JPS61261126A - Vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to recover the drive power of a vehicle, by detecting a variation corresponding to the load of a suspension system component member to detect the float-up condition of one of wheels so that the function of differential gear operation is released. CONSTITUTION:A differential gear 4 driven by a power unit P through a propeller shaft 3 is disposed between wheels 2a, 2r, and is incorporated in a housing 7. Further, as members for constituting a suspension system for drive wheels Slr, Wrr, both support cylinders 1l, 1r are attached with detectors 29, 30 for detecting variations generated in the support cylinders 1l, 1r in accordance with the load, and the thus detected values are delivered to a control device 31. When one of the drive wheels Wlr, Wrr is floated up from the ground surface, the value detected by one of the detectors becomes lower than a set value, and therefore, the control device 31 energizes a solenoid 28. Accordingly, the function of the differential gear 4 is negated, thereby it is possible to continuously transmit a drive power to both drive wheels Wlr, Wrr.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A0 OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION (1) Industrial Field of Application The present invention relates to a vehicle in which axles of a pair of left and right drive wheels suspended on a vehicle body are connected to a power unit via a differential gear.

(2) Conventional technology Conventionally, in saddle-type vehicles equipped with extremely low-pressure tires on the drive wheels, the left and right drive wheels were directly connected, but this could damage the road surface when driving on soft surfaces such as grass. Therefore, it has been considered that the axle of the driving wheels is connected to the power unit via a differential gear.

(3) Problems to be solved by the invention However, in straddle-type vehicles, one of the drive wheels can easily float due to the driver's weight shift or unevenness of the road surface. If a differential is installed, the driving force is lost.However, when one drive wheel is floating, the load that was borne by both wheels is entirely transferred to the other drive wheel that is in contact with the ground. Therefore, since no load acts on one of the driving wheels, in a suspension system with dual-layer driving wheels, load changes occur on both the left and right sides of the longitudinal center line of the vehicle body, and by detecting this change, the differential function can be activated. The above-mentioned problem could be solved if the release was released.5 The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to solve the above problem by adjusting the load of the suspension system components when one of the drive wheels is in a floating state. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle that detects the amount of change according to the amount of change, releases the differential function, and restores the driving force.

Structure of the B0 invention (1) Means for solving the problem The vehicle of the present invention includes:
A differential release device that can disable the differential function of a differential device, a drive device for driving the differential release device, and a differential release device that is attached to the suspension system components of the drive wheels on both left and right sides of the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle body. a pair of detectors that detect the amount of change that occurs in the member according to the load, and a detected value of the detector changes beyond a set value as one of the drive wheels becomes in a floating state. and a control device that sometimes controls the drive device to operate.

(2) Effect When one drive wheel becomes floating, the amount of change occurring in the suspension system components on both sides of the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle changes past the set value, and this change is detected by the detector and the control device. In response to the input, the control device causes the drive device to operate the differential release device, thereby bringing the driving wheels of both layers into a directly connected state.

(3) Example Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a straddle-type vehicle will be explained with reference to the drawings. First, in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, a body B of a straddle-type vehicle is equipped with a power unit P including an engine E in its center,
A single steering wheel Wf is suspended at the front of the vehicle body B.
A pair of left and right drive wheels Wlγ and uPrr are suspended at the rear of the vehicle. Each of the wheels If, WIJr, and Wrr is equipped with a wide, extremely low-pressure tire T, such as a so-called balloon tire with an air pressure of less than 1 yen. Also, on the top of body B, there is a
A fuel tank Ft, a saddle S, and a cargo platform C are arranged at @, and a pair of left and right rod-shaped steps St are provided below.

St is arranged. These steps st and st are performed by each wheel If, Fil r, Wrr due to the weight shift of the operator.
To facilitate adjustment of the ground pressure or ground condition of
Triangle Tr connecting the grounding points of each wheel Wf, Wlr, and Wrr
It is formed long so that the tip protrudes outside the area.

