Attachment structure for vehicle restraint device, and vehicle restraint device

Abstract

The present invention reduces vibration of a test vehicle by achieving a configuration in which a flange of an attachment attached to a wheel hub of a wheel of the test vehicle serves as an aligning structure by which shaft centering can be adjusted. An attachment 16 of a vehicle restraint device 10 comprises: an attachment tire hub flange 18 attached to a wheel hub 2a of a wheel 2; and an attachment tire hub 22 fixed to the flange 18. The flange 18 is attached to the wheel hub 2a by using an outer nut hub 25. A nut part 25b fastened to a hub bolt of the wheel hub 2a is formed on a head part 25a of the outer nut hub 25. A male threaded part 25f to which a nut 24 is fastened after the flange 18 is inserted into a through-hole 18a is formed on a shaft part 25c. The distance between the nut part 25b and the nut 24 can be regulated by adjusting the fastening position of the nut 24 to the male threaded part 25f.

Description

Structure of Attachment of Vehicle Restraint Device, Vehicle Restraint Device

[0001] The present invention relates to a structure of an attachment attached to a wheel hub of a wheel when restraining a vehicle on which the wheel is placed on a roller of a chassis dynamometer system by a vehicle restraint device, and a vehicle restraint device having the structure.

[0002] When conducting an evaluation test in a pseudo-running state by placing a wheel on a roller of a chassis dynamometer system, the vehicle is restrained by a vehicle restraint device from the perspective of safety. Conventionally, restraint of a vehicle using a wire rope has been used, but since the wire rope may expand and contract due to the acceleration of the vehicle and the vehicle body may vibrate, a hub nut clamp type vehicle restraint device shown in Patent Document 1 has been proposed.

[0003] The vehicle restraint device of Patent Document 1 is attached to the wheel hub of the wheel by an attachment. Here, Patent Document 1 describes an attachment 21 (type 1) in FIG. 12 and an attachment 41 (type 2) in FIG. 13.

[0004] The attachment 21 in FIG. 12 includes a mounting shaft 37 formed with a flange 37a fixed to the wheel hub 30 of the wheel 2, and a rotary swing device that supports the mounting shaft 37 so as to be rotatable and swingable in an arbitrary direction.

[0005] This flange 37a is fixed to the wheel hub 30 by fastening a nut 34 to a bolt nut 33, and the rotary swing device is constituted by a spherical plain bearing 36 or the like. The outer ring of this spherical plain bearing 36 is fixed to the top of the left and right links 20, and the wheel 2 is not restrained except that its movement in the front-rear direction is restrained, and can swing in an arbitrary direction.

[0006] The attachment 41 in Figure 13 includes a mounting shaft 52, a self-aligning ball bearing 53, a bearing 55, etc., and is fixed to the wheel hub 56 of the wheel 2. Specifically, the flange portion 52a of the mounting shaft 52 is fastened together with hub bolts 58 and nuts 59, and the self-aligning ball bearing 53 fitted to the outer circumference of the mounting shaft 52 is sandwiched by the oscillating shaft 54. This oscillating shaft 54 ​​is supported by the left and right links 20 via ball bearings 55 so as to be able to rotate freely around a horizontal axis in the front-rear direction, and the wheel 2 is not restricted except for its movement in the front-rear direction, and can swing in any direction.

[0007] Tokuhei 02-48854

[0008] According to the attachments 21 and 41 in Figures 12 and 13 of Patent Document 1, the wheel 2 can operate in the same way as actual road driving, except that it is constrained in the front-rear direction, but there were the following problems.

[0009] (1) According to the attachment 21 in Figure 12, the wheel hub 30 does not have an adjustable alignment structure, making it difficult to adjust the circumferential runout and tilt of the flange 37a. As a result, forced vibration occurs due to the eccentricity (concentricity) of the flange 37a, and the vibration is transmitted to the vehicle body, potentially affecting the driver of the test vehicle and interfering with the actual test and evaluation.

