Lord Corporation

John J Gwinn

Warren E Schmidt

Marshall W Downing

A mounting (20) which provides low vertical and lateral spring rates for excellent lateral and vertical vibration isolation yet provides a high roll stiffness for reacting torsional moments, while reducing isolator complexity and eliminating the need for a yoke or hanger. The mounting (20) includes a top member (34), a first arm (26) and a second arm (28) which are flexibly interleaved or attached. The first arm (26) is attached to a top member (34) by way of a pivot which can be a spring (30), the second arm (28) is also attached to the top member (34) by another pivot which can be a spring (32), and a third spring (36) attaches the arms (26) and (28) to each other. The arms (26) and (28) also attach to the supported member (22) preferably at their respective outboard ends (38), or at least one intermediate link can be used. The arms (26) and (28) are stiffly interconnected to one another, yet flexibly connected to a top member (34), such that relative vertical movement between the arms (26) and (28) is restricted. Thus a high roll stiffness is provided, yet allowing movement of the arms (26) and (28) as a unit for providing vertical and lateral isolation. One embodiment of the mounting (20) improves further over the related mountings by localizing the lateral elastic center of the mounting (20) towards the center of gravity (CG) of the supported member (22) such that side loads applied to the supported member (22) result in lateral translation and limited rotation of the (CG) of supported member (22).

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Erie, PA, United States of America

John J Gwinn