JPH03585Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention is a strut suspension that connects the car body side and the wheel side of an automobile, and in particular, when rotating the wheels in the direction of travel, the relative relationship between the car body side and the upper end side of the coil spring. This invention relates to a strut suspension equipped with a resin bearing that allows easy rotation.

The strut suspension has a shock absorber placed inside a thick coil spring, whose upper end is connected to the vehicle body, and whose lower end is connected to the lower arm via a ball joint.The structure is relatively simple, lightweight, and space-saving. It is often used without being taken. When this strut suspension is used as a suspension for the front wheels, the steering axis is a line connecting the center point of the bearing that fits onto the upper end of the piston rod of the shock absorber and the center point of the ball joint at the connection part with the lower arm. The wheels can rotate around the axis in the direction of travel. If a resin bearing is used as the bearing attached to the upper end of such a shock absorber,
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the resin bearing 1 is formed into a disk shape with a center hole 2 formed in the center. The upper end of a piston rod 3 of a shock absorber is fitted into a center hole 2 of the resin bearing 1, and a load receiving member 5 and a spring seat 7 abut on an upper surface 4 and a lower surface 6, respectively. The load receiving member 5 transmits a load to the vehicle body (not shown), and the spring receiving plate 7 receives an upward load from a coil spring (not shown), and transmits this force to the resin bearing 1.

By the way, the conventional resin bearing 1 is formed to have a uniform thickness a, and when a wheel (not shown) rotates about the steering axis l, the spring seat 7 side is placed relative to the load receiving member 5 side so that the piston rod axis l1 is centered. Rotate it. In this case, the upper surface 4 and the load receiving member 5 side slide relative to each other, but this sliding resistance
becomes larger depending on the contact area. Moreover, if the upward load F from the wheel side is large, the load receiving member 5
As shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, it is elastically deformed, and as a result, a concentrated load is likely to be applied to the outer circumferential portion b of the resin bearing.

As mentioned above, in the conventional strut suspension, even if the upward load from the wheels is small, the upper surface 4 of the resin bearing and the load receiving member 5 are always in sliding contact over the entire surface, so the steering force of the steering wheel is relatively small. It is necessary to apply a large amount of force, and the outer peripheral edge of the resin bearing receives a concentrated load and is easily deformed. The object of the present invention is to provide a strut suspension that solves these problems.

The first strut suspension according to this invention
This will be explained using an example shown in the figure.

The load F transmitted from the wheels through the coil spring 10 and the shock absorber 11 housed inside the coil spring 10 is received by the load receiving member 12, and the load F is transferred from the load receiving member 12 to the vehicle body via the rubber insulator 13. 14, a resin bearing 16 in which a center hole 15 is formed through which the upper end of the shock absorber 11 passes is installed between the upper end member 19 of the coil spring 10 and the load receiving member 12, and the resin bearing 16 is attached to the upper surface of the resin bearing 16. 17 and the lower surface 18 of the load receiving member 12
are in contact with each other on the center hole 15 side, and are formed so that the amount of separation increases as the distance from the center hole 15 increases, and when a large upward load is applied to the resin bearing 16, the load receiving member 12
It is configured to be elastically deformed so as to increase the contact area with the upper surface.

In such a strut suspension, a resin bearing 16 externally fitted onto the upper end of the shock absorber 11 is attached to the upper end member 1 of the coil spring 10.
9 and a load receiving member 12, and the bearings connect the two so that they can rotate relative to each other. In this case, the upper surface 17 of the resin bearing 16 and the lower surface 18 of the load receiving member 12 are connected to the center hole 1 when the load is low.
Because they contact only on the 5 side, the sliding resistance between the two can be reduced, and when a large load is applied, the load receiving member 12
When it is elastically deformed, the contact area between the upper surface 17 and the lower surface 18 increases, and a large load from the wheel side can be reliably transmitted to the vehicle body side.

The strut suspension as an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be explained in more detail. As shown in FIG. 2, this strut suspension works together with a lower arm 21 to connect a front wheel 20 of an automobile (not shown) to a vehicle body 14. The lower arm 21 has one end pin-coupled to a side member (not shown), and a swinging end connected to the lower end of the knuckle 23 via a ball joint 22. The lower end of the shock absorber 11 is fixed to the upper end of the knuckle 23. Shock absorber piston rod 24
The upper end of the nut 25 is screwed onto the nut 25 through the small diameter portion 241. The center holes of the load receiving member 12 and the downward stopper 26 are fitted into the small diameter portion 241, and both are integrally tightened and fixed to the piston rod 24 with a nut 35. The load receiving member 12 has a substantially disk shape, and a rubber insulator 13 is in pressure contact with the upper surface of the load receiving member 12, and is connected to a mounting board 28 fixed to the vehicle body 14 via the rubber insulator. The mounting board 28 has a through hole 27 formed in its center, and the annular locking edge 261 of the downward stopper 26 that loosely fits into the through hole 27 can come into contact with the peripheral edge 271 of this hole. The mounting board 28 has an upwardly extending bolt 29 projecting therefrom, and is fastened and fixed to the vehicle body 14 by a nut (not shown).

