Front wheel supporting frame structure of saddle-ride vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9828057-B2
Application number	US-201615077908-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 23, 2016
Priority date	Mar 30, 2015
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

A cushion member is swingable with respect to a main frame about a fourth rotation axis to be expanded and compressed according to a movement of a front wheel. A first arm is swingable with respect to a front fork supporting member about a fifth rotation axis and with respect to the main frame about a sixth rotation axis. A second arm is swingable with respect to the front fork supporting member about a seventh rotation axis, with respect to the cushion member about an eighth rotation axis, and with respect to the main frame about a ninth rotation axis. The fourth to ninth rotation axes are substantially parallel to one another. The fourth rotation axis is provided to be substantially perpendicular to a plane including a second rotation axis about which the front fork is turnable.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A front wheel supporting frame structure of a saddle-ride vehicle, comprising:
a main frame which extends in vehicle front-rear directions;
upper and lower arms which extend in the vehicle front-rear directions and by which a front wheel is supported to be swingable in up-down directions; and
a cushion member which is expanded and compressed according to a movement of the front wheel to provide a cushioning effect, wherein
an upper connection portion formed in an upper front portion of the main frame, a rear end portion of the upper arm being swingably directly connected to the upper connection portion formed in the upper front portion of the main frame,
a lower connection portion to which a rear end portion of the lower arm is swingably connected is formed in a lower front portion of the main frame,
a handle supporting portion by which a handle is supported to be turnable about a steering axis is formed to extend upward in the upper front portion of the main frame, behind the upper connection portion,
an upper end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the handle supporting portion, and
a lower end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the lower arm.

2. The front wheel supporting frame structure according to claim 1 , wherein
the upper end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the handle supporting portion about a first axis,
the rear end portion of the upper arm is swingably connected to the upper connection portion about a second axis, and
the first axis is offset from the second axis.

3. A front wheel supporting frame structure of a saddle-ride vehicle, comprising:
a main frame which extends in vehicle front-rear directions;
upper and lower arms which extend in the vehicle front-rear directions and by which a front wheel is supported to be swingable in up-down directions; and
a cushion member which is expanded and compressed according to a movement of the front wheel to provide a cushioning effect, wherein
an upper connection portion to which a rear end portion of the upper arm is swingably connected is formed in an upper front portion of the main frame,
a lower connection portion to which a rear end portion of the lower arm is swingably connected is formed in a lower front portion of the main frame,
a handle supporting portion by which a handle is supported to be turnable about a steering axis is formed to extend upward in the upper front portion of the main frame, behind the upper connection portion,
an upper end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the handle supporting portion, and
a lower end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the lower arm, wherein
the handle supporting portion includes a tubular boss portion which forms the steering axis and left and right extending portions which extend upward from the upper front portion of the main frame as inclining inward in vehicle width directions to be connected to a lower portion of the boss portion, and
a connection shaft which extends in the vehicle width directions to connect the left and right extending portions to each other is provided in the left and right extending portions.

4. The front wheel supporting frame structure according to claim 3 , wherein the upper end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the handle supporting portion via the connection shaft.

5. The front wheel supporting frame structure according to claim 3 , wherein
a handle post is provided in an upper portion of the boss portion to be turnable about the steering axis, and
the handle post includes a holder to which the handle is fixed and a shaft portion which is connected to a lower portion of the holder and which has a center axis coinciding with the steering axis.

6. The front wheel supporting frame structure according to claim 5 , wherein the shaft portion is supported by the boss portion, inside the boss portion in a radial direction thereof, to be turnable about the steering axis.

7. A front wheel supporting frame structure of a saddle-ride vehicle, comprising:
a main frame which extends in vehicle front-rear directions;
upper and lower arms which extend in the vehicle front-rear directions and by which a front wheel is supported to be swingable in up-down directions; and
a cushion member which is expanded and compressed according to a movement of the front wheel to provide a cushioning effect, wherein
an upper connection portion to which a rear end portion of the upper arm is swingably connected is formed in an upper front portion of the main frame,
a lower connection portion to which a rear end portion of the lower arm is swingably connected is formed in a lower front portion of the main frame,
a handle supporting portion by which a handle is supported to be turnable about a steering axis is formed to extend upward in the upper front portion of the main frame, behind the upper connection portion,
an upper end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the handle supporting portion, and
a lower end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the lower arm, wherein
a front end portion of the upper arm is connected to a member on the front wheel side to be swingable about a first connection axis extending in the vehicle width directions,
the rear end portion of the upper arm is connected to the upper front portion of the main frame to be swingable about a second connection axis extending in the vehicle width directions,
a straight line passing through the first connection axis and the second connection axis forms a fan-shaped imaginary region behind the second connection axis in a side view with up and down movements of the front wheel,
a connection portion between the upper end portion of the cushion member and the handle supporting portion is arranged inside the imaginary region in the side view.

8. A front wheel supporting frame structure of a saddle-ride vehicle, comprising:
a main frame which extends in vehicle front-rear directions;
upper and lower arms which extend in the vehicle front-rear directions and by which a front wheel is supported to be swingable in up-down directions; and
a cushion member which is expanded and compressed according to a movement of the front wheel to provide a cushioning effect, wherein
an upper connection portion to which a rear end portion of the upper arm is swingably connected is formed in an upper front portion of the main frame,
a lower connection portion to which a rear end portion of the lower arm is swingably connected is formed in a lower front portion of the main frame,
a handle supporting portion by which a handle is supported to be turnable about a steering axis is formed to extend upward in the upper front portion of the main frame, behind the upper connection portion,
an upper end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the handle supporting portion, and
a lower end portion of the cushion member is swingably connected to the lower arm, wherein
a connection portion between the upper end portion of the cushion member and the handle supporting portion is arranged behind the steering axis such that a stroke axis of the cushion member is inclined rearward with respect to a vertical direction in a side view.

9. A front wheel supporting frame structure of a saddle-ride vehicle, comprising:
a main frame which extends in vehicle front-rear directions;
upper and lower arms which extend in the vehicle front-rear directions and by which a front wheel is supported to be swingable in up-down directions; and
a cushion member which is expanded and compressed according to a movement of the front wheel to provide a cushioning effect, wherein

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Aoki Koji

Classifications

• B62K11/12 Primary

  Steering wheel forks characterised by the association therewith of engine · CPC title

• B62K11/04

  characterised by the engine being between front and rear wheels · CPC title