The present invention relates to an axle which is provided in the axle systems of heavy duty commercial vehicles and which can be applied to different vehicles by means of the channels drilled thereon.

Background of the Invention

The axle is a shaft which passes through the center of the wheels and is arranged transversely on the lower part of the vehicle. At the same time, on wheeled vehicles, they are the parts which can be fixed to the wheels and rotate together with them or which are fixed to the vehicle and allow rotation of the wheels. Each motor vehicle has a "drive" (actuated by some power) axle which is driven by the engine and which provides the movement of the vehicle, while it also includes an axle or axles which are not driven by the engine but share the vehicle load and which follow the movement direction of the drive axle.

In heavy duty commercial vehicles, some axles have the feature of being mechanically raised and lowered. The said axle system is comprised of axles, which can be lowered in order to carry extra load and to enable distribution of these loads to the wheels, and which do not have traction features.

On the additional axle, there are brackets of the axle lifting rods which are used for lifting the axle, and the brackets which provide connection with the I-rods. The I rods and axle lifting brackets on the axle systems, which are being used in the current applications, are used upon being welded to the axle, and additionally they provide bearing for the wheels together with the hub bearing and knuckle assembly. Vehicle suspension is mounted on the concerned axle and it carried the vehicle load. Positions of all of the parts to be welded on the axle are determined in advance. This determination procedure is carried out in CAD application. After the I-rods and the axle lifting brackets are welded to the axle, it is not possible to change the locations and sizes of the said parts in any situation. A new axle assembly should be used for any revision that will be made. This causes the existing axle to become unusable. This situation causes an extra cost. Additionally, as a result of welding the I-rods and the axle lifting brackets to the axle, parts having different sizes and geometries cannot be used. It is not possible to perform adjustments of the parts during the tests that are performed.

United States patent application document no. US2G02117828, an application in the state of the art, discloses an adjustable axle design. There are two slots provided on the axle in the said invention. The said axle system can be connected to different vehicle chassis by using these two different points. However there is no channel provided on the axle in the said patent application document. Due to the fact that the said channel is not provided, the components such as the axle lifting bracket and I-rod cannot be connected to any preferred point. United States patent application document no. US3754774, another application known in the state of the art, discloses a vehicle frame - axle locking design. In the said invention, height of the axle system can be adjusted by means of an adjustable bolt. The bolt, which is slidably mounted into the slot, changes the axle height. However, the components mentioned in the previously discusses patent application document are not connected to any preferred point either in the said patent application document.

Objectives of the Invention The objective of the present invention is to provide an axle which enables to mount connecting parts to different points on the axle. Another objective of the present invention is to provide an axle which allows using the same axle assembly for different connecting parts.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide an axle which includes longitudinal channels thereon to which the brackets are connected.

Summary of the Invention The present invention relates to an axle which is provided in the axle systems of heavy duty commercial vehicles, allows mounting parts to different points thereon by means of the channels provided on its circumference, allows dismantling the mounted parts when preferred, is suitable for connecting parts of different geometries and sizes thereon and thus can be applied to different vehicles.

Detailed Description of the Invention

An axle developed to fulfill the objective of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying figures, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the axle.

Figure 2 is a side sectional view of the axle.

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

1. Axle

2. Body

3. Channel

4. Axle lifting bracket

5. Rod bracket

6. Connecting member 7. Holder

An axle (1), which is provided in the axle systems of heavy duty commercial vehicles, allows mounting parts to different points thereon, allows dismantling the mounted parts when preferred, is suitable for connecting parts of different geometries and sizes thereon and thus can be applied to different vehicles, basically comprises

at least one body (2),

at least one channel (3) which is located on the circumference of the body (2) and is drilled parallel to the central axis of the body,

at least one axle lifting bracket (4), which is connected to any part of the channel (3) that is drilled on the circumference of the body (2) along its central axis, and which is used for lifting the body (2),

at least one rod bracket (5) which is connected to any part of another channel (3) that is drilled on the circumference of the body (2) along its central axis and also can be easily dismantled, and which provides the connection between the body (2) and the I rod,

at least one connecting member (6), which is placed in the channel (3), moves freely within the channel (3), does not get out of the channel (3) when fixed, and allows the axle lifting bracket (4) and the rod bracket (5) to be attached to the body (2),

at least one holder (7), which fixes the connecting member (6) by tightening it to any point in the channel (3), and which thus enables the axle lifting bracket (4) and the rod bracket (5) to be fixed to any point on the channel (3), and which, if preferred, allows dismantling the axle lifting bracket (4) and the rod bracket (5).

In the axle (1) provided in one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a main body (2). There is a channel (3) drilled on the circumference of the body (2) along its central axis. The channel (3) preferably has a T-form geometry, but can be produced in all different geometries. The axle lifting bracket (4) is fixed to any point of the channel (3) provided on the body (2) by means of a connecting member (6) and a holder (7). Similarly, the rod bracket (5) is also fixed to any point of another channel (3), which is drilled on the circumference of body (2), by means of a connecting member (6) and a holder (7). The connecting member (6) is passed through a hole on the axle lifting bracket (4) when it is within the channel (3) and is fixed by the holder (7). This way, the axle lifting bracket (4) is fixed to a particular point on the body (2). The rod bracket (5) is fixed to the body (2) in a similar manner. Thanks to the fixing realized by using the channel (3), connecting member (6) and holder (7), the axle lifting bracket (4) and the rod bracket (5) can be brought to movable state from fixed state. It is possible to fix the axle lifting bracket (4) and the rod bracket (5) on any preferred point on the axle (1) and move them along the central axis of the axle (1). Thus, axle lifting brackets (4) and rod brackets (5) of different geometries and sizes are allowed to be used on the same axle (1). If preferred, the axle lifting bracket (4) and the rod bracket (5) can be easily removed from the place that they are fixed. Additionally, instead of producing a new axle (1) each time in the process of the axle (1) tests, the preferred positioning processes can be easily performed on the axle (1). Thus the test costs are reduced.