Land vehicles – Wheeled – Running gear
Patent
1988-12-13
1990-05-22
Rice, Kenneth R.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Running gear
267 361, 267 41, 267 47, B60G 1102
Patent
active
049271717
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to vehicle suspension systems, and in particular to systems for use with the rear wheels of front wheel drive vehicles.
Vehicles which are required to operate in environments where uneven surfaces may be encountered, including all vehicles for road use, have to allow for movement of the wheels (other than rotational movement) relative to the vehicle. To this end systems known as suspension systems are interposed between the wheels and the vehicle. Suspension systems normally contain springing means and shock absorber means. The springs can be, for example, leaf springs, helical springs or torsion bars. In the case of front wheel drive vehicles one would expect that suspension systems for the rear wheels, which do not transmit driving force and which are not steered, would be comparatively simple. However in practice it is found that design of such systems is complicated by the need to keep camber and tracking angles within close limits as wheels move relative to the vehicle bodies. As a result the weight of such system is significant. There is therefore a need to simplify the design of, and reduce the weight of, suspension systems for non-driven rear wheels.
There has been considerable interest recently in the use of Fibre Reinforced Plastics (FRP) materials in vehicle construction. These materials can provide strengths comparable with those of metals, can result in considerably lighter structures, and have a further advantage in being corrosion resistant. The present invention makes use of FRP materials to provide a simplified, relatively light, rear wheel suspension system.
According to the present invention a vehicle suspension unit includes two arms secured together by and perpendicular to a cross member, each arm comprising two cantilever springs formed from FRP material which are secured together at each of a first and a second end of the arm and which between these ends are separated in a plane of the arms and cross-member by the cross-member and by a spacing member positioned between the first and second ends.
The spacing member is preferably adapted to resist relative vertical movement of the springs whilst allowing relative horizontal movement. The spacing member may be secured to one spring, making sliding contact with the other. Alternatively the spacing member may be formed from a resilient material. Advantageously the spacing member maintains the springs apart by the same distance as they are maintained apart by the cross member.
The cross member may consist of a single beam, or may include a number of beams or rods, and may be formed from metal, from FRP material, or from a combination of these materials.
One pair of ends, preferably the first ends, of the arms include means whereby they can be attached to a vehicle, and the other ends include means whereby a wheel may be attached thereto, the cross member being preferably secured to the arms at or adjacent to the other ends. It will often be preferable that the axis of wheel attachment means passes through the cross-member.
In one form of the invention a constraining member may be secured to an outward facing side of one of corresponding springs on each of the arms at the position of the spacing members.
According to another facet of the invention a vehicle includes a suspension unit having two arms secured together by and perpendicular to a cross member, each arm comprising two cantilever springs formed from FRP material which are secured together at each of a first and a second end of the arm and which between these ends are separated, in a plane perpendicular to a plane of the arms and cross-member, by the cross-member and by a spacing member at a position between the first and second ends, the first ends being attached to the vehicle and the second ends having wheels attached thereto, the cross-member being secured to the arms at or adjacent the second ends, there being a constraining member extending between each arm and the vehicle.
Each constraining member preferably contacts its associated arm at or adj
REFERENCES:
patent: 3860259 (1975-01-01), Allison et al.
patent: 3895819 (1975-07-01), Willetts
patent: 4771997 (1988-09-01), Haldenwanger et al.
Rice Kenneth R.
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in Her Brittanic M
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