F1 Patents

[FB]

I've been having a little wander through a patent search engine recently to see what the F1 teams look to patent. Strangely there doesn't seem to be that many but as I find anything interesting I'll post them up.

I'll kick you off with one from 1979 filed by Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman and Peter Godfrey Wright for a "Ground Effect Vehicle". Oddly, the picture they have chosen to demonstrate how ground effect will work is on a truck.

 

[Bill Boddy]

If you patent something then you have to explain how it works and give full details. F1 teams don't work like that, secrecy is the watchword.

 

[FB]

Indeed so Bill, although you would think they would protect some of their inventions which might have applications outside of the field of F1. I've come across a few others, Frank Dernie has patented active suspension (or at least the general principle) on behalf of Williams GPE and McLaren Automotive have a patent on a steering wheel which can also be used on a games consul.

 

[sportsman]

That doesn't suprise me at all.F1 innovates very little worth patenting.
F1 usually takes existing technology from road cars and develops it to its maximum potential very quickly.
ABS for instance was copied from the aviation industry.Traction control from strangely enough the agriculural industry.
KERS from the road car industry.
Anything F1 does invent has a very limited field of use that patents are not really necessary.
Production vehicles with active or semi active suspension.If you include Hydrolastic suspension you can go back even further.

• 1987 Mitsubishi Galant "Dynamic ECS", world’s first production semi-active electronically controlled suspension system[3][4][5][6][7]

• 1989 Citroën XM (Hydractive, semi-active)
• 1987 BMW M3 "BOGE adjustable damping" system
• 1990 Infiniti Q45 "Full-Active Suspension (FAS)", world's first production fully active suspension system
• 1990 Toyota Supra (Toyota Electronically Modulated Suspension, TEMS)
• 1991 Mitsubishi GTO "Electronically Controlled Suspension"
• 1991 Toyota Soarer 'Active'
• 1992 Toyota Celica (Japan only)
• 1992 Citroën Xantia VSX (Hydractive 2, semi-active)
• 1993 Cadillac, several models with road sensing suspension.
• 1994 Citroën Xantia Activa (Hydractive 2 and active roll control)
• 1996 Jaguar XK8 'CATS' (optional)
• 1997 Jaguar XJ 'CATS' (standard on XJR model)
• 1999+ Land Rover Discovery 2 'ACE' (Active Cornering Enhancement)
• 1999 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, Active Body Control
• 1999+ Lexus LX470
• 2001 Citroën C5 (Hydractive 3, semi-active)
• 2002+ Jaguar S-Type 'CATS' (S-Type R model)
• 2002+ Mazda6 wagon 4wd
• 2002 BMW 7 Series
• 2002 Maserati Coupé
• 2002 Cadillac Seville STS, first MagneRide
• 2003 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
• 2003 Chevrolet Corvette, some Cadillacs and other GM vehicles with MagneRide
• 2004 Opel Astra 'IDS+' (optional)
• 2004 - 2007 Volvo S60R "4-C Active Chassis"
• 2004 - 2007 Volvo V70R "4-C Active Chassis"
• 2005 Citroën C6 (Hydractive 3+, semi-active)
• 2007 Lexus GS, Active Stabilizer Suspension System
• 2007 Maserati GranTurismo
• 2008 + Audi TT Magnetic Ride
• 2008 + Alfa Romeo Mito - Green Clover Leaf (Magneti Marelli Synaptic Damping Control)

 

[FB]

Well the good Doctor Posthelthwaite has a patent on a hydraulic suspension filed on behalf of the Tyrrell Racing Organisation.

 

[sportsman]

That is dated 1995.

Hydrolastic is a type of space-efficient automotive suspension system used in many cars produced by British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successor companies.
Invented by famous British rubber engineer Alex Moulton, and first used on the 1962 BMC project ADO16 under designer Alec Issigonis (of Mini fame), later to be launched as the Morris 1100

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/hydrolastic#ixzz1R7kV3aRl

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[RevMaxPower]

That is dated 1995.

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Used to fail regularly. Saw many a lop-sided Mini, 1100, 1300 and even 1800... When working it was pretty good though - or maybe that is rose-tinted hindsight and nostalgia...

 

[sportsman]

I had both 1100 and Maxi's never a spot of bother.BL also ran this rally car.The Landcrab as it went sideways a great deal

The 1800’s finest hour was to be the 1968 London – Sydney Marathon. Freed of the usual minefield of rally regulations, Marathon rules boiled down to any two wheel drive car with a maximum height stipulation so that the cars would fit a ship’s hold. The final specification of the Marathon cars was based on the newly introduced Mk2 1800S models but with some major modifications. Built up from bare shells, the engine was not highly tuned, its capacity was increased to 1894cc, the camshaft was standard MGB and the head was re-worked by Downton, with twin 1¾ SUs and a special exhaust. A competition clutch to standard gearbox ratios coped with a reliable 100bhp at the flywheel (about 77 at the wheels) – not much for such a heavy car. Seven cars were prepared (five Works cars and two prepared by special tuning for the RAF and the Navy). All the Works cars completed the event and SMO 226G, crewed by Paddy Hopkirk/Tony Nash/Alec Poole, was placed 2nd overall. It was during the London – Sydney that the ‘Landcrab’ nickname for the 1800 was first coined, an Australian photojournalist, whilst photographing the event from a helicopter, casually observing that the Austins looked like ‘Land Crabs’ as they cornered sideways!

 

[Zvonimir]

Very interesting, F1 gave us a lot!