The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

Meritor Light Vehicle Technology, Inc.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Charles Stark Draper Lab., Inc.

Space Time Analyses, Ltd.

Daniel E Whitney

Mark Smith

Robert P Carlstedt

Richard M Clisch

Shan Shih

Steven M Foster

Juan Jose Marcos Munoz

Eric Stephen Geib

Thomas L De Fazio

James L Nevins, Jr

David S Barrett

Donald C Fyler

George A Wood

Frank J Siraco

Donald S Seltzer

John R Lawson

Craig C Selvage

Richard E Gustavson

Jonathan M Rourke

Jay A Sampson

F Keith Glick

Richard W Metzinger

Arthur Ciccolo

J Kevin Champagne

Robert D Whiteside

A laminated bushing is formed from a metal sheet having resilient material disposed on one side by spirally winding the metal sheet about a longitudinal axis to form a spirally shaped cavity. The resilient material is disposed within the spirally shaped cavity and the metal sheet forming the spiral shaped cavity either mechanically compresses the resilient material disposed within the cavities, or the resilient material is vulcanized once the laminated bushing is formed. The spirally wound laminated bushing includes inner and outer sleeves concentric about the longitudinal axis that are movable relative to one another in direct proportion to the material deformation properties of the resilient material.

Spiral rolled laminated bushing

An intervehicle network provides for communicating information regarding driving conditions experienced by one vehicle to another remotely located vehicle. By receiving information regarding oncoming driving conditions, the vehicle driver may take action to anticipate the driving condition and avoid potential hazards or inconveniences. Additionally, for vehicles having onboard dynamically adjustable systems, an electronic controller may adjust the performance of the adjustable system responsive to the driving condition information received before the vehicle reaches the location of the driving condition. Another feature of a system designed according to this invention is to have onboard diagnostics where the controller monitors one or more variables to detect when one or more vehicle components are showing signs of aging or wear. Communications between vehicles in a system designed according to this invention may be directly between the vehicles or through a central information communication module.

Intervehicle network communication system

A suspension assembly for a motor vehicle includes upper and lower control arms pivotally attached to a frame member of the vehicle. A knuckle arm pivotally attaches to the upper and lower control arms moves along a substantially vertical axis in response to wheel movement caused by an uneven road surface. An actuation link is attached to one of the control arms at one end and to a damper assembly at another end. The damper assembly is disposed substantially within the frame member along a second axis transverse to vertical movement of the wheel and is actuated along the transverse axis in response movement of the control arm along the substantially vertical axis.

Integral spring damper and cross member

A connecting component connecting two members, such as a suspension component and a vehicle component, dampens vibrations and produces springing forces. The connecting component is formed by a steel strip including a plurality of holes. A sealing strip is secured to the upper surface of the steel strip to contain fluid for damping, and springing strips are secured to the upper surface of the steel strip to provide for springing forces. The steel strip is rolled to form the connecting component, trapping the fluid between the sealing strips. As the connecting component is a linking element with several degrees of freedom, different springing and damping rates are possible at each degree of freedom.

Connecting component

A suspension assembly is provided for a vehicle including a frame. A lower control arm having first and second opposing portions is pivotally connected to the frame at the first portion. A knuckle is supported on the second portion of the lower control arm with a wheel supported on the knuckle. A strut having a lower end is connected to the knuckle and an upper end of the strut is connected to the frame at an upper connection. The upper connection generally constrains the upper end of the strut against vertical movement while permitting limited lateral movement of the upper end relative to the frame. In one embodiment, a linkage assembly including a first link is operatively connected between the lower control arm and the frame. A second link interconnects the upper end of the strut and the first link portion for moving the upper end laterally in the upper connection in response to vertical movement of the lower control arm. In a second embodiment, an adjustable linkage assembly including a first adjustable linkage is interconnected between the upper end and the frame. A second adjustable linkage is interconnected between the lower control arm and the frame and changes length in response to vertical movement of the lower control arm. A link interconnects the first and second adjustable linkages for communicating the change in length of the second adjustable linkage to the first adjustable linkage for moving the upper end laterally in the upper connection in response to vertical movement of the lower control arm.

Movable upper suspension mount

A steering assembly is provided for a vehicle including an upper connection, typically provided by an upper control arm. A knuckle includes an upper and lower portions with the upper portion supported by the upper connection. A lower assembly of the present invention includes a control arm with legs extending from a spring portion at spaced apart ends. The legs extend from its ends and converge to a lower connection for supporting the lower portion of the knuckle with the upper and lower connections defining a wheel camber and a wheel caster. Preferably, each of the legs of the control arm has a different spring rate to provide a change in wheel camber under the deflection of the control arm during wheel travel. The different spring rates of the legs permits the lower connection to twist thereby enabling the wheel caster to change slightly during the upward and downward motion of the wheel.

