JP2002005221A - Knuckle bracket - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To improve the surrounding environment, reduce the number of processing steps, and shorten the processing time, while facilitating assembly to a knuckle and saving energy. SOLUTION: An inner bracket 4 made of a substantially square U-shaped metal plate having a pair of knuckle connecting pieces 4a connected to a wheel side knuckle, and the knuckle connecting piece 4a is sandwiched between the inner bracket 4 and the inner bracket 4. And an outer bracket 5 made of a substantially U-shaped metal plate for connecting the vehicle-side strut assembly to the arc portion, and the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 are clinch-joined at the knuckle joining piece 4a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a knuckle bracket used for attaching a hydraulic shock absorber of an automobile or an industrial vehicle to a wheel-side knuckle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to improve ride comfort, for example, automobiles and industrial vehicles absorb natural vibration generated by an impact received by a spring during traveling and quickly attenuate the vibration to improve ride comfort. A strut type hydraulic shock absorber A as shown in FIG. 22 is used.

[0003] The hydraulic shock absorber A is interposed between the vehicle body and the wheels to quickly absorb vibrations during traveling, to perform the role of positioning the wheels, and to ensure the traveling stability of the vehicle. Therefore, sufficient rigidity is required.

For this reason, in the drawing, the upper end of the piston rod 1 of the hydraulic shock absorber A is attached to the vehicle body side, and the lower end of the outer shell 2 which is the cylinder side is attached to the axle side knuckle. The lower end is connected to a wheel-side knuckle (not shown) via an iron knuckle bracket 3.

[0005] The knuckle bracket 3 is, for example, shown in FIG.
3, a substantially U-shaped inner bracket 4
And a substantially U-shaped outer bracket 5.

[0006] In such a knuckle bracket 3, a force in the front and rear and right and left directions is applied to the wheels as the vehicle travels, so that the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 are separated from each other at a joint (arrow a). Direction) is applied.

However, when the applied force becomes excessive, the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 are separated from each other at the joint portion, and as a result, the support rigidity of the hydraulic shock absorber deteriorates. Alternatively, there is a problem that the vehicle runs short and the running stability of the vehicle is impaired.

On the other hand, in order to prevent such a problem from occurring, the knuckle joint piece 4a of the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 are not welded to each other at the joint portion by projection welding or metal welding at the joint portion. Bonding is performed by insert gas arc (MIG) welding.

[0009]

However, in such a conventional knuckle bracket, the above-mentioned projection welding is performed on the connection between the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 so that they can be joined at the knuckle joint piece 4a. In some cases, thermal deformation occurs, which makes it difficult to assemble the knuckle. Therefore, there is a problem that a step of correcting the thermal deformation is required.

In addition, the projection welding consumes a large amount of electric power, hindering the promotion of energy saving, and also has a problem that the surrounding working environment is deteriorated due to spatter during welding.

Further, the metal insert gas arc welding has the same problems as those described above, and requires a long time for welding, and requires more processing equipment, site area, and operators. There was a problem that the cost of the bracket was increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems. The present invention facilitates assembling to a wheel-side knuckle, saves energy, improves the surrounding environment, reduces the number of processing steps, and reduces the processing time. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a knuckle bracket that can be used together.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object,
A knuckle bracket according to the present invention includes an inner bracket made of a substantially square U-shaped metal plate having a pair of knuckle connecting pieces connected to a wheel-side knuckle, and is connected to the inner bracket so as to sandwich the knuckle connecting piece. And an outer bracket made of a substantially U-shaped metal plate for connecting the vehicle body-side strut assembly to the arc portion, and the inner bracket and the outer bracket are clinched and joined at a knuckle joint piece.

According to this aspect, during the joining work of the inner bracket and the outer bracket, they are prevented from being thermally deformed, and the joining work does not consume a large amount of electric power, and is quick and low cost with a small processing facility and a small site area. Can be implemented.

