Telescopic suspension fork with two telescopic fork legs

Abstract

To provide a telescopic suspension fork such that a sensor device which should be protected from damage can be arranged in a space-saving manner.SOLUTION: There is provided a telescopic suspension fork leg (3) which comprises an outer tube (7), an inner tube (8) and a spring device (10), wherein one telescopic leg (2) is a telescopic damper fork leg (4) which comprises a damper device (22) and has a piston (25) arranged at a piston rod (24), a telescopic suspension fork (1) comprises a displacement measuring device (25) configured to detect the movement distance of the inner tube (8) by axial displacement relative to the outer tube (7), and the displacement measuring device (25) comprises a magnetic operation sensor device (27) arranged in the inner space (26) of the piston rod (24) and at least one magnet device (28) radially apart from the sensor device (27).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a telescopic suspension fork having two telescopic fork legs as described in the preamble of claim 1. Each of the telescopic fork legs includes an outer tube having an extension in the longitudinal axis direction and an inner tube that is axially displaceable in the direction of the extension of the longitudinal axis with respect to the outer tube and has an extension in the longitudinal axis direction. One telescopic fork leg is a telescopic suspension fork leg provided with a spring device, and one telescopic fork leg is a telescopic damper fork leg provided with a damper device and having a piston disposed on a piston rod. The telescopic suspension fork is provided with a displacement measuring device configured to detect the axial displacement distance of the inner tube with respect to the outer tube. The present invention also relates to a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover provided with such a telescopic suspension fork.

[0002] The telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention is provided to be attached to a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover, which can be a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover for general roads or a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover for off-road.

Background Art

[0003] In order to separate the movement of a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover, particularly the movement of the fork stem or the vehicle body of a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover provided with a telescopic suspension fork, from severe vibrations such as a bumpy road surface, and to affect the damping behavior of such a telescopic suspension fork, it is important to know the amount of suspension movement in the vertical axis direction of the two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover and the acceleration of the vehicle body caused by vibration in order to specify the relative speed and the vehicle body speed. This is because these values are input parameters used in control according to the principle of so-called skyhook control.

[0004] In this case, the suspension movement amount is specified as the distance between two relative positions on the outer tube and the inner tube caused by vibration, that is, as the movement distance of the fixed reference point on the inner tube with respect to the fixed reference point on the outer tube caused by vibration due to a bumpy road surface or the like, and the relative speed is specified by the mathematical differentiation of the suspension movement amount with respect to time. Therefore, it is necessary to specify the suspension movement amount.

[0005] EP 2 036 746 B1 discloses a sensor module provided with an acceleration sensor for a shock absorber of a passenger car. This sensor module is provided in a recess of a guide bush of a piston rod and is arranged outside the shock absorber.

[0006] EP 1 964 696 B1 discloses a shock absorber provided with a position sensor. Also in this shock absorber, an evaluation module is arranged outside the shock absorber, and a magnet is arranged inside the inner tube of the shock absorber along the longitudinal direction of the shock absorber.

[0007] Therefore, both configurations are characterized in that the sensor module is arranged outside the outer tube of the shock absorber.

[0008] Such a configuration is disadvantageous in a motorized two-wheeler. In the case of an off-road motorized two-wheeler that is exposed to severe external influences such as damage that may occur due to rain, dirt, stones, dust, etc., it is particularly disadvantageous. Even in the case of a motorized two-wheeler for general roads, if the sensor module is arranged at a position exposed to the outer contour of the motorized two-wheeler, there is a risk of being affected by rain and damage to the sensor module, so it is disadvantageous. Furthermore, in both types of motorized two-wheelers, the vibration of the engine may be transmitted to the externally arranged sensor module, which may affect the signal quality. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] From this, an object of the present invention is to provide a telescopic suspension fork having two telescopic fork legs, thereby enabling a sensor device to be protected from damage and arranged in a space-saving manner. Another object is to provide a motorized two-wheeled vehicle having such a telescopic suspension fork.

[0010] To solve this problem, the present invention has the features specified in claim 1 with respect to the telescopic suspension fork. Advantageous embodiments thereof are described in the other claims. Furthermore, the present invention has the features specified in claim 13 with respect to the motorized two-wheeled vehicle.

[0011] The present invention provides a telescopic suspension fork having two telescopic fork legs, each of the telescopic fork legs including an outer tube having an extension in the longitudinal axis direction and an inner tube axially displaceable relative to the outer tube in the direction of the extension in the longitudinal axis direction and having an extension in the longitudinal axis direction. One telescopic fork leg is a telescopic suspension fork leg provided with a spring device, and one telescopic fork leg is a telescopic damper fork leg provided with a damper device and having a piston disposed on a piston rod. The telescopic suspension fork includes a displacement measuring device configured to detect a movement distance due to the axial displacement of the inner tube relative to the outer tube. The displacement measuring device has a magnetically actuated sensor device disposed in the internal space of the piston rod and at least one magnet device radially spaced apart from the sensor device.

[0012] The telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention has two telescopic fork legs, and each of the telescopic fork legs has an outer tube and an inner tube that are displaceable relative to each other, specifically displaceable in the longitudinal axis direction. One telescopic fork leg is a telescopic suspension fork leg, and the other telescopic fork leg is a telescopic damper fork leg.

