mounted on the hydraulic shock absorber has become large, and its initial load has also been set larger than that of conventional shock absorbers. Therefore, when adjusting the initial setting load, the operating force is large and requires considerable force, resulting in poor workability, and due to the structure of the car body,
Problems have arisen, such as the vehicle body getting in the way when trying to rotate the cam with a screwdriver or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a suspension spring in a hydraulic shock absorber that has good adjustment workability, allows adjustment work to be performed while riding the vehicle, and can be operated remotely and quickly without being obstructed by the vehicle body. An object of the present invention is to provide an initial setting load adjustment device.

In order to achieve the above object, the configuration of the present invention is as follows:
A suspension spring is provided on the outer periphery of the cylinder, a vertically movable spring seat that locks one end of the suspension spring, and a housing placed below the spring seat, and a drive member that supports the spring seat is provided in the fluid chamber of the housing. A hydraulic system that is slidably installed and supplies and discharges pressure fluid through a fluid pressure supply pipe below the fluid chamber to move the drive member and spring seat in the axial direction and set the initial load of the suspension spring. In the shock absorber, a hollow guide cylinder is formed in the upper part of the housing in the horizontal direction, and within this guide cylinder is a slidable stopper whose tip faces the outer periphery of the spring seat, and the stopper is connected to the spring seat. a spring that biases the stopper in the direction; an external wire is connected to the stopper for retracting the stopper against the reaction force of the spring; A stepped cam is provided on one side, and the axial position of the spring seat is regulated by selectively engaging one of the cams with the outer peripheral end of the spring seat or the tip of the stopper. .

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
The diagram will be explained in detail.

In the same figure, 1 is a hydraulic shock absorber, and cylinder 2
A piston is slidably provided within the piston, and the piston rod end to which the piston is attached is fixed to the vehicle body, and the cylinder end is fixed to the vehicle body via a bracket 3. An outer tube 4 is fitted around the outer periphery of the cylinder 2. A housing 5 that forms a fluid chamber 6 between the outer cylinder 4 and the housing 5 is fixed around the outer cylinder 4, and a driving member 8 such as a ram having a sealing material 7 is slidable inside the fluid chamber 6 in the housing 5. It is set in. Further, a fluid pressure supply pipe 9 is connected to the lower part of the housing 5 (the right end in the figure).
Pressure fluid is drawn into the fluid chamber 6. A spring seat 10 is supported on the upper surface of the drive member 8 and slides on the outer cylinder 4, and one end of a suspension spring 11 is seated on this spring seat 10. Note that the other end of this suspension spring 11 is locked to a piston rod. Further, on the outer periphery of this spring seat 10, a stepped cam 10 is provided which is selectively engaged with a stopper which will be described later.
A is provided.

On the other hand, a cylindrical portion 5a serving as a hollow guide tube is protruded from the upper part of the housing 5, and the tip of the cylindrical portion 5a faces the outer periphery of the spring seat 10 and is perpendicular to the axis of the spring seat 10. A stopper 12 that slides in the direction is housed. 13
is a hollow cable that is secured to the end of the cylindrical portion 5a by a snap spring 14, and this hollow cable 1
A coil spring 1 is placed between the third end and the stopper 12.
5 is interposed, which constantly presses the stopper 12 toward the outer circumference of the spring seat 10. 16
is a wire whose one end is fixed to the stopper 12 and guided in the cable 13, and whose other end is connected to a knob that moves on a display scale plate (not shown). Note that the display scale is the same as that of the cam 10a.
The numbers are set according to the number of stages. Then, by operating the knob, the stopper 12 is moved to the spring 15.
It is designed to be able to retreat against the reaction force of.
In this way, the spring seat 10 can compress the suspension spring 11 by the amount that the drive member 8 has risen, thereby increasing its initial setting load to a predetermined value.

Next, the operation of this adjustment device will be specifically described.
In FIG. 1, since no fluid pressure is applied to the pipe 9, the drive member 8 is in the lowest position;
Furthermore, the knob 20 is also pulled in to the maximum extent as shown in the figure by the reaction force of the spring 15, so that the stopper 12 is located at the uppermost step of the spring seat 10 where the cam 10a has the largest diameter.

