Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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VEHICLE BODY COVER AND SEAT LOCK MOUNTING STRUCTURE
FOR A SCOOTER-TYPE VEHICLE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a vehicle body
cover and a seat lock for a scooter-type vehicle, in which a vehicle body
cover and a seat on the vehicle body cover are integrally openable and
closable in the vertical direction.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a scooter-type vehicle in the related art, a seat locking structure, in
which a seat catch is provided on a vehicle body frame, and a seat is locked
to the vehicle body frame by the seat catch, is employed (for example, JP-A
2002-29473 (P.2, Fig. 1)
Referring to the drawings, the above Patent Document will be described in
detail.
Fig. 10 is a left side drawing of a scooter-type vehicle in the related art
(Copy of Fig. 1 in the Patent Document).
In the scooter-type vehicle in the related art, the rear portion of a rear
cover 34 is mounted to the rear portion of a vehicle body frame 11 with a
hinge 33 so as to be openable and closable in the vertical direction, and the
a seat 23 is mounted to the front portion of the rear cover 34 with a seat
hinge so as to be openable and closable in the vertical direction. Since the
seat 23 and a luggage box 22 move upward when the rear cover 34 is
opened upward, an engine can easily be viewed. There may be a case i n
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which the rear cover 34 (body unit 36) is removed for repair of the engine
or the like. Referring to the next drawing, a procedure of removing the
rear cover 34 will be briefly described below.
Fig. 11 is an explanatory drawing of a procedure of attaching and detaching
the rear cover in the related art, showing a state in which the rear cover 34
(the reference numerals are those used in the publication, hereinafter) is
removed from the vehicle body frame 11.
In this manner, in order to remove the rear cover 34 (body unit 36), a key
102 (reference numerals of three-digit are newly designated here) is
inserted into a key cylinder 101, which is fitted into the rear cover 34, to
unlock a seat catch 103 in a first place, then the seat 23 is opened upward,
and then the rear cover 34 is removed by removing each bolt 91, 92.
In the scooter-type vehicle in the related art, the seat catch 103 provided o
n
the vehicle body frame 11 is actuated by pulling a cable 104 attached
between the seat catch 103 and the key cylinder 101. The cable 104 must be
laid between the rear cover 34 and the vehicle body frame 11 side.
Therefore, when removing the rear cover 34 (body unit 36), it is necessary
to remove the cable 104 once, and then the cable 104 must be attached
again after the rear cover 34 is attached to the vehicle body frame 11.
Therefore, removal and attachment of the cable 104 take a lot of trouble.
When assembling the seat catch 103 of the scooter-type vehicle in the
factory, it is difficult to improve manufacturing efficiency since
attachment of the cable 104 takes a lot of trouble.
In addition, there is also a scooter-type vehicle which includes a protective
cover to be attached around the seat catch 103 as a tamper-resistant
measure.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a mounting structure
of a vehicle cover and a seat lock for a scooter-type vehicle in which a
trouble to assemble the seat catch is eliminated and the seat catch is
prevented from being tampered.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the object described above, the present invention
relates to a scooter-type vehicle in which an engine is disposed under a
seat, the engine is covered by a vehicle body cover, the upper portion of
the vehicle body cover is covered by the seat, the front portion of the seat
is connected to the vehicle body cover with a seat hinge so that the seat can
be opened and closed in the vertical direction, and the rear portion of the
vehicle body cover is connected to the vehicle body frame with a cover
hinge so that the vehicle body cover can be opened and closed in the
vertical direction, characterized in that a box section having front, rear,
left, and right walls is formed on the cover hinge at the portion which
swings together with the vehicle body cover, a seat catch is stored in the
box section, the seat catch engages a seat hook extending from the lower
surface of the rear portion of the seat, and a seat catch operating rod
extending from the seat catch is supported by the rear wall.
Since the box section is formed on the cover hinge at the portion which
swings together with the vehicle body cover, and the seat catch is stored i n
the box section, only the cover hinge must be assembled as regards
assembly in production lines and a trouble to assemble the seat catch can
be eliminated.
