Suspension with jounce bumper balanced for caster control

Abstract

A suspension includes a jounce bumper, and a striker. A spring biases the knuckle toward a first position. One of the spring and the jounce bumper is disposed forward of a kingpin axis of the knuckle and the other of the spring and the jounce bumper is disposed rearward of the kingpin axis. When in a first position, the spring is a first spring length. When in a second position, the spring is shorter than in the first position and the jounce bumper contacts the striker. When in a third position, the spring is shorter than in the second position and the jounce bumper is compressed against the striker to be shorter than in the second position. When moving between the second and third positions, the spring and jounce bumper impart moments on the knuckle that approximately balance each other to maintain a desired caster angle.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.