Supports – Resilient support – Nonmetallic resilient element
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-08
2002-12-10
King, Anita (Department: 3632)
Supports
Resilient support
Nonmetallic resilient element
C248S634000, C267S140300, C267S140500, C267S141000, C267S141400, C296S035100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06491279
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bracket mounting structure or elastically supporting a center bearing provided in a middle portion of a propeller shaft in a motor vehicle to a vehicle body member.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional bracket mounting structure includes, for example, structures disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 7-39697 and Japanese Utility Model No. 2589855. Next, a description will be given of a basic structure of the conventional bracket mounting structure mentioned above with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 4
is a partly cut-out front elevational view showing one example of a conventional bracket mounting structure which includes a propeller shaft and a center bearing.
A propeller shaft passing under a lower surface of a floor in a motor vehicle is structured such that a middle portion thereof is supported in a rotating manner to a vehicle body member, for example, a cross member via a center bearing and a bracket. As shown in
FIG. 4
, a center bearing
05
is held within a circular arc portion
01
A of a bracket
01
via an outer ring
02
, an annular vibration proof rubber
03
and an inner ring
04
. A middle portion of a propeller shaft
06
is supported in a rotating manner, by the center bearing
05
. Further, the bracket
01
is structured such that plate portions
01
B extending rightward and leftward from the circular arc portion
01
A are respectively mounted to a cross member
010
of a vehicle body by bolts
07
, nuts
08
and washers
09
.
FIG. 5
is an enlarged view of the mounting portion of the bracket
01
, showing a state of mounting only the mounting portion to the bracket
01
supporting the center bearing
05
while omitting the bolts
07
, the nuts
08
, the washers
09
, and the cross member
010
shown in
FIG.4. A
description will be given of the mounting structure of the bracket
01
with reference to both of
FIGS. 4 and 5
.
First, a cylindrical bush collar
012
having a flange at an upper end is fitted to the bolt
07
mentioned above. The bush collar
012
is fixed to the cross member
010
of the vehicle body by the bolt
07
and the nut
08
. A pair of upper and lower rubber bushes
013
and
014
are fitted to an outer periphery of the bush collar
012
so as to grip the bracket
01
there-between, for the purpose of preventing a vibration of the propeller shaft
06
from being transmitted to the cross member
010
. Washers
015
and
016
are respectively arranged in an upper end of the upper rubber bush
013
and a lower end of the lower rubber bush
014
. A rubber like material is also partly baked on an upper surface of washer
015
and a lower surface of washer
016
. Washers
015
and
016
are surrounded by the rubber bushes
013
and
014
. Then, as mentioned above, the whole assembly is mounted to the cross member
010
by the bolt
07
.
In this case, at a time of mounting the center bearing
05
to the vehicle body member such as the cross member
010
or the like, at a first stage, the bush collar
012
, the rubber bushes
013
and
014
, and the washers
015
and
016
are at first assembled in the bracket
01
in which the center bearing
05
is assembled, in an arrangement essentially shown in FIG.
5
. At a second stage, they are mounted to the cross member
010
or the like by the bolts
07
, the nuts
08
and the washers
09
. However, in the arrangement shown in
FIG. 5
, since the rubber bushes
013
and
014
are fixed to the bush collar
012
only with a fastening dimension of the rubber (that is, only an elastic force of the rubber), there is a risk that the bush collar
012
may drop out from the bracket
01
if the rubber bush
014
drops out from the bush collar
012
due to a light impact or the like during assembling and conveying.
Accordingly, on the assembly line, there is the necessity of carefully assembling while avoiding impact. Further, there is a fear of a shortage of parts. Also, a step to conform that all parts are present must be performed. Although it would be possible to fix the element together by an adhesive agent, in this case, since a degreasing step would be required before applying the adhesive agent, and the reliability of such an adhesive itself is not high, additional countermeasure would be required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to improve a bracket mounting structure for elastically supporting a center bearing provided in a middle portion of a propeller shaft in a motor vehicle to a vehicle body member.
According to the present invention, there is disclosed a bracket mounting structure for mounting a bracket holding a center bearing of a propeller shaft to a vehicle body member by bolts and nuts. The structure contains a bush collar formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a flange in an upper end, fitted to the bolts and fixed to the vehicle body member by the bolts and the nuts. It also contains a pair of upper and lower rubber bushes fitted to an outer periphery of the bush collar and gripping the bracket therebetween, and a washer provided in a lower end of the lower rubber bush among the rubber bushes.
Outward protruding projections are provided in an outer peripheral edge of a lower end in the bush collar, and notches through which the projections can pass. Engagement portions with which the projections are engaged due to a relative rotation are provided in an inner periphery of the washer.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5080335 (1992-01-01), Solleder et al.
patent: 5722786 (1998-03-01), Kono et al.
patent: 5785115 (1998-07-01), Laveran
patent: 5842677 (1998-12-01), Sweeney et al.
patent: 6354578 (2002-03-01), Nakatsukasa et al.
patent: 6416102 (2002-07-01), Howard
patent: 6435489 (2002-08-01), Rice et al.
patent: 0265675 (1987-09-01), None
patent: 2285550 (1976-04-01), None
patent: 739697 (1990-08-01), None
patent: 2589855 (1994-01-01), None
patent: 2001-159406 (2001-06-01), None
King Anita
Le Tan
Orum & Roth
Showa Corporation
LandOfFree
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