JP2008168696A - Vehicular coupler - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular coupler improved in safety and capable of reducing a burden of a driver in relation to a towed vehicle by matching a travelling locus of a towed vehicle with a locus of a tractor vehicle by simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicular coupler 30 for coupling a tractor vehicle 10 including front wheels 11A and 11B and rear wheels 12A and 12B to a towed vehicle 20 towed by the tractor vehicle 10 and including at least wheels 21 has a coupling part 40 for a tractor vehicle provided on a tractor vehicle 10 side so as to be coupled to the towed vehicle 20 side, a coupling part 50 for the towed vehicle provided on the towed vehicle 20 side so as to be coupled to the coupling part 40 for the tractor vehicle, and a joint part 44 for joining the coupling part 40 for the tractor vehicle with the coupling part 50 for the towed vehicle. A distance from a rear wheel axis of the tractor vehicle 10 to the joint part 44 and a distance from the joint part 44 to an axis 22 of the towed vehicle 20 are set equal to each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle connecting device that connects a towed vehicle and a towed vehicle.

  Conventionally, a towing vehicle has been provided with a vehicle connecting device at the rear of a self-propelled vehicle for general purposes such as vans and pick-up trucks, and connected to a camping cabin or motorboat carrier as a trailer. Has been proposed.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a conventional coupled vehicle. The tow vehicle 1 and the towed vehicle 2 are connected via a connecting device 3 provided near the rear end of the tow vehicle 1. On the towed vehicle side of the coupling device 3, a draw bar 3 </ b> A that extends forward of the vehicle and an eyeball portion (Lunette eye) 3 </ b> B provided at the front end of the draw bar 3 </ b> A are provided. When operating as a connected vehicle, the eyeball portion 3B at the front end of the drawbar of the towed vehicle 2 is connected to the towing device on the towing vehicle 1 side.

  As another conventional example of a connected vehicle, in the connected vehicle described in Patent Document 1, a connecting device including a first connecting bar and a second connecting bar is provided between a towed vehicle and a towed vehicle, and the high speed When traveling, the shape formed by the first connection bar and the second connection bar is formed in a C shape, and when traveling at a low speed, the shape formed by the first connection bar and the second connection bar is formed in an inverted C shape. This improves the dynamic stability, followability and maneuverability of the towed vehicle with respect to the towed vehicle during high speed traveling and low speed traveling.

JP 2006-82622 A

  However, when the coupled vehicle tries to perform a turning operation, the towed vehicle may not follow the traveling locus of the towed vehicle, and the towed vehicle may fluctuate. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining problems of the conventional coupling device described in FIG. When the towing vehicle 1 tries to turn around the point O1 with the turning radius R, the inner wheel 1C of the rear wheel tries to turn around the point O1 with the turning radius R1 according to Ackerman Jant's theory. At this time, since the towed vehicle 2 rotates with the position of the coupling device 3 as a fulcrum, the towed vehicle 2 tries to rotate at a rotation center O1 'different from the rotation center point O1 of the towed vehicle 1. For this reason, the trajectory of the inner wheel 2A of the towed vehicle 2 passes through the inner side of the trajectory of the inner wheel 1C of the rear wheel of the towed vehicle 1, and an inner ring difference occurs. For this reason, the driver who controls the towed vehicle 1 must always drive while paying attention to the trend of the towed vehicle 2 or requires advanced techniques to correct it.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the periphery of the inner wheel 2 </ b> A of the rear wheel of the towed vehicle 2. In order for the towed vehicle 2 to travel following the traveling locus of the towed vehicle 1, the inner wheel 2A of the towed vehicle 2 passes through the locus of the turning radius R1 of the inner wheel 1C of the rear axle of the towed vehicle 1. Must be (this direction is F). However, since the axle of the towed vehicle 2 is fixed, the towed vehicle 2 can only move in the direction of Fy, and the component force Fx is generated because it moves only to Fy with respect to the force of F. This leads to the tail swing behavior of the towed vehicle 2 and impairs the safety of the towed vehicle 2.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and by improving the safety of the towed vehicle to the driver by improving the safety by matching the traveling locus of the towed vehicle with the locus of the towed vehicle with a simple structure. It aims at providing the connecting device for vehicles which can reduce a burden.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a vehicle connection device according to the present invention is a vehicle connection device that connects a tow vehicle including a front wheel and a rear wheel and a towed vehicle that is pulled by the tow vehicle and includes at least wheels. A first connecting portion provided on the tow vehicle side and connected to the towed vehicle; a second connecting portion provided on the towed vehicle side and connected to the towed vehicle; and the first A coupling portion and a coupling portion that couples the second coupling portion; and a distance from a rear wheel axle of the towed vehicle to the coupling portion, and a distance from the coupling portion to an axle of the towed vehicle. It is characterized by setting it equal.

