JP4191631B2 - Suspension device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a suspension device that supports a knuckle with an upper arm and a lower arm, and more particularly, to a suspension device that supports a lower arm width direction outer end via a ball joint on a lower arm support bracket coupled to a lower surface of an upper arm body.

  FIG. 4 shows a knuckle 01 of a conventional suspension device. The knuckle 01 has a lower arm support bracket 03 made of a ferrous metal joined to the lower end of a light alloy forged knuckle body 02 with two bolts 04 and 05. Thus, the outer end in the vehicle width direction of the upper arm 06 is connected to the upper end of the knuckle body 01, and the outer end in the vehicle width direction of the lower arm 07 is connected to the lower arm support bracket 03. A pair of bosses 02a and 02b projecting downward are integrally formed at the front and rear ends of the lower part of the knuckle body 02 to which the lower arm 07 is connected, and the lower arm support bracket 03 is formed on the lower surface of these bosses 02a and 02b. Both front and rear ends are fastened with bolts 04 and 05. A space 08 is formed between the recess 02c sandwiched between the pair of boss portions 02a and 02b of the knuckle body 02 and the upper surface of the lower arm support bracket 03, and is fixed to the lower arm support bracket 03 with a nut 09 to The outer end in the vehicle width direction of the lower arm 07 is connected to the upper end of the ball joint 010 extending into 08.

  By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional one, if the nut 09 is loosened due to vibration or the like accompanying the running of the vehicle, the ball joint 010 may fall off from the lower arm support bracket 03 of the knuckle 01 and the lower arm 07 and the knuckle 01 may be separated. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent a ball joint from falling out of a knuckle even when a nut that fixes a ball joint that supports an outer end in a vehicle width direction of a lower arm to a knuckle is loosened. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a knuckle formed by connecting a lower arm support bracket so as to form a space on the lower surface of the knuckle body, and an inner end in the vehicle width direction on the vehicle body. The upper arm connected in the vehicle width direction to the upper part of the knuckle body, the inner end in the vehicle width direction connected to the vehicle body, and the outer end in the vehicle width direction connected to the lower arm support bracket via a ball joint. The ball joint includes a head connected to the lower arm in the space, a shaft extending downward from the head and penetrating the mounting hole of the lower arm support bracket, and a nut extending downward from the shaft. In the suspension device having the male screw portion fastened by the screw, the distance between the lower surface of the knuckle body facing the space and the upper surface of the outer end in the vehicle width direction of the lower arm Suspension system is characterized in that smaller than the distance between the upper end of the lower end and the lower arm support bracket of the mounting hole of the externally threaded portion of the joint is proposed.

  According to the configuration of claim 1, the ball joint that supports the outer end of the lower arm in the vehicle width direction on the lower arm support bracket of the knuckle is connected to the head connected to the lower arm in the space between the knuckle body and the lower arm support bracket. A shaft portion extending downward from the head and penetrating through the mounting hole of the lower arm support bracket; and a male screw portion extending downward from the shaft portion and fastened by a nut; and a lower surface of the knuckle body facing the space; The distance from the upper surface of the outer end of the lower arm in the vehicle width direction was made smaller than the distance between the lower end of the ball joint male thread and the upper end of the lower arm support bracket mounting hole, so that the nut would loosen and fall off the male thread. Even in this case, the upper surface of the lower arm interferes with the lower surface of the knuckle body to prevent the ball joint from moving upward. Lower arm so as not fall out lifting bracket can be prevented from being separated from the knuckle.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on examples of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.

  1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a double wishbone type suspension of a left rear wheel, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in two directions in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the double wishbone type suspension device S includes a knuckle 13 supported on the vehicle body by an upper arm 11 and a lower arm 12. The knuckle 13 includes a knuckle body 14 made of light alloy forging, and a lower arm support bracket 15 made of an iron-based material fastened to the lower part thereof. The knuckle body 14 includes an axle support portion 14a that rotatably supports the axle of the wheel W, and an upper arm support portion 14b that extends upward from the axle support portion 14a, and a ball joint at the upper end of the upper arm support portion 14b. 16, the outer end of the upper arm 11 in the vehicle width direction is pivotally supported.

  As is apparent from FIG. 3, a pair of bosses 14c and 14d protrude downward from the front and rear ends of the axle support 14a of the knuckle body 14, and a recess 14e recessed upward between the bosses 14c and 14d. Is formed. The lower arm support bracket 15 includes front and rear end mounting portions 15a and 15b, a central lower arm support portion 15c, and a pair of inclined connection portions 15d and 15e that connect the mounting portions 15a and 15b and the lower arm support portion 15c. The front support portion 15 a is fixed to the lower end of the front boss portion 14 c with the stud bolt 17 and the nut 18, and the rear attachment portion 15 b is fixed to the lower end of the rear boss portion 14 d with the bolt 19. The lower arm support portion 15c of the lower arm support bracket 15 is positioned lower than the mounting portions 15a and 15b, and the lower arm 12 is formed in a space 20 formed between the recess 14e of the knuckle body 14 and the lower arm support portion 15c of the lower arm support bracket 15. The vehicle width direction outer end of is arranged.