[0010] (2) According to the attachment 41 in Figure 13, if the misalignment of the mounting shaft 52 is large, the self-aligning angle of the self-aligning ball bearing 53 will be unacceptable, so it is necessary to center it by some means so that it falls within the acceptable range of the self-aligning angle.

[0011] In other words, when using the self-aligning ball bearing 53, it is necessary to operate it within the allowable self-aligning angle range of the self-aligning ball bearing 53, while if it is not used within the allowable self-aligning angle range, there is a risk of forced vibration due to eccentricity as described above.

[0012] This invention was made to solve the problems of the conventional invention, and aims to reduce vibrations of the test vehicle by making the flange of the attachment that is attached to the wheel hub of the wheel of the test vehicle a self-aligning structure that allows for adjustment of the axis of alignment.

[0013] (1) The present invention relates to an attachment structure to be attached to the wheel hub of a wheel when a vehicle on which the wheel is placed on the rollers of a chassis dynamometer system is restrained by a vehicle restraint device, comprising: an attachment tire hub flange attached to the wheel hub of the wheel using an outer nut hub; and an attachment tire hub fixed to the flange, wherein the head of the outer nut hub has a nut portion formed thereon which is fastened to the hub bolt of the wheel hub, while the shaft portion of the outer nut hub has a male thread portion which is fastened to the nut after being inserted into the through hole of the flange, and the distance between the nut portion and the nut can be adjusted by adjusting the fastening position of the nut to the male thread portion.

[0014] (2) The present invention can also be configured as a vehicle restraint device having the structure of the attachment described above.

[0015] According to the present invention, by making the flange of the attachment that is mounted on the wheel hub of the wheel of the test vehicle a self-aligning structure that allows for adjustment of the axis centering, it becomes possible to reduce vibrations of the test vehicle.

[0016] Enlarged view of a portion of the attachment (centering structure of the attachment tire flange) of the vehicle restraint device of Example 1. Enlarged view of a conventional attachment. Enlarged view of the same in a swinging state. (a) is an enlarged view of the outer nut hub of Figure 1, and (b) is an enlarged view of the outer nut hub of Figure 2. Perspective view showing the mounting state of the attachment of Figure 1. Side view of the vehicle restrained by the vehicle restraint device. Rear view of the fixing mechanism. Plan view thereof. Side view thereof. Enlarged views of portions of the attachments of Example 1 and Example 2. (a) is an enlarged view of a portion of the attachment tire flange, and (b) is an enlarged view of a portion of the same in another example. Longitudinal cross-sectional view of the mounting mechanism (Type 1) of Patent Document 1. Longitudinal cross-sectional view of the mounting mechanism (Type 2) thereof.

[0017] The following describes an attachment (mounting mechanism) for a vehicle restraint device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This attachment is mounted on the wheel hub when restraining a test vehicle in which the wheels are placed on rollers of a chassis dynamometer system.

[0018] In Figure 6, 10 indicates a hub nut clamp type vehicle restraint device that restrains the test vehicle 1. This vehicle restraint device 10 connects a dynamometer to rollers 3 on which the wheels 2 of the test vehicle 1 are placed, and transmits the driving force and braking force of the test vehicle 1 to the dynamometer via the rollers 3, thereby restraining the test vehicle 1 for safety reasons when simulating the test vehicle 1's road driving in an indoor environment.

[0019] Specifically, the vehicle restraint device 10 includes a fixing mechanism 9 (see Figures 7 to 9) fixed to the pit cover 4a which constitutes the floor above the pit 4 of the chassis dynamometer system, and an attachment 16 (see Figures 1 and 10) that is rotatably supported by the fixing mechanism 9 and attached to the wheel hub 2a (see Figures 5 and 6) of the wheel 2.

[0020] As shown in Figure 9, the pit cover 4a has openings W formed at positions corresponding to the wheels 2 of the test vehicle 1. These openings W are sized to match the width of the rollers 3, and rails 5, which are formed in a concave cross-section along the front-rear direction of the test vehicle 1, are embedded outside the openings W.

