Abstract: A steering system for vehicles, in which the steered angle ratio of a rear wheel (20) to a front wheel (7) is controlled to be variable in accordance with the vehicle speed.The steered angle ratio is set stepwise with respect to the vehicle speed.

Abstract: In a riding lawn tractor having a parallelogram front wheel suspension, a rigid support member on the tractor frame is of inverted U-shaped cross-section, with downwardly projecting front and rear walls, and the wheel brackets are pivoted to its opposite ends. A tubular bushing has one end portion received in a closely fitting hole in one of those walls; a flange secured to the bushing near its other end flatwise overlies the other wall and is bolted to it. A power takeoff shaft is rotatably housed in the bushing and has end portions that project forwardly and rearwardly beyond it for connection to a front-mounted implement and an underslung mower, one of those end portions also supporting a pulley for a belt connection between the shaft and the tractor engine. The bushing also serves as a trunnion for a tiltable mower hitch support.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A trailing link type beam suspension comprising a pair of left and right trailing arms, an axle beam fixed to one of the trailing arms and pivotably connected to the other and a pair of dampers provided between the axle beam and chassis. The axle beam is disposed in a position displaced from the axis of rotation of wheels in the back or forth direction of the chassis, and the dampers are disposed so that their axes pass in the vicinity of the axis of rotation of the wheel. A pair of coil springs are disposed coaxially with the dampers, respectively, between the chassis and axle beam. A panhard rod whose axis is positioned in the vicinity of the axis of rotation of the wheels is connected, between the chassis and axle beam, so as to carry a lateral load of the chassis.

Abstract: In an automotive vehicle suspension including a telescoping strut, means for reducing static friction within the strut by causing either the upper end or the lower end or both ends of the strut to be rotated outboard with respect to the balance of said strut, whereby friction within the strut will be reduced.

Abstract: A steering apparatus for a vehicle having steerable front and rear wheels includes a front wheel steering system for steering the front wheels, a rear wheel steering system for steering the rear wheels, a linkage member for coupling the front and rear wheel steering systems to each other. The rear wheel steering system comprises a housing adapted to be mounted on the vehicle, an input shaft angularly movably supported by the housing and having a front end coupled to the connecting means and an eccentric shaft on a rear end thereof, a joint member supported by the housing so as to be movable transversely of the vehicle, a pair of tie rods connected at ends to the joint member and at opposite ends to the rear wheels, and a slide member held in slidable engagement with the joint member and operatively coupled to the eccentric shaft for movement in response to angular movement of the input shaft.

Abstract: A steering system for vehicles in which the steered angle ratio of a rear wheel (20) to a front wheel (7) is controllable in accordance with the vehicle speed.The steering system is improved by providing a signal variation moderating device (34) for moderating the variation of a vehicle speed signal (u), so that even in a sudden change of the vehicle speed, the steered angle ratio is allowed to be moderate in the correction thereof.The signal variation moderating means may be an integral circuit or a delay circuit.

Abstract: An independent wheel suspension system having at least two indispensable suspension members, the first of which includes two couplings one of which is a constant velocity universal joint connected by a drive shaft to the other coupling, the balls of the constant velocity universal joint carrying driving torque and the inner and outer members of the constant velocity universal joint carrying thrust loads generated externally of the constant velocity universal joint, both indispensable suspension members swinging about the articulation axis of the constant velocity universal joint about a swing axis therethrough and a pivot supporting the second indispensable suspension member from the vehicle frame.

Abstract: An occupant restraining webbing is engaged with a sliding anchor, which is movable along a guide rail solidly secured to a vehicle body. Lock bars provided on the sliding anchor are received in engaging holes formed in the guide rail therealong, whereby the sliding anchor is positively supported on a side wall of the vehicle body to secure an occupant in a restrained state in an emergency situation of a vehicle. While, the occupant can withdraw the lock bars from the engaging holes and move the sliding anchor, so that an anchor point can be adjusted.

Abstract: An electronically-controlled, car-height adjustable suspension system of a car comprises an engine startup sensor which senses that the engine of the car has just been started, a mean car height computing section that determines the mean value of car height detected by a car height sensor, and a computing time reducing section that reduces the computing time of the mean car height computing section upon receiving a startup signal from the startup sensor, all working in conjunction for the rapid accomplishment of car height adjustment immediately after the startup of the engine. The suspension system assures a quick car height adjustment after the engine startup than usual and, therefore, a comfortable ride.

Abstract: A driving or driven element 7 to which the double joint 20 is connected and which may undergo movements modifying the operating angle of the joint, is connected to a fixed part 12 of the vehicle through a resiliently yieldable articulation 22 which is roughly centered on the centre of the double joint and has a high tangential flexibility and a high axial rigidity. In this way there is achieved an equal division of the variation in the operating angle between the two articulations of the double joint and consequently optimum operating conditions.

