A SPRING BRACKET Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a spring bracket which is present in suspension systems of heavy commercial vehicles and which has corrosion-resisting property. Background of the Invention

Suspension system is a combination of various parts designed to absorb all shock and vibrations in vehicles. Their intended use in vehicles is to decrease vibrations originating from road, to protect the people inside the vehicle from shocks, and to keep the moving car stable against precessions and jumps.

Tandem means "one following another, or one behind another". Vehicles which have two axles and one of the axles of which is behind the other are called tandem type vehicles. When compared to vehicles with single axle, tandem type vehicles move more comfortably along a straight line. Tandem type vehicles absorb sudden loads better and cause less jumping, and they protect the cargo being transferred better. Tandem type vehicles are stronger and have higher driving comfort. The central rotary movement of the springs in heavy commercial vehicles the rear suspension of which is tandem type is performed on a wear cleat. The end parts of the springs make translatory movement on the wear cleats due to the said rotary movement. The cleat is subjected to corrosion due to the friction between the spring and the said cleat because of this movement. In the present technique (Figure 1), there is a wear cleat manufactured from cast or forged material placed on the spring bracket. The related wear cleat can wear off as a result of corrosion. The end parts of the springs are in contact with the said wear cleat and the spring moves constantly on the cleat. This movement of the spring is a translatory movement. By means of two pins located on the lower part of the wear cleat, the wear cleat is attached to the spring bracket (1). Since wear cleat corrodes really fast due to significant forces created as a result of loads in the heavy commercial vehicles, a lubricating hole is made inside the wear cleat in order to increase the wearing resistance of the wear cleat, and thus the wear cleat is enabled to be lubricated.

Since the related system is used in heavy tonnage vehicles, the loads and the impacts from the road are also very high accordingly. Due to these high loads, the translatory movement performed by the springs constantly creates high translatory loads on the cleats. With the translatory load effect which is applied, the wear cleats continuously wear off, and lubrication is required and it also causes noise which disturbs the driver. Corrosions accelerate due to the incoming loads, the cleats on which pressure is applied under the spring are displaced due to fast corrosions, and the spring starts to operate above the spring bracket (1). In this way, the spring makes translatory movement on the spring bracket (1). In this case, the spring bracket which is main carrier should also be changed. As it is explained above, in order to avoid wearing the wear cleats are lubricated, however this is not sufficient. Great Britain Patent Document no GB569483, an application known in the state of the art, discloses a system which will prevent the corrosion originating from the friction during movement of the springs present in suspension systems of the vehicles. The spring plates compressed between the rollers connected to the L shaped brackets with the help of connection elements can move back and forth horizontally. The outermost layer of the rollers is comprised of metal tubes, its intermediate layer is comprised of plastic material and the inner parts are also comprised of metal tubes. Moving the spring plates with the rotary movement of the rollers creates less friction force and increases wearing in the plates and the rollers. Requirement for lubrication is eliminated by means of this system. However, the system disclosed here does not include any noise preventing element.

The Objective of the Invention

The objective of the present invention is to provide a spring bracket which eliminates friction originating from translatory movement.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a spring bracket which converts translatory movement into rotary movement. Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a spring bracket which decreases corrosions originating from friction by means of rotary movement.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide a spring bracket which increases the life of the parts.

Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a spring bracket which eliminates noise originating from by means of shield.

Summary of the Invention

The invention relates to a spring bracket which is located in suspension systems of the heavy commercial vehicles and which eliminates frictions and noise by converting translatory movement into rotary movement.

Detailed Description of the Invention A spring bracket developed to fulfill the objective of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 is the perspective view of the previous technique of the spring bracket.

Figure 2 is the exploded perspective view of the spring bracket.

Figure 3 is the side view of the spring bracket.

Figure 4 is the cross-sectional side view of the spring bracket.

