Abstract: This invention relates to a suspension for vehicles, wherein the wheels are associated with the bodywork by means of a flexible assembly essentially constituted by two longitudinal blades and by two transverse blades connected to the bodywork by means of elastically deformable connecting elements, wherein:--the ends of the longitudinal blades and transverse blades are located in two planes spaced apart from each other, these two planes being parallel or not;--at the front of the chassis, the ends of the longitudinal blades are mounted so as to allow a momentary longitudinal displacement under the effect of a shock and to avoid any transverse or angular displacement;--at the rear of the chassis, the ends of the longitudinal blades are blocked in torsion in the hub-holder elements.

Abstract: A steering system in a motor vehicle having a frame includes a swing arm by which steerable wheels are swingably supported on the frame, a steering shaft extending substantially vertically in the frame and angularly movable about its own axis, a steering arm fixed to a lower end of the steering shaft, a connecting rod having one end pivotally coupled to the steering arm, a pivot arm swingable in unison with the swing arm and operatively coupled to an opposite end of the connecting rod, and a pair of tie rods having ends pivotally coupled to the pivot arm and opposite ends on which the steerable wheels are angularly movably supported. A point where the connecting rod is coupled to the steering arm is positioned in a space range which is swept by the swing arm when it is angularly moved about the shaft.

Abstract: An electrical circuit includes a signal device such as a reminder lamp which is mounted on the instrument panel of the vehicle body remote from a door mounted seat belt retractor and a switch associated with the door latch. Electricity is conducted from the vehicle battery and the fuse block suitably mounted near the instrument panel, and then through the door jamb into the vehicle door where the door latch switch is connected in series with a solenoid associated with the seat belt retractor. Operation of the door handle or movement of the latch bolt to the unlatched position will close the switch and energize the solenoid. The circuit includes a relay having a coil interposed in the circuit remote from the door mounted solenoid and door latch switch. The relay coil is sensitive to a threshold of electrical current flowing therethrough at a level equal to or less than the current draw of the solenoid so that the coil closes a set of contacts to complete the electrical circuit energizing the reminder lamp.

Abstract: The breakaway vehicular steering assembly has a tube and a shaft normally operable as a unit. The tube and the shaft are held together by a shearpin which will shear at the application of a predetermined axial force.A portion of the tube is channelled; the shaft fits within the channel. A ramp extending from the walls of the tube is adapted to move the shaft outwardly from the channel after the shearpin has been broken and the shaft moved axially within the channel and along the ramp. As the shaft moves out from the channel, a metal band innerconnecting the side walls of the channel is broken at a predetermined force and alignment tabs extending outwardly from the tops of the side walls of the channel in the tube are expanded so that the shaft is completely removed from the channel.

Abstract: A suspension control system which provides a vehicle height signal representative of a vehicle height, a vehicle height data signal responsive to said vehicle height signal, and a first determination signal representative of a suspension characteristic alteration if a difference between a maximum and minimum value of said vehicle height data signal within a predetermined suspension characteristic alteration determination time interval exceeds a first value thereof, and which alters said suspension characteristic in response to said first determination signal.

Abstract: A rear axle assembly for the suspension of a vehicle having independent wheels includes a steering knuckle defining a rear axle and having front and rear joints aligned with a joint axis which is forwardly inclined away from the vehicle. A linkage connects the front and rear joints to the vehicle body in such a manner that only the front joint moves horizontally away from the joint axis and closer to a central vehicle longitudinal axis in response to a rearward force being applied to the vehicle mounted on the rear axle, as a result of which toe-in is produced.

Abstract: An antidive apparatus for a small vehicle including a telescopic front fork having a damping power generating mechanism and a disc brake apparatus for braking a front wheel associated therewith. The caliper assembly of the disc brake is pivotally supported on the axle of the front wheel and is coupled to an actuator of a contraction motion regulating apparatus of the damping power generating mechanism. In a first embodiment, a connecting rod is pivotally fixed to the lower case, is coupled with the caliper assembly about an eccentric coupling and to the actuator such that the coupling between the caliper assembly and the actuator is effected through the control rod. In another embodiment, the caliper assembly is directly coupled to the actuator with the coupling being closer to the front axle than the caliper cylinders are to the front axle.

