Title of Invention

''A REAR PORTION CONTAINING STRUCTURE FOR A SCOOTER"

Abstract

[Object] To provide a rear portion containing structure for a scooter-type vehicle, which is capable of ensuring a large auxiliary machinery containing space at the rear body. [Solving Means] A rear extension portion 31 is integrally formed on a containing box 10 using a laminated sheet composed of a glass fiber layer and a thermoplastic resin layer. A rear fender 13 is supported by the rear extension portion 31. An auxiliary machinery containing space 35 is formed between the rear fender 13 and a rear portion 33 of the rear extension portion 31. An oil tank 36 is contained in the auxiliary machinery containing space 35. Rear frames 6 do not support the rear extension portion 31 and rear ends 6b are positioned in front of the auxiliary machinery containing space 35.

Full Text

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field to Which the Invention Pertains] The present invention relates to a rear portion containing structure for a scooter [Prior Art] Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 541991 discloses a structure in which a rear extension portion is provided behind a containing box provided in a scooter-type vehicle, and a battery is contained in the rear extension portion and an inlet of an oil tank is supported by the rear extension portion. [Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-described prior art structure, the battery can be contained in the containing box; however, the oil tank is required to be supported by a body frame extending rearwardly of the body under the rear extension portion, and accordingly, the space for containing auxiliary machinery such as an oil tank is restricted by arrangement of the body frame under the rear extension portion. This causes an inconvenience in reducing the capacity of the oil tank or the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a rear portion containing structure for a scooter-type vehicle, which is capable of solving the above- described problem. [Means for Solving the Problem] To solve the above problem, according to a first invention, there is provided a rear portion containing structure for a scooter- type vehicle in which a containing box supported by a body frame is disposed behind a low- level type floor provided between a front wheel and a rear wheel; the upper opening of the containing box is opened/closed with a seat; and a rear fender is disposed behind the seat, characterized in that a rear extension portion extending reawardly is integrally provided on the rear portion of the containing box; an auxiliary machinery containing space for supporting auxiliary machinery is formed by the rear extension portion and the rear fender; and the rear end of the body frame is disposed in front of the auxiliary machinery containing space . According to a second invention, in addition to the configuration of the first invention, an oil tank as the auxiliary machinery is pre -assembled to the containing box and the rear fender. I Effect of the Invention | According to the first invention, since the rear extension portion is provided behind the containing box and the auxiliary machinery containing space is formed by the rear extension portion and the rear fender; and the rear end of the body frame is disposed in front of the auxiliary machinery containing space, it is possible to sufficiently enlarge the auxiliary machinery containing space. This makes it possible to ensure the auxiliary machinery containing space required for containing auxiliary machinery without reducing the capacity of the auxiliary machinery such as an oil tank. According to the second invention, since the oil tank as the auxiliary machinery is pre-assembled to the containing box and the rear fender, it is possible to simply assemble the vehicular body by mounting the pre-assembly to the body frame and hence to eliminate the necessity of mounting the oil tank on the assembling line. Accordingly, the present invention relates to a rear portion containing structure for a scooter in which a containing box supported by a body frame is disposed behind a low-level type floor provided between a front wheel and a rear wheel, the upper opening of said containing box is opened/closed with a seat; and a rear fender is disposed behind said seat, characterized in that a rear extension portion extending reawardly is integrally provided on the rear portion of said containing box, the rear fender is supported by the rear extension portion, an auxiliary machinery containing space for supporting auxiliary machinery is formed by said rear extension portion and said fender; and the rear end of said body frame is disposed in front of said auxiliary machinery containing space. [Brief Description of the Drawings] [Fig. 1] A