JP3678059B2 - Steering knuckle stopper structure - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a steering knuckle stopper structure that regulates the maximum turning angle of a wheel.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventional knuckle stopper structures include those described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-280 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-298114.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a stopper bolt 51 serving as a stopper projection is disposed on the knuckle arm 50, and a bracket 53 having a substantially flat contact surface is attached to the suspension link 52. By forming a stopper receiving surface 54 (contacting surface) that is an inclined surface, the head of the stopper bolt 51 of the knuckle arm 50 contacts the stopper receiving surface 54 when the wheel is steered to the maximum turning angle. The maximum turning angle of the wheel is regulated by contact.
[0003]
In the steering knuckle stopper structure described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-298114, the stopper receiving surface 54 is set in a slightly concave arc shape in the vertical direction. Thereby, even when the wheel is bound or rebounded, the stopper receiving surface 54 is in contact with the stopper bolt 51 at a right angle as much as possible to prevent the stopper bolt 51 from being loaded with a load in the bending direction. .
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in the conventional steering knuckle stopper structure, the stopper bolt 51 (protrusion) is provided on the knuckle side, and the stopper receiving surface 54 is provided on the suspension link 52. That is, the contact surface of the contact portion on the knuckle side is set to be small with the head of the stopper bolt 51 (the tip portion of the projection), and the displacement in the vertical direction of the mutual contact position caused by the bounce of the wheel or the like The surface 54 has a structure to cope with by setting it as a plane having a predetermined area (the same as the above, although there may be some curvature as described above).
[0005]
Thus, conventionally, the contact position of the stopper bolt 51 with respect to the stopper receiving surface 54 provided on the side surface of the suspension link 52 is displaced in the vertical direction in accordance with the bound / rebound of the wheel.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, in a normal state where the wheel is not bound or rebounded, the contact position of the stopper bolt 51 to the stopper receiving surface 54 and the input direction from the contact position, that is, the contact of the stopper bolt 51 Even if the contact direction is set so as to pass the link axis L of the suspension link 52, the contact position of the stopper bolt 51 is offset in the vertical direction from the contact position in the normal state when the wheel bounces and rebounds. In this state, when the stopper bolt 51 contacts the stopper receiving surface 54, a moment around the link axis L is input to the suspension link 52, and the suspension link 52 rotates. As a result, unnecessary swinging may occur in the ball joint 55 that connects the suspension link 52 and the knuckle, or unnecessary twisting may occur in the bush 56 that attaches the suspension link 52 to the suspension member.
[0006]
In addition, the said state generate | occur | produces, for example, when a wheel collides with a curb etc. in the state steered to the maximum turning angle.
The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent the suspension link from rotating when the maximum turning angle is restricted.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is configured such that the knuckle-side contact portion provided on the knuckle arm contacts the contact surface of the link-side contact portion provided on the suspension link. In the steering knuckle stopper structure that regulates the maximum turning angle of the wheel,
The contour along the vertical direction on the contact surface of the link side contact portion is such that the contact direction of the knuckle side contact portion with respect to the link side contact portion always passes the link axis of the suspension link or the vicinity thereof. It is characterized by becoming.
[0008]
For example, the contour in the vertical direction of the contact surface of the link-side contact portion may be a substantially arc shape that is convex toward the knuckle-side contact portion side.
Here, the link axis refers to an axis passing through a straight line connecting the wheel side attachment point and the vehicle body side attachment point of the suspension link.
Next, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the stopper projection, which is a link-side contact portion protruding from the suspension link, is provided on the stopper receiving surface of the knuckle-side contact portion provided on the knuckle arm . It is characterized in that the maximum turning angle of the wheel is regulated by abutting so as to pass on or near the link axis .
[0009]
Next, in the invention described in claim 3, in the configuration described in claim 2, the vertical contour of the abutting surface that contacts the stopper receiving surface of the stopper projection is directed toward the stopper receiving surface. It is characterized by a convex substantially arc shape.
Next, the invention described in claim 4 is to configurations described in 請 Motomeko 3, the vertical contour of the contact surface in contact with the stopper protrusion portion in the stopper receiving surface, the protrusion stopper It is characterized by having a substantially arcuate convex shape .
