Patent Grant
10001092
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air cleaner for a motorcycle which can allow a motorcycle rider to feel an improved acceleration feeling.
Description of Related Art
An air cleaner employed in a motorcycle has hitherto been of a structure in which a cleaner element for capturing foreign matters is disposed in mating interface between a lower casing and a covering member covering upwardly of the lower casing. In this connection, see the patent document 1 listed below. In the case of this conventional air cleaner, at the mating interface, division is made between a dirty chamber for introducing a fresh air thereinto and a clean chamber for introducing a clean air, that is, the air which has been substantially purified by the cleaner element. Further, a funnel member is so disposed as to confront an outlet for the clean air, and a wall partitioning between the funnel side and the dirty chamber side is provided in the lower casing so as to extend to the mating interface.
It has, however, been found that according to such a structure as disclosed in the patent document 1, since the capacity of the clean chamber is relatively small as compared with the capacity of the dirty chamber. Also, since the partition wall dividing into the dirty chamber and the clean chamber is of a substantial height, the flow passage from the cleaner element to a air cleaner outlet that is defined in an upstream side opening of the funnel tends to increase. As a result thereof, the sound pressure level of an intake air sound during the acceleration comes to have a peak at two frequencies of about 350 Hz and about 500 Hz. Such sound pressure level do not coincide with the frequency peak (about 400 Hz) of engine sounds generated in the motorcycle and, therefore, the motorcycle rider is unable to appreciate a good acceleration feeling.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention has for its object to provide an air cleaner for use in the motorcycle, which can allow the motorcycle rider to feel a comfortable acceleration feeling.
The air cleaner herein disclosed in accordance with the present invention is mounted on a motorcycle for purifying an engine intake air. However, in order to accomplish the foregoing object of the present invention, the air cleaner referred to above includes a lower casing forming a cleaner main body, a covering to cover an upward region of the lower casing, a cleaner element disposed inside the lower casing and positioned below a mating interface defined between the lower casing and the covering, and a partition wall formed in the lower casing to support the cleaner element and also to form a portion of a wall of a clean chamber.
According to the present invention, with the cleaner element disposed below the mating interface between the lower casing and the covering, the height of the partition wall can be lowered below the mating interface. Therefore, the intake air flowing through the cleaner element reaches the exit port without flowing markedly around within the covering so as to approach the ceiling surface. Accordingly, the length of the flow passage from the intake port to the exit port of the air cleaner is reduced and the frequency characteristic of the intake air sound can be improved to that having a single peak about 400 Hz. As a result, since the acceleration feeling (increase of the engine power) of the vehicle and the increase of the intake air sound can be made matching with each other, the rider's acceleration feeling can be improved. Also, since the cleaner element is disposed below the mating interface, the capacity of the clean chamber is increased and it can easily pursue a rapid increase of the amount of the intake air entering into the combustion engine. As a result, a rapid accelerating capacity may be rendered to be satisfactory.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an exit port provided in the lower casing may be defined by a funnel mounted on the lower casing, in which case the funnel is disposed on a downstream side of the cleaner element through the partition wall, and a tip end face of the partition wall lies on one side of a major surface of a clean chamber side of the cleaner element adjacent the dirty chamber. According to this structural feature, a tip end face of the partition wall is lowered, in consideration of the cleaner element disposed therebelow, to a position below the cleaner element. Therefore, the clean air which has been purified by the cleaner element can be smoothly guided towards the funnel side on the exit side without the flow thereof towards the exit side being disturbed by the partition wall. As a result thereof, the flow of the intake air flowing considerably around so as to approach the ceiling surface of the covering is eliminated and the flow passage from the intake port to the exit port of the air cleaner is further shortened and, therefore, the improvement of the frequency characteristic of the intake air sound is promoted.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the exit port provided in the lower casing may be formed by an upstream side opening of the funnel, in which case the exit port protrudes adjacent to the covering rather than to the cleaner element. According to this structural feature, the substantial flow passage from the intake port to the exit port (upstream side opening of the funnel) can be further reduced in length.