side view showing the entire configuration of a scooter-type vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Fig. 2] An exploded view of body covers and the like. (Fig. 3] A side view of a body cover at a rear body of the vehicle. [Fig. 4] A plan view of a containing box and a rear fender. [Fig. 5] A sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4. (Fig. 6] A perspective view of the containing box. [Fig. 7] A plan view of an essential portion showing a seat catch cover mounting state. [Fig. 8] A sectional view of an essential portion of a seat catch mounting state. [Fig. 9] A sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 7. [Fig. 10] A sectional view taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 3. [Fig. 11] A view seen along the direction of an arrow X of Fig. 3. [Fig. 12J A sectional view taken on line 12-12 of Fig. 3. [Fig. 13] A view showing a variation of the structure shown in Fig. 12. [Fig. 14] A sectional view showing an essential portion of a variation of the embodiment. [00081T [Mode for Carrying Out the Invention] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a side view showing the entire configuration of a scooter- type vehicle according to this embodiment; Fig. 2 is an exploded view of body covers and the like; Fig. 3 is a side view of a body cover at the rear body; Fig. 4 is a plan view of a containing box and a rear fender; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the containing box; Fig. 7 is a plan view of an essential portion showing a seat catch cover mounting state; Fig. 8 is a sectional view of an essential portion showing a seat catch mounting state; Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 7; Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 3; Fig. 11 is a view seen along the direction of an arrow X of Fig. 3; and Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on line 12-12 of Fig. 3. First, the entire structure of a scooter- type vehicle of this embodiment will be schematically described with reference to Fig. 1. In this figure, reference numeral 1 designates a front wheel; 2 is a stem head; 3 is a steering stem; 4 is a handlebar; 5 is a main frame extending obliquely downwardly, reawardly from the stem head 2 along the center line of the vehicular body; 6 is a pair of right and left rear frames; 7 is a swing type power unit; 8 is a rear wheel; 9 is a rear cushion; 10 is a containing box having a capacity large enough to contain a helmet or the like; 11 is a seat; 12 is a grip; and 13 is a rear fender. With respect to the body frame composed of the main frame 5 and the rear frames 6, a portion extending from the rear side of the main frame 5 to the front side of the rear frames 6 forms a saddle portion. A low- level type floor 14 is provided at the saddle portion. A fuel tank 15 supported by the rear frames 6 is located under the low-level type floor 14. The rear body is located behind the low- level type floor 14 . A body cover for covering the rear body includes, as shown in Fig. 2, a seat under cover 16 provided under the seat 11 for covering the upper portion of the containing box 10; a front cover 17 for covering the front portion of the containing box 10; a left rear cover 18 for covering the left side of the body; a right rear cover 19 for covering the right side of the body; and a central cover 20. In Fig. 2, reference numeral 21 designates a front cover; 22 is right and left front fender covers; 23 is a leg shield; 24 is a handle cover; and 25 is a floor under cover . The containing structure provided at the rear body of the vehicle will be described below. As is apparent from Fig. 3, the containing box 10 is covered with the seat 11 and the body covers (16, 17, 18, 19 and 20). The shape of the containing box 10 is most clearly shown in Figs . 4 to 6 . Fig. 4 shows a state in which the rear fender 13 is integrally mounted to the containing box 10 from which a seat catch and a seat catch cover are removed, and Fig. 5 shows a state in which the containing box 10 integrated with the rear fender 13 is mounted on the rear frames 6. f n n i c 1 ~ I u u J. -J J As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the containing box 10 has a main body 30 opened upwardly and a rear extension portion 31 integrally extending rearwardly from the rear portion of the main body 30. The rear extension portion 31 has a front portion 32 opened upwardly and a rear portion 33 opened downwardly behind the front portion 32. The lower side of the opening of the rear portion 33 is covered with a front portion 34 of the rear fender 13. A space surrounded by the rear portion 33 and the front portion 34 of the rear fender 13 forms an auxiliary machinery containing space 35. An oil tank 36, which is one example of the auxiliary machinery, is contained in the auxiliary