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US 12,735,100 B2Granted
Steering knuckle for increasing ground clearance of a vehicle
OwnerVarun Prasad, Bobby Wayne Haleinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A steering knuckle for increasing ground clearance of a vehicle is disclosed. The steering knuckle includes a vertical arm, an upper mount, a steering arm and a lower mount positioned at the vertical arm. The steering knuckle includes a hub positioned at the bottom of the vertical arm. The upper mount includes an upper control arm. The lower mount includes a lower control arm. The hub mounts outside of attachment points of the upper control arm and the lower control arm in order to keep the same distance between the upper mount and the lower mount, and the steering arm to maintain a factory geometry. The steering knuckle eliminates the stress on suspension components and avoids permanent modifications to the suspension components.
Claims15
A steering knuckle for a vehicle, said steering knuckle comprising:
- a vertical arm;
- an upper mount positioned at said vertical arm, wherein said upper mount comprises an upper control arm;
- a steering arm positioned at said vertical arm;
- a lower mount positioned at said vertical arm, wherein said lower mount comprises a lower control arm;
- a hub positioned at the bottom of said vertical arm, and
- an access panel forming a removable enclosure configured to provide access to an interior of said steering knuckle;
- wherein said access panel comprises a gear mechanism, and wherein said gear mechanism transfers motion from a vehicle's constant velocity (CV) shaft to a vehicle's wheel, wherein said gear mechanism is fully enclosed within said steering knuckle and comprises a gear train having at least one bevel gear set arranged to redirect rotational input from a transverse axis to a rotational axis of said hub;
- wherein said upper control arm comprises dual upper control mounts, and wherein said lower control arm comprises dual lower control mounts, each spaced apart along said vertical arm;
- wherein said hub mounts laterally outward and vertically below attachment points of said upper control arm and said lower control arm such that a center of said hub is positioned below a plane defined by said lower control arm, in order to keep the same distance between said upper mount and said lower mount, and said steering arm to maintain a factory geometry, and
- wherein said hub is offset downward relative to said lower control arm to increase ground clearance without altering angular orientation of said upper and lower control arms.
7 more elements
A steering knuckle for a vehicle, said steering knuckle comprising:
- a vertical arm;
- a steering arm positioned at said vertical arm;
- an upper mount positioned at said vertical arm, wherein said upper mount comprises an upper control arm, and wherein said upper control arm comprises dual upper control mounts;
- a lower mount positioned at said vertical arm, wherein said lower mount comprises a lower control arm, and wherein said lower control arm comprises dual lower control mounts;
- and
- a hub positioned at the bottom of said vertical arm, and
- an access panel forming a removable enclosure configured to provide access to an interior of said steering knuckle;
- wherein said access panel comprises a gear mechanism, and wherein said gear mechanism transfers motion from a vehicle's constant velocity (CV) shaft to a vehicle's wheel, wherein said gear mechanism is fully enclosed within said steering knuckle and comprises a gear train having at least one bevel gear set arranged to redirect rotational input from a transverse axis to a rotational axis of said hub;
- wherein said upper control arm comprises dual upper control mounts, and wherein said lower control arm comprises dual lower control mounts, each spaced apart along said vertical arm;
- wherein each of said upper mount and said lower mount comprises a caster alignment adjustment member having a connector, and wherein said caster alignment adjustment members adjust the alignment of said dual upper control mounts at said upper mount, and said dual lower control mounts at said lower mount, respectively, and
- wherein said hub mounts laterally outward and vertically below attachment points of said upper control arm and said lower control arm in order to keep the same distance between said upper mount and said lower mount, and said steering arm to maintain a factory geometry, and wherein said hub is positioned below said lower control arm to increase ground clearance while maintaining parallel alignment of said upper and lower control arms.
8 more elements
A method of providing a steering knuckle for a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a vertical arm;
- providing an upper mount positioned at said vertical arm, said upper mount comprising an upper control arm;
- providing a steering arm positioned at said vertical arm;
- providing a lower mount positioned at said vertical arm, said lower mount comprising a lower control arm;
- providing a hub positioned at the bottom of said vertical arm;
- mounting said hub laterally outward and vertically below attachment points of said upper control arm and said lower control arm in order to keep the same distance between said upper mount and said lower mount, and said steering arm for maintaining a factory geometry, wherein said mounting step includes positioning said hub below a lower control arm plane to increase ground clearance without altering control arm angles;
- and
- providing an access panel forming a removable enclosure configured to provide access to an interior of said steering knuckle;
- wherein said access panel comprises a gear mechanism, and wherein said gear mechanism transfers motion from a vehicle's constant velocity (CV) shaft to a vehicle's wheel, wherein said gear mechanism is fully enclosed within said steering knuckle and comprises a gear train having at least one bevel gear set arranged to redirect rotational input from a transverse axis to a rotational axis of said hub;
- wherein said upper control arm comprises dual upper control mounts, and wherein said lower control arm comprises dual lower control mounts, each spaced apart along said vertical arm.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.