WHEEL SUSPENSION FOR A VEHICLE AXLE

Abstract

A wheel suspension for a vehicle axle, in particular a front axle, of a two-track vehicle, having a wheel carrier carrying a vehicle wheel, this carrier being linked via a link assembly to a vehicle body, which link assembly has at least two links that are linked to the wheel carrier at bearing points on the side of the wheel carrier and to the vehicle body at bearing points on the body side. In the event of a head-on collision, in particular with a small lateral overlap, the vehicle wheel can be shifted rearwards in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and specifically with a pivoting movement of the crash-facing first link and with deformation of the crash-remote second link.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A wheel suspension for a vehicle axle of a two-track vehicle, comprising: a wheel carrier carrying a vehicle wheel, this carrier being linked via a link assembly to a vehicle body, which link assembly has at least two links that are linked to the wheel carrier at bearing points on the side of the wheel carrier and to the vehicle body at bearing points on the body side, wherein in the event of a head-on collision, the vehicle wheel can be shifted rearwards in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and specifically with a pivoting movement of the crash-facing first link and with deformation of the crash-remote second link wherein at least one additional element is arranged between the first link and the second link, said element, in the event of a crash, bringing about a block formation in which the two links and the additional element are joined together in a force-transmitting manner in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, wherein the block formation counteracts the pivoting movement of the crash-facing first link and the deformation of the crash-remote second link.

12. The wheel suspension according to claim 11, wherein the additional element is linked at the first link and/or at the second link and/or at an adjoining part of the chassis or component fixed to the vehicle.

13. The wheel suspension according to claim 11, wherein during normal driving operation, the additional element is without function, i.e., a force-transmitting connection between the first and second links is not made possible, and/or during normal driving operation, the additional element is distanced from the first and/or second link(s) by a clearance.

14. The wheel suspension according to claim 11, wherein the additional element is a material-integrated and/or one-piece component of the first or second link, and/or the additional element is made of plastic that is molded to the first or second link.

15. The wheel suspension according to claim 11, wherein the bearing point on the wheel-carrier side or the bearing point on the vehicle-body side of the crash-facing first link is designed so that after the block formation, it breaks in the further course of the crash, whereby the wheel carrier together with the crash-remote second link execute another pivoting movement about the bearing point of the crash-remote second link on the body side, and specifically with a crosswise shifting of the vehicle wheel toward the outside of the vehicle.

16. The wheel suspension according to claim 13, wherein the additional element and the first link or the second link have contact surfaces facing one another, these surfaces being distanced from one another by the clearance during normal vehicle operation, and, in the event of a crash, are joined to one another in an abutment link, and the contact surfaces facing one another have form-fitting contours that increase the engagement between the additional element and the first/second link.

17. The wheel suspension according to claim 11, wherein the first link and the second link are two-point links.

18. The wheel suspension according to claim 11, wherein the first link and the second link are arranged in a lower link plane of the link assembly, and the first link is applied as a linear transverse link aligned essentially in the transverse direction of the vehicle, and the second link is applied as a sickle-shaped longitudinal link that is aligned essentially in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

19. The wheel suspension according to claim 11, wherein the first link and the second link are arranged in an upper link plane of the link assembly, and the first link is found in front of the second link in the direction of travel, and this arrangement is implemented alone or in addition to a block formation in the lower link plane.

20. The wheel suspension according to claim 19, wherein the second link is additionally found behind the center of the wheel.

Description

[0021] The invention and its advantageous embodiments and enhancements as well as the advantages thereof will be explained in more detail below based on the drawings.

[0022] Herein:

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a wheel suspension in a vehicle front axle in a partial view from above;

[0024] FIGS. 2 and 3 each show views that illustrate a crash course in a lower link plane of the wheel suspension shown in FIG. 1; and

[0025] FIG. 4 shows another example of embodiment of the invention in a schematic view.

[0026] In a view from above, FIG. 1 shows a wheel suspension that is installed in a vehicle front axle for linked front wheels 1 of a two-track motor vehicle. The wheel suspension is installed mirror-symmetrically in the front axle on opposite-lying sides with respect to a longitudinal central axis of the vehicle.