[0013] Therefore, the telescopic suspension fork leg has a main spring supported by a rod, for example, a main spring supported by a sealing cap that closes one end of the outer tube. In this way, the main spring may be supported by the sealing cap of the outer tube and extend into and be supported within the end of the inner tube, or it may be supported by a sleeve provided between the end of the inner tube and the spring. This sleeve may be, for example, a hollow body, and doing so has the advantage of shortening the length of the spring device or the main spring, that is, reducing the mass of the main spring.

[0014] The telescopic damper fork leg may have a piston or a damper piston disposed on the piston rod. When the inner tube is axially displaced relative to the outer tube, the damping fluid flows through the piston or the damper piston, thereby performing a damping operation, attenuating the relative movement of the inner tube, and attenuating the spring movement of the telescopic suspension fork when excited from the outside.

[0015] One end of the telescopic suspension fork leg and the telescopic damper fork leg may be fixed to the fork bridge of the telescopic suspension fork, and their other ends may be connected to each other via the floating axle of the front wheel of the motorized two-wheeler. Thereby, due to the axial displacement of the inner tube of the telescopic damper fork leg, an axial displacement of the inner tube of the telescopic suspension fork leg occurs particularly with respect to the outer tubes of the telescopic damper fork leg and the telescopic suspension fork leg respectively. In this way, the telescopic damper fork leg can provide damping to the entire telescopic suspension fork, and only one telescopic damper fork leg is required for this purpose.

[0016] During the compression or extension movement of the telescopic suspension fork, due to the above-mentioned axial displacement, for example, a reference point on the inner tube of the telescopic damper fork leg is displaced relative to a reference point on the outer tube of the telescopic damper fork leg. This displacement corresponds to the amount of suspension movement of the reference point on the inner tube relative to the reference point on the outer tube, and specifically corresponds to the vibration generated when the front wheel of a motorized two-wheeler travels on a bumpy ground.

[0017] During the compression movement of the telescopic suspension fork, such an amount of suspension movement is detected by the displacement measuring device provided by the present invention, and also during the extension movement of the telescopic suspension fork, the amount of suspension movement of the reference points relative to each other is detected by the displacement measuring device according to the present invention.

[0018] In the case of the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention, the displacement measuring device has a magnetically actuated sensor device disposed in the internal space of the piston rod and at least one magnet device radially spaced apart from the sensor device.

[0019] With this configuration in which the sensor device is disposed in the internal space of the piston rod of the telescopic damper fork leg, the sensor device is protected from dirt, dust, stones, etc. Further, the piston rod is disposed in the outer tube of the telescopic damper fork leg filled with buffer oil, and both the buffer oil and the metal outer tube serve to shield the vibration of the engine. Therefore, with the above configuration, the sensor device is protected from interference such as the vibration of the engine induced by the internal combustion engine.

[0020] Although it has been described above that the sensor device is disposed in the internal space of the hollow piston rod of the telescopic damper fork leg, according to the present invention, it is also conceivable that the sensor device is disposed in the hollow push rod of the telescopic suspension fork leg. For example, the main spring of the telescopic suspension fork leg is supported by the push rod. And the magnet device may be disposed in a support portion or a receiving portion that supports the spring device. In this design or embodiment of the present invention, the magnet device may be radially spaced apart from the sensor device or may radially surround the sensor device.

[0021] Therefore, in the present invention, there are two options regarding the attachment of the magnetically actuated sensor device. In this case, the displacement measuring device has at least one magnet device radially spaced apart from the sensor device.

[0022] In the case where the magnet device is radially spaced apart from the sensor device, advantageously, in order to specify the amount of suspension movement, the sensor device can detect the three-dimensional magnetic field of the magnet device. Advantageously, since the sensor device is disposed at the center of rotation of the piston rod, the fact that the magnet device is disposed radially spaced apart from the sensor device means that the radial distance between the sensor device and the magnet device is always the same while the magnet device is moving axially relative to the sensor device.

[0023] Therefore, the rotational position of the magnet device with respect to the sensor device set when assembling the telescopic fork leg having the magnet device and the sensor device does not affect the subsequent suspension movement amount detection function. For this reason, assembly becomes easy and assembly errors are reduced.

[0024] The magnet device may be a disk-shaped magnet or, for example, a cylindrical magnet. The radial distance between the magnet and the sensor device means that the radial distance does not change while the inner tube is moving relative to the outer tube. Thus, the magnetic field detected by the sensor device depends only on the relative movement of the inner tube with respect to the outer tube in the longitudinal axis direction of the inner tube.

[0025] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the magnet device may be a ring magnet that surrounds the sensor device in the radial direction. Such a ring magnet generates a three-dimensional magnetic field, which is detected by the magnetic-actuated sensor device and evaluated to determine the amount of suspension movement. According to the present invention, an evaluation device integrated with the magnetic-actuated sensor device may be used to determine the amount of suspension movement, or alternatively, for example, the amount of suspension movement may be determined by a control device provided in a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover. The control device provided in the two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover, for example, while determining the amount of suspension movement, provides a control signal for controlling an electromagnetic coil to control one or more control valves of the telescopic damper fork leg by, for example, changing the opening characteristics of the control valve such as which gap of the control valve should be released to allow the damping fluid to pass through or for how long the gap should be released, so that the damping action of the telescopic damper fork leg can be adapted according to the requirements. This control device may be a device arranged within the engine control unit of the two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover, or, for example, a device arranged in other locations such as a separate chassis control unit or a chassis control device.

