JPH0574908U - Independent suspension - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] It is possible to freely set the camber angle change characteristics of the wheels when the vehicle is steered. A knuckle for supporting a wheel W is connected at its lower end with a lower arm 21 by a lower ball joint 24, and at its upper end with a shock absorber 32 of a strut 34 pivotally supported by a pivot shaft 17 via a connecting portion 35. ing. The strut 34 is mounted on the mount 31.
Is connected so as to be tiltable about the upper joint point 38 and rotatable about the strut central axis. Therefore, the steered shaft 10 is formed by an axis passing through the center of the first ball joint 24 and the upper joint point 38.
The control link 41 connected to the connecting portion 35 by the first control ball joint 41 is connected to the vehicle body directly or via the lower arm 21, and the center of the ball joint 41 is horizontal to the turning point 50. Offset in the direction.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an independent suspension suspension which is mainly applied to suspend a front wheel of an automobile.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In order to absorb various vibrations and shocks received from the road surface while the vehicle is running, a suspension device or suspension device having a cushioning function is provided between the vehicle body and the wheels. Such a suspension not only supports the vehicle on the road surface but also transmits the thrust from the drive wheels to the vehicle body side, at the same time alleviates the impact from the road surface and protects the vehicle from damage, and improves the riding comfort and running stability. Since it has an important function of increasing the speed of automobiles, that function becomes more and more important as it influences the limit of speeding up, and scientific research on the whole device is advanced and many mechanical models and elements are developed. It is being touched.

Generally, the suspension needs to be soft in the vertical direction and hard in the front, rear, left, and right directions, and can be roughly classified into an axle suspension type suspension and an independent suspension type suspension in terms of its structural aspect. Focusing on ride comfort and driving stability Independent suspensions are often used for front and rear wheels of passenger cars.

The independent suspension type suspension allows the left and right wheels to move independently without being connected by one axle. Wishbone type, McPherson type, trailing arm type, swing axle type Etc. Compared to the axle suspension type suspension, such an independent suspension type suspension works like a human knee joint even if one of the left and right wheels rides on the road protrusion, and only that wheel moves up and down, It has the advantage that it can be run stably without tilting and suppressing rolling (lateral shaking).

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 The McPherson type suspension is also called a strut type suspension because a strut is attached between the knuckle and the vehicle body. However, even with the conventional suspension of this type, in order to satisfy the turning stability of the vehicle, the kingpin inclination angle is small and the caster angle is large in order to make the outer wheel a negative camber angle when turning. However, especially for drive wheel suspensions, a smaller kink pin tilt angle results in a larger scrub radius, and a larger caster angle causes the caster rail to become excessively large, resulting in a sufficient negative camber angle. Could not be secured.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and can freely set the camber angle change characteristic according to the state of the vehicle body without changing the caster angle and the kingpin inclination angle. The purpose is to provide an independent suspension that is designed to be obtained.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, the present invention connects the lower end of a knuckle that rotatably supports a wheel to the lower end of a lower arm whose base end is pivotally supported by the vehicle body by a lower ball joint, and The shock of the strut having a fixed mount portion, a shock absorber slidable in the axial direction with respect to the mount portion, and a coil spring for urging elastic force toward the shock absorber downward. A connecting portion is fixed to the lower end portion of the absorber, and the connecting portion is pivotally supported on the upper end portion of the knuckle by a pivot shaft oriented in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and the shock absorber rotates about the center axis of the strut. The upper joint point in the mount, which is the center of movement and the center of tilt in which the central axis of the strut tilts, and the lower ball joint. A steering shaft is formed by an axis passing through the center, and one end of the control link is connected to the connecting portion via a control ball joint, and the other end of the control link is mounted on the vehicle body. The independent suspension type suspension is characterized in that the center of the joint is set at a position offset in the horizontal direction with respect to a turning point where a horizontal plane including the center and the turning axis intersect. Further, the other end of the first control link is attached near the base end portion of the lower arm, and the control link is connected to the vehicle body via the lower arm.

[0008]

[Action]

 If the wheels move vertically with respect to the vehicle body due to unevenness on the road surface during straight running, the wheels move vertically with the knuckle. At this time, the lower arm rotates around the base end, and the shock absorber moves up and down with respect to the mount. Further, when the vehicle turns, the wheels are steered around the steered shaft. At this time, the knuckle tilts to change the camber angle. The change characteristic of the camber angle can be freely selected by setting the offset direction and amount of the center of the first control ball joint with respect to the steered axis.

[0009]

【Example】

 Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an independent suspension type suspension for supporting the left front wheel, and FIG. 2 shows a schematic structure of FIG. 1 viewed from the front side. The suspension for supporting the right front wheel has the same structure. As shown in the figure, a knuckle 11 to which a wheel W is rotatably mounted is provided with a spindle 12 for supporting the wheel W via a bearing (not shown) so as to project outward. This knuckle 11 is provided with a knuckle arm 13. A steering mechanism (not shown) is connected to the knuckle arm 13, and a tie rod (not shown) is connected to the knuckle 11, and knuckles for the left and right wheels are connected to each other via the tie rod. It When the vehicle turns, the steering mechanism steers the wheels W.

