Method for manufacturing a composite leaf spring and use of such a leaf in a vehicle suspension system

A method for manufacturing a composite leaf spring that is elastically deformable between a rest state in which the leaf spring has a curved profile and a state of maximum extension in which the leaf spring has an elongate profile, a length of which corresponds to that of the neutral axis of the leaf spring, the leaf spring comprising a leaf body having a lower surface and, at each end, an attachment end piece for fastening the leaf spring to a suspension system, wherein the leaf body is produced by curing a fiber-reinforced matrix reinforced with reinforcing fibers, wherein prior to the curing of the matrix, deformable reinforcing fibers are applied to a support surface having a curvature that defines the lower surface of the leaf spring in the rest state, the reinforcing fibers being arranged in parallel with one another and extending along the curvature of the support surface in order to form, after curing, an arrangement of continuous reinforcing fibers that are parallel to one another and oriented in the longitudinal direction of the leaf body, at least at the lower surface of the leaf body.