[0026] The magnetic actuating sensor device can detect the three-dimensional magnetic field of the magnet device. A magnet device, for example, the aforementioned ring-shaped magnet, cylindrical magnet, or disk-shaped magnet, generates a three-dimensional magnetic field, and this three-dimensional magnetic field has a predetermined spread or extent in three spatial directions around the magnet. The cylindrical magnet has a central axis extending along the vertical axis of the cylinder, and this central axis is inclined, for example, by 90 degrees with respect to the central axis of the piston rod. Therefore, the cylindrical magnet may be disposed, for example, in a cap device, cap, or sealing cap that closes the upper end of the inner tube of the telescopic fork leg. Specifically, for example, it may be disposed in a recess on the outer peripheral portion of the cap device, and this recess has an inner peripheral side surface configured to receive the outer peripheral side surface of the cylindrical magnet.

[0027] According to the suspension movement amount of the telescopic suspension fork (for example, up to 350 mm in the case of a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover for off-road use), the sensor device according to the present invention has a plurality of sensor elements along the length of the sensor device.

[0028] In this configuration, when the magnet device can pass over a plurality of sensor elements during the compression operation when a two-wheeled vehicle equipped with the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention travels on an uneven ground, for example, it becomes a compression operation of a 175-millimeter telescopic suspension fork. Each sensor element specifically has a predetermined detection range corresponding to a suspension movement amount of about 35 millimeters. Therefore, in the present invention, for the possible 350-millimeter suspension movement amount, a plurality of sensor elements such as a maximum of 10 sensor elements are provided in the sensor device along the length of the sensor device, and each sensor element has a suspension movement amount detection range of about 35 millimeters in the longitudinal axis direction of the telescopic fork leg.

[0029] Therefore, the number of sensor elements may be adjusted according to the desired detection range or the desired suspension movement amount of the two-wheeled vehicle equipped with the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention.

[0030] The magnet device is radially spaced from the sensor device or, for example, surrounds the sensor device radially when the magnet device is designed as a ring magnet, so the radial distance between the magnet device and the sensor element is always the same, and the effective magnetic field depends only on the displacement of the magnet device in the longitudinal axis direction of the sensor element. The distance between the magnet device and one or a plurality of sensor elements and the magnetic field strength of the magnet device result in a useful measurement range in the longitudinal axis direction.

[0031] By arranging a plurality of sensor elements along the longitudinal axis direction of the sensor device, the desired overall detection range of the sensor device can be set, and this detection range corresponds to, for example, the possible suspension movement amount of the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention described above.

[0032] Since the magnet device is radially spaced from the sensor device, the detection of the magnetic field by the sensor device, that is, by one or a plurality of sensor elements, does not depend on the rotation angle or rotational angular position of the magnet device around the sensor device. Therefore, even if the rotational position of the magnet device changes with respect to the sensor device, the magnetic field detected by the sensor device does not change.

[0033] One or a plurality of sensor elements may be one Hall sensor or a plurality of Hall sensors configured to detect the magnetic field three-dimensionally.

[0034] One improvement of the present invention is that the inner tube of the telescopic damper fork leg has an end portion disposed inside the outer tube, and a cap device through which the piston rod passes is provided at this end portion, and the magnet device is disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the cap device in a non-rotatable manner.

[0035] When the inner tube moves axially relative to the outer tube, the cap device on which the magnet device is disposed is displaced with respect to the piston rod, that is, it is also displaced with respect to the sensor device disposed on the piston rod and provided with the sensor element.

[0036] As a result, the magnetic field detected by the sensor element changes along the longitudinal axis direction of the piston rod. Therefore, the position of the magnet device is a reference point for the sensor device, and the axial position change of the magnet device is detected by the sensor device using the sensor element. From this, the distance covered between the reference point at the start and the reference point at the end when the inner tube is axially displaced relative to the outer tube, that is, the end point of the distance by which the reference point has moved during the compression movement, is specified. As a result, the suspension movement amount s rel is obtained, and from this, by mathematically differentiating the suspension movement amount with respect to time, the relative speed v rel of the compression movement can be obtained.

[0037] The body acceleration a body of the two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover is further detected by an acceleration sensor, and by numerically integrating it over time, the body speed v body of the two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover can be obtained.

[0038] Using the values obtained in this way, the minimum damping c min and the maximum damping c max are obtained, and from this, according to the following relationship of skyhook control, the desired damping degree c for damping the compression movement can be obtained.

[0039]

Equation

[0040] One improvement of the present invention is that the sensor device includes an elongated housing having an inner recess, and an elongated circuit board having Hall sensors spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction of the circuit board is disposed in the inner recess, and the circuit board in the inner recess is sealed together with the Hall sensors by a potting compound.

[0041] The circuit board may be a printed circuit board, and this printed circuit board has conductor tracks for supplying power to hall sensors arranged spaced apart from each other thereon. The circuit board may further have connection elements for connecting connection cables for power supply. The circuit board, together with the hall sensors, may be arranged in an elongated housing, specifically in an inner recess of the housing, and the inner recess is sealed with a potting compound along the configuration of the circuit board having the hall sensors. This potting compound securely holds the circuit board with the hall sensors in the housing and further protects it from impacts, shakes, or vibrations from the combustion engine of the motorized two-wheeler equipped with the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention. Thereby, the quality of the signal generated as a result of the above-described magnetic field detection, that is, the signal output by the hall sensors via the conductor tracks on the circuit board, is further improved.

