JPH0474569B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a connecting rod with a rubber bushing that can be suitably used as a connecting rod or suspension rod for regulating excessive displacement of an engine with respect to a vehicle body, for example, in an automobile. The present invention relates to a connecting rod made of synthetic resin and equipped with a rubber bushing on at least one end, which can effectively reduce weight and simplify the manufacturing process.

(Prior art and its problems) Conventionally, in horizontally mounted automobile engines,
Connecting rods interposed between the engine and the vehicle body, or various links and rods in the suspension of a vehicle, in order to restrict excessive displacement of the engine relative to the vehicle body due to inertial force during vehicle starting and braking. In general, a cylindrical rubber bushing is incorporated in one or both ends of the engine to prevent vibrations from the engine from being transmitted to the car body, or to ensure steering stability and ride comfort. A so-called connecting rod with a rubber bushing is used, which is connected to a predetermined mounting member via a connecting rod.

By the way, in the case of a connecting rod having such a rubber bush at the end, a rubber elastic body is usually placed between the shaft fitting and the thin cylindrical mounting fitting arranged so as to surround the shaft fitting. A rubber bush formed by vulcanizing and adhering and forming and drawing through the mounting bracket is attached to a cylindrical part provided at the end of a separately formed metal rod. It has a structure that is held in the cylindrical part by press-fitting, and the press-fitting operation or drawing process absorbs the tensile force caused by the contraction of the rubber during vulcanization in the rubber bushing. , the reliability of joining the rubber elastic body to the mounting bracket or rod is improved.

However, in the case of a connecting rod with such a structure, when manufacturing the rubber bushing, it is necessary to draw the mounting fittings, etc. in order to eliminate the tensile force caused by shrinkage during vulcanization that occurs in the rubber elastic body. However, the manufacturing process inevitably becomes complicated, and the manufacturing cost also increases.

On the other hand, in recent years, it has been considered to convert such connecting rods to resin-made rods in order to reduce the weight of vehicles and improve their corrosion resistance. By making the rod made of resin in this way, a vibration suppressing effect can be expected due to the vibration damping properties of the resin.

However, when the rod is made of resin in this way, a rubber bushing equipped with a cylindrical mounting bracket is press-fitted into the cylindrical part, or after the rubber bushing is press-fitted, the cylindrical part is On the other hand, it is essentially necessary to avoid drawing from the viewpoint of the strength and characteristics of the resin, so when making such connecting rods from resin,
This could never be achieved simply by forming the rod from a synthetic resin material.

(Solution Means) Here, the present invention has been made against the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned connecting rod with a rubber bushing, A mounting bracket that is arranged radially outward at a predetermined distance and is located partially in the circumferential direction around the shaft bracket without surrounding the shaft bracket is integrally formed with a rubber elastic body. By holding the mounting bracket of the rubber bushing at the inner peripheral edge of the cylindrical part so that the rubber bushing connected to the rod is located within the cylindrical part provided at the end of the rod made of synthetic resin material. The structure is such that the rod is disposed at at least one end of the rod.

(Effects of the Invention) In the connecting rod having the structure according to the present invention, since the mounting fittings on the rubber bushing are not located around the entire circumference of the shaft fitting, its weight can be effectively reduced. In addition, even if the rubber elastic body is bonded to the mounting bracket by vulcanization adhesion at the time of molding, the tensile force due to contraction of the rubber elastic body during vulcanization will cause displacement of the mounting bracket. Therefore, the conventional drawing process of the rubber bushing after vulcanization can be omitted.

In addition, in the case of a connecting rod having such a structure, with the rubber bush set in the molded cavity of the rod, a predetermined resin material is press-fitted by an operation such as injection,
By forming the rod, the rubber bushing can be assembled into the rod with sufficient holding force at the same time as the rod is formed.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a connecting rod equipped with a synthetic resin rod, which can effectively reduce the weight of the product, simplify the manufacturing process, and reduce the manufacturing cost. It will become.