Abstract: A steering system for front and rear wheels of a motor vehicle wherein the steering ratio of the rear wheels to the front wheels is variable dependent on the speed of the motor vehicle. The steering system includes a steering wheel, front wheels, a first assembly for steering the front wheels, rear wheels, a second assembly for steering the rear wheels, and a third assembly which transmits the direction and extent of steering of the front wheels to the second assembly, a fourth assembly controls the steering ratio between the front and rear wheels in response to a signal indicative of the speed of the motor vehicle or a signal related to the speed of the motor vehicle. Each of the rear wheels has a kingpin having a central line which has an extension which is positioned rearwardly of a point where a vertical line passing through the center of an axle of the rear wheel intersects the ground on which the motor vehicle is placed.

Abstract: An air deflector apparatus for trucks is adjustably moveable between a lower position substantially parallel to the top of a truck cab, and an upraised position providing streamlined flow of air up over the trailer. A pneumatic cylinder is employed and brace arms or struts operated thereby support the weight and force of the deflector such that the cylinder is not called upon to provide the supporting force.

Abstract: The invention relates to an oscillation-damping device for a motor vehicle; the device is constituted by cylinders and pistons, of which the upper and lower variable volume chambers are filled with a fluid and are interconnected by means of a system of conduits provided with damping constrictions having a cross-section which varies with the fluid passage velocity, some being capable of a symmetrical damping action in the two flow directions, while others are capable of a differential damping action in the two flow directions.

Abstract: A device for straight traveling stabilization and change of attitude on predetermined paths for vehicle axles, comprising a permanent elastic energy loading unit which exerts on the axle stabilizing forces of a greater intensity than the external forces acting thereon, a shifting actuator which, when operated, exerts on the axle forces of greater intensity than that of the stabilizing forces and thus causes it to be steered, and a shifting actuator control member which is actuated when there are variations in the traveling attitude of the main steering system of the vehicle. The device permits the axle to which it is applied to be kept in the normal condition of a fixed axle and permits it to render steering only when the main steering system of the vehicle is subjected to steering.

Abstract: An independent wheel suspension system having a pair of spaced-apart wheel assemblies, a stabilizer rod having end portions rotatably supported by respective side frame members of the vehicle frame about a transverse pivot axis, a pair of trailing arms having one end coupled to a respective wheel assembly and another end fixed to the stabilizer rod wherby the stabilizer rod cooperates with the trailing arms to restrain relative motion of one wheel assembly relative to the other about the transverse pivot axis, a non-metallic stabilizer tube resiliently supported by the stabilizer rod intermediate the trailing arms, a differential attached by a mounting plate to the stabilizer tube to allow relative movement between the differential and the frame about the transverse pivot axis, and a prop shaft coupling the differential and the engine with only one universal joint, that joint being of the constant velocity plunging type, whereby the movement of the differential relative to the frame about the transverse pivot

Abstract: An undercarriage (12) includes a primary frame (22) and a plurality of secondary frames (26) which in turn carry wheel members (28). The secondary frames (26) are urged to pivot away from the primary frame (12) by spring mechanisms (38). An undercarriage (112) includes a primary frame (122) and a plurality of secondary frames (126) which in turn carry wheel members (128). Pivotal movement of the endmost secondary frames (126e) is controlled by spring/shock absorber assemblies (134). Pivotal movement of the center secondary frame (126c) is controlled by a spring/shock absorber/cylinder assembly (136). Spring/shock absorber/hydraulic cylinder assemblies (250) may be used to control the positioning of all of the wheels of an undercarriage (422, 452, etc.).

Abstract: When an automobile or other vehicle travels over a bump with a suspension in its switchable suspension system kept in a "soft" state, the car body pitches violently. This pitching is reduced by turning the suspension into a "hard" state by increasing the damping capacity of its shock absorber and the spring constant of its air-spring chambers in accordance with a signal supplied from a car-height sensor detecting the compressed or stretched condition of the suspension. The change of the spring constant is executed with the following construction: an auxiliary air-spring chamber resting above a main air-spring chamber surrounding a piston rod, and an air passage within the piston rod for intercommunicating the main and auxiliary air-spring chambers are provided in the system, and the connection and disconnection between the two chambers through the air passage are controlled by the piston rod and a control rod extending in the piston rod.

Abstract: A seatbelt system includes a webbing which has one end thereof attached to a door of a vehicle and is automatically fastened to an occupant of the vehicle in response to the action of opening and closing the door. The webbing tension is decreased when the door is opened, whereby it is possible to reduce the resistance due to the webbing tension encountered when the door is opened. Further, when the door is closed, the webbing tension is increased, thereby bringing the webbing into close contact with the occupant.

Abstract: A one-piece truck bed liner is disclosed having its side walls formed in longitudinally extending stepped panels with riser and tread portions thereby defining substantially continuous horizontally disposed side rails for resisting bending stresses, cargo impact and frictional forces. The liner bottom and front walls are in ribbed form, connected by a transverse bend portion free of ribs, in a manner to avoid cargo impact to the bend area. The ribs in the liner front wall and the liner bottom wall adjacent the bend portion are formed shallower than in the main portion of the bottom wall section. The liner bottom wall ribs define passages having larger open cross-sectional areas than the front wall ribs for optimum venting air flow and strength to resist cargo bending stresses. The liner has border portions structured to conform with the truck bed tail gate access opening to avoid the entrance of foreign matter between the liner and truck bed while providing a custom appearance.