Meritor Heavy Vehicle Systems Limited

David Chan

Martin Peaker

Garry Brereton

A cast or forged suspension trailing arm for suspending a heavy vehicle chassis from a beam-type axle includes an integral axle locating feature.

Suspension trailing arm

A suspension trailing arm suspends a vehicle chassis from a beam type axle. The trailing arm includes a chassis mounting feature, an axle mounting feature, and an arm portion intermediate the chassis mounting feature and the axle mounting feature. The arm portion has a generally X-section profile with four limbs.

A vehicle suspension axle wrap is a composite tubular structure of cast or forged shells of part-tubular shape. The shells are assembled into a tubular form and welded together at juxtaposed edges. The shells can be cast or forged accurately to shape and profile to provide an improved quality axle wrap. Wall thickness variations can be designed into the shells. The juxtaposed edges are shaped to space the welding at the edges from the interior of the assembled axle wrap. The edges are beveled adjacent the external circumferential surfaces of the shells to provide a V-shaped groove at which the welding is made. There is a stepped engagement at the edges between the V-shaped groove and the internal surface of the axle wrap to prevent the welding from extending to the internal surface. Each shell is formed with an aperture at which a welded joint can be made between the axle wrap and an axle.

Connection between vehicle axle and suspension arm

A hollow vehicle suspension beam () has opposed side walls formed with recesses () in which an axle wrap () is located and secured by welded jointing () internally and externally of the opposed side walls to provide a strong joint between the beam and axle wrap. The beam may comprise at least one component () of a generally U-shaped section the opposed limbs of which provide at least part of the opposed side walls of the beam, and the mouth of the section provides an access opening into the interior of the beam for the internal welded jointing () to be made at the axle wrap. One embodiment has the beam comprised of two of the U-shaped components () disposed with their mouths opening in opposite directions to provide access to the interior of the beam for the internal welded jointing to be made at the axle wrap () before the mouths are closed by closure components (). Another embodiment has the opposed side walls formed in combination by the opposed limbs of a U-shaped component and the space between the plate components being closed off by closure components after the internal welded joint have been made.

Vehicle suspension beam

A hollow vehicle suspension beam has opposed side walls formed with recesses in which an axle wrap is located and secured by welded jointing. The welded jointing is located internally and externally of the opposed side walls to provide a strong joint between the beam and the axle wrap. The beam includes at least one component of a generally U-shaped section having opposed limbs that provide at least part of the opposed side walls of the beam. The mouth of the component provides an access opening into the interior of the beam for the internal welded jointing to be made at the axle wrap. In one example, the beam includes two U-shaped components disposed with their mouths opening in opposite directions to provide access to the interior of the beam for the internal welded jointing to be made at the axle wrap. The mouths are then closed by closure components. The opposed side walls formed in combination by the opposed limbs of the U-shaped component and the space between the plate components are closed off by closure components after the internal welded joint has been made.

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Flintshire, United Kingdom

David Chan