JP2523198B2 - Vehicles with endless belts - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicle suitable for a snow bike or the like, in which a drive device provided with an endless belt is connected to a rear fork, and particularly, the drive device. It is about slimming down and making it possible to reduce costs.

[Prior Art] The applicant has already applied for a vehicle in which a vehicle body such as a road bike is used as it is, a steering ski is provided in place of the front wheels, and an endless belt type drive device is provided in place of the rear wheels. (Japanese Patent Application No. 63-307042).

In this prior art example, a drive wheel and a guide wheel are supported between a pair of rear arms that are substantially parallel to the left and right, and an endless belt is wound around these drive wheels and guide wheels to form a drive device. The drive unit is connected to the rear fork by overlapping the rear end of the rear fork, which extends swingably rearward of the vehicle body, in the vehicle width direction and passing the axle of the drive wheel between the two.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to the structure described above, the vehicle radiation dimension is increased by the amount of overlapping the rear fork and the rear arm in the vehicle radiation direction. That is, since a portion corresponding to the hub and the rim portion where the tire is removed from the rear wheel of the road bike is used as the drive wheel, the support structure and the dimensional relationship of the drive wheel with respect to the rear fork are unchanged. It cannot be inserted between the drive wheels, and must be placed outside the rear fork in the vehicle width direction. Therefore, the rear fork and at least the front portion of the rear arm project outward from the drive belt. If these parts protrude outward of the vehicle body, the stack is likely to occur during traveling on the snow surface. Therefore, in order to improve the stacking resistance, which is an extremely important performance condition of this type of vehicle, the amount of the support member such as the guide wheel protruding outward from the endless belt is reduced as much as possible, and the drive device is as much as possible. It is desirable to be slim. In addition, since the rear fork and the rear arm are configured separately, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps increase at the time of assembling the vehicle body. Therefore, it is also desired to reduce costs by reducing these.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle including an endless belt according to the present invention includes a drive device including a drive wheel, a guide wheel, and an endless belt wound between these wheels. In a vehicle connected to a rear fork that is swingably attached to a rear portion of a vehicle body, an arm portion that supports the drive wheel and the guide wheel is integrally formed with the rear fork, and the rear fork is paired left and right. It is provided and extends rearward while expanding from a connection point to the rear part of the vehicle body, and forms a widened laterally extending portion in the vicinity of the axle support portion of the drive wheel. The arm part is narrowed to support the drive wheel with a diameter larger than the guide wheel inside the overhang, and the part of the arm part that supports the guide wheel is placed inside the belt. It is characterized by being arranged.

[Operation of the Invention] By bending the rear portion of the rear fork into the space surrounded by the endless belt and extending the rear integrally therewith, and supporting the guide wheel here, the guide wheel and the like, which are conventionally separate bodies, are supported. The rear arm can be omitted. Therefore, the conventional rear arm is integrated with the rear fork, and it is not necessary to overlap and connect the rear fork and the rear arm in the radial direction of the vehicle, and thus the amount of protrusion outward from the endless belt in the support portion such as the guide wheel is small. Become.

Moreover, even if the overhanging portion of the rear fork that passes outside the belt width is unavoidably formed, the diameter of the drive wheel is larger than that of the guide wheel, so the position of this overhanging portion is higher than the axle position of the guide wheel.

Therefore, the drive device becomes slim in the vehicle width direction. Moreover, since it is not necessary to connect the rear arm, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are reduced in assembling the vehicle body.

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 7 show an embodiment in which a road bike is diverted into a snow bike. FIG. 1 is a view showing the external side surface shape of this snow bike, and FIG. 2 is a view showing the planar shape thereof.

First of all, the main components are outlined as follows: 1 is a steering ski,
2 is a front fork, 3 is a cover that covers the entire periphery of the vehicle body, 4 is a handle, 5 is a seat, 6 is a frame, 7 is an engine, 8 is a rear fork, 9 is a rear cushion, 10 is a drive device, and 6a and 8a are Brackets provided on the frame 6 and the rear fork 8 for mounting the rear cushion unit 9, respectively. Each part will be described in detail below.