[0042] On the above-described printed circuit board, the above-described acceleration sensor capable of detecting the acceleration of the vehicle body of the motorized two-wheeler may also be arranged, and this acceleration sensor is used in the above-described skyhook control unit to obtain a desired damping.

[0043] The movement signal and the acceleration signal are sent to the evaluation device via, for example, a cable arranged on the printed circuit board and the above-described connection cable connected to the inner recess of the piston rod on the circuit board side as a pulse wave modulation signal. This evaluation device may be, for example, the above-described chassis control unit.

[0044] One improvement of the present invention is that the housing is formed of a plastic material, has circular end faces at both opposite ends, and a passage configured to receive electrical connection means is provided on one end face.

[0045] In this way, a housing is formed that can complement the internal space of the piston rod with respect to shape and surface area. With this configuration, the housing, together with the sensor device, is arranged and fixed in the piston rod, for example, by shape fitting, so that the housing cannot move within the inner recess, and damage to the sensor device arranged within the housing can be prevented.

[0046] A passage is provided in the end face of the housing, and this passage is provided with electrical connection means for the sensor device, that is, for example, for the above-mentioned 3D Hall sensor. Furthermore, these connection means, that is, for example, electrical connection cables, may be provided with cables for energizing an electrically and electromagnetically actuated solenoid, and this solenoid is provided for controlling a valve core for controlling the flow of damping oil through the damper piston.

[0047] One improvement of the present invention is that the sensor device is arranged on the rotation axis of the piston rod and is designed to detect the three-dimensional magnetic field of the magnet device moving relative to the sensor device.

[0048] Therefore, the sensor device can detect the magnetic field generated by the magnet device in all three spatial directions and generate signals therefrom, and these signals are sent to an evaluation unit, for example, in the form of the above-mentioned chassis control unit. The chassis control unit evaluates these signals. These signals are not affected by the rotational position of the piston rod relative to the ring magnet due to the feature that the sensor device is arranged on the rotation axis of the piston rod.

[0049] The longitudinal axis of the sensor device may be defined as the X-axis and also corresponds to the longitudinal axis of the telescopic fork leg provided with the sensor device. This longitudinal axis is located at the center of rotation of the above-mentioned telescopic fork leg, for example, the telescopic damper fork leg.

[0050] In the Cartesian coordinate system, the ZY plane is perpendicular to the X-axis, and the sensor device specifically follows the following formula for the effective magnetic field B in the ZY planeeff can be detected.

[0051]

Number

[0052] Since one sensor element or a plurality of sensor elements are located at the center of rotation of the fork tube having the piston rod, the radial distance between the magnet and each sensor element of the sensor device, that is, for example, the radial distance between the magnet and the aforementioned one Hall sensor or the aforementioned plurality of Hall sensors is always the same. Therefore, the effective magnetic field B eff is only affected by the movement or axial displacement of the magnet device along the X-axis, and is not affected by the rotation angle of the magnet device around one or a plurality of sensor elements, that is, for example, the rotation angle of the magnet or the ring magnet.

[0053] Depending on the distance between the magnet and one or a plurality of sensor elements and the magnetic field strength of the magnet, a useful measurement range along the X-axis of, for example, about 35 millimeters can be obtained.

[0054] To increase the measurement range, as already described above, a plurality of sensor elements are arranged along the circuit board or the conductor plate. The magnetic field B in the X direction x detection and the effective magnetic field B eff Thanks to the detection of, the reference point can be uniquely specified along the X-axis within the measurement range. Thereby, the displacement of the reference point along the X-axis during the compression operation or the extension operation of the telescopic suspension fork, that is, the magnitude of the compression operation or the extension operation can be specified.

[0055] One improvement of the present invention is that the sensor device has an acceleration sensor configured to detect the acceleration of a vehicle equipped with a telescopic suspension fork, particularly the body of a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover.

[0056] In this case, the acceleration sensor may advantageously be arranged on the above-described circuit board and is also supplied with power via the circuit board. The acceleration signal from the acceleration sensor is sent to the evaluation device via the circuit board and the above-described connection cable or connection means. This evaluation device may be, for example, the above-described chassis control unit.

[0057] One improvement of the present invention is also that the telescopic suspension fork leg has, at one end, a fist clamp for the front wheel axle of the motorized two-wheeler, and at one end on the opposite side of said one end in the longitudinal direction of the telescopic suspension fork leg, has a cap that seals the outer tube and is provided with an O-ring on the surface facing the end of the inner tube.

[0058] In this way, a configuration of the telescopic suspension fork leg is obtained in which the end of the inner tube is provided by the O-ring arranged in the cap that seals the outer tube. When the inner tube moves axially with respect to the outer tube, since the inner tube slides on the inner peripheral surface of the outer tube, there is no need for the spring rod provided to support the main spring or compression spring and supported by the cap of the outer tube to have a sliding surface, and a cost-effective configuration of the telescopic suspension fork leg can be achieved.

[0059] One improvement of the present invention is that the telescopic suspension fork leg has, at one end of the inner tube, a cap provided with a passage for receiving a push rod, one end of the spring device is supported by the push rod, and the end on the opposite side of the spring device is supported by a sleeve-shaped body arranged inside the inner tube.

[0060] The push rod may be the above-described spring rod and can be combined with a sleeve-shaped body capable of supporting the main spring. Compared with the case where the main spring extends into the area of the fist clamp for the front axle, a main spring with a shorter axial length can be used. Therefore, with this configuration, the mass of the telescopic suspension fork leg can be reduced.