[0010]
Next, the invention described in claim 5 is the suspension link provided with the stopper projections in the configuration described in any one of claims 1 to 4. Are both set to one point.
[0011]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the invention, even when the wheel bounces or rebounds, the contact direction of the knuckle-side contact portion with respect to the link-side contact portion always faces the link axis of the suspension link or the vicinity thereof ( Therefore, even if the knuckle-side contact portion comes into contact with the link-side contact portion in a state where the wheel bounces and rebounds, the rotation around the link axis due to the input is prevented.
[0012]
As a result, the occurrence of twisting at the attachment portion of the suspension link is prevented, and the life of the bush or the like provided at the link attachment portion is improved.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the contact surface on the suspension link side becomes a projecting surface (conventional projecting portion side), the contact position on the suspension link side is set small. Therefore, even if the link side contact part and the knuckle side contact part come into contact with each other when the wheel bounces or rebounds, the contact position of the link side contact part where the knuckle side contact part comes into contact is Directional displacement is set to zero or small. As a result, the moment around the link axis input to the suspension link when the link side contact portion and the knuckle side contact portion collide can be set small, and the same effect as the invention according to claim 1 can be obtained. Arise.
[0013]
In addition to the above effects, the contact point between the link-side contact portion and the knuckle-side contact portion is arranged on or near the link axis. As a result, the knuckle against the link-side contact portion with the bounding / rebounding of the wheel. Even if the abutting direction of the side abutting portion is inclined obliquely in the vertical direction, that is, regardless of the inclination state of the abutting direction, the input direction from the knuckle side abutting portion to the link side abutting portion (abutting direction) ) Reliably passes the link axis or the vicinity thereof, and the suspension link is reliably prevented from rotating.
In the present invention, the abutment position of the link side abutment portion in the knuckle side abutment portion is displaced in the vertical direction by the bounce / rebound of the wheel.
Next, according to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effect described in claim 2, even if the wheel bounces and rebounds, the contact of the stopper receiving surface with the protrusion is always in the same state. Even if it bounces or rebounds, the contact of the protrusion with the stopper receiving surface is stable.
[0015]
Next, according to the fifth aspect of the invention, even if the suspension link is easy to rotate around the link axis such as an eye arm, the suspension link is reliably prevented from rotating around the link axis when the maximum turning angle is restricted. There is an effect that can be.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a suspension structure having a steering knuckle stopper structure according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view for explaining the steering knuckle stopper structure of the present embodiment.
[0017]
In the suspension structure, as shown in FIG. 1, the suspension link includes lower links 1 and 2 and an upper link 3, and the lower link includes a compression rod 1 and a transverse link 2. As shown in FIG. 2, a steering knuckle stopper structure is provided between the knuckle arm 4 and the knuckle arm 4.
[0018]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 represents a knuckle, reference numeral 6 represents a tie rod, and reference numeral 7 represents a shock absorber.
The compression rod 1 has a wheel side end connected to a lower portion of the knuckle 5 via a ball joint 8, and a vehicle body side end connected to a suspension member via a link bush 9. The midway position in the extending direction of the compression rod 1 is bent toward the transverse link 2 in plan view.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 2, a stopper projection 10 constituting a link-side contact portion is formed on the side surface of the compression rod 1 on the knuckle 5 side. The stopper projection 10 has a hemispherical shape, and its tip end portion 11 is designed to be disposed on or near the link axis L that connects between the both end mounting portions of the compression rod 1. It is set so that the front end portion 11 of the stopper projection portion 10 may be in contact with a stopper receiving surface 12 described later.
[0020]
A bracket 13 constituting a knuckle-side contact portion is provided at a portion of the knuckle arm 4 that can face the stopper projection 10. The opposing surface of the bracket 13 that faces the stopper projection 10 is set to a substantially flat surface to constitute the stopper receiving surface 12. As a result, even if the wheel bounces or rebounds, the bracket 13 which is the knuckle side abutting portion comes into contact with the distal end portion 11 of the stopper projection 10 provided on the compression rod 1 reliably.
[0021]
Next, operations and effects of the steering knuckle stopper structure having the above-described configuration will be described.
