Motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type, including a transverse leaf spring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9656528-B2
Application number	US-201615214566-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2016
Priority date	Jul 23, 2015
Publication date	May 23, 2017
Grant date	May 23, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type includes a pair of wheel supports, and two shock absorbers each having a body bolted to a corresponding wheel support with a top end connected to structure of the vehicle. A leaf spring is set transverse to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and has a central portion connected to the vehicle structure, and two ends connected to the respective wheel supports. The leaf spring is made of a single piece having opposite ends each having a forked shape, with two prongs made of a single piece with the leaf spring, wherein each prong is connected separately to the corresponding wheel support. The suspension system does not include other connection elements between each wheel support and the vehicle structure so that suspension components can be assembled on the leaf spring prior to installation on the vehicle structure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type comprising:
a pair of wheel supports;
two shock absorbers each having a body bolted to a corresponding wheel support with a top end connected to a structure of the motor vehicle; and
a leaf spring, which counters vertical movements of the wheel supports, is set transverse to a longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, is connected to the structure of the motor vehicle via four elastic supports, and has two ends connected to the respective wheel supports,
said suspension system being characterized in that:
said leaf spring is made of a single piece having opposite ends each having a forked shape, with two prongs made of a single piece with said leaf spring, wherein each prong is connected separately to the corresponding wheel support by an elastic support or a ball joint; and
said suspension system does not comprise other connection elements between each wheel support and the structure of the motor vehicle so that said transverse leaf spring is used also as an auxiliary frame on which components of the suspension can be assembled prior to installation on the structure of the motor vehicle.

2. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 1 , wherein the two prongs of each end of the leaf spring have a width and/or thickness different from one another.

3. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 1 , wherein said leaf spring is made of composite material and has a central portion connected to the structure of the motor vehicle by four elastic supports.

4. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two prongs of each end of the leaf spring is connected to the corresponding wheel support by an elastic support in the form of a bushing with an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, having an external cylindrical reinforcement inserted in a metal terminal connected to the leaf spring.

5. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two prongs of each end of the leaf spring is connected to the corresponding wheel support by a ball joint having an external cylindrical reinforcement inserted in a seat of the leaf spring.

6. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 1 , wherein one of the two prongs of each end of the leaf spring is connected to the corresponding wheel support by an elastic support in the form of a bushing with an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, having an external cylindrical reinforcement inserted in a metal terminal connected to the leaf spring, and the other prong of each end of the leaf spring is connected to the corresponding wheel support by a ball joint having an external cylindrical reinforcement inserted in a seat of the leaf spring.

7. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 1 , wherein said shock absorber is set through a gap between the two prongs of the respective ends of the leaf spring.

8. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 3 , wherein said leaf spring comprises two intermediate portions of enlarged thickness in an area adjacent to ends of the central portion of the leaf spring, each having two seats for two of said elastic supports connected to the structure of the motor vehicle, the two seats of each intermediate portion being arranged symmetrically with respect to the centre of the leaf spring, and the two seats of each intermediate portion being aligned to one another according to the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle.

9. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 8 , wherein said elastic supports are bushings with vertical axis, each inserted in the respective seat and each connected to the structure of the motor vehicle by a fixing screw.

10. The motor-vehicle suspension system of the MacPherson type according to claim 9 , wherein said leaf spring has a width in the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle that is a maximum at said intermediate portions of enlarged thickness and wherein the end portions of the leaf spring have a tapered shape with a width in the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle that decreases towards the wheel supports.

11. A method for assembly of a suspension system according to claim 1 , wherein components of the suspension are assembled on said leaf spring prior to installation on the structure of the motor vehicle.

Assignees

• Fca Italy Spa

Inventors

• Perri Eugenio
• Martina Bruno

Classifications

• B60G2204/129

  Damper mount on wheel suspension or knuckle · CPC title

• B60G2202/114

  transversally arranged · CPC title

• B60G11/08 Primary

  arranged substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle · CPC title

• B60G15/068

  specially adapted for MacPherson strut-type suspension · CPC title

• B60G7/008

  Attaching arms to unsprung part of vehicle (B60G7/005, B60G7/006 take precedence) · CPC title