The front end of the rear fork 8 is swingably attached to a pivot plate 12 at the lower rear portion of the frame by a pivot 11. In the middle portion of the rear fork 8, two intermediate sprockets 14 and 15 (second
The figure) is supported, and the intermediate sprocket 14 is connected to the drive sprocket 17 of the rear fork 8 via the first chain 16a. A rear portion of the rear fork 8 with respect to the intermediate shaft 13 forms an overhanging portion 18 that bends outward in the left-right direction, and a rear portion thereof forms a narrowing portion 19. The narrowed portion 19 is inclined so that it converges toward the center of the vehicle body in a tapered shape toward the rear.

The drive device 10 includes a drive wheel 21 and a driven sprocket 22 which are supported on an axle 20 that is laterally stretched between the left and right overhang portions 18,
Large and small guide wheels 24, 25 supported by a wheel bracket 23 welded to the rear end of the throttle portion 19, and these drive wheels.
21 and the endless belt 26 wound around the guide wheels 24 and 25.

A scraper 27 is installed between the upper and lower intermediate parts between the left and right throttle parts 19.
(FIG. 2) is laterally extended, and a bumper 28 extends obliquely upward to the rear on the back surface of the intermediate portion. The bumper 28 is attached by welding. However, it is also possible to bolt the throttle portion 19. A cover 29 is provided above the endless belt 26. The endless belt 26 in FIG. 1 is indicated by a thick line in the central portion.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged sectional shape of the driving device 10, and FIG. 4 shows a horizontal section thereof (the cover 29 is omitted). The axle 20 has a long bolt shape, and both ends thereof are supported via chain guides. This chain guide includes an eccentric plate 30 around which a corrugated engagement groove is formed, a holder 32 that is supported by the overhanging portion 18 and has a long hole 31 for allowing the axle 20 to pass therethrough, and one end. It comprises stopper rods 32, 33 which are planted on the rear fork 8 side so as to form protrusions with which the engagement grooves of the eccentric plate 30 engage.

The drive wheel 21 hub 34 has a driven sprocket 22 on one side.
, And a drum portion 35 having a known drum brake mechanism is provided on the other side. The rim 36 of the drive wheel 21 is bolted to the outer peripheral portion of the drum portion 35. rim
An annular recess 37 is formed in the center of the outer peripheral portion of 36, and a curl portion 38 is formed on both sides thereof, and a hollow pin 39 protruding outward in the left and right directions is fitted to the leg portion 40 of the curl portion 38 on both sides. It is welded in. The pin 39 is engaged with a lateral lug 41 formed on the inner surface of the endless belt 26 at a predetermined interval so as to be elongated in the vehicle radial direction.
A protrusion 42 formed on one side of the center of the scraper 27 is inserted inwardly in the recess of the rim 36 (Fig. 4). Scraper
Long holes 43 in the front-rear direction are formed at both ends of 27, and are attached to the upper surface of the intermediate portion of the throttle portion 19 by bolts 44 here, so that the position in the front-rear direction can be adjusted. As described above, when the scraper 27 is provided between the narrowed portions 19, the length thereof can be made relatively short, which is advantageous in rigidity.

The front end of the endless belt 26 is housed in the space surrounded by the left and right overhanging portions 18, and the left and right narrowed portions 19 are almost entirely the left and right wheel brackets 23 except for the connection portion with the overhanging portion 18. In addition, it is housed in the inner space of the endless belt 26.

Guide wheel shaft between the left and right wheel brackets 23
45 and 46 are supported across. One small-diameter guide wheel 24 is rotatably supported in the middle of the front guide wheel shaft 45, and a pair of large-diameter guide wheels are sandwiched by the rear guide wheel shaft 45 so as to sandwich the tip side of the guide wheel 24. 25 is rotatably supported. Both ends of the guide wheel shaft 45 are supported via a positioning structure configured similarly to the chain adjuster of the axle 20. That is, the eccentric plate 47 having the same structure as the eccentric plate 30 is used. In addition, as is clear from FIG. 3, the cover
At the lower edge of 29, an escape portion is formed in the vicinity of the eccentric plates 30 and 47, which is a recess for allowing the rotation of these plates.

