Vehicle rear wheel suspension with dual links extending in the overall forward direction

Claim 1

A dual link suspension for suspending a body of a vehicle with respect to a wheel, comprising: a wheel support member for supporting said wheel to be rotatable about a horizontal axis generally lateral to said vehicle body, a front link member extending generally horizontally and laterally to said vehicle body and generally flexibly connected with said vehicle body at an inboard end thereof and with said wheel support member at an outboard end thereof, the connection between said front link member and said wheel support member being forward from said axis of rotation of said wheel by a first distance L1, a rear link member extending generally horizontally and laterally to said vehicle body on a rear side of said front link member and generally flexibly connected with said vehicle body at an inboard end thereof and with said wheel support member at an outboard end thereof, the connection between said rear link member and said wheel support member being rearward from said axis of rotation of said wheel by a second distance L2, and a strut rod member extending generally horizontally and longitudinally to said vehicle body and generally flexibly connected with said vehicle body at one end thereof and with said vehicle support member at another end thereof, wherein said front and rear link members are inclined relative to an exact lateral direction of said vehicle body by a first angle t1 and a second angle t2, respectively, and wherein, by expressing said first and second angles in positive values when said front and rear link members are inclined rearwardly as viewed from said outboard ends thereof toward said inboard ends thereof, respectively, while in negative values when said front and rear link members are inclined forwardly as viewed from said outboard ends thereof toward said inboard ends thereof, respectively, wherein the sum of L2xtan(t1) and L1xtan(t2) is a substantial positive value.