Vehicle stabilizer and method of manufacturing the same
AssigneeNHK Spring Co., Ltd.
InventorsTakahiro NAKAMURA, Kenji KATSUNO
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A stabilizer is provided with a restriction ring connected to a torsion portion at a connection portion adjacent to a bush. The restriction ring has a body, a female portion, a male portion, and a welded portion. The female portion has gripping portions with a spacing therebetween decreasing in the direction away from a valley bottom portion. The male portion has a neck portion, an expansion portion, and a contraction portion. The welded portion covers at least the range of the contraction portion and the valley bottom portion and melts in the plate thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface.
Claims9
A stabilizer for vehicle, comprising:
- a torsion portion suspended from a vehicle body via a cylindrical bush;
- a pair of arm portions extending from ends of the torsion portion to right and left wheels, and attached to a suspension units;
- and
- a restriction ring coupled to the torsion portion at a site adjacent to the bush,
- wherein
- the restriction ring includes:
- a main body formed in a strip shape;
- a female portion including a valley bottom portion located at other end of the main body, and a pair of sandwiching portions spaced apart from each other by an interval in an axial direction of the torsion portion with the interval being narrow at a position farther from the valley bottom portion;
- a male portion including a neck portion extending from an end of the main body and inserted between distal ends of the pair of sandwiching portions, an expanding portion being larger in the axial direction of the torsion portion at a position farther from the neck portion, and a contracting portion being smaller in the axial direction of the torsion portion at a position farther from the neck portion;
- and
- a weld portion where the male portion and the female portion are welded, and
- the weld portion covers at least a range of the contracting portion and the valley bottom portion as viewed from an outer peripheral surface of the restriction ring, and melts in a thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface to integrate the contracting portion and the valley bottom portion.
A method of manufacturing a stabilizer for vehicle, comprising:
- a torsion portion suspended from a vehicle body via a cylindrical bush;
- a pair of arm portions extending from ends of the torsion portion to right and left wheels, and attached to a suspension units;
- and
- a restriction ring coupled to the torsion portion at a site adjacent to the bush,
- wherein
- the restriction ring includes:
- a main body formed in a strip shape;
- a female portion including a valley bottom portion located at other end of the main body, and a pair of sandwiching portions spaced apart from each other by an interval in an axial direction of the torsion portion;
- a male portion including a neck portion extending from an end of the main body, an expanding portion being larger in the axial direction of the torsion portion at a position farther from the neck portion, and a contracting portion being smaller in the axial direction of the torsion portion at a position farther from the neck portion;
- and
- the method comprises:
- a preparing step of arranging the main body so as to be wound around the torsion portion;
- a caulking step of pressing the female portion against the male portion and plastically deforming the pair of sandwiching portions in a shape following the expanding portion;
- and
- a welding step of welding to cover at least a range of the contracting portion and the valley bottom portion as viewed from an outer peripheral surface of the restriction ring, and forming a weld portion melting in a thickness direction from the outer peripheral surface to integrate the contracting portion and the valley bottom portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.