Independent rear suspension system for an all terrain vehicle
AssigneePolaris Industries Inc.
InventorsAdam J. Schlangen, Jeffrey D. Bennett, Brian T. Utter, Stephen L. Nelson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An independent rear suspension for a vehicle having a chassis and a pair of rear wheels including a pair of IRS units. Each IRS unit includes an X-shaped lower control arm with a forward pivot connection to the chassis in front of the centerline of the driven sprocket and a rearward pivot connection behind the centerline, and a camber link connected to the chassis at a single pivot connection behind the centerline. Each IRS unit also includes a shock absorber coupled with an anti-sway bar to the lower control arm at a mount, and including a secondary spring in series with a main spring.
Claims22
An independent rear suspension for a vehicle having a chassis and a pair of rear wheels, the suspension including:
- a first unit movably coupled between the chassis and one of the wheels;
- and
- a second unit movably coupled between the chassis and another of the wheels;
- wherein the first and second units each include a lower control arm and a camber link, the camber links each being coupled to the chassis at a single pivot connection.
An independent rear suspension for a vehicle having a chassis and a pair of rear wheels, the suspension including:
- a pair of lower control arms extending between the wheels and the chassis;
- and
- a pair of camber links extending between the wheels and the chassis;
- wherein the control arms each include
- a first end configured to pivotally support a knuckle coupled between the control arm and a corresponding camber link,
- a central body,
- a forward link extending from the central body to a forward pivot connection on the chassis,
- a rearward link extending from the central body to a rearward pivot connection on the chassis, and
- a pair of cross links extending between the forward link and the rearward link, thereby forming a substantially X-shaped interconnection between the forward link and the rearward link.
An independent suspension for a vehicle, including:
- a lower control arm extending between a wheel and a chassis of the vehicle;
- and
- a shock absorber extending between the chassis and the lower control arm, the shock absorber including
- a cylinder,
- a piston,
- a main spring, and
- a secondary spring in series with the main spring, the secondary spring being substantially fully compressed whenever the main spring is compressed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.