Title of Invention

INTAKE NOISE DAMPING STRUCTURE OF INTAKE SYSTEM IN MOTORCYLE

Abstract

An intake noise damping structure of an intake system in a motorcycle having a vehicle frame extended rearwardly from a head pipe, with an air cleaner case and a storage box for storing small articles such as tools arranged mutually adjacently along said vehicle frame; said air cleaner case and said storage box being collectively covered at the outside portion with a side cover, characterized in that said storage box is separated by a partition wall into a small particle storage compartment and a spare compartment; said spare compartment is mounted adjacently to said air cleaner case, and has an opening in a side near said side cover thereof, so that the nose of an intake pipe of said air cleaner case is inserted into said opening of said spare compartment; and a resonator is disposed in said spare compartment, thereby taking the air in at said opening through a clearance formed between said side cover and said storage box, then supplying the air into said air cleaner case through said intake pipe while damping intake noise by said resonator.

Full Text

FORM 2 THE PATENTS ACT 1970 [39 OF 1970] PROVISIONAL/COMPLETE SPECIFICATION, [See Section 10] "INTAKE NOISE DAMPING STRUCTURE OF INTAKE SYSTEM IN MOTORCYLE" HONDA GIKEN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, a corporation of Japan, having a place of business at 1-1, Minamiaoyama 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed :- [DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION] [Industrial Field of Utilization] The present invention relates to an intake noise damping structure of an intake system of a motorcycle suicaoie ror effective utilization of a space in an intake system by the use of existing components and for preventing an increase in cost. [Prior Art] During engine operation, there takes place intake air noise at the air cleaner; generally, the intake noise is damped by a resonator mounted in the intake system. The resonator is provided with a closed space having an opening on the way of the intake system, so that the air in the closed space will be resonated with the intake noise, thereby damping the noise. Now, referring to Fig. 8, an example of the resonator mounted in the intake system will be explained. L Fig. 8 is a side view of a conventional air cleaner 100, which is comprised of an air cleaner case 101, an intake air pipe 102 which connects an unillustrated carburetor to the air cleaner case 101, and a resonator 103 mounted on the outside surface of the intake air pipe 102 for connection with the interior of the intake air pipe 102. [Problem to Be Solved by the Invention] The motorcycle has little space for mounting an ancillary equipment or part-such as the air cleaner 100. To secure necessary dimensions and volume in the resonator 103 for the purpose of intake noise damping, it will become inevitable to change the shape of the intake air pipe 102 and the air cleaner case 101 and further other component parts, which will result in an increased cost of the motorcycle. [Object of the Invention] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an intake noise damping structure of an intake system of a motorcycle capable of effective utilization of a space in the intake system by using existing component parts and also damping intake noise while preventing an increase in cost. [Means for Solving the Problem] To achieve the above-described object, the intake damping structure of claim 1 is characterized by the structure that, in a motorcycle including a vehicle frame extended rearwardly from a head pipe, an air cleaner case and a storage box for storing small articles such as tools are arranged mutually adjacently along the vehicle frame, and the air cleaner case and the storage box are collectively covered at the outside portion with a side cover; the storage box is separated by a partition wall into a small particle storage compartment and a spare compartment; the spare compartment is mounted adjacently to the air cleaner case, and has an opening in a side near the side cover thereof, so that the nose of an intake pipe of the air cleaner case is inserted into the opening of the spare compartment; and a resonator is disposed in the spare compartment, thereby taking the air in at the opening through a clearance formed between the side cover and the storage box, then supplying the air into the air cleaner case through the intake pipe while damping intake noise by the resonator. As stated above, the air cleaner case and the storage box arranged mutually adjacently along the vehicle frame of the motorcycle are collectively covered at the outside portion with the side cover. The air entering through the clearance between the side cover and the storage box is taken in at the opening near the side cover of the spare compartment separated in the storage box, with the intake