JPH0930405A - Hose protector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hose protector suitable for protecting a brake hose for vehicle, which can protect a hose and which can eliminate the icing over the whole area of a hose protecting range. SOLUTION: A hose protector 10 is formed of two cylindrical bodies 22 to be fixed to a brake hose 12 and a rotor 24. The rotor 24 is supported by cylindrical bodies 22 freely to be rotated at annular parts 24 in both ends thereof. When the hose protector 10 interferes with a neighboring body, the rotor 24 is rotated around the brake hose 12. The brake hose 12 is thereby protected by the rotor 24, and while icing is eliminated by the rotation of the rotor 24.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hose protector, and more particularly to a hose protector suitable for protecting vehicle brake hoses and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art One end of a vehicle brake hose is connected to a wheel brake portion, and therefore it must be routed inside a tire house. In this case, the space inside the tire house is small, and the brake hose may interfere with surrounding parts inside the tire house due to vibrations or the like when the vehicle is running.

For this reason, conventionally, the brake hose has been protected by a protector made of sponge or rubber. As a hose protector for the purpose of protecting the hose, for example, the hose protector disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-76296 is conventionally known. The conventional hose protector includes a tubular body fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the hose, and a resin ring rotatably mounted around the tubular body. When the hose protector having such a configuration is attached to the hose, it is possible to prevent direct interference between the periphery of the portion of the hose where the hose protector is attached and the surrounding parts. Moreover, when a plurality of hose protectors are attached to the hose at appropriate intervals, a predetermined range of the hose can be protected.

[0004]

By the way, when a vehicle travels in a cold region, icing may occur on an exposed portion such as a brake hose. If icing occurs on the brake hose, the maximum steering angle of the wheels may be limited due to the interference between the icing and the wheels, so it is desirable to remove the icing quickly. When the conventional hose protector is mounted on a vehicle brake hose, ice on the hose protector can be easily removed because the ring can rotate. However, since the above-mentioned conventional hose protectors are mounted at intervals within the protection range of the hose, icing cannot be removed between the individual hose protectors. In this sense, the above-mentioned conventional hose protector is not necessarily an ideal structure as a mechanism for preventing or removing the icing on the brake hose.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hose protector capable of protecting a brake hose and removing ice accretion in the entire protection range of the hose protector. To do.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above object is to provide a hose protector having a tubular body fixed to the outer periphery of a hose, and at least two tubular bodies and a rotary body rotatably installed between the tubular bodies. This is achieved by a hose protector consisting of and.

In the present invention, the rotating body is rotatably supported by the cylindrical body, and is arranged on the outer peripheral portion between the cylindrical body mounting portions of the hose. As a result, the rotating body protects the hose between the cylinder mounting parts from interference with the outside. Further, when an external force acts on the rotating body due to the interference between the rotating body and the outside, the rotating body rotates around the space between the cylindrical body mounting portions of the hose by the circumferential component of the external force. The ice on the hose is scraped off by the rotation of the rotating body. In addition, the icing on the surface of the rotating body is dropped by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the rotating body.

[0008]

1 shows the structure of a brake hose 12 to which a hose protector 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted. The brake hose 12 is a flexible hose made of rubber or synthetic resin reinforced with fibers, wires, etc., and sockets 11 are attached to both ends. The hose protector 10 is attached to an intermediate portion of the brake hose 12.

FIG. 2 shows a structural diagram of the hose protector 10. In FIG. 2, the hose protector 10 is composed of two cylindrical bodies 22 and a rotating body 24. The tubular body 22 is a rubber-made cylindrical member, and an annular groove 26 is provided on the outer peripheral portion thereof. The inner diameter of the cylindrical body 22 is provided to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the brake hose 12, and by fitting the inner peripheral portion of the cylindrical body 22 to the brake hose 12,
The tubular body 22 is fixed to the brake hose 12.