(Examples) Hereinafter, in order to clarify the present invention more specifically, examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a connecting rod with a rubber bushing according to the present invention, which is interposed between an engine unit and a vehicle body frame, and by connecting them, the engine unit can be connected. An example of the application of the present invention to a connecting rod for regulating excessive displacement is shown.

In these figures, reference numeral 10 denotes a rod made of a synthetic resin material, which includes a longitudinal rod main body 12 and a cylindrical rod integrally provided at both ends of the rod main body 12. It is composed of a large diameter cylindrical portion 14 and a small diameter cylindrical portion 16.

Further, rubber bushes 22 and 244 each having a cylindrical fitting 18 and 20 as a shaft fitting in the center thereof are held in the hollow portions of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 14 and the small-diameter cylindrical portion 16 of the rod 10, respectively. .

The connecting rod in this embodiment is connected to the cylindrical metal fitting 18 of the rubber bush 22 on the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 side.
It is attached to the rear of the engine unit in the engine unit, and is attached to the vehicle body frame at the cylindrical fitting 20 of the rubber bush 24 on the side of the small diameter cylindrical portion 16, so that it is interposed between the engine unit and the vehicle body frame. ing.

Here, in the case of the rubber bush 24 disposed inside the small diameter cylindrical portion 16 of the rod 10, the cylindrical metal fitting 2
0 and a cylindrical rubber elastic body 30 that is integrally fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical metal fitting 20 by vulcanization adhesive or the like, and the small diameter cylindrical portion of the rod 10 16, its cylindrical metal fitting 20
is held in a state of being fitted into the hollow portion so as to be positioned approximately concentrically with the small diameter cylindrical portion 16. Incidentally, each end of the rubber elastic body 30 in the axial direction is provided with a radially outwardly extending flange that comes into contact with the axial end surface of the small diameter cylindrical portion 16 in order to prevent the rubber elastic body 30 from coming off from the small diameter cylindrical portion 16. A section 32 is provided.

On the other hand, in the case of the rubber bushing 22 disposed within the large-diameter cylindrical portion 14 of the rod 10, the cylindrical metal fitting 18 and the mounting metal fitting 26 are arranged radially outward of the cylindrical metal fitting 18 at a predetermined distance. , 26 are integrally connected by a rubber elastic body 28.

More specifically, each of the mounting fittings 26, 26 is constituted by an arcuate metal plate formed with substantially the same curvature as the inner circumferential surface of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 of the rod 10, Those mounting brackets 26, 26
are positioned at a predetermined distance in the circumferential direction without surrounding the periphery of the cylindrical metal fitting 18. Further, the rubber elastic body 28 has a main body portion formed by two leg portions 34 and 3 extending radially outward from the cylindrical fitting 18.
4, it is formed with a generally V-shaped cross section as a whole. The central portion thereof is fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical metal fitting 18, while the tip portion of each leg portion 34 is fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the mounting fitting 26, thereby securing the cylindrical metal fittings. 18 and mounting brackets 26, 26
are integrally connected by the rubber elastic body 28.

The rubber elastic body 28 also has a state in which the rubber elastic body 28 protrudes radially outward at a predetermined height from the center portions of the inner angle (included angle) and outer angle of the two legs 34, 34, respectively, at the central portion in the axial direction. The stopper portions 36 and 38 are integrally provided.

And a rubber bushing 22 with such a structure
is the stopper portion 3 provided on the rubber elastic body 28.
6 and 38 respectively protrude in the axial direction of the rod 10, and the mounting fittings 26 and 26 are integrally fixed to the inner peripheral edge portion of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 of the rod 10, respectively. , is held within the hollow portion of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14. As shown in FIG. 3, the mounting fittings 26, 26 are each embedded in the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 of the rod 10, and have a groove at both ends in the circumferential direction. By extending the resin forming the large-diameter cylindrical portion 14 onto its inner circumferential surface, the fixing strength is improved.

Further, as is clear from the figure, when the rubber bush 22 is attached to the rod 10, the stopper portions 36 and 38 are respectively set at a predetermined position relative to the inner circumferential surface of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 of the rod 10. They are opposed at a distance, thereby providing clearances 40 and 42 therebetween.