In the knuckle bracket according to the present invention, a first flange piece protruding from an end of the knuckle joint piece of the inner bracket and a second flange piece protruding from an end of a portion sandwiching the knuckle joint piece are provided. The second flange piece is clinched and connected.

According to this aspect, the first flange piece and the second flange piece can be easily connected without causing thermal deformation of the knuckle joint piece of the inner bracket, and the connection (processing) ) Work can be performed quickly and at low cost with less processing equipment and site area without consuming large power.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 3 are a front view, a side view, and an A-A of FIG. 1 showing a knuckle bracket 3A according to the embodiment. FIG.

The knuckle bracket 3A has an inner bracket 4 made of a substantially square U-shaped metal plate having a pair of knuckle joining pieces 4a opposed to each other.

An outer bracket 5 made of a substantially U-shaped metal plate is connected to the inner bracket 4 so as to sandwich the knuckle connecting piece 4a.

The arcuate portion 5a of the outer bracket 5 holds the outer shell 2 end of the hydraulic shock absorber A constituting the vehicle body side strut assembly.

Reinforcing flange pieces 5b are formed at both left and right ends of the outer bracket 5 in a bent manner.

Further, the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 are clinched at the knuckle joining piece 4a.

Reference numeral 6 denotes the clinching joint. Here, a part of the joined brackets 4 and 5 is formed in a wedge-like manner in the same direction by using a jig and is tightly joined to each other. You.

In such a knuckle bracket 3A,
The clinching connection 6 allows the inner bracket 4
The displacement of the outer bracket 5 and the outer bracket 5 in the direction of the surface in contact with each other is regulated, so that the structure is practical as a connection structure to a knuckle when the strut rigidity is not important.

Further, since the clinching process is basically a mechanical process, it does not require a large amount of electric power to drive the jig, so that an energy saving effect can be obtained, the number of processing steps is small, and the peripheral work is not performed. Does not degrade the environment.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a knuckle-side mounting hole provided in the knuckle joining piece 4a so as to penetrate both the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5.

FIGS. 4 to 6 show another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a first flange having a predetermined width is provided at both left and right ends of an inner bracket 4 constituting a knuckle bracket 3B. A flange piece 4b as a piece is formed in a bent shape, and this is brought into contact with the outer surface of a flange piece 5b as a second flange piece provided at both ends of the outer bracket 5 and clinched to each other at this contact portion. Have been.

Reference numeral 6 denotes the clinching joint, which is formed by processing in the same manner as described above to have substantially the same size and shape.

According to this embodiment, each of the flange pieces 4b, 5
The displacement in the plane direction where b contacts is restricted.

Therefore, even if a force in the direction of the arrow a is applied to separate the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5, the clinching joint 6 is sheared, so that necessary and sufficient strength is secured. be able to.

FIGS. 7 to 9 show still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 is combined, and the clinching coupling portion 6 is provided with a knuckle bracket 3C. Inner bracket 4 that constitutes
Knuckle joining piece 4a and knuckle joining piece 4
The outer bracket 5 is formed on both the first and second flanges 4b and 5b.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, the clinching joints 6 of these parts reliably prevent the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 from being displaced in the X, Y, and Z directions, and have a necessary and sufficient strength. It can be held.

FIGS. 10 to 12 show still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first flange piece 4b and the second flange piece 5b shown in FIGS. Each of the flange pieces 4b is provided with two clinching joints 6 formed at a larger size and formed at these joints.

This is advantageous in that the connection strength between the flanges 4b and 5b can be further increased.

It is optional to provide three or more clinching joints 6 for each of the flange pieces 4b and 5b.

FIGS. 13 to 15 show still another embodiment of the present invention, in which the first flange piece 4b of the inner bracket 4 constituting the knuckle bracket 3E is connected to one end of the inner bracket 4, that is, FIG. Since only the right end is provided in the drawing, this embodiment can also reduce the number of processing steps and materials, provided that the required strut rigidity is obtained.

