Patent ID: 8336896

Claim:
A vehicle suspension elastomeric bearing assembly, said vehicle suspension elastomeric bearing assembly including: a substantially cylindrical outer non-extensible member with a first and a second opposing longitudinal extending split, said substantially cylindrical outer non-extensible member comprised of an upper split half cylindrical outer member half and a lower split half cylindrical outer member half; a substantially cylindrical elastomeric portion coupled to said cylindrical outer member, said substantially cylindrical elastomeric portion having a first and a second opposing longitudinal extending split, said substantially cylindrical elastomeric portion comprised of an upper split half cylindrical elastomeric portion and a lower split half cylindrical elastomeric portion; a non-elastomeric shim coupled to said substantially cylindrical elastomeric portion, said non-elastomeric shim having a first and a second opposing longitudinal extending split with said shim comprised of an upper split shim half and a lower split shim half; a substantially frustospherical elastomeric section coupled to said shim, said substantially frustospherical elastomeric section having a first and a second opposing longitudinal extending split with said substantially frustospherical elastomeric section comprised of an upper split half frustospherical elastomeric portion and a lower split half frustospherical elastomeric portion; and an inner non-elastomeric member coupled to said frustospherical elastomeric portion with a load direction directed downward through said inner non-elastomeric member, said lower split half frustospherical elastomeric portion, said lower split shim half, said lower split half cylindrical elastomeric portion, and said lower split half cylindrical outer member half.