machinery containing space 35. An oiling port 37 formed in the front portion of the oil tank 36 projects upwardly from an opening 38 formed in a rear side portion of the front portion 32. The front portion 32 is formed into a rack -shape at the rear portion of the main body 30. Two bolt through-holes 40 for fixing the seat catch are provided on both sides of the front portion 32 in the width direction of the vehicular body. A high step rear cushion mounting portion 41 and a low step battery containing portion 42 are provided between both the bolt through-holes 40. One fastening portion 43a and two fastening portions 43b for fastening the rear fender 13 are provided at a rear central position of the front portion 32 and at right and left positions of the rear end of the rear portion 33, respectively. The rear fender 13 is integrally fastened to the fastening portions 43a and 43b with small screws 44 (see Fig. 5) . The central area of the rear portion 33 has three openings 45 located at right and left positions on the front side and at a central position on the rear side. A grip 12 is mounted to the rear portion 33 via the openings 45 . As shown in Fig. 5, a bottom portion 46 of the main body 30 obliquely upwardly, and rearwardly extends, and mounting portions 47 are provided at the front end of the bottom portion 46. The mounting portions 47 are fastened to nut portions provided on stays 49 of the rear frames 6 with bolts 48. The rear portion of the bottom portion 46 forms an upwardly projecting step portion at a position lower than the front portion 32. A cross-plate 50 formed between portions, in the vicinity of rear ends 6b, of the right and left rear frames 6 is accommodated in the projecting step portion. The cross-plate 50 is hung between the right and left rear frames 6. A bracket 52 is brought in contact with the inner side of the central position of the rear portion 33, and is mounted on the rear portion 33 with a small screw 53. At the same time, collars 54 integrally provided on the bracket 52 at three positions corresponding to those of the openings 45 are fitted in the openings 45. The central cover 20 and the grip 12 are co-fastened to the rear portion 33 via the collars 54. The rear side fastening portions 43b integrally project rearwardly from the rear portion 33. The upper end of a rear wall 55 integrated with the rear fender 13 is bent forwardly to form a locking portion 56. The locking portion 56 is overlapped to the rear side fastening portions 43b and is fastened thereto with small screws 44 . The front portion 34 of the rear fender 13 is formed into an upwardly opened box having a bottom portion extending substantially in the horizontal direction. The rear side of the bottom portion of the rear fender 13 has a mounting rib 57 which integrally projects downwardly therefrom and also has a through-hole 13b in the vicinity of the mounting rib 57. A projection 36a, which integrally projects downwardly from the bottom portion of the oil tank 36, projects downwardly through the through-hole 13b, being overlapped to the mounting rib 57, and is integrally fastened to the mounting rib 57 using a bolt 58 and a nut 59. Right and left front end portions of the rear fender 13 form step portions 13a which extend rearwardly, downwardly as shown in a side view of Fig. 5 (the right side step portion is located on the back side of the paper plane of Fig. 5, and therefore, it is not viewed in Fig. 5) . The rear ends 6b of the rear frames 6 are located in proximity to the step portions 13a. As a result, the rear frames 6 are located in front of the auxiliary machinery containing space 35. The containing box 10, which is molded from a resin into one-body, requires a very large strength because the containing box 10 supports the rear extension portion 31 and the rear fender 13 which have been conventionally supported by the body frame. To ensure such a very large strength, the containing box 10 is molded by a flow molding method using as a raw material a laminated seat composed of a resin layer made form a thermoplastic resin such as polypropylene and a fiber layer made from glass long-fibers. To be more specific, the flow molding method is performed by laminating about 60 wt% of a polypropylene film (which is previously subject to heat resistant/weather resistant treatment) to about 40 wt% of a needle punched swirl mat of glass long- fibers, to form a laminated sheet; cutting out a specific blank material from the laminated sheet; heating the blank material at a temperature higher than the melting point of the resin, for example, ranging from about 200^ to about 220^ by a heater or the like, to melt the resin for fluidizing the resin; and transferring the blank material thus heated in a die and immediately closing the die to press the blank material . The seat catch mounting structure will be described below. As shown in Fig. 5 and Figs. 7 to 9, a seat catch 60 to be mounted on the front portion 32 is formed into a box-shape extending longer in the width direction of the vehicular body. The seat catch 60 has mounting legs 61 and 62 on its both sides in the width direction of the vehicular body. The mounting legs 61 and 62, which are different in height from each other, have respective bolt through-holes . ,10029] | The bolt through-hole of the mounting leg 61 is aligned with the bolt through-hole 40 formed on the rear cushion mounting portion 41. The other mounting leg 62 extends downwardly, and the bolt through-hole of the mounting leg 62 is aligned with the bolt through-hole 40 formed on the battery containing portion 42. The mounting legs 61 and 62 are fixed to the cross-plate 50 by allowing bolts 63 to pass through the bolt through-holes and fastening the bolts 63 with nuts 51. Two stays 64 extend rearwardly from the rear side of the- seat catch 60, and nuts 65 are integrally provided on the stays 64 (see Fig. 5) . A slit 66 is provided in the central portion of the seat catch 60. When a seat lock piece 67 previously mounted on the bottom plate of the seat 11 is inserted in the slit 66, the seat 11 is locked by operation of a locking mechanism 68. The locking mechanism 68 is operated by a seat lock cable 69 which is in turn operated by turning a key cylinder 70 exposed upwardly from the center cover 20. (see Fig. 3) The seat lock cable 69 can be also operated by an operating cable 71 of a stand lock. The seat catch 60 is covered with a seat catch cover 72 which is in turn covered with the seat under cover 16. The seat catch cover 72 has two claws 73 integrally projecting downwardly from the underside of the front portion of the seat catch cover 72. The claws 73 are inserted in slits 74 formed in the front edge portion of the battery containing portion 42. The rear portion, positioned behind the seat catch 60, of the seat catch cover 72 has two bolt through-holes spaced from each other in the width direction of the vehicular body. The seat catch cover 72 is integrally fastened to the stays 64 by aligning the bolt through-holes of the seat catch cover 72 with the nuts 65 of the stays 64 and screwing, from the upper side, bolts 75 in the nuts 64 (see Fig. 7) . Of both end portions of the seat catch cover 72 in the width direction of the vehicular body, the end portion on the rear cushion mounting portion 41 side is in contact with the rear cushion mounting portion 41 while housing the bolt 63, and the other end portion on the battery containing box 42 side is in contact with a rising portion 32a which projects upwardly from the side end of the front portion 32 at a position higher than that of the bolt 63 mounted to the battery containing portion 42. Accordingly, a closed space is formed by the side rising portion 32a, the battery containing portion 42, the mounting leg 62 and the seat catch cover 72, and the operating cable 71 for the stand lock passes through the closed space. By mounting the seat catch 60, a relatively large space 76 is formed between the seat catch 60 and the battery containing portion 42, and a battery 77 is contained in the space 76. An approximately U-shaped bracket 78 extends downwardly from the cross -plate 50 under the rear cushion mounting portion 41, and an upper end mounting portion 9a of the rear cushion 9 is mounted to the bracket 78 by using a bolt 79a and a nut 79b. The body cover mounting structure on the left side of the rear body will be described below. It should be noted that the right side of the rear body has the same structure as that of the left side of the rear body, and therefore, the explanation thereof is omitted. The left rear cover 18 shown in Fig. 3 has, on the upper and lower sides of its front portion, engagement portions 80 which are engaged with the front cover 17. The left rear cover 18 also has, on the front and rear sides of the upper portion, fastening portions 81a and 81b, respectively. The front side fastening portion 81a is fixed to the front cover 17 with a small screw, and the rear side fastening portion 81b is fixed to the containing box 10 with a small screw. The left rear cover 18 also has, at two intermediate positions of the upper portion, engagement portions 82 engaged with the containing box 10, and further has a rear engagement portion 83 engaged with a side portion of the central cover 20. The left rear cover 18 has, on the front side of the lower portion, a projection 84 integrally projecting downwardly therefrom, which is fixed on the floor 14 with a small screw; and has, on the rear side of the lower portion, a fastening portion 85 to which the lower end side portion of the central cover 20 is overlapped and fixed with a