[0021] As shown in Figures 7 to 9, the fixing mechanism 9 includes a pair of bases 11 that are movable along the front-rear direction of the rail 5, a support portion 12 provided on the upper part of the bases 11, a square frame-shaped link 13 that is rotatably pivoted on the support portion 12, a triangular frame-shaped link 14 that is rotatably pivoted on the support portions 13b at both ends of the upper frame of the link 13, and a reinforcing portion 13a on the back of the link 13.

[0022] Each base 11 comprises a pair of slot nuts 11b arranged within the rail 5, a base portion 11c that supports each slot nut 11b, and a plate 11d between the base portions 11c. As shown in Figure 9, the plate 11d is provided perpendicular to the rail 5, and the lower ends of the base portions 11e are slidably locked to the rails 11f formed at both ends. The base portions 11e are connected by a connecting plate 11a, and a support portion 12 is welded onto the base portions 11e.

[0023] The attachment 16 is rotatably supported at the tip of the link 14. Here, the tip of the link 14 is referred to as the vehicle support member 15. After fixing the base 11 to the rail 5, the attachment 16 is positioned opposite the wheel hub 2a by manually adjusting the position of the base portion 11e and links 13 and 14, and then the attachment 16 is attached to the wheel hub 2a. Embodiments 1 and 2 of the attachment 16 will be described below.

[0024] The attachment 16 in this embodiment is an improvement over the conventional attachment 16a (hereinafter referred to as conventional product 16a) shown in Figures 2 and 3, and the flange of the attachment that is attached to the wheel hub 2a of the wheel 2 of the test vehicle 1 has an alignment structure that allows for adjustment of the axis centering.

[0025] First, to describe the conventional product 16a on which this embodiment is based, the fixed side (opposite the vehicle body 1 side) of the attachment tire hub 22 is mounted to swing freely in the direction of arrows P and Q in Figure 3 via a ball bearing (rotational oscillating device) 23 within the holder portion 17 between the vehicle support members 15.

[0026] On the other hand, on the opposite side (vehicle 1 side / fixing mechanism 9 side), an attachment tire hub flange 18, which is fixed to the wheel hub 2a of the wheel 2, is connected using a hex socket head bolt 50, and an outer nut hub 19 is fixed to the flange 18. That is, the head 19a of the outer nut hub 19 has a nut portion 19b formed thereon, which is fastened to the hub bolt (not shown) of the wheel hub 2a.

[0027] As shown in Figure 4(b), the shaft portion 19c has a hexagonal portion 19d, an intermediate portion 19e, and a tip portion 19f, with a male threaded portion 19g formed on the outer circumference of the tip portion 19f. Here, the hexagonal portion 19d occupies most of the shaft portion 19c, while, as shown in Figure 2, the intermediate portion 19e and the tip portion 19f are inserted into the through hole 18a of the flange 18.

[0028] Then, after inserting the tip portion 19f into the through hole 18a, the nut 24 is fastened to the male threaded portion 19g, causing the area around the through hole 18a to press against the hexagonal portion 19d, thereby fixing both 18 and 19 in place. At this time, the outer shape of the intermediate portion 19e is formed in a trapezoidal shape symmetrical to the inner shape of the through hole 18a, and the outer surface of the former 19e and the inner surface of the latter 18a are tightly joined together.

[0029] With such a conventional product 16a, the distance between the nut portion 19b of the outer nut hub 19 and the nut 24 cannot be adjusted, which means that the flange 18 cannot be centered and the mounting distance of the flange 18 to the wheel hub 2a cannot be adjusted.

[0030] In contrast, as shown in Figures 1 and 4(a), the attachment 16 of this embodiment has a shorter hexagonal portion 25d and intermediate portion 25e in the outer nut hub 25 compared to the conventional product 16a, and a male threaded portion 25f is formed on most of the shaft portion 25c.

[0031] Specifically, the outer nut hub 25 comprises a head portion 25a and a shaft portion 25c, and, similar to the conventional product 16a, the head portion 25a has a nut portion 25b formed thereon that is fastened to the hub bolt (not shown) of the wheel hub 2a.

