JP4908126B2 - Front fender - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a front fender for a front wheel of a motorcycle or a tricycle.

It is known that a front fender that covers the front wheel of a motorcycle is provided with a shock absorbing function. In this front fender, the front fender is easily compressed and deformed (hereinafter referred to as the bumper). The impact force is absorbed by the bumper portion being crushed at the time of collision (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-225767 A

However, since the conventional front fender is dimensioned in consideration of the crushing allowance of the bumper portion, there is a problem that the bulk becomes large.
In addition, since the shock absorbing structure is adopted for the bumper part, the entire front fender is also restricted by the shape and size, and there is a problem that the design freedom of the front fender is narrowed.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a front fender that is compact and has a high degree of design freedom while efficiently absorbing energy during a collision.

The front fender according to the present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems.
The invention according to claim 1, a motorcycle (for example, motorcycle 1 in the embodiment) in the front fender or motor tricycle (e.g., a front fender 30 in the embodiment) is formed of a metal, the front wheel (For example, the front wheel 2 in the embodiment described later) The upper surface portion (for example, the upper surface portion 31 in the embodiment described later) formed in a substantially arc shape along the outer periphery, and the bulge formed in the front portion of the upper surface portion. A protruding portion (for example, a bulging portion 33 in an embodiment to be described later) and a side surface portion (for example, described later) that extends downward from the left and right side edges of the upper surface portion and is spaced from each other by a predetermined distance from the side surface of the front wheel. A plurality of recesses extending in the front-rear direction (for example, the recesses 34 in the embodiments to be described later). Is provided to extend from the upper surface portion to the rear portion of the top plate portion of the bulging portion (e.g., the top plate portion 38 in the embodiment described later), and a plurality of concave portions (e.g., A recess 37 in an embodiment described later) is provided, and a front edge of the upper surface portion (for example, a front edge 31a in the embodiment described later) is located behind the front end of the front tire (2a) and on the wheel (2d). When the front end of the bulging portion is positioned behind the front edge of the upper surface portion and forward of the front end of the wheel, and the bulging portion matches the vehicle body and the occupant. It is characterized by being arranged at a position higher than the height of the center of gravity (for example, the center of gravity G in the embodiment described later).
By configuring in this way, it is possible to suppress the increase in the volume of the front fender because it only forms a bulging portion at the front part of the upper surface part of the front fender while efficiently absorbing energy at the time of collision. And the design freedom of a front fender can be enlarged.

In addition , a moment in the direction of pressing down the vehicle body around the contact point of the bulging part against the obstacle at the time of a collision acts on the vehicle body, so that the rear wheel lift can be suppressed and the collision energy is effectively absorbed. be able to.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the front portion of the bulging portion is formed in an arc shape.
By configuring in this way, the height of the contact position of the bulging portion with respect to the obstacle is maintained substantially constant with respect to some forward rotational displacement from the normal posture before the collision at the time of the collision. be able to.

According to the invention which concerns on Claim 1, energy can be absorbed efficiently at the time of a collision. Moreover, the volume increase of a front fender can be suppressed. Furthermore, the design freedom of the front fender can be increased.
In addition , it is possible to effectively absorb energy while suppressing the lifting on the rear wheel side.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the height of the contact position of the bulging portion with respect to the obstacle can be maintained substantially constant with respect to the rotational displacement of the front fender at the time of collision, so that the rear wheel side lift is suppressed. Thus, energy can be effectively absorbed.

  Embodiments of a front fender according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings of FIGS. The embodiment described below is an aspect in which the present invention is applied to a motorcycle, and the directions such as front, rear, left and right in the following description are the same as those in the vehicle unless otherwise specified. In the figure, an arrow FR indicates the front of the vehicle, and an arrow UP indicates the upper side of the vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the front wheel 2 of the motorcycle 1 is rotatably supported by a pair of left and right front forks 3. The front fork 3 is constituted by a so-called telescopic front fork in which an inner tube 3b is attached to an outer tube 3a so as to be extendable and contracted, and has a damper mechanism therein. Further, in this embodiment, a so-called erect front fork in which the outer tube 3a is disposed on the lower side and the inner tube 3b is disposed on the upper side is employed, and the front wheel 2 is supported by the outer tube 3a. The inner tube 3b of each front fork 3 is pivotally supported by the head pipe 6 at the front end portion of the vehicle body frame 5 via the steering stem 4 so as to be steerable. A front wheel steering handle 13 is attached to the upper portion of the steering stem 4. A pair of left and right main frames 7 extend obliquely downward and rearward from the head pipe 6, and below the main frame 7, a water-cooled four-stroke horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine 10 that is a prime mover of the motorcycle 1 is mounted. .

