Mazda Motor Corporation

Kayaba Industry Company, Ltd.

Seita Kanai

Takeshi Edahiro

Hirotaka Kanazawa

Toshimichi Tokunaga

Naoto Takata

Tadashi Udo

Nobuhiro Araki

Kouichi Ushio

Toshiro Kondo

Yoshiaki Anan

Shirou Nakatani

Masashi Oda

Takashi Hirochika

Koji Tsuji

Somi Hibino

Yoshihiro Sato

A vehicle rear suspension system includes a wheel carrying member for rotatably carrying a wheel of a vehicle, three lateral links extending in a transverse direction and connected with the wheel carrying member at their outer ends, and a trailing arm extending in a longitudinal direction. The trailing arm is connected with a body member of the vehicle at front end through a single joint. The trailing arm is formed with biforked portions, at a rear end, extending in the up and down direction. One of the biforked portions is connected with a lower one of the three lateral link and the other of the biforked portions is connected with an upper one of the three lateral links or the wheel carrying member. The number of connecting points or joints between the trailing arm and the wheel carrying member can be reduced with an improved controllability of wheel attitude.

Vehicle rear suspension system

A vehicle rear suspension system includes a wheel carrying member for rotatably carrying a wheel of a vehicle, three lateral links extending in a transverse direction and connected with the wheel carrying member at their outer ends, and a trailing arm extending in a longitudinal direction. The trailing arm is connected with a body member of the vehicle at front end through a single joint. The trailing arm is formed with biforked portions at a rear end extending in the up and down direction. One of the biforked portions is connected with a lower one of the three lateral link and the other of the biforked portions is connected with an upper one of the three lateral links or the wheel carrying member. The number of connecting points or joints between the trailing arm and the wheel carrying member can be reduced with an improved controllability of wheel attitude.

A vehicle suspension system comprises a wheel carrying member for rotatably carrying a wheel of a vehicle. The wheel carrying member is provided with an extension extending upwardly. A first upper arm member extends in a substantially longitudinal direction of the vehicle and is pivotally connected at one end with an upper end portion of said the extension and at the other end with a vehicle body member. A second upper arm member is arranged downward of the first upper arm member, extending in a substantially transverse direction of the vehicle and pivotally connected at one end with the wheel carrying member and at the other end with the vehicle body member. A lower arm is connected at one end with a lower portion of the wheel carrying member and at the other end with the vehicle body member for restricting at least a longitudinal and transverse movement of the wheel carrying member. A desirable camber and caster angle control can be accomplished.

Vehicle suspension system

A vehicle rear suspension system comprises a wheel carrying member for rotatably carrying a wheel of a vehicle, a plurality of lateral links connected to a vehicle body at inner ends and to the wheel carrying member at outer ends, a trailing arm extending rearwardly and connected to the vehicle body at its front end for pivotal movement and to the wheel carrying member at its rear end through a joint. The joint is located on a substantially straight line extending through both a front connecting point between the trailing arm and the vehicle body and a wheel center or outward of the line in the transverse direction. The joint allows a relative angular displacement between the wheel carrying member and the longitudinal member in a substantially horizontal plane so that no toe-out movement is produced in the wheel under a braking condition of the vehicle.

In a rear suspension system for a four-wheel-steered vehicle, each wheel support is connected to a rear wheel turning rod so that the rear wheel on the wheel support is turned about a king pin axis when the rear wheel turning rod is displaced. Upper and lower arms define the king pin axis, and the rear wheel on the wheel support is turned about the king pin axis in response to displacement of the rear wheel turning rod. The king pin axis is tilted inward from the vertical and intersects the tread of the rear wheel at a point which is longitudinally offset from the point at which a side force acts on the rear wheel during cornering. A coil spring is connected between the wheel support and the vehicle body and restrains vertical motion of the wheel support under the counterforce thereof. The line of action of the counterforce is tilted with respect to the king pin axis so that it is not parallel to the king pin axis, does not intersect the king pin axis and is directed such that the counterforce generates a moment which tends to turn the rear wheel in the direction opposite to the direction in which the moment generated by the side force acting on the outer of the rear wheels tends to turn the outer rear wheel when the vehicle corners.

Rear suspension system for four-wheel-steered vehicle

A four-wheel-steered vehicle is provided with a front wheel turning mechanism and a rear wheel turning mechanism which respectively turn front and rear wheels in response to the rotation of a steering wheel. The rear wheels are turned in the same direction as the front wheels when the steering wheel is turned while the vehicle is in a predetermined operating condition. A rear suspension system which supports a rear wheel has a wheel support which supports a rear wheel and is connected to a rear wheel turning rod of the rear wheel turning mechanism so that the rear wheel on the wheel support is turned about a king pin axis when the rear wheel turning rod member is displaced. Upper and lower arms are connected to the wheel support and guide the wheel support so that the rear wheel on the wheel support is turned about the king pin axis in response to displacement of the rear wheel turning rod. A coil spring is connected between the wheel support and the vehicle body and restrains vertical motion of the wheel support under the counterforce thereof, the coil spring being arranged so that the line of action of the counterforce is tilted with respect to the king pin axis so that it is not parallel to the king pin axis, does not intersect the king pin axis and is directed such that the counter force turns the wheel support in the toe-out direction of the rear wheel thereon.

