Wheel suspension system having an integrated link, spring, and anti-roll bar
AssigneeVisteon Global Technologies, Inc.
InventorsRobert Christian Lawson, Frederick Mark Deadrick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rear wheel suspension system replaces the lower control arms, coil springs, and anti-roll bar assembly in the prior art with a simple composite beam. By carefully designing the shape of the beam, the material system and the pivot locations, the ride and roll rates and camber and toe characteristics of the original prior art suspension system can be preserved.
Claims20
A rear wheel suspension for a vehicle comprising:
- a chassis;
- a pair of trailing arms for rotatably mounting a pair of road wheels;
- a chassis cross-member coupled to said chassis;
- and
- a composite beam having outer attachment members and inner attachment members, said outer attachment members rotatably coupled to each of said pair of trailing arms and said inner attachment members rotatably coupled to said chassis cross-member.
A method for decreasing part count and complexity in a suspension system while improving NVH and reducing weight, the method comprising the steps of:
- rotatably coupling each of a pair of outer attachment members of a composite beam to a respective one of a pair of trailing arms;
- and
- coupling each of a pair of inner attachment members of said composite beam to a chassis cross-member.
A method of forming a composite beam for use in a vehicle suspension system, the method comprising the steps of:
- weaving a preform using a three dimensional weaving process having a plurality of preform slits, said preform having a plurality of fibers and a curable resin;
- cutting said preform to a first length;
- inserting a sacrificial insert into each of said plurality of preform slits to form a plurality of holes, each of said plurality of holes corresponding to a first attachment feature on the composite beam;
- and
- placing said first shape having a plurality of holes in a mold with a quantity of resin;
- molding said first shape to form the composite beam having said plurality of first attachment features using a first process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.