Suspension system for vehicle
AssigneeHonda Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsNaoki Kuwabara, Bunzo Seki
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A suspension system suitable for a small-sized vehicle such as an all terrain vehicle. A strut damper is arranged wherein a downwardly extending line of an axis of the strut damper is located in front of a drive shaft extending to the depth of a drawing from the rotational center of a front wheel. As interference between the strut damper and the drive shaft is not a concern, a mounting position of the strut damper can be fully lowered. In addition, the length of the axis of the strut damper can be fully secured. Therefore, the height of the vehicle can be lowered. In addition, the design of a vehicle body is facilitated.
Claims19
A suspension system for use with a vehicle having a body frame, a power generation engine attached to the body frame for generating power, a transmission system for transmitting output generated by the power generation engine, a drive shaft extending in a direction of a width of the vehicle for transmitting power transmitted by the transmission system to a wheel, comprising:
- an upper end of a strut damper being coupled to the body frame and extending downwardly;
- a knuckle supporting member extending downwardly from a lower part of the strut damper;
- a lower arm extending in the direction of the width of the vehicle for coupling a lower part of the knuckle supporting member to the body frame;
- a knuckle rotatably attached to the knuckle supporting member around a king pin axis for supporting the wheel;
- and
- a tie rod extending in the width direction of the vehicle for rotating the knuckle around the king pin axis;
- wherein the strut damper is arranged in a location wherein a downwardly extending line of an axis of the strut damper is located in front of or at the back of the drive shaft in a side view of the vehicle,
- wherein the lower part of the strut damper is connected in a non-movable manner to an upper part of the knuckle supporting member with a pair of bolts.
A suspension system for use with a vehicle having a body frame, a power generation engine attached to the body frame for generating power, a transmission system for transmitting output generated by the power generation engine, a drive shaft extending in a direction of a width of the vehicle for transmitting power transmitted by the transmission system to a wheel, comprising:
- an upper end of a strut damper being coupled to the body frame and extending downwardly;
- a knuckle supporting member extending downwardly from a lower part of the strut damper;
- a lower arm extending in the direction of the width of the vehicle for coupling a lower part of the knuckle supporting member to the body frame;
- a knuckle rotatably attached to the knuckle supporting member around a king pin axis for supporting the wheel;
- and
- a tie rod extending in the width direction of the vehicle for rotating the knuckle around the king pin axis;
- wherein the strut damper is arranged in a location wherein a downwardly extending line of an axis of the strut damper is located in front of the drive shaft in a side view of the vehicle, and
- a tie rod supporting part of the knuckle can be seen to extend rearwardly from an upper part of the knuckle in a position adjacent where the upper part of the knuckle is pivotably supported by the knuckle supporting member,
- wherein the knuckle includes an upper part pivotably mounted against a lower face of an upper part supporting part of the knuckle support member, and a lower part of pivotably mounted against a lower face of an lower supporting part of the knuckle support member, and
- wherein the knuckle support member includes a bridge part for connecting the upper part supporting part and the lower part supporting part,
- wherein the bridge part extends in parallel with the axis of the strut damper.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.