Vehicle axle arrangement

Abstract

A vehicle axle arrangement of a vehicle wheel suspension system which has a spring arrangement which runs in the vehicle transverse direction in the installed position, steers wheels, and has bearings at the ends which are directed toward the wheels. The bearings are connected via respective bearing arrangements to transverse links which are in turn connected to wheel supports. The transverse links are coupled to a vehicle body. The spring arrangement have two leaf springs of identical configuration which are connected to one another via a coupling member.

Claims

1. A vehicle axle arrangement of a vehicle wheel suspension system for a vehicle comprising: a spring arrangement that runs substantially in a vehicle transverse direction in an installed position, bearings at each end of the spring arrangement which are directed toward the wheels, wherein the bearings are connected via respective bearing arrangements to transverse links which are in turn connected to wheel supports, the transverse links being coupled to a vehicle body of the vehicle, and wherein the spring arrangement has two leaf springs which are connected to one another via a coupling member, wherein the coupling member has a housing part and a spring member which is provided in said housing part, wherein the spring member is positioned between and interconnects ends of the leaf springs that face each other and are positioned within the housing part.

2. The vehicle axle arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spring member is a rubber element.

3. The vehicle axle arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spring member is a spiral spring.

4. The vehicle axle arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing part is a plain bearing, in which ends of the leaf springs which face away from the wheels are mounted.

5. The vehicle axle arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plain bearing element which absorbs a sliding movement is arranged on the leaf springs.

6. The vehicle axle arrangement as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a gaiter member that shields the coupling member.

7. The vehicle axle arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein each bearing arrangement is a bolt-shaped or pin-shaped articulated connection.

8. The vehicle axle arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein each transverse link is connected to one of the leaf springs.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will be described in greater detail using a drawing, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a vehicle wheel suspension system having a vehicle axle arrangement according to aspects of the invention, and

(3) FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic view of the vehicle axle arrangement according to aspects of the invention from FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(4) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a vehicle wheel suspension system 2 having a vehicle axle arrangement 4 according to aspects of the invention. The vehicle axle arrangement 2 has wheel supports 6, 8 in a known manner here, which wheel supports 6, 8 are in turn connected in a known manner to trailing arms 10, 12, first transverse links 14, 16 and further transverse links 18, 20. The transverse links 14, 16, 18 and 20 are in turn connected in a known manner to a vehicle body which is not shown in further detail.

(5) Furthermore, the vehicle axle arrangement 4 runs substantially in the vehicle transverse direction and is connected via bearing arrangements 22, 24 to the transverse links 14, 16 at the ends which are directed toward the wheel supports 6, 8 and therefore to the wheels which are not shown in further detail. Here, the wheel-steering vehicle axle arrangement 4 has a spring arrangement 26 which consists of two leaf springs 28, 30 of identical configuration and a coupling member 32 which is shown in FIG. 2. The coupling member 32 is covered in FIG. 1 by way of a gaiter member 34 which shields the coupling member 32 and protects it against contamination. Furthermore, it can serve as a possible lubricant reservoir.

(6) In the present exemplary embodiment, the bearing arrangements 22, 24, via which the spring arrangement 26 is connected to the transverse links 14, 16, are configured as bolt-shaped articulated connections (see FIG. 2).

(7) FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic view of the vehicle axle arrangement 4 according to aspects of the invention. The bearing arrangements 22, 24 are configured as bolt-shaped articulated connections, to which end the leaf springs 28, 30 in each case have an opening 36, 38 as, bearing means. Bolts 44, 46 are then plugged through said openings 36, 38 and corresponding openings 40, 42 in the transverse links 14, 16.

(8) In the present exemplary embodiment, the coupling member 32 consists of a housing part 48, which is configured here as a plain bearing, and a spring member 50 which is configured as a rubber element.

(9) Instead of the rubber element 50, a spiral spring might also be provided (represented by the spiral element shown in FIG. 2) for connecting the ends of the leaf springs 28 and 30, for example. In the plain bearing 48, the ends 52, 54 which face away from the wheels are mounted movably in the housing part 48 which is configured as a plain bearing, and are coupled to one another via the rubber element 50.

(10) In addition, the coupling member 32 can be used for the variable adjustment of the spring rates. It is provided here that the coupling member 32 can have its length and/or stiffness changed in an active manner, with the result that an active adaptation of the spring rates is made possible.