Patent ID: 7971890

Claim:
An independent suspension assembly for a vehicle having a frame and a plurality of wheels, said independent suspension assembly comprising: a wheel support member, one of the vehicle wheels being mountable on said wheel support member; an upper control arm, said upper control arm being pivotally secured to said wheel support member at a first location on said upper control arm and pivotally supported relative to the frame at a second location on said upper control arm; a lower control arm, said lower control arm being pivotally secured to said wheel support member at a first location on said lower control arm and pivotally supported relative to the frame at a second location on said lower control arm; a linkage member disposed between said lower control arm and the frame, said lower control arm being pivotally secured to said linkage member at a first location on said linkage member and said linkage member being pivotally supported relative to the frame at a second location on said linkage member; wherein said wheel support member is vertically displaceable relative to the frame by pivotal movement of said upper and lower control arms relative to the frame and to said wheel support member, a leaf spring assembly having first and second ends and a central area disposed therebetween, each of said first and second ends of said leaf spring assembly being operably coupled with the frame and said central area being operably coupled with said lower control arm, said leaf spring assembly thereby being operably disposed between said lower control arm and the frame wherein a load communicated between said wheel support member and the frame is at least partially transferrable through said leaf spring assembly; and an air spring assembly operably disposed between said lower control arm and the frame wherein a load communicated between said wheel support member and the frame is at least partially transferrable through said air spring assembly.