JPS58118459A - Small vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To protect suspensions or the like from an obstacle in a small vehicle comprising three or four wheels, by forming a cut part between a pair of lateral wheels to a front bottom edge or the like of a car body and providing a removable protector plate extensibly placed to the bottom from said cut part. CONSTITUTION:A small vehicle comprises two steered front wheels 10 and two rear wheels 12, and openings 16 are formed in both lateral sides of a car body 14. Then, for instance, the wheel 10 is vertically movably connected to a frame 15 protrusively provided to the bottomed side of the body 14 by a lower arm 24 and upper arm 26, further a cushion unit 30 is interposed between the arm 26 and the bottom side of the body 14. In the above, a cut part 48 is formed, for instance, between lateral mudguards 44a, 44b in a front bottom edge of the body 14, further a protector plate 52 is mounted to the bottom side of the body 14 so as to be extensibly placed to the bottom from the part 48. Then the front of suspensions 28 of the wheels 10 and a steering device 32 is covered by the plate 52 and protected from an obstacle or the like on a road.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a small vehicle C having two steering front wheels.

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of simple and compact vehicles that seat one or two people have been proposed, which are mainly used for short-distance urban transportation. This type of small vehicle with three or four wheels usually has a small body and a large driver's cabin (two small diameter wheels are used. Therefore, the suspension system and steering system that support the wheels are also low. Therefore, the links of these devices are easily hit by stones thrown up by wheels and obstacles on the road.Also, the distance between the car body and the road surface ( Road clearance) is also reduced, making it difficult to control and maintain the suspension and steering systems.Furthermore, if the suspension and steering systems are exposed below the car body, water may leak into them when washing the car. There was also a risk that the durability of the sliding parts would be reduced.

This invention was made in view of these circumstances,
To provide a small vehicle that protects a suspension system and a steering system from flying stones and obstacles on the road, that makes it easy to adjust and maintain these systems, and that prevents water from splashing on the steering system and suspension system when the car is washed. purpose.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention, in a small vehicle having three or four wheels, at least one of the front lower edge or the rear lower edge of the vehicle body is notched upward between a pair of left and right wheels, A removable protection plate extending downward from this notch is attached to the vehicle body. The present invention will be described in detail below based on the illustrated embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 11, Fig. 4 is a trowel surface view, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line v-■. It is a diagram.

In these figures, the code 10 (10a, 10b) is 2
12 (12a, 12b) are two steering front wheels,
14 is a vehicle body. Large openings 16 are formed on both left and right sides of the vehicle body 14, and a steering knob 2 is provided in the driver's cab 18.
0 and a driver seat 22 are provided.

Front wheel IO is lower arm 24 (24a, 24b)
The upper member 26 (26a, 26b) is vertically connected to the frame 15 protruding from the lower surface of the vehicle body 14, forming a so-called double wishbone type front wheel suspension 28. , 30 (30a
, 30b) is a cushion unit interposed between the lower arm 26 and the lower surface of the vehicle body 14. 32 in Figure 2
is a rack-and-pinion type steering device, in which the rotation of the handle 20 is converted to the left-right movement of a rack 36 via a gear box 34, and links (not shown) connected to both ends of the rack 36 by ball joints are used. ) through both front wheels 1
0 is swung left and right.

The rear wheel 12 has a pair of left and right trailing arms 38 (38a
, 38b) L: The cushion unit 40 (40a) is attached to the vehicle body 14 in the L lower mOT function.

40 b) to elastically support the vehicle body. 42 is an engine unit, and this engine unit 42 swings with the vertical movement of one rear wheel 12b.

Mudguards 44 (44a, 44b) extending in front of the front wheels 10 and behind the rear wheels 12 are provided at the front and rear parts of the vehicle body 14.
) and 46 (46a, 46b) are attached, respectively. Left and right mudguards 44a.

44b and 46a, 46b, that is, the front lower edge and the rear lower edge of the vehicle body 14 are connected to the pair of left and right wheels 10a, 1
0b and between 12a and 12b, and the height of the upper edge of this notch 48.50 is higher than that of the wheel 10.1.
The diameter is approximately the same as that of 2.

52.54 is a protection plate attached to the lower surface of the vehicle body 14 so as to extend downward from the notch 48.50. The protection plate 52 protects the front wheel IO suspension system 28 and the steering system 3.
The protection &54 also covers the rear of the rear wheel 12 suspension system and the engine unit 42. These protective plates 5
The side edges 52A, 54A of the protective plate 52.54 are bent at a substantially right angle toward the center of the vehicle body 14, as shown in FIG. 3.5, to increase the rigidity of the protection plate 52.54. Protective plate 52゜54
is removably attached to the door (1) of the vehicle body 14 using known coupling means such as bolts and screws.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. Since the wheels 10, 12 used in this type of small vehicle have a small diameter, the distance between the suspension device 28 and steering device 32 of the front wheels 10 and the road surface (road clearance) is small, and the lower arm 24 in particular is close to the road surface. In addition, the suspension system N of the rear wheel 12 and the engine unit 4
2 is also close to the road surface. However, since protective plates 52 and 54 are respectively attached to the -1r side of the suspension system 28 and the steering system 32, as well as to the rear of the rear wheel suspension system and the engine unit 42, the wheels 10 and 12 are exposed during driving. Since the stones and obstacles to be lifted up are removed by the protection plates 52 and 54, these stones and obstacles do not directly hit the suspension system. In addition, when driving in the rain or washing the car (secondly, since water does not directly hit the suspension system, the durability of the sliding parts of each part will be improved.
When servicing or adjusting the steering system, engine, etc., use the protective plate 5.
2. Remove 54. In this case, there are notches 48.50 on the lower edges of the front and rear parts of the vehicle body.
Adjustments and maintenance can be easily performed by inserting tools and hands into the lower part of the car body from scratch.

In this embodiment, the cutout portions are 48° and 50° at the front and rear of the vehicle body 14.
Although the protective plates 52 and 54 are provided here, it is clear that the desired effect can be obtained even if the present invention is attached to either one. Moreover, this invention is also applicable to three-wheeled vehicles.

As described above, this invention has a notch in at least one of the front lower edge or the rear door edge of the vehicle body between a pair of left and right wheels, and a protective plate can be attached and removed by extending downward into the notch. The suspension system and steering system can be protected from stones and obstacles, and the durability of these sliding parts can be increased since they are less likely to be exposed to water. Furthermore, by removing the protection plate, maintenance and adjustment of the lower part of the vehicle body can be easily performed through the notch.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a front view, Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line T, Figure 4 is a rear view, and Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V. It is a diagram. 10...Front wheel, 12...Rear wheel, ]4...Vehicle body, 4
8.50...notch part, 52.54...protective plate. Patent Applicant Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Yama 1) Yu Fumi Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a small vehicle having three or four wheels, at least one of the front lower edge or rear lower edge of the vehicle body is cut upward between a pair of left and right wheels, and the taxable vehicle extends downward from the cutout. ]' A small vehicle characterized by having a protective plate attached to the vehicle body.