noise being damped by the resonator . The air thus taken in is supplied into the air cleaner case through the intake pipe with its nose inserted into the spare compartment. Since the resonator is mounted in the spare compartment in the existing storage box, it is possible to more effectively utilize the space around the air cleaner case as compared with separately mounting the resonator on the outside surface of the air cleaner case. Also it is possible to mount the resonator with a minimum change in the shape of component parts around the air cleaner case and accordingly to prevent an increase in cost. [Preferred Embodiment] A preferred embodiment of an intake noise damping structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which should be viewed in the direction of reference numerals. Therefore, the present invention relates to an intake noise damping structure of an intake system in a motorcycle having a vehicle frame extended rearwardly from a head pipe, with an air cleaner case and a storage box for storing small articles such as tools arranged mutually adjacently along said vehicle frame; said air cleaner case and said storage box being collectively covered at the outside portion with a side cover, characterized in that said storage box is separated by a partition wall into a small particle storage compartment and a spare compartment; said spare compartment is mounted adjacently to said air cleaner case, and has an opening in a side near said side cover thereof, so that the nose of an intake pipe of said air cleaner case is inserted into said opening of said spare compartment; and a resonator is disposed in said spare compartment, thereby taking the air in at said opening through a clearance formed between said side cover and said storage box, then supplying the air into said air cleaner case through said intake pipe while damping intake noise by said resonator. [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMODANTING/DRAWINGS] Fig. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle using an intake noise damping structure according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side view showing the intake noise damping structure according to the present invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the intake noise damping structure according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a sectional-view taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a schematic view explaining the operation of a resonator according to the present invention; Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the resonator according to the present invention; and Fig. 8 is a side view of a conventional air cleaner.' Fig. 1 is a side view of a motorcycle incorporating an intake noise damping structure according to the present invention. The motorcycle 10 includes a head pipe 12 attached at the front of a vehicle frame 11, a front fork 13 steerably attached on the head pipe 12 and a front wheel 14 attached at the lower part of the front fork 13, a handlebar 15 integrally attached on the upper part of the front fork 13, a fuel tank 16 mounted on the upper part of the vehicle frame 11, a power unit 19 comprising an engine 17 and a transmission 18 mounted on the vehicle frame 11 beneath the fuel tank 16, a swing arm 21 swingably attached on the lower rear part of the vehicle frame 11, a rear cushion unit 23 attached astride the swing arm 21 and the rear part of the vehicle frame 11, a seat 24 mounted behind the fuel tank 16, an air cleaner case 25 mounted along the vehicle frame 11 below the front part of the seat 24 and a storage box 26 mounted adjacently to the rear of the air cleaner case 25, and a side cover 27 collectively covering the outside portions of the air cleaner case 25 and the storage box 2 6. Now, reference numeral 31 denotes a headlamp; 32, a. carburetor; 33, an intake pipe connected between the engine 17 and the carburetor 32; 34, a connecting tube for connection between the carburetor 32 and the air cleaner case 25; 35, a rear carrier; and 36, a tail lamp. Fig. 2 is a side view showing the intake noise damping structure of the present invention, in which the air cleaner case 25 and the storage box 26 with the side cover 27 removed are shown. The air cleaner case 25 has an intake pipe 41 at the rear part as an intake pipe for taking in the outside .air, and is attached by bolts 42, 42 on the side of the vehicle frame 11. The storage box 26 is separated by a partition wall 44 into a small article storage compartment 45 and a spare compartment 46. The spare compartment 46 is located near the air cleaner case 25, and is provided with an opening 47 in the surface (the surface on this side) close to the side cover 27 of the spare compartment 46. Furthermore, in the first side wall 48 on the spare compartment 46 side, a cutout is made through which the intake pipe 41 of the air cleaner case 25 is inserted, and the nose of the intake pipe 41 is inserted into the spare compartment 46 . Reference numerals 51, 51 refer to bolts for mounting the storage box 26 to the side portion of the vehicle frame 11. The small article storage compartment 45 is for storing tools T put in a case. The spare compartment 46 is primarily a convenient spare storage for storing those which are hard to load on a rear carrier 35 (shown in Fig. 1) and those which are left non-packed in the small article storage compartment 45. A bag loaded on the rear carrier 35 will be usable in place of the spare compartment 46 to hold small articles when the spare compartment 46 is fully packed. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the intake noise damping structure of the present invention, showing a resonator 54 mounted by screws 53, 53 (only one screw 53 is shown) in the bottom 52 of the spare compartment 46 in the storage box 26. The spare compartment 46 is a space enclosed with the bottom portion 52 and four side walls including the first side wall 48, a second side wall 55, the partition wall 44, and a third side wall 56. The resonator 54 is comprised of a resonance box 57 for resonating the air, and an external connection pipe 58 for connecting the interior of the resonance box 57 with the outside. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2, in which the outside portions of the air cleaner case 25 and the storage box 26 is collectively covered with the side cover 27. The nose of the intake pipe 41 of the air cleaner case 25 has an L-shaped section and inserted deep into the spare compartment 46. The intake air passage to supply the air to the air cleaner case 25 is comprised of 1 a clearance A formed between the air cleaner case 25 and the storage box 26 and the side cover 27, (2) the opening 47, (3) a space B defined by four side walls inclusive of the first side wall 48, second side wall 55, partition wall 44 and third side wall 56 (Fig. 3) of the spare compartment 46, (4) a space C defined between the nose of the intake pipe 41 and the outside surface of the resonator 54, and (5) the interior of the intake pipe 41. Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 2, showing an opening 61 of the external connection pipe 58 of the resonator 54 located in the space B formed between the four side walls of the spare compartment 46 shown in Fig. 4 and the external surface of the intake pipe 41. To achieve damping of the intake noise, the resonator 54 has a specific volume V in the resonance box 57 and a specific inside diameter D and a specific length S of the external connection pipe 58. Next, operation of the resonator 54 described above will be explained. Fig. 6 is a schematic view for explaining the operation of the resonator according to the present invention, in which, as indicated by arrows, the intake air first passes through the clearance A, going into the space B in the spare compartment 46 through the opening 47 of the spare compartment 46. Thereafter, the intake air enters the intake pipe 41 from the space B, coming into the carburetor through the air cleaner case 25. At this time, the intake noise passes into the resonator 54, while the air in the resonator 54 resonates with the frequency components which primarily make the intake noise, and passes in a reverse phase back into the space B from the resonator 54. As a result, the intake noise in the space B and the reverse-phase noise from the resonator 54 balance each other out, thereby achieving the damping of the intake noise. Fig. 7A and Fig. 7B are sectional views showing other embodiments of the resonator according to the present invention. Fig. 7A shows a resonator 64 which is comprised of a resonance box 65 for resonance with the air, and an external connection pipe 66 for connecting the interior of the resonance box 65 with the exterior, with an opening 67 of the external connection pipe 66 placed oppositely to an opening 41a of the intake pipe 41. Fig. 7B shows a resonator 74 including a resonance box 75 for resonance with the air, and an external connection pipe 76 for connecting the interior of the resonance box 75 with the exterior. In this resonator 64, the external connection pipe 76 is inserted into the intake pipe 41, and an opening 77 opens into the intake pipe 41. As heretofore explained by referring to Figs. 1 and 4, the present invention is characterized in that the motorcycle 10 has the vehicle frame 11 extended rearwardly from the head pipe 12 (Fig. 1) , and along the vehicle frame 11 the air cleaner case 25 and the storage box 26 for storing tools T and small articles are mutually adjacently disposed along the vehicle frame 11. The air cleaner case 25 and the storage box 26 are collectively covered at the outside portion with the side cover 27. In this motorcycle 10, the storage box 26 is separated by the partition wall 44 into the small article storage compartment 45 and the spare