Steered Wheel Suspension Fork Bracket Thickness Variation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Steered wheel suspension devices for small vehicles like motorcycles face conflicting requirements of strength and rigidity, where the fork bracket needs to absorb loads while inclining, but existing designs compromise on shape complexity to achieve this.
Innovation Solution
A steered wheel suspension device comprising a steering head pipe, steering shaft, fork bracket with a steering shaft boss portion, fork clamp portions, and a plate-shaped portion that varies in thickness to ensure required rigidity and absorb loads effectively without the need for cut-out portions, allowing for improved steering stability and simplified manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the fork bracket is designed with high strength and rigidity to withstand deceleration loads, then the structural integrity is improved, but the ability to absorb loads during vehicle incline deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a thickness variation in the plate-shaped portion of the fork bracket, with a thicker front end side and a thinner rear end side. This localized difference in material distribution allows the front portion to maintain high strength for deceleration loads while the rear portion provides flexibility for absorbing loads during vehicle incline, thus resolving the contradiction between overall strength and adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If cut-out portions are added to the fork bracket to decrease rigidity for load absorption, then the load absorption capability is improved, but the shape complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs parameter changes by varying the thickness parameter of the plate-shaped portion along its length, transitioning from a thicker front end to a thinner rear end. This continuous parameter variation achieves the desired rigidity gradient for load absorption without introducing discrete cut-out portions, thereby maintaining shape simplicity and reducing manufacturing complexity while still improving adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
A fork bracket of a steered wheel suspension device includes a steering shaft boss portion, a pair of fork clamp portions, and a plate-shaped portion. Into the steering shaft boss portion, a steering shaft is internally inserted on a center in a right-left direction. The pair of the fork clamp portions clamps each of a pair of forks on a position away from the steering shaft boss portion to right and left. The plate-shaped portion couples the steering shaft boss portion to the pair of the fork clamp portions. The plate-shaped portion includes a thick portion on a front end side and a thin portion on a rear end side in an area between the steering shaft boss portion and the pair of the fork clamp portions. The thick portion is disposed from the center to each of the pair of the fork clamp portions.