JPS627001B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an initial setting load adjustment device for a suspension spring interposed between relatively movable members of a shock absorber, mainly in a rear wheel suspension system such as a motorcycle.

Conventionally, in a suspension system, a suspension spring that is combined with a shock absorber is interposed between the shock absorber body and the piston rod. is designed to engage with a stopper protruding from the main body, and by rotating the sleeve and changing the relative position between the cam surface and the stopper, the sleeve can be raised and lowered to adjust the initial setting load of the spring. It's summery.

However, in order to rotate the sleeve, it has been common practice to use an operating lever or the like that is fixed to the sleeve and projects outward. Therefore, when used as a rear wheel suspension system for a motorcycle as described above, depending on the position of the operating lever, it may interfere with the passenger's body, the vehicle body, the wheels, etc., resulting in extremely unfavorable results. There is.

As a countermeasure against this, the present applicant has previously developed a system in which the operating lever 2 (holder) supporting one end of the suspension spring 1 is engaged with the stopper 4 of the shock absorber body 3 via the cam stepped surface 5, as shown in FIG. The mating cam cylinder 6 (sleeve) is formed separately, and the operating lever 2 is provided with an engaging protrusion 7 and a cam cylinder 6.
has a cam surface 8 that engages with the protrusion 7 only in one direction.
By rotating the cam cylinder 6 via the operating lever 2, the stopper 4 can be moved to any desired cam step surface 5 to freely adjust the initial setting load of the suspension spring 1, and vice versa. By rotating the operating lever 2 in the direction, this spring initial setting load does not change (that is, the relative position of the operating lever 2 with respect to the stopper 4 does not change).
We proposed a device in which the operating lever 2 could be moved to any desired position (Japanese Patent Application No. 1983-3760).

However, in this case, the operating lever 2 only engages with the cam barrel 6 in one direction, so switching of the cam step surface 5 of the cam barrel 6 is also restricted to only one direction, and the cam step surface 5 The disadvantage is that the positioning requires a large rotational force (that is, one rotation).

Furthermore, since the operating lever 2 cannot be made longer than necessary due to interference with the vehicle body etc. when attached to the vehicle body, there is also a drawback that an excessive rotational force is required when the initial load is set high.

The present invention has been proposed in view of these points, and the cam surface of the cam cylinder is formed into an uneven cam surface consisting of a plurality of grooves, and the operating lever is configured to freely rotate in the axial direction. The purpose is to remove.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, a piston rod 12 is slidably inserted into the shock absorber main body 11, and while a damping effect is exerted by a piston, cylinder chamber, orifice, etc. (not shown), the main body 11
An under bracket 13 is provided at the lower end of the piston rod 12 to connect to the wheel side, and an upper bracket 14 is provided to the tip of the piston rod 12 to connect to the vehicle body.

A suspension spring 17 is interposed between the main body 11 and the piston rod 12 via holders 15 and 16 to absorb shocks acting on the wheels.

A guide tube 18 having a split groove 19 is fitted into the outer periphery of the cylindrical main body 11, and the guide tube 18 engages with a stopper 20 protruding from the main body 11 via a locking groove 21 to prevent rotation. It is blocked.

A cam cylinder 22 is inserted from the outside of the guide cylinder 18 with relative freedom of rotation, and this cam cylinder 22 has cam surfaces 23 and 24 formed on its upper and lower end surfaces, of which the upper cam surface 23 is as shown in FIG. A protrusion 25 of a freely rotatable operating lever 25 is attached to a holder 15 to be described later.
A plurality of grooves 23a that selectively engage with the grooves 23a are formed on an uneven cam surface having a constant height and arranged circumferentially.

Further, the lower cam surface 24 is formed into cam step surfaces 24a, 24b, 24c, and 24d that have different heights in stages, and when the stopper 20 engages with the cam step surfaces 24a to 24d. , it has a shape that allows it to rotate in any direction in the radial direction.

The projection 25a that engages with the groove 23a is integrally formed at the tip of the operating lever 25, and when the operating lever 25 rotates in the vertical direction in the figure around the coupling pin 26 with the holder 15, the projection 25a engages with the groove 23a. It is adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from the groove portion 23a.

That is, the annular holder 15 pressed against the cam surface 23 and the operating lever 25 are provided with respective brackets 27, 28 of a predetermined shape and a pin 26, as shown in FIGS. , 25 are pin-coupled for free rotation, and usually both 1
Coil spring 29 (second
(Fig.), it is energized so as to be parallel to the shock absorber main body 11.