In other words, in the connection rod of this embodiment having the structure described above, when the load input in the longitudinal direction of the rod 10 is small, the clearances 40 and 42 exhibit soft spring characteristics. On the other hand, such a rod 1
When the load input in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder 0 is large, the stopper portions 36 to 38 come into contact with the inner circumferential surface of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14, thereby exhibiting hard spring characteristics. Therefore, when the vehicle is running normally, it is effective to prevent engine vibration from being transmitted to the vehicle body, and to restrict excessive displacement of the engine unit when starting or braking. It is now possible for it to be done.

Next, a specific example of the manufacturing procedure for the above-described connecting rod with a rubber bush will be explained below.

That is, when manufacturing such a connecting rod, first, the rubber elastic body 28 having a substantially V-shaped cross section and the cylindrical rubber elastic body 30 are vulcanized and molded from predetermined rubber materials. In the case of the rubber elastic body 28, the cylindrical fitting 18 and the mounting fittings 26, 26, and in the case of the rubber elastic body 30, the cylindrical fitting 20, respectively, are fixed during molding of the rubber elastic bodies 28, 30. The rubber bushes 22 and 24 having the above-mentioned structure are thereby formed, respectively, by vulcanization adhesion or post-adhesion after the formation.

Note that here, the rubber bush 22 is connected to the cylindrical fitting 18 and the mounting fitting 2 using the rubber elastic body 28.
6 and 26 are formed by vulcanization adhesion, shrinkage occurs in the rubber elastic body 28 during vulcanization.
26 are not continuous in the circumferential direction, or the generation of tensile force due to such contraction is caused by the fact that the mounting brackets 2
This can be effectively avoided by the displacement of 6.26.

Next, the rubber bushes 22 and 24 are respectively set in the molding cavity of the mold for molding the rod 10 at predetermined positions where the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 and the small diameter cylindrical portion 16 are to be formed. Here, in the case of the rubber bushing 22, the outer circumferential surface of its mounting fittings 26, 26, and in the case of the rubber bushing 24, the outer circumferential surface of its rubber elastic body 30 are connected to the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 and the outer circumferential surface of the rubber elastic body 30, respectively. This constitutes the inner wall surface of the molding cavity in which the small diameter cylindrical portion 16 is formed.

Thereafter, a predetermined resin material is press-fitted into the molding cavity formed by the mold by a normal injection operation or the like.
Note that any thermoplastic resin such as nylon or acetal, or thermosetting resin such as epoxy or phenol can be used as the press-fitting resin material, and the press-fitting and molding methods also depend on the resin material used. Accordingly, a normal injection molding method or a transfer molding method that falls under the category of injection molding may be adopted as appropriate. In particular, the strength of such thermoplastic resins and thermosetting resins, such as those to which glass fibers, carbon fibers, whiskers, etc. are added, or those in which filament winding is combined with these resin materials, is A reinforcing material-containing resin with improved properties will be suitably employed.

The resin material press-fitted into the molded cavity will form the rod 10 within the cavity, and when forming the large diameter cylindrical portion 14, the rubber bush 22 disposed therein will form the rod 10. The rubber bushing 22 is fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the mounting fittings 26, 26, thereby allowing the rubber bush 22 to be integrally held at the inner circumferential edge of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14. On the other hand, when forming the small-diameter cylindrical portion 16 from such a resin material, the press-fitting pressure causes a radially inward compressive force to be applied to the outer circumferential surface of the rubber bushing 24 disposed therein. By applying pre-compression, the rubber bushing 24 can be held within the small diameter cylindrical portion 16.

After the resin material is press-fitted and solidified/cured, the mold is opened and the molded body is taken out, thereby forming the large-diameter cylindrical portion 14 and the small-diameter cylindrical portion 16 formed at both ends thereof as described above. The desired connecting rod with rubber bushings is thus obtained, which is provided with rubber bushings 22 and 24, respectively, in the hollow part.