The steering wheel Wf is pivotally supported by a front fork Ff that is steerably connected to the front end of the vehicle body B. Drive wheel Wllr,
The suspension system of the Wr r consists of a rear fork FT and a shock absorber with a suspension spring, and has a double-layer driving wheel W731. Wrr
is connected to the rear end of the vehicle body B in a vertically swingable manner, and is supported by the support tubes 1# and 1r at the lower end of the rear fork Fr, and the shock absorber is connected to the vehicle body B and the rear fork on the longitudinal center line O of the vehicle body B. F
It is interposed between r.

In FIG. 4, a pair of left and right axles 21.2r connected to drive wheels Wl r and Wr r, respectively, are arranged in the support tubes 1/ and Ir to face each other, and these axles 2/
, 2r is interposed with a differential device 4 driven by a power unit P via a propeller shaft 3.

The rear fork Fr has a pair of left and right legs 51, 5r on both sides of the longitudinal center line O, and these two legs 51, 5r
The support tubes 1d and 1r are fixed horizontally to the lower ends of the support tubes 1d and 1r. Moreover, the rear fork Fr is the leg body 5A? , Sr has a hollow leg body 5C, and a propeller shaft 3 is disposed within this hollow leg body 5C.

Brake mechanisms 6, 6 are attached to the drive wheels Wllr and Wrr.
is provided.

In FIG. 5, the differential device 4 includes the support tube 1j.

The inner end of the hollow leg 1r and the lower end of the hollow leg 5C are respectively arranged in a fixed housing γ. This differential device 4 is
A differential case 10 rotatable around the axis of an axle 21.2r and supported by the housing 7 via bearings 8 and 9, a plurality of binions 11 disposed within the differential case 10, and a pair of left and right side gears 12A, 12?
- It is configured into a well-known bevel gear type. differential case 10
A ring gear 13 is fixed to the ring gear 13.
is meshed with a drive gear 14 integrated with the propeller shaft 3. Further, the left and right side gears 12A', 12r are spline-coupled to the left and right axles 21, 2r-.

A power take-off shaft 15 is rotatably supported at the rear of the housing 7 via bearings 16 and 17. A driven gear 18 that meshes with the ring gear 13 between both bearings 16 and 17 is integrally provided on the power output shaft 15. Further, a power output port that is blocked by a removable camp 39 is provided at the rear of the housing 7, and a power output shaft 15 that protrudes from the power output port can be used for a lawn mower, a water sprinkler, a tiller, etc. as required. Machines and other attachments can be connected.

A differential release device 19 for disabling the differential function of the differential device 4 is disposed within the housing T. This differential release device 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes an external gear 20 that is integrated into the right end of the differential case 10, and a sliding member 22 that is mounted on one axle 2r by a spline 21, allowing movement in the axial direction and preventing relative rotation. Consisting of
The sliding member 22 is provided with an internal gear 23 that can mesh with the external gear 20.

In this differential release device 19, the sliding member 22 is normally in a position separated from the differential case 10, and in this state, the differential device 4 can perform its differential function. However, when the sliding member 22 is slid toward the differential case 10 and the internal gear 23 and external gear 24 are engaged, the differential case 10 and the axle 2r are substantially integrated, and the differential device 4 loses its differential function. Therefore, the driving force is evenly distributed to both axles 2A and 2r.

A drive device 24 for driving the differential release device 19 is movable in the axial direction within a regulated range and is connected to the housing 7.
a shift rod 25 supported parallel to the axle 2r; a shift fork 26 that engages with the sliding member 22 and is fixed to the shift rod 25; A return spring 27 that urges the member 22 in a direction away from the differential case 10, and a shift rod 25 that protrudes from the housing 7 to move the shift rod 25 against the spring force of the return spring 27.
and a solenoid 28 disposed corresponding to the end of the solenoid.

In such a drive device 24, when the solenoid 28 is excited, the shift rod 25 moves against the spring force of the return spring 27, and the shift fork 26 drives the sliding member 22 toward the differential case 10.

