JPS6112312Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an equalizer tube mounting structure for a front fork that uses gas.

2. Description of the Related Art A telescopic front fork for a motorcycle is known, which consists of an axially sliding inner and outer cylinder and is equipped with a damping force generating mechanism. In such a front fork, a structure in which the fluid responsible for the buffering function is made of a gas such as high-pressure gas or air, or a combination of gas and liquid partially using gas has been proposed and put into practical use.

In such a front fork, the upper portions of the front forks are connected to each other by an equalizer tube in order to ensure gas storage capacity, balance the pressure within the left and right front fork members, and balance the buffering operation.

Conventionally, the tube end and front fork member are connected by drilling a radial mounting hole in the fork bolt that connects the upper end of the member to the top bridge, and attaching the tube end to this via a threaded joint member. However, it is troublesome in terms of assembly, such as adjusting the direction of the fork bolt to the joint pipe body.
In addition, it is complicated in terms of manufacturing, such as accuracy control due to the mating structure, and is disadvantageous in terms of cost.

This invention was devised to improve the above-mentioned inconveniences, and its purpose is to provide an automatic system that allows the pipe body to be assembled between the left and right members with a minimum number of parts, a simple method, and extremely easy assembly. The present invention provides an equalizer tube mounting structure for a front fork for a two-wheeled vehicle. In order to achieve this objective, the present invention provides a stepped portion on the upper part of the front fork, and a fork bolt inner is fitted from the upper part of the front fork,
A collar and a top bridge were fitted into the fork bolt inner in the axial direction, and the collar and top bridge were tightened and fixed between the step and the stepped portion using bolts or the like from above.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the front fork 10. The front fork 10 consists of left and right telescopic members 1 and 11, which are fitted into bottom cases 2 and 12 below each other so as to be slidable in the axial direction. It consists of fork pipes 3 and 13 above. The left and right members 1 and 11 of such a front fork are of a so-called air suspension type in which high pressure gas is filled in both sides, an air/liquid combination type in which a liquid such as hydraulic oil is filled in the lower part of both, and a high pressure gas in the upper part, or It is composed of a functionally separated type in which gas or liquid is sealed in one part, and gas or only gas is sealed in the other part, and high pressure gas is used at least in part, and the high pressure gas is at the top.

A front wheel 21 is located between the lower ends of the bottom cases 2 and 12.
A hub 22 is mounted and supported by an axle 23, and 24 in the figure
25 is a brake disc attached to one side of the hub 22, and 25 is a brake caliper attached to one side of the bottom case 12.

Upper and lower bridges 26 and 27 are installed between the fork pipes 3 and 13, and the intermediate and upper portions of the fork pipes are mounted and supported at both left and right ends of the bridges 26 and 27, and between the respective left and right intermediate portions. A steering stem 28 is installed vertically, and the circumference of the stem 28 is held by a head tube 29 fixed to the front end of the frame of the motorcycle. In addition, Top Bridge 26
In the embodiment, the brackets 30, 30 are extended to the left and right on the upper end of the fork pipe, and brackets 30, 30 are provided on the extended portions, to which the bases of the left and right handle pipes 31, 31 are fixed.

As is clear from FIGS. 2 and 3, an equalizer tube 32 is disposed below the top bridge 26, connecting the upper ends of the left and right bottom cases 3 and 13, and communicating and connecting the upper portions of the internal gas chambers. Ru. The tube body 32 is located directly below the top bridge 26, and as shown in FIG. 3, the top bridge 26 has a shallow V-shape with a central portion bulging forward, so it is bent into a flat V-shape, and the left and right portions 32a, 32a are The intermediate portion 32b is slightly spaced apart from the lower surface of the top bridge and is sandwiched between the small diameter stepped portion 28a at the upper end of the stem 28, which is bent upward into a reverse concave shape, and the lower surface of the top bridge. The left and right parts 32a, 32a face inside, and the left and right parts 32a, 32a are covered front and rear with covers 33, 33 attached to the left and right lower surfaces of the top bridge, and the top bridge 26 and the stem 28 are connected with a stem bolt 34. .

FIG. 4 shows a broken section of the joint between the tube body and the fork pipe.

