Pneumatic suspension system for farm equipment

An undercarriage system for suspending a superstructure on a right-hand side belt track and on a left-hand belt track, the undercarriage system comprising:

• a rear axle extending laterally across the undercarriage system;
• a front support shaft located in front of the rear axle and also located laterally across the undercarriage system;
• a right-hand side undercarriage having:
• a rear wheel mounted for rotation to the right side of the rear axle,
• a front wheel mounted to an axle for rotation;
• a right-hand side belt track encircling the front and rear wheels and engaging the ground,
• a bridge spanning between the axle of the front wheel and the rear axle, the bridge being supported in part by the axle of the front wheel in the rear axle,
• a plurality of moveable support members, each supporting the bridge in part on one or more mid-wheels,
• a bag that holds pressurized fluid associated with each support member wherein each bag resists motion of the associated support member towards the bridge, the bags are in direct fluid communication with each other by a conduit member and the weight of the superstructure is supported at least in part by the bridge whereby fluid will freely propagate through said conduit member from a bag that is compressed and into the one or more other bags that are not compressed thus distributing the weight on the bridge more evenly on the support member;
• a left-hand side undercarriage that is the mirror image of the right-hand side undercarriage;
• wherein the front support shaft is connected to the bridges of both the right-hand side and left-hand side undercarriages.

A method of suspending a superstructure over a belt track that encircles a front wheel, a rear wheel and a plurality of mid-wheels located between the front and rear wheels, the method comprising the steps of:

• supporting the superstructure on a bridge spanning between the front and rear wheels;
• supporting the bridge in part by mid-wheels, wherein the mid-wheels support the bridge on air bags that are directly interconnected by a conduit member and the interconnected air bags are charged with an amount of air sufficient to support the bridge in part;
• allowing air to freely propagate through said conduit member from an air bag that is compressed and into the one or more other interconnected air bags that are not compressed;
• and
• adjusting the total air charge in the interconnected air bags as the weight of the superstructure varies so that the weight of the superstructure on the belt track is more evenly distributed along the belt track.