Title of Invention

"A FRONT COVER MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR A MOTORCYCLE VEHICLE "

Abstract

A front cover mounting structure for motorcycle vehicle, characterized in that a movable front fender (25) which turns as one body with a front wheel (1) is provided above said front wheel (1), separately from said front cover (21); the front part of said front cover (21) is shorter than the forward end portion of said from fender (25) forming a nose portion (31) protruding forward; on the rear side of said nose portion (31) right and left side portions are extended downward below said nose portion (31) and the periphery of the back side of said front cover (21) including said side portions is jointed to the periphery of the front side of said leg shield (22).

Full Text

The present invention relates to a front cover mounting structure motorcycle vehicle. The present invention generally relates to a front cover mounting structure for use on a 2 wheeled motorcycle or a 3 wheeled motorcycle. [Prior Art] In Japanese Patent Lard-Open No. Hei 2-279482 is disclosed a front cover of such a constitution that a leg shield is attached to the rear side of a head pipe; on the front side of the head pipe a front cover is attached to a stay extended forward from the head pipe; and the front part of the front cover is protruded long forward, so that the bottom thereof will serve as a front fender. The right and left lower portions of the front cover are covered with the right and left cover members which are separately mounted on the right and left, front portions of the leg shield. [Problem to Be Solved by the Invention] In the front cover mounting structure of the above-described constitution, the front cover serving also as the front fender is required to protrude forward like a long beak of a bird. Therefore, a space, if defined for holding articles between the front cove,r and the leg shield, is likely to become small in size, which is not large enough to hold a large-sized article such as a battery. Furthermore, since the whole body of the front cover becomes the front cover, the stay supporting the front cover must be protruded to the front of the head pipe. Because of the presence of the stay thus protruded, therefore, an effectively usable part of the space for holding an article Will become narrower. Besides, when the front cover is mounted to the stay, the stay is welded to the head pipe in advance in the vehicle frame assembling process. Therefore, the front cover-to-leg shield ] ointing accuracy will be affected by the vehicle frame assembling accuracy, and accordingly it is difficult to improve the jointing accuracy. [Means for Solving the Problem] Accordingly, the present invention provides a front cover mounting structure useful in a motorcycle vehicle, characterized in that a moveable front fender which turns as one body with a front wheel is provided above said front wheel separately from said front cover the front part of said front cover is shorter than the forward end portion of said front fender forming a nose portion protruding forward; on the rear side of said nose portion right and left side portions are extended downward below said nose portion and the periphery of the back side of said front cover including said side portions is jointed to the periphery of the front side of said leg shield. To solve the above-described problem, the front cover mounting structure of the present invention is characterized in that, in a motor vehicle in which a front cover is attached on the front side of a head pipe which rotatably supports a front v/heel steering shaft and a leg shield is installed on the rear side, a movable front fender which turns as one body with a front wheel is provided above the front wheel separately from the front cover; the front part of the front cover is shorter than the forward end portion of the front fender, forming a nose portion protruding forward; on the rear side of the nose portion right and left side portions are extended downward below the nose portion; and the periphery of the back side of the front cover including the side portions is jointed to the periphery of the front side of the leg shield. [Effect of the Invention] The front cover is a member separate from the movable front fender. The amount of forward projection of the nose portion provided at the front is shorter than the front fender, and the right and left side portions are provided on both sides, extending downward below the nose portion; therefore the nose portion is not required to be protruded like in the prior art front cover mounting structure, and besides can be formed to expand upward. Furthermore, the right and left side portions can be extended downward in the vicinity of the leg shield, thereby enabling the provision of a large space between the front cover and the leg shield. Since the periphery of the back side including the side portion of the front cover is jointed to the periphery of the front side of the leg shield, the covers are mutually and directly connected, and accordingly it is unnecessary to install the covers to the stay which is extended from the head pipe unlike the prior art. The cover mounting accuracy, therefore, will not be affected by the vehicle frame assembling accuracy; and the front