In addition, when removing the vehicle body cover, parts such as a cable
that have to be removed from the seat catch do not exist, and thus one
trouble can be saved.
Furthermore, the seat catch is stored within the front, the rear, the left and
the right walls. Even when a screw driver or the like is inserted, the front,
the rear, the left and the right walls can prevent the screw driver or the
like from being inserted, and hence the seat catch can be protected from
tampering.
An aspect of the invention is characterized in that both ends of a rear grip
are secured to the left and the right walls of the box section.
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Other parts are given high priority for being attached to the front wall and
the rear wall of the box section. Consequently, parts may be assembled o n
the front, the rear, the left, and the right walls of the box section i n
advance respectively, whereby the number of parts to be assembled in
production lines may be reduced.
A further aspect of the invention is characterized in that the ends of a sub
frame, such as a frame for supporting the luggage box are fixed to the rear
grip.
The sub frame can be attached to the rear grip in advance, and thus the
number of parts may be reduced and hence the assembly time required for
assembling to the vehicle body frame in production lines may be reduced.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings,
wherein:
Fig. 1 is a side view of a scooter-type vehicle according to the invention.
Fig. 2 is a drawing illustrating opening and closing operation of a vehicle
body cover according to the invention.
Fig. 3 is a left side drawing of a body unit according to the invention.
Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the body unit according to the invention.
Fig. 5 is a side view of a cover hinge and a key cylinder according to the
invention.
Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in Fig. 5.
Fig. 8 is a drawing showing the action of a seat catch according to the
invention.
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Fig. 9 shows comparative drawings of the mounting structure of a vehicle
body cover and a seat lock.
Fig. 10 is a left side view of a scooter-type vehicle in the related art.
Fig. 11 is an explanatory drawing showing a procedure of attaching and
detaching a rear cover in the related art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings, an embodiment of the invention will be
described below. The drawings are to be viewed so that reference
numerals can be seen in the right way.
Fig. 1 is a side view of a scooter-type vehicle according to the invention, i
n
which a scooter-type vehicle 10 is a scooter mainly including a vehicle
body frame 11, a front fork 12 attached at the front of the vehicle body
frame 11, the front fork 12 being provided with a front wheel 13, a front
fender 14, and a handle 15 all attached thereto, a swing-type power unit 16
(a combination of an engine 17 at the front and a transmission mechanism
18 at the rear) attached to the lower portion of the vehicle body frame 11, a
rear wheel 19 attached to the rear portion of the power unit 16, a rear
suspension 21 for suspending the power unit 16, a luggage box 22 disposed
at the center of the vehicle body frame 11, a seat 23 disposed on top of the
luggage box 22, a fuel tank 24 attached on the upper portion of the vehicle
body frame 11, a body cover 25 for covering the vehicle body frame 11, and
a rear grip 26 provided at the rear thereof. Reference numeral 27
represents a key cylinder provided at the rear thereof.
The body cover 25 includes a front cover 31 for covering the front portion,
a step floor 32 for placing legs of a driver, and a rear cover 34 covering the
rear portion and being attached to the vehicle body frame 11 via a cover
hinge 33 so as to be capable of opening and closing in the vertical direction
as a vehicle body cover.
A combination of the rear cover 34, the luggage box 22, the seat 23, the rear
grip 26, and part of the cover hinge 33 (hinge bracket 73 in Fig. 5)
integrally
assembled is referred to as a body unit 36 in this specification.
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The vehicle body frame 11 is constructed by joining a rear frame 40 to a
center down pipe 37. The rear frame 40 is constructed by mounting a
lower cross member 42 to the lower portion of a rear pipe 41, mounting an
U-shaped center cross member 43 at the center thereof, mounting an
upper cross member 44 to the upper portion thereof, mounting a lug 45 for
placing the luggage box 22 to the center cross member 43, and mounting a
pivot pipe 51 of the cover hinge 33 at the rear end thereof. Reference
numeral 52 represents a rod pivotably attached to the lug 45 at one end
thereof.
