JPH0794228B2 - Steering device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering device used for automobiles, wheelchairs and the like, and more particularly to a steering device that suppresses running resistance regardless of vehicle speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent trend toward energy saving, reduction in fuel consumption of automobiles has been promoted. The most advanced fuel-efficient cars can be said to be so-called fuel-efficient race cars competing for fuel efficiency, and it is not uncommon at present that the mileage per liter reaches several hundred kilometers.

A fuel-efficient race car has two front wheels and one rear wheel.
There are many three wheels, and each wheel is equipped with a high-pressure bicycle tire with a small ground contact area and low running resistance. The steering is performed by steering the front two wheels.

[0004]

However, since the tire of a bicycle originally produces a turning force by leaning, not by steering, when turning by steering, running resistance increases and fuel consumption is adversely affected. . Nonetheless, steer is used because lean can't make a tight turn at low speeds. In other words, the traveling resistance at the time of high-speed turning is sacrificed in order to make a low-speed turn. Therefore, fuel efficiency is inevitably deteriorated when turning at high speed.

The present invention was devised in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steering device which can make a small turn at low speed and has a small running resistance at high speed turning.

[0006]

Steering apparatus according to the present invention SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION comprises a pair of steering wheels of a tire to produce a swirling force by the lean is mounted, respectively Da <br/> Bull a pair of steerable wheels on both sides of the vehicle body Supporting mechanism on both sides that can be freely steered by a wishbone, and attached to the vehicle body in two directions relative to the vehicle body
An operable handle and a rod mounted between the support mechanisms on both sides so as to be movable in the axial direction are elastically held at the neutral position, and the handle is operated in the first direction.
Moves in the axial direction from the neutral position is operated by, the axial movement from the neutral position of the rod, on both sides of the support mechanism
The corresponding arms of the double wishbones respectively provided are rotated in the same direction to lean the steering wheels on both sides to the same side, and the steering mechanism is installed between the first steering mechanism and the support mechanisms on both sides . It is characterized by comprising a second steering mechanism which operates by operating in two directions and steers the steered wheels on both sides in the same direction.

[0007]

[ Operation ] At low speed, the handle is operated in the second direction to the second position.
By steering the steering wheels on both sides by the steering mechanism, a small turn can be made without any trouble. At high speed, turn the handle to the 1st
When the steering wheel is operated in the opposite direction to lean the steered wheels on both sides by the first steering mechanism, the turning operation is performed without steering. You can also tilt the car body to
Lean steering wheel supported by bullwishbone
Therefore, the turning operation is possible. A large turn at low speed,
You can do these lean. In either case,
The handle can be operated in the first direction while leaning.
With, the lean angle is finely adjusted to the optimum angle. In addition, an auxiliary steering operation can be added if necessary. Since the rod of the first steering mechanism is elastically held at the neutral position, even if the steering wheel is leaned, if the force is removed, the steering wheel rises to its original state and remains tilted like a bicycle wheel. Never be.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a rear view of a steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the steering device, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a leaning turning operation.

A drive wheel 20 is provided at the center of the rear part of the vehicle body 10, and a pair of steering wheels 30 is provided on both sides of the front part. The vehicle body 10 swings to both sides around the ground contact point of the drive wheel 20. The steering wheel 30 is mounted with, for example, a bicycle tire 31 that generates a turning force by leaning, and the support shaft 3
2 is attached to the vehicle body 10 via a double wishbone type support mechanism 40.

The upper arm 41 of the support mechanism 40 is rotatably cantilevered by a support shaft 42 provided at the tip of the lateral beam 11 of the vehicle body 10. To rotate the upper arm 41, a triangular frame 43 in a front view is fixed to the lower surface thereof, and a support shaft 44 is attached to the top thereof.

The lower arm 45 is the upper arm 41.
Is isometric and parallel to. The lower arm 45 has a triangular shape in a plan view, and its base portion is also rotatably coupled to the support shafts 46, 46 attached to the vehicle body 10 by the brackets 12, 12. A kingpin 48 is rotatably attached to the upper part of a connecting arm 47 mounted between the respective tip portions of the upper arm 41 and the lower arm 45, and the kingpin 48 supports the support shaft 3 of the steering wheel 30.
2 is stuck.

The steering wheel 30 supported by the support mechanism 40 is
It is leaned by the first steering mechanism 50 and steered by the second steering mechanism 60. The operation system 70 shared between the steering mechanisms 50 and 60 can lean and steer independently.

The first steering mechanism 50 for leaning the steered wheels 30 has two horizontal rods 51 and 52 mounted between the support mechanisms 40 on both sides. One rod 51 connects one ends of the support shafts 44 on both sides. The central portion of the rod 51 is a threaded portion, and nuts 53, 53 are screwed into both ends thereof. Then, the spring 5 interposed between the nuts 53, 53 in a compressed state.
The rods 51 and 54 are elastically held in a neutral position in the center of the vehicle body.

The other rod 52 connects the other ends of the support shafts 44 on both sides. At the other end of the support shaft 44,
One end of the operation rod 55 is pivotally attached, and the other end is connected to the operation system 70.

The operating system 70 is a horizontal bar-shaped handle 7.
Has 1. The handle 71 has its center supported by a pair of upper and lower bearings 72, 72 and rotates about a vertical axis. The bearings 72, 72 are attached to the tips of horizontal support fittings 73. The support metal fitting 73 is attached to the vehicle body 10 by a mounting metal fitting 74.
It is rotatably supported by a horizontal axis. Therefore, the handle 71 also rotates around the horizontal axis around the center.