A lower arm 21 is attached to the vehicle body B directly or through a frame (not shown) at its base end portion, and a bush 22 provided at the base end portion is attached to the vehicle body B on a pivot shaft ( (Not shown), the lower arm 21 rotates about the shaft 23. The lower arm 21 is configured by integrating two arm portions 21a and 21b, and is a so-called A-type arm. The knuckle 11 is connected to the tip of the lower arm 21 via a lower ball joint 24 at the lower end 14.

The mounting portion 31 and a shock absorber 32 slidable relative to the mounting portion 31 are provided, and a compression coil spring 33 is attached to the outside of the shock absorber 32 to form a strut 34. A connecting portion 35 is integrally fixed to the lower end of the shock absorber 32 of 34. The connecting portion 35 is pivotally supported by the pivot shaft 17 on the upper end portion 15 of the knuckle 11, and the connecting portion 35 and the knuckle 11 are rotatable relative to each other about the central axis 16 of the pivot shaft 17. ing. As shown in FIG. 2, the steered shaft 10 is inclined in the vehicle width direction at a predetermined kingpin inclination angle α with respect to an axis perpendicular to the ground. Although FIG. 2 shows the case where the wheel center plane P is perpendicular to the ground, the inclination of the wheel center plane P in the left-right direction in the figure is the camber angle γ. When the wheel center plane P is inclined toward the inside of the vehicle body with respect to the ground contact point, the wheel W has a negative camber angle γn, and the wheel center plane P moves away from the ground contact point toward the outside of the vehicle body. When it is tilted to, a positive camber angle γp is obtained. Further, the steered shaft 10 is also inclined at a predetermined caster angle in the front-back direction of the vehicle body.

The mount portion 31 has a bearing 36 so that the shock absorber 32 can rotate around the central axis S of the strut, and a rubber member 37 is arranged outside the bearing 36. Therefore, the shock absorber 32 rotates around the central axis S of the strut as indicated by the arrow F and tilts as indicated by the arrow G. The upper joint serving as the center of rotation and the center of tilting. A point 38 is formed in the mount portion 31. That is, the mount portion 31 has the same function as the ball joint. An axis connecting the upper joint point 38 and the center of the lower ball joint 24 serves as the steering shaft 10, and when the vehicle turns, the knuckle 11 rotates about the steering shaft 10. It will be.

A first control ball joint 41 connects one end of a control link 43 to the connecting portion 35, and the other end of the control link 43 is connected by a second control ball joint 42 attached to the vehicle body B. There is. Therefore, the connecting portion 35 and the vehicle body B are connected by the control link 43. However, instead of the second control ball joint 42, a pivot shaft may be used to attach the other end of the control link 43 to the vehicle body B.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the center of the first control ball joint 41 is relative to the vehicle body B from the turning point 50 where the horizontal plane including the center and the above-mentioned turning shaft 10 intersect. Offset horizontally inward by a distance E. In this way, when the center of the ball joint 41 is offset inside the turning point 50, the connecting portion 35 also rotates in the turning direction as the wheels are turned. Since the connecting portion 35 is connected to the vehicle body side by the control link 43, the control link 43 rotates about the second control ball joint 42 in the horizontal plane. As a result, the pivot shaft 17 is pulled toward the vehicle body B, and the wheels W undergo a negative camber angle change as the wheels are steered. This principle is shown in FIG. 5 (B). When the knuckle 11 is steered around the steered shaft 10 during steering, the tip of the control link 43 is displaced along the locus Q. Therefore, the center of the ball joint 41 is pulled toward the vehicle body by the difference in distance between the arcuate locus R having a radius of the offset distance E and the locus Q. Note that FIG. 5 shows the case where the vehicle is turning to the left. The left wheel W L is the inner wheel when turning, and the right wheel WR is the outer wheel.

The change characteristic of the camber angle at the time of turning changes depending on the direction in which the center of the first control ball joint 41 is offset with respect to the turning point 50. When the center of the ball joint 41 is offset outward with respect to the turning point 50, it is called offset type A, when it is offset inward, it is called offset type B, and when it is offset forward, it is called offset type C. The case of being offset to the rear is referred to as offset type D. In each of these basic offset patterns, the direction in which the center of the ball joint 41 is displaced during steering is shown in FIGS. 5 (A) to 5 (D). Table 1 shows the camber angle change characteristics of the inner and outer wheels when the vehicle turns for each of these offset types A to D. Therefore, in the suspension shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the offset type is B. In an actual vehicle, the offset direction may be offset in two directions, and the center of the ball joint 41 is displaced in the combined direction. If you use a suspension with a characteristic that the outer wheel has a negative camber angle and the inner wheel has a positive camber angle when turning, the wheel W is almost vertical to the ground when turning, that is, the ground camber angle is zero. You can also set

