JPH0356670Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial field of application> The present invention relates to a shock absorber with adjustable damping force for use in vehicles, etc., and in particular, it is possible to select from a plurality of different damping force control characteristics by adjusting the mechanism when assembling the mechanism. It is characterized by a possible multi-stage switching mechanism.

<Prior Art> As is well known, a damping force adjustable hydraulic shock absorber for vehicles, etc. has a piston moving in a cylinder filled with hydraulic oil, and an orifice that communicates with the upper and lower chambers of the cylinder or the diameter of the oil passage. Measures are being taken to convert the As a device configuration for this purpose, as shown in Figure 5, a rotary valve 2 fitted in a cylindrical piston rod 1 is used, and valve ports a and b are opened in the peripheral wall of the valve 2.
and the rod ports A and B provided on the piston rod, and from the piston center hole opened in one of the upper and lower chambers 3 and 4 to the valve ports a and b, and through the lower rod ports A and B in communication. A passageway is configured to reach the other of the upper and lower chambers 3 and 4.

The rotational position of the valve, which determines the coincident communication of the valve ports, is controlled by electromagnetic operation of an actuator (not shown) connected to the tip of a control rod 6 extending from the valve. It has been done. Additionally, in the figure, 7 indicates a piston, and 8 indicates a check valve mechanism.

By the way, in a mechanism with such a configuration,
In order to easily adjust the assembly position with the control rod 6, that is, the rotary valve 2, which is retrofitted to the actuator, which is a genuine product that is pre-assembled on the vehicle body side, and to prevent assembly errors, the radial direction By providing the rod valves A and B and valve ports a and b (see Figs. 6 and 7) in symmetrical positions, the orientation during assembly (up and down in the same figure) can be eliminated and the assembly can be easily performed. It is designed to allow normal assembly by aligning the parts.

This allows valve ports a and b to
From the soft state shown in FIG. 6, where the valves communicate with rotary valves A and B, respectively, to the state shown in FIG. Mutual switching to the hard state is performed.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> According to this damping force adjustable shock absorber, the number of different diameter ports that can be provided on the peripheral wall of the rotary valve is limited due to the above-mentioned configuration.
The number of damping force switching stages (the number of operating stages of the actuator) by rotating this rotary valve was about 2 to 3 stages.

In addition, in recent years, motorcycles, etc., have tended to be divided into normal types and sports types in the same model due to the diversification of user preferences. Since the optimal damping force adjustment range is different for each type, the conventional mechanism with a small number of switching stages described above cannot compensate for the wide damping force adjustment range that spans both types.
It was necessary to use a unique actuator mechanism and rotary valve mechanism for each type.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to develop a shock absorber mechanism that can be commonly used for each type by using an actuator with a small number of switching stages in the conventional mechanism.

<Means for solving the problem> For this purpose, in the present invention, another set of valve ports is set at a position opposite to the set of valve ports provided at the switching position of the rotary valve by the actuator. , proposes a damping force adjustable shock absorber configured such that by changing the assembly position of the rotary valve to the piston rod, one of the two sets of valve ports faces the switching position with respect to the rod port. Effect> According to the above-mentioned means of the present invention, one set of the two sets of valve ports provided in the rotary valve is placed in the switching action area for the rod port depending on the state in which the rotary valve is assembled to the actuator. It will come. That is, by assembling the rotary valve in a directional manner, by assembling in one direction, a set of valve ports is set that provides the optimum damping force adjustment range for a normal vehicle, and in this set state,
Switching is performed by the actuator, and with the switching operation of the same actuator, the orientation of the rotary valve is changed by 180 degrees from the set state and the position is changed in the opposite direction or in the vertical direction.In the set, the valve port of the other set becomes an immovable rod port. It works to adjust the damping force optimally for sports cars.

Therefore, by using the actuator and piston rod of the conventional mechanism and simply changing the mounting direction of the rotary valve of the present invention, it is possible to select and configure the damping force adjustment mechanism that is most suitable for both types.

