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EP-4049867-B1 - DAMPING MECHANISM AND VEHICLE

EP4049867B1EP 4049867 B1EP4049867 B1EP 4049867B1EP-4049867-B1

Inventors

  • LV, RONGHUI
  • WANG, CAN
  • XIA, MIN

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220119

Claims (6)

  1. A damping mechanism applied to a vehicle, a vehicle body and a wheel of the vehicle being coupled through the damping mechanism, and the damping mechanism comprising: a spindle (10); an elastic cushion assembly (20) configured to couple the spindle (10) and the vehicle body; a coupling arm (30) having a first end configured to be fixedly coupled to an axle of the wheel and a second end pivotally coupled to the spindle (10); and a locking assembly (40) provided between the coupling arm (30) and the spindle (10) and configured to switch the coupling arm (30) and the spindle (10) between at least two locking states and an unlocking state, wherein in the unlocking state, the coupling arm (30) is rotatable relative to the spindle (10), and in the locking states, the coupling arm (30) is locked relative to the spindle (10); in each of the locking states, the coupling arm (30) is in different locking positions relative to the spindle (10); and when the coupling arm (30) is in different locking positions, the coupling arm (30) is at different angles relative to a horizontal plane, wherein the locking assembly (40) comprises: an anti-rotation assembly (41) provided between the coupling arm (30) and the spindle (10) and configured to hinder relative rotation of the coupling arm (30) and the spindle (10) when in the locking states; and an axial limiting member (42) movably provided to the spindle (10), the coupling arm (30) having a through hole (31) for the spindle (10) passing through, the axial limiting member (42) being located at a side of the coupling arm (30) away from the anti-rotation assembly (41) and configured to abut against the coupling arm (30) along an axial direction in the locking states, wherein the anti-rotation assembly (41) comprises: a first anti-rotation member (41a) provided to the coupling arm (30); and a second anti-rotation member (41b) provided to the spindle (10) and fixed to the spindle (10) along the circumferential direction; wherein the first anti-rotation member (41a) is fitted over the second anti-rotation member (41b), and the second anti-rotation member (41b) has a latch position and a non-latch position on a side surface of the second anti-rotation member (41b); in the locking state, the first anti-rotation member (41a) abuts against the latch position of the second anti-rotation member (41b) to grip the coupling arm (30), the first anti-rotation member (41a) and the second anti-rotation member (41b) tightly; in the unlocking state, the first anti-rotation member (41a) moves to the non-latch position of the second anti-rotation member (41b) to enable relative rotation of at least two of the coupling arm (30), the first anti-rotation member (41a) and the second anti-rotation member (41b), characterized in that the first anti-rotation member (41a) comprises a roller cage (411a) and a plurality of rollers (412a) provided on the roller cage (411a), the roller cage (411a) is provided in an accommodating cavity of the coupling arm (30), the plurality of rollers (412a) are distributed to a side surface of the roller cage (411a) along the circumferential direction, and the rollers (412a) is movable in a radial direction of the roller cage (411a); the second anti-rotation member (41b) is a ratchet wheel fixed to the spindle (10) along the circumferential direction, and the ratchet wheel is fitted inside the roller cage (411a); in the locking state, the roller abuts between a wall of the accommodating cavity and the latch position of the ratchet wheel to grip the coupling arm (30), the roller and the ratchet wheel tightly; in the unlocking state, the roller (412a) moves to the non-latch position of the ratchet wheel along the radial direction, and the coupling arm (30) is rotatable relative to the roller cage (411a) and the ratchet wheel, and wherein the anti-rotation assembly (41) further comprises: an elastic return member (41c) having a first end coupled to the ratchet wheel and a second end coupled to the roller cage (411a), and deformation of the elastic return member (41c) increases during rotation of the roller from the latch position to the non-latch position.
  2. The damping mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the axial limiting member (42) and the coupling arm (30) are provided with a pressing member therebetween, and the pressing member is squeezed between the coupling arm (30) and the axial limiting member (42).
  3. The damping mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the axial limiting member (42) is detachably coupled to the spindle (10).
  4. The damping mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the elastic cushion assembly (20) comprises: a cushioning cavity (21) comprising a cavity wall (211) and a receiving cavity (212) enclosed by the cavity wall (211), the cavity wall (211) being fitted over the spindle (10) and fixedly coupled to the vehicle body; and a cushioning member (22) accommodated in the receiving cavity (212) and abutting against the cavity wall (211) and the spindle (10).
  5. The damping mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the cushioning member (22) comprises a rubber member, the cushioning member (22) is cylindrical, a side wall of the spindle (10) is defined with a groove (11) matching with the rubber member, and the rubber member is accommodated in the along an axial direction parallel to the spindle (10); wherein a plurality of the rubber members are provided, a number of the grooves (11) in the spindle (10) is identical to a number of the rubber members, and the plurality of rubber members are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction of the spindle (10).
  6. A vehicle, comprising a vehicle body, a front end and/or a rear end of the vehicle body being mounted with a damping mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

