JPH0565092A - Motorcycle front wheel driving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cool a motor for driving the front wheel effectively with the wind due to running and secure the body with a fine appearance at its front. CONSTITUTION:A steering member 3 in vertical direction about the axis is furnished at the foremost extremity of the body frame 2, and therein a motor 20 for driving the front wheel 4 is installed so that its longitudinal direction is identical to the direction in which the steering member 3 is stretching.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a front wheel drive device for driving a front wheel of an electric motorcycle by an electric motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a two-wheeled vehicle, a front fork or other steering member having a longitudinal axis is provided rotatably at the front end of a vehicle body frame, and the front wheel is supported at the lower end of the steering member.

[0003]

By the way, recently, it has been proposed to make the above-mentioned electric motorcycle a front-wheel drive type,
In this case, it is considered to attach an electric motor that drives the front wheels to the steering member. Then, in the case of such a configuration, the cooling of the electric motor is effectively performed by the traveling wind, and even if the electric motor is provided in this way,
It is desired to maintain a good appearance of the front part of the vehicle body.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and when an electric motor for driving the front wheels is provided, it is possible to effectively cool the electric motor by running wind, and , The purpose is to maintain a good appearance of the front part of the vehicle body.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that an electric motor for driving a front wheel is provided so that its longitudinal direction is along a steering member whose longitudinal axis is longitudinal. It is in.

[0006]

[Operation] The operation of the above configuration is as follows. An electric motor 20 for driving the front wheels 4 is provided so that its longitudinal direction is along the front fork (steering member) 3. Here, the axis of the front fork (steering member) 3 is oriented vertically. For this reason, the longitudinal direction of the electric motor 20 also becomes a vertical posture, so that the electric motor 20 moves toward the traveling wind 5
The area directly receiving 3 becomes large. Further, since the electric motor 20 is provided along the front fork (steering member) 3 as described above, the electric motor 20 may largely project outward from the front fork (steering member) 3 and the front wheel 4. To be prevented.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a two-wheeled vehicle, and an arrow Fr indicates the front thereof. The motorcycle 1 has an underbone-shaped vehicle body frame 2, and a front fork 3 as a steering member is rotatably supported at the front end of the vehicle body frame 2. The front fork 3 has a longitudinal axis, but is slightly tilted rearward, a front wheel 4 is supported at the lower end thereof, and a handle 5 is attached at the upper end thereof.

A drive unit 7 is pivotally supported by a pivot shaft 8 on the rear portion of the body frame 2 so as to be vertically swingable, and a rear wheel 9 is supported on a swing end of the drive unit 7. A shock absorber 10 is installed between the rear end of the vehicle body frame 2 and the swing end of the drive unit 7.

The drive unit 7 is a gasoline engine 1
2 and a power transmission device 13 that transmits the power of the engine 12 to the rear wheels 9. When the engine 12 is driven, its power is transmitted via the power transmission device 13 to the rear wheel 9
The motorcycle 1 is allowed to run. The impact that the vehicle body receives from the road surface 14 during this traveling is absorbed by the front fork 3 and the shock absorber 10. In addition, 15 is a seat, 16 is a footrest floor, 17 is a leg shield, and 18 is a vehicle body cover.

An electric motor 20 for driving the front wheels 4 is provided. The electric motor 20 has a long shape along its axis 21, and the electric motor 20 is provided such that its longitudinal direction is along the front fork 3.

In FIG. 2, the front fork 3 is shown.
Has a pair of left and right fork pipes 22, 22. The upper part of each of these fork pipes 22 is composed of an outer tube, and the lower part thereof is composed of an inner tube slidably fitted in the outer tube, and this inner tube constitutes a so-called unsprung part. Then, bolt-shaped front axles 23 are installed on both lower ends of these inner tubes, and the front axles 23 are nuts 24, 24 screwed to both ends of the front axle 23.
It is fixed to 2, 22. The front wheel 4 is rotatably supported by the bearings 25, 25 on the front axle 23.
The front wheel 4 is composed of a disc wheel 27 and a tire 28.

On the other hand, the electric motor 20 has a cylindrical case 30 provided on the shaft center 21, and a drive shaft 33 supported on the case 30 by an upper bearing 31 and a pair of lower bearings 32, 32. A stator 34 attached to the case 30 and a rotor 35 attached to the drive shaft 33.
The case 30 is provided on the front side of the fork pipe 22 so that its longitudinal direction is along the fork pipe 22.

Reference numeral 37 is a gear case.
Is composed of a left side case 38 and a right side case 39, and these both 38 and 39 are connected by a bolt 40. The left case 38 is fixed to the front axle 23 by fastening the nuts 24, 24. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the convex portion 42 projecting from the left fork pipe 22 is fitted in the concave groove 41 formed on the left side surface of the left case 38, whereby the fork pipe 22 is formed. The gear case 37 and the gear case 37 are securely integrated. The left side case 38
A cylindrical body 45 is supported on the right case 39 by a pair of bearings 44, 44, and the cylindrical body 45 is free to rotate coaxially with the front axle 23.

The lower part of the case 30 is integrally formed on the upper part of the left case 38. The gear case 37
A drive gear 46, which is a beveled pinion gear, is integrally formed on the lower end of the drive shaft 33. On the other hand, a driven gear 47 which is a bevel gear is spline-fitted to the cylindrical body 45, and the drive gear 46 and the driven gear 47 are meshed with each other. Same as above Cylindrical body 45 has one way clutch 4
The interlocking body 50 is attached through the disc wheel 2 through the buffer body 51.
7 are connected.