When a steering wheel (not shown) is rotated to turn the vehicle, the knuckle arm 4 is rotated via the tie rod 6 and the wheels are steered. As the turning angle of the wheel increases, the knuckle arm 4 approaches the compression rod 1 that is the suspension link, and when the wheel is steered to the maximum turning angle of the wheel, the stopper protrusion 10 of the compression rod 1 is moved. Thus, the bracket 13 provided on the knuckle arm 4 abuts to regulate the maximum turning angle of the wheel.
[0022]
At this time, when the bracket 13 comes into contact with the stopper projection 10 in a normal state where the wheels are not bound and rebound, as shown in FIG. 3, it comes into contact with the tip 11 of the stopper projection 10. Thus, since the input to the compression rod 1 due to contact passes through the link axis L, the rotation around the link axis L does not occur in the compression rod 1.
[0023]
Further, even when the wheels are in contact with the bounced state, the bracket 13 is in contact with the stopper projection 10 in a state of being relatively displaced downward, but the stopper projection 10 is in the vicinity of the tip 11 and the bracket 13. Therefore, the input direction (contact direction) to the compression rod 1 due to the contact reliably passes on or near the link axis L of the compression rod 1, and the compression rod 1 rotates around the link axis L. Does not occur.
[0024]
Similarly, even when the wheel rebounds, the compression rod 1 does not rotate around the link axis L by contacting the bracket 13 in the vicinity of the tip 11 of the stopper projection 10.
Here, when the stopper projection 10 comes into contact with the bracket 13 with the wheels bounced or rebounded, the contact direction is directed obliquely downward or obliquely upward, but the contact is on or near the link axis L. Since it is set so as to occur, even if the contact direction is inclined in the vertical direction, the contact direction surely passes on or near the link axis L. That is, the contact direction can always be set to pass through the link axis L or the vicinity thereof without being affected by the vertical inclination of the contact direction due to the bounding / rebounding of the wheel.
[0025]
As described above, regardless of whether the wheel is bound or rebounded, the stopper projection 10 abuts against the stopper receiving surface 12 on or near the link axis L and causes the compression rod 1 to have a rotational moment around the link axis L. Occurrence is avoided. As a result, when restricting the maximum turning angle of the wheel, unnecessary swinging of the ball joint 8 connecting the knuckle 5 and the compression rod 1 is reduced, and the link bush 9 connecting the compression rod 1 to the suspension member is reduced. The occurrence of twisting is prevented, and the life of the ball joint 8 and the link bush 9 is improved.
[0026]
Here, in the above-described embodiment, the tip 11 (the contact point with the stopper receiving surface 12) of the stopper projection 10 is set so as to pass on the link axis L, but the position of the tip 11 is It may be set in front of or behind the link axis L. For example, the protrusion 11 may be set closer to the stopper receiving surface 12 than the link axis L so that the link axis L passes through the position indicated by the symbol P in FIG. Even in this case, the stopper receiving surface 12 always abuts at or near the front end portion 11 of the stopper projection 10 so as to correspond to the vertical inclination of the abutting direction associated with the bounding / rebounding of the wheel. Since only a small moment is generated around the link axis L, the rotation of the compression rod 1 around the link axis L that occurs when the maximum turning angle is restricted is suppressed to a small level, and the twisting of the bush 9 is suppressed to a small level.
[0027]
In addition, the shape of the stopper protrusion 10 as a whole need not be hemispherical, and only the contact surface that can come into contact with the stopper receiving surface 12 that is the knuckle-side contact portion needs to be hemispherical. . Accordingly, the stopper projection 10 may be constituted by a bolt as in the conventional example.
Furthermore, the shape of the tip 11 of the stopper projection 10 is not limited to a hemispherical shape as long as it has a substantially arc shape in the vertical direction, and may be a semi-cylindrical shape or the like.