[0061] One improvement of the present invention is that the telescopic damper fork leg is designed as a twin-rod damper and has a second rod disposed within the damper tube, the second rod being supported by the damper piston, and the outer diameter of the second rod being smaller than the outer diameter of the piston rod.

[0062] Due to the rod diameter of the second rod, the amount of buffer fluid flowing through the valve when the spring moves, that is, the amount of buffer oil, is reduced. Therefore, in a telescopic suspension fork with a long stroke used mainly for off-road motorcycles with engines, such as motocross motorcycles with engines, the mass of the entire telescopic suspension fork can also be reduced.

[0063] One improvement of the present invention is that the telescopic damper fork leg has an electrically operable coil or solenoid. This coil or solenoid is supplied with power via the aforementioned connection cable and operates an actuator that operates the valve disk or valve shim. When the actuator operates, the cross-sectional area of the flow path of the valve body changes, and the buffering action by the damper device is controlled.

[0064] One improvement of the present invention is that the telescopic suspension fork has at least one fork bridge configured to receive the telescopic fork leg. For this purpose, the fork bridge may have two receiving openings into which the telescopic fork leg can be inserted, and the telescopic fork leg is surrounded by the receiving opening and removably fixed within the receiving opening. In one embodiment of the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention, the telescopic fork leg comprises an upper fork bridge and a lower fork bridge spaced apart from the upper fork bridge.

[0065] Finally, according to the present invention, there is also provided a motorized two-wheeler comprising a front wheel and a rear wheel as well as a driver's saddle and a drive device, which drive device may be, for example, an internal combustion engine or an electric drive device, and the motorized two-wheeler comprises a telescopic suspension fork for supporting the front wheel of the motorized two-wheeler.

[0066] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0067]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0068] FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a telescopic suspension fork 1 having two telescopic fork legs 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0069] The telescopic fork leg 2 on the left side of the drawing is a telescopic suspension fork leg 3, and the telescopic fork leg 2 on the right side of the drawing is a telescopic damper fork leg 4.

[0070] Furthermore, the telescopic suspension fork 1 has an upper fork bridge 5 and a lower fork bridge 6, by which the two telescopic fork legs 2 are removably connected to each other.

[0071] The telescopic suspension fork leg 3 has an outer tube 7 and an inner tube 8. For example, when a two-wheeled vehicle 9 with a prime mover equipped with the telescopic suspension fork 1 according to the present invention is operated, the inner tube 8 can be axially displaced relative to the outer tube 7 in a direction extending along the longitudinal axis of the inner tube 8 along the arrow F in FIG. 1.

[0072] Similarly, the telescopic damper fork leg 4 also has an outer tube 7 and an inner tube 8, and this inner tube 8 can also be displaced in the longitudinal axis direction along the arrow F relative to the outer tube 7 when the two-wheeled vehicle 9 with a prime mover is operated. Therefore, both inner tubes 8 can perform compression and extension movements relative to the corresponding outer tubes 7.

[0073] The telescopic suspension fork leg 3 has a spring device 10 in the form of a main spring 11 supported by the inner tube 8 at its lower end 12 in the plane of the drawing, and the inner tube 8 is supported by a fist clamp 13 designed to receive and removably fix the front wheel axle 14 shown in FIG. 8.

[0074] As can be seen from FIG. 1, the end of the main spring 11 on the side opposite to the fist clamp 13 is supported by the receiving portion 16, the receiving portion 16 is supported by the push rod 15, and the push rod 15 is supported by the cap 17 that closes the outer tube 7.

[0075] An O-ring 18 is provided below the cap 17, and this O-ring functions as an end stop for the inner tube 8 when the inner tube 8 makes a compression movement up to the region of the cap 17.

[0076] The end of the inner tube 8 of the telescopic suspension fork leg 3 located on the side opposite to the fist clamp 13 is sealed by a cap 19. The cap 19 has a passage 20 for receiving the push rod or spring rod 15.

[0077] The cap 19 may be arranged such that its outer peripheral edge 21 is in contact with the O-ring 18, thereby realizing the above-described end stop during the compression movement of the inner tube 8 with respect to the outer tube 7 of the telescopic suspension fork leg 3. Since the two telescopic fork legs 2 move together during the compression movement, the end stop thus realized also functions as a limit for the compression movement of the telescopic damper fork leg 4.

[0078] The telescopic damper fork leg 4 is provided with a damper device 22 designed as a twin-rod damper 34. As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 4, the damper device 22 has a piston 23 arranged on the piston rod 24.

[0079] The inner tube 8 of the telescopic damper fork leg 4 is also arranged on the lower side at the fist clamp 13 in the plane of the drawing, as already described above for the telescopic suspension fork leg 3. Therefore, the two fist clamps 13 play a role in determining the arrangement of the front wheel axle 14 of the motorized two-wheeler 9 shown in FIG. 8.

[0080] The telescopic suspension fork 1 is provided with a displacement measuring device 25 configured to detect the moving distance due to the axial displacement of the inner tube 8 relative to the outer tube 7.

[0081] Therefore, using the displacement measuring device 25, it is possible to specify the moving distance of the reference point on the inner tube 8 with respect to the reference point on the outer tube 7 during the compression movement and the extension movement of the telescopic suspension fork 1 according to the present invention. Broadly speaking, it is possible to specify the suspension movement amount of the telescopic suspension fork 1 during the compression movement or the extension movement.