FIGS. 16 to 18 show still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, three inner knuckle joint pieces 4a of the inner bracket 4 constituting the knuckle bracket 3F are provided with three inner knuckle joint pieces. A clinching connection portion 6 for connecting the bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 is provided.

According to this embodiment, when the end of the outer shell 2 is pressed into the arc portion 5a of the outer bracket 5,
The deformation of the entire knuckle bracket 3F can be suppressed as small as possible.

The number of clinching joints 6 formed on each of the knuckle joining pieces 4a may be three or more.

FIGS. 19 to 21 show another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the knuckle bracket 3 is used.
Knuckle joint piece 4 of inner bracket 4 constituting G
In part a, the clinching coupling portion 6 for coupling the inner bracket 4 and the outer bracket 5 is formed by punching in a direction different from that of the conventional form, that is, from the outside to the inside of the outer bracket. .

According to this embodiment, it can be adopted arbitrarily in consideration of the efficiency of the clinching operation, and in the step of applying the clinching to each part, the taking out and reversing operation of the knuckle bracket can be omitted or facilitated.

The knuckle bracket configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 is desirably adopted when the deformation when the outer shell 2 is press-fitted is small enough to be ignored.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the inner bracket and the outer bracket are configured to be clitch-joined at the knuckle joint pieces, a comparison can be made between the cases where projection welding or metal insert gas arc welding is used. As a result, the inconvenience that the knuckle joint portion is thermally deformed is eliminated, and a step of correcting the thermal deformation is not required, and further, the effect of avoiding deterioration of the surrounding environment due to scattering of welding spatter can be obtained.

Further, the time required for clinching connection is extremely short as compared with welding or the like, so that it is possible to reduce the processing equipment, the site area, and the number of workers, thereby reducing the assembly cost and the product cost. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a knuckle bracket according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the knuckle bracket shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a knuckle bracket according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the knuckle bracket shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a knuckle bracket according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the knuckle bracket shown in FIG.

9 is a sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a knuckle bracket according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the knuckle bracket shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line DD in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a front view showing a knuckle bracket according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the knuckle bracket shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along line EE in FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a front view showing a knuckle bracket according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a side view of the knuckle bracket shown in FIG.

18 is a sectional view taken along line FF in FIG.

FIG. 19 is a front view showing a knuckle bracket according to another embodiment of the present invention.

20 is a side view of the knuckle bracket shown in FIG.

FIG. 21 is a sectional view taken along line GG in FIG. 19;

FIG. 22 is a front view showing a conventional hydraulic shock absorber having a knuckle bracket.

FIG. 23 is a bottom view showing a conventional knuckle bracket.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3A to 3G Knuckle bracket 4 Inner bracket 4a Knuckle joint piece 4b Flange piece (first flange piece) 5 Outer bracket 5b Flange piece (second flange piece) 6 Clinching joint

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Shikido 12-12 Imawatari, Kani City, Gifu Prefecture Kato Metech Kaninai F Term (Reference) 3J069 AA50 CC34 DD47

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An inner bracket made of a substantially square U-shaped metal plate having a pair of knuckle connecting pieces connected to a wheel-side knuckle, and connected to the inner bracket so as to sandwich the knuckle connecting piece. An outer bracket made of a substantially U-shaped metal plate for connecting the vehicle-side strut assembly to the circular arc portion, and the inner bracket and the outer bracket are clinched and joined at a knuckle joint piece. bracket 2. An inner bracket made of a substantially U-shaped metal plate having a pair of knuckle joint pieces connected to a wheel-side knuckle, and joined to the inner bracket so as to sandwich the knuckle joint piece. An outer bracket made of a substantially U-shaped metal plate for connecting the vehicle body side strut assembly to the circular arc portion, a first flange piece protruding from an end of a knuckle joining piece of the inner bracket, and the knuckle. A knuckle bracket characterized by being clinched and joined to a second flange piece protruding from an end of a portion sandwiching the joining piece.