[0028]
The tip of the stopper projection 10 does not necessarily have a substantially arc shape in the vertical direction. However, when the stopper projection 10 is not substantially arc-shaped, the wheel is bound to the stopper projection 10 by bounce or rebound. There is a possibility that the contact with the stopper receiving surface 12 is greatly changed, and stable contact cannot be secured. Here, in the above embodiment, the case where the link-side contact portion is constituted by the stopper projection 10 and the contact surface of the knuckle-side stopper projection 10 is the stopper receiving surface 12 will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 4, the knuckle-side contact surface is constituted by the stopper projection 20, and the contact surface of the link-side contact portion 21 is the stopper receiving surface 21a. The stopper receiving surface 21a is disposed on the stopper projection 20 side with respect to the link axis L, and has a substantially arcuate shape that is convex toward the stopper projection 20 side (knuckle arm side), for example. The steering knuckle stopper structure may be configured by setting the curved surface.
[0029]
In this case, the position of the link-side contact portion 21 with which the knuckle-side projection 20 contacts is displaced in the vertical direction as the wheel bounces or rebounds, but the contact direction (input to the link-side contact portion) (Direction) is directed to the position of the link axis L or the vicinity thereof, so that the rotation around the link axis L is prevented and the same operation and effect as described above are exhibited. The contour in the vertical direction of the link side contact portion 21 is an example, and the link axis of the compression rod is always applied even when the contact direction of the knuckle side contact portion with respect to the link side contact portion bounces or rebounds. Or it sets according to a suspension structure so that it may pass through the vicinity. In the case of this configuration, both the link side contact portion and the knuckle side contact portion may be configured by the stopper receiving surface.
[0030]
However, the above-described embodiment in which the link-side contact portion is constituted by the stopper projection 10 in that the contour shape needs to be designed in consideration of the inclination of the contact direction according to the bounding / rebounding of the wheel. The form is easier to implement.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the compression rod which consists of an eye arm shape by which both the wheel side attachment point and the vehicle body side attachment point are set to one point is mentioned as an example of a suspension link, it is not limited to this, A The suspension link may have other shapes such as an arm shape.
[0031]
However, the suspension structure has a structure in which a link-side contact portion is provided on an eye-arm-shaped suspension link in which both the wheel-side attachment point and the vehicle-body-side attachment point are set to one point, that is, a suspension that easily turns around the link axis L. In particular, the present invention works effectively when applied. Furthermore, even if it is an eye arm shape, it acts most effectively in the case of the shape which is easy to rotate like the present embodiment where the middle of the extending direction was bent.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a suspension structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a steering knuckle stopper structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a contact state of a stopper receiving surface to a stopper projection according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing another example of the steering knuckle stopper structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of a conventional steering knuckle stopper structure.
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a contact state of a stopper receiving surface to a stopper projection in a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
L Link axis 1 Compression rod (Suspension link)
2 Lateral rod 3 Upper link 4 Knuckle arm 5 Knuckle 6 Tie rod 7 Shock absorber 8 Ball joint 9 Link bush 10 Stopper projection 11 Tip 12 Stopper receiving surface 13 Bracket (knuckle side contact part)

Claims (5)

In the steering knuckle stopper structure that regulates the maximum turning angle of the wheel by abutting the knuckle side abutting portion provided on the knuckle arm to the abutting surface of the link side abutting portion provided on the suspension link,
The contour along the vertical direction of the contact surface of the link side contact portion is such that the contact direction of the knuckle side contact portion with respect to the link side contact portion always passes through the link axis of the suspension link or the vicinity thereof. Steering knuckle stopper structure characterized by The stopper projection, which is the link-side contact portion protruding from the suspension link, is applied to the stopper receiving surface of the knuckle-side contact portion provided on the knuckle arm so as to pass on or near the link axis of the suspension link. The steering knuckle stopper structure is characterized by restricting the maximum turning angle of the wheel by contact .  The steering knuckle according to claim 2, wherein the contour of the abutment surface in contact with the stopper receiving surface of the protrusion for stopper is a substantially arc shape that is convex toward the stopper receiving surface. Stopper structure. The steering according to claim 3, wherein the contour of the contact surface that contacts the stopper projection on the stopper receiving surface has a substantially arc shape that is convex toward the stopper projection. Knuckle stopper structure.  The steering knuckle stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the suspension link provided with the stopper projection has both a wheel side attachment point and a vehicle body side attachment point set to one point. Construction.

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