[0082] For example, in order to change the damping characteristics of the damper device 22, it is important to grasp the suspension movement amount. Using the damper device 22, it is possible to satisfy the needs of the motorcycle 9 with a prime mover or the desires of the driver of the motorcycle 9 regarding the vibration damping of the chassis of the motorcycle 9 with a prime mover. As a result, driving programs that require various damping behaviors of the telescopic suspension fork 1 become possible. In this way, it is possible to change the suspension and damping behaviors of the chassis of the motorcycle 9 with a prime mover.

[0083] The displacement measuring device 25 has a magnetic actuating sensor device 27 disposed in the internal space 26 of the piston rod 24, and a magnet device 28 that interacts with the magnetic actuating sensor device 27 and is radially spaced apart from the sensor device 27.

[0084] In FIG. 1, the sensor device 27 is shown as being disposed in the internal space 26 of the piston rod 24, and the magnet device 28 is shown in the form of a ring magnet 29 that radially surrounds the sensor device 27 and is radially spaced apart from the sensor device 27. In the illustrated embodiment, the magnet devices 28, 29 are disposed in the receiving portion 30 of a cap device 301 disposed at the upper end portion 31 of the inner tube 8 of the telescopic damper fork leg 4. The receiving portion 30 may be, for example, a circular groove opening upward, and the ring magnet 29 may be easily insertable into the circular groove and fixed in the circular groove, for example, by force fitting.

[0085] When the inner tube 8 of the telescopic damper fork leg 4 displaces the ring magnet 29 relative to the sensor device 27 during the compression movement or the extension movement, the magnetic field measured at each position in the longitudinal axis direction of the sensor device 27 changes, that is, the strength of the magnetic field changes. From this, the effective magnetic field B eff is obtained, and by evaluating this, it is possible to identify the displacement movement of the reference point of the ring magnet 29 with respect to the reference point of the sensor element of the sensor device 27 measured in the X direction of FIG. 1.

[0086] Therefore, as can be seen from FIG. 7, the sensor device 27 has one or more reference points in the form of one or more sensor elements 32 spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction of the sensor device 27.

[0087] When the ring magnet 29 is axially displaced relative to the sensor element 32 of the sensor device 27 during the compression movement or the extension movement, the magnetic field measured by each sensor element 32 changes. From this, the magnitude of the displacement movement of the ring magnet within the measurement range of each sensor element 32 can be identified, and from this, the displacement movement amount, that is, the suspension movement amount can be identified.

[0088] FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the telescopic damper fork leg 4 of FIG. 1 together with the fist clamp 13 and the receiving portion 33 for the front wheel axle 14 of the motorcycle 9 with a prime mover. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the magnet device 28 is in the form of a cylindrical magnet 393 disposed within the receiving portion of the cap device 301. Specifically, the cylindrical longitudinal axis or the cylindrical vertical axis 395 of the magnet 393 is oriented at 90 degrees with respect to the central axis 394 of the piston rod 24. That is, when the telescopic suspension fork 1 makes an axial spring movement in the direction of the arrow F in FIG. 1, the magnet 393 moves relative to the piston rod 24 in the direction of the arrow F, but the radial distance between the sensor device 27 and the magnet 393 remains the same.

[0089] Furthermore, FIG. 2 also shows that the damper device 22 is designed as a twin-rod damper 34 including a damper tube 35, a first pressure chamber 36, and a second pressure chamber 37.

[0090] FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of part IV of FIG. 2. The piston rod 24 houses a sensor device 27 in the internal space 26 of the piston rod. Specifically, a sensor device having a housing 38, which is shown in more detail in FIG. 6, is disposed in the internal space 26. As shown in FIG. 6, the housing 38 has an elongated configuration and has end faces 390 at each of its opposite ends. The end faces 390 are circular and are complementary to the configuration of the internal space 26 of the piston rod 24 in terms of shape and surface area. Since the outer diameter of the end face 390 substantially corresponds to the inner diameter of the internal space 26 of the annular piston rod 24, the sensor device 27 including the housing 38 can be inserted into the internal space 26 of the piston rod 24 and fixed in the radial direction. The end face 390 shown in FIG. 6 has a passage for receiving the illustrated connecting means 391.

[0091] The housing 38 of the sensor device 27, which is shown in more detail in FIG. 6, has an internal space or inner recess 39, shown in FIG. 7, in which the elongated circuit board 40 of the sensor device 27 may be received. The circuit board 40 is in the form of spaced-apart 3D Hall sensors 41 and has sensor elements configured to detect a magnetic field induced by the ring magnet 29. Further, the circuit board 40 also has two connection cables 42, which are provided to supply power to the solenoid 43 shown in more detail in FIG. 4. Thus, the power supply to the solenoid 43 is looped through the circuit board 40. By the solenoid 43, the spring washer or valve shim 44 shown in FIG. 4 is moved such that the opening cross-section of the passage of the damper piston 23, which is released by the spring washer 44 in an open or closed loop, changes, and the damping behavior of the damper device 22 changes, whereby the damping behavior of the telescopic damper fork leg 4 changes, that is, the overall damping behavior of the telescopic suspension fork 1 according to the present invention changes.