[0027] As is evident from FIG. 1, the wheel suspension has a wheel carrier 3 that carries a front wheel 1. The wheel carrier is linked at an auxiliary frame assigned to the vehicle body 7 via a resolved link assembly. In FIG. 1, the link assembly has a total of five links, which are arranged in an upper link plane and in a lower link plane. A front two-point transverse link 9 and a rear two-point longitudinal link 11 are arranged in the direction of travel FR. The two lower links 9, 11 are linked at bearing points 13 on wheel carrier 3 on the side of the wheel carrier, and at bearing points 15 on the auxiliary frame, which is a component of the vehicle body 7, on the side of the body. In its upper link plane, the link assembly has the links 17, 19, and a tie rod 21, which is coupled with a linking mechanism and which is linked to the wheel carrier 3 at a bearing point 13 on the side of the wheel carrier 3. In FIG. 1, the front wheel 1 is shown without linking lock and is positioned in an indicated wheel housing 23 of the vehicle on the chassis side.

[0028] The transverse link 9 essentially extends linearly in the transverse direction y of the vehicle between the vehicle body 7 and the wheel carrier 3. In contrast to this, the longitudinal link 11 is not linear, but rather it is formed angled or sickle-shaped, and in comparison to the transverse link 9, is aligned in the longitudinal direction x of the vehicle.

[0029] As is further seen from FIG. 1, the two-point transverse link 9 is designed with an additional element 25 having a large surface area formed as a thrust field. The additional element 25 brings about a block formation in the event of a crash, as will be described later based on FIGS. 2 and 3, in which the two links 9, 11, and the intermediately connected additional element 25 are joined together in a force-transmitting manner in the longitudinal direction x of the vehicle.

[0030] As can be further seen from FIG. 1, the additional element 25 extends inside a free space spanned between the two links 9, 11 and in the lower link plane, which is favorable with respect to required installation space. In normal driving operation, which is illustrated, the additional element 25 is distanced from the first link 9 by a clearance f, i.e., connected without function.

[0031] The additional element 25 is only activated in the event of a collision, as is explained below on the basis of FIGS. 2 and 3, which show the two lower transverse and longitudinal links 9, 11 in a very simplified substitution model. In FIG. 2 an initial position is shown, i.e., a normal driving operation, in which the wheel carrier 3 is not impacted. Consequently, the additional element 25 formed at transverse link 9 is distanced from the transverse link 9 by the clearance f. In the case of a head-on crash with slight lateral overlap, the impact forces F act on the wheel carrier 3. The wheel carrier 3 is thus shifted backwards thereby, and there occurs a pivoting movement S of the crash-facing transverse carrier 9 with simultaneous deformation of the crash-remote longitudinal link 11.

[0032] Based on the pivoting movement S of the transverse link 9 as well as the deformation of the longitudinal link 11, the two lower links 9, 11, by breaching the clearance f, move toward each other up to the additional element 25, which comes to a stop with the transverse link 9. This brings about a block formation in which the two links 9, 11 and the additional element 25 are joined together in a force-transmitting manner in the longitudinal direction x of the vehicle. This block formation counteracts a further pivoting movement S of the transverse link 9 as well as a further deformation of the longitudinal link 11. In this way, a further backward shifting of the front wheel rim is prevented or delayed.

[0033] According to FIG. 3, the bearing point 15 of the transverse link 9 on the side of the vehicle body is designed so that it breaks after the block formation has been produced in the further crash course. In this way, the transverse link 9 is decoupled from the vehicle body 7 and, together with the longitudinal link 11 and the wheel carrier 3, pivots about the body-side bearing point 15 of the longitudinal link 11. This pivoting movement S is produced with simultaneous crosswise shifting of the front wheel 1 toward the outside of the vehicle.

[0034] In FIG. 2, the additional element 25 and the transverse link 9 have contact surfaces 27 facing one another, which are distanced from one another by the clearance f during normal driving operation. According to FIG. 4, the contact surfaces 27 of the transverse link 9 and of the additional element 25 facing one another are formed with serrated contours 28, each of which is structured complementary to the other. In this way, in the event of a crash, a form-fit results between the contact surfaces 27, with which the engagement between the additional element 25 and the transverse link 9 is increased.