[0032] However, although the shaft portion 25c has a hexagonal portion 25d and an intermediate portion 25e, it differs in that the hexagonal portion 25d is formed to be less than 1 / 4 the length of that of the conventional product 16a, and the intermediate portion 25e is formed to be only a very short length.

[0033] Furthermore, the length of the male threaded portion 25f of the shaft portion 25c is set to be more than three times that of the conventional product 16a, which is another difference as it occupies more than half of the axial length of the outer nut hub 25. Therefore, when the shaft portion 25c is inserted through the through hole 18a, the male threaded portion 25f, rather than the intermediate portion 25e, is located inside the through hole 18a.

[0034] In this case, as shown in Figure 1, the male threaded portion 25f of this embodiment has a pair of nuts 26 fastened to the head 25a side of the flange 18, and a double nut is interposed between the flange 18 and the intermediate portion 25e. As described above, the outer nut hub 25 of this embodiment is provided with nuts 26, flange 18, and nuts 24 in that order from the head 25a side, and the tightening position of the flange 18 is defined by adjusting the position (threading position) according to the amount of threading of the nuts 24 and 26.

[0035] Therefore, according to this embodiment, as shown in Figure 5, when fastening a nut 24 to the male threaded portion 25f, the fastening position of the nut 24 to the male threaded portion 25f can be adjusted by screwing the nut 24 onto the male threaded portion 25f and changing the amount of screwing (the axial length to which it is screwed in).

[0036] In other words, as the screwing depth increases, the fastening position of the nut 24 approaches the head 25a, the distance between the nut 24 and the nut portion 25b decreases, the flange 18 moves in the direction of arrow L, and the flange 18 approaches the wheel hub 2a. For example in Figure 1, if the lower nuts 24 and 26 are fixed and the upper nut 26 is moved towards the head 25, and the screwing depth of the upper nut 24 is increased, the flange 18 will tilt towards the wheel hub 2a.

[0037] On the other hand, reducing the screwing depth causes the fastening position of the nut 24 to move away from the head 25a, increasing the distance between the nut 24 and the nut portion 25b, causing the flange 18 to move in the direction of arrow R, and the flange 18 to move away from the wheel hub 2a. For example in Figure 1, if the screwing depth of the upper nut 24 is reduced while the lower nuts 24 and 26 are fixed, and the upper nut 26 is moved away from the head 25, the flange 18 will tilt towards the attachment tire hub 22.

[0038] As a result, by changing the screwing depth and adjusting the fastening position of the nut 24, the distance between the nut 24 and the nut portion 25b is adjusted, making it possible to adjust the axial alignment of the flange 18. In this respect, the attachment 16 is configured as an aligning structure for the flange 18 by employing an outer nut hub 25, thereby preventing circumferential runout and tilting of the flange 18, and providing the effect of suppressing vibration of the test vehicle 1.

[0039] Furthermore, the loosening prevention of the nut 24 is enhanced by interposing a double nut between the flange 18 and the intermediate portion 25e. The configuration of the attachment 16, other than the self-aligning structure, is the same as that of the conventional product 16a.

[0040] The attachment 16 of Example 2 will be described based on Figure 10. In Figure 10, 25 shows the outer nut hub of Example 1, and 27 shows the outer nut hub of Example 2.

[0041] This outer nut hub 27 comprises a head portion 27a and a shaft portion 27c. The head portion 27a has a nut portion 27b formed therein that is fastened to the hub bolt of the wheel hub 2a, similar to Embodiment 1. On the other hand, the shaft portion 27c has a hexagonal portion 27d and an intermediate portion 27e configured in the same way as Embodiment 1, but the formation range (length) of the male thread portion 27f is shortened to about half that of Embodiment 1.

[0042] Therefore, in this embodiment, the male threaded portion 27f has one nut 26 fastened to the head 25a side of the flange 18, and a single nut is interposed between the flange 18 and the intermediate portion 27e. Except for the formation range of the male threaded portion 27f and the single nut, the configuration is the same as in Embodiment 1.