The air cleaner preferably includes: a dirty chamber on an upstream side of the cleaner element; a resonant chamber communicated with the dirty chamber on an upstream side of the cleaner element; and a dividing member having a communicating hole and configured to divide between the dirty chamber and the resonant chamber, which resonant chamber is opened to the outside through an air vent hole. According to this structural feature, a high frequency component of the intake air can be amplified by the resonant chamber having the air vent hole, to thereby improve the tone quality of the engine entire sound.
In a different preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cleaner element may be disposed substantially horizontally within the air cleaner, in which case the resonant chamber may exist below the dirty chamber, and the dividing member may extend diagonally upwardly from an intake port defined in the lower casing to reach in the vicinity of an undersurface of the cleaner element. According to these structural features, the fresh air introduced from the intake port of the air cleaner can be smoothly guided towards the cleaner element along the partition member.
In a still further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cleaner element may include an element main body, made of a filtering material, and a frame to support the element main body, in which case the frame is fitted to the tip end face of the partition wall by means of a screw member. According to this structural feature, selective attachment or detachment of the cleaner element can be accomplished easily.
In a yet further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lower casing may be formed with a step on which the cleaner element is placed, and the cleaner element can be urged against the step in the lower casing by a plurality of presser projections formed in the covering. According to this structural feature, the cleaner element can be stably supported by the presser projections in the covering.
In a still yet further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the motorcycle may include a head pipe to rotatably support a front fork and a main frame having a front end to which the head pipe is fitted, with the main frame having a pair of left and right main frame pieces, in which case the air cleaner is disposed in the location rearwardly of the head pipe and between the left and right main frame pieces. According to this structural feature, the capacity of the air cleaner can be increased to improve the intake air silencing effect.
Any combination of at least two constructions, disclosed in the appended claims and/or the specification and/or the accompanying drawings should be construed as included within the scope of the present invention. In particular, any combination of two or more of the appended claims should be equally construed as included within the scope of the present invention.
In any event, the present invention will become more clearly understood from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments and the drawings are given only for the purpose of illustration and explanation, and are not to be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention in any way whatsoever, which scope is to be determined by the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals are used to denote like parts throughout the several views, and:
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. In particular,
The main frame 1 also has a rear end lower portion provided with a swingarm bracket 11, and a swingarm 12 is supported by the swingarm bracket 11 through a pivot pin 13 at a front end portion for movement up and down about such pivot pin 13. A rear wheel 14 is supported by a rear end portion of the swingarm 12. A motorcycle combustion engine E is supported by a lower portion of the main frame 1, and the combustion engine E drives the rear wheel 14 through a power transmission mechanism 16 such as, for example, a substantially endless drive chain. The combustion engine E is, for example, a parallel multi-cylinder, four stroke combustion engine.
A rider's seat 22 is supported on the rear frame 2, and a fuel tank 18 is fitted to an upper portion of the main frame 1, that is, a motorcycle upper portion between the handlebar 10 and the rider's seat 22. A region below the rider's seat 22 is covered by a side covering 17 from lateral outside. A front fairing 30, that is large enough to cover a wide region ranging from a front portion of the motorcycle body to a lateral side of the combustion engine E, is mounted on a motorcycle front portion.
A headlamp unit 23 is mounted on the front fairing 30. An air cleaner 36 is disposed in the vicinity of the rear of the head pipe 3.
Referring now to
The cleaner element 55 is of a flat shape and is disposed below a mating interface 53 defined between the lower casing 50 and the covering 51. In other words, a major surface 55a of the clean chamber 58, which is an upper surface of the cleaner element 55, is positioned below the mating interface 53. Also, the major surface 55a is set to lie substantially parallel to the mating interface 53. A partition wall 57 for supporting a rear portion of the cleaner element 55 and forming a part of the wall of the cleaner chamber 58 is integrally formed with the lower casing 50 at a location rearwardly of the cleaner element 55.