A battery 52 is connected to the electric motor 20 via a controller (not shown). The electric motor 20 uses the battery 52 as a power source and is driven by being controlled by the controller. Then, the electric motor 20
Is driven, the power of the drive shaft 33 drives the drive gear 4
6, driven gear 47, cylindrical body 45, one-way clutch 4
9, the interlocking body 50, and the buffer body 51 in this order to the front wheel 4
That is, in addition to the drive of the rear wheels 9 by the engine 12, the front wheels 4 are also driven, whereby the two-wheeled vehicle 1 is driven.
Is designed to run. In the above case, engine 1
When the rotation speed of the front wheels 4 exceeds the drive speed of the electric motor 20 due to the driving of the two or the like, the one-way clutch 49 causes the front wheels 4 to move.
From being transmitted to the electric motor 20 side.

In the above case, the electric motor 20 is controlled as follows. First, the battery 52 is charged by the generator that is linked to the driving of the engine 12.

Second, the rear wheels 9 are driven by the drive of the engine 12.
When the rear wheel 9 slips when the vehicle is driven, the front wheel 4 is automatically driven by the electric motor 20 by detecting the slip.
And according to this, the drivability of the wet road surface 14, the uphill, and the bad road is improved.

Thirdly, a changeover switch is provided in the vicinity of the accelerator grip on the right side of the steering wheel 5, and the engine 1
Regardless of whether or not the motor 2 is being driven, the electric motor 20 is capable of forward and reverse rotation by the switch operation, that is, it is possible to move forward and backward. In this case, a potentiometer is provided between the accelerator grip and the throttle system of the engine 12, and the drive speed of the electric motor 20 is determined according to the operation amount of the accelerator grip.

According to the above construction, the longitudinal direction of the electric motor 20 is vertical and substantially vertical, and the electric motor 20 is located in front of the fork pipe 22. The area received by is increasing. Therefore, the cooling of the electric motor 20 by the traveling wind 53 is effectively and sufficiently performed.

Further, as described above, the electric motor 20 is provided along the fork pipe 22 and is prevented from being largely projected outward from the front fork 3 and the front wheel 4, so that the front part of the vehicle body looks good. It is kept good. Further, since the electric motor 20 is located on the front side of the fork pipe 22, the pebbles or the like that the front wheel 4 has flipped up may cause the electric motor 2 to move.
Colliding with zero is prevented by the fork pipe 22 as above.

A braking device 55 for braking the front wheels 4 is provided. The braking device 55 is a disc wheel 27.
Brake disc 56 that is screwed to the right and hydraulic caliper 57 that is attached to the right fork pipe 22.
It consists of and. The caliper 57 clamps the brake disc 56 by operating a brake lever provided at the right end of the handle 5, whereby the braking is obtained.

Although the above is based on the illustrated example, the wheel of the front wheel 4 may be a wire spoke type. Further, the fork pipe 22 and the gear case 37 may be integrally formed. Also, without providing the one-way clutch 49,
The cylindrical body 45 and the interlocking body 50 may be directly connected. Furthermore,
The braking device 55 may be a drum brake. Also,
The electric motor 20 may be provided inside the fork pipe 22.

(Second Embodiment) FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment. According to this, the front fork 3 has a pair of left and right fork pipes 22, 22. The outer tubes 59, 59 forming the upper portions of the fork pipes 22, 22 are so-called sprung, and the electric motor 20 is attached to the outer tube 59 on the left side of the outer tubes 59, 59. In this case, the electric motor 20 is provided so that its longitudinal direction extends substantially parallel to the fork pipe 22.

On the other hand, the left case 38 has a pair of bearings 6
The drive gear 46 is supported by 0 and 60, and the drive shaft 33 is attached to the sleeve 61 attached to the drive gear 46.
Are spline-fitted slidably along the axis 21. Then, the relative fluctuation between the front wheel 4 and the outer tube 59 when the front fork 3 is buffered is absorbed by the sliding of the sleeve 61 and the drive shaft 33. Other configurations and operations are similar to those of the above-mentioned embodiment. Therefore, for the common configuration, the reference numerals are attached to the drawings and the description thereof is omitted.

[0025]

According to the present invention, the electric motor for driving the front wheels is provided such that the longitudinal direction thereof is along the steering member, and the axis of the steering member is vertically oriented.
The longitudinal direction of the electric motor also becomes a vertical posture. Therefore, the electric motor has a large area for directly receiving the traveling wind, so that the electric motor is effectively cooled by the traveling wind. Further, as described above, since the electric motor is provided along the steering member, it is prevented that the electric motor largely projects outward from the steering member and the front wheels, and therefore, the electric motor is provided as described above. However, the appearance of the front part of the vehicle body is kept good.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view of a motorcycle according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partial side view of a motorcycle according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Two-wheeled vehicle 2 Body frame 3 Front fork (steering member) 4 Front wheel 9 Rear wheel 12 Engine 20 Electric motor 53 Running wind

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering member having a longitudinal center axis is rotatably provided at a front end of a body frame, a front wheel is supported at a lower end of the steering member, and an electric motor for driving the front wheel is attached to the steering member. At the same time, a front wheel drive device for an electric two-wheeled vehicle, wherein the electric motor is provided so that its longitudinal direction is along the steering member.