US1561493A - Shock absorber - Google Patents

Description

E. H. SMITH SHOCK ABSORBER Nov. 17, 1925.

Filed April 18, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 17, 1925' 1,561,493

E. H. SMITH SHOCK ABSORBER Filod April 18, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 17,1925. 1,561,493

E. H. SMITH SHOCK ABSORBER Filed April 18. 1923 75 Sheets-Sheet 3 ,5 M @jkM Patented Nov. 17, 192.5.

U NITEDI' STATES 1,561,493 PATENT F FilCEL EARL n. sMrrr-r, or cnroaso, rumors. AssIenoB; or oNE-HALnrooAaL' H. Jnnnrnsy or eirroaeo, ILLINOIS? SHOCK ABSORBER."

Application fi1ed Apri1 18, 1923. Serial No. 632,971.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL H. SMrrH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock Absorbers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to spring suspensions, particularly for motor vehicles, and has for its primary purpose to relieve the vehicle from the sharp jolts and shocks to which it is customarily subjected, and to generally improve the riding qualities of the vehicle.

l/Vith this end in view, my invention contemplates a floating triangular shaped lever, pivotal-1y connected at one end to the vehicle spring, swingingly suspended at its other end byone or more links, and pivotally connected at a third laterally extending point intermediate the ends ofthe lever with an abutment member, against which one or more expansion springs, interposed between this abutment member and a bracket on the vehicle spring, press to yieldingly oppose movement of the lever in one direction. The manner in which this structure operates to improve the riding qualities of the vehicle will be apparent as the details thereof are further explained.

Another object of the invention is the provision of pivotally mounted abutment memn at) here at each end of the coil spring adapted,

to pivot as the lever moves, to thereby main 5 7 tain the opposed faces of the abutment members between which the compression spring is interposed in parallel relation so as to preclude any tendency of the spring to buckle or otherwise distort.

automatically resist the side thrust or sway of the vehicle, and the tendency to capsize, by automatically elevating that side of the vehicle body toward which the thrust is I exerted and simultaneously lowering the opposite side.

A further object is to check the rebound of the vehicle body, by preventing direct transmission of violent shocks and ars from the wheels to the body, so as to smooth out these irregularities in transmission from the running gear to the body, and thereby improve the riding qualities of the body. A

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated as the Another purpose ofthe invention is to same become better understood by refer ence to the following description, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view showing my invention applied to the rear spring of a Ford automobile; I

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the application of my invention to the front spring,

Fig. 3 is afragmentary plan View of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4: is an elevation of the rear end of a car showing myinvention applied thereto;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 3, showing a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 77 of Fig-1;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of one of the friction blocks;

Fig. 9 is an elevation looking at the friction face of one ofsaid blocks; and

Fig. 10 illustrates the application of my invention to a semi-elliptic spring suspension.

Referring now tothe drawings more in detail, and particularly to Figs 1 and 4 thereof, reference character 11 indicates a vehicle body, 12 is the rear axle housing, and 13 is the rear spring disposed parallel with the axle.

The perches which are customarily mounted upon the brake drum flange 14 are in the present instance removed andreplaced by perches 15,.which are curved and extend upwardly from the flange, as shown in Fig. 1. Each perch is secured to its respective flange by a bolt'16, and in order to prevent turning movement of the perch about its bolt, the perch is equipped with a pair of oppositely projecting ears 17 shaped to engage with and between the ribs 18 formed on the outer face of the flange 14C for strengthening purposes, whereby the perch is prevented from turning, and is maintained in vertical position.

A pair of supporting links 19 is pit otally suspended from the upper end of each perch, and to the lower ends of these links is pivotally' connected, upon a bolt 21, the outer end of'a lever 22.

This lever is of general triangular shape, the inner end being connected by a bolt 23 with a block 24 disposed beneath the end of the vehicle spring 13, and held against outward movement relatively to said spring by the eye 25 of the spring. Intermediate its ends the lever comprises a lateral extension 26 to which is pivotally connected by a bolt or pin 27 an abutment member 28.