Next, illustrated embodiments of the present invention will be described.

<Example> Figures 1 to 4 are longitudinal cross-sectional views of essential parts showing each operating state in an embodiment of the present invention. On the other hand, the rotary valve 2 has valve ports 1 with different diameters at symmetrical positions in the radial direction.
1 and 13 are provided, and valve ports 12 and 14 of different diameters are provided at positions separated from the set positions of these ports 11 and 13 by a central angle θ caused by actuator drive, respectively.
Two sets of valve ports are set, with inner ports 11 and 12 serving as one set of ports 1 to 14, and another set containing the remaining ports 13 and 14.

Therefore, as shown in the first diagram, a pair of valve ports 11 and 12 are placed in a position facing rod port A.
When the rotary valve 2 is assembled (for example, using an assembly method that aligns the position using the mark displayed on the end face of the control rod 6 as a guide), the valve port 11 is aligned and communicated with the rod port A under the normal state of the actuator. When the rotary valve 2 is rotated by the central angle θ by the actuator operation, the valve port 12 is brought to the rod port A position as shown in the second diagram, and the damping force is switched in a normal car, for example.On the other hand, in a sports car When assembling the rotary valve 2, by setting the valve 2 in the opposite direction by turning it 180 degrees from the previous state using the mark etc. as a guide, the actuator can be set in the normal state as shown in the third figure. , when the valve port 13 is in coincidence communication with the rod port A, and when the valve 2 is rotated by the center angle θ by the drive of the actuator, the valve port 14 is connected to the previous rod port A.
A switch is made that leads to. With this, two sets of valve ports 11 and 12, each having a different diameter, and one
3 and 14 can be used in two application modes depending on the selection at the time of assembly.

That is, in the above embodiment, two sets of valve ports are used properly by giving the rotary valve 2 a directionality when assembled in the circumferential direction, but in other embodiments, the rotary valve 2 The two sets of valve ports 11 and 12 and the valve ports 13 and 14 are arranged relative to each other at upper and lower step positions in the axial direction,
It is also possible to selectively use these two sets of ports by changing the mounting position by the difference between the upper and lower stages during assembly.

<Effects of the invention> As described above, in the shock absorber of the invention, the valve ports of the rotary valve are set by one set of valve ports provided at the switching position of the rotary valve by the actuator, and another set of valve ports provided at the opposite position. By configuring a set of valve ports, two damping force adjustment ranges can be used by simply selecting the direction when assembling the rotary valve to the actuator, so the conventional actuator mechanism can be used as is. The shock absorber of the present invention is extremely useful in practical use, as it is extremely convenient to obtain a damping force adjustable shock absorber that is compatible with normal cars and sports cars.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 4 are longitudinal sectional views of the main parts of an embodiment of the shock absorber of the present invention showing various operating states, and Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing the main mechanisms of a conventional shock absorber with adjustable damping force. , 6 and 7 are longitudinal cross-sectional views showing valve port switching states in the above conventional mechanism, respectively. 1... Piston rod, 2... Rotary valve, 3... Upper chamber, 4... Lower chamber, 6... Control rod, A and B... Rod port, 11 to 14... Valve port.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A damping force multi-stage switching mechanism in which the rotary position of a rotary valve fitted in a piston rod is controlled by an actuator to perform coincident switching between the rod port and the valve port. , another set of valve ports is set at a position opposite to the set of valve ports provided at the switching position of the rotary valve by the actuator,
A damping force adjustable shock absorber characterized in that by changing the assembly position of the rotary valve to the piston rod, one of the two sets of valve ports faces a switching position with respect to the rod port. . (2) The damping force adjustable shock absorber according to claim 1, wherein the opposing positions are symmetrical positions in the radial direction of the rotary valve. (3) The damping force adjustable shock absorber according to claim 1, wherein the opposing positions are upper and lower positions in the axial direction of the rotary valve.