[0043] In this embodiment, by shortening the formation range of the male thread portion 27f, the distance between the nut 24 and the nut portion 27b can be adjusted, making it possible to adjust the axial centering of the flange 18, and the same effect as in Embodiment 1 can be obtained. In this case, there is a single nut between the flange 18 and the intermediate portion 27e, but since the formation range of the male thread portion 27f of the shaft portion 27c is about half the length of that in Embodiment 1, it can be said that the loosening prevention effect is sufficient.

[0044] Incidentally, the attachment 16 of the present embodiment may be used not only when only the outer nut hub 27 is used, but also when the outer nut hubs 25 and 27 are used in combination as shown in FIG. 10. This makes it possible to accommodate the hub bolts of various types of wheel hubs 2a.

[0045] <<Other Examples>> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented with modifications within the scope described in each claim. An example will be described below.

[0046] (1) The outer nut hubs 25 and 27 and the flange 18 in the first and second embodiments were described based on the existing configuration (the configuration of the conventional product 16). However, various shapes are assumed for the flange 18. At this time, the degree of coupling during insertion of the outer nut hubs 25 and 27 differs depending on the combination with the flange 18, but if the centering structure of the first and second embodiments is adopted, the axial alignment of the flange 18 can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of screwing of the nut 24.

[0047] For example, the cross-sectional shape of the through-hole 18a does not have to be trapezoidal as shown in FIG. 11(a), and may be rectangular as shown in FIG. 11(b). At this time, the inner diameter of the through-hole 18a is formed larger than the outermost diameter of the male screw portion 25f. Therefore, by tightening the nuts 24 and 26, the flange 18 can be easily moved up and down, making it easier to align the axis.

[0048] (2) In the first and second embodiments, a configuration in which the nut 26 is interposed between the flange 18 and the intermediate portions 25e and 27e is shown. However, depending on the formation range (length) of the male screw portions 25f and 27f, a configuration with three or more nuts 26 or a configuration without the nut 26 may be adopted.

[0049] (3) Incidentally, the vehicle restraint device 10 having the structure of the attachment 16 naturally constitutes the present invention.

[0050] 1...Test vehicle 2...Wheel 2a...Wheel hub 10...Vehicle restraint device 16...Attachment 18...Attachment tire hub flange 18a...Through hole 22...Attachment tire hub 24, 26...Nut 25, 27...Outer nut hub 25a, 27a...Head 25b, 27b...Nut part 25c, 27c...Shaft part 25f, 27f...Male thread part

Claims

1. A structure for an attachment to a wheel hub when a vehicle is restrained by a vehicle restraint device when the vehicle's wheels are placed on rollers of a chassis dynamometer system, comprising: an attachment tire hub flange attached to the wheel hub of the wheel using an outer nut hub; and an attachment tire hub fixed to the flange, wherein the head of the outer nut hub has a nut portion formed thereon which is fastened to the hub bolt of the wheel hub, while the shaft portion of the outer nut hub has a male thread portion formed thereon which is fastened to the nut after being inserted into the through hole of the flange, and the distance between the nut portion and the nut can be adjusted by adjusting the fastening position of the nut to the male thread portion.

2. The structure of the attachment for the vehicle restraint device according to claim 1, characterized in that the length of the male threaded portion is set to be 1 / 2 or more of the length of the outer nut hub.

3. The structure of the attachment for the vehicle restraint device according to claim 2, characterized in that the male threaded portion has a plurality of nuts fastened to the head portion of the flange.

4. The structure of the attachment for the vehicle restraint device according to claim 1, characterized in that the mounting distance of the flange is shortened by shortening the length of the shaft portion, and the distance between the nut portion and the nut of the outer nut hub is adjustable.

5. The structure of the attachment for the vehicle restraint device according to 4, characterized in that a single nut is fastened to the head portion of the flange on the shaft portion.

6. A vehicle restraint device characterized by comprising the attachment structure described in claims 1 to 5.

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