small screw 86. As shown in Fig. 10, the engagement portion 80 has a hook 87 which projects from an inner wall surface of the left rear cover 18 into the vehicular body along the width direction of the vehicular body. An engagement portion 88 of the leading end of the hook 87 is bent downwardly in the shape of an approximately fishing hook. The hook 87 is allowed to pass through a slit 89 formed in the front cover 17 overlapped to the inner side of the left rear cover 18, and the left rear cover 18 is moved downwardly, so that the engagement portion 88 at the leading end of the hook 87 is engaged with a lower edge 89a of the slit 89. Such a structure is common to the upper and lower engagement portions 80. As shown in Fig. 11, the front side fastening portion 81a forms a tongue shape projecting from the inner wall surface of the left rear cover 18 into the vehicular body along the width direction of the vehicular body, and has an inwardly opened slit 90 which extends longer along the width direction of the vehicular body upon mounting. The fastening portion 81a is overlapped to a slant portion 91 (see Fig. 3) formed on the upper end rear side of the front cover 17 and is fixed, from the obliquely upper side, to the slant portion 91 with a small screw. By fixing the fastening portion 81a to the front cover 17 with the small screw, the positioning of the left rear cover 18 in the longitudinal direction and the vertical direction is performed, but the positioning of the left rear cover 18 in the outward direction is not performed. The positioning of the left rear cover 18 in the outward direction is performed by the engagement portions 80. In addition, by forming the slit 90 in the screw- in portion of the fastening portion 81a such that the slit 90 extends in the direction corresponding to the die-releasing direction of the left rear cover 18, it is possible to easily mold the left rear cover 18. The fastening portion 81b, which has the same structure as that of the fastening portion 81a, is mounted to the containing box 10. To be more specific, the fastening portion 81b is overlapped to a nut portion 92 (see Fig. 4) formed on a side portion of the containing box 10 and fixed, from the upper side, thereto with a small screw. Fig. 12 shows the front side fastening portion 82 in which the upper portion of the left rear cover 18 forms a flat portion 93 projecting into the vehicular body substantially in the horizontal direction, and a projection 94 integrally projects downwardly from a portion of the underside of the flat portion 93 . The upper end of the side portion of the containing box 10 forms a thick flange portion 95 having a flat upper surface. The flat portion 93 of the left rear cover 18 is overlapped on the flat upper end surface of the flange portion 95 of the containing box 10, and the projection 94 projecting downwardly from the underside of the flat portion 93 is engaged in a groove 96 formed in part of the flange portion 95. The groove 96 is formed simultaneously with molding of the containing box 10. An upright wall 97 projecting upwardly is integrally formed on the inner end of the upper end surface of the flange portion 95 . A peripheral edge portion 100 of the seat under cover 16 is located over the flange portion 95. A pair of outer and inner ribs 101 and 102 spaced from each other project downwardly from the underside of the peripheral edge portion 100, and a groove 103 is formed between both the ribs 101 and 102. A sealing member 98 is mounted in the groove 103. A rib 104, as a partition wall, for connecting both the ribs 101 and 102 to each other is formed in the groove 103. The downwardly projecting amount of the lower end of the rib 104 is smaller than that of each of the outer and inner ribs 101 and 102. The sealing member 98 is adhesively bonded with the lower end of the rib 104. The engagement relationship between the projection and recess in the above structure may be reversed as shown in Fig. 13. In the structure shown in Fig. 13, a locking hole 105 is provided in the flat portion 93 side of the left rear cover 18, and an engagement projection 106 to be engaged in the locking hole 105 is formed on the flange portion 95 side of the containing box 10. Fig. 14 shows a variation of the rear portion containing structure. The rear extension portion 31 is formed in such a manner as to serve as the rear fender, and the oil tank 36 is supported on the rear portion 33 of the rear extension portion 31, and the space over the rear portion 33 forms the auxiliary machinery containing space 35. In this variation, bosses 107 project longer upwardly from the rear portion 33, and the grip 12 is mounted on the upper ends of the bosses 107. The function and effect of the above embodiment will be described below. As is apparent from Figs. 4 and 