An exit port 52 provided in the lower casing 50 is formed by an upstream side opening 60a of a funnel 60 mounted on the lower casing 50, and the funnel 60 is disposed on a further downstream side of the partition wall 57 on an downstream side of the cleaner element 55. The funnel 60 is made of a rubber material and is employed one for each of the cylinders of the combustion engine E and, hence, the four funnels 60 are employed in the practice of this embodiment now under discussion. Those funnels 60 occupy respective positions aligned in a row parallel to the motorcycle widthwise direction, and the base portions 60b on a downstream side of the funnel 60 are engaged in corresponding mounting holes 50b defined in a bottom wall 50a of the lower casing 50. The partition wall 57 has a tip end face 57a positioned below the major surface 55a on the clean chamber side of the cleaner element 55, that is, adjacent the dirty chamber 56, and the exit port 52 protrudes upwardly of the cleaner element 55, that is, towards the covering 51.
A resonant chamber 62 communicated with the dirty chamber 56 is provided on an upstream side of the cleaner element 55. The dirty chamber 56 and the resonant chamber 62 are divided from each other by a dividing member 65 having at least one communicating hole 63 (shown in
The mating interface 53 between the covering 51 and an outer periphery of the lower casing 50 is provided with a plurality of threaded holes 66 spaced at a predetermined distance from each other. By threading screw members 67, inserted into the covering 51, shown in
The frame 55e has an upper surface that is urged against the step 72 by means of a plurality of presser projections 74 formed integrally with the covering 51. A single presser piece 75 is formed in the covering 51 at a location rearwardly of the cleaner element 55. By a lower end face of the presser piece 75, the frame 55e of the cleaner element 55 is urged against the tip end face 57a of the partition wall 57 and, by threading a screw member 77, inserted into a hollow of the presser piece 75, into a threaded hole 79 formed in the partition wall 57, the frame 55e is fitted to the partition wall 57.
The air cleaner 36 of the structure hereinabove described is such that the cleaner element 55 is disposed below the mating interface 53 between the lower casing 50 and the covering 51 and, accordingly, as shown by the following Table 1, the clean chamber 58 has come to have an area larger than that in the conventional air cleaner.
In this instance, since the resonant chamber 62 is communicated with the dirty chamber 56 to form a part of a space of the dirty side, the sum of the capacities of the dirty chamber 56 and the resonant chamber 62 are contradistinguished with the capacity of the clean chamber 58 in the table above. It is to be noted that the volume ratio of the dirty chamber 56 and the resonant chamber 62 is 1.1:0.7. As a result of experiments, the ratio (the volume ratio at the bottom of the table above) between the capacity of the clean chamber 58 and the sum of the respective capacities of the dirty chamber 56 and the resonant chamber 62 is preferably within the range of 3:1 to 4:1, which has been proven to be feasible in terms of the frequency characteristic of the intake air sound and the air intake efficiency.
In the construction hereinabove described, since the cleaner element 55 as shown in
In contrast thereto, according to the above described embodiment, since the cleaner element 55 and the partition wall 57 are set to be lower than the mating interface 53, as shown by the flow line 80 indicated by the solid line, the flow of the intake air A around towards the ceiling surface 51a is suppressed and therefore, the flow passage is rendered to be short. Accordingly, the frequency characteristic of the intake air sound could have been changed to that having a single peak. As a result, since the acceleration feeling (increase of the engine power) of the vehicle and the increase of the intake air sound can be made matching with each other, the rider's acceleration feeling can be improved. Also, since the cleaner element 55 is disposed below, the capacity of the clean chamber 58 is increased. Therefore, it can easily pursue a rapid increase of the amount of the intake air by the combustion engine and, hence, a rapid accelerating capacity is increased.
On this occasion, even though the position of the mating interface 53 is lowered and the cleaner element 55 is aligned with this position of the mating interface 53, the position of the element 55 can be lowered. In such case, however, the shape of the lower casing 50 may change correspondingly and, therefore, a relation of connection with peripheral component parts such as, for example, a breather pipe 61 (shown in
Also, the exit port 52 provided in the lower casing 50 is defined by the funnel 60 mounted on the lower casing 50, the funnel 60 is disposed on the further downward side of the partition wall 57 at the downstream side of the cleaner element 55, and the tip end face 57a is positioned closer to the dirty chamber 56 than to the major surface 55a of the clean chamber side of the cleaner element. Accordingly, since the partition wall 57 comes to a position further lower than the cleaner element 55 which has been lowered, the clean air purified by the cleaner element 55 can be smoothly guided towards the exit port 52 side without being disturbed by the partition wall 57. As a result, the flow path along the flow line 80 from the intake port 41 to the exit port 52 of the air cleaner 36 is further lowered.