The rotating body 24 is a resin member in which both ends of three rod-shaped members 24b are fixed to the peripheral portion of the annular portion 24a. The annular portion 24a of the rotating body 24 is the annular groove 2 of the cylindrical body 22.
The rotary body 24 is rotatably supported with respect to the tubular body 22 by being inserted into the cylindrical body 22. The inner diameter of the annular portion 24a is provided so as to be larger than the diameter of the bottom surface of the annular groove 26 of the cylindrical body 22 and smaller than the outer diameters of the projecting edges on both sides of the annular groove 26. Therefore, the rotating body 24 can rotate without being disengaged from the annular groove 26 of the cylindrical body 22. Further, since the tubular body 22 is a rubber member, when the hose protector 10 is assembled, the tubular member 22 can be elastically deformed so that the annular member 24a of the rotating body 24 can be fitted into the tubular body 22.

According to this structure, the brake hose 12
In the outer peripheral portion between the mounting portions of the two cylindrical bodies 22 of
4 are arranged. Therefore, the brake hose is prevented from interfering with the outside between the mounting portions of the tubular body 22. In other words, the area between the mounting portions of the tubular body 22 is the protection range of the hose protector 10. When the rotating body 24 interferes with the outside, an external force acts on the rotating body 24 of the hose protector 10, and the rotating body 24 rotates around the brake hose 12 due to the circumferential component.

FIG. 3 shows a hose protector 10 of this embodiment.
An example is shown in which the brake hose 12 provided with is arranged in the tire house of the right front wheel portion. In FIG. 3, the brake mechanism 1
6 is attached to a support member 20 fixed to the center of the wheel 13. The support member 20 is connected to the rack bar via a tie rod (not shown), and can move in the left-right steering direction according to the steering operation. The shock absorber 18 has an upper end fixed to the vehicle body 17, and a lower end connected to the wheel 13 via a joint 21. One end of the brake hose 12 is attached to the brake 16 via the socket 11, the other end is connected to the pipe 19, and is fixed to the vehicle body 17 by the attachment member 15. Further, the brake hose 12 is fixed to the shock absorber 18 by the intermediate holder 14. The brake hose 12 is routed in a U-shape between a mounting portion on the shock absorber 18 and a mounting portion on the vehicle body 17. The hose protector 10 is a portion of the brake hose 12 that is routed in a U shape (hereinafter,
It is attached to the lowermost part of the U-shaped part) 12a.

According to this structure, the traveling vibration caused by the unevenness of the road surface when the vehicle is traveling is absorbed by the vertical movement of the wheel 13. At this time, the shock absorber 18 expands and contracts to absorb the vibration, and the intermediate holding tool 14 moves up and down along with the movement. When the steering wheel is steered, the wheel 13 rotates about the vertical axis, and the shock absorber 18 also rotates about the axis along with the rotation. At this time, the intermediate holding tool 14 rotates about the axis of the shock absorber 18. As described above, when the vehicle is running, the intermediate holder 14 has the frame 17
A vertical movement relative to and a rotational movement about the axis occur. In this case, both ends of the U-shaped portion 12a of the brake hose 12 are relatively moved, and the U-shaped portion 12a is deformed / moved. In particular, when the shock absorber 18 is rotated by the steering operation and the intermediate holding tool 14 for attaching the brake hose 12 to the shock absorber 18 is close to the frame 17, the vertical movement of the wheel 13 causes the U of the brake hose 12 to move. The lower end of the character portion 12a and the protruding portion 17a of the frame 17 may interfere with each other.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the hose protector 10 is attached to the lower end of the U-shaped portion 12a. Therefore, the brake hose 12 is prevented from interfering with the lower end of the U-shaped portion 12a and the protruding portion 17a of the frame 17.
Will be properly protected.

By the way, when a vehicle travels in a cold region at the time of snow melting, etc., it travels on a road surface wet by snow melting,
Water droplets adhere to the exposed parts inside the tire house due to the splashing of water by the tires. In particular, since a large amount of water droplets adhere to the U-shaped portion 12a gather at the lowermost portion of the U-shaped portion 12a of the brake hose 12, a large amount of water droplets easily adhere. When the vehicle travels in a state where water droplets are attached to the brake hose 12, the water droplets attached are frozen due to the cooling effect of the traveling wind or the like to become iced. Especially, since a large amount of water droplets are attached to the lowermost part of the U-shaped portion 12a, large icing may be formed. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Since the hose protector 10 is attached to the lowermost part of the U-shaped portion 12a, icing is likely to occur around the hose protector 10.