Therefore, in the case of a connecting rod with a rubber bush having such a structure, the rubber bush 22 is disposed within the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 formed at one end thereof.
Since the mounting fittings 26 , 26 are not located around the entire circumference of the shaft fitting 18 , their weight can be effectively reduced, and the adhesion to the rubber elastic body 28 can be performed by molding the rubber elastic body 28 . Even when vulcanization bonding is used, there is no need to perform drawing as in the conventional method, so the manufacturing process can be effectively simplified.

Furthermore, in the case of a connecting rod having such a structure, the rubber bushing 22 can be assembled to the rod 10 at the same time as the rod 10 is formed, with sufficient holding force.
Thereby, the manufacturing process can be further simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced very effectively.

Therefore, by adopting the above structure, the spring characteristics in one direction of the radial direction can be improved.
The connecting rod, which has a rubber bushing 22 at one end that changes according to the applied load, can be manufactured satisfactorily from a resin material, making the member lighter and lighter than conventional metal rods. Not only can corrosion resistance be effectively improved, but vibration damping properties are improved by the elastic deformation of the resin, which is extremely advantageous in suppressing vibrations.

Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 show a connecting rod as another embodiment of the present invention.

Incidentally, the connection rods in the following embodiments are all interposed between the engine unit and the body frame of the vehicle, as in the first embodiment, so as to improve the engine unit's performance. This is to restrict excessive displacement, and the only difference from the connecting rod in the first embodiment is the structure of the rubber bushing held within the large diameter cylindrical portion 14. Members having the same structure as those in the first embodiment will be designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

That is, in the connecting rod in this embodiment, the large diameter cylindrical portion 1 provided at one end of the rod 10
Rubber bushing 4 held in the hollow part of 4
4, for the cylindrical metal fitting 18, the mounting metal fittings 46, 46 arranged radially outward of the cylindrical metal fitting 18 at a predetermined distance, and the cylindrical metal fitting 18 and the mounting metal fittings 46, 46. and a rubber elastic body 48 which integrally connects them by being fixed thereto.

More specifically, the main body portion of the rubber elastic body 48 is formed with a V-shaped cross section by two leg portions 50, 50, and the center thereof is substantially similar to the above embodiment. While the side portions are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical metal fitting 18, the respective leg portions 5
0 is fixed to the mounting bracket 46 at the tip.

Here, the mounting fittings 46, 46 are each formed in a cylindrical shape, and the leg portions 50 of the rubber elastic body 48 are fixed to approximately half of the outer peripheral surface thereof. There is.

The rubber bushing 44 having such a structure has its mounting fittings 46, 46 attached to the rod 10.
It is held by being fixed to the resin forming the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 at the inner circumferential edge portion of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14. In this embodiment, in particular, As shown in FIG. 5, the resin forming the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 enters into the hollow portion of the mounting fittings 46, 46.
It is being filled.

In addition, in the case of such a rubber bush 44, a stopper portion is not formed on the inner angle (included angle) side of the leg portions 50, 50 of the rubber elastic body 48;
A protrusion 52 that protrudes radially inward is formed on the inner wall surface of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 14 facing this portion, and when the rubber elastic body 48 comes into contact with the protrusion 52, the size of the cylindrical fitting 18 is increased. Excessive displacement with respect to the diameter cylinder portion 14 can be effectively restricted.

Furthermore, in the case of the connecting rod in this embodiment, the resin material is inserted into the hollow portions of the mounting fittings 46, 46 in the rubber bushing 44 when the rod 10 is molded according to the manufacturing method described in the previous embodiment. Therefore, since it can be easily manufactured, detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Further, FIG. 6 shows yet another embodiment of the present invention.

That is, in the connecting rod in this embodiment, the large diameter cylindrical portion 1 provided at one end of the rod 10
Rubber bushing 5 held in the hollow part of 4
4, the cylindrical metal fitting 18 and the cylindrical metal fitting 18 are arranged radially outward of the cylindrical metal fitting 18 at a predetermined distance.
It is composed of a cylindrical fitting 56 and a rubber elastic body 58 that is fixed to the cylindrical fitting 18 and the fitting 56 to integrally connect them.

