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US 4,787,680 AGranted
Semi-rigid axle for a vehicle
AssigneeVallourec
InventorsDidier Bonjean, Raymond Deslande
Life of this patent
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AssigneeVallourec
InventorsDidier Bonjean, Raymond Deslande
Estimating the term…
The invention relates to a U-shaped semi-rigid axle for a vehicle. The axle comprises a transverse portion pivotally connected to the body of the vehicle and two arms serving to mount stub axles on which the wheels are fixed. It is formed of a one-piece tubular structure, the central region forming the transverse portion (3) being so profiled as to present at least one double-wall flange portion, a bent region (12, 13) being provided at each end of the transverse portion, each bent portion being extended by an arm (14, 15) at the end of which is provided the fixing for the stub axle. The invention also relates to a process for producing the foregoing axle. The axle according to the invention can be used in particular as the back axle assembly of a motor vehicle.
In a semi-rigid one-piece vehicular axle construction including a pair of tubular axle arms, the combination comprising, a generally U-shaped tubular body having a central transverse portion and a pair of axle arms extending perpendicularly therefrom in a common plane, said axle arms each including a stub axle, said transverse portion being formed to include a cross-sectional profile region of double wall thickness and having at least one flanged portion and being prolonged at each end, beyond the profile region, by a tubular region bent to merge at a right angle with each of said axle arms.
The method of making a one-piece semi-rigid vehicular axle including the steps of forming a single length of metal tubing into a U-shaped configuration to define a central portion and an axle arm portion at each end thereof, deforming a part of said central portion to include a rectilinear section while retaining said axle arm portions in tubular form having at least one double walled flanged portion, and attaching a stub axle to each of said axle arm portions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Between wheels on the same axle but on different sides of the vehicle, i.e. the left and right wheel suspensions being interconnected: trailing…
Mounting of torsion springs: middle mounts of stabiliser on vehicle body or chassis
Constructional features of suspension elements, e.g. arms, dampers, springs: hollow or tubular elements
Constructional features of suspension elements, e.g. arms, dampers, springs: constructional features of semi-rigid axles, e.g. twist beam type axles
Term ended 2 Dec 2006 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The invention concerns a semi-rigid one-piece axle used in particular for the back axle assembly of a motor vehicle. The invention also concerns a process for producing such an axle. The axle is in the form of a U-shape, comprising a transverse portion which is pivotally connected to the body of the vehicle, and two arms, at the ends of which are fixed stub axles on which the wheels are mounted.
That axle makes it possible to provide for mounting and guiding the wheels and has an anti-roll function (to resist sideways tilting of the body of the vehicle).
According to the invention, the axle is of a one-piece structure which results from shaping a single length of tube.
The following text and accompanying drawings describe, without limitation, a particular embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an axle according to the invention,
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a tube for carrying out the invention,
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a one-piece semi-rigid axle 1 according to the invention.
The axle is produced from a single length of a rotationally symmetrical steel tube whose section 2 is shown in FIG. 2 on an enlarged scale with respect to FIG. 1. The tube is of a constant thickness e from one end to the other. The transverse portion 3 of the axle is produced by deformation of the central region of the tube.
The form of a rectilinear shaped member of which the section on line A--A is shown in FIG. 3 is thus imparted to the tube. It will be seen that the shaped member comprises four limb or flange portions 4, 5, 6 and 7 which are arranged in an X-shape around the axis X--X. Each of the flange portions comprises a double wall as at 8, 9 which results from shaping of the initial tube. Such a configuration has a high level of bending strength which is little lower than that of the initial configuratoon of the tube. The shaped member has a much lower level of resilient torsional strength than that of the initial tube and in addition it permits substantial torsional deformation of one end of the transverse portion with respect to the other, without going outside the elastic range. It will be seen that at each of its ends 10 and 11 the transverse portion is prolonged by a tubular region which is bent at a right angle, as at 12 and 13, and a straight tubular arm 14 and 15. In the illustrated embodiment, the arms are of a rotationally symmetrical section.