Strut mount structure

Details Strut mount structure Strut mount structure

2001-10-11

2003-05-13

English, Peter C. (Department: 3616)

Land vehicles

Wheeled

Running gear

C267S220000, C267S221000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06561531

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a strut mount structure of a strut-type suspension for a vehicle body.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A strut-type suspension is widely used as a suspension for a vehicle body. Such a structure is used because it is simple; that is, the wheel alignment can be accurately set because the point where the strut is fixed to the body is high and the deviation of the wheel alignment is small. Therefore, shock from a road to the body can be widely dispersed over the body, and the suspension can be light-weight since the number of members is small.
FIG. 5
shows a perspective diagram of a front part of a body
1
. Here, a strut
11
which is vertically installed contains a shock absorber
15
and a coil spring
16
around the shock absorber
15
. A top end of the strut
11
is fixed to and supported by the body, and a bottom end of the strut
11
is supported by the body via a lower arm
18
, with a knuckle arm
17
for supporting a wheel fixed to the bottom end.
In order to secure steering stability, the strut
11
is provided with a caster angle with the top end inclined in the rear direction with respect to the bottom end when seen from the side of the vehicle, and with a strut inclination angle by the top end inclined in the inner direction of the vehicle with respect to the bottom end when seen from the front.
As shown in
FIG. 6
which is an enlarged cross-section along a line VI—VI of
FIG. 5
, an upper part of the strut
11
is fixed to and supported by the main body via a strut mount unit
20
. The upper part of the strut
11
has an installation hole
19
a
provided on a spring sheet
19
which supports a top end of a coil spring
16
and a small diameter portion
12
which fits in the installation hole
19
a,
forming a step. Further, a screw part
13
is formed on the top of the small diameter portion
12
.
The strut mount unit
20
has a bearing housing
22
approximately in the shape of a cylinder having an upper part thereof with a smaller diameter. The bearing housing
22
holds a bearing
21
at a lower part thereof and fits with the small diameter portion
12
of the strut
11
. An inner fitting
23
approximately in a cylindrical shape with the diameter gradually increasing in a downward direction has a top end caulked with the upper part of the bearing housing
22
. An outer fitting
25
approximately in the shape of a cylinder has a flange
26
at the lower part. The outer fitting
25
is connected to the inner fitting
23
by a rubber portion
24
therebetween.
The strut
11
and the strut mount unit
20
are thus connected in one united body by fitting the small diameter portion
12
into the installation hole
19
a
provided on the spring sheet
19
, inserting the small diameter portion
12
into the bearing
21
, and then screwing a nut
27
on the screw part
13
.
On the other hand, the top end of the strut
11
is supported by the main body at the strut mount unit
20
on a wheel apron
32
, a strut tower
33
, and an upper bracket
34
. The wheel apron
32
forms a lateral wall of an engine room E connected with an upper frame
31
which extends in the front-to-back direction along the lateral wall. The strut tower
33
extends downward vertically between the engine room E and a part on the wheel apron
32
. The upper bracket
34
is provided across the upper part of the strut tower
33
and the upper part of the wheel apron
32
.
The upper bracket
34
has a strut installation hole
36
a
as an opening to which the upper part of the outer fitting
25
is inserted. The upper bracket
34
also has a planer portion
35
. By inserting the outer fitting
25
to the strut installation hole
36
a,
a flange
26
of the outer fitting
25
is in contact with the lower surface of a strut mount installation portion
36
. There is a connection flange part
35
a
in a bent form, which is contiguous with the planer part
35
and is connected to upper parts of the wheel apron
32
and the strut tower
33
.
The flange
26
is brought into contact with the strut mount installation portion
36
at the lower surface thereof by insertion of the upper part of the outer fitting
25
into the strut installation hole
36
a.
The overlaid strut mount installation portion
36
and the flange
26
are fixed together by a bolt
38
and a nut
39
, whereby the top end of the strut
11
is fixed to the main body via the strut mount unit
20
. In
FIG. 6
, a cap
29
is provided fitting with the top of the bearing housing
22
for preventing dust and water drops from intruding into the bearing housing
22
.
The front hood
40
shown in the figure covers the top of the engine room E, and is composed of an outer panel
41
and an inner panel
42
extending below the outer panel
41
. The front hood
40
is fixed to and supported by the main body by front hood hinges (not shown) at the rear edge. The outer panel
41
is smoothly and continuously bent so that the outer edges thereof in the width direction are lower, and declined towards the front. The inner panel
42
is cut out at a part corresponding to the location of the strut mount unit
20
. The inner panel
42
, together with the outer panel
41
, form a frame structure having continuous hollow cross-sections created by downwardly projected portions of the inner panel
42
as shown.
The strut mount unit
20
has a top face defined by top edges
23
a
and
25
a
of the inner fitting
23
and the outer fitting
25
. The cross-section of the top face, that corresponds to a line defined by the top edges
23
a
and
25
a
when viewed from the side, crosses a central axis
11
a
making a right angle. The strut
11
is provided with a strut inclination angle with the top end inclined in the inner direction of the vehicle with respect to the bottom end when seen from the front, and with a caster angle (not shown) by the top end inclined in the rear direction with respect to the bottom end when seen from the side of the vehicle, in order to secure steering stability. Because of the inclination of the strut
11
, the top edges
23
a
and
25
a
are inclined to have the outer edge higher than the inner edges in the car-width direction and the edges toward the front side of the vehicle are higher than the edges facing the rear of the vehicle. The planer part
35
of the upper bracket
34
is inclined to have the strut mount installation portion
36
correspond to the inclination of the strut mount unit
20
. Namely, the outer side of the strut mount installation portion
36
is higher than the inner side thereof, and the front side is higher than the rear side. On the other hand, the front hood
40
is bent to have lower outer sides and a lower front side as mentioned previously. By the interaction between the inclinations of the strut mount unit
20
and the front hood
40
, the minimum gap L that can be formed between the top edge of the strut mount unit
20
and a lower face of the front hood
40
is restricted.
Owing to the necessity to maintain the minimum gap L between the strut mount unit
20
and the front hood
40
satisfactorily, the shape of the front hood
40
is restricted. Hence, the restricted shape of the front hood
40
may affect the structural design freedom. Moreover, when a pedestrian comes into contact with the vehicle on the front hood
40
with a restricted deformable distance between the front hood
40
and the strut mount unit
20
, there is the possibility that impact absorption effect by the deformation of the front hood
40
would not be satisfactory. Furthermore, if the strut mount unit
20
is placed at a low position to have the minimum gap L large, the effective length of the strut
11
is shortened. In this case, it would not be possible to provide as comfortable a ride.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a strut mount structure wherein a minimum gap between a strut mount unit and a lower face of a front hood can be made larger in comparison to a corresponding mi

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