Referring again to FIG. 4, as members constituting the suspension system of the double-layer driving wheels Wlr and Wrr, both branches 11 and 1r are equipped with a vehicle body B
A detector 29.3 is located at a position approximately equidistant j from the longitudinal center line O of
0 is attached. These detectors 29, 30 are connected to the support tube 11! depending on the load. , 1r, for example, distortion, and the detected values of the rain detectors 29 and 30 are input to the control device 31.

When one of the drive wheels Wlr, Wrr is in a floating state, the other drive wheel F73 r, Wr is in a grounded state.
All the load that was borne by r is now applied. Therefore, the load acting on the floating drive wheel, for example, the support tube 1 on the tp'rr side, becomes close to zero, and the amount of strain decreases accordingly. For this reason, in the control device 31, a small amount of distortion is set in advance, and when the amount of strain detected by the detector 29. It is determined that one side is floating, and the solenoid 28 is energized.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. When the straddle-type vehicle V runs at normal speed, both driving wheels Wllr.

The extremely different deformations of the very low pressure tires T, T at Wrr cause a large difference in their effective radii, causing the differential 4
Due to the zero action, both driving wheels Wl r Jl'r r rotate relative to each other. At this time, both driving wheels IF 73 r, IF
Since both r and r are grounded, the amount of strain detected by the detectors 29 and 30 is greater than the set value, and the solenoid 28 remains demagnetized. Therefore, the differential release device 19
is in an inoperative state, and the differential device 4 performs its original differential function, transmitting the drive torque from the power unit P to both driving wheels Flr and W'rr, and accurately transmitting them to the differential gear. can be done.

When one of the drive wheels uPlr and Wrr, for example Wrr, leaves the ground, the amount of strain detected by one of the detectors 30 becomes smaller than the set value, and the control device 31 causes the solenoid 2 to
8 is excited. Therefore, the sliding member 22 of the differential release device 19 moves toward the differential case 10, and the internal gear 23 and external gear 20 mesh with each other.

Therefore, the differential function of the differential device 4 becomes disabled, and the driving force continues to be transmitted to both driving wheels IP'llr and I〆rr.

In the above embodiment, strain is detected as the amount of change that occurs in response to load, but stress may also be detected. Also, as a differential release device, one of the left and right axles 2
A, 2? - and the differential case 10, a brake mechanism may be provided between the drive wheels Flr in a floating state.
Alternatively, the brake mechanism 6 on the uPr side may be used as a differential release device.

Further, the present invention is applicable not only to the saddle type vehicle V but also to a wide variety of vehicles having a differential device provided between the axles of the left and right drive wheels.

C6 Effects of the Invention As described above, the vehicle of the present invention includes a differential release device that can disable the differential function of the differential device, a drive device for driving the differential release device, and a longitudinal center line of the vehicle body. A pair of detectors are attached to the suspension system components of the driving wheels on both the left and right sides and detect the amount of change that occurs in the components according to the load; and a control device that controls the drive device to operate when the detected value of the device changes beyond the set value, so that when one of the drive wheels leaves the ground, the differential function of the differential device is activated. The drive force can be transmitted to both driving wheels by disabling the system.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view of a straddle-type vehicle, FIG. 2 is a side view of the straddle-type vehicle with the front drive wheel removed, and FIG. The figure is a rear view of the straddle-type vehicle, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional enlarged plan view of a portion of the left and right drive wheels and their surrounding areas, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional plan view of the differential, differential release device, and drive device. . ix, ir... Support tube as a suspension system component, 19.
... Differential release device, 2-4... Drive device, 29.30
...Detector, 31...Control device B...Vehicle body, 0...Vertical center line, P...Power unit, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a vehicle in which axles of a pair of left and right drive wheels suspended on a vehicle body are connected to a power unit via a differential device, a differential release device capable of disabling the differential function of the differential device, and the differential release device a pair of detectors that are attached to the suspension system components of the driving wheels on both left and right sides of the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle body and detect the amount of change that occurs in the components according to the load; A vehicle characterized by comprising: a control device that controls the drive device to operate when the detection value of the detector passes through a set value and changes in response to one drive wheel being in a floating state. .