JPH0723285Y2 - Front wheel suspension - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a front wheel suspension device, and can be used as a front wheel suspension device for a small vehicle such as a four-wheel drive or front-wheel drive type four-wheel buggy vehicle.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, small vehicles for leisure or sports driving such as four-wheel buggy vehicles require a sufficient stroke in the wheel suspension device to improve the rough land traveling performance, and the suspension device for the front wheel, which is the steered wheel, is required. Are used in various formats.

For example, FIG. 5 shows a so-called double wishbone type front wheel suspension system 90.
Is a pair of upper and lower arm members 93 formed in a substantially V shape with the tip 91 fixed integrally and the base ends 92 separated from each other, and the base 92 is moved so that the tip 91 moves substantially up and down. A frame 94 on the front side surface of the vehicle body is swingably supported. Here, a shock absorber 95 is interposed between the tip 91 side of the lower arm member 93 and the frame 94, and both of the arm members 93 are provided. Tip 91
A wheel support member 96 is rotatably supported around a shaft in a substantially vertical direction between the two, and the wheel support member 96 is connected to a steering shaft 98 substantially in the center of the vehicle body through a tie rod 97 to connect the wheel support member 96 to the wheel support member.
While steering the front wheel 99 rotatably supported by 96,
When a large shock is applied to the front wheel 99, the arm member 93 can be sufficiently swung to allow a sufficient vertical stroke of the wheel 99, and the shock is generated by the compression reaction force of the shock absorber 95 accompanying the swing of the arm member 93. It is constructed so that it can absorb force (see JP-A-61-60378, rear).

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in recent years, in order to further improve the rough land running performance, it has become popular to make a four-wheel drive even in a small four-wheel buggy vehicle, and when making a vehicle having the front wheel suspension device 90 as described above four-wheel drive, It is necessary to dispose a front wheel transmission device or the like approximately in the middle of the front wheel 99 and connect the drive shaft thereof to the front wheel 99.

However, the space near the wheel support member 96 that supports the axle of the front wheel 99 is almost occupied by the shock absorber 95, the tie rod 97, etc., and the arm member 93, etc. move with a large stroke, so that interference with other devices, etc. is avoided. It is difficult to connect the drive shaft to the front wheels 99, and it is particularly difficult to install the front wheel transmission device itself because of the steering shaft 98 that is connected to the wheel support member 96 via the tie rods 97.

For this reason, the steering shaft 98 is moved to open the space for the front wheel transmission device.However, in order to avoid interference with the tie rod 97, which changes the passing path with the movement of the steering shaft 98, the arm is used. It may be necessary to reduce the width of the member 93. Further, the tie rod 97 having a detouring link or the like interposed between the wheel support member 96 and the steering shaft 98 may be curved or detoured, but steering may be performed as the number of intervening members increases. In addition to the decrease in rigidity, there is a problem that the device becomes large and the structure becomes complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a front wheel suspension device which has a simple structure and can drive the front wheels and has a high degree of freedom in arrangement.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, the base ends of two arms whose ends are integrally fixed are separated from each other to form a substantially V shape, and the base ends are formed on the side surfaces of the vehicle body. An upper arm member that is swingably supported by the upper end of the upper arm member and is movable substantially up and down at the tip, and is formed substantially in the same manner as the upper arm member and is disposed substantially parallel to the vehicle body side surface below the upper arm member and swings. A lower arm member that is movably supported and a tip end of each of the upper arm member and the lower arm member is rotatably supported about an axis in a substantially vertical direction, and rotatably supports an axle of a front wheel. And a tie rod that has one end connected to the axle support member and the other end connected to a steering shaft substantially in the center of the vehicle body so that the axle support member can be rotated, and the tie rod and the axle support member The connecting point is the upper side In the height direction, the tie rods are arranged substantially parallel to a plane that passes through the arm tip and the base end of the upper arm member. A front wheel drive mechanism that is provided at a substantially intermediate position and is connected to an axle of a front wheel to drive the front wheel to rotate, and a rear arm portion of the upper arm member is curved downward and a tie rod is inserted to the upper side. A front wheel suspension device is configured by including a bending portion.

