Patent ID: 9669894
Date: 2017-06-06
CPC Classifications: B62K,B62M

Claim:
1. A suspension system for use in a vehicle that has a main vehicle body and a suspended assembly that supports the main body of the vehicle, the suspended assembly assisting in providing directional control of the vehicle and stability in a lateral direction relative to a normal straight-ahead direction of travel of the vehicle, the suspension system comprising: a first suspension arrangement that movably connects the suspended assembly to the main vehicle body and controls movement of the suspended assembly relative to the main vehicle body through a range of motion along a first path that is primarily perpendicular to the lateral direction; and a second suspension arrangement that controls movement of the suspended assembly relative to the main vehicle body through a range of motion along a second path that is primarily perpendicular to the lateral direction when the vehicle is traveling in the normal straight-ahead direction, the second path being different than the first path of the first suspension arrangement such that the combination of the first and second suspension arrangements allow the suspended assembly to move through an overall range of motion relative to the main vehicle body that is defined by the combination of the range of motion of the first suspension arrangement along the first path and the range of motion of the second suspension arrangement along the second path thereby allowing the suspended assembly to move along a variable path relative to the main vehicle body within an area defined by the combination of the first path of the first suspension arrangement and the second path of the second suspension arrangement when the vehicle is traveling in the normal straight-ahead direction, the suspended assembly being a steerable suspended assembly with the suspended assembly connected to the first and second suspension arrangements such that at least portions of the suspended assembly are rotatable relative to the main vehicle body about a first steering axis.