More specifically, the main body portion of the rubber elastic body 58 is formed to have a fan-shaped cross-sectional shape having an arcuate outer circumferential surface having approximately the same curvature as the inner circumferential surface of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 of the rod 10. The center portion thereof is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical fitting 18, while the circular arc-shaped outer circumferential surface is fixed to the mounting fitting 56 over approximately half the circumference of the outer circumferential surface thereof. ing.

The rubber bush 54 has its mounting fitting 56 fixed to the rod main body 12 side at the inner circumferential edge of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14, so that the rubber bush 54 can be made of rubber against the inner circumferential surface of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14. The elastic body 48 is held in the hollow portion of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 14 in a state in which the outer circumferential surface of the elastic body 48 is in contact with the circular arc-shaped outer circumferential surface of the elastic body 48, and as shown in FIG. 56, the resin forming the large-diameter cylindrical portion 14 enters and is filled into the hollow portion thereof.

In addition, in the rubber bush 54 in this embodiment, a hole 60 is provided that passes through the rubber elastic body 58 in the axial direction at an intermediate portion between the cylindrical metal fitting 18 and the mounting metal fitting 56, so that the rod 10
When the load applied in the axial direction of the spring is small, soft spring characteristics can be exhibited.

Therefore, even with the connecting rods in the second and third embodiments as described above, none of the above-mentioned effects such as weight reduction, simplification of the manufacturing process, and associated reduction in manufacturing costs are achieved. Of course, the large diameter of the rubber bushes 44, 54 can be effectively achieved by the resin forming the large diameter cylinder section 14 penetrating and filling the hollow interior of the mounting brackets 46, 56. This means that the strength of holding the cylindrical portion 14 can be effectively increased.

Although the embodiments of the connecting rod having the structure according to the present invention have been described in detail above, these are literal illustrations, and the present invention is not to be construed as being limited to such specific examples.

For example, the connecting rod in the above embodiment was provided with a rubber bush having a structure according to the present invention only on the side of the large diameter cylindrical portion 14 formed at one end of the rod 10; It is also possible to arrange a rubber bush having a structure according to the present invention in the section.

Further, in the embodiment described above, a rubber bushing 24 was also provided on the small diameter cylindrical portion 16 side of the rod 10, but such a rubber bushing 24 does not necessarily need to be provided.
It is also possible to assemble the rod 10 by press-fitting it into the small-diameter cylindrical portion 16 after molding.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the structure of the rubber bushing, particularly the specific shapes of the rubber elastic body and the mounting bracket, are not limited in any way, and may be determined as appropriate depending on the characteristics required of the connecting rod. It should be understood that

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the present invention is applied to a connecting rod that restricts excessive displacement of an engine unit in an automobile. It can also be suitably applied to arms, rods, etc.

In addition, although not listed one by one, the present invention can be implemented in embodiments with various changes, modifications, improvements, etc. based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.
It goes without saying that all such embodiments are included within the scope of the present invention as long as they do not depart from the spirit of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a connecting rod with a rubber bush having a structure according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken in FIG. It is a diagram. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another embodiment of a connecting rod with a rubber bush constructed according to the present invention, and FIG. Further, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing still another embodiment of the connecting rod with a rubber bushing constructed according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing - in FIG. 6.
FIG. 10: Rod, 12: Rod main body, 14: Large diameter cylindrical part, 18: Cylindrical metal fitting, 22, 44, 54: Rubber button, 26, 46, 56: Mounting metal fitting, 28, 4
8,58: Rubber elastic body.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A shaft bracket, and a mounting bracket that is arranged at a predetermined distance radially outward of the shaft bracket and is located partially in the circumferential direction around the shaft bracket without surrounding the periphery of the shaft bracket. The mounting bracket of the rubber bushing is attached to the cylindrical part provided at the end of the rod made of synthetic resin material so that the rubber bushing is integrally connected with a rubber elastic body. A connecting rod with a rubber bushing, characterized in that the connecting rod is disposed at at least one end of the rod by being held at the inner peripheral edge of the rod.