Patent ID: 7168719

Claim:
A suspension system for controlling the movement of a wheel carrier relative to a body of a vehicle, said wheel carrier supporting a wheel and tire for rotation about an axis of a bearing carried by said wheel carrier, said tire engaging a road surface at a tire contact patch, wherein said suspension system comprises one or more links having a first end and a second end, each of said one or more links being operatively connected at said first end to said wheel carrier and at said second end operatively connected to said vehicle body, and wherein said one or more links are disposed relative to said wheel carrier and said vehicle body so as to define a linkage which controls movement of said wheel carrier relative to said vehicle body, and wherein said one or more links of said linkage are arranged geometrically to define both a shear axis and a swing arm axis of said suspension system such that the stiffness of said suspension system to longitudinal forces applied at said tire contact patch is greater than the stiffness of said suspension system to longitudinal forces applied substantially at said axis of rotation of said wheel.