Composite spring and control arm

A damping structure for providing damping and vibration attenuation includes an intermediate steel sheet positioned between an upper steel sheet and a lower steel sheet. The structure is incorporated as a part of a suspension component. The intermediate sheet is perforated with a plurality of holes, and a plurality of elastic strips are positioned between each of the sheets when assembled. The edges of the sheets are welded, sealing viscous fluid within the structure. Alternatively, the structure can be secured by rivets. Compression on the damping structure moves the fluid through the holes, providing a damping effect.

Damping structure

A suspension assembly for a motor vehicle includes a wheel assembly attached to the frame of a motor vehicle for movement in response to uneven roadway surfaces. A first inductive coil attached to the frame is mounted along an axis, and a second inductive coil is mounted co-axially with the first inductive coil and for movement with the wheel assembly. The inductive coils are movable relative to one another along the axis. An electromagnetic force generated by the inductive coils provides spring and dampening forces for the motor vehicle. Further, variation in the inductance between the coils is measurement to determine the relative position between the coils in order to monitor motor vehicle ride height.

Electromagnetic suspension system

A positioning technique for grinding a conical tip on a fiber optic element includes rotatably mounting an end of the fiber optic element to be conically ground; detecting orbital motion of the optical axis of the fiber optic element about the mechanical axis of rotation; and adjusting the optical axis relative to the axis of rotation to minimize the orbital motion of the optical axis.

Method and apparatus for aligning the optical axis of a fiber optic

An automatic grinding system and method for grinding a surface having a predetermined pattern of raised and lower regions includes sensing the width of at least one of those regions; determining the height of the raised region above the lower region in response to the sensed width; and selecting the grinding speed and force and the velocity of the grinder over the surface in response to the determined height of the raised region.

Automatic grinding method and system

A method of fabricating elbow conduit including constructing a conduit development having a set of sequential segments, each segment having a lateral axis parallel to corresponding lateral axes of the other segments and a longitudinal axis skewed at least in part with respect to the lateral axis and having the same orientation as the corresponding longitudinal axes of the other segments in the set. The segments are joined end-to-end and the dimensions of the joined segments are transferred to a continuous length of material to generate a continuous blank havng periodically varying opposing boundaries. At least one outer alignment mark is defined on each segments of the blank to establish an outer ridge line on the outside circumference of the elbow and at least one inner alignment mark is defined on each segment to establish an inner ridge line on the inner circumference of the elbow. The method further includes helically winding the continuous blank to align the inner and outer alignment marks and join the abutting boundaries to form an elbow conduit. Helically wound elbow conduits formed from a continuous blank having curvilinear or rectilinear opposing boundaries are also disclosed.

Helically wound elbow conduit and method of fabricating same

A limp material handling system includes a manipulating apparatus for selectively manipulating one or more layers of limp material on a support table. Folding is accomplished by lifting a curvilinear region of the material, reshaping that lifted region as desired, and lowering that lifted region to a curvilinear region on the support table. A seamed article assembly system incorporates the manipulating apparatus, a seam joining apparatus and a multiple parallel endless belt system for tactile presentation of the limp material to the seam joining apparatus. An optical sensing system provides information representative of the position of the limp material being handled. A programmable computer, or controller, coordinates and controls the operation of the manipulating apparatus, seam joining apparatus, belt assembly, and optical sensing system to provide automatic assembly of seamed articles.

Assembly system for seamed articles

A connector device including plug and socket components, one of the components being an elastic engagement element of length L and the other of the components including a chamfered surface including: a nose portion having a first slope; a root portion having a second positive slope; and a convex fair curve interconnecting the nose and root portions.

Connector device

An improved remote center compliance device is disclosed including: a first support member and a second support member spaced from the first support member. There is a first set of at least three shear pad flexures interconnecting the support members and disposed along conical radii from a first center. An operator member extends from the first support member and the flexures are prestressed into compression in the rest condition or arranged in juxtaposition to another set of flexures, so that in operation there are flexures in compression and flexures in tension.

Remote center compliance device

A remote center compliance (RCC) gripper system including: an erectable RCC device including a compliance unit having a plurality of compliance members; an articulated gripper mechanism interconnected with one end of the compliance unit and including a base having a generally centrally disposed joint and having a plurality of fingers extending therefrom; and apparatus for applying a force to the centrally disposed joint to fix the joint and erect the RCC device.

Growing community of inventors

Arlington, MA, United States of America

Daniel E Whitney