Dallas Smith received notice from the United States Patent and Trademark Office granting the request of two new patents on the company's low-floor suspension system. The Indiana-based automotive engineering firm now holds 15 patents on the design.
Patent number 6,986,519, titled “Low Profile Chassis and Suspension,” covers the engineering that allows the low-floor chassis to be applied to a road vehicle. The second patent, USD 485,787S, protects the rights to the ornamental design of the vehicle chassis.
Both patents relate to Dallas Smith's proprietary design of the low-floor chassis and Axleless suspension. The system is available on road vehicles such as shuttle buses, cargo vans, and ambulances. Early designs of the low-floor chassis and subsequent patents covered medium- to heavy-duty vehicles such as dump trucks, military command vehicles, and commercial trailers.