An Unusual Rubber Suspension System
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ACURIOUS and interesting form of independent wheel suspension, developed with success in France, is the
• Earris-Leon-Laisne, which has up to the present been used only on private cars.
The road wheels are articulated to the chassis by means of tubular, forged-steel levers. From the inner end of each of these levers a small arm extends downwards and connects up with what is virtually a piston rod—the disc, or "piston," mounted on this rod working in a cylinder filled with rubber.
The rubber is in the form of rings' which diminish in size as they reach the piston, thus allowing space for lateral expansion of the rubber under compression.
The movement of the wheels under the influence of road shocks is vertical, and this is converted to a much smaller horizontal action. The lever arrangement gives a reduction of four to one between the vertical movement of the wheels and the movement of the small arm operating the compression rod. Fairly tough rubber has to be employed.
On the outer side of the disc further rubber rings function as a rebound damper. It may be mentioned that in the first Ilarris-Leon-Laisne experiments extremely stout coil springs were employed instead of rubber. In spite of the fact that these springs required a pressure of nearly three tons to compress them "solid," the suspension was almost too resilient even for a private car with a fairly light body. The adoption of rubber appears to have corrected this.
There seems to be no valid reason, apart from the difficulty of changing over from established practice, why this form of independent wheel suspension should not be used on commercial vehicles. It might conceivably be of advantage in the case of low-level chassis for passenger work.
By changing the rubber rings the resilience of the suspenon can be rapidly adjusted to suit any required load ; this another point which should be of value in industrialhicle work. The manufacturers of the suspension system e Automobiles Harris-Leon-Laisne, Cote Saint-Sebastian, antes, France.