The components shown in the figures are each given reference numbers as follows:

1. Spring bracket

2. Body

3. Extension

4. Hole

5. Connecting member

5.1. Fixing member

6. Bushing

7. Pulley

7.1. Protrusion

8. Shield

8.1. Recess

A spring bracket (1), which is located in suspension systems of the heavy commercial vehicles and which eliminates frictions and noise by converting translatory movement into rotary movement, essentially comprises

at least one body (2),

- at least two extensions (3) which extend on both sides of the body (2) and which are integrated with the body (2), at least one hole (4) which is made on each one of the extensions (3), at least one connecting member (5) which is fixed by being passed through the holes (4) on the extensions (3) and which serves as carrier,

at least one bushing (6) through which the connecting member (5) serving as carrier passes,

at least one pulley (7) which covers around the bushing (6), which can rotate around the bushing (6), and thus which converts the translatory movement into rotary movement,

at least one protrusion (7.1) which is located on the surface of the pulley (7) and which extends along the pulley,

at least one shield (8) which is used for decreasing the noise created during rotary movement, and which rotates together with the pulley (7) by being coated around the pulley (7),

at least one recess (8.1) which is located on the surface of the shield (8) contacting the pulley (7), enables the pulley (7) and the shield (8) to rotate at the same angular speed by engaging with the protrusion (7.1) on the pulley (7), and which prevents the shield (8) from sliding on the pulley (7).

in There is a body (2) in the spring bracket (1) provided in one embodiment of the invention. The body (2) has two extensions (3) extending in the same direction. There is one hole (4) on each one of these extensions (3) at equal distance from the body (2). These holes (4) are concentric. The connecting member (5) serving as carrier is passed through these two holes (4) and it is fixed to the body (2) by means of the fixing member (5.1). Since the spring bracket (1) is used in heavy commercial vehicles, the said connecting member (5) is subjected to high and sudden loads. A plurality of cylindrical bushings (6) the inner diameters of which are almost same as the diameter of the connecting member (5) are spread over the connecting member (5). In this embodiment of the invention, two bushings (6) are mounted to the connecting member (5). The material of the bushings (6) is preferably bronze. These bushings (6) are placed on the part of the connecting member (5) between the extensions (3) located on the body (2). In other words, the bushings (6) are shorter than the distance between two extensions (3) located on the body (2). The cylindrical pulley (7) the inner diameter of which is almost same as the outer diameter of the bushings (6) is spread over the bushings (6). A cylindrical shield (8) which is preferably manufactured from plastic material is coated on this pulley (7) in order to decrease the noises originating from friction. There are protrusions (7.1) on the surface of the pulley (7) contacting the shield (8) which engage with the recesses (8.1) on the inner surface of the shield (8). Upon connection of the recesses (8.1) and the protrusions (7.1), the movement between the pulley (7) and the shield (8) is prevented, the pulley (7) and the shield (8) are fixed to each other and they rotate at same angular speed. The spring is attached on the shield (8). In this state, the spring bracket (1) rotates the translatory movement between the springs into rotary movement via a rotating pulley (7). High friction and wearing resulted from translatory movement is decreased with this rotary movement. Since friction and wearing is decreased, the life of the parts elongates and the costs decrease. By means of the spring bracket (1), the corrosion created as a result of displacement of parts such as wear cleat which is mentioned in the background art is eliminated. Since the spring bracket (1) does not directly contact the springs by means of the shield (8) used in the pulley (7), the life of the part is elongated and the noises created due to friction are minimized by means of the preferably plastic material of the shield (8). By this means, the driving comfort is not affected from the noise originating from friction.

In another embodiment of the invention, there are two holes (4) on each one of the extensions (3). The hole (4) pairs on the extensions (3) are concentric correspondingly. One connecting member (5) is passed through each one of these corresponding hole (4) pairs, and it is fixed to the body (2) via the fixing member (5.1). The bushings (6), pulleys (7), and the shields (8) are placed on these connecting members (5). In this way, the spring bracket (1) has two rotary pulleys (7) present at different distances from the body (2). The springs are placed between these pulleys (7) and compressed. Upon compressing the springs in this manner, the friction and corrosions can be better controlled and thus the driving comfort is increased.