Roll stabilization mechanisms in vehicular suspension systems
First Claim
1. A suspension system for a vehicle, said vehicle having a body and at least one forward pair of transversely adjacent surface engaging means and at least one rearward pair of transversely adjacent surface engaging means connected to the body to allow substantially vertical relative motion of each surface engaging means with respect to the body, the suspension system including resilient support means for providing resilient support for substantially the total mass of the vehicle body with respect to the surface engaging means, at least one forward and at least one rearward force transmitting means, each force transmitting means interconnecting at least one of said pairs of transversely adjacent surface engaging means, each force transmitting means including adjustment means, the adjustment means being longitudinally spaced and functionally linked such that the magnitude and the direction of the force transmitted between associated transversely adjacent surface engaging means by each of the force transmitting means varies progressively as a function of the relative positions of, and the load applied to, at least two pairs of the interconnected transversely adjacent surface engaging means, to thereby restrict roll motions of the vehicle whilst simultaneously facilitating warp motions of the surface engaging means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicular suspension system for a vehicle includes at least one pair of transversely adjacent front surface engaging members and at least one pair of transversely adjacent back surface engaging members for supporting a body of the vehicle. The suspension system further includes a first force transmitting device interconnecting the at least one pair of transversely adjacent front surface engaging members, and a second force transmitting device interconnecting the at least one pair of transversely adjacent back surface engaging members. The force transmitting devices transfer forces between the interconnected surface engaging members. Each force transmitting device includes an adjustment device for progressively varying the magnitude and direction of the force transferred between the associated surface engaging members by the force transmitting devices as a function of the relative positions of and the load applied to at least two pairs of the interconnected surface engaging members. The adjustment devices are functionally linked such that the magnitude and the direction of the force transmitted between associated surface engaging members by each of the force transmitting devices is progressively varied to thereby maintain and return the attitude of the vehicle to a position that is at least substantially parallel to the average surface plane supporting the vehicle.
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Citations
40 Claims
- 1. A suspension system for a vehicle, said vehicle having a body and at least one forward pair of transversely adjacent surface engaging means and at least one rearward pair of transversely adjacent surface engaging means connected to the body to allow substantially vertical relative motion of each surface engaging means with respect to the body, the suspension system including resilient support means for providing resilient support for substantially the total mass of the vehicle body with respect to the surface engaging means, at least one forward and at least one rearward force transmitting means, each force transmitting means interconnecting at least one of said pairs of transversely adjacent surface engaging means, each force transmitting means including adjustment means, the adjustment means being longitudinally spaced and functionally linked such that the magnitude and the direction of the force transmitted between associated transversely adjacent surface engaging means by each of the force transmitting means varies progressively as a function of the relative positions of, and the load applied to, at least two pairs of the interconnected transversely adjacent surface engaging means, to thereby restrict roll motions of the vehicle whilst simultaneously facilitating warp motions of the surface engaging means.
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40. A suspension system for a vehicle, said vehicle having a body and at least one forward pair of transversely adjacent surface engaging means and at least one rearward pair of transversely adjacent surface engaging means connected to the body to allow substantially vertical relative motion of each surface engaging means with respect to the body;
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the suspension system including resilient support means, for supporting the vehicle body with respect to the surface engaging means, said resilient support means being provided for said at least one forward pair of transversely adjacent surface engaging means and for said at least one rearward pair of transversely adjacent surface engaging means for respectively providing substantially equal loading on each of the transversely associated surface engaging means;
at least one forward and at least one rearward force transmitting means, each force transmitting means interconnecting at least one of said pairs of transversely adjacent surface engaging means, each force transmitting means including adjustment means, the adjustment means being longitudinally spaced and functionally linked such that the magnitude and the direction of the force transmitted between associated transversely adjacent surface engaging means by each of the force transmitting means varies progressively as a function of the relative positions of, and the load applied to, at least two pairs of the interconnected transversely adjacent surface engaging means, to thereby restrict roll motions of the vehicle whilst simultaneously facilitating warp motions of the surface engaging means such that there is negligible change in the load on each said surface engaging means in relatively low speed warp motions.
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Specification