Abstract: In a seat belt retractor including a housing, a take-up shaft rotatably mounted in the housing, a spring for biasing the take-up shaft in a belt retracting direction, a gear mechanism operatively connected to the belt take-up shaft, a tensionless mechanism operatively connected to the gear mechanism and selectively operable to prevent the spring from rotating the take-up shaft in the belt retracting direction, and a motor actuated slack control mechanism operatively connected to the gear mechanism and operable to rotate the belt take-up shaft, there is provided a control unit comprising a computer which suppresses an automatic belt slack feeding operation when the vehicle speed is at or above a predetermined value, for example, 60 km/h.

Abstract: A suspension system including a leaf spring assembly associated with a forward vehicle axle and an air spring suspension assembly associated with a rear axle with an articulated connection between them, such as by way of a shackle. The air spring suspension assembly includes a rocker arm pivotally supported from the chassis. A torque rod and beam assembly is pivotally supported from the chassis and is connected to the axle. An air spring is mounted between the torque rod and beam assembly and a rocker arm. The rocker arm has angled sections allowing accommodation of either wide base or narrow base air spring positions. Other angled sections of the rocker arm position the mounting bushing generally on a line between the air spring and the shackle to center the load on the bushing.

Abstract: The rear wheels of a vehicle are turned together with the front wheels in response to the operation of a steering wheel. Turning ratio changing means is provided so as to be able to change a turning ratio of the rear wheels to the front wheels. In altering the turning ratio, a speed of changing the turning ratio is designed to get delayed when a road surface is more slidable or slippery, i.e., a road surface friction coefficient .mu. is smaller, as compared to when a road surface is less slidable or less slippery, i.e., a road surface friction coefficient .mu. is larger.

Abstract: A suspension for a motor vehicle has a link structure and a spring interposed between the link structure and a vehicle frame. The link structure comprises a trailing arm extending substantially longitudinally of the vehicle frame and having a front end pivotally coupled to the vehicle frame and a rear end supporting a wheel, upper and lower arms extending substantially transversely of the vehicle frame and each having one end pivotally coupled to the vehicle frame and an opposite end pivotally coupled to the trailing arm in the vicinity of a rear end thereof, and a compensation link having one end pivotally coupled to the vehicle frame and an opposite end pivotally coupled to the trailing arm. The suspension is relatively lightweight, inexpensive to construct, and has excellent performance.

Abstract: A cab for a medium-sized farm tractor includes a body portion that is pivotally attached to the chassis of the tractor for pivotal motion between a raised and lowered position. Preferably, the cab is a monocoque structure and is pivotally attached to the tractor at a forward end of the cab so that it pivots about its forward end. The cab and mounting brackets mounting the cab to the tractor are integrated to form a cantilever requiring no other support. The weight of the cab is used to keep the cab in the lowered position and the attachment between the cab and the chassis includes a counterbalance spring that relieves some of the weight of the cab to assist in raising the cab to its raised position. The cab includes a ventilation system that draws air from outside the cab into the interior of the cab. A filter is interposed in the path of the air as it enters the cab to filter out any toxic chemicals and particulate matter from the air.

Abstract: A riding lawnmower transmission housing assembled from four unitary sheet metal parts including a floor, a central engine plate, a first J-shaped plate, and a second J-shaped plate. The housing's manufacture and assembly is facilitated by its use of few parts which enhance adherence to design specifications and tolerances of the housing. The housing includes an engine wall which acts as thermal barrier, impeding heat transfer between the engine and the transmission. The transmission housing is slidably movable along slots, facilitating movement of the housing relative to the drive wheels, allowing drive chain adjustments and replacement.

