JPH01186410A - Air suspension - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an air suspension suitably used as a suspension system for a vehicle, for example.

(Conventional technology) FIG. 6 shows a conventional air suspension.

In the figure, l indicates an outer cylinder constituting the shock absorber main body, an inner cylinder 2 is provided coaxially within the outer cylinder l, and the upper end side of the outer cylinder 1 is covered with a rod guide 3 and a cap 4. , the lower end side is covered with a pace cap (not shown). Reference numeral 5 indicates a piston rod that projects upward from inside the inner cylinder 2 via a rod guide 3, etc., and the lower end side of the piston rod 5 is a piston (not shown) that is slidably inserted into the inner cylinder 2. is fixed to. and.

The protruding end of the piston rod 5 is attached to a mounting mount 16 (to be described later) via a nut 6 or the like, and expands and contracts from the outer cylinder l in response to vehicle vibrations and the like.

Reference numeral 7 indicates a shell fixed to the protruding end side of the piston rod 5 via a nut 6, etc.; 8 indicates a cylindrical member fixed to the outer peripheral side of the intermediate portion of the outer cylinder 1; The inner and outer circumferential sides of rubber 9 are hermetically fixed to the lower end of the shelf, respectively, thereby forming an air chamber 1o between the outer cylinder l and the protruding end of the piston rod 5. Compressed air is supplied and discharged into the air chamber 10 from the outside via the supply/exhaust valve 11, whereby the air chamber IO operates as an air spring and always urges the piston rod 5 toward the extension side. It looks like this.

Reference numeral 12 indicates a hide sensor located in the air chamber 10 and fixed to a shelf.The hide sensor 12 has a plurality of reed switches (not shown) arranged above and below at predetermined intervals, each of which The reed switch is turned on and off by a magnet 13 attached to the upper end of the cylindrical member 8. That is, the hide sensor 12 turns on each reed switch when the shelf moves up and down with the piston rod 5 relative to the outer cylinder 1.

In order to turn it off, the magnet 13 is approached and separated from the magnet 13, thereby sequentially outputting a vehicle height detection signal from the lead wire 14.

Reference numeral 15 indicates a mounting bracket provided on the lower end side of the outer cylinder 1, and the mounting bracket 15 is on the axle side of the vehicle (not shown).
The outer cylinder 1 is fixed to.

Furthermore, reference numeral 16 indicates a mounting mount provided on the protruding end side of the piston rod 5, and the mounting mount 16 is formed into an inner dish shape, and is fixed to the piston rod 5 on the protruding end side via a bearing 17. Mounting part 1 on rod 5 side
6A and the mounting portion 16A from above.
A mounting portion 16B on the vehicle body side is attached to a vehicle (not shown) via a bolt 18, etc., and a piston rod The mount rubber 16C is formed to have the same thickness all around the circumference.

Here, the bearing 17 is fixed to the inner ring side or the protruding end side of the piston rod 5 via a nut 6 or the like, and the outer ring side is fixed to the mounting portion 16A of the mounting mount 16 using means such as welding.

The bearing 17 allows the piston rod 5 to rotate relative to the vehicle body when the piston rod 5 receives a rotational force from the outer cylinder 1 etc. for reasons to be described later. At this time, the mounting portion 16A of the mounting mount 16 is fixed to the outer ring side of the bearing 17, and the mounting portion 16B is fixed to the vehicle body side, so it does not rotate, but the shell 17 etc. are fixed to the inner ring side together with the piston rod 5. Since it is fixed, it rotates relative to the piston rod 5 and can follow the rotation of the outer cylinder 1 together with the cylindrical member 8 and the rubber 9.

The conventional air suspension has the above-mentioned configuration, and when used on the front wheel side of a vehicle, the mounting bracket 15 is fixed to the knuckle bracket on the front wheel side via bolts etc. (see Fig. 1), and the mounting mount 16. the bolt 1
It is fixed to the vehicle body side, etc. above the front wheels via the 8 etc. and,
By supplying and discharging compressed air into the air chamber 10, the vehicle height is adjusted based on the vehicle height detection signal from the hide sensor 12. At this time, the air chamber 10 operates as an air spring and constantly extends the piston rod 5. By applying force to the side, the vehicle body side is suspended from the axle side.

Furthermore, when vibrations are applied to the vehicle due to unevenness of the road surface while the vehicle is running, the piston rod 5 expands and contracts.
A piston slides within the inner cylinder 2, and the oil in the inner cylinder 2 and outer cylinder 3 generates a damping force to dampen the vibrations.

On the other hand, when a rotational force is applied to the outer cylinder 1 through the mounting bracket 15 due to steering operation on the front wheel side, the piston rod 5 is rotatable relative to the vehicle body side by the bearing 17. , shelf, etc. rotate together with the outer cylinder 1, and prevent uneven loads from acting on the rubber 9, etc.