[0016]

[Table 1]

FIG. 3 is a view showing an independent suspension type suspension according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the other end of the control link 43 is a second end attached to the base end of the lower arm 21. The control ball joint 42 is connected to the lower arm 21, and the control link 43 is connected to the vehicle body side via the lower arm 21. Also in this case, the direction of offset with respect to the turning point 50 at the center of the ball joint 41 and the camber angle change characteristic of the wheel W are as shown in Table 1.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an independent suspension type suspension according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the other end of the control link 43 is attached to the arm piece 21 a of the lower arm 21. The control link 43 is connected to the control ball joint 42, and the control link 43 itself is inclined in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body in a plan view of the vehicle. In the suspensions shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, members having commonalities with the members in the suspensions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals. Also, in each of the suspensions shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, it is possible to use a pivot shaft instead of the second control ball joint 42.

In the independent suspension type suspension described above, the lower arm 21 moves up and down about the shaft 23 of the bush 22 when one wheel on one side moves up and down with respect to the vehicle body due to unevenness of the road surface during straight running. Rotate in the direction. At this time, the shock absorber 32 moves vertically. Next, when the vehicle turns, the knuckle 11 is steered around the steered shaft 10 via the knuckle arm 13 by the steering mechanism. At this time, the connecting portion 35 receives a rotational force in the direction of rotation about the turning point 50, but the distance between the two control ball joints 41 and 42 is controlled by the control link 41. Therefore, the position of the pivot shaft 17 that pivotally supports the knuckle 11 and the connecting portion 35 moves in the horizontal direction. This moving direction is determined by the offset direction as shown in FIG. 5, and the characteristics of the camber angle change of the wheel during turning differ depending on the offset direction as shown in Table 1. The change amount of the camber angle is adjusted by the dimensions of the arm 21, the link 43, and the like.

The present invention can also be used as a suspension for a vehicle of a type that drives front wheels, such as a vehicle of front-wheel drive and a vehicle of four-wheel drive. In that case, a cylindrical body for supporting the drive shaft is provided at the center of the knuckle 11. Further, the suspension of the present invention is mainly used as a suspension for supporting the front wheels, but it is also used as a suspension for the rear wheels for the type of vehicle in which the rear wheels are also steered when steering is performed. To be done.

[0021]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, the camber angle changing characteristics of the wheels can be freely set in accordance with the turning at the time of turning, so that the degree of freedom in designing the suspension is significantly improved. In addition, since the knuckle is supported by the shock absorber, not only the number of parts is reduced and the manufacturing cost is reduced, but it is not necessary to consider the layout of the shock absorber, and the flexibility of the vehicle body side shape is reduced. Increase. In addition, in the vehicle assembly line, the workability of the worker when assembling the vehicle body and the suspension is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an independent suspension type suspension according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of FIG. 1 seen from the front,

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of an independent suspension type suspension according to another embodiment of the present invention viewed from the same direction as FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an independent suspension type suspension according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the direction of offset with respect to the turning point at the center of the first control ball joint and the displacement of the center point of the ball joint when the vehicle is turning.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Steering shaft, 11 ... Knuckle, 21 ... Lower arm,
24 ... Lower ball joint, 31 ... Mounting part, 3
2 ... Shock absorber, 33 ... Coil spring, 34 ...
Strut, 35 ... Connection part, 41 ... First control ball joint, 42 ... Second control ball joint, 43 ... Control link, 50 ... Steering point, B ...
Body, W ... Wheels.

Continued Front Page (72) Shinji Kawano 3-7-60 Tarumacho, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Yorozu Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A knuckle for rotatably supporting a wheel (W).
The lower end of (11) is connected to the tip of the lower arm (21) whose base end is pivotally supported by the vehicle body (B) by the lower ball joint (24), and is mounted on the vehicle body (B) (mounting part). 31) and the mount
Struts (34) having a shock absorber (32) slidable in the axial direction with respect to (31) and a coil spring (33) for urging elastic force by lowering the shock absorber (32). ), The connecting portion (35) is fixed to the lower end portion of the shock absorber (32), and the connecting portion (35) is attached to the upper end portion of the knuckle (11) for the vehicle body (B).
Is pivotally supported by a pivot shaft (17) that faces the front-back direction of the shock absorber (32), and
An axis passing through the upper joint point (38) in the mount portion, which is the center of rotation to rotate around and the center of tilt of the strut center axis (S), and the center of the lower ball joint (24). The steering shaft (10) is formed by, and one end of the control link (43) is connected to the connecting portion (35) via the control ball joint (41) and the other end of the control link (43) is connected to the vehicle body ( B), the center of the first control ball joint (41),
An independent suspension suspension characterized by being set at a position horizontally offset with respect to a turning point (50) where a horizontal plane including the center and the turning axis (10) intersect. 2. The other end of the control link (43) is attached near the base end of the lower arm (21), and the control link (43) is attached to the vehicle body (B) via the lower arm (21). Independent suspension type suspension characterized by being connected.