Fiber Composite Four-Point Link for Commercial Vehicle Suspension
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing four-point links for commercial vehicle suspensions are heavy, costly, and require large rubber bearings that wear out quickly, failing to provide adequate resilience and vibration damping while being prone to corrosion.
Innovation Solution
A four-point link made from a fiber composite material with longitudinal fiber arrangements that enclose bearing mounts and run along the link body, providing high modulus of elasticity and resilience, and optionally featuring a closed profile, webs, or load-oriented ribbing for enhanced stiffness and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If four-point links are made from metal (forged, cast, or welded), then strength and load-bearing capability are ensured, but weight increases and corrosion resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by constructing the four-point link from multiple layers of fiber-reinforced plastic (such as glass fiber, carbon fiber, or aramid fiber) embedded in a plastic matrix. This composite structure provides high strength-to-weight ratio, ensuring load-bearing capability while significantly reducing component weight compared to traditional metal constructions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by varying the fiber orientation and layer distribution in different regions of the four-point link. The fiber reinforcement is concentrated in areas experiencing highest stresses, while other regions use lighter construction, optimizing the strength-weight balance locally throughout the component.
2Manufacturing precision
If metal four-point links are used, then manufacturing precision can be achieved, but production costs increase and fuel consumption rises
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-impregnating the fiber layers with plastic resin before molding (prepreg technique). This allows the fibers to be precisely positioned and oriented before final curing, ensuring manufacturing precision for axle guidance while simplifying the production process and reducing costs compared to post-assembly metal components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by controlling the curing process conditions (temperature, pressure, time) of the fiber-reinforced plastic to achieve precise dimensional accuracy and mechanical properties, enabling manufacturing precision comparable to metal while using lower-cost composite materials.
3Reliability
If large-volume rubber bearing elements are used in metal four-point links, then resilience and vibration damping are improved, but the bearings wear out quickly due to large deformations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the bearing elements from separate metal components and integrates them directly into the composite four-point link structure. The rubber bearings are embedded within the fiber-reinforced plastic body, eliminating interfaces and reducing stress concentrations that cause wear, thereby extending service life while maintaining vibration damping performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials for the bearing housing structure, where the fiber-reinforced plastic provides both structural support and compliant mounting for the rubber bearings. This composite construction reduces the stiffness of the bearing mounting, decreasing deformation rates and extending bearing life while maintaining resilience.
4Ease of manufacture
If forged metal four-point links with rectangular cross section are used, then manufacturing simplicity is achieved, but weight increases and design flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the four-point link by using fiber layer stacking and molding to create optimized cross-sectional shapes (such as I-beams, tubes, or asymmetric profiles) that provide higher strength-to-weight ratios than rectangular sections, reducing weight while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through continuous molding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials that allow complex cross-sectional geometries to be manufactured as single-piece molded components without the weight penalty of metal. The fiber orientation can be tailored to match the stress distribution in each cross-sectional region, achieving optimal weight reduction while keeping the manufacturing process simple and continuous.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The fiber composite four-point link is significantly lighter, more cost-effective, and offers better corrosion resistance, improved vibration damping, and reduced demands on surface protection, while maintaining the necessary load-bearing capabilities and flexibility for commercial vehicle suspensions.
Implementation Method 1
The link body is formed from a fiber composite arrangement. The fiber composite arrangement comprises at least one longitudinal fiber arrangement assigned to at least one bearing mount. A longitudinal fiber arrangement is preferably assigned to each of the four bearing mounts of the four-point link. The at least one longitudinal fiber arrangement encloses the at least one bearing mount at least along half its circumference and also runs along at least parts of the link body.
Implementation Method 2
the fiber composite four-point link is significantly lighter, more cost-effective, and offers better corrosion resistance, improved vibration damping, and reduced demands on surface protection, while maintaining the necessary load-bearing capabilities and flexibility
Implementation Method 3
offers better corrosion resistance, improved vibration damping, and reduced demands on surface protection
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a four-point link for the suspension of a rigid axle in particular of a utility vehicle. The four-point link has four bearing sockets (3), wherein two bearing sockets (3) can be articulated on the vehicle axle and two bearing sockets can be articulated on the vehicle frame. The four-point link here comprises a single-piece link body (1, 2), which is encompassed by the trapezium formed through the bearing sockets. The four-point link is distinguished in that the link body (1, 2) is formed from a fibre-composite arrangement. The fibre-composite arrangement here comprises at least one longitudinal fibre arrangement (10, 11). The longitudinal fibre arrangement (10, 11) encloses the bearing socket (3) at least along half the circumference thereof and, at the same time, runs along at least parts of the link body (1, 2). The invention makes it possible for four-point links to be configured so as to be optimized in terms of loading and for the mass thereof to be reduced while, at the same time, the application area thereof is extended. A torsional compliance which can be demonstrated specifically makes it possible to use relatively small and/or relatively hard rubber bearings for articulating the four-point link and/or the vehicle axle. Furthermore, the corrosion resistance and vibration damping are improved, the service life is increased and component integration, in particular in respect of mounting the four-point link on the chassis and axle, and attaching the same thereto, is enhanced.