A tube 29 projects from the center of the abutment 28 in a direction to receive a rod 31 projecting, as shown in Fig. 1, from a similar abutment member 32 pivoted on a pin 33 in a bracket 31-, clamped or otherwise fixedly secured upon the spring 13. A coiled expansion spring 35 is interposed between the abutment members 28 and 32, and being -normally under compression exerts pressure on extension 26 to yieldingly resist counter-clock *ise movement of the lever 26 about its supporting fulcrum 21. To facilitate assembly and mounting of the device, the tube 29 and the rod 31 are provided with openings 36 and 37, respectively, which, when the spring issufiiciently compressed. are disposed inalignment to receive a pin by which the abutment members are locked in fixed relation, holding the spring under compression. The spring may be compressed at the factory by suitable mechanism and thus locked, and the parts are shipped in this condition. They may then be readily assembled on the car, the bracket 34: being attached to the spring 13, whereupon a weight in the car body will compress the spring 35 sufficiently to permit withdrawal of the lockingpin, thereby rendering the device operable.

it will be observed that the three-point lever 26 is adapted to float; that is, each of the ponts 21, 23 and 2'? is movable, and the parts are normally maintainedin equilibrium by the weight of the car body. As the weight is increased, downward pressure of the spring 13 upon the point 23 will tend torock the lever 26 in a counter-clockwise direction about the-fulcrum 21. This movement will cause the point 27 to travel downwardly and to the left, viewing Fig. 1,

thereby compressing the spring 35, which yieldingly resists such swinging movement of the lever. At the same time the weight of the body tends to swing the links. 19 in a clockwise direction about the upper end of the perch 15, which movement is also yieldingly resisted by the spring 35. The parts are therefore balanced and maintained in equilibrium by the action of the spring.

35, which yieldingly resists and absorbs any violent thrusts exerted upon the lever, with the result that these thrusts are not trans mitted to the car body.

It should be noted also that the links 19 are normally disposed in inclined po-' sition, as shown. in Figs. 1 and 4. As-

suming a side thrust toward the right is exerted upon the vehicle body, this thrust will cause the links 19 at the right side of the body to swing upwardly and those at the left side of the body to swing downwardly, thereby automatically tilting the body in a direction counter to the thrust so as to maintain the same in equilibrium and obviate overturning. Extreme movement of the levers 26 is limited by a shoulder 38 upon each lever 26, which abuts against its respective perch 15 when excessive lateral movement of the lever takes place.

For the purpose of precluding violent rebound of the vehicle spring, my invention 3 comprehends a stabilizer, best shown in Figs. 1, and 7 to 9, inclusive. From an in spection of these figures, it will be observed that a bracket 39 is clamped upon the axle housing, and upon this bracket there is mounted a casing 41 providing a tapered housing at the top and bottom, and a central restricted guide portion through which an arm 12, formed as an extension of the lever 26, projects. In these upper and lower casings there is slidably mounted a pair of friction carrying members or blocks 43, each provided with a slot 44 to accommodate a bolt L5, by which the member is slidably connected to the adjacent wall of the housing. Upon its inner face each member is equipped with a facing of friction material 46., the opposed friction surfaces being normally maintained in spaced relation, as shown in Fig. 7. ,A coil spring 47, disposed between each friction carrying block and the end of the casing, normally urges the friction member into the position shown in Fig. I.

Violent downward movement of the spring 13 or upward movement of the axle housing will swing the lever 26 in a counterclockwise direction, viewing Fig. 1, to thereby force the arm 42 downwardly into engagement with and between the opposed friction faces, which downward movement will not be opposed by reason of the fact that the friction members will be forced downwardly intheir casing against the action of the springs 47, where the outwardly tapered walls 41 allow them to separate sufficiently to permit the entrance of the lever 42 therebetween. Upon reverse movement of the lever, however, the blocks will be moved toward each other by the wedging action of the casing walls, with the result that the friction faces will grip opposite sides of the arm l2. and retard its upward movement. The return movement of the arm is thereby so retarded that violent re bound of the vehicle body is precluded. Should the initial movement of the arm 42 be upward, instead of downward, a similar retarding or checking action will be exerted upon the arm by the friction members in the applied to the ti'oiitaxlle 4S otthecar. In

this instance the: perches 49', which are. cus tomarily turned inwardly, are reversedso that their upper ends project outwardly similarly to theperches 15. The leverbl in this instance is shapedtooverlie the perch, from which it is suspended by the links the inner end of the lever being connected by a bolt 51) with thevehicle spring, and-an abutment member 5st being pivotally connected to the lever at The lever in this instance may also be provided with a retarding arm 56, if desired.