[Invention or problem to be solved]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, since the outer cylinder 1 is attached to the front wheel side of the vehicle via the mounting racket 15, the outer cylinder 1 is subjected to a movement in the direction of arrow A due to the tire reaction force on the front wheel side. Moment acts. On the other hand, since the protruding end side of the piston rod 5 is attached to the vehicle body side via the attachment mount 16i, the mount rubber 1 of the attachment mount 16
6C can absorb impact loads, etc., but a lateral load in the direction of arrow B continues to act between the piston rod 5 and the outer cylinder 1 due to the moment in the direction of arrow A through the rod guide 3, etc. It turns out.

Therefore, in the prior art, the rod guide 3 comes into strong contact with the piston rod 5 due to the lateral load in the direction of arrow B, and when the piston rod 5 expands and contracts, the piston rod 5
, there is a problem that the rod guide 3 and the like are subject to abnormal wear.

The present invention was made in view of the problems of the prior art described above. By elastically deforming the mount rubber of the mounting mount during mounting, the present invention prevents abnormal wear between the piston rod and the rod guide, etc. To provide an air suspension that can prevent cracks from occurring in the rubber.

[Means to solve the problem]

The feature of the configuration adopted by the present invention in order to solve the above problems is that the mount rubber of the mounting mount is formed to have a thick wall on one side in the diametrical direction and a thin wall on the other side. A concave groove located between the mounting parts and opening downward is formed on the side of the mounting part over a predetermined range in the circumferential direction.

(Function) If the mounting mount is attached to the vehicle body with the thick side of the mount rubber elastically compressed and deformed, a moment in the direction of reducing the lateral load in the direction of arrow B based on the tire reaction force can be generated. It can act on the piston rod, and can prevent the rod guide etc. from coming into strong contact with the piston rod. In addition, even if tensile stress etc. acts on the thin wall side when the thick wall side of the mount rubber is strongly compressed, the groove is formed on the thin wall side, so this tensile stress is absorbed by the groove. It can be alleviated.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. In the embodiment, the same components as those of the prior art shown in FIG. 6 described above are given the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 indicates a mounting mount provided on the protruding end side of the piston rod 5 via a bearing 17, and the mounting mount 21 is formed into an inner dish shape, almost the same as the mounting mount 16 described in the prior art. , a mounting portion 21A on the piston rod 5 side fixed to the outer ring side of the bearing 17, and an inner plate shape having a larger diameter than the mounting portion 21A, and the mounting portion 2
Mounting part 21B on the vehicle body side that covers 1A from above
and an annular mount rubber 2IC disposed between the mounting portions 21B and 21A.
1 is formed in a pre-slanted state as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, etc.

That is, in the mounting mount 21, the negative side in the diametrical direction of the mount rubber 2IC is the thick wall portion 21C□, and the other side is the thin wall portion 21 so that the mounting portion 21B is inclined with respect to the mounting portion 21A.
C2, and the mount rubber 2IC is the thick part 21 C1
It is formed in the shape of an unevenly-thickened ring that gradually becomes thinner from there toward the thin-walled portion 21C2. Further, a plurality of bolts 22 or the like are fixed to the mounting portion 21B of the mounting mount 21, and the mounting portion 21B is fixed to the mounting portion 21B of the mounting mount 21.
1B is fixed to a strut tower 24, etc., which will be described later, via bolts 22, etc. At the time of this installation, the mount rubber 2IC of the installation mount 21 is
The thick wall portion 21C is strongly compressed and deformed elastically, so that a moment in the direction of arrow C is applied to the piston rod 5.

Reference numeral 23 indicates a groove formed on the thin wall portion 21C2 side of the mount rubber 2IC. As shown in FIG. 5, it extends in an arc shape over a predetermined range in the circumferential direction, for example, an angular range θ of about 100 degrees. By enlarging the surface length in the radial direction on the thin wall portion 21C2 side, the concave groove 23 causes tensile stress that acts on the thin wall portion 21C2 side when the thick wall portion 21C1 side of the mount rubber 21C is strongly compressed and deformed. D (see FIG. 3) is relaxed to prevent cracks from occurring on the thin wall portion 21C2 side due to this tensile stress.

Reference numeral 24 indicates a strut tower located on the front wheel side of the vehicle and forming a part of the vehicle body side, and the protruding end side of the piston rod 5 is attached to the strut tower 24 via an attachment mount 21. In addition, 25 is the mounting bracket 1
The knuckle bracket on the axle side is shown attached via bolts 26, 26, etc., and the knuckle bracket 25
A knuckle spindle 27 is integrally provided on the knuckle spindle 27, and a front wheel 28 of the vehicle is rotatably attached to the knuckle spindle 27. The front wheel 28 is connected to a handle (not shown) of the vehicle via a lever 29 etc. provided integrally with the knuckle bracket 25, and is operated by the handle.