cover-to-leg shield jointing accuracy can be improved. The stay, therefore, can be dispensed with, thereby decreasing the number of components. [0009] In addition, the effective capacity of the space usable for holding an article can be further increased without the stay, allowing to hold such a large article as a battery. [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] Fig. 1 is a side view of the front part of the vehicle body with a front cover 21 mounted; Fig. 2 is a general side view of a two-wheeled motorcycle to which the preferred embodiments are applied; Fig. 3 is a schematic sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a front view of the front cover 21; Fig. 5 is a rear view of the leg shield 22; Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the jointed state of the front cover 21 and the leg shield 22 taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 4 and Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a similar view taken along line 7-7; and Fig. 8 is a similar view taken along line 8-8. [0010] [Preferred Embodiments] First, the outline of a two-wheeled motorcycle to which the present embodiment is applied will be explained with reference to Fig. 2. A front fork 2 supporting a front wheel 1 is connected at the top end portion with a stem pipe 4 through a bottom bridge 3 . The steering of the motorcycle is performed by means of a handlebar 5 mounted at the top end portion thereof. [0011] A main frame 7 with a head pipe 6 disposed at its front end in which the stem pipe 4 is rotatably supported is extended obliquely downward like a backbone at the center of the vehicle body towards the rear; and a pair of right and left rear frames 8 are connected at the front end portions with the main frame 7 at the central portion. [0012] The right and left rear frames 8 are extended approximately horizontally and then obliquely upward and further to the rear, where the rear frames 8 support a luggage box 9 . The luggage box 9 has a large capacity to hold a large-size material such as a protective helmet 10, and is so designed as to open and close with a seat 11 the opening which opens upward. At either end portion of the right and left rear frames 8 a grab rail 12 protruding sideward is supported. [0013] An engine 13 which is inclined forward is supported beneath the main frame 7 by a box-shaped pivot plate 14 extended downward surrounding the intermediate portion of the main frame 7 and the right and left lower end portions of the main frame 7. [0014] On the pivot plate 14 a rear swing arm 15 is rotatably mounted at the front end by a pivot shaft 16, and a rear wheel 17 is supported at the rear end. A pair of right and left shock absorbers 18 are mounted between the rear end of the rear swing arm 15 and the rear part of the rear frame 8 disposed above the rear swing arm 15. [0015] The vehicle body is covered with various types of covers: first the handlebar 5 is covered with a handlebar cover 20; and the front side of the head pipe 6 is covered with the front cover 21; the part ranging from the rear side of the head pipe 6 to the luggage box 9 is covered with a leg shield 22; the front of the luggage box 9 is covered with a box cover 23; and the part beneath the seat 11 including the large part of the side surface of the luggage box 9 behind the box cover 23 is covered with a rear cover 24. [0016] Above the front wheel 1 a movable front fender 25 which moves as one unit with the front fork 2 is mounted on the bottom bridge 3. At its center portion a fork cover 26 is attached from outside on the part between the right and left front forks 2, thereby covering the outer side of the front fork 2. [0017] Next, the front cover 21 and the leg shield 22 will be explained. Fig. 1 is a side view of the front part of the vehicle body with the front cover 21 attached; Fig. 3 is a schematic sectional view taken along line of 3-3 of Fig. 2 ; Fig . 2 is a general side view of a two-wheeled motorcycle to which the preferred embodiments are applied; Fig. 4 is a front view of the front cover 21; Fig. 5 is a rear view of the leg shield 22, Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the covers jointed at the portion taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 4 and Fig. 5; and Fig. 8 is a view similarly taken along line 8-8. [0018] In these drawings, the front cover 21 is produced of an ABS resin by a molding process, and is provided with a slit 30 at the center of the upper part. At the center portion the front cover 21 protrudes gradually forward and downward. And the central lower part forms a nose portion 31 projecting like a visor above the rear cover 24. [0019] The side portions 32 extend from the front to both sides of the vehicle body, being overlapped with, and connected to, the front edge portion of the leg shield 22. Also the side lower portion 33 extends downward below the nose portion 31, overlapping the stepped portion formed on the side of the leg shield 22. [0020] On both sides 32 of the front cover 21 an upper mounting portion 34, a middle mounting portion 35 and a lower mounting portion 36 are formed. The front cover 21 is fastened by screws, from the rear of the vehicle body, at these mounting portions which are formed correspondingly to the leg shield 22 side described