[Action]

In the present invention, the tie rod is inserted through the upper side of the lower curved portion of the rear arm portion of the upper arm member so that the occupying space of the arm member and the tie rod is overlapped, and the tie rod is bent and the link is The structure is simplified by eliminating the interposition, and the width of the arm member need not be narrowed.

Also, by bringing the connection point between the tie rod and the axle support member close to the connection point between the upper arm member and the axle support member, and by disposing the tie rod substantially parallel to the upper arm member,
When the front wheels make a stroke when riding over bumps, and each arm member swings, the tie rod also swings similarly.
The toe interference, that is, the left / right swing of the front wheel and the steering wheel due to the stroke is reduced.

Furthermore, if the connection point between the tie rod and its axle support member is arranged below the lower arm, for example, the minimum ground clearance cannot be secured, and the rough land running performance will deteriorate, and if it is passed between the upper and lower arms, the front wheel drive mechanism There is a high possibility that it will interfere with the axle shaft, etc., and if you try to place it above the upper arm, the axle support member will not fit in the wheel and it will be difficult to downsize the structure, but as mentioned above, it will be By passing the provided curved portion, it is possible to avoid an increase in size while avoiding various interferences.

As described above, in the present invention, by adopting the above-described configuration, the space occupied by each member is reduced, and the position of the curved portion is arbitrarily set, thereby providing a degree of freedom in the arrangement of the tie rod and the steering shaft. Further, it is possible to avoid interference with the front wheel drive mechanism and prevent the apparatus from becoming complicated, thereby achieving the above-mentioned object.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a four-wheel buggy vehicle 1 of the present embodiment is a four-wheel drive type vehicle to which the front wheel suspension system of the present invention is applied, and its body 10 has a pair of left and right wheels having so-called balloon tires at its front and rear portions. In addition to the front wheels 11 and the rear wheels 12 of the frame 20, a frame 20 formed by combining pipe materials is provided, and the front wheels 11 and the rear wheels 12 are driven and propelled by an engine 30 arranged substantially in the center of the frame 20. The steering wheel 40 is configured to steer the front wheels 11 to turn.

Here, a fuel tank 13 is provided in the upper part of the center of the vehicle body 10, a seat 14 is continuously provided at the rear end of the fuel tank 13, and a transmission mechanism is provided below the fuel tank 13. The engine 30 that integrally houses the engine is arranged, and the center differential 31 is connected to the output side thereof.

A swing arm type rear wheel suspension device 16 having a shock absorber 15 is provided on the rear side of the center differential 31, and the pair of left and right rear wheels 12 is supported at the tip of the rear wheel suspension device 16. The differential 31 is a rear-wheel propulsion shaft inserted through the arm of the rear-wheel suspension device 16 via a universal joint (not shown).
The driving force from the engine 30 can be transmitted to the rear wheel 12 via a rear wheel differential 33 that is connected to the rear wheel 32 and is disposed between the left and right rear wheels 12.

A conversion gear 35 for axial translation is connected to the front side of the center differential 31 via an intermediate propulsion shaft 34, and its output side is a front wheel drive mechanism via a front wheel propulsion shaft 36 located on the vehicle body centerline. It is connected to a front wheel differential 37. This front wheel differential 37 is installed on the left and right frame front pipes 21 of the frame 20.
The upper end is fixed to approximately the center of the cross member 22 that connects the two, and the lower end is fixed to the cross member 24 that connects the left and right frame lower pipes 23. The left and right front wheels 11 are swingably connected, and the driving force from the engine 30 can be transmitted to the front wheels 11.

