JPH04237611A - Steered wheel suspension - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the assembling work performance of a pair of suspension arms to a wheel supporting member in a double joint type steered wheel suspension. CONSTITUTION:There are provided a knuckle 10, a connecting member 20 fixed to the knuckle 10 by a bolt 18, and a pair of suspension arms 24, 26 pivotally supported at a vehicle body 22 at the inner ends thereof and pivotally fitted to the knuckle 10 at the outer ends thereof in such a way as to be mutually separated in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle. Two suspension arms 24, 26 are batch-connected to the knuckle 10 by fixing the suspension arm outer ends in the state of being connected to the connecting member 20, to the knuckle 10 by the bolt 18.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to suspensions for vehicles such as passenger cars, and more particularly to suspensions for steered wheels.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art As one type of suspension for steering wheels of vehicles such as passenger cars, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-9889, a wheel support member rotatably supports a wheel, and a a pair of suspension arms that are pivotally supported on the vehicle body via a rubber bushing having an axis extending substantially in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, have outer ends pivotally connected to the wheel support member, and are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle; A so-called double joint type steered wheel suspension is already known, in which the position of the kingpin axis is determined by the intersection of the axes of the pair of suspension arms.

According to this suspension, the kingpin axis can be set regardless of the length of the pair of suspension arms, so the position of the kingpin axis is determined by the pivot point between the wheel support member and the suspension arm. The degree of freedom in setting the kingpin axis can be improved compared to the case of a general suspension configured to do so.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventionally, in the assembly of such a double joint type steering wheel suspension, the inner ends of a pair of suspension arms are attached to the vehicle body (subframe), and then the wheel support member is fixed thereto, for example. The suspension arm is connected to the vehicle body through a shock absorber, and then the outer ends of the two suspension arms are pivotally connected to the wheel support member.

However, before the outer end of the suspension arm is pivotally connected to the wheel support member, the direction of the suspension arm is not determined, and three members, that is, two suspension arms and the wheel support member, must be assembled to each other. There is a problem in that the workability of assembling the suspension arm to the support member is poor, and in order to improve the efficiency of assembling suspensions in a continuous vehicle production line, it is necessary to improve the work efficiency of this process.

In view of the above-mentioned problems with conventional double joint type suspensions, the present invention enables two suspension arms to be connected to a wheel support member at once, thereby improving suspension assembly efficiency. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a double joint type steering wheel suspension that is improved so as to enable the steering wheel to be rotated.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, a wheel support member rotatably supports a wheel, a connecting member fixed to the wheel support member by a fastening means, and an inner end This is achieved by a steering wheel suspension having a pair of suspension arms that are pivotally supported on the vehicle body at the outer ends thereof, are pivotally connected to the connecting member at the outer ends, and are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

[0008]

[Operation] According to the above structure, the inner ends of the pair of suspension arms are attached to the vehicle body with the outer ends of the pair of suspension arms connected to the connecting member, and the wheel support members are connected to the vehicle body via the shock absorber or the like. After that, the connecting member can be fixed to the wheel support member using a fastening means, and even after the inner end of the suspension arm is attached to the vehicle body, the direction of the suspension arm is regulated by the connecting member, and the two suspension arms can be connected to the wheel at once. Since the suspension arm can be connected to the support member, the workability of assembling the suspension arm to the wheel support member is improved compared to the conventional structure.

The invention will now be described in detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a steering wheel suspension according to the present invention configured as a strut type suspension, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing essential parts of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a rear view of the main parts of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, seen from the rear of the vehicle.

In these figures, reference numeral 10 indicates a knuckle as a wheel support member that rotatably supports a wheel (not shown). The upper end of the knuckle 10 is pivotally attached to the tip of an arm 14 fixed to the lower end of the shock absorber 12 via a ball joint 16, and the lower end is connected and fixed to a connecting member 20 by a bolt 18 serving as a fastening means. The bolt 18 is screwed into the connecting member 20 and the knuckle 10 from below as viewed in FIG. The upper end of the shock absorber 12 is connected to the vehicle body 22 by an upper support (not shown).

Further, in FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numerals 24 and 26 indicate a pair of suspension arms spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The suspension arm 24 extends substantially in the lateral direction of the vehicle, and the suspension arm 26 extends obliquely toward the front of the vehicle when viewed from its inner end toward its outer end. The suspension arm 24 is pivotally supported at the inner end to the vehicle body 22 via a rubber bush 30 having an axis 28 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and is pivotally attached to the connecting member 20 at the outer end via a ball joint 32. There is. On the other hand, the suspension arm 26 is pivoted to the vehicle body 22 at its inner end via a rubber bush 36 having an axis 34 extending substantially in the vertical direction, and at its outer end a ball joint 38
It is pivotally connected to the connecting member 20 via. Axes 28 and 34 intersect each other at the center of rubber bushing 36.

