Vehicle Suspension
AssigneeHendrickson USA, L.L.C.
InventorsShawn D. Noble, Matthew J. Van Meter, Randy Joseph Zimmerman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle suspension having a frame attachment portion attached to a saddle, first and second bolster springs mounted to spring mounts on an outboard side of the saddle and mounted on walls of a spring mount on an outboard side of an equalizing beam, and third and fourth bolster springs mounted to walls of a spring mount on an inboard side of the saddle and mounted to spring mounts on an inboard side of the equalizing beam, wherein upwardly extending flanges on the bottom of the first and second bolster sprints are mounted to each other using a common fastener, and wherein upwardly extending flanges on the bottom of the third and fourth bolster springs are mounted to each other with a common fastener.
Claims39
A suspension for supporting a longitudinally extending vehicle frame rail above an axle, comprising:
- a frame attachment portion adapted for connection to a vehicle frame rail;
- a saddle having a top portion attached to the frame attachment portion;
- a first bolster spring mount extending from an outboard side of a lower portion of the saddle;
- a second bolster spring mount extending from the outboard side of the lower portion of the saddle;
- an equalizing beam having a first end adapted for attachment to a first axle and a second end adapted for attachment to a second axle;
- a third bolster spring mount extending from an outboard side of the equalizing beam;
- a first bolster spring having a top attached to the first bolster spring mount and a bottom attached to a first wall of the third bolster spring mount;
- a second bolster spring having a top attached to the second bolster spring mount and a bottom attached to a second wall of the third bolster spring mount;
- a fourth bolster spring mount extending from an inboard side of the lower portion of the saddle;
- a fifth bolster spring mount extending from the inboard side of the lower portion of the saddle;
- a sixth bolster spring mount extending from an inboard side of the equalizing beam;
- a third bolster spring having a top attached to the fourth bolster spring mount and a bottom attached to a first wall of the sixth bolster spring mount;
- a fourth bolster spring having a top attached to the fifth bolster spring mount and a bottom attached to a second wall of the sixth bolster spring mount;
- a first apex angle between the bottom of the first bolster spring and the bottom of the second bolster spring that is between 30-45 degrees;
- and
- a second apex angle between the bottom of the third bolster spring and the bottom of the fourth bolster spring that is between 30-45 degrees.
A suspension for supporting a longitudinally extending vehicle frame rail above an axle, comprising:
- a frame attachment portion adapted for connection to a vehicle frame rail;
- a saddle having a top portion attached to the frame attachment portion;
- a first bolster spring mount extending from an outboard side of a lower portion of the saddle;
- a second bolster spring mount extending from the outboard side of the lower portion of the saddle;
- an equalizing beam having a first end adapted for attachment to a first axle and a second end adapted for attachment to a second axle;
- a third bolster spring mount extending from an outboard side of the equalizing beam;
- a first bolster spring having a top attached to the first bolster spring mount and a bottom attached to a first wall of the third bolster spring mount;
- a second bolster spring having a top attached to the second bolster spring mount and a bottom attached to a second wall of the third bolster spring mount;
- a fourth bolster spring mount extending from an inboard side of the lower portion of the saddle;
- a fifth bolster spring mount extending from the inboard side of the lower portion of the saddle;
- a sixth bolster spring mount extending from an inboard side of the equalizing beam;
- a third bolster spring having a top attached to the fourth bolster spring mount and a bottom attached to a first wall of the sixth bolster spring mount;
- a fourth bolster spring having a top attached to the fifth bolster spring mount and a bottom attached to a second wall of the sixth bolster spring mount;
- wherein a first flange upwardly extends from the bottom of the first bolster spring and a second flange upwardly extends from the bottom of the second bolster spring;
- wherein the first flange of the first bolster spring is mounted to the second flange of the second bolster spring with a common fastener;
- wherein a third flange upwardly extends from the bottom of the third bolster spring and a fourth flange upwardly extends from the bottom of the fourth bolster spring;
- wherein the third flange of the third bolster spring is mounted to the fourth flange of the fourth bolster spring with a common fastener.
A bolster spring for a vehicle suspension comprising:
- a base plate;
- a top plate;
- elastomeric material positioned between the base plate and the top plate;
- a first flange having a bottom mounting surface upwardly extending from a first end of the base plate at an angle ½α;
- and
- one or more mounting holes positioned in the flange adapted for attachment to an upwardly extending flange on a second bolster spring.
A load cushion for a vehicle suspension system, the load cushion comprising:
- an end plate;
- an elastomeric cushion portion extending from the end plate to a top of the cushion portion;
- wherein a cross-section of the cushion portion from a front side to a rear side of the cushion is symmetrical and curvilinear;
- and wherein a narrowest width between the front side and the rear side is positioned at a midpoint between the end plate and the top of the cushion portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.