  The ball joint 21 that pivotally supports the outer end in the vehicle width direction of the lower arm 12 to the lower arm support bracket 15 includes a spherical head 22a, a conical shaft portion 22b that is continuous with the head portion 22a, and a male screw portion 22c that is continuous with the shaft portion 22b. The ball stud 22 comprised by these is provided. The shaft portion 22b of the ball stud 22 passes through the mounting hole 15f provided in the lower arm support portion 15c of the lower arm support bracket 15 from the top to the bottom, and the nut 23 is screwed into the male screw portion 22c protruding downward from the lower arm support portion 15c. It is fixed by that. The ball joint 21 includes a cup-shaped housing 12 a fixed to the end of the lower arm 12. A synthetic resin bearing 25 slidably contacting the head 22a of the ball stud 22 is housed on the inner peripheral surface of the housing 12a, and is held by a retainer 26 fixed so as to cover the opening of the housing 12a. A boot 27 is mounted between the opening of the housing 12a and the lower arm support portion 15c of the lower arm support bracket 15 so that dust and the like do not enter the head 22a of the ball stud 22 and the sliding surface of the bearing 25.

  The height h1 from the bottom surface of the recess 14e of the knuckle body 14 to the lower ends of the boss portions 14c, 14d is from the lower ends of the boss portions 14c, 14d to the lower arm support portion 15c of the lower arm support bracket 15, that is, from the lower arm 12 to the lower arm support bracket 15. It is made smaller than the height h2 to the load input point. Thus, by making the protrusion height h1 of the pair of boss portions 14c, 14d provided at the lower end of the knuckle body 14 small, the process of protruding the boss portions 14c, 14d when forging the knuckle body 14 is easy. Thus, not only the processing cost is reduced, but also the rigidity of the boss portions 14c and 14d to which the load from the lower arm 12 is transmitted through the lower arm support bracket 15 can be increased.

  The distance d1 from the bottom surface of the recess 14e of the knuckle body 14 to the upper end of the ball joint 21 is smaller than the distance d2 from the upper end of the mounting hole 15f of the lower arm support portion 15c to the lower end of the male screw portion 22c of the ball stud 22. . Accordingly, the nut 23 for fixing the ball stud 22 of the ball joint 21 to the lower arm support bracket 15 is loosened and dropped due to vibration or the like accompanying traveling of the vehicle, and the shaft portion 22b of the ball stud 22 is removed from the mounting hole 15f of the lower arm support bracket 15. Even if it is about to fall upward, the housing 12a of the ball joint 21 comes into contact with the bottom surface of the recess 14e of the knuckle body 14 to prevent the ball joint 21 from falling off and reliably prevent the lower arm 12 from being separated from the knuckle 13. can do.

  Since the ball joint 21 cannot be attached after the lower arm support bracket 15 is coupled to the knuckle body 14, the lower arm support bracket 15 to which the ball joint 21 has been previously attached needs to be coupled to the knuckle body 14.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various design changes can be made without departing from the present invention described in the claims. It is.

  For example, in the embodiment, the double wishbone type suspension apparatus S is illustrated, but the present invention can be applied to any other type of suspension apparatus.

Perspective view of left wish wheel double wishbone suspension 2 direction enlarged view of FIG. Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part FIG. 2 is a diagram corresponding to FIG.

Explanation of symbols

11 Upper arm 12 Lower arm 13 Knuckle 14 Knuckle body 15 Lower arm support bracket 15f Mounting hole 20 Space 21 Ball joint 22a Head portion 22b Shaft portion 22c Male thread portion 23 Nut d1 Distance d2 Distance

Claims (1)

A knuckle (13) formed by connecting a lower arm support bracket (15) so as to form a space (20) on the lower surface of the knuckle body (14), and an inner end in the vehicle width direction are connected to the vehicle body, and an outer end in the vehicle width direction. The upper arm (11) is connected to the upper part of the knuckle body (14), the inner end in the vehicle width direction is connected to the vehicle body, and the outer end in the vehicle width direction is connected to the lower arm via the ball joint (21). A lower arm (12) connected to the
The ball joint (21) includes a head (22a) connected to the lower arm (12) in the space (20), and a mounting hole (15f) extending from the head (22a) to the lower arm support bracket (15). In the suspension device having a shaft portion (22b) that passes through the shaft portion and a male screw portion (22c) that extends downward from the shaft portion (22b) and is fastened by a nut (23),
The distance (d1) between the lower surface of the knuckle body (14) facing the space (20) and the upper surface of the outer end in the vehicle width direction of the lower arm (12) A suspension device characterized in that it is smaller than the distance (d2) from the upper end of the mounting hole (15f) of the support bracket (15).

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