KR20110058463A - Top mount of air suspension system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A top mount of an air suspension is provided to reduce the bending of a shock absorber while maintaining the vertical characteristic of the shock absorber by forming voids and inserts in proper positions in an elastic material. CONSTITUTION: A top mount of an air suspension comprises an external member(30), an internal member(32), and an elastic material(34). The external member is connected to a vehicle body. The internal member is located inside the external member and connected to the rod side of a shock absorber. The elastic material is interposed and elastically deformed between the external and internal members. Voids(40,42) are formed on both sides of the outer periphery of the elastic material and inserts are formed inside the elastic material without voids.

Description

Top Mount of Air Suspension {TOP MOUNT OF AIR SUSPENSION SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a top mount applied to an air suspension of a vehicle, and more particularly, a top mount of an air suspension that can reduce the cardiac characteristics while maintaining the characteristics of the up-down direction to prevent deterioration of durability of the air suspension bellows. It is about.

Suspension in a vehicle exists between the body and the wheel, and is a device that connects the two rigid bodies using one or more links. The suspension is supported by springs and hydraulic shock absorbers in the vertical direction, and in other directions. By properly matching the high stiffness and flexibility, it performs the function of mechanically matching the relative movement between the body and the wheel.

Such suspension effectively blocks the irregular input of the road surface generated while driving the vehicle to provide a comfortable ride to the occupant, and provides driving convenience by appropriately controlling the shaking of the vehicle body caused by the driver's driving behavior and the road curvature, When driving on irregular roads, the vertical load on the tire ground must be maintained at an appropriate level to satisfy the basic conditions of ensuring the maneuverability and stability of the vehicle during turning and braking.

In order to satisfy the above conditions, various kinds of suspensions have been developed and applied to actual vehicles. Recently, by improving the quality of passenger cars, by changing the volume of the bellows, the spring constant is changed to improve the riding comfort and the amount of air. Many air suspensions are being applied to automatically maintain the garage.

Looking at an example of such an air suspension, as shown in Figure 1, the lower portion of the wheel carrier (2; Wheel Carrier) for rotatably supporting the wheel is connected to the vehicle body via a lower control arm (4) disposed in the vehicle width direction The upper portion of the extension portion 6 extending the upper portion of the wheel carrier 2 is connected to the vehicle body via the upper control arm 8 disposed in the vehicle width direction, and the lower portion of the wheel carrier 2 The front part connects with the vehicle body via a trailing arm 10 arranged in the vehicle body longitudinal direction.

An air strut 12 is erected on the lower control arm 4 so that the upper end thereof is suspended from the vehicle body, and the air strut 12 has an upper end of the shock absorber 14 and the shock absorber 14. The lower end of the shock absorber 16 is connected to the wheel side of the lower control arm 4, and the upper end is interposed with the vehicle body not shown through the top mount 18. It is connected.

Accordingly, when external vibration and shock are input by road conditions or turning, the wheel carrier moves up and down according to the motion trajectories of the lower and upper control arms 4 and 8 and the trailing arm 10 together with the wheels. And the shock is absorbed and attenuated by the rubber bush or the like applied to the connecting portion of these arms, and at the same time, the shock is absorbed and attenuated by the air pressure in the shock absorber 14 and the bellows 16.

And the configuration of the top mount 18 applied to the upper end of the air strut 12, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the outer member 20 connected to the vehicle body side, the rod side of the shock absorber not shown The inner member 22 which is connected to the outer member 20 and the outer member 20 and the elastic member 24 which is filled between the outer member 20 and the inner member 22 and is elastically deformable is formed.

Accordingly, the vibration and shock transmitted from the air strut 12 to the vehicle body are insulated from the elastic body 24.

However, in the air suspension as described above, when steering (INNER TURN / OUTER TURN in Fig. 1), the connection of the lower control arm and the wheel carrier can be rotated, but the top mount is fixed to the body bar, the torsion occurs in the bellows In addition, the cardanic (bending) characteristic of the shop-over is continuously operating during vehicle behavior, causing durability and performance degradation.

Accordingly, in the configuration of the top mount, the cardinal characteristics (kgf.cm/deg) can be reduced by reducing the up-down characteristics (kgf / mm) due to the properties of the rubber, which is an elastic body. Problems can be solved, but problems of lack of stiffness and lack of aftershocks occur due to the reduction of up and down characteristics.