Such icing on the brake hose 12 may cause a limitation of the maximum steering angle of the wheel due to the interference between the icing and the wheel and the like, and therefore it must be removed promptly. On the other hand, according to the hose protector 10 of the present embodiment, when the hose protector 10 and the vehicle body 17 interfere with each other, the rotator 24 rotates when the hose protector 10 and the vehicle body 17 interfere with icing of the brake hose 12 between the mounting portions of the tubular body 22. As a result, the rod-shaped member 24b
Is scraped off. At this time, a centrifugal force due to the rotary motion acts on the surface of the rotator 24, and a force in the falling direction acts on the icing.

Further, since the brake hose 12 has flexibility, when the brake hose 12 is in motion, the two cylinders 22 attached to different parts of the brake hose 12 are provided.
There are movements relative to each other. Therefore, a complicated motion occurs in the rotary body 24 whose both ends are supported by the cylindrical body 22. The icing adhering to the hose protector 10 is also dropped by this movement. Therefore, according to the hose protector 10, icing can be removed in the entire protection range of the brake hose 12.

Further, since the cylinder bodies 22 mounted on the brake hose 12 are separated from each other, the brake hose 1
It does not increase the flexural rigidity of the brake hose 2, and therefore does not restrict the freedom of movement of the brake hose 12. As a method of removing the ice accretion on the brake hose, a method of mounting a coil spring between the cylinders and expanding and contracting the brake hose of the coil spring can be considered. However, water droplets tend to adhere to the surface of the coil spring, and if the water droplet freezes, icing will occur between the strips of the coil spring. In this case, when the coil spring is deformed in the compression direction, the ice accretion on the space between the coil springs receives a compression force. For this reason, there is a problem that the ice accretion between the lines is fused and the growth of the ice accretion is promoted, and the icy ice accretion is solidified and is unlikely to drop off. On the other hand, in the hose protector according to the present embodiment, a circumferential force acts on the brake hose 12 from the rotor 24, and a centrifugal force acts on the surface of the rotor 24. However, the ice accretion is not subject to compressive forces in either case. Therefore, as described above, the growth of icing is promoted,
Alternatively, there is no problem that the ice accretion becomes difficult to drop off.

Further, in the method of removing the icing by the coil spring, it is necessary to make the length of the coil spring sufficiently long in order to cause the coil spring to be deformed enough to remove the icing. For this reason, the space required for mounting the coil spring becomes large,
There is a problem that it is difficult to handle the brake hose in a narrow tire house. On the other hand, the hose protector according to the present embodiment can exhibit a predetermined function if it is attached only to the portion where the icing should be prevented. Therefore, the space required for installation is minimal, and there are no problems in handling in the tire house.

In the above embodiment, the brake hose 12 corresponds to the hose described above.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the rotating body of the hose protector is arranged on the outer peripheral portion between the cylindrical body mounting portions of the hose, the hose can be protected from interference with surrounding parts. . In addition, the rotation of the rotating body caused by the interference between the hose protector and the surrounding parts can eliminate the icing of the hose between the cylindrical body mounting portions. Further, it is possible to remove the icing on the surface of the hose protector by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the rotating body. Therefore, icing can be removed in the entire protection range of the hose by the hose protector.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a brake hose to which a hose protector according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a hose protector of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which a brake hose to which the hose protector of the present embodiment is attached is arranged in the tire house of the right front wheel portion.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing icing on the hose protector of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Hose protector 12 Brake hose 22 Cylindrical body 24 Rotating body

Front page continuation (72) Keiichi Kodama Inventor Keiichi Kodama, Kasuga-cho, Aichi Pref. 1 Nagachihata Ochiai, Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Fumio Ikeda, Kasuga-cho, Aichi Pref. In the company

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hose protector having a tubular body fixed to the outer circumference of the hose, comprising at least two tubular bodies and a rotary body rotatably installed between the tubular bodies. Protector.