Here, the outer cylinder 1 receives a moment in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 1 due to tire reaction force from the front wheel 28 and the like. On the other hand, when the piston rod 5 attaches the mounting mount 21 to the strut tower 24, the mount rubber 2IC of the mounting mount 21 changes elastically from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown in FIG. Since the piston rod 5 is compressively deformed, a moment in the direction of arrow C always acts on the protruding end side of the piston rod 5.

The moment in the direction of arrow C acts in a direction to offset the moment in the direction of arrow A due to tire reaction force, etc., and the moment in the direction of arrow A is applied in the direction of arrow B from the rod guide 3 to the piston rod 5. This ensures that the lateral load (see Figure 6) is reduced.

The air suspension according to this embodiment has the configuration described above, and its basic operation is not particularly different from that of the prior art.

However, in this embodiment, the mount rubber 2IC of the mounting mount 21 is formed into a ring shape with uneven thickness such that one side in the diametrical direction becomes the thick part 21C8 and the other side becomes the thin part 21C2. When attaching to the strut tough-24 on the vehicle body side, the thick part 21CI of the mount rubber 2IC is strongly compressed and deformed elastically, and the attachment part 21B of the attachment mount 21 is attached to the strut tower 24 via the bolt 22 etc. Therefore, a moment in the direction of arrow C can be constantly applied to the protruding end side of the piston rod 5, and the moment in the direction of arrow A due to tire reaction force etc. can be offset by the moment in the direction of arrow C. This makes it possible to reliably reduce the lateral load in the direction of arrow B applied to the piston rod 5 from the rod guide 3 and the like described in the prior art section.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the rod guide 3, etc. from coming into strong contact with the piston rod 5, and to prevent abnormal wear of the rod guide 3, piston rod 5, etc. due to the expansion and contraction of the piston rod 5, thereby improving their durability. It can definitely be improved.

In addition, since the groove 23 that opens downward is formed on the thin wall portion 21C2 side of the mount rubber 21C over a predetermined range in the circumferential direction, the thick wall portion 21C1 of the mount rubber 2IC
Even if the tensile stress illustrated in FIG. 3 acts on the thin wall portion 21C2 side when the side is strongly compressed and deformed, this tensile stress can be alleviated by the groove 23; The mount rubber 2IC expands elastically in the radial direction according to the size of the mount rubber 2IC, which prevents cracks from occurring in the thin section 2102.
It is possible to reliably improve the durability of the IC.

In the above embodiments, the air suspension provided on the front wheels of a vehicle was explained as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is also applicable to cases where the rear wheels receive a moment in the direction of arrow A due to tire reaction force, etc. It can also be applied to the rear wheel side.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the present invention, the mount rubber of the mounting mount is formed to have a thick wall on one side in the diametrical direction and a thin wall on the other side, and a concave groove opening downward on the thin wall side. is formed over a predetermined range in the circumferential direction, so when the protruding end of the piston rod is attached to the vehicle body, the thick side of the mount rubber is strongly compressed and deformed, reducing lateral loads due to tire reaction force, etc. A moment in the direction of rotation can be applied to the piston rod at all times, and abnormal wear of the piston rod, rod guide, etc. can be prevented. Moreover, the groove can relieve the tensile stress on the side of the thin-walled portion of the mount rubber, thereby preventing the occurrence of cracks, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 5 show embodiments of the present invention, with Figure 1 being a vertical cross-sectional view of essential parts showing the state in which the air suspension is installed on a vehicle, and Figure 2 showing the air suspension in its installed state. A vertical sectional view of the main part, Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the main part in Figure 2,
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the mounting mount, FIG. 5 is a bottom view of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of an air suspension showing the prior art. l...outer cylinder, 2...inner cylinder, 3...lot guide,
5... Piston rod, 7... Shell, 9... Rubber, lO... Air chamber, 15... Mounting bracket,
17...Bearing, 21...Mounting mount, 21
A. 21B...Mounting part, 2IC...Mount rubber, 2
1G□...Thick part, 21C2-...Thin part, 23...
・Concave groove, 24... Strut tower, 25... Knuckle bracket, 27... Knuckle spindle, 28
···front wheel.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A shock absorber main body, a piston rod projecting upward from the upper end of the shock absorber main body, and air that is formed between the protruding end side of the piston rod and the shock absorber main body and always urges the piston rod toward the extension side. a mounting bracket provided on the lower end side of the shock absorber body and for attaching the shock absorber body to the axle side of the vehicle; a piston rod side attachment portion attached to the protruding end side of the piston rod; and a mounting portion on the vehicle body side of the vehicle. In an air suspension comprising a mounting part on the vehicle body side to which the mounting part is attached, and a mounting rubber is disposed between each of the mounting parts, the mounting rubber of the mounting mount is thick-walled on one side in the diametrical direction. The mount rubber is formed to have a thin wall on the other side, and on the thin wall side of the mount rubber, a concave groove located between the respective mounting parts and opening downward is formed over a predetermined range in the circumferential direction. Features air suspension.