Description

FIELD The present disclosure relates to a field of transportation tools, and more particularly to a damping mechanism and a vehicle. BACKGROUND Electric scooters are transportation tools based on conventional manual scooters with electric kit added. The electric scooter has advantages of small volume, simple operation, easy carrying, etc., and is favored by consumers. In order to enhance the stability of the electric scooter, generally the front and rear of the scooter are each provided with a damping mechanism, to avoid damage to the components during the travelling of the electric scooter. In the related art, the electric scooter has a fixed damping stroke, and the damping stroke cannot be adjusted according to the needs of different users. US2011068550A1 relates to an angular adjusting mechanism for a suspension system including a shaft and a crank arm, the shaft having a connecting end connected to the crank arm, this angular adjusting mechanism including a frusto-conical shaped surface provided on the connecting end and pointing outwardly from this shaft, this surface having an array of first cavities arranged circumferentially, a frusto-conical bore proximate a first extremity of this crank arm, this bore having an array of second cavities, this bore being operative to mate with this surface of this connecting end, and an interlocking element partly positioned in one of this second cavities and partly positioned in one of this first cavities so as to lock this crank arm at a predetermined angular position with respect to this shaft. Also, an improved torsion suspension system including the above mentioned angular adjusting mechanism is provided. SUMMARY In view of the above problems, the present disclosure provides a damping mechanism and a vehicle to solve the above-described problems or at least partially solve the above-described problems. The invention is set out in the appended set of claims. In the damping mechanism and the vehicle provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the spindle is provided with the elastic cushion assembly, the elastic cushion assembly is coupled to the vehicle body to achieve a damping effect for the vehicle; the coupling arm has a first end fixedly coupled to an axle of the wheel and a second end pivotally coupled to the spindle, and the locking assembly switches the coupling arm and the spindle between a plurality of locking states and a unlocking state. When the user needs to adjust a damping stroke, the spindle and the coupling arm are unlocked, and the coupling arm is rotated such that an angle of the coupling arm relative to a horizontal plane is changed, a height of the vehicle body from the ground is changed and thus the damping stroke is changed; then, the locking assembly is operated to lock the coupling arm and the spindle in the locking state to maintain the damping stroke. Therefore, the present technical solution can adjust damping stroke of the vehicle, thereby meeting the needs of different users. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To describe technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure or in the related art more clearly, the following will briefly introduce the accompanying drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the related art. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below show some embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without paying creative efforts. FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic view of a damping mechanism according to an embodiment not being part of the present invention.FIG. 2 is an exploded schematic view of a damping mechanism according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 3 is an exploded schematic view of a damping mechanism according to yet another embodiment not being part of the present invention.FIG. 4 is an exploded schematic view of a damping mechanism according to still another embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 5 is a view showing a coupling state of a damping mechanism and a coupling rod of a front end of an electric scooter provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the embodiments described herein are only a part but not all of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without paying creative efforts, fall into the protection scope of the present application. The "including" mentioned in the entire specification and claims is an open term, so it should be interpreted as "including but not limited to". "Substantially" means that within the acceptable error range, those skilled in the art can solve the technical problem within a c