In engineering practice it is common to incorporate pivot points whereby one or more members of a structure may be pivotly mounted in relationship to other members. Motor vehicles are an area of engineering whereby it is common to provide pivot points and accordingly while the examples contained in this present application are shown in relation to motor vehicles, this is not to exclude utilization of the invention in other engineering applications whereby it may be advantageous.

BACKGROUND ART Many modern motor vehicles incorporate suspension arms which are secured to the body of the chassis of the vehicle by way of pivoting bushes at the inner end of the arms. The arms may typically comprise the upper or lower wish bone arms of a wish bone type suspension, or the semi-trailing arm of an independent rear suspension. It is advantageous to include provision for adjustment of the suspension arm mounting point as the suspension (and in particular the front suspension) can easily go out of alignment through wear or through striking of the vehicle wheel against a kerb or other obstruction. This can cause the angle of the wheel relative to the body of the motor vehicle to be affected, resulting in increased tyre wear. The provision for adjustment of the suspension arm on its mounting point facilitates realignment of the suspension.

However, there are several problems in attempting to provide an adjustable suspension mount. In particular, because of the confined space of the pivot point of the suspension arm it is difficult to provide a suspension mount which can be easily adjusted. This problem is compounded due to the accuracy which is desired in adjustment of the suspension.

Furthermore there is a great desirability to execute the adjustment under load of the vehicle, that is without the necessity of raising the vehicle because the geometry of the suspension will change without the load and since the mount is required to support considerable weight from the suspension arm. DISCLOSURE OF THE TNVENTTON

The present invention aims to ameliorate at least some of these problems by providing an infinitely controlled adjustable mount for a motor vehicle suspension arm comprising a

base flange adapted to be secured to the chassis of the vehicle by an elongated adjusting securing member, two sides projecting from said base flange and having first and second surfaces with an elongated aperture formed between said first and second surfaces and extending in a first direction downwardly from the base flange, a sliding reinforcing guide arranged to be received below the aperture and moveable therein said first direction, a suspension bush adapted to form the inner pivot point of the suspension arm, the mounting bush being connected to the two sides and arranged such that the suspension mount is infinitely and lockably adjustably eatable at a desired distance from the chassis by the elongated adjusting securing member passing through the aperture, the said movement being facilitated by rotation of the elongated adjustable securing member whose lower end comprises a means of causing a sliding adjustment movement upon said rotation and whose upper end comprises a means of securing the adjustable suspension mount and the adjustable securing member itself in rotationable or lockable relationship to the chassis of the vehicle by means of a fastener, such movement, lockable location and securing to the chassis being achieved by means of the rotatable elongated securing adjustment member having a lower end adapted to form gear teeth or alternatively adapted to form a peg, eccentricly cranked to the axis of the adjustment member, said gear teeth or peg engaging with a rack of teeth or a slot formed within the adjustable suspension mount, thereby achieving a mechanical advantage, whilst the upper end of the elongated adjustment member may be threaded and pass firstly through the sliding reinforcing guide incorporating a cylinderical aperture to maintain a vertical relationship between the elongated member and the body of the mount, then pass though the base flange of the suspension mount and finally pass through a cylinderical aperture in the vehicle chassis and by means of a threaded fastener both secure the suspension mount to the chassis and lockably eliminate further rotation of the elongated adjustment member, thus maintaining the adjustment executed.

The sliding reinforcing guide not only fortifies the structure of the base flange incorporating the elongated aperture therein and maintains the vertical relationship between the elongated adjustable securing member, it also serves to seal the interior of the suspension mount from the ingress of contamination and facilitate and ease the sliding relationship between the elongated securing adjustment member and the suspension mount.

This in turn facilitates performing the adjustment under load without raising the vehicle, whilst the position and accessibility of the adjustment means also facilitates performance of the adjustment of the suspension mount from within the engine bay of the vehicle. To assist with understanding of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings although this shall not restrict any other forms of the invention that may fall within its scope.

Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 show a prior art arrangement of non-adjustable suspension mounts generally incorporated in many cars by the manufacturer An embodiment of the present invention is then shown in Figs. 3 to 10, wherein:

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectioned geared adjustable suspension mount according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectioned geared adjustable suspension mount as shown in section IV-IV in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a three-dimensional projected view of a geared securing adjustment member.

Fig. 6 is a three-dimensional projected view of a sliding reinforcing guide (4).

Fig. 7 is a partially cross-sectioned view of a geared adjustable suspension mount assembly when incorporated into the chassis of a motor car according to the invention. Fig. 8 is schematic elevation of the top of the motor compartment showing the required adjustment tools, hexagonal key (7) and spanner (8).

Fig. 9 shows an alternative method for the elongated securing adjustment element of the invention wherein the flanged extension (13) is provided with a peg (16) extending downwards from the flange and eccentricly cranked to the axis of the securing adjustment member (3) such that continued rotation of the securing adjustment member in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction A-B will cause the mount to reciprocate in the X Y directions thus eliminating the possibility of damage through excessive application of force whilst adjusting.

Fig. 10 shows the alternate elongated securing adjustment means illustrated in Fig. 9 and above in working relationship to an alternate form of the adjustable suspension mount wherein a transverse slot (22) is adapted to engage the peg of the elongated securing

adjustment member such that rotation of the member will cause a sliding relationship between the member (3) and the suspension mount, thereby altering the geometry of the vehicle suspension as required.

In operating, when wheel alignment is to be carried out, the non-adjustable suspension mounts (2) as supplied by the motor car manufacturer would be removed from wishbone (12) and chassis (9) and would be replaced by the adjustable mounts provided by the present invention, as shown in Figs. 3 to 8. With reference to Fig. 7, there is shown a suspension mount, including and incorporating an elongated securing adjustment member (3) as described before, such member (3) being engaged and rotatably supported in automobile chassis (9), as supplied by the car manufacturer. Fig. 8 shows in greater detail the upper portion of geared adjustment member (3), a hexagonal passage (5), a threaded upper section (6) and a threaded nut fastener (17).

Other parts of the securing member (3) are identified in Fig. 5, namely a flanged extension (13) having teeth (14) arranged about its circumference. These teeth meashingly engage with the horizontal formation of teeth (15) within the suspension mount.

To adjust camber to the positive or negative requires the suspension mount to be moved in a direction (x) or (y), as shown in Fig. 7. These movements are carried out by engaging hexagonal key (7) into hexagonal passage (5) of member (3) while fastening nut (17) is only slightly tightened. When the desired camber setting is obtained, fastening nut (17) is locked while hexagonal key (7) is being held to prevent adjustable securing member (3) from carrying out unintended rotation. This adjustment can be carried out from the engine bay of a car while the wheel is on an adjustment turntable (not shown) and no jacking up of the vehicle is required.