On the other hand, the steering wheel 40 is provided at the front end of the fuel tank 13. The handle 40 has a substantially W-shaped handle bar 42 at the upper end of a steering shaft 41 rotatably supported by the head pipe 25 of the frame 20. The steering shaft 41 extends toward the front wheel diff 37, is rotatably supported by a steering holder 27 provided on the frame upper pipe 26 in the vicinity of the lower end, and
A steering center arm 43 is provided at the lower end protruding to the lower surface side of the steering holder 27, and one end of a tie rod 44 extending toward the left and right front wheels 11 is connected to the tip of the steering center arm 43.

Here, a left and right independent double wishbon type front wheel suspension device 50 that supports the front wheels 11 is provided in the front part of the vehicle body 20, and the front wheel suspension device 50 is a pair of vertically arranged parallel to each other on both sides of the frame 20. The upper arm member 51 and the lower arm member 52 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper arm member 51 includes two arm portions 53 and 54 made of a pipe material, and their tips 53A and 54A are connected to the tip member 55 to be integrated with each other. Edge 53B,
54B are separated from each other and are formed in a substantially V shape, and the middle of these arm portions 53, 54 are connected by a reinforcing member 56 to form a so-called A arm. Here, a curved portion 54C that is curved downward is formed in an intermediate portion of the arm portion 54, the reinforcing member 56 is inclined so that the arm portion 54 side is lowered, and a shock absorber connection is provided to the tip end member 55. Bracket for
55A is provided.

On the other hand, the lower arm member 52, as shown in FIG.
The upper arm member 51 is provided with 53 and 54, and is configured as an A-arm that is substantially similar to the upper arm member 51, but the middle portion of the arm portion 54 is not curved, and has a curved portion 54C or a linear shape. It is configured by including the tip member 55 without the bracket 55A.

Returning to FIG. 1, the upper arm member 51 has a base end 53B on the front side of the vehicle body 10 and a rear base end 54B of the vehicle body 10, respectively.
Is swingably supported on the same axis by the frame front pipe 21 and the frame cushion pipe 28 on the side surface, and when the upper arm member 51 swings, the tip end member 55 is substantially tilted rearward, It is configured to be movable in the vertical direction. Further, the base end 53B and the base end 54B of the lower arm member 52 are swingably supported on the frame lower pipe 23 at the lower end of the side surface of the frame 20 on the same axis,
The swing axis is parallel to the swing axis of the upper arm member 51. Here, the tip members 55 of the upper arm member 51 and the lower arm member 52 are connected by a knuckle 57 that is an axle support member.

As shown in FIG. 4, the knuckle 57 pivotally supports the axle 11A of the front wheel 11 by a bearing 57A provided substantially at the center, and the tip end of the axle shaft 38 is connected to the inner end of the axle 11A. The front wheel 11 is rotationally driven by the driving force from the front wheel differential 37.

Further, the knuckle 57 is an end member provided at the upper end and the lower end.
57B and 57C are rotatably connected to the tip members 55 of the upper arm member 51 and the lower arm member 52, respectively.

Here, the end members 57B and 57C are rotatable with respect to the main body of the knuckle 57, and the upper arm member 51, the lower arm member 52 and the knuckle 57 are configured as parallel links, and the direction of the knuckle 57 is changed. The knuckle 57 can be moved up and down without changing.

Further, a lower end of a shock absorber 58 having an upper end fixed to the frame 11 is attached to the bracket 55A of the upper arm member 51, and the shock absorber 58 regulates the swing of the upper arm member 51 to prevent the front wheel 22 from the ground surface. Is configured to absorb the shock applied to the front wheel 11 and the knuckle 57 due to the shock.

Further, the knuckle 57 is provided with a knuckle arm 57D protruding toward the rear of the vehicle body 10. Here, the tie rods 44 from the steering center arm 43 are the tip ends 53A, 54A and the base ends of the arm portions 53, 54 of the upper arm member 51.
It is arranged so as to be substantially contained in a virtual plane including 53B, 54B, is in a state substantially parallel to the upper and lower arm members 51, 52, and can swing in a parallel link type according to the swing of these.
Further, the tie rod 44 is provided with the curved portion 54C of the upper arm member 51.
The tip of the knuckle arm 57D is linearly inserted into the recess of the knuckle arm 57D, and the knuckle 57 is rotated by the handle 40 to change the direction of the front wheel 11.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the engine 30
Drive force is transmitted to the front wheels 11 and the rear wheels 12 to drive by four-wheel drive, and the steering wheels 40 steer the front wheels 11.