At the center of the handle 71, a first lever 75 protruding horizontally and a second lever 76 protruding downward are fixed. The other end of the operation rod 55 is pivotally attached to the tip of the first lever 75. Therefore,
When the handle 71 is rotated about the vertical axis, the operation rod 55 moves in the axial direction, and the upper arm 41 rotates about the base. The second lever 76 is connected to the second steering mechanism 60 that steers the steered wheels 30.

The second steering mechanism 60 is a known Ackermann mechanism for operating a knuckle arm 49 protruding horizontally from the kingpin 48, and has a lever 61 for operating the knuckle arm 49. The upper end of the lever 61 has a support shaft 42 that supports the base of the upper arm 41.
Is rotatably supported. A base end portion of a rod 62 is pivotally attached to a lower end portion of the lever 61, and a tip end portion thereof is connected to a knuckle arm 49. Lever 61
The lower end of the control lever 70 and the lower end of the second lever 76 of the operating system 70 are interconnected by the operating rod 63. Therefore, when the handle 71 is rotated around the horizontal axis,
The operation rod 63 moves in the axial direction, and the movement is transmitted to the kingpin 48 via the operation rod 63, the lever 61, the rod 62, and the knuckle arm 49. The rod 62 has the same length as the upper arm 41 and the lower arm 45 so as not to affect the lean and the steer.

Next, the turning operation by the above steering device will be described.

Turning at high speed or large turn at low speed,
Do it lean. When making a right turn by lean, the handle 71 of the operation system 70 is rotated in the horizontal direction indicated by A. As a result, the operation rod 55 of the first steering mechanism 50 axially moves in the B direction. As a result, the upper arm 41 of the left support mechanism 40 rotates in the C direction (downward), and the left steered wheel 30 moves in the D direction (downward).
At the same time, the rod 51 moves in the E direction from the neutral position while compressing the right spring 54, and the rod 52
Also by moving in the same direction, the upper arm of the right support mechanism rotates upward, and the right steered wheel moves upward.

Thus, the vehicle body 10 and the left and right steered wheels 3
As shown in FIG. 3, 0 and 30 are tilted to the right centering on a point O on the ground directly below the center line of the vehicle body, and lean and turn to the right.

After turning, the force applied to the handle 71 is weakened. As a result, the rod 51 returns to a position where the forces of the springs 54, 54 are balanced, that is, the neutral position, and the vehicle body 10 and the left and right steered wheels 30, 30 are in an upright state.

The above is the lean turning by operating the steering wheel. This is effective for a car such as a race car of a fuel consumption race that has a low vehicle height and is difficult to lean. However, for a car that can easily lean the vehicle body 10 by moving the center of gravity of the driver, the vehicle body can be moved by moving the center of gravity. Leaning 10 allows the vehicle to turn. That is, the vehicle body 10
The left and right steered wheels 30,
30 leans in the same direction. At this time, the handle 71 also naturally rotates in the turning direction. By handle operation
While leaning while leaning or leaning due to leaning
By operating the handle 71 in the horizontal direction, the steering wheels 30, 30
The lean angle is finely adjusted to the optimum angle.

A small turn at low speed is performed by steering.
When making a right turn by steering, the handle 71 is rotated around the horizontal axis in the a direction. As a result, the second lever 76 rotates in the b direction, and the operating rod 63 axially moves in the c direction. As a result, the lever 61 rotates in the d direction and the rod 62 moves in the e direction, whereby the steered wheels 30 rotate rightward about the kingpin 48. The turning by the steering is performed independently of the lean turning. Therefore, the steered wheels 30 and 30 are not steered when leaning, and a steer operation can be intentionally added if necessary.

In the above embodiment, the two steering mechanisms 5 are used.
Although 0 and 60 are configured to be operated by a single operating system 70, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, one may be an electrical type and the other may be a mechanical type that is operated by different operating systems. The steering mechanism 50, that is, the operation system for the lean steering mechanism may be eliminated and the steering wheels 30, 30 may be leaned only when the vehicle body 10 is lean.

[0025]

As described above, the steering device according to the present invention can be operated independently by operating the steering wheel in two directions.
The two steering mechanisms that are operated independently perform lean turning and steered turning, so that the fuel economy race
It is difficult to tilt the car body when moving the center of gravity like a scare
With respect to the vehicle body as well, lean turning can reduce running resistance at the time of high-speed turning, and can make small turns at low speed without trouble. As a result, even in the case of an automobile having any structure, it is possible to carry out steering smoothly using the characteristics of tires as in a motorcycle, and to reduce fuel consumption.
Moreover, unlike a motorcycle, it has a lean restoring mechanism and allows fine adjustment of the lean angle by operating the steering wheel.
As it is possible, it enables safe and delicate turning operation. Therefore, not only automobiles, for example, Ru effective der even wheelchair steering system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the steering device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a leaning turning operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 vehicle body 20 drive wheel 30 steering wheel 31 tire 40 support mechanism 41 upper arm 45 lower arm 48 kingpin 49 knuckle arm 50 first steering mechanism 51, 52 rod 54 spring 60 second steering mechanism 61 lever 70 operation system 71 handle

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of steered wheels to which tires that generate a turning force due to lean are mounted, and a pair of steered wheels are provided on both sides of a vehicle body.
And both sides of the support mechanism for steering rotatably supported by a double wishbone respectively, with respect to the vehicle body is attached to the vehicle body
A handle that can be operated in two directions and a rod that is mounted between the support mechanisms on both sides so as to be movable in the axial direction. The rod is elastically held in a neutral position, and the first handle
Moves in the axial direction from the neutral position by operating in the direction operation
And, by the axial movement from the neutral position of the rod, on both sides
Is installed between the first steering mechanism that leans the steered wheels on both sides to the same side by rotating the corresponding arms of the double wishbones provided in each of the support mechanisms in the same direction, and the support mechanisms on both sides. By operating the handle in the second direction
And a second steering mechanism that operates to steer both wheels in the same direction.