compartment 46. The spare compartment 46 is located adjacently to the air cleaner case 25, having the opening 47 in the side near the side cover 27. The nose of the intake pipe 41 of the air cleaner case 25 is inserted into the spare compartment 46. The resonator 54 is disposed in the spare compartment 46 . The air coming in through the clearance A between the side cover 27 and the storage box 26 is taken in at the opening 47 as shown in Fig. 6, being supplied into the air cleaner case 25 through the intake pipe 41 while damping the intake noise by the resonator 54. As a result, since the resonator 54 is disposed in the spare compartment 46 inside of the existing storage box 26, it is possible to effectively utilize the space around the air cleaner case 25 as compared with mounting the resonator separately on the outside surface of the air cleaner case, and furthermore to lessen a change in shape (in this case, bending of the nose portion of the intake pipe 41 to the resonator 54 side) of parts around the air cleaner case 25 at the time of mounting of the resonator 54, thereby enabling prevention of an increase in cost. It should be noticed that the shape and location of the intake pipe 41 and the resonator 54 in the spare compartment 46 shown in Fig.. 4 are not limited thereto; for example, the nose of the intake pipe 41 may be positioned close to the bottom portion 52 of the spare compartment 4 (Fig. 3) , and the resonance box 57 of the resonator 54 may be mounted on one of the four side walls of the spare compartment 46. [Effect of the Invention] The present invention has the following advantage because of the above - described constitution. In the intake noise damping structure in the motorcycle of claim 1, the storage box is separated by the partition wall into the small article storage compartment and the spare compartment; the spare compartment is located adjacently to the air cleaner case, and is provided with an opening in the side near the side cover. The nose of the air inlet pipe of the air cleaner case is inserted into the spare compartment and the resonator is disposed in the spare compartment. It is, therefore, possible to effectively utilize a space around the air cleaner case as compared with separately mounting the resonator on the outside surface of the air cleaner case. The resonator, therefore, can be mounted without largely changing the shape of component parts around the air cleaner case, thereby enabling prevention of an increase in cost. [Explanation of Reference Numerals] 10 .'. . motorcycle; 11 . . . vehicle frame; 12 . . . head pipe; 2.5 ... air cleaner case; 26 . . . storage box; 27 . . . side cover; 41 air inlet pipe (intake pipe); 44 ... partition wall; 45 ... small article storage compartment; 46 ... spare compartment; 47 ... opening; 54 ... resonator; T ... tool. , CLAIM: 1. An intake noise damping structure of an intake system in a motorcycle having a vehicle frame extended rearwardly from a head pipe, with an air cleaner case and a storage box for storing small articles such as tools arranged mutually adjacently along said vehicle frame; said air cleaner case and said storage box being collectively covered at the outside portion with a side cover, characterized in that said storage box is separated by a partition wall into a small particle storage compartment and a spare compartment; said spare compartment is mounted adjacently to said air cleaner case, and has an opening in a side near said side cover thereof, so that the nose of an intake pipe of said air cleaner case is inserted into said opening of said spare compartment; and a resonator is disposed in said spare compartment, thereby taking the air in at said opening through a clearance formed between said side cover and said storage box, then supplying the air into said air cleaner case through said intake pipe while damping intake noise by said resonator. 2. An intake noise damping structure of an intake system in a motorcycle substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 23rd day of June, 2000. [RITUSHKA NEGI] OF REMFRY & SAGAR ATTORNEY FOR THE APPLICANTS

Documents:

582-mum-2000-claims(granted)-(26-07-2005).doc

582-mum-2000-claims(granted)-(26-07-2005).pdf

582-mum-2000-correspondence(24-03-2006).pdf

582-mum-2000-correspondence(ipo)-(06-08-2004).pdf

582-mum-2000-drawing(26-07-2005).pdf

582-mum-2000-form 1(23-06-2000).pdf

582-mum-2000-form 19(15-04-2004).pdf

582-mum-2000-form 2(granted)-(26-07-2005).doc

582-mum-2000-form 2(granted)-(26-07-2005).pdf

582-mum-2000-form 3(23-06-2000).pdf

582-mum-2000-form 3(26-07-2005).pdf

582-mum-2000-form 3(28-02-2001).pdf

582-mum-2000-form 5(23-06-2000).pdf

582-mum-2000-petition under rule 138(26-07-2005).pdf

582-mum-2000-power of authority(06-08-2005).pdf

582-mum-2000-power of authority(15-09-2000).pdf

582-mum-2000-power of authority(26-07-2005).pdf

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