  According to the present invention, the inner wheel of the towed vehicle is connected to the inner wheel of the rear shaft of the towed vehicle by setting the connection position to be approximately a half of the axle of the rear wheel of the towed vehicle and the axle of the towed vehicle. Pass through the trajectory. Therefore, there is no difference between the inner wheels of the rear axle of the towed vehicle and the axle of the towed vehicle, and when the vehicle is turned to the left or right, or when turning on a narrow road, the bottom swing phenomenon is eliminated, so that traveling safety is improved. Preferably, the front wheel of the tow vehicle is a steering wheel, and the rear wheel of the tow vehicle and the wheel of the towed vehicle are non-steering wheels.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connection apparatus for vehicles which can improve the safety | security and can reduce the burden with respect to a towed vehicle by adjusting the driving | running | working locus | trajectory of a towed vehicle with the locus | trajectory of a towed vehicle with a simple structure. Can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is a plan view when the towed vehicle is connected to the towed vehicle. The tow vehicle 10 pulls the towed vehicle 20. The tow vehicle 10 is a four-wheel vehicle and has a pair of left and right front wheels 11A and 11B and rear wheels 12A and 12B. The front wheels 11A and 11B of the tow vehicle 10 are steering wheels, and the rear wheels 12A and 12B are non-steering wheels. The tow vehicle 10 may be two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The towed vehicle 20 is towed by the towed vehicle 10 and is a trailer for carrying, for example, a boat or a work machine at the time of farm work. Here, the towed vehicle 20 will be described taking a two-wheeled vehicle as an example. The wheels 12A and 12B of the towed vehicle 20 are non-steering wheels.

  The tow vehicle 10 and the towed vehicle 20 are connected by a vehicle connecting device 30. The vehicle coupling device 30 is provided on the tow vehicle 10 side and connected to the tow vehicle 10 and is connected to the towed vehicle 20 as a first connecting unit, and the towed vehicle 20 side is connected to the towed vehicle 20. And a towed vehicle connecting portion 50 as a second connecting portion. The towed vehicle connecting portion 40 includes a main frame 41, left and right leg portions 42 and 43, and a connecting portion 44. The main frame 41 has a rod shape extending along the vehicle width direction and is called a cross member. Although not shown, the main frame 41 is provided with a pair of left and right mounting brackets fixed at both ends by bolts or welding, and these mounting brackets are attached to the rear of the bottom of the vehicle body using several bolts. Fixed. For example, one of the leg portions 42 and 43 is welded to the main frame 41, and the other is welded to the coupling portion 44 at a palm point. The connecting portion 44 connects the towed vehicle connecting portion 40 and the towed vehicle connecting portion 50. Here, the coupling portion 44 is a spherical one that is coupled to the eyeball portion of the towed vehicle 2.

  The towed vehicle connecting portion 50 includes a draw bar 51 and a connecting portion 52. The draw bar 51 extends from the towed vehicle 20 in the direction of the towed vehicle 10. The coupling portion 52 is an eyeball portion that is provided at the distal end portion of the draw bar 51 and is coupled to the coupling portion 44 of the tow vehicle 10. Similar to the towed vehicle 10 side, the towed vehicle 20 side is provided with a main frame, and the main frame is provided with a pair of left and right mounting brackets fixed to both ends of the main frame by bolts or welding. Several bolts are used to oppose each other to the rear of the bottom of the body of the towed vehicle 20.