Here, the front wheel suspension device 50 includes a front wheel 11 that is rotatably supported.
The driving force from the engine 30 is transmitted to the axle 11A of the axle shaft 38 to rotate the front wheels 11, and
Rotate the steering shaft 41 by turning the steering center arm
It is transmitted to the knuckle 57 via the 43, the tie rod 44 and the knuckle arm 57D, and changes the direction of the front wheel 11 to perform steering.

Further, the front wheel suspension device 50 restricts the front wheel 11 to a predetermined position by a parallel link composed of the upper arm member 51, the lower arm member 52, and the knuckle 57, and swings in a substantially vertical direction according to the unevenness of the ground contact surface. The shock from the ground contact surface is absorbed by the shock absorber 58, and the swing of the front wheel 11 is damped.

According to the present embodiment as described above, the tie rod 44 from the steering center arm 43 is linearly inserted into the recess of the curved portion 54C of the upper arm member 51, and the tip thereof is connected to the knuckle arm 57D. , Steering shaft 4
1 or the tie rods 44 and the like and the upper arm member 51 can be overlapped with each other to provide a space allowance and increase the degree of freedom of arrangement, and increase in size due to interference with the steering shaft 41 or the like. Without doing so, the front wheel differential 37 can be arranged to drive the four-wheel buggy vehicle 1 into four-wheel drive without difficulty.

Further, since the tie rod 44 is linearly arranged, and the steering center arm 43 and the knuckle arm 57D do not need to be connected to each other through a complicated link or the like, and the degree of freedom of arrangement is high, the knuckle arm 57D is optimally positioned. The steering rigidity can be increased and
Since the structure can be simplified, the manufacturing is easy and the cost and weight can be reduced.

Further, since the upper arm member 51 is formed with the curved portion 54A and the tie rod 44 is disposed above the curved portion 54A, it is not necessary to pass the tie rod 44 between the upper and lower arm members 51, 52.
The installation work can be facilitated, and the tie rod 44 connected to the steering shaft 41 extending upward can be shortened to further simplify the tie rod.

Further, the bending portion 54A that is bent downward is provided with the upper arm member 51.
The upper arm member 51 is formed by forming the arm portion 54 on the rear side of the
However, since the arm portion 54 on the rear side is usually formed lower than the arm portion 53 on the front side, the curved portion 54A can be formed at a lower position, and the tie rod 44 passing therethrough can be crossed with a further margin.

Then, the tie rod 44 and the upper arm member 51 are connected to the bending portion 54.
Since it is crossed at C, the base end portions 53B, 54B of the upper arm member 51
Can be widened, the rigidity of the upper arm member 51 can be increased to improve the positional accuracy or operation characteristics of the front wheels 11, and the motion performance of the four-wheel buggy vehicle 1 can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
The following modifications are also included.

That is, in the above embodiment, the curved portion 54C is provided in the middle of the arm portion 54 of the upper arm member 51, but this may be formed deviated to either the tip end 54A or the base end 54B. 41 steering center arm 43
According to the positional relationship between the knuckle arm 57D and the knuckle arm 57D, a curved portion 54C curved downward is formed at an arbitrary position of the rear arm portion 54 of the upper arm member 51, and the steering center arm 43 and the knuckle portion 54C are formed in the curved portion 54C. This means that the tie rods 44 connecting the arms 57D are inserted and crossed.

Further, the shape of the upper arm member 51 or the lower arm member 52 is not limited to the substantially A-shape having the reinforcing member 56, but the reinforcing member 56
Alternatively, the arm portions 53, 54 may be round pipes, square pipes, or square members having a substantially L-shaped cross section or a substantially U-shaped cross section.