[0092] Since the sensor device 27 is arranged along the axis of rotation 45 of the piston rod 24 shown in FIG. 4, the relative rotational angular position of the ring magnet 29 with respect to the piston rod 24 has no influence, and the effective magnetic field is uniquely determined using the above-described formula, as already explained.

[0093] FIG. 3 is another view of the telescopic suspension fork leg 3 shown in FIG. 1. As can be easily seen, the fist clamp 13 has a receiving portion 46 for the front wheel axle 14 of the motor-driven two-wheeler 9. The cap 17 seals the outer tube 7, and the above-described O-ring 18 is arranged at the end on the side of the inner recess 47 of the outer tube 7, and this O-ring functions as an end stop for the end 48 of the inner tube 8 sealed by the cap 19. When the telescopic suspension fork leg 3 reaches the maximum possible suspension movement amount, the outer peripheral edge 21 of the cap 19 abuts against the O-ring 18.

[0094] As can be easily understood from FIG. 3, the main spring 11 extends in the longitudinal axis direction from the receiving portion 16 to the end portion 49 on the fist clamp 13 side.

[0095] A modified example of the telescopic suspension fork leg 3 shown in FIG. 5 has a short main spring 11 extending from the receiving portion 16 to the sleeve-shaped body 50. This main spring 11 is arranged to be guided at the front end portion 51 of the sleeve-shaped body 50. The sleeve-shaped body 50 functions as a spacer sleeve and a support base for the main spring 11. Since the main spring 11 in the embodiment of FIG. 5 has a short extension in the longitudinal axis direction, its own mass is also small, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the mass of the entire telescopic suspension fork leg 3.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 7, an acceleration sensor 52 is arranged on the circuit board 40, and the acceleration sensor 52 can identify the acceleration in the vertical axis direction 53 of the vehicle body of the two-wheeled vehicle 9 with a prime mover. The value identified by the acceleration sensor 52, together with the value of the magnetic field strength identified by the hall sensor 41, may be supplied to a control device in the form of a chassis control unit 56 provided under the bench seat 55 of the two-wheeled vehicle 9 with a prime mover and schematically shown in FIG. 8. This control device controls the damping characteristics of the telescopic suspension fork 1 by energizing the solenoid 43 according to the selected operation program.

[0097] The circuit board 40 having the sensors 41 and 52 may be sealed with a potting compound 54. That is, all the electronic components on the circuit board 40 are sealed and protected with the potting compound 54.

[0098] FIG. 8 shows a two-wheeled vehicle 9 with a prime mover, which includes front wheels 57 and rear wheels 58, the above-described bench seat 55 that functions as a driver's saddle, and a drive device 59 in the form of an internal combustion engine. The two-wheeled vehicle 9 with a prime mover is provided with the telescopic suspension fork 1 detailed above, and in the illustrated embodiment of the two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover, it is designed as a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover for general roads. The telescopic suspension fork 1 according to the present invention is particularly characterized by its small mass. This is because, for example, only the main spring 11 is provided, and by designing the telescopic damper fork leg 4 as a twin-rod damper, the amount of buffer fluid that moves to attenuate the movement of the spring can be reduced, so that the volume of the buffer fluid can also be reduced, and thus, the mass of the telescopic suspension fork 1 itself according to the present invention can be reduced.

[0099] Therefore, the telescopic suspension fork 1 according to the present invention is also provided so as to be particularly arranged on a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover for off-road use. Since the two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover for off-road use is used on unpaved terrain, the telescopic suspension fork 1 according to the present invention is advantageous in terms of its small mass. The same applies when the telescopic suspension fork 1 according to the present invention is used on a two-wheeled vehicle with a prime mover for general roads.

[0100] In addition, the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention has a feature that a supply line necessary for supplying power to the solenoid and a connection cable for the sensor device are combined into a single plug-in device, and only one plug-in device is required for the telescopic damper fork leg. Since the sensor device is incorporated in the hollow piston rod, the unused internal space of the piston rod is utilized. Furthermore, the sensor device is housed inside the piston rod, which is protected from dirt, vibration, and impact.

[0101] As already described above, the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention requires only a single plug-in device, so it has very excellent off-road performance. Furthermore, it may be provided with an additional air spring that can be incorporated into the telescopic suspension fork leg as an air spring unit.

[0102] The O-ring of the upper sealing cap of the telescopic suspension fork leg may function as an end stop, and the cap of the inner tube may function as a cable stop. The push rod or spring rod that supports the main spring of the telescopic suspension fork leg does not require a sliding surface, so a cost-effective design of the telescopic suspension fork leg is ensured.

[0103] By configuring the telescopic damper fork leg as a twin-rod damper, it is possible to reliably provide damping in the extension direction and the compression direction according to the usage purpose of the motorized two-wheeler equipped with the telescopic suspension fork according to the present invention without requiring additional gas pressure. Due to the large rod diameter of the telescopic damper fork leg, the flow of the pressure fluid through the valve assembly can be reduced, which is particularly advantageous for off-road use. The displacement measuring device may be housed and protected within the hollow piston rod, and since only one plug connection is required, the possibility of this connection being affected by severe external influences is also reduced.

[0104] During the compression operation, since both pressure chambers of the twin-rod damper are placed under pressure, no additional gas pressure device is required. By housing the sensor device in the hollow piston rod, the sensor device is sufficiently protected from the influence of the environment, and by incorporating a ring magnet into the cap of the inner tube, which may be a screw-on cover, it is ensured that the relative rotational angular position of the ring magnet with respect to the sensor device does not affect the movement detection by the 3D hall sensor.