  A pivot plate 8 connected to the rear end portion of each main frame 7 is pivotally supported by a front end portion of a swing arm 11 that pivotally supports a rear wheel 9. The swing arm 11 is a cantilever type that pivotally supports the rear wheel 9 at the rear end of the hollow cantilever arm, and a drive shaft (not shown) led out from the engine 10 is inserted into the cantilever arm. The power transmission between the engine 10 and the rear wheel 9 is enabled through the drive shaft and the gear box 12 at the center of the rear wheel.

  Near the pivot plate 8, a front end portion of a seat frame 14 for supporting a passenger seat 15 is joined. The front part of the seat 15 is a driver's seat and the rear part is a rear passenger's seat. A rear trunk is formed behind the seat 15 to form a rear passenger's seat back 16. 17 is arranged.

A large front cowl 19 having a pair of left and right headlamps 18 is provided at the front of the vehicle body of the motorcycle 1, and a large wind screen 20 is provided above the front of the front cowl 19. A top shelter 21 that covers the vehicle body from the rear side of the front cowl 19 to the front portion of the seat 15 is provided, and a fuel tank 22 is disposed below the rear portion of the top shelter 21 and the front portion of the seat 15.
Left and right saddle bags 23 are disposed on the lower side of the rear portion of the seat 15 and the rear trunk 17, and an engine exhaust silencer 24 is disposed below the left and right saddle bags 23.

  A main stand 25 for supporting the vehicle body in an upright state is provided in the vehicle body frame 5 in the vicinity of the lower end of the left and right pivot plate 8 so that the vehicle body can be stowed. A side stand 26 is provided so as to be retractable so as to be supported in a state where the upper part is inclined so that the upper part is located on the left side.

  A front fender 30 is provided between the outer tubes 3 a of the left and right front forks 3 to cover the upper part of the front wheel 2 along the circumferential direction. The front fender 30 includes a first fender 30A that covers the front wheel 2 positioned in front of the outer tube 3a, and a second fender 30B that covers the front wheel 2 positioned in the rear of the outer tube 3a. 2 is a side view of the first fender 31, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same.

The first fender 30A is formed of a metal having high rigidity, and is separated from the tread portion 2b of the tire 2a, which is the outer periphery of the front wheel 2, by a predetermined dimension, and an upper surface portion 31 formed in a substantially arc shape along the tread portion 2b. A side surface portion 32 extending downward from the left and right side edges of the upper surface portion 31 and spaced from each other by a predetermined distance from the sidewall 2c of the tire 2a, and a bulging portion protruding from the front portion of the upper surface portion 31. 33.
The upper surface portion 31 is provided with a plurality of concave portions 34 extending in the front-rear direction in order to improve rigidity.

  The rear portion 35 of the side surface portion 32 extends below the front portion 36 of the side surface portion 32, and the first fender is formed by fastening the rear end of the rear portion 35 to the outer tube 3a with, for example, a bolt via the fender cover 27. 31 is fixed to the outer tube 3a. In a state where the first fender 31 is fixed to the outer tube 3a, the lower edge of the front portion 36 is disposed substantially horizontally. An opening 36 a is formed in the front portion 36, and the front edge of the front portion 36 is continuous with the front edge 31 a of the upper surface portion 31. In addition, the side surface portion 32 is formed with a plurality of concave portions 37 extending in the front-rear direction for the purpose of improving rigidity and design.

  The bulging portion 33 is disposed at the center of the upper surface portion 31 in the left-right direction, bulges upward from the upper surface portion 31, and is connected to the top plate portion 38 disposed in a substantially horizontal posture and the front end of the top plate portion 38 in a side view. The front plate portion (front portion) 39 has an arc shape, and the top plate portion 38 and the side plate portion 40 that connects both side ends of the front plate portion 39 to the upper surface portion 31. In the rear portion of the top plate portion 38, the above-described concave portion 34 is provided extending from the upper surface portion 31.

Bulging portion 33 is located higher H than the height h _G of the center of gravity G when combined vehicle and the occupant at the time of boarding. Since the first fender 31 is fixed to the outer tube 3a of the front fork 3, the height of the bulging portion 33 is kept constant even during braking. Further, the front end of the front plate portion 39 is located slightly rearward of the front edge 31a of the upper surface portion 31, and is disposed behind the front end of the tire 2a of the front wheel 2 and ahead of the front end of the wheel 2d. ing. That is, the bulging portion 33 is located at the foremost end of the vehicle body except for the front edge 31a of the upper surface portion 31 that is compressed and deformed in the same manner as the tire 2a that is compressed and deformed at the time of a frontal collision. It can be said that it is located.