Further, the vehicle to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the four-wheel drive type four-wheel buggy vehicle 1 in the above embodiment, but may be a front-wheel drive type four-wheel buggy vehicle. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to take a large stroke of the front wheels 11, and it is possible to obtain excellent effects by applying it to a four-wheel drive or front wheel drive type vehicle equipped with a front wheel drive mechanism such as the front wheel differential 37. is there.

[Effect of device]

As described above, in the front wheel suspension system of the present invention, the connection point between the tie rod and the axle support member is made close to the connection point between the upper arm member and the axle support member in the height direction. And arranging the tie rods substantially parallel to a plane passing through the arm tip and the base of the upper arm member, and bending the rear arm of the upper arm member downward to form a curved portion, By inserting the tie rod through the upper side of the curved portion, the tie rod passing through the curved portion is arranged substantially parallel to and in the substantially same plane as the upper arm, and the tie rod is similar to the upper arm even when the front wheel strokes due to road surface irregularities or the like. It shows a swinging behavior, and it is possible to reduce the left and right swings of the wheels and the handle due to the difference in the stroke paths, that is, the toe interference.

In addition, if the connection point between the tie rod and its axle support member is arranged below the lower arm, for example, the minimum ground clearance cannot be secured, and the rough land running performance will deteriorate, and if it is passed between the upper and lower arms, the front wheel drive mechanism There is a high possibility that it will interfere with the axle shaft, etc., and if it is attempted to place it above the upper arm, the axle support member will not fit inside the wheel, making it difficult to downsize the structure. By inserting the tie rod on the upper side of the curved portion formed on the arm portion, it is possible to avoid an increase in the size of the mechanical structure while avoiding the various kinds of interference described above.

With these, the structure of the front wheel suspension part of the four-wheel buggy can be simplified, and it is possible to reduce the size and weight, and
It is possible to reduce the space occupied by the constituent members, increase the degree of freedom of arrangement, and facilitate the layout of the vehicle body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views showing the essential parts of the embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a side view showing the main part of the above embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional example. 1 …… four-wheel buggy, 10 …… hull, 11 …… front wheel, 37 ……
Front wheel differential, which is a front wheel drive mechanism, 41 ... Steering shaft,
44 …… Tie rod, 50 …… Front wheel suspension device, 51 …… Upper arm member, 52 …… Lower arm member, 53,54 …… Arm part, 53
A, 54A ... tip, 53B, 54B ... base end, 54C ... curved part that is a curved part, 57 ... knuckle that is an axle support member.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Koichi Haneda Koichi Haneda, 1-4-1, Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama Inside Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-60378 (JP, A) JP-A-53-43326 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A front wheel suspension device for supporting the front wheels of a four-wheel buggy vehicle, wherein the base ends of two arms whose ends are integrally fixed are separated from each other and are formed in a substantially V shape. An upper arm member, the base ends of which are swingably supported by the vehicle body side surface and the tip ends of which are movable up and down, and an upper arm member that is formed in substantially the same manner as the upper arm member and is formed on the vehicle body side surface below the upper arm member. A lower arm member that is disposed substantially in parallel and is swingably supported, and a front wheel of the front wheel that is rotatably supported about an axis in a substantially vertical direction between the respective tip ends of the upper arm member and the lower arm member. An axle support member that rotatably supports the axle,
A tie rod having one end connected to the axle support member and the other end connected to a steering shaft substantially in the center of the vehicle body to rotate the axle support member; and a connection point between the tie rod and the axle support member is the upper side. The tie rods are arranged in a height direction close to a connection point between the arm member and the axle support member, and the tie rods are arranged substantially parallel to a surface passing through a tip end portion and a base end portion of the upper arm member, A front wheel drive mechanism that is provided at a substantially intermediate position of the front wheel and that is connected to an axle of the front wheel to drive the front wheel to rotate, and a tie rod that is formed by curving the rear arm portion of the upper arm member downward and is upward. A front wheel suspension device characterized in that the front wheel suspension device is configured to include a bending portion that is inserted.