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US 4,541,653 AGranted
Air spring suspension with angular torque beam, U-joint mount therefor, and lateral guides
OwnerJohn E. Raidelinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerJohn E. Raidelinventor
Estimating the term…
A suspension system for a drive axle includes a torque beam fixedly secured to the axle, one or two air springs extending between the torque beam and the chassis, and a universal joint comprised of two transversely mounted rubber bushings mounting the forward end of the torque beam to the chassis. The torque beam may be overslung or underslung from the axle, and the universal joint mounted with its transverse bushing substantially on the same horizontal center line as the axle. The drive axle suspension may also have a beam guide mounted to the torque beam and extending upwardly adjacent the chassis frame, or a cross radius rod to limit lateral movement. Another embodiment of the suspension is for a steer axle which has a straight torque beam and either an outboard beam guide or an aft vertical rail guide to limit the lateral displacement of the suspension with respect to the chassis.
A suspension system for supporting the chassis of a vehicle from at least one axle comprising a relatively rigid, non-yieldable torque beam adapted to mount to the axle, a spring means mounted to an end of said torque beam and adapted to mount to the chassis, and means to mount the other end of said torque beam to the chassis, said beam mounting means having means less rigid and more yieldable than the torque beam to permit limited revolution of said beam thereabout in a longitudinal plane, and to permit limited rotation of said beam about its longitudinal axis to minimize torsional forces in the torque beam as the axle moves with respect to the chassis.
In a suspension assembly for supporting a vehicle chassis from at least one vehicle axle, said chassis having a longitudinally extending rail frame undercarriage, said suspension having a longitudinally extending torque arm, the improvement comprising means to pivotally connect the forward end of the torque arm outboard of said rail frame including a hanger assembly adapted to mount to the rail frame and depend downwardly therefrom, said hanger assembly including a pair of spaced vertically depending brackets, said rackets having means to mount a bushing therebetween, and a bolster beam extending between said brackets and laterally underneath the rail frame to strengthen said vertical brackets.
A suspension system for supporting the chassis of a vehicle from at least one axle comprising a rigid, relatively non-yieldable torque beam having first and second ends, means spaced from the first end for joining the torque beam to the axle, spring means connected between the torque beam and the chassis at a position spaced from the first end of the torque beam, the chassis having a torque beam support, connector means to support the first end of the torque beam by the support, the connector means including a first element that is more yieldable than the torque beam and being positioned intermediate the torque beam and the support to permit limited pivoting about a transverse axis at the first element, and including a second element that is more yieldable than the torque beam and being positioned intermediate the torque beam and the support to permit limited rotation of the torque beam about a longitudinal axis upon yielding of the second element to forces applied in torsion to the torque beam, whereby the torque beam can be of rigid, relatively non-yieldable construction and yet have limited revolution about a transverse axis and limited rotation about a longitudinal axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.