5 to 7 show a part of the steering ski 1. FIG. 5 shows a part of the rear half of the side surface of the steering ski 1 by cutting away, and FIG. 6 shows a cross section taken along the line AA.
A lower end portion of a ski bracket 52 is rotatably supported by a support portion 50 provided at a substantially central portion of the ski portion so as to bulge upward. The ski bracket 52 has an upper end portion welded to a collar 53a around a support shaft 53 that is stretched between the left and right front forks 2, and further has an engaging hole 56 of an engaging portion 55 protruding from the upper end thereof from a side surface of the frame. Positioning is performed by fitting the protruding boss 2a.
As a result, the ski bracket 52 and the front fork 2
Are designed to work together.

The front portion of the lower end portion of the ski bracket 52 is a corner portion 57 which is obliquely cut out. During normal running, when the ski swing angle α (angle formed by the line L parallel to the general surface of the steering ski 1 with respect to the steering axis S) is within a predetermined angle range less than a right angle,
The corner surface 57 is formed on the bottom surface of the steering ski 1 by bending the lower portion of the support portion 50, and the stopper surface 58 is formed to overlap.
When the ski swing angle α exceeds a predetermined angle range and becomes a substantially right angle as shown in FIG. 5, for example, the corner portion 57 and the stopper surface 58 are kept apart from each other (see FIG. 2). It comes to abut. That is, when the steering ski 1 swings and the line L parallel to the general surface changes to an angle θ, and when the ski swing angle α becomes substantially right by moving to L ₁ , the steering ski 1 further steers. The ski 1 cannot swing. With this configuration, the stopper mechanism for regulating the swing of the steering ski 1 can be easily configured.

A stay 59 is formed so as to project upward at the rear of the support portion 50 of the steering ski 1, and the lower end portion of the front sub-cushion 60 is pivotally attached to this. The upper end of the front sub-cushion 60 is pivotally attached to a cushion bracket 61, one end of which is welded to a collar 53a around the support shaft 53.

A plate 62 which is inclined forward and protrudes upward is provided at the rear end of the steering ski 1, and a weld nut 63 is attached to the plate 62. On the plate 62, a back surface 65 that covers the upper surface of the rear end portion of the steering ski 1 and has substantially the same inclination as the plate 62 of the rear ski cover 64 is overlapped, and both are fixed by engaging a bolt 66 with a weld nut 63. ing. Also, the side surface 67 of the rear ski cover 64 extends forward of the stay 59, and the skid plate is bolted to the left and right of the front end with bolts 68.
It is fixed by tightening together with 69. Therefore, the rear ski cover 64 is attached to the steering ski 1 by a total of four points.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the rear plan external appearance of the steering ski 1, and the rear ski cover 64 is formed in a substantially U shape in plan view along the periphery of the stay 59. As is apparent from FIGS. 6 and 7, curl portions 70 are provided on both sides of the steering ski 1, and support plates 71 are welded on both sides of the intermediate portion thereof.
Weld nuts 72 are provided inside the upper edge portion at appropriate intervals in the front-rear direction. The skid plate 69 is attached to the support plate 71 by means of the weld nut 72 by bolts 68 so that the attachment position can be adjusted in the front-rear direction. Reference numeral 73 in the figure is a collar of the support shaft 51 and is welded to the support portion 50.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a front ski cover 74 is also attached to the front end of the steering ski 1. The front ski cover 74 is fixed at two places on the left and right by bolts 75 on the bottom surface side in a state of enclosing the front part of the steering ski 1. In addition, the front ski cover 74 is a steering ski 1.
The loop-shaped reinforcing pipe 76 provided so as to project upward at the center of the front end of the is covered so as to surround the sides from the front and extends upward longer than this.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 77 is a fuel tank, 78 is a tank cock, 79 is an oil tank, 80 is a battery, 81 is a carburetor, 82 is an air cleaner, and 83 is a muffler. Each of these parts is covered by a cover 3.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When traveling on snow,
Drive sprocket 17-first chain 16a-intermediate sprocket 14-intermediate shaft 13-intermediate sprocket 15-second chain 16b Driven sprocket 22 The pin 39 thus engaged meshes with the lateral lug 41 of the endless belt 26, so that the endless belt 26 is driven by the drive wheel 21, the guide wheels 24, 25.
The vehicle body moves forward by rotating the periphery of the vehicle. At this time, the guide wheels 24 and 25 are integrally extended rearward from the rear end portion of the rear fork 8 and are supported by the throttle portion 19 that enters the space surrounded by the endless belt 26. Therefore, a rear arm for supporting the guide wheels 23, 24 is formed separately from the rear fork 8 as in the conventional case, and this is not overlapped and connected to the rear end of the rear fork 8 in the vehicle radial direction. The amount of protrusion of the portion protruding outward from the endless belt 26 becomes the minimum necessary amount, and is far smaller than in the conventional case. Moreover, since the diameter of the drive wheel is made larger than that of the guide wheel, even if the overhanging portion of the rear fork passing through the outside of the belt width is inevitably formed, the position of this overhanging portion is higher than the axle position of the guide wheel. Therefore, the driving device becomes slim and the stacking resistance is improved. Moreover, since the supporting portions of the guide wheels 23 and 24 are formed integrally with the rear fork 8 by omitting the conventional rear arm, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are reduced, and the cost can be reduced.
However, it is also possible to separate the rear part from the throttle part 19 and bolt it to the rear part of the overhang part 18 of the rear fork 8. Moreover, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to connect the rear fork 8 and the rear arm by an indirect structure, and various members for buffering or regulating the relative swing between the rear fork and the rear arm, which is necessary for the conventional connection. Also, the colors and the like can be omitted, and the connection structure can be simplified in this respect as well, and the number of parts and the number of assembling steps can be reduced. Further, since the bumper 28 is attached to the throttle portion 19, it also serves as a strength member.

