Leaf
Spring
Leaf springs are one of the main types of spring used in vehicle
suspension systems, the other being the coil spring. Leaf
springs are a very old invention, going back to the days of
the horse-drawn carriage. The full elliptic spring was invented
by Obediah Ellis in 1804; however, it has long been established
that the semi-elliptic spring works best on motor vehicles.
A leaf spring consists of one or more bands of steel (or,
in some cases, lightweight composite material) curved into
an arc, and used to mount a solid axle to a vehicle. Leaf
springs are simple, flexible and very rugged suspension components.
They come in several varieties: multileaf (the commonest type),
single-leaf, tapered leaf (a compromise between multileaf
and single-leaf), and helper leaf (used on heavy vehicles).
Although almost entirely replaced nowadays by coil springs
on ordinary cars, they continue to be used extensively in
both the front and rear suspensions of commercial vehicles
and 4 x 4 vehicles.
Add
more information on this topic |
|
Home page