  Since the coupling portion 52 of the towed vehicle coupling portion 50 is firmly coupled to the coupling portion 44 of the towed vehicle coupling portion 40, the towed vehicle 10 can safely tow the towed vehicle 20. Further, the distance X1 between the rear axle 14 of the tow vehicle 10 and the connecting portion 44 of the towed vehicle connecting portion 40, and the distance X2 between the connecting portion 52 of the towed vehicle connecting portion 50 and the axle 22 of the towed vehicle 20 are shown. Are set approximately equal. In other words, in the present embodiment, the connection position of the vehicle connection device 30 is set to a substantially bisected position between the axle 14 of the rear wheel of the tow vehicle 10 and the axle 22 of the towed vehicle 20.

  FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the trajectories of the wheels of the traction device 10 and the to-be-towed device 2 connected through the connection device according to the present invention. When the towing vehicle 10 tries to turn around the point O2 at the turning radius R′1, the rear wheel inner wheel 12A tries to rotate around the point O2 at the turning radius R′1 according to Ackerman Jant's theory. . In the vehicle coupling device 30 according to the present invention, since the vehicle coupling device 30 is provided at a bisecting position between the rear shaft center of the towed vehicle 10 and the axle center of the towed vehicle 20, The trajectory of the wheel 21A passes through the trajectory of the inner wheel 12A of the rear wheel of the towing vehicle 10, and no inner wheel difference is generated.

  Further, since the towed vehicle 20 travels following the traveling locus of the towed vehicle 10, the component force Fx described in the section of the related art does not occur. For this reason, the trailing motion of the towed vehicle 20 does not occur, and the safety of the towed vehicle 20 is not impaired. In addition, the driver who controls the towed vehicle does not always need to pay attention to the trend of the towed vehicle and does not need an advanced technique to correct it.

  As described above, according to the coupling device according to the present embodiment, the inner wheel of the towed vehicle can be obtained by setting the coupling position of the coupling device to approximately the half of the axle of the rear wheel of the towed vehicle and the axle of the towed vehicle. , Passing through the trail of the inner wheel of the rear axle of the tow vehicle. Therefore, there is no difference between the inner ring of the rear axle of the towed vehicle and the axle of the towed vehicle, and there is no component force applied to the axle portion of the towed vehicle 20 when turning left or right or turning on a narrow road. Since the phenomenon is eliminated, driving safety is improved.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. It can be changed.

It is a figure for demonstrating the conventional connection automobile. It is a figure for demonstrating the problem of the conventional coupling device demonstrated in FIG. It is the figure which expanded and showed the periphery of the inner side wheel of the rear wheel of a towed vehicle. It is a top view at the time of connecting a tow vehicle and a towed vehicle via the connection device concerning the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the locus | trajectory of the wheel of the traction apparatus connected via the connection apparatus which concerns on this invention, and a towed apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Towing vehicle 11A, 11B ... Front wheel 12A, 12B ... Rear wheel 13 ... Front wheel axle 14 ... Rear wheel axle 20 ... Towed vehicle 21 ... Wheel 22 ... Axle 30 ... Vehicle coupling device 40 ... Traction vehicle coupling unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 41 ... Main frame 42, 43 ... Leg part 44 ... Connection part 50 ... Connection part for towed vehicles 51 ... Draw bar 52 ... Connection part

Claims (2)

In a vehicular connecting device that connects a tow vehicle including a front wheel and a rear wheel and a towed vehicle that is towed by the tow vehicle and includes at least wheels,
A first connecting portion provided on the tow vehicle side and connected to the tow vehicle;
A second connecting portion provided on the towed vehicle side and connected to the towed vehicle;
A coupling portion that couples the first coupling portion and the second coupling portion;
A connecting apparatus for vehicles, wherein a distance from a rear wheel axle of the towed vehicle to the coupling portion and a distance from the coupling portion to the axle of the towed vehicle are set equal. The vehicle coupling device according to claim 1, wherein the front wheel of the tow vehicle is a steering wheel, and the rear wheel of the tow vehicle and the wheel of the towed vehicle are non-steering wheels.

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