Since the carburetor 81 and the air cleaner 82 are covered with the cover 3, the outside air flowing into the surroundings of these components is warmed up to about room temperature by the engine 7 and the muffler 83, so that the carburetor 81 is less likely to be iced.

8 to 10 show another example of the vehicle body structure constructed for the purpose of preventing such icing, and FIG. 8 shows the side surface of the center portion of the vehicle body of the snow-powered motorcycle equipped with the water-cooled engine 7. It is a figure. A radiator 84 is provided in front of the frame 6, and radiator shrouds 85 are attached to both left and right sides (only the left side is shown in the drawing) of the radiator 84. The upper part of the radiator shroud 85 is in contact with the side surface of the fuel tank 77, and the lower end is connected to the side cover 86. The side cover 86 is a member that covers the periphery of the carburetor 81. The front upper part is overlapped with the radiator shroud 85 and is connected with a screw 87, and the lower part is a pre-installed stay 88 to the side of the engine 7 case with a bolt 88a. By stopping the band 89 made of rubber or the like at the rear portion, the band is detachably attached to the vehicle body and the carburetor 81 can be maintained.

9 is an enlarged cross section of the side cover 86 taken along the line AA in FIG. 8 and FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross section taken along the line BB of the side cover 86. The side cover 86 is carbureted by the side wall 90, the bottom wall 91 and the rear wall 92. 81
It is configured so as to surround the three sides and the inner side surface is open. However, as shown by the phantom line in FIG. 9, it is also possible to cover this opening portion with an inner side wall 90a substantially parallel to the side wall 90. A band 89 provided on the rear portion of the side wall 90 winds around the frame 6 (Fig. 9).

The bottom wall 91 serves as a partition wall between the carburetor 81 and the first chain 16a passing therebelow. The rear wall 92 is formed with a notch 93 cut from the inner side, on which the carburetor is cut.
It is possible to fit around the connection hose 94 between the 81 and the air cleaner 82. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the side cover 86 can be fitted from the outside of the engine 7 to the inside of the vehicle body in a fitting manner. However, the inner wall 90a (Fig. 9)
Of course, this is not the case when the above is provided.

Above the air cleaner 82, an air duct 95 that opens forward is provided in the vicinity of the bottom of the seat 5.
A rear cover 96 that covers both sides of the rear part of the vehicle body is provided behind the air cleaner 82, and the muffler 83 passing on the right side of the vehicle body is laterally covered by the rear cover 96.

