GB2437072A - Pivotless suspension - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle suspension system which uses a sliding mechanism to control vertical wheel movement which; in turn will remove lateral movement under load. The system will use vertical sliders 5 that can be curved depending on desired vertical wheel movement and wheel camber. The wheel hub 2 movement will be controlled by sliding cuffs 3, clamped to the vertical sliders 5. This mechanism will dramatically improve vehicle handling ability.

Description

<p>Pivotless Suspension</p>

<p>The Description</p>

<p>Background</p>

<p>There are various types of suspension unit that have been used over the years starting with the leaf spring idea, torsion bars and onto double wishbone with a McPherson strut. This last type appears to be the suspension of choice for most motorised vehicles especially on the front where steering and stability are of utmost importance.</p>

<p>The purpose of the pivotless suspension comes from investigation of the existing wishbone suspension system. The weakest part of the wishbone suspension is the pivot point where huge forces are exerted both from the weight of the car and from the impact of any bumps in the road. Moreover, because of the inherent nature of the joint having to pivot, means that it cannot be completely fixed in its movement. So while the joint is devised to only move on one axis in a vertical dimension, flex within the join itself means that horizontal movement will also occur along with potential twisting of the joint also. All of these movements occur under load, are very difficult to predict and can lead to uncharacteristic suspension effects damaging handling and stability in corners and under braking, for example.</p>

<p>Improvements in technology have meant that fabrics such as nylons and carbon fibres has meant that the join has become stronger and more stable although it still suffers from the fundamental problem in that it is designed to move.</p>

<p>Features The idea in this document is the creation of a suspension unit that removes the need for a pivoting axis and therefore, reduce the unpredictable horizontal suspension movement under load. While the spring and damping effect will still be managed as now on most cars (allowing differing types of mechanism to be used) I have shown the example with the more common McPherson Strut. The main feature of this design is that the wishbone frame will he replaced by a fixed frame attached to the vehicle chassis. Two horizontal outriggers follow the existing lines of the lower swing arms of the double wishbones although they arc fixed without a pivot point. Two higher outriggers are attached directly above the lower ones although these will have to be angled upwards instead of horizontally. This will reduce the flex in the frame further from impacts to the suspension from bumps in the driving surface.</p>

<p>The upper and lower sections are to be connected with supports across to create box sections. Finally, the upper and lower supports are connected using the curved vertical frictionless runners of chrome or similar low friction material. These two vertical supports are what the suspension hub will run on with frictionless cuffs that attach around the supports. The cuffs will be lined with nylon or similar. Finally, in this example the McPherson strut will attach to the top of the hub to provide the damping and spring.</p>

<p>This will create a moveable hub that will slide up and down the runners fixed within vertical dimension without any lateral movement.</p>

<p>Another important point to note is that with this configuration, the frictionless runners do not have to be straight and vertical. The runners should in fact, he curved to allow a change in chamber of the wheel under compression of the suspension. This will allow more of the tyrc to remain in contact with the road on cornering, thus providing more stability. Depending on the type of vehicle and use of the vehicle, the dimension of the runners in terms of length of travel and amount of curve will have to change.</p>

<p>Attached are two diagrams that will explain in simple terms the premise of the invention and are based on the suspension unit if applied to a car. The first diagram (figure 1) is a view of the suspension unit looking from the side of the vehicle. The second diagram is a view as if looking along the length of the vehicle, i.e. from the front.</p>

<p>Detailed Description and Examples</p>

<p>From the diagrams there are five principle elements (each numbered the same on both diagram) which I shall list below: 1. Standard spring and damping mechanism as currently used on many motorised vehicles.</p>

<p>2. Wheel hub and disc brake. The standard wheel hub configuration of a standard car, this is where the wheel with tyre will attach.</p>

<p>3. Frictionless cuff. This unit is clamped to the frictionless runner allowing movement in a vertical axis only.</p>

<p>4. Hub back plate. This effectively holds the wheel hub to the suspension unit.</p>

<p>In this example I have show the hub to not be a steering hub, but the standard steering mechanism could be attached to here.</p>

<p>5. Frictionless runner. The runner on which the frictionless cuff is attached which could be curved to allow wheel camber changes under load.</p>

<p>It is important to note that the sprung strut (1) will need to attach to the outside of the huh back plate (4). This is to avoid a rotating motion that would be caused by the upward force of the wheel from the road on one side through the wheel huh (2), offset by the downward force of the sprung strut (1) on the other. With the wheel (2) and the sprung strut (1) on the outer side of the frictionless cuff (3), then this stress will be reduced.</p>

<p>The most advantageous part of this design is that because the arc of the lictionless runners (5) can be measured and defined exactly, then the movement of the wheel be predicted very accurately. This should vastly improve the stability of the vehicle under most conditions improving overall safety and performance.</p>

<p>This suspension system could be used for most other vehicle types from bicycles, motorcycles, lornes and trailers. aims</p>

Claims (1)

1. <p>1. A vehicle suspension unit that will control the vertical movement of

   a wheel with the user of a sliding mechanism.</p>

   <p>2. A suspension unit as claimed in Claim I where the posts that control the vertical movement can be set in an arc to allow camber change relevant to wheel movement.</p>

   <p>3. A suspension unit as claimed in Claim I or Claim 2 where the movement along the sliding posts is contained using sliding cuffs.</p>

   <p>4. A suspension unit as claimed in any proceeding claim which does not use pivote(l swing arms to hold the wheel hub.</p>

   <p>5. A suspension unit substantially as herein described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.</p>