The other abutment member 57 in this in stance, instead of being bolted to thebracket 58, simply. rests against curved bearing lugs 59,formed on the outer face of the bracket, the member 57 being provided with concave surfaces 61 adapted to rest against the lugs 59. In this instance, also, the rod 62' extends from the abutment member 54, and is adapted to project through the abutment member 57, which is provided with a guide-way in the form of tube 63, extending through the bracket 58. The action of the. expansion spring 35 in this instance is similar to that previously described.

For heavier duties, I may, if desirable, employ two expansion springs 64, as shown in Fig. 6, instead of one, these springs being disposed on opposite sides of the rod and the abutment member 65, while the 0pposed abutment member is similarly shaped to accommodate them.

In Fig. 10 I have illustrated an application of my invention to a vehicle equipped with semi-elliptic springs 66. In this instance the bracket 67 is attached to the under side of the spring, and lever 68 is pivoted to the end of the spring at 69 and is suspended from the bracket 71 attached to the chassis frame member 72, by means of links 73. The expansion spring 'M is in terposed between abutment members carried by the bracket 67 and by the lever 68, as shown.

It is believed that my invention, its construction, mode of operation, and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be understood and appreciated from the fore going without further description, and it should be manifest that various modifica tions in the structural details illustrated and described may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a vehicle spring, of a triangular lever pivotally connected at one end to said spring, supporting links pivotally connected to the other end of said lever, an abutment member pivotally connectedtosaidlever between the endsthei'e of, a bracket'fixed' to saidspring, asecond abutment" member pivota lly engaged with said bracket, and a compression spring in terposed between said abutment members.

p 2. The combination with a vehiclespring, of a supporting link, a lever pivotally connected at its ends to saidspring and link,

respectively, said' lcver including a lateral projection betwcenits ends, a bracket fixed Oirsaidspring, and a coil springinterposed between said bracket and said projection.

23. The combination with a vehicle spring, of a bracket fixed thereon, a lever pivotally connected at oneend to said spring, a link from the lower end ojtwhich the other end ot the lever is pivotally suspended, an abutment pivotally bonnected tosaid lever intermediate its ends, anda compression spring interposed between said abutment and said bracket.

4;. The combination of a vehicle spring, a curved spring supporting perch having its upper end turned outwardly, a lever pivotally connected at one end with said spring, links by which the other end of said lever is suspended from said perch, said links being normally disposed in inclined position with respect to the vertical, an abutment member pivotally connected to said lever be tween its ends, a bracket fixed on said spring, and a coiled expansion spring interposed between said bracket and said abutment member.

5. The combination with a vehicle spring of a lever pivotally connected at one end to said spring, a supporting perch having its upper end turned outwardly away from said spring, links by which the other end of said lever is suspended from said perch, and yielding means acting upon said lever in termediate its ends for yieldingly resisting movements of said lever.

6. The combination with a vehicle spring of a lever pivotally connected at one end. thereto, a bracket mounted on said spring, an abutment member pivoted to said lever, a second abutment member pivotally associated with said bracket, a spring interposed betwcen said abutment members, and means by which the other end of said lever is pivotally suspended.

7. The combination with a vehicle spring of a floating three-point lever pivotally connected at one end to said spring and swingingly suspended at its other end, a substantially rigid support, a link between said support and lever to support said lever in full-floating position, a bracket carried by the said spring, abutment members pivotally associated with said bracket and with said lever, respectively, and a coil spring interposed between said abutment members.

8. The combination with .a vehicle spring of an oscillatory supporting lever connected with said spring, an arm projecting from said lever, and means for frictionally retarding the return movements of said lever from an extreme position of its oscillatory movement.

9. The combination with a vehicle spring of an oscillatory supporting lever connected thereto, an arm projecting from said lever, a housing into which said arm extends, friction members mounted in said housing, and means for causing said arm to be gripped between said friction members whereby return movement of said arm from extreme position is retarded.

10. The combination with a vehicle spring of a lever pivotally connected thereto, spring means for yieldingly opposing movements of said lever from a normal position, and friction means for checking movements of said lever from extreme positions.

11. The combination with a vehicle spring of a lever pivotally connected thereto, yielding means for opposing movements of said lever, an arm projecting from the lever, and means for retarding movements of said arm, said means comprising a pair of opposed friction members adapted to receive said arm between them and a housing shaped to force said members into frictional engagement with said arm.

12. The combination with a vehicle spring of a lever pivotally connected thereto, spring means for yieldingly opposing movements of said lever, an arm projecting from the lever, friction members between which said arm is adapted to enter, and means for forcing said members into engagement with said arm to retard movement of said arm in one direction.

EARL H. SMITH.

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