Zero roll suspension system

#The present invention relates generally to a suspension system for vehicles, and more particularly to a suspension system for controlling the lateral roll of a vehicle during cornering and additionally for controlling fore-aft movement, or pitch, commonly described as vehicle rise and squat, caused by the inertia of the vehicle during acceleration and deceleration.

#Vehicle suspension characteristics generally determine ride height, spring rates, caster, camber, toe-in, braking dive, acceleration squat, and cornering roll. Anti-roll suspension systems are those in which forces that tend to cause roll of the vehicle body with respect to the wheels about a longitudinal axis are resisted by forces acting through or on the suspension system. Vehicle suspension systems having anti-roll characteristics are generally either ‘active’ suspensions using hydraulic actuators to adjust suspension characteristics in response to sensed lateral acceleration, or more commonly, suspensions that incorporate devices such as anti-roll or stabilizer bars that have fixed suspension characteristics.

#Typical of an ‘active’ suspension system is U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,347 for Actively Controlled Suspension System Anti-Roll Control, issued to Fukushima et al. on Sep. 12, 1989, which describes a suspension system having an anti-roll control loop in which the gain is adjusted depending on the speed of the vehicle. The '347 suspension system utilizes acceleration sensors to detect lateral acceleration and pressure control valves to adjust hydraulic cylinders which vary the suspension characteristics according to the speed of the vehicle.

#FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a zero roll suspension system having perpendicular rotational and crossing axes, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a zero roll suspension system having a pass through opening in one of the crossed links, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

#FIG. 2a partial perspective view of a linking mechanism, according to the zero roll suspension system of FIG. 2.

#Referring to FIG. 1, a suspension system for controlling the lateral roll of a vehicle during cornering, according to one embodiment of the present invention, is generally designated by the reference numeral 10. The suspension system 10 is adapted to be received by the body of a vehicle, such as an automobile frame 12, having a wheel assembly 14, a spindle 16, a kingpin 18, and a spring and shock absorber assembly 20. The wheel assembly 14 has an axis of rotation R about which a wheel of the wheel assembly 14 rotates. The vehicle frame 12 may be of any automobile make or model, such as but not limited to a pick-up truck, an utility truck, a three-wheeled vehicle or a four-wheeled or more wheeled vehicle that tends to rotate or roll during cornering.

#The spring and shock absorber assembly 20 provides vertical support for the wheel assembly 14 and the vehicle frame 12 while, as is commonly known, the wheel assembly 14, the spindle 16 and the kingpin 18 are each integrally connected in a conventional manner so as to provide for structural stability and control of the vehicle. The present embodiment of FIG. 1 includes a crossed linking mechanism 22, which acts to connect the wheel assembly 14 to the vehicle body 12. While the suspension system 10 will function with most vehicles, it should be readily apparent that the actual shape and size of various components will depend upon the size and weight of the associated vehicle. It should be readily apparent that while one linking mechanism 22 has been described, more than one linking mechanism may be alternatively substituted without departing from the broader aspects of the present invention, as will be described later.

#Referring still to FIG. 1, the linking mechanism 22 of the present invention reverses the moment, preferably at the wheel, to oppose the rolling moment of the vehicle body 12 during cornering. The linking mechanism 22 includes at least a first elongated member 24 and a second elongated member 26 which are oriented so as to cross each other in substantially parallel planes along a crossing axis C. It will be readily apparent that the crossing axis C is not an axis which defines predetermined, fixed points along either the first elongated member 24 or the second elongated member 26. The crossing axis C, as seen in FIG. 1, may initially lie above, below or on the rotational axis R, and will shift from this initial position during operation of the present invention. Moreover, although FIG. 1 illustrates the first elongated member 24 and the second elongated member 26 crossing one another in substantially parallel planes as viewed horizontally, the present invention is not limited in this regard as the first elongated member 24 and the second elongated member 26 may have any planar relationship between one another provided that when viewed horizontally, the first elongated member 24 and the second elongated member 26 cross in superposition.