later. [0021] Between the front cover 21 and the leg shield 22, as shown in Fig. 3, there is formed a large space 26, in which a battery 27 is stored. In the space 26 are housed such electrical equipment as GDI, relays, etc. not depicted. Also there is provided no stay protruding forward from the head pipe 6 to support the front cover 21. The front cover 21 is not connected to the head pipe 6. [0022] The upper mounting portion 34, the middle mounting portion 35, and the lower mounting portion 36 are unitarily formed protruding in a form of rib, to the forward end of which is attached a nut member 37 on the back side of the front cover 21 as shown in Fig. 4. [0023] The leg shield 22 is produced of a resin such as polypropylene and formed in parallel with the head pipe 6 as shown in Fig. 5. On the front side a rearward projecting recess is formed at the center portion 40 to house the head pipe 6 therein. [0024] The center portion 40 has, on the periphery of both the right and left side portions 41, bosses 42, 43 and 44 are provided in positions corresponding to the upper mounting portion 34, the middle mounting portion 35 and the lower mounting portion 36. The bosses 42, 43 and 44 tightened to the upper mounting portion 34, the middle mounting portion 35 and the lower mounting portion 36 respectively with the projecting ends of the front cover 21 and the leg shield 22 mutually abutted as shown in Fig. 6 to Fig. 8, and then cover fastening is accomplished by screws 38 inserted from the rear of the vehicle body (from the side shown in Fig.5). [0025] The rear of the center portion 40 of the rear cover 24 forms a roof portion 45 covering, like a saddle, the main frame 7, and is secured by a bolt 46 to the main frame 7 side in the vicinity of the jointed part between the head pipe 6 and the main frame 7. Furthermore, the leg shield is jointed to the forward end of the box cover 23 by recesses 47 provided on the right and left rear end portions. [0026] Next, operation of the present embodiment will be explained. The leg shield 22 is mounted over the main frame 7 and the head pipe 6 from the rear, then secured by the bolt 46 to the main frame 7. [0027] Thereafter, the front cover 21 is attached from the front of the head pipe 6, and then with the upper mounting portion 34, the middle mounting portion 35 and the lower mounting portion 36 set to the bosses 42, 43 and 44 of the leg shield 22, the front cover 21 and the leg shield 22 are fastened into one body by the screw 38 from the rear of the leg shield 22. [0028] At this time, since the front cover 21 is attached to the leg shield 22, not to the head pipe 6, the mounting of the front cover 21 is not affected by an assembling accuracy on the vehicle body side as compared with the mounting of the cover to the head pipe 6 through the stay. That is, the front cover 21 and the leg shield 22 can easily and accurately be jointed, thus improving cover mounting efficiency. Because the stay can be dispensed with, it is also possible to reduce the number of component parts. [0029] Furthermore, the movable front fender 25 is separately mounted, and the nose portion 31 not projecting more than the front fender 25 and the right and left side lower portions 33 extending below the nose portion 31 are provided on the front cover 21, it is possible to define a sufficiently large space 27 between the front cover 21 and the leg shield 22 . Consequently the space 27 is usable as a space for housing a large article such as the battery 28. [0030] Besides, since the head pipe 6 for supporting the front cover 21 requires no stay, the effectively usable capacity of the space 27 for holding articles can be increased further. [Explanation of Reference Numerals] 2 ... front fork; 6 ... head pipe; 7 . J . main frame; 21 ... front cover; 22 .. leg shield; 26 ... space; 34 ... upper mounting portion; 35 ... middle mounting portion; 36 ... lower mounting portion; 42 ... boss; 43 ... boss; 44 ... boss CLAIM: 1. A front cover mounting structure for motorcycle vehicle, characterized in that a movable front fender (25) which turns as one body with a front wheel (1) is provided above said front wheel (1), separately from said front cover (21); the front part of said front cover (21) is shorter than the forward end portion of said from fender (25) forming a nose portion (31) protruding forward; on the rear side of said nose portion (31) right and left side portions are extended downward below said nose portion (31) and the periphery of the back side of said front cover (21) including said side portions is jointed to the periphery of the front side of said leg shield (22). 2. A front cover mounting structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein a battery (28) mounted in a space (27) defined between said front cover and said leg shield (22). 3. A front cover mounting structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

25-del-1999-abstract.pdf

25-del-1999-claims.pdf

25-del-1999-correspondence-others.pdf

25-del-1999-correspondence-po.pdf

25-del-1999-description (complete).pdf

25-del-1999-drawings.pdf

25-del-1999-form-1.pdf

25-del-1999-form-13.pdf

25-del-1999-form-19.pdf

25-del-1999-form-2.pdf

25-del-1999-form-3.pdf

25-del-1999-form-4.pdf

25-del-1999-form-6.pdf

25-del-1999-gpa.pdf

25-del-1999-petition-138.pdf