Mazda Motor Corporation

Yoshiaki Mukai

Hirotaka Kanazawa

Yasuhiro Nakashima

Koushun Note

Shunji Sakamoto

Shigeo Okamizu

Seiji Miyamoto

Yoji Tokiwa

Iwao Ueno

A vehicle having a suspension fitting structure that includes a cross member which extends between left and right side frame members and supports the suspension device on each end thereof, and a plurality fitting brackets secured to the side frame member for fitting both of the cross member and a suspension arm to the side frame member. The fitting brackets are arranged in the lengthwise direction at appropriate separations in such a way that the fitting brackets are formed lower in structural rigidity in order front to rear and/or that a forward one of the fitting brackets is formed smaller in size than a rearward one.

Vehicle having structure for fitting suspension to vehicle body

A four-wheel steering system has a front wheel turning mechanism for turning front wheels in response to operation of a steering wheel, a rear wheel turning mechanism for turning rear wheels, a controller for controlling the rear wheel turning mechanism to turn the rear wheels according to preset four-wheel steering characteristics and a relay shaft which is connected to the controller to transmit turning of the front wheels to the controller. The front wheel turning mechanism and the rear wheel turning mechanism are caused to bring the front wheels and the rear wheels to the respective straight-ahead positions while the relay shaft is disconnected from the controller. Then the controller is brought into the state corresponding to the straight-ahead positions of the front and rear wheels on the basis of the preset four-wheel steering characteristics. Thereafter, the relay shaft is connected to the controller.

Method of incorporating four-wheel steering system in vehicle and

A four-wheel steering system for a vehicle in which the rear wheels of a vehicle are turned in response to the turning of the front wheels of the vehicle upon operation of a steering wheel. The rear wheel steering is derived from the front wheel steering by way of a transmission shaft. The transmission shaft is supported rotatably and for sliding movement in the axial direction by way of a bearing fixed on the vehicle body. A stopper ring is fixed on the transmission shaft a short distance forward from the bearing to limit the backward sliding of the transmission shaft.

Four-wheel steering system for vehicle

An improved vehicle suspension system of the double wishbone type including an A-type suspension lower arm which has different strength at different portions thereof suitable for sharing the loads imposed thereon so as to reduce the overall weight thereof. The suspension lower arm, which has a ball-joint mounting portion, is pivotally attached at its front and rear mounting portions to the body of a vehicle for vertical swinging movement and is comprised of a first arm member and a second arm member respectively formed by bending a plate material. The first arm member extends rearwardly from the front mounting portion and the second arm member extends forwardly from the rear mounting portion so that they are superimposed on and secured as by welding to each other at a location near the ball-joint mounting portion. The first and second arm members each have an upper wall and a pair of opposite side walls. The upper wall of the first arm member has a stepped extension which is secured to the lower edges of the opposite side walls of the second arm member so as to form a closed cross-sectional structure. A torsion bar is fixedly mounted on the suspension lower arm at a location upwardly offset from the axis of swinging motion of the suspension lower arm so that ample clearance is formed between the torsion bar and the ground surface, while avoiding interference of the torsion bar with a cross member of a closed cross-sectional disposed rearwardly of the suspension lower arm.

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Hiroshima, Japan

Yoshiaki Mukai