Figs. 2(a), (b) are drawings illustrating opening and closing operation of the
vehicle body cover according to the invention, showing a state in which
the front portion of the luggage box 22 is attached to the vehicle body
frame 11 with a bolt 22b and the rear portion of the luggage box 22 is
attached to the vehicle body frame 11 with a bolt 22b.
In Fig. 2(a), when opening the rear cover 34, the seat 23 attached to the rear
cover 34 so as to be capable of opening and closing is opened in a first place
as indicated by an arrow (2), then the bolts 22a, 22b are removed, and the
seat 23 is closed.
In Fig. 2(b), the rear cover 34 is opened as indicated by an arrow (3), the
luggage box 22 is supported by a rod 52, and the rear cover 34 as a vehicle
body cover is secured. In other words, by employing the body unit 36, the
area around the engine can be widely opened easily.
Fig. 3 is a left side drawing of a body unit according to the invention. As
already described, the body unit 36 includes the rear cover 34, the luggage
box 22, the seat 23, the rear grip 26, and part of the cover hinge 33 (hinge
bracket 73 shown in Fig. 5).
The seat 23 includes a seat hook 55 extending from a lower surface 54 of
the rear portion thereof.
A sub frame 67 includes a cross plate 69 provided at the front thereof, and
mounting plates 67a, 67a (See Fig. 4) provided at the rear thereof.
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The rear portion of the luggage box 22 is fixed to the cross plate 69 of the
sub frame 67 with a bolt 69a, and to the mounting plates 67a, 67a (See Fig.
4) of the sub frame 67 with bolts 67b, 67b (not shown).
Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the body unit according to the invention,
showing the rear cover 34, the luggage box 22, the seat 23, the rear grip 26,
and part of the cover hinge 33 (hinge bracket 73 in Fig. 5), and also the key
cylinder 27 attached to the rear cover 34.
Fig. 4 also shows that the sub frame 67 includes the cross plate 69 provided
at the front and the mounting plates 67a, 67a provided at the rear, as
described above.
The rear cover 34 includes cover bodies 56, 56 each formed into an egg
shape, a center over 57 formed forwardly of the cover bodies 56, 56, and a
tail cover 58 formed rearwardly thereof. Material of the rear cover 34 is
steel plate or resin.
The tail cover 58 is provided with a key cylinder mounting portion 59.
A front portion 61 of the seat 23 is attached to the front portion of the
luggage box 22 with a seat hinge 62, and the rear cover 34 is also attached to
the luggage box 22.
The luggage box 22 is a substantially square box, and includes a bottom
plate 63 to be engaged with the lug 45 (See Fig. 2(b)) for serving as a
reinforcing member. Material of the luggage box 22 is steel plate or resin.
The rear grip 26, being an U-shaped pipe, is a reinforcing member of the
body unit 36 and is secured to the cover hinge 33 at both ends 66, 66 thereof
with bolts.
The end portions 68, 68 of the sub frame 67 and as the frames supporting
the luggage box 22 are attached by the welding on the rear grip 26.
The luggage box 22 is secured at the rear to the cross plate 69 of the sub
frame 67 with the bolt 69a (See Fig. 3), and secured to the mounting plates
67a, 67a of the sub frame 67 with bolts 67b (see Fig. 3), 67b (not shown).
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Fig. 5 is a side view of the cover hinge and the key cylinder according to
the invention, showing a state in which the key cylinder 27 is fitted to the
cover hinge 33 and the key cylinder mounting portion 59 of the rear cover
34.
The cover hinge 33 is constructed by mounting the pivot pipe 51 to the
rear end of the rear pipe 41 via a hinge bracket 71, covering a cushion
rubber 72 at both ends of the pivot pipe 51, and fitting U-shaped guide
members 74, 74 of the hinge bracket 73 to the cushion rubber 72. Reference
numerals 75, 75 represent bolt holes for securing the rear grip 26 (See Fig.
4).
The hinge bracket 73 is a member which swings about the pivot pipe 51
with the vehicle body cover (rear cover 34), and is formed with a box
section 76 having a front wall 81, a rear wall 82, a left wall 83, and a right
wall 84.