Therefore, the coil spring insertion notches 30, 31
is the bracket 27 of the holder 15 and the operating lever 2.
5 (Fig. 4A and 5).
A stopper protrusion 32 is provided at a predetermined position on the bracket 28 of the operating lever 25 to engage with the edge of the holder 15 and prevent further rotation of the operating lever 25 (see Figure A). Diagram A
reference).

Further, a positioning protrusion 33 is provided on the lower surface of the holder 15 (see FIG. 4B). This protrusion 3
3 is for positioning the holder 15 so that it does not rotate due to vibrations during driving, and the protrusion 25a of the operating lever 25 is inserted into the groove 23a of the cam surface 23.
When the holder 15 is not engaged with the holder 15, the holder 15 is allowed to rotate with a small force.

In this embodiment, the cam cylinder 22 is formed symmetrically when viewed from the axial direction, and the stopper 2
Similarly, two 0's are formed symmetrically. Further, although the cam surface 24 has four stepped surfaces 24a to 24d, it is natural that the number of stepped surfaces can be increased or decreased as required.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained.

Figure 2 shows the stopper 20 and the cam cylinder 2 when the initial setting load of the suspension spring 17 is the largest.
2 shows the positional relationship with the cam surface 24 of No. 2. In order to reduce the spring initial setting load from this state, first, the operation lever 25, which is cut parallel to the shock absorber body 11, must be folded against the force of the coil spring 29. and rotate it clockwise in the figure to a substantially horizontal position.

As a result, the protrusion 25a and the groove 23 at the predetermined position
a is engaged (at this time, the protrusion 25a and the groove 2
3a can be easily aligned by slightly rotating the operating lever 25 in the horizontal direction. ), then rotate the operating lever 25 in the horizontal direction to rotate the cam cylinder 22 and move the stopper 2.
24b...24d
All you have to do is transfer it to .

In this case, the cam step surfaces 24a, 24b...24d
As the distance between the holders 15 and 16 increases, the initial setting load can be reduced step by step.

On the contrary, if you want to increase the initial setting load, you just need to rotate the operating lever 25 in the opposite direction. Since the distance between the holders 15 and 16 decreases each time the holder is moved, the initial setting load can be increased in stages.

In this way, due to the configuration of this embodiment, the operating lever 2
The protrusion 25a of No. 5 and the concave groove 23a formed above the cam cylinder 22 maintain their coupling relationship even when the operating lever 25 is rotated in any direction, so they are adjacent to each other as described above. By selecting an arbitrary step among the cam step surfaces 24a to 24d, the initial setting load can be easily adjusted with a small operating force.

Furthermore, when the hand is released after adjustment, the control lever 25 is rotated upward by the coil spring 29 as shown by the chain line in the figure, and does not protrude significantly to the side, thereby avoiding interference between the control lever 25 and the vehicle body, etc. . Therefore, it is possible to make the operating lever 25 long, and it becomes easy to adjust a high set load. Furthermore, at this time, since the engagement between the protrusion 25a and the groove 23a is released, the operating lever 25 (together with the holder 15) can move the cam barrel 22 without changing the set position of the cam barrel 22, as described above. It can be rotated with a small amount of force, and can be rotated and retreated to a safer position, and in the case of load adjustment operations, it can also be directed to a position where the user can most easily apply operating force.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the cam step surface can be switched in any direction with a simple structure, and the operating lever is configured to be freely tiltable in the longitudinal direction of the shock absorber, which improves operability.
It is possible to provide an initial setting load adjustment device for a suspension system with excellent maintainability and safety.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of the main parts of the conventional device, FIG. 2 is a front view of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a front view of the cam cylinder, FIGS. 4A and B are plan and front views of the holder, and FIG. Figures A and B are a plan view and a front view of the operating lever. 17... Suspension spring, 15... Holder,
25a... protrusion, 25... operation lever, 26...
...Connecting pin, 11...Shock absorber body,
20... Stopper, 22... Cam cylinder, 24... Cam step surface, 23a... Groove, 23... Cam surface.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A control lever having an engagement protrusion at its tip is freely rotatably connected in the longitudinal direction of the shock absorber to a holder that supports one end of a suspension spring, and the holder is connected to the shock absorber main body. A cam cylinder is disposed between the protruding stopper and rotatably interposed in the main body, and one peripheral end of the cam cylinder has a height that changes stepwise and can be rotated in any direction in the radial direction. A suspension device characterized in that a movable cam step surface is formed with an uneven cam surface of a constant height having a plurality of grooves selectively engaging with a protrusion of the operating lever at the other peripheral end. Initial setting load adjustment device. 2. Claim 1, wherein the operating lever is energized to be folded by a coil spring.
Initial setting load adjustment device for the suspension system described in Section 1.