Spring devices – Vehicle – Mechanical spring and nonresilient retarder
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-19
2004-08-17
Butler, Douglas C. (Department: 3683)
Spring devices
Vehicle
Mechanical spring and nonresilient retarder
C267S292000, C267S140300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06776402
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid-encapsulated damper mount for supporting an upper portion of a damper for suspending a wheel of an automobile on a vehicle body.
The present invention also relates to a mounting structure for mounting a hydraulic damper used in a suspension of an automobile to a vehicle body, and particularly to a hydraulic damper mounting structure for mounting an upper portion of a hydraulic damper to a vehicle body with an anti-vibration rubber member interposed therebetween.
2. Description of the Related Art
One example of a conventional damper mount M for an automobile is shown in FIG.
18
. This damper mount M is adapted to support an upper end of a hydraulic damper
11
for reducing a load input from a wheel in an opening
12
a
in a vehicle body
12
(on an upper wall of a wheel house), and includes a cylindrical damper case
13
in which a hydraulic cylinder is accommodated, and a damper rod
14
which is connected to a piston slidably received in the hydraulic cylinder and protrudes from an upper surface of the damper case
13
for sinking movement into the damper case
13
. The damper rod
14
has a larger-diameter portion
14
a
and a smaller-diameter portion
14
b
from a side closer to the damper case
13
, and an externally threaded portion
14
c
formed around an outer periphery of a tip end of the smaller-diameter portion
14
b
. A washer
15
, a cup-shaped first bracket
16
with its lower surface opened, a collar
17
and a washer
18
are fitted above a step between the larger-diameter and smaller-diameter portions
14
a
and
14
b
and fastened by a nut
19
threadedly fitted over the externally threaded portion
14
c.
A bump stopper
20
formed of an elastic member around an outer periphery of the larger-diameter portion
14
a
below the washer
15
is fitted within the first bracket
16
and has a lower surface opposed to an upper surface of the damper case
13
with a predetermined clearance provided therebetween. Therefore, when a large load is input to the wheel to retract the damper rod
14
largely into the damper case
13
, the maximum amount of contraction of the hydraulic damper
11
can be restricted by the abutment of the upper surface of the damper case
13
against the lower surface of the bump stopper
20
. A disk-shaped second bracket
21
having an opening
21
a
surround the periphery of the damper rod
14
is fixed to the periphery of the opening
12
a
in the vehicle body
12
by a plurality of bolts
22
, and a suspension spring
24
is supported at its upper end on a spring seat
23
mounted to an outer periphery of a lower surface of the second bracket
21
. A ring-shaped lower elastic member
25
is supported between the lower surface of the second bracket
21
and an upper surface of the first bracket
16
, and a ring-shaped upper elastic member
26
is supported between an upper surface of the second bracket
21
and a lower surface of the washer
18
.
Therefore, when a load is input from the wheel, a damping force is generated by the lower elastic member
25
and the upper elastic member
26
in addition to a damping force of the hydraulic damper
11
itself, and further, the inclination of an axis of the hydraulic damper
11
caused with the movement of the wheel can be absorbed by the resilient deformation of the lower and upper elastic members
25
and
26
.
Another example of a conventional damper mount M for an automobile is shown in FIG.
19
. Members or portions corresponding to those in the damper mount M described with reference to
FIG. 18
are designated by like reference characters, and the duplicated description is omitted.
This damper mount M adopts a liquid-encapsulated structure in order to provide a damping force larger than that of the damper mount M described with reference to FIG.
18
. More specifically, inner and outer peripheral surfaces of a block-shaped elastic member
27
are bonded by vulcanization to an outer peripheral surface of a collar
17
and an inner peripheral surface of a second bracket
21
, respectively, and a lower surface of the elastic member
27
is supported on an upper surface of a first bracket
16
. Outer peripheries of a partition plate
28
, a diaphragm
29
, a diaphragm holder
30
and a cap
31
are superposed in an opening
21
b
in the second bracket
21
, and the outer periphery of the cap
31
is caulked to the second bracket
21
, whereby the second bracket
21
, the partition plate
28
, the diaphragm
29
and diaphragm holder
30
and the cap
31
are coupled integrally to one another.
A first liquid chamber
32
having an operating liquid encapsulated therein is defined by the elastic member
27
, the second bracket
21
and the partition plate
28
, and a second liquid chamber
33
having an operating liquid encapsulated therein is defined by the partition plate
28
and the diaphragm
29
. The first and second liquid chambers
32
and
33
communicate with each other through a communication passage
28
a
defined in the partition plate
28
. Ethylene glycol, viscous silicone oil or the like is used as the operating liquid.
Therefore, when a load is input from a wheel, a damping force is generated by the elastic member
27
in addition to a damping force of the hydraulic damper
11
itself, and further, a damping force is exhibited by the operating liquid passed through the communication passage
28
a
. More specifically, when a damper rod
14
is offset upwards, causing the elastic member
27
to be compressed and deformed, the volume of the first liquid chamber
32
is decreased. Therefore, the operating liquid forced out of the first liquid chamber
32
is passed through the communication passage
28
a
into the second liquid chamber
33
to expand the diaphragm
29
. On the other hand, when the damper rod
14
is offset downwards, causing the elastic member
27
to be pulled and deformed, the volume of the first liquid chamber
32
is increased. Therefore, the diaphragm
29
of the second liquid chamber
33
is shrunk due to vacuum, whereby the operating liquid is passed through the communication passage
28
a
and drawn into the first liquid chamber
32
. In this manner, the operating liquid in the first liquid chamber
32
and the second liquid chamber
33
is passed through the communication passage
28
a
alternately between the first liquid chamber
32
and the second liquid chamber
33
with the vertical movement of the damper rod
14
, and at this time, the damping force is generated.
The conventional liquid-encapsulated damper mount M described with reference to
FIG. 19
suffers from the following problem: The first liquid chamber
32
, the partition plate
28
, the second liquid chamber
33
, the diaphragm
29
and the cap
31
are disposed above the upper end of the damper rod
14
and for this reason, the vertical size of the damper mount M is increased, and also these members are passed through the vehicle body
12
(the upper wall of the wheel house) to protrude largely into an engine room.
In an automobile or the like in general, a suspension as shown in
FIG. 20
is provided in order to receive a load applied between a vehicle body and a wheel and to moderate the shock transmitted from a wheel to a vehicle body to improve the riding comfort.
FIG. 20
is a perspective view showing a suspension S on a front side. The suspension S usually comprises a knuckle
102
supporting an axle, an upper arm
103
coupled to the knuckle
102
and connected to a wheel house on the vehicle body, a lower arm
104
coupled to the knuckle
102
and connected to a sub-frame on the vehicle body, a hydraulic damper
106
as a damper coupled to the lower arm
104
by a damper fork and mounted at its upper portion to an upper portion of the wheel house by bolts
108
through a damper mount
107
(the detail of which will be described hereinafter), and a coil spring
109
disposed to surround a periphery of the hydraulic damper
106
and adapted to support a load of the vehicle body together with
Furuya Masashi
Miyamoto Yasuo
Blackman William D.
Butler Douglas C.
Carrier Joseph P.
Carrier Blackman & Associates P.C.
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
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