The hinge bracket 73 is constructed in such a manner that a seat catch 85 is
stored in the box section 76, the seat catch 85 engages the seat hook 55
extending from the lower surface 54 of the rear portion of the seat 23, and
the seat catch operating rod 86 extending from the seat catch 85 is
supported by the rear wall 82. Reference numerals 87, 87 represent
bearings for receiving the seat catch operating rod 86.
The seat catch operating rod 86 is constructed in such a manner that the
axes of both ends thereof are eccentric with respect to the axis of the center
by a predetermined distance, so that the both ends rotates around the
central axis.
The key cylinder 27 is provided at the inner end thereof with an arm
portion 91 that rotates the seat catch operating rod 86 by abutting against
the end thereof. Reference numeral 92 represents a key.
When removing the cover hinge 33, that is, when removing the hinge
bracket 73, the hinge bracket 73 is rotated as indicated by an arrow (4), and
the U-shaped guiding member 74 is removed from the pivot pipe 51 as
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indicated by an arrow (5). That is, the body unit 36 can be attached and
detached.
Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in Fig. 5. As
described above, the cover hinge 33 is constructed by mounting the pivot
pipe 51 to the rear end of the rear pipe 41 via the hinge bracket 71, covering
the cushion rubber 72 at both ends of the pivot pipe 51, and fitting the U-
shaped guide members 74, 74 of the hinge bracket 73 to the cushion rubber
72.
The box section 76 of the hinge bracket 73 includes the front wall 81, the
rear wall 82, the left wall 83, and the right wall 84.
Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in Fig. 5, showing
the seat catch 85 in a state in which the seat catch 85 engages the seat hook
55 (not shown in Fig. 7, see Fig. 5), that is, in a state in which the seat 23
is
closed.
The seat catch 85 includes a locking plate 93, a latch 94, and a tension
spring 95 hooked between the locking plate 93 and the latch 94, and
stoppers 96, 97, 98, 99.
The locking plate 93 is formed with a shoulder 93a (see Fig. 8(b)) at the
center thereof by bending.
The operation of the seat catch will be described below.
When the key cylinder 27 shown in Fig. 5 is rotated by the key 92, the both
ends of the seat catch operating rod 86 rotates at the arm portion 91 of the
key cylinder 27 and starts to rotates the locking plate 93. The subsequent
operation will be described in conjunction with the next drawing.
In Figs. 8(a) to (c) are drawings showing the action of the seat catch
according to the invention.
In the drawing (a), when the ends of the seat catch operating rod 86 rotate,
the locking plate 93 rotates as indicated by arrows (6), (6), and the latch 94
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starts to rotate as indicated by an arrow (7) by a pulling force of the
tension
spring 95. The ends of the seat catch operating rod 86 continue to rotate.
The drawing (b) is a drawing of (a), viewed in the direction indicated by an
arrow b, showing a state in which the locking plate 93 rotates as indicated
by the arrow (6) and moves away from the stopper 97. The state of the
stopper 97 shown in the drawing (b) is before rotation, and stops rotation
of the locking plate 93, which is pulled in the direction indicated by an
outline arrow by the tension spring 95 (see the drawing (a)).
In the drawing (c), when the ends of the seat catch operating rod 86 further
continue to rotate as indicated by an arrow (8), the locking plate 93 is
stopped by the stopper 98, and simultaneously, the latch 94 abuts against
the stopper 99 and stops. On the other hand, the latch 94 unlocks the seat
hook 55, and presses the seat hook 55 slightly upward in the direction
indicated by an arrow (9). Consequently, as shown in Fig. 2(a), the seat 23
can be opened as indicated by the arrow (2).
In this manner, in the mounting structure of a vehicle body cover and a
seat lock for a scooter-type vehicle, since the seat catch 85 is stored in the
cover hinge 33 as shown in Fig. 5, only the cover hinge 33 must be
assembled as regards assembly in production lines and a trouble to
assemble the seat catch 85 can be eliminated.
When removing the rear cover 34 (body unit 36), parts that have to be
removed from the seat catch 85 do not exist, and thus one trouble can be
saved, and when mounting the seat catch 85, another trouble can be saved.
