Gordon Murray Design Limited

Frank Coppuck

Ian Gordon Murray

James Dowle

An axially compressible energy absorbing member for a vehicle comprising a thin-walled tube having at least two adjacent, substantially parallel, axially-extending passageways defined by tube walls and separated where they are adjacent by a wall section, wherein the wall section includes one or more apertures of predetermined shape(s) and/or size(s), and wherein the thickness of the tube walls and of the wall section is substantially constant and the same.

Impact energy absorbing structure

A chassis and a method of forming the chassis comprising assembling a framework of interconnected tubular-section metallic members and a plurality of composite panels, each panel being adhesively bonded to a plurality of the metallic members, wherein at least one bond between a composite panel and a metallic member is formed by an arcuate formation integral with and extending from an edge of a planar section of the composite panel and fitting around an exterior of the metallic member, and providing a layer of adhesive along the gap there between extending substantially from the edge of the planar section across a part of but less than the complete angular extent of the arcuate section.

Vehicle chassis structures

The provision of impact structures is difficult in the case of small vehicles, due to the shortage of working depth. We propose to use the wheel and tire as part of the deformable structures, which reduces the overall weight of the vehicle and requires little or no additional space in which to provide the impact structures. There is still a need to control the movement of the wheel under impact, but we have found that this can be done by appropriate design of the suspension components so that they react in a defined manner to an impact and guide the wheel in the correct manner. The present invention therefore provides a vehicle comprising a chassis, at least one wheel, and a hub carrier on which the wheel is mounted, together with a suspension connecting the hub carrier to the chassis that includes a plurality of first links extending towards the chassis in at least one of an inward or an upward direction and at least one second link extending towards the chassis in a longitudinal direction, and a crushable structure attached to the chassis at a location aligned with a path of the wheel under impact after collapse of the longitudinally extending link.

Vehicle impact structures

A vehicle suspension comprises an assembly of a hub carrier and a support arm, the support arm being attached to the hub carrier at two points spaced from each other in the direction of travel and extending inwardly therefrom to a support arm attachment point for fixing to a chassis, and a trailing link extending from the assembly in a direction transverse to that of the support arm, toward a trailing link attachment point for fixing to the chassis. The trailing link preferably extends from the assembly in a forward direction, and is preferably connected directly to the hub carrier. A strut can extend upwardly toward an attachment point for fixing to a chassis, to provide a spring and damper. The support arm can comprise a pair of arms extending divergently from the attachment point to each of the two points. A toe control link extends generally parallel to but spaced from the rear arm, linking the hub carrier to the chassis to provide geometry control under high load conditions. The invention further relates to a vehicle, comprising a chassis and at least two wheels, one on each side of the vehicle, each wheel being attached to the chassis via such a suspension.

Vehicle suspension

A vehicle with a load space to provide a chassis comprising a framework () comprising a pair of spaced-apart elongate longitudinal members () connected by a pair of spaced-apart elongate lateral members () and bracing for the thus-defined framework, a rear suspension attached to the rearmost lateral member () and comprising a trailing-arm arrangement (), and a front suspension attached to the front most lateral member () and comprising a leading-arm arrangement (). This creates a rigid core for the chassis, which also provides all four suspension mounting points.

Growing community of inventors

Hook, United Kingdom

Frank Coppuck