5, the rear extension portion 31 is integrally provided on the containing box 10; the rear fender 13 is supported by the rear extension portion 31 and the auxiliary machinery containing space 35 for containing the oil tank 36 as the auxiliary machinery is formed between the rear fender 13 and the rear portion 33 of the rear extension portion 31; and the rear ends 6b of the rear frames 6 constituting part of the body frame are disposed in front of the auxiliary machinery containing space 35. Accordingly, it is possible to easily ensure the sufficiently large auxiliary machinery containing space 35. Since the rear extension portion 31 is molded integrally with the containing box 10 using the laminated sheet composed of the glass fiber layer and the thermoplastic resin layer, it is possible to reduce the weight of the rear extension portion 31 and freely change the shape thereof, and to reduce the material usage of the metal made body frame. Further, such a high strength resin molded product can be easily obtained by the above-descried special molding method. Since the necessary strength of the rear extension portion 31 can be sufficiently ensured, the grip 12 can be directly supported on the rear extension portion 31. Also the oil tank 36 can be pre-assembled to the rear fender 13 by fastening the mounting rib 57 of the rear fender 13 to the projection 36a of the oil tank 36 using the bolt 58 and the nut 59. If such a pre-assembly is further previously mounted to the rear extension portion 31, the pre-assembly mounted to the rear extension portion 31 can be easily mounted to the body side. This makes it possible to eliminate the necessity of mounting the oil tank 36 on the body assembling line. At this time, the rear fender 13 can be temporarily fixed to the rear extension portion 31 by overlapping the locking portions 56 to the fastening portions 43b, and fastening the rear fender 13 to the rear extension portion 31 with the small screws 44 or the like at the three positions on the front and rear sides. This is effective to improve the workability in mounting the rear fender 13. The rear fender 13 can be integrated with the rear extension portion 31. As described in the variation shown in Fig. 14, the rear extension 31 is formed in such a manner as to serve as the rear fender, wherein the oil tank 36 is supported on the rear portion 33 of the rear extension portion 31 and the upper space of the rear portion 33 forms the auxiliary machinery containing space 35. In this case, the bosses 107 project longer upwardly from the rear portion 33, and the grip 12 is mounted on the upper ends of the bosses 107. Reference numeral 108 designates a rear body cover, which is provided on the rear portion 33 of the rear extension portion 31 in such a manner as to cover the auxiliary machinery containing space 35. [Explanation of Symbols] 6: rear frame, 9: rear cushion, 10: containing box, 11: seat, 13: rear fender, 16: seat under cover, 17: front cover, 18: left rear cover, 20: central rear cover, 31: rear extension portion, 32: front portion, 33: rear portion, 35: auxiliary machinery containing space, 36: oil tank, 41: rear cushion containing portion, 42: battery containing portion, 60: seat catch, 72: seat catch cover, 77: battery We claim: 1. A rear portion containing structure for a Scooter in which a containing box (10) supported by a body frame is disposed behind a low-level type floor provided between a front wheel and a rear wheel, the upper opening of said containing box (10) is opened/closed with a seat; and a rear fender (13) is disposed behind said seat, characterized in that: a rear extension portion (31) extending reawardly is integrally provided on the rear portion of said containing box, the rear fender is supported by the rear extension portion, an auxiliary machinery containing space (35) for supporting auxiliary machinery is formed by said rear extension portion (31) and said fender (13); and the rear end of said body frame is disposed in front of said auxiliary machinery containing space (35). 2. A rear portion containing structure for a Scooter as claimed in claim 1, wherein an oil tank (36) as said auxiliary machinery is pre-assembled to said containing box (10) and said rear fender (13). 3. A rear portion containing structure for a Scooter substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

825-del-1999-abstract.pdf

825-del-1999-claims.pdf

825-del-1999-correspondence-others.pdf

825-del-1999-correspondence-po.pdf

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

825-del-1999-drawings.pdf

825-del-1999-form-1.pdf

825-del-1999-form-13.pdf

825-del-1999-form-19.pdf

825-del-1999-form-2.pdf

825-del-1999-form-3.pdf

825-del-1999-form-4.pdf

825-del-1999-form-6.pdf

825-del-1999-gpa.pdf

825-del-1999-petition-138.pdf

abstract.jpg