[0105] For the features of the present invention not described in detail above, reference should be made to the claims and the drawings.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0106] 1. Telescopic suspension fork 2. Telescopic fork leg 3. Telescopic suspension fork leg 4. Telescopic damper fork leg 5. Upper fork bridge 6. Lower fork bridge 7. Outer tube 8. Inner tube 9. Motorcycle with engine 10. Spring device 11. Main spring 12. Lower end 13. Fist clamp 14. Front wheel axle 15. Push rod 16. Receiving part 17. Cap 18. O-ring 19. Cap 20. Passage 21. Outer periphery 22. Damper device 23. Piston 24. Piston rod 25. Displacement measuring device 26. Internal space 27. Sensor device 28. Magnet device 29. Ring magnet 30. Receiving part 31. End 32. Sensor element 33. Receiving part 34. Twin-rod damper 35. Damper tube 36. First pressure chamber 37. Second pressure chamber 38. Housing 39. Internal space, inner recess 40. Circuit board 41. Hall sensor 42. Connection cable 43. Solenoid 44. Spring washer 45. Rotating shaft 46. Concave part 47. Inner concave part 48. End part 49. End part 50. Sleeve-shaped body 51. End part 52. Acceleration sensor 53. Vertical axis direction 54. Potting compound 55. Bench seat, driver's saddle 56. Chassis control unit 57. Front wheel 58. Rear wheel 59. Driving device 301. Cap device 390. End face 391. Connecting means 392. Second rod 393. Cylindrical magnet 394. Central axis 395. Cylindrical vertical axis

Claims

1. A telescopic suspension fork (1) with two telescopic fork legs (2), each of said telescopic fork legs (2) comprises an outer tube (7) having a longitudinal extension and an inner tube (8) having a longitudinal extension and axially displaceable in the direction of said longitudinal extension relative to said outer tube (7); One of the telescopic fork legs (2) is a telescopic suspension fork leg (3) equipped with a spring device (10), One of the telescopic fork legs (2) is a telescopic damper fork leg (4) equipped with a damper device (22) and having a piston (23) arranged in a piston rod (24), the telescopic suspension fork (1) comprises a displacement measuring device (25) configured to detect a travel distance due to an axial displacement of the inner tube (8) relative to the outer tube (7); 1. A telescopic suspension fork (1), characterized in that the displacement measuring device (25) comprises a magnetically actuated sensor device (27) arranged in the internal space (26) of the piston rod (24) and at least one magnet device (28) radially spaced from the sensor device (27).

2. the inner tube (8) of the telescopic damper fork leg (4) has an end (31) disposed within the outer tube (7); The end portion (31) is provided with a cap device (301) through which the piston rod (24) passes, 2. Telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the magnet arrangement (28) is arranged non-rotatably on the outer periphery of the cap arrangement (301).

3. The sensor device (27) has an elongated housing (38) having an internal recess (39); an elongated circuit board (40) is disposed within the inner recess (39), the circuit board (40) having Hall sensors (41) spaced apart along a longitudinal direction of the circuit board (40); 2. Telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that in the inner recess (39), the circuit board (40) together with the Hall sensor (41) is encapsulated with a potting compound (54).

4. The housing (38) is formed from a plastic material and has a circular end face (390) at each of its opposing ends; 4. Telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that one end face (390) is provided with a passage adapted to receive an electrical connection means (391).

5. 2. Telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensor device (27) is arranged along the axis of rotation (45) of the piston rod (24) and is designed to detect the three-dimensional magnetic field of the magnet device (28) moving relative to the sensor device (27).

6. 2. The telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensor device (27) comprises an acceleration sensor (52) configured to detect an acceleration of a body of a vehicle, in particular a motorized two-wheeler (9), equipped with the telescopic suspension fork (1).

7. 2. A telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the telescopic suspension fork leg (3) has at one end (12) a fist clamp (13) for a front axle (14) of a motorised two-wheeler (9) and at the opposite longitudinal end of the telescopic suspension fork leg (3) a cap (17) sealing the outer tube (7) and comprising an O-ring (18) on its surface facing the end of the inner tube (8).

8. The telescopic suspension fork leg (3) has a cap (19) at the end of the inner tube (8) with a passage for receiving a push rod (15), 2. The telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that one end of the spring device (10) is supported on the push rod (15) and an opposite end of the spring device (10) is supported on a sleeve-like body (50) arranged in the inner tube.

9. the telescopic damper fork leg (4) is designed as a twin rod damper (34) and has a second rod (392) arranged in a damper tube (35), The second rod is supported by a damper piston (23), 2. Telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the outside diameter of said second rod is smaller than the outside diameter of said piston rod (24).

10. 2. A telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the telescopic damper fork leg (4) comprises an electrically actuatable solenoid (43).

11. 5. Telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 4, characterised in that the electrical connection means (391) comprise an electrical connection cable for energising an electrically actuatable solenoid (43).

12. 2. A telescopic suspension fork (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises at least one fork bridge (5, 6) adapted to receive said telescopic fork legs (2).

13. A motorized two-wheeled vehicle (9) comprising a front wheel (57) and a rear wheel (58) as well as a rider's saddle (55) and a drive unit (59), characterized in that the motorized two-wheeled vehicle (9) comprises a telescopic suspension fork (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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