Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Patent
1996-06-20
1998-03-31
English, Peter C.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
2801122, 280772, B60G 2110, B62D 2400
Patent
active
057329621
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mechanism allowing a weight transfer onto the inner wheel(s) of a cornering vehicle, so as to delay substantially the point of overturning.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Presently, only systems for stabilizing the body without transfer of the weight onto the inner wheel(s) are used.
For the stabilisation of the vehicle, various manufacturers use torsion bars, hydropneumatic suspension or active suspension (Formula I).
The system with a torsion bar will avoid body movements and will limit the collapse of the suspension of the outer wheel without achieving a weight transfer onto the inner wheel.
Regarding the hydropneumatic suspension, this will allow a hardening of the suspension for the outer wheel in order to avoid the collapse of the suspension of the outer wheel. This however is achieved without resulting in a weight transfer onto the inner wheel.
Active suspension used in Formula I is intended to avoid the movements of the body. However no spring is employed so that this suspension is very uncomfortable. The use thereof was forbidden in 1993. In addition, there is no guarantee of a good ground adherence.
According to the European application No 0 538 608 filed by Porsche Mass transfer, there is a transfer of the mass located in the structure of the body but this system is intended for the damping of the vibrations of the body.
According to the patent application DE-B-1 214 100, the rotation movement of the body on the cradle under the influence of the centrifugal force slants the wheels in order to assure an improved adherence. The inclination of the wheels causes an abnormal wearing of the tyres or necessitates the use of motorcycle tyres with a consequent reduction in adherence.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7 of DE-B-1 214 100, the movement of the body is a pendulum or swinging movement along an arc of a circle having the center located above the center of gravity and the body being located beneath the center of gravity.
The rotation of the body on the cradle shifts the center of gravity towards the outer wheel. The system of the application DE-B-1214 100 does not allow the transfer onto the inner wheels and it is not the desired result.
None of these systems provide an efficient solution to the problem of the lifting of the inner wheel nor to the problem of improving the safety of a cornering vehicle. The load on the suspension or on the tyres is not reduced.
With presently known traditional suspensions, the vehicles exhibit a tendency to slant in bends. This effect is due to the centrifugal force and is dependent on the gauge and on the position of the center of gravity relative to the ground level. The resulting force of the centrifugal force and the weight of the vehicle, leads to a loading on the outer wheel and an unloading on the inner wheel. The overturning takes place when the resultant is located exterior to the outer wheel.
The purpose of the present invention is to overcome these disadvantages and to provide an efficient solution which is easy to materialize without a large increase of cost. In addition, the invention allows the use of all suspension systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above required result is reached by the use of a system able to load the inner wheel of a cornering vehicle.
According to the present invention, the proposed system is adapted for vehicles with one or several wheel pairs and is characterized by the mobility of the body, without any horizontal sliding, on a suspension cradle. In addition, the fulcrum of the body on the cradle is located above the center of gravity of the body. The sideway tilting of the body allows the transfer of a portion of the weight onto the inner wheel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a force diagram illustrating the suspension for a traditional vehicle.
FIGS. 2a and 2b are sectional views of a vehicle in a straight line and a vehicle cornering respectively, the vehicle being adapted with a suspension system according to the invention.
FIG. 3 shows in more de
REFERENCES:
patent: 1402625 (1922-01-01), Laughlin
patent: 2791440 (1957-05-01), Guidobaldi
patent: 4550926 (1985-11-01), Maclsaac
Mageren Claude
Mageren Jean-Pierre
Bloom Leonard
English Peter C.
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