Although not visible in each of these figures, the side cover 86 is also symmetrically provided on the right side of the vehicle body, and is located on each side of the exhaust pipe 97 from the carburetor 81 and the Enzan 7 to the rear muffler 83 through the right side of the vehicle body. Covering the other side. Another lower cover 98 may be provided below the side cover 86 on the side of the engine 7. The side cover 86 may be formed integrally with the radiator shroud 85 and the lower cover 98 or the lower cover 98. Note that the other vehicle body configurations are almost the same as those in FIG. 1, and the main ones among them are designated by the reference numerals used for the same functional parts in FIG.
It is shown in the figure.

With this structure, like the cover 3 in FIG.
Helps prevent carburetor 81 icing without having to cover the entire vehicle body. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the cold outside air enters the inside of the side cover 86, reaches the carburetor 81 in a warm state where it is warmed up to about room temperature by the engine 7 and the exhaust pipe 97, and further from the air duct 95 to the air cleaner. Inhaled into 82. Also, the first chain 16a
The snow scattered by is also prevented by the bottom wall 91 and the rear wall 92, and does not snow around the carburetor 81. In addition, the mixture of oil and water does not adhere even if it is a milky liquid due to freezing. Such emulsified deposits are likely to occur at low temperatures such as -3 ° C or lower. Therefore, icing of the carburetor 81 can be avoided.

Further, the warm air (air at about room temperature, hereinafter the same) flowing into the side cover 86 is guided by the rear wall 92 and reaches the air duct 95. Therefore, since warm air flows into the air cleaner 82 and snow hardly enters, it is possible to prevent clogging due to snow adhering to the internal element. In order to make this effect more remarkable, the rear portion of the side cover 86 (and also the rear wall 92 if necessary) may be extended to the air duct 95.

[Advantages of the Invention] According to the present invention, the rear forks provided as a pair on the left and right extend rearward while expanding from the connection point to the rear part of the vehicle body and widen the portion near the axle support portion of the drive wheel. A lateral projection is formed, and the rear part of the projection is narrowed again to form an arm.

Further, the rear fork arm portion is arranged inward of the space surrounded by the endless belt, and the guide wheel is supported there. The rear arm for supporting the wheel can be omitted.

Therefore, the amount of rear fork protruding outward from the endless belt can be reduced by the amount that the rear fork and the rear arm are not overlapped and connected in the vehicle width direction outside the belt width.

In addition, since the diameter of the drive wheel is larger than that of the guide wheel, even if the overhanging portion of the rear fork that passes outside the belt width is inevitably formed, the position of this overhanging portion is higher than the axle position of the guide wheel. Therefore, the driving device becomes slim and the stacking resistance is improved. Further, by integrating the conventional rear arm with the rear fork, it is possible to reduce the cost by reducing the number of parts and the number of assembling steps.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 7 show an embodiment, FIG. 1 is an external side view, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a side view of essential parts, FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view thereof, and FIG. Is an enlarged side view of the external appearance of the main part, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line AA, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of the main part. FIG. 8 is a side view of an essential part showing another structural example of the vehicle body,
9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line AA, and FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line BB. (Explanation of symbols) 1 ... Steering ski, 8 ... Rear fork, 10 ... Drive device, 18 ... Overhang part, 19 ... Throttle part, 21 ... Drive wheel, 24,
25 …… Guide wheel, 26 …… Endless belt.

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Hideaki Suzuki, 1-4-1, Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama, Ltd. Inside the Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (72) Inoue Sojin, 4-1-1, Chuo, Wako, Saitama, Ltd. In the laboratory (72) Inventor Mamoru Matsui 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama Incorporated in Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-61-271190 (JP, A) , U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle in which a drive device including a drive wheel, a guide wheel, and an endless belt wound between these is connected to a rear fork swingably attached to a rear portion of a vehicle body, the drive wheel being provided. Also, the arm portion supporting the guide wheel is formed integrally with the rear fork, and the rear fork is provided as a pair on the left and right, and extends rearward while expanding from the connecting point to the rear portion of the vehicle body. A part of the axle supporting part near the side part is widened to the side, and the part behind the overhanging part is narrowed again to form the arm part, and the inside of the overhanging part has a larger diameter than the guide wheel. A vehicle provided with an endless belt, characterized in that a portion for supporting a wheel and a portion for supporting a guide wheel of an arm portion is arranged in a space inside a belt.