The ball joint 38 is fixed to the connecting member 20 by a castle nut 38a and a cotter pin 38b which are threaded onto the tip of a stud, similar to a conventional ball joint. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the ball joint 32 has its stud 32a connected to the connecting member 2.
A hole 20b provided between a pair of brackets 20a of 0
hole 2 provided in the pair of brackets 20a.
It is fixed to the connecting member 20 by a bolt 21 inserted through the notch 32b of the stud 32a. Therefore, the ball joint 32 located below the boot of the drive shaft (not shown in the figure)
8, the distance between the ball joint 32 and the drive shaft can be reduced.

The dust boots 32b and 38c of the ball joints 32 and 38 are lantern-shaped as shown in FIG. The outer diameter of these dust boots is therefore smaller than in the case of single-angle conventional dust boots, so that the distance between the two ball joints 32 and 38 can be reduced.

One end of a camber control link 42 is pivotally connected to the suspension arm 24 by a spindle-shaped ball joint 40, and the other end of the link 42 is connected to the shock absorber 1 by a spindle-shaped ball joint 44.
4 is pivotally connected to the tip of a connecting rod 46 fixed to the lower end of the connecting rod 46.

As shown in FIG. 5, the ball joint 44 includes a housing 48 integral with the link 42, and a stud 50 having a ball portion 50b rotatably housed within the housing about an axis 50a. have. A resin sheet 52 is interposed between the housing 48 and the ball portion 50b. One end of the housing 48 is closed by an end cap 54, and a dust boot 56 is attached to the other end of the housing.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rubber bush 3
6 is disposed between an outer cylinder 58 which is press-fitted into a corresponding hole in the inner end of the suspension arm 26, and an inner cylinder 60 which receives a bolt (not shown) fixed to the vehicle body 22. is fixed. Further, the rubber bush 36 is disposed on both sides of the inner cylinder 60 along an axis 62 connecting the center of the rubber bush 36 with the center of the ball joint 38.
It has a pair of slits 64 and 66 extending perpendicularly to 2. As shown in the figure, the widths of the slits 64 and 66 are set to be small at the center and gradually increase toward both ends.
4 is set slightly smaller than the width of the slit 66 on the inboard side.

Since the width of the central portions of the slits 64 and 66 is small, when the compressive load or tensile load acting on the suspension arm 26 exceeds a predetermined value, the rubber portions on both sides of the slits come into contact with each other. Therefore, the rubber bush 36
The spring characteristic in the direction along the axis 62 of
The spring constant in the direction along the axis 62 is low, and when the compressive load and the tensile load acting on the suspension arm 26 each exceed a predetermined value, the spring constant in the direction along the axis 62 increases relatively rapidly as the load increases.

Furthermore, since the widths of both ends of the slits 64 and 66 are large, the rubber bushing 36 can be easily elastically deformed around the axis 34, so that the suspension arm 26 can also be easily moved back and forth around its inner end. It is designed to be able to pivot in any direction.

To assemble the suspension of the present invention constructed as described above, for example, the outer ends of the suspension arms 24 and 26 are connected in advance to the ball joints 32 and 3, respectively.
8 to the connecting member 20, and in that state, the inner end of the suspension arm is connected to the rubber bushes 30 and 36.
This may be accomplished by attaching the wheel support member 10 to the vehicle body 22 via the shock absorber 12, then connecting the wheel support member 10 to the vehicle body via the shock absorber 12, and then fixing the connection member to the wheel support member with bolts 18.

In the above embodiment, the suspension arm on the rear side of the vehicle extends at an angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, but the suspension arm on the front side of the vehicle extends at an angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Alternatively, both suspension arms may extend at an angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various other embodiments may be made within the scope of the present invention. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that this is possible. For example, the suspension of the present invention may be configured as a double wishbone type suspension, and in that case, it is preferable that the structure of the present invention is adopted for the lower arm.

[0023]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the outer ends of a pair of suspension arms are connected to the connecting member, and the inner ends of the suspension arms are attached to the vehicle body, and the wheel support members are connected to the shock absorber. The suspension arm may be connected to the vehicle body via an absorber or the like, and then the connecting member may be fixed to the wheel support member by a fastening means. Even after the inner end of the suspension arm is attached to the vehicle body, the direction of the suspension arm is regulated by the connecting member. Since the two suspension arms can be connected to the wheel support member at once, the workability of assembling the suspension arm to the wheel support member can be improved compared to the conventional structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a steering wheel suspension according to the invention configured as a strut type suspension.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing essential parts of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the main parts of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, seen from the rear of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a camber control link.

[Explanation of symbols]

10...knuckle 12...Shock absorber 20...Connecting member 22...Car body 24, 26...Suspension arm 30, 36...Rubber bushing 32, 38...Ball joint 42...Camber control link 58...Outer cylinder 60...Inner cylinder 64, 66...slit

Claims (1)

[Claims] A wheel support member that rotatably supports a wheel; a connection member fixed to the wheel support member by a fastening means; an inner end pivoted to the vehicle body and an outer end pivoted to the connection member; A suspension for a steered wheel having a pair of suspension arms spaced apart from each other in the direction.