JPS5848367B2 - Public welfare - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a suspension system equipped with a vehicle height adjustment mechanism.

7 and 8 show an example of a conventional device of this type.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a vehicle height adjustment mechanism fixed to a vehicle body or a suspension arm 12 .

The vehicle height adjustment mechanism 10 comprises a cylinder 14 and a piston 16, and the vehicle height is adjusted by feeding fluid into and out of a fluid chamber 18 via an inlet/outlet 20 to move the piston 16 up and down.

The shock absorber 24 is connected between the lower end of the piston 16 and the vehicle body or a suspension arm 26.
It is attached between.

The spring seat 28 is screwed to the lower end of the piston 16 .

Two elastic members 32, 34 are fixed to a rod 30 of the shock absorber 24 by a nut 36.

By clamping a portion of the spring seat 28 between these elastic members 32 and 34, the shock absorber 24 is connected to the spring seat 28 and further to the piston 16.

On the other hand, in FIG. 7, the suspension spring 40 is provided between the spring seat 28 and the vehicle body or the suspension arm 26 .

In FIG. 8, it is provided between this spring seat 28 and a lower spring seat 42 fixed to the shock absorber body 24a.

However, with such a configuration, if the vehicle body or the suspension arm 26 is tilted to the position of the chain line, the suspension spring 40 receives an uneven load, which is transmitted to the piston 16 via the spring seat 28, and the piston 16 eventually moves into the cylinder 1.
4 has the disadvantage of exerting a prying effect on the

Conventionally, the piston 16 has been made long in order to reduce the effect of such twisting action.

However, not only does the height adjustment mechanism 10 become larger,
The piston 16 and cylinder 14 suffer from severe wear and the sealing function also becomes poor.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to provide a suspension device in a vehicle height adjustment mechanism in which the suspension spring 40 is not subjected to a prying action.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a suspension system having a height adjustment mechanism which is compact and has a simple structure.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a suspension system which is compact as a whole and which is excellent in all respects of wear resistance, strength and simple structure.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a suspension device in which the sealing action between a piston and a cylinder provided in a vehicle height adjustment mechanism is stabilized.

The present invention is a height adjustable suspension device comprising a shock absorber, a suspension spring corresponding to the shock absorber, a spring seat for the suspension spring which supports the rond of the shock absorber so that it can swing freely, a support member which slidably supports and guides the spring seat, a piston which constitutes a height adjustment mechanism, a cylinder which constitutes the height adjustment mechanism, and means for connecting the piston and the spring seat so that they can operate together only in the axial direction of the piston, thereby preventing the generation of a prying force between the piston and the cylinder.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

In this example, the height adjustment mechanism 44 is composed of a cylinder 46 and a piston 48, and is connected to a fluid chamber 5 through an inlet/outlet 50.
By pumping fluid into and out of the piston 48, the piston 48 moves up and down to adjust the vehicle height.

The rod 30 of the shock absorber 240 is supported so as to be able to swing freely relative to the spring seat 28 .

The spring seat 28 is fitted to a support member 56 on the vehicle body side so as to be slidable in the vertical direction of the vehicle body.

The cylinder 46 and piston 48 are very short in length.

The piston 48 only needs to be long enough to accommodate the seal 54 .

The piston 48 and the rond 30 are operatively engaged together only in the direction of actuation of the piston 48 .

The movement of the piston 48 is restricted at certain points by the ring 55 .

Reference numeral 56 denotes a support member fixed to the vehicle body or a suspension arm 58 .

An intermediate member 60 is provided between the lower end of the support member 56 and the spring seat 28 .

The intermediate member 60 is cylindrical and made of a resin material, but may be made of other shapes and materials.

Further, a support 61 is fixed to the spring seat 28 by screws.

The tip of the support 61 is a shaft joint or ball joint 61 a , which is in point contact with the lower surface of the piston 48 .

The spring seat 28, the rod 30, the elastic members 32, 34, the nut 36 and the support pedestal 61 constitute a piston support member.

Other configurations are the same as those of the conventional device described above, so a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 2 shows a modified example.

In this example, an elastic body 6 is provided between the support 61 and the piston 48.
There is a number 3.

By providing the elastic body 63 in this manner, the piston 4
8 receives force only in the direction of its movement, and the prying action of the suspension spring 40 does not occur at all.

The spring seat 28, the rod 30, the elastic members 32, 34, the nut 36, the support 61 and the elastic body 63 constitute a piston support member.

Other configurations are almost the same as those in the embodiment shown in FIG.

Next, the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

In this embodiment, the configuration of the piston 62 and the spring seat 64 differs from that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

Two elastic members 66, 68 are fixed to the tip of the rod 30 of the shock absorber 24 by a screw 70, and the elastic members 66, 68 are detachably pressed against the lower end of the piston 62.

Furthermore, the suspension spring 40 is placed inside the spring seat 64 .

Rod 30, spring seat 64, elastic members 66, 68, screw 7
0 constitutes a piston support member.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, a support γ4 is screwed to the underside of a spring seat 76, and the tip (sphere) of the rod 30 of the shock absorber 240 is rotatably inserted into a fourth portion 74a of the support 74.

A ball 65 is provided between the spring seat γ 6 and the piston 72 .

The ball 65 is releasable from the piston 12 and the spring seat 76 .

The rod 30, the ball 65, the support 74 and the spring seat 16 constitute a piston support member.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a recess is formed on the lower surface of the piston 78 itself, and the seat 61 is inserted therein. The seat 67 is then attached to the shock absorber 240 and the rod 30.
0 The spherical tip is pressed in a removable manner.

The rond 30 and the spring seat 80 form a piston support member.

The embodiment of FIG. 6 is similar to the embodiment of FIG.

The connection between the piston 62 and the shock absorber 24 is substantially the same in both embodiments.

However, in FIG. 6, the support member 82 and the spring seat 84
The support relationship with is reversed.

That is, the spring seat 84 has a vertical cross section resembling a "W" shape and is disposed so as to encase the support member 82 from the outside, with the intermediate member 60 interposed between the two.

Rod 30, elastic members 66, 68, spring 70, spring seat 8
4 constitutes a piston support member.

Since it has the above-mentioned structure, it has the following unique effects.

(1) By providing a means for rotatably supporting the piston and preventing forces from acting in any direction other than the direction of its motion, there is no prying action caused by the suspension spring as in the conventional art.

(2) Both the piston and the cylinder are short, allowing for significant savings in installation space.

(3) The entire device can be made small and lightweight.

(4) Friction loss between the cylinder and the piston is drastically reduced.

This reduces wear. (5) Structure - Strengthens the structure.

(6) The sealing action is stable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 6 are cross-sectional views showing the embodiments of the present invention, and Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 are cross-sectional views showing the conventional device. 24: Shock absorber, 28: Spring seat, 40: Suspension spring, 44: Height adjustment mechanism, 46: Cylinder, 48: Piston, 56: Support member, 60: Intermediate member, 63: Elastic body, 64: Spring seat, 65: Ball, 72: Piston, 76
: spring seat, 78: piston, 80: spring seat, 82: support member, 84: spring seat.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A shock absorber, a suspension spring provided corresponding to the shock absorber, a spring seat for the suspension spring which supports the rod of the shock absorber so as to be able to swing, a support member which supports and guides the spring seat so as to be able to slide, a piston which constitutes a vehicle height adjustment mechanism, and a cylinder which constitutes the vehicle height adjustment mechanism.
and a means for connecting said piston and said spring seat so as to be able to operate together only in the axial direction of said piston, thereby preventing the occurrence of a prying force between said piston and said cylinder.