| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080252031 | LEADING AND TRAILING ARM SUSPENSIONS WITH Z-SHAPED ARMS - A leading or trailing arm vehicle suspension system comprised of a fabricated vehicle axle and an arm assembly. The arm assembly includes an axle bracket attached to the axle and a leading or trailing arm attached to the axle bracket. The arm provides bending stiffness to control axle windup and longitudinal stiffness to control axle position is disclosed. The axle bracket is attached to the vehicle axle with a through-bolt connection. The axle bracket or the arm includes rack and pinion mounting attachment holes and also includes other built-in features providing efficient transfer of loads into the vehicle axle. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20090060640 | LIGHTWEIGHT HEAVY DUTY BUSHING WITH EASY ASSEMBLY - A lightweight heavy duty bushing assembly for use in a vehicle suspension system and being low cost and having a high assembly tolerance is disclosed. A metal bar pin is press fit into a bushing formed from a metal sleeve bonded to an elastomeric housing. The metal sleeve is deformable such that exact tolerances of the metal sleeve and the bar pin are not required. The metal bar pin has extended ends with a hole in each end for attachment of the metal bar pin to vehicle suspension components, mounting brackets, or to the vehicle frame. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090230760 | FABRICATED VEHICLE AXLE - A fabricated vehicle axle is provided with a single piece main body having an inverted U-shaped configuration. The ends of the main body are curved upwardly to define a pair of gooseneck portions. A first king pin fixture having a king pin bore is secured to one of the gooseneck portions, while a second king pin fixture having a king pin bore is secured to the other gooseneck portion. A bottom plate is secured to the main body and has ends extending beyond the gooseneck portions to provide seats for the king pin fixtures. | 09-17-2009 |
| 20090256328 | ISOLATED SPRING CLAMP GROUP - A clamp assembly of a vehicle leaf spring suspension is disclosed. The clamp assembly has an axle bracket secured to a vehicle axle and a top cap secured to the axle bracket by mechanical fasteners to define an axle seat. The axle bracket and top cap may include interlocking keys and keyways to cooperate with the mechanical fasteners in transmitting the load from the vehicle axle. A spring seat of the leaf spring is received within the axle seat and is tapered. The tapered spring seat, when combined with a deformable liner in the axle seat, effectively eliminates the inactive portion of the leaf spring to increase the effective length of the spring and minimize the spring rate. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20100038877 | Vehicle Suspensions Having Leaf Springs And Alternative Clamp Groups - A vehicle leaf spring suspension having a low spring rate is disclosed. The suspension has an axle seat secured to a vehicle axle. The leaf spring is clamped at its spring seat area to the axle seat at the clamp group mounting surface of the axle seat and with certain of the disclosed axle seats, can be clamped such that the spring seat area is asymmetrically positioned with respect to the vehicle axle centerline. Also, an active clamp group arrangement can be used to utilize the entire physical length of the leaf spring. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100187789 | LEADING AND TRAILING ARM SUSPENSIONS HAVING A FULLY INTEGRATED ARM - A leading or trailing arm vehicle suspension system comprised of a fabricated vehicle axle and a fully integrated beam casting providing bending stiffness to control axle windup and longitudinal stiffness to control axle position is disclosed. The beam casting is attached to the vehicle axle with a thru-bolt connection. The beam casting includes rack and pinion mounting attachment holes and also includes other built-in features providing efficient transfer of loads into the vehicle axle. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100264617 | ISOLATED SPRING CLAMP GROUP - A clamp assembly of a vehicle leaf spring suspension is disclosed. The clamp assembly has an axle bracket secured to a vehicle axle and a top cap secured to the axle bracket by mechanical fasteners to define an axle seat. The axle bracket and top cap may include interlocking keys and keyways to cooperate with the mechanical fasteners in transmitting the load from the vehicle axle. A spring seat of the leaf spring is received within the axle seat and is tapered. The tapered spring seat, when combined with a deformable liner in the axle seat, effectively eliminates the inactive portion of the leaf spring to increase the effective length of the spring and minimize the spring rate. | 10-21-2010 |