A vehicle rear suspension system having a vergically swingable arm connected at the front end swingably to the vehicle body and secured at the rear end to a wheel carrying member which carries a rare wheel for rotation. Three lateral links are provided and have inward ends pivotably connected to the vehicle body and outward ends pivotably connected to the wheel carrying member. The points of connection of the three lateral links to the wheel carrying member are not aligned in a straight line so that the orientation of the wheel carrying member can appropriately be controlled under bump and rebouncing movements of the rear wheel and under side and longitudinal forces acting on the rear wheel.

A vehicle rear suspension system having a vertically swingable arm connected at the front end swingably to the vehicle body and secured at the rear end to a wheel carrying member which carries a rear wheel for rotation. Three lateral links ar provided and have inward ends pivotably connected to the vehicle body and outward ends pivotably connected to the wheel carrying member. The points of connection of the three lateral links to the wheel carrying member are not aligned in a straight line so that the orientation of the wheel carrying member can appropriately be controlled under bump and rebouncing movements of the rear wheel and under side and longitudinal forces acting on the rear wheel.

A rear suspension apparatus for an automotive vehicle includes a rear wheel support the front and rear ends of which are resiliently supported on the vehicle chassis. The elastic characteristic of the resilient support is such that the front end of the wheel support readily deflects from the outward to the inward side of the vehicle chassis. The resilient support system resiliently supporting the rear end of the wheel support is set in such a manner that the rear end of the wheel support will readily deflect from the inward to the outward side of the vehicle chassis.

Rear suspension apparatus for automotive vehicles

An automotive suspension system comprises a wheel support for supporting a wheel, and a wheel supporting member for connecting the wheel support to the vehicle body. The wheel supporting member includes front and rear resilient bushings spaced from each other by a predetermined distance in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and the direction of the toe of the wheel is adapted to be changed according to the deformation of the front and rear bushings. The load-deformation characteristics of the front and rear bushings are selected so that the ratio of the amount of deformation of the front bushing for a given load to that of the rear bushing for the same load changes according to the magnitude of the side force acting on the wheel, thereby changing the steering characteristics according to the magnitude of the side force.

Automotive suspension system

In a suspension system for a vehicle, each of front and rear suspensions for respectively supporting the front and rear wheels is connected to the vehicle body by way of an adjustable-height supporting member which supports the vehicle body to be variable in height, and at the same time, the front and rear suspensions are arranged so that the rate of change of the roll center height due to bump/rebound is larger in the rear suspension than in the front suspension. The adjustable-height supporting member is controlled to change the vehicle height according to the vehicle speed to be higher during low speed travel than during high speed travel.

Suspension system for vehicle

When an unusual condition of a wheeled vehicle such as nose-diving caused by braking, squatting caused by an abrupt start or rolling caused by a turn is sensed, the damping force or the spring constant of each suspension unit, which serves as a shock absorbing unit, is temporarily increased to correct the position of the vehicle. The increased damping force or spring constant is maintained a predetermined period of time even after the unusual vehicle condition is settled, thereby preventing the vehicle body from tossing back due to the force of inertia.

Position control system for wheeled vehicle

A steering system in an automobile comprising a steering wheel and a steering shaft rotatable together with the steering wheel, a steering linkage connecting between spaced wheel carriers, a steering gear connecting between the steering shaft and the steering linkage for, when the steering wheel is rotated in one of the opposite directions from a neutral position, causing the steering linkage to displace in one of the opposite directions generally longitudinally thereof for steering the road wheels, an adjustable damper capable of exerting an adjusted damping force and disposed between a portion of an automobile body structure and a portion of the steering linkage for minimizing an oscillatory motion of the steering linkage in a direction generally longitudinally thereof, a valving mechanism for adjusting the damping force exerted by the damper, a detector for detecting a parameter representative of the steered condition of the road wheels and generating an output indicative of the parameter when the parameter detected thereby deviates from a predetermined quantity, and a control unit operable in response to the output from the detector for generating a control signal. The valve mechanism is activated in response to the control signal to reduce the damping force exerted by the damper.

Steering system having controllable damper

A vehicle suspension system having suspension mechanisms including damping struts of variable damping rates and air springs of variable spring coefficients so that the suspension characteristics are changed between the 'hard' and 'soft' modes. A control circuit is provided for producing a control signal when the engine power output is substantially greater than the engine load to change the suspension characteristics into the 'hard' mode. The arrangement is effective to prevent a rearward pitching of the vehicle in start or rapid acceleration.

Vehicle suspension means having variable suspension characteristics

A motor vehicle including a body, steerable front wheels and rear wheels for supporting the body, front suspension mechanisms between the body and the front wheels and rear suspension mechanisms between the body and the rear wheels, a power steering mechanism for operating the front wheels with desired steering characteristics, the front and rear suspension mechanisms including suspension struts which resist vertical movements of the body with respect to the wheels with damping powers and having spring rates. A control circuit is provided for changing the ratio of the damping powers and the spring rates in the front suspension mechanisms relative to those in the rear suspension mechanisms and at the same time changing the power assist force of the steering mechanism.

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Hiroshima, Japan

Seita Kanai