The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 29, 1997
Filed:
Mar. 06, 1995
Donald Frank Tandy, Jr, Novi, MI (US);
Chunping John Meng, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
A novel twin I-beam front suspension system is disclosed having a first and a second radius arm, the rearward end of each radius arm being adapted to cooperate with a bushing to connect to the vehicle frame. The radius arm bushing static rate on one side of the suspension differs from the radius arm bushing static rate on the other side of the suspension so as to balance the radius arm longitudinal deflections on the two sides of the vehicle. In the preferred embodiment, a silent block bushing replaces the traditional radius arm bushing to reduce pan complexity and to provide increased radius arm bushing life. Radius arm systems are also disclosed which permit quick, easy and accurate adjustment of the front wheel caster angle. A parallelogram steering linkage decouples the two front wheels from one another to provide a toe curve for each front tire that is independent of the vertical displacement of the other front tire.