Figs. 9(a), (b) are comparative drawings of the mounting structure of a
vehicle body cover and a seat lock.
The drawing (a) is a copy of Fig. 11, showing a seat catch 103 and the rear
cover 34 in the related art. When removing the rear over 34 (body unit
36), the procedure to connect and disconnect a cable 104 between the seat
catch 103 and the rear cover 34 is incurred.
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The drawing (b) shows the mounting structure of a vehicle body cover and
a seat lock according to the invention. In this case, the operation of the
seat catch 85 is not incurred when removing the rear cover 34 (body unit
36).
Therefore, according to the embodiment of the invention, a trouble of
assembling the seat catch 85 can be avoided.
As shown in Fig. 5, since the hinge bracket 73 of the cover hinge 33 is a
member which swings about the pivot pipe 51 with the vehicle body cover
(rear cover 34), is formed with the box section 76 having the front wall 81,
the rear wall 82, the left wall 83, and the right wall 84, and stores the seat
catch 85 in the box section 76, the front wall 81, the rear wall 82, the left
wall 83, and the right wall 84 can protect the seat catch 85, and thus can
prevent the seat catch 85 from being tampered.
Since the both ends 66, 66 of the rear grip 26 in Fig. 4 are fixed to the left
and the right walls 83, 84 of the box section 76 in Fig. 5, other parts are
given high priority for being attached to the front wall 81 and the rear wall
82 of the box section 76 in Fig. 5. Consequently, parts may be assembled o n
the front and the rear walls 81, 82 and on the left and the right walls 83, 84
of the box section 76 in advance respectively, whereby the number of parts
to be assembled in production lines may be reduced.
As shown in Fig. 4, since the ends 68, 68 of the sub frame 67, such as a
frame for supporting the luggage box 22 is fixed to the rear grip 26, the sub
frame 67 can be attached to the rear grip 26 in advance, and thus the
number of parts may be reduced and hence the assembly time required for
assembling to the vehicle body frame in production lines may be reduced.
The mode of the locking plate 93 and the latch 94 used for the seat catch 85
shown in Fig. 7 in the embodiment of the invention is shown by way of
example only. A mechanism for connecting the seat catch 85 and the key
cylinder 27 shown in Fig. 5 is arbitrary.
With the arrangement describe above, the invention brings out following
advantages.
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According to the present invention, in the mounting structure of a
vehicle body cover and a seat lock in which the rear portion of the vehicle
body cover is connected to the vehicle body frame with the cover hinge,
the box section having the front, the rear, the left, and the right walls is
formed on the cover hinge at the portion which swings together with the
vehicle body cover, the seat catch is stored in the box section, the seat
catch
engages the seat hook extending from the lower surface of the rear portion
of a seat, and the seat catch operating rod extending from the seat catch is
supported by the rear wall. Therefore, only the cover hinge must be
assembled as regards assembly in production lines and a trouble to
assemble the seat catch can be eliminated.
In addition, parts such as the cable that have to be removed from the seat
catch do not exist when removing the vehicle body cover, and thus one
trouble can be saved.
Since the box section having the front, the rear, the left, and the right
walls
is formed on the cover hinge at the portion which swings together with
the vehicle body cover, and the seat catch is stored in the box section, the
seat catch can be protected from tampering.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, since both ends of
a rear grip are secured to the left and the right walls of the box section,
other parts are given high priority for being attached to the front wall and
the rear wall of the box section. Consequently, parts may be assembled o n
the front and the rear walls and on the left and the right walls of the box
section in advance respectively, whereby the number of parts to be
assembled in production lines may be reduced.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, since the
ends of a sub frame, such as a frame for supporting a luggage box are fixed
to the rear grip, the sub frame can be attached to the rear grip in advance,
and thus the number of parts may be reduced and hence the assembly time
required for assembling to the vehicle body frame in production lines may
be reduced.
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Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been
described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the
art, that
variations may be made thereto without departing from the disclosed
invention or the scope of the appended claims.
W H-12104CA
