Claims
- 1. A vehicle suspension device for suspending a wheel of radius R on a vehicle body with independent degrees of freedom of camber movement transversely of the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and suspension movement vertically of the vehicle body, comprising;a wheel carrier for supporting the wheel; an intermediate support; at least two vertically spaced apart, generally horizontally extending suspension arms pivotally coupled at the inner ends thereof to the vehicle body and at the outer ends thereof to the intermediate support for movement in a generally vertical direction to provide a degree of freedom of suspension movement of the intermediate support relative to the vehicle body; a pair of horizontally spaced apart, generally vertically extending connection rods pivotally connected at the lower ends thereof to the intermediate support and at the upper ends thereof to the wheel carrier for movement in a plane generally transverse to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body to provide a degree of freedom of camber movement of the wheel carrier relative to the intermediate support; and said connection rods being configured such that they converge in the downward direction and such that the camber movement of the wheel carrier relative to the intermediate support occurs about a first instantaneous center of rotation located within an interval ranging from 0.5 R above the ground surface to R beneath the ground surface.
- 2. The vehicle suspension device according to claim 1, in which the connection rods are configured such that said first instantaneous center of rotation is situated beneath the ground.
- 3. The vehicle suspension device according to claim 1, in which the connection rods are configured such that said first instantaneous center of rotation is situated in a position relative to the center of the wheel which forms an angle of less than 15° with the central plane (PR) of the wheel.
- 4. The vehicle suspension device according to claim 1, in which the connection rods are configured such that said first instantaneous center of rotation is situated essentially in the central plane (PR) of the wheel.
- 5. The vehicle suspension device according to claim 1, further comprising means for controlling the variation in camber movement of the wheel carrier relative to the intermediate support.
- 6. The vehicle suspension device according to claim 5, in which the camber movement controlling means comprises means for passively controlling the variation in camber movement of the wheel carrier in response to a transverse force exerted by the ground on the wheel.
- 7. In a vehicle having a wheel of radius R and a suspension device for suspending the wheel on the vehicle body, the improvement in the suspension device comprising;a wheel carrier for supporting the wheel; an intermediate support; at least two vertically spaced apart, generally horizontally extending suspension arms pivotally coupled at the inner ends thereof to the vehicle body and at the outer ends thereof to the intermediate support for movement in a generally vertical direction to provide a degree of freedom of suspension movement of the intermediate support relative to the vehicle body; a pair of horizontally spaced apart, generally vertically extending connection rods pivotally connected at the lower ends thereof to the intermediate support and at the upper ends thereof to the wheel carrier for movement in a plane generally transverse to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body to provide an independent degree of freedom of camber movement of the wheel carrier relative to the intermediate support; and said connection rods being configured such that they converge in the downward direction and such that the camber movement of the wheel carrier relative to the intermediate support occurs about a first instantaneous center of rotation located within an interval ranging from 0.5 R above the ground surface to R beneath the ground surface.
- 8. The vehicle according to claim 7, in which the connection rods are configured such that said first instantaneous center of rotation is situated beneath the ground.
- 9. The vehicle according to claim 7, in which the connection rods are configured such that said first instantaneous center of rotation is situated in a position relative to the center of the wheel which forms angle of less than 15° with the central plane (PR) of the wheel.
- 10. The vehicle according to claim 7, in which the connection rods are configured such that said first instantaneous center of rotation is situated essentially in the central plane (PR) of the wheel.
- 11. The vehicle according to claim 7, further comprising means for controlling the variation in camber movement of the wheel carrier relative to the intermediate support.
- 12. The vehicle according to claim 11, in which the camber movement controlling means comprises means for passively controlling the variation in camber movement of the wheel carrier in response to a transverse force exerted by the ground on the wheel.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
00 03929 |
Mar 2000 |
FR |
|
01 01180 |
Jan 2001 |
FR |
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of international application PCT/EP01/03399 filed Mar. 26, 2001, now abandoned, which was published in French on Oct. 4, 2001 as international publication WO 01/72572 and which claims priority of French applications 00/03929 filed Mar. 27, 2000 and 01/01180 filed Jan. 23, 2001.
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Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/EP01/03399 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Child |
10/259972 |
|
US |