Therefore, the present inventors have studied the above problems, and recognized that the above problems are due to the uniform structure and elasticity of the elastic bodies filled between the inner and outer members in the top mount, while maintaining the characteristics in the vertical direction while maintaining the cardinal characteristics. To reduce the durability of the air suspension bellows to reduce, and to provide a top mount of the air suspension that can satisfy the sense of rigidity and aftershocks.

In order to realize the above object, the present invention provides an upper member which is applied to connect the upper end of the air strut of the air suspension with the vehicle body, the outer member connected to the vehicle body side, and the rod side of the shock absorber and At the same time the inner member is positioned of the outer member and the elastic member is filled between the outer member and the inner member is made of an elastic deformation,

A void having a predetermined arc length is formed on both sides of the outer circumference of the elastic body, and an inside of the elastic body in which the void is not provided provides a top mount of an air suspension in which an insert is formed.

By the configuration as described above, the present invention, by forming a void in the portion where the cardiac characteristics are generated during steering and vehicle behavior to significantly lower the characteristic value of the elastic body, thereby reducing the cardiac characteristics operating in shock absorber, Inserts are inserted in the void-free portion so that the up-down direction characteristics are not a problem for vehicle performance (stiffness, aftershock).

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention that can specifically realize the above object will be described in detail.

4 to 6 are a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of the top mount according to the present invention. The top mount is connected to the outer member 30 connected to the vehicle body side and the rod side of the shock absorber not shown. The inner member 32 of the outer member 30 and the elastic member 34 is filled between the outer member 30 and the inner member 32 is elastic deformation.

In filling the elastic body 34 in the above to sufficiently wrap the inner diameter of the outer member 30, the inner member 32 is formed in a completely buried form is not visible from the outside.

In addition, when the vehicle is applied, the rod upper end of the shock absorber is connected to a separate guide plate 36 under the inner member 32.

In such a top mount, the present invention uses the kinematic position of the part where the cardiac characteristic is exerted during steering and vehicle behavior, and significantly lowers the characteristic value only, thereby acting on the shock absorber. It was possible to reduce the characteristics.

To this end, in the present invention, the voids 40 and 42 having a predetermined size are formed as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 so as to be symmetrical with respect to the front and rear sides of the elastic body 34.

As referring to the voids 40 and 42, the voids 40 and 42 were formed to occupy the upper and lower predetermined heights and the left and right predetermined arc lengths based on the lower end of the outer member 30.

In addition, inserts 44 and 46 are formed between the outer member 30 and the inner member 32 as shown in FIG. 6 in the elastic body 34 in which the voids 40 and 42 are not formed.

Accordingly, the elastic force of the elastic body 34 with respect to the direction in which the voids 40 and 42 are positioned is weak, whereas the elastic force with respect to the upper and lower directions of the portion where the inserts 44 and 46 are located is increased.

Therefore, when the top mount is to be applied to the actual vehicle, the voids 40 and 42 are disposed in the vehicle body length direction, thereby reducing the cardiac characteristics acting on the shock absorber during steering and vehicle behavior.

However, since the inserts 44 and 46 are disposed at portions where the voids 40 and 42 are not present, the characteristics of the up and down directions can be maintained.

The size of the voids 40 and 42, the design dimensions of the inserts 44 and 46, and the elastic value of the elastic body 34 are set according to the requirements of the application vehicle.

As described above, the present invention forms the voids 40 and 42 in the portion where the cardiac characteristics are generated during steering and vehicle behavior, thereby significantly lowering the characteristic values of the elastic body, thereby reducing the cardiac characteristics operating in shock absorber. The insert is inserted into a portion where the void 40 (42) is not provided so that the up-down direction characteristic is not a problem for the vehicle performance (rigidness and aftershock).

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the embodiments of the present invention easily and equally. Includes all changes to the acceptable scope.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a general air suspension.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a conventional top mount.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

4 is a perspective view of a top mount according to the present invention;

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 4.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C in FIG.

Claims (2)

In forming a top mount that is applied to connect the upper end of the air strut of the air suspension with the vehicle body, an outer member connected to the vehicle body side, and an inner member connected to the rod side of the shock absorber and at the same time located on the outer member; The elastic member is filled between the outer member and the inner member to make elastic deformation, The top mount of the air suspension, characterized in that forming a void having a predetermined arc length on both sides of the outer periphery of the elastic body, the insert is formed inside the elastic body is not formed.  The top mount of claim 1, wherein the void portion is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body.

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