Abstract: In a security installation for motor vehicles with a stationary transponder installed at the motor vehicle for producing a coded interrogating signal, with a portable transponder for receiving the coded interrogating signal and for transmitting a coded response signal and with a coded signal comparator which in case of matching of the coded response signal with an expected coded signal produces an unlocking signal, the switching signal is produced with the aid of a manually actuatable switch arranged at the motor vehicle which is connected with an actuating member provided already for the use of the motor vehicle.

Abstract: Several embodiments of off the road vehicles of the type suspended on balloon tires and embodying a motorcycle-type power unit having an internal combustion engine and a crankcase contained change speed transmission. In each embodiment, an auxiliary transmission is carried by the driven axle remotely from the main change speed transmission so as to provide more weight on the driven axle and so as to reduce the overall width of the vehicle. In some embodiments, a power takeoff shaft is driven by the auxiliary transmission.

Abstract: An automatic seatbelt system for a vehicle, which is designed to restrain the body of an occupant when an emergency situation of the vehicle occurs, has a slider which retains one end of a webbing and which is movable along a guide rail laid on the body of the vehicle between a position at which the webbing is fastened to the occupant's body (hereinafter referred to as a "webbing fastening position") and a position at which the webbing is unfastened therefrom (hereinafter referred to as a "webbing unfastening position"), and a continuous member for moving the slider between the above-described two positions. The continuous member and the slider are allowed to move relative to each other by a predetermined amount.

Abstract: A front wheel suspension of a motorcycle includes a front wheel fork with an upper fork bridge and a lower fork bridge. A bell crank is pivotally connected at the lower fork bridge by way of a ball joint located in the wheel center plane; two guide arms are pivotally connected at the rear corner area of the bell crank by way of a bearing shaft which in their turn are pivotally connected at the motorcycle frame. Two lever arms project upwardly from the bell crank, at the end sections of which one guide member each is pivotally connected by way of a bearing bolt; the guide members in turn are also pivotally connected at the motorcycle frame. During the inward spring movement of the front wheel fork, the ball joint of the bell crank is displaced slightly forwardly and the resulting wheel base change is reduced thereby.

Abstract: The suspension system of the present invention includes an elongated spring having one end attached to the vehicle frame and having a second end. A pneumatic bag includes an upper end which is attached to the vehicle frame and a lower end. A securing bracket attaches the lower end of the bag and the second end of the elongated spring to the axle so that the weight of the vehicle frame above the axle is supported in combination by the spring and the air bag. A pneumatic control system is in communication with the bag for selectively introducing air to the bag so as to control the pressure within the bag and thereby control the height that the bag supports the vehicle frame above the axle. A stabilizer bar is pivotally connected at one end to the vehicle frame and at the other end to the axle so as to cause the vehicle frame to be centered over the axle while at the same time permitting the vehicle frame to move vertically with respect to the axle.

Abstract: A vehicle height control device that includes a pressure sensor 28 for detecting the pressure of compressed air supplied to pneumatic shock absorbers 10 for pneumatically bearing the load of a vehicle loads applied through the wheels. A control circuit 30 is included for controlling vehicle height based on the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 28. A waveform shaping circuit is connected between the control circuit 30 and the pressure sensor 28 and shapes the waveform to moderate the pressure change while the pressure is rising to a greater degree than while the pressure is dropping. The waveform shaping circuit includes a passive low-pass filter circuit 38, an active low-pass filter circuit 52 and a pair of diodes 70 and 72. The diodes 70 and 72 connected to the active filter circuit 52, allowing rapid capacitor discharge during decreases in signal amplitude while maintaining a slow discharge rate during decreases in signal amplitude.

Abstract: A suspension system has at least one swing member for pivotally connecting one of wheels of the motor vehicle to a body of the vehicle. The swing member is rotatably supported on a shaft through an annular rubber bush secured to the shaft. The annular rubber bush has spring constants which are different in value at angular positions. Accordingly, by rotating the shaft, the spring constants with respect to the swing member are changed.