The lower surface 18 of the load receiving member 12 is formed flat,
A resin bearing 16 comes into contact with this. The resin bearing 16 has a boss portion 16 surrounding the center hole 15.
1, and the boss portion 161 is formed with the piston rod 2.
4 and can be slid. The lower surface of the resin bearing 16 abuts against a spring seat 19 serving as an upper end member of the spring. Top surface 1 of this resin bearing
7 is formed on a rotating surface with a predetermined radius of curvature R (see FIG. 3), and only the vicinity of the center hole 15 (area C in FIG. 3) is formed flat. That is, when the load F from the wheel 20 side is relatively small, the upper surface 17 and the lower surface 1
8 only in area C, and the upper and lower surfaces can rotate relative to each other against sliding resistance corresponding to this area.

Note that the reference numeral 30 in FIG. 1 indicates an annular dust seal.

Such a strut suspension is linked to the steering operation of a steering wheel (not shown), and rotates the wheels 20 around a steering axis l connecting the center position of the resin bearing 16 and the ball joint 22. At this time, the resin bearing 16 on the coil spring 10 side rotates around the piston rod axis _l1 relative to the load receiving member 12 on the vehicle body 14 side. On the other hand, the load receiving member, which has received a larger load F than the wheel side, receives a reaction force -F from the rubber insulator 13 side as shown in Fig. 3, and is elastically deformed as shown by the two-dot chain line. do. At this time, the upper surface 18 and the lower surface 17 come into contact in a relatively large region D, and the upward load F from the wheel side is transmitted to the vehicle body side through a sufficient pressure receiving surface.

In the above, the upper surface 17 of the resin bearing was a rotating surface with a radius of curvature R except for the region C.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, a uniform tapered surface 171 may be formed except for the C region. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the upper surface 17 is a flat surface 17.
2, and the lower surface 181 of the load receiving member 12 may be formed as a rotating surface having a radius of curvature R ₁ that curves upward except for the region C. In this case as well, similarly to the strut suspension shown in FIG. 1, the load receiving member 12 can be elastically deformed to increase the contact area with the upper surface 172 of the resin bearing as the load increases.

As described above, in the strut suspension according to the present invention, the lower surface of the load receiving member 12 on the vehicle body side and the upper surface of the resin bearing 16 on the wheel side are in an opposing relationship that changes from a pressed state to a separated state as they move away from the center hole 15. be. Therefore, the contact area on both sides changes according to the elastic deformation of the load receiving member 12, and when the load is small, the contact area can be kept small and the steering force of the steering wheel can be reduced, and when the load is large, the contact area is kept large, which allows for sufficient expansion. It is possible to maintain the same pressure-receiving area, prevent deformation by reducing surface pressure, and improve durability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing the main parts of a strut suspension as an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic front view of the same strut suspension, and Fig. 3 is a schematic front view of the same strut suspension.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the same strut suspension as above, Figure 4 is an end view of a main part showing a modification of the resin bearing in Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a modification of the resin bearing and load receiving member in Figure 1. An end view of a main part showing an example, and FIG. 6 show an explanatory view of the operation of a conventional resin bearing, respectively. 10...Coil spring, 11...Shock absorber, 12...Load receiving member, 13...Rubber insulator, 14...Car body, 15...Central hole, 16...Resin bearing, 17...Top surface, 1
8...Bottom surface, 19...Spring seat, 20...
…Wheel.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A strut suspension in which a load receiving member receives a load transmitted from a wheel through a coil spring and a shock absorber housed inside the coil spring, and transmits the load from the load receiving member to the vehicle body via a rubber insulator. In order to facilitate relative rotation between the upper end member of the coil spring and the load receiving member, a resin bearing having a center hole formed therein through which the upper end of the shock absorber passes is installed. The upper surface of the resin bearing and the lower surface of the load receiving member are in contact with each other on the center hole side, and the distance between them increases as the distance from the center hole increases. A strut suspension characterized by being configured to elastically deform to increase the contact area with the upper surface of the resin bearing when the strut suspension is bent.