The upper end of the fork pipe 3 has a hole 3 in the axial direction.
A fork bolt inner 35 having a vertically installed fork bolt 6 is screwed together, and the inner 35 is connected to a nut part 3a formed on the inner diameter of the upper end of the fork pipe 3 at the lower bolt part 35a.
Insert and screw together to connect. An annular flange part 35b having the same diameter as the outer diameter of the fork pipe 3 is provided in the middle part of the inner 35, and a lower half part 3 below the flange part 35b.
5d is fitted and screwed into the upper end of the fork pipe as described above, and the upper half 35c on the flange part 35b
has a slightly smaller diameter than the lower half 35d. inner 35
A part of the upper half 35c is provided with a radial through hole 37, and both ends 32 of the tube body 32 are provided around the upper half 35c.
c. 32c joined by welding or the like is inserted from above, and the collar 38 and the tube body 32 are prepared as an integrated unit in advance, and the collar 38 has a radial communication hole that communicates with the inside of the tube body 32. 39 is provided in a part, and the end of the tube body is fitted and joined to this, and the communicating holes 39 and 37 are aligned.

A nut portion 36a is attached to the lower half of the hole 36 of the inner 35.
The fork bolt outer 40 is inserted and screwed into the hole 36 including the nut part 36a from above, and when the outer 40 is screwed, the mounting hole 26a formed at the end of the top bridge 26 is inserted into the collar 38 of the inner 35.
The bolt outer body 40a is fitted into the inner hole 35 from above, and the bolt outer body 40a is fitted into the circumference of the part protruding from the top surface, and the bolt outer body 40a is inserted and screwed into the inner hole 35 from above, and the head 40b is used to connect the collar 38 and the surrounding area of the mounting hole 26a of the top bridge 26 to the fork pipe side. Fasten and attach.

The main body 40a of the fork bolt outer 40 is provided with an axial passage 41, which is connected to the fork pipe 3.
The middle part of the passage 41 is provided with a radially communicating passage 42, which is aligned with the aforementioned passage 37 of the inner 35. This allows room S
is connected to the tube body 32 via passages 41, 42, 37, 39.
The other fork pipe 13 is also configured in the same manner. In the drawing, 43... is a sealing member such as an O-ring interposed at each fitting part between the inner and outer parts and the collar, and a concave groove or the like in the circumferential direction is provided at the joint part of the passages 39 and 37, and 37 and 42 on one side. By providing these, the communication condition can be satisfied even if the respective alignments are deviated, and alignment becomes easy.

The figure shows the high pressure gas supply side, therefore the head 40
(b) An air valve 44 is installed in the center with a vertical screw, and the passage 41 is extended to the lower end of the air valve 44 to supply high pressure gas into the fork pipe, while the other side does not have this.

As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, one of the fork bolts divided into the fork pipe is screwed together, then the collars provided at both ends of the pipe body are fitted from above, the top bridge is fitted, and the fork bolt is screwed together. The equalizer tube body can be installed by screwing the other side together and overlapping them vertically, and by screwing them together. Moreover, it can be installed in the same process as the top bridge assembly process, making the work much easier. It is easy to stack, insert and screw together. or,
Since the collar 38 is provided with a circumferential groove, the collar 38
Even if the respective positions of the fork bolt inner 35 and the fork bolt inner 35 are misaligned, the communication condition can be satisfied and the alignment can be easily performed. Therefore, the installation work is easy and the assemblability is good, and the special pipe body installation work can be omitted in the process.Furthermore, the number of parts is small, and the equalizer device can be obtained simply and at low cost.
Further, since the equalizer tube and the top bridge can be tightened together, and the top bridge is tightened and fixed between the stepped portion and the axial tightening member, the fork and the top bridge can be firmly fixed. Furthermore, in the present invention, since the tube body 32 is covered and supported by the top bridge 26, the installation stability of the tube body 32 is improved, the tube body 32 can be protected from water, dust, etc., and the appearance is further improved. can improve sex.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is a front view of the front fork, Fig. 2 is an enlarged cutaway view of the main part, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 4 is a view of the mounting part. It is an enlarged vertical front view. In addition, 1 and 11 in the drawing are front fork members,
26 and 27 are bridges, 32 is a tube body, 38 is a mounting portion, and 40 is a tightening member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A front fork for a motorcycle in which the front fork members are connected to each other by an equalizer tube and the upper parts of the members are connected to the vehicle body by a bridge, in which a step is provided at the top of the front fork. A connecting cylinder part is provided with a through hole 37 above the connecting cylinder part, and the pipe body is attached to the connecting cylinder part, and a communication hole 39 that connects the pipe body and the through hole 37 and a communication hole 39 in the circumferential direction is provided. A collar provided with a groove and a top bridge are inserted in the axial direction, and a front fork axial tightening member is tightened from above, thereby sandwiching the collar and top bridge between the tightening member and the stepped portion. 1. An equalizer tube mounting structure for a front fork for a motorcycle, characterized in that the tube is fixed and covered and supported by the top bridge.