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US 12,709,334 B2Granted
Modular motor vehicle assembly platform
AssigneeVia Fortuna, LLC
InventorsJean Pierre Pinsonneault, Jason Castriota
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A modular vehicle assembly platform is disclosed. In some embodiments, the platform may comprise a cast bulkhead, a cast cowl, one or more cast front strut towers, a front subframe, a cross-car beam, one or more door rings, a structural central floor comprising a battery, a cast structural rear floor, a cast upper rear section (or d-ring), and a rear motor cradle. The platform may allow for the use of common parts and structure across different vehicle types.
Claims16
A front assembly comprising:
- a front subframe made from a single piece of cast aluminum and comprising one or more lower control arm attachment points;
- a cross-car beam of integral construction with the front subframe;
- a steering rack structurally attached to the front subframe, the steering rack being functionally coupled to one or more knuckles by one or more tie rods;
- one or more front strut towers each made from a single piece of cast aluminum and structurally connected to the front subframe comprising one or more upper control arm attachment points;
- one or more lower control arms configured to structurally engage with the front subframe at the one or more lower control arm attachment points;
- one or more upper control arms configured to structurally engage with the one or more front strut towers at the upper control arm attachment points;
- one or more drive units, power steering components, suspension components, braking components, electrical components, and drivetrain components each of which are installed in the front assembly prior to the front assembly being installed into a vehicle;
- and
- one or more common mounting points positioned at a rear of the front subframe and at a rear of the one or more front strut towers, and the front assembly being structurally coupled to a bulkhead with the one or more common mounting points.
6 more elements
A rear assembly comprising:
- a rear subframe comprising (i) one or more lower control arm attachment points, (ii) one or more upper control arm attachment points, (iii) one or more shock attachment points, and (iv) one or more upper airbag mounts;
- one or more shocks functionally coupled with the rear subframe at the one or more shock attachment points;
- one or more lower control arms functionally coupled with the rear subframe at the one or more lower control arm attachment points;
- one or more upper control arms functionally coupled with the upper control arm attachment points;
- one or more knuckles, each of the one or more knuckles comprising:
- one or more lower airbag mounts;
- one or more lower shock mounts functionally coupled to the one or more shocks;
- one or more lower control arm mounts functionally coupled to the one or more lower control arms;
- one or more upper control arm mounts functionally coupled to the one or more upper control arms;
- and
- one or more common mounting points for structurally attaching the rear assembly to a rear structural floor,
- wherein one or more airbags is functionally coupled to the (i) one or more upper airbag mounts of the rear subframe and (ii) the one or more lower airbag mounts of a knuckle of the one or more knuckles.
9 more elements
A suspension system comprising:
- a front assembly in a double wishbone configuration with a front split lower control arm section, the front assembly comprising:
- a front subframe functionally coupled to at least two front lower control arms;
- one or more front strut towers structurally connected to the front subframe and functionally coupled to one or more front upper control arms;
- one or more front knuckles functionally coupled to the at least two front lower control arms and one or more front upper control arms, the at least two front lower control arms comprising the front split lower control arm section;
- one or more first common mounting points for structurally attaching the front assembly to a bulkhead;
- a rear assembly in a multilink configuration with a rear split lower control arm section, the rear assembly comprising:
- a rear subframe functionally coupled to at least two rear lower control arms and one or more rear upper control arms;
- one or more rear knuckles functionally coupled to the at least two rear lower control arms and the one or more rear upper control arms, the at least two rear lower control arms comprising the rear split lower control arm section;
- one or more second common mounting points for structurally attaching the rear assembly to a rear structural floor;
- and
- wherein:
- the rear assembly comprises a complementary suspension arrangement to the front assembly.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.