  The second fender 30B is made of resin, has a substantially U-shaped cross section, is formed in a substantially arc shape when viewed from the side, and is spaced apart from the tread portion 2b and the sidewall 2c of the tire 2a by a predetermined dimension.

  When the motorcycle 1 configured as described above collides with an obstacle ahead, the tire 2a of the front wheel 2 is compressed as shown in FIG. 4 (a), and the first fender 30A of the first fender 30A is shown in FIG. 4 (b). The front edge 31a of the upper surface portion 31 is slightly displaced, and the front plate portion 39 of the bulging portion 33 of the first fender 30A first contacts an obstacle in the rigid member constituting the motorcycle 1. At this time, since the bulging portion 33 is disposed at a position higher than the height of the center of gravity G when the vehicle body and the occupant are combined, the vehicle body is lowered below the vehicle body around the contact point of the bulging portion 33 with respect to the obstacle. The moment in the direction of pressing is acted on, and the lifting on the rear wheel 9 side can be suppressed. Thereby, energy absorption can be performed more effectively at the time of a collision.

  In particular, in this embodiment, since the front plate portion 39 of the bulging portion 33 is formed in an arc shape when viewed from the side, the first fender 30 of the front fender 30 when it collides with the obstacle 100 as shown in FIG. Even when the fender 30A is rotationally displaced slightly forward from the normal posture before the collision, the height of the contact point of the bulging portion 33 with respect to the obstacle 100 can be maintained substantially constant. Therefore, also at this time, the lifting on the rear wheel 9 side can be suppressed.

Moreover, since the front fender 30 can improve collision safety only by providing the bulging part 33 in the upper surface part 31 of the 1st fender 31, it suppresses the volume increase of the front fender 30 resulting from collision safety provision. And the design freedom of the front fender 30 is large. In addition, since the bulging portion 33 is within the lateral width of the upper surface portion 31 of the first fender 30A, the first fender 30A may increase in size in the left-right direction due to the provision of the bulging portion 33. The front fender 30 can be configured compactly.
The front fender 30 provided with the bulging portion 33 is particularly effective as an auxiliary protection device when provided in the motorcycle 1 equipped with an airbag device.

[Other Examples]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the front end of the front plate portion 39 is positioned slightly behind the front edge 31a of the upper surface portion 31, but the front end of the front plate portion 39 and the front edge 31a of the upper surface portion 31 are arranged in the front-rear direction. Ru also der be co-located or placed in front.
Further, the vehicle is not limited to a motorcycle, and can be applied to an automobile tricycle.

1 is a side view of a motorcycle including a front fender according to the present invention. It is a side view of the 1st fender which comprises the principal part of the said front fender. It is an external appearance perspective view of the said 1st fender. It is a side view of the said 1st fender at the time of a collision, (a) is a figure before rotational displacement, (b) is a figure which shows after rotational displacement.

Explanation of symbols

1 Motorcycle 2 Front wheel
2a tire
2d wheel 30 front fender 31 upper surface part
31a Leading edge
32 side part 33 bulge part
34 recess
37 recess
38 Top plate

Claims (2)

In the front fender (30) of the motorcycle (1) or the tricycle,
Made of metal ,
An upper surface portion (31) formed in a substantially arc shape along the outer periphery of the front wheel (2), a bulging portion (33) formed at the front portion of the upper surface portion (31), and the upper surface portion (31) A side surface portion (32) extending downward from the left and right side edges of the front wheel (2) and spaced from each other by a predetermined distance from the side surface of the front wheel (2).
The upper surface portion (31) is provided with a plurality of concave portions (34) extending in the front-rear direction. Extended to the rear,
The side surface portion (32) is provided with a plurality of recesses (37) extending in the front-rear direction,
The front edge (31a) of the upper surface part (31) is located behind the front end of the tire (2a) of the front wheel (2) and ahead of the front end of the wheel (2d),
The front end of the bulging portion (33) is located behind the front edge (31a) of the upper surface portion (31) and ahead of the front end of the wheel (2d),
The front fender (30), wherein the bulging portion (33) is disposed at a position higher than the height of the center of gravity (G) when the vehicle body and the occupant are combined.   The front fender according to claim 1, wherein a front portion of the bulging portion (33) is formed in an arc shape.

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