Also, the exit port 52 provided in the lower casing 50 is formed by the upstream side opening 60a of the funnel 60 and the exit port 52 protrudes adjacent to the covering 51 rather than to the cleaner element 55, that is, upwardly of the lower casing 50. Accordingly, a substantial flow path from the intake port 41 to the exit port 52 of the air cleaner 36 can be further shortened.
Moreover, provided is the resonant chamber 62 communicated with the dirty chamber 56 on the upstream side of the cleaner element 55, the dirty chamber 56 and the resonant chamber 62 are separated by the dividing member 65 having the communicating hole 63 therebetween, and the resonant chamber 62 is opened to the outside of the air cleaner 36 through the air vent hole 64. Accordingly, a high frequency component of the intake air sound is amplified to improve the tone quality of the engine entire sounds.
In addition, the cleaner element 55 is disposed substantially horizontally within the air cleaner 36, the resonant chamber 62 exists below the dirty chamber 56, and the dividing member 65 extends diagonally upwardly from the intake port 41 to reach in the vicinity of the undersurface 55b of the cleaner element 55. Accordingly, the fresh air introduced through the intake port 41 of the air cleaner 36 can be guided smoothly along the dividing member 65.
Yet, the cleaner element 65 includes the element main body 55d and the frame 55e for supporting the element main body 55d, and the frame 55e is fitted to the tip end face 57a of the partition wall 57 by means of the screw member 77. Accordingly, selective mounting or detachment of the cleaner element 55 can be easily accomplished.
Furthermore, since the cleaner element 55 is urged against the step 72 in the lower casing 50 by a plurality of presser projections 74 formed in the covering 51, the cleaner element 55 can be stably supported.
Finally, since the air cleaner 36 is disposed in the location rearwardly of the head pipe 3 and between the left and right main frame pieces 1a and 1b, the capacity of the air cleaner 36 can be increased to improve the intake air silencing effect.
Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings which are used only for the purpose of illustration, those skilled in the art will readily conceive numerous changes and modifications within the framework of obviousness upon the reading of the specification herein presented of the present invention. Accordingly, such changes and modifications are, unless they depart from the scope of the present invention as delivered from the claims annexed hereto, to be construed as included therein.
30 . . . Fairing
36 . . . Air cleaner
41 . . . Intake port
50 . . . Lower casing
51 . . . Covering
51
a . . . Ceiling surface
52 . . . Exit port
53 . . . Mating interface
55 . . . Cleaner element
55
a . . . Major surface
55
b . . . Undersurface
56 . . . Dirty chamber
57 . . . Partition wall
57
a . . . Tip end surface
58 . . . Clean chamber
60 . . . Funnel
62 . . . Resonant chamber
63 . . . Communicating hole
64 . . . Air vent hole
65 . . . Dividing member
A . . . Intake air
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-110629 | May 2013 | JP | national |
This application is a continuation application, under 35 U.S.C § 111(a) of international application No. PCT/JP2014/058697, filed Mar. 26, 2014, which claims priority to Japanese patent application No. 2013-110629, filed May 27, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference as a part of this application.
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| Entry |
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| English Translation of the International Preliminary Report on Patentability and Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority dated Dec. 10, 2015 for International PCT Patent Application No. PCT/JP2014/058697, filed Mar. 26, 2014 (14 pages). |
| Notification of Reason(s) for Rejection dated Oct. 4, 2016 and English Language Summary thereof for corresponding Japan Patent Application No. 2013-110629 (5 pages). |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160069306 A1 | Mar 2016 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2014/058697 | Mar 2014 | US |
| Child | 14945281 | US |
