Patent ID: 8535206

Claim:
A steering mechanism capable of altering the toe angle in conjunction with camber angle of a wheel, the mechanism comprising a wheel assembly and an upright member configured to lean relative to the wheel assembly, the wheel assembly comprising: (a) a wheel; (b) a steering knuckle fastened to the wheel comprising a steering arm; (c) a kingpin positioned within the steering knuckle such that the steering knuckle is free to swivel about the swivel axis of the kingpin; (d) a kingpin bracket bracketing the kingpin; (e) a steering linkage having an inboard end and an outboard end, the outboard end fastened to the steering arm in a configuration to control the degree of swivel of the steering knuckle about the swivel axis, the inboard end fastened to the upright member at a first attachment point; (f) a support member supportingly fastened to the kingpin bracket; wherein the wheel has an axis of rotation, a toe angle, and a caster angle; wherein the kingpin has a caster angle, a swivel axis, and a kingpin inclination; and wherein the intersection of the axis of rotation of the wheel and the swivel axis of the kingpin define a caster point; wherein the wheel assembly is a dextral wheel assembly, the wheel is a dextral wheel, the steering knuckle is a dextral steering knuckle, the steering arm is a dextral steering arm, the kingpin is a dextral kingpin, the kingpin bracket is a dextral kingpin bracket, the steering linkage is a dextral steering linkage, the first attachment point is a first dextral attachment point, the support member is a dextral support member, and the caster point is a dextral caster point; further comprising a sinistral wheel assembly, the sinistral wheel assembly comprising: (g) a sinistral wheel; (h) a sinistral steering knuckle fastened to the sinistral wheel comprising a sinistral steering arm; (i) a sinistral kingpin positioned within the sinistral steering knuckle such that the sinistral steering knuckle is free to swivel about the sinistral kingpin's swivel axis; (j) a sinistral kingpin bracket bracketing the sinistral kingpin; (k) a sinistral steering linkage having an inboard end and an outboard end, the outboard end fastened to the sinistral steering arm in a configuration to control the degree of swivel of the sinistral steering knuckle about the swivel axis, the inboard end fastened to the upright member at a first sinistral attachment point; (l) a sinistral support member supportingly fastened to the sinistral kingpin bracket; wherein the sinistral wheel has an axis of rotation, a toe angle, and a camber angle; wherein the sinistral kingpin has a caster angle and a kingpin inclination; and wherein the intersection of the axis of rotation of the sinistral wheel and the swivel axis of the sinistral kingpin defines a sinistral caster point.