When adjusting the initial load of the suspension spring 11, fluid pressure such as oil pressure or air pressure is sent to the pipe 9 to increase the pressure in the fluid chamber 6 and raise the drive member 8. Then, as the spring seat 10 rises with this rise, the stepped cam 1
At 0a, springs 15 are installed one after another, starting from the upper one.
The tip of the stopper 12, which is biased at , falls down and comes into engagement. Therefore, by adjusting the amount of movement of the driving member 8 depending on the magnitude of the fluid pressure and selectively locking the stopper 12 to one of the stepped portions of the cam 10a, the driving member 8 and the spring seat 10 can be moved. The raised position of the spring seat 10 is selected, and by releasing the fluid pressure, the spring seat 10 is prevented from lowering by the stopper 12.
In this way, the spring seat 10 compresses the suspension spring 11 by the amount that the drive member 8 rises, increasing the initial setting load. At this time, the amount of movement of the stopper 12 can be confirmed by the position of the knob at the end of the wire 16 connected to the stopper 12.

On the other hand, when setting the spring load set as described above to be weak, the fluid pressure is applied to the fluid chamber 6 so as to slightly raise the drive member 8 from the set state.
This is done by feeding the stopper 12 into the cam 10a so that the load of the suspension spring 11 is not applied to the stopper 12, operating the knob to remove the stopper 12 from the cam 10a, and then releasing the fluid pressure. In this way, the drive member 8 is lowered, and the load on the suspension spring 11 is reduced. Note that if the fluid pressure is released in stages, the amount of load reduction can be arbitrarily selected.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the invention. this is,
No cam is provided on the outer periphery of the spring seat 10, but instead a stepped cam 12a is provided at the tip of the stopper 12. With such a configuration, the load of the suspension spring can be adjusted arbitrarily in the same manner as described above, but in particular, the driving member 8 is pushed up by fluid pressure, and the lower edge of the spring seat 10 is applied to one of the cams 12a of the stopper 12. After the fluid pressure is released to lock the spring, there is no need to apply fluid pressure each time the spring load is adjusted to a lower level. That is, the stopper 12
The load can be adjusted in stages by simply reversing the load.

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The drive member is moved in the axial direction by fluid pressure, so it does not require a large manual operating force, and it can be operated remotely from the seated position, making it easy to work and speedy. Ru.

Similarly, the stoppers are driven via wires, so they can be driven remotely while riding the vehicle, allowing positioning operations without being interfered with by the vehicle body or the like.

Since the spring seat or stopper is provided with a stepped cam, the initial load can be set in multiple stages.

Since the drive member and the stopper are housed within the housing, compactness and miniaturization can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing the main parts of the initial setting load adjustment device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view,
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing the main parts of another embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Hydraulic shock absorber, 2... Cylinder, 5... Housing, 6... Fluid chamber, 8... Drive member, 10
...Spring seat, 10a, 12a...Cam, 11...Suspension spring, 12...Stopper, 15...Spring, 16...Wire.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A suspension spring is provided on the outer periphery of the cylinder, a vertically movable spring seat that locks one end of the suspension spring, and a housing placed below the spring seat, and a drive member that supports the spring seat is provided in the fluid chamber of the housing. is provided to be slidable, and by supplying and discharging pressure fluid through a fluid pressure supply pipe below the fluid chamber, the driving member and spring seat are moved in the axial direction to set the initial load of the suspension spring. In the hydraulic shock absorber, a hollow guide cylinder is formed in the upper part of the housing in the horizontal direction, and within this guide cylinder is a slidable stopper whose tip faces the outer periphery of the spring seat, and the stopper is connected to a spring. a spring biased in the seat direction; an external wire coupled to the stopper for retracting the stopper against the reaction force of the spring;
Furthermore, a step-like cam is provided on either the outer periphery of the spring seat or the tip of the stopper, and either one of the cams is selectively engaged with the outer periphery of the spring seat or the tip of the stopper. An initial setting load adjustment device for a suspension spring in a hydraulic shock absorber, characterized by regulating the axial position.