Electronic control of vehicle air suspension
First Claim
1. A vehicle suspension system which includes a vehicle frame, a plurality of axle assemblies that have laterally-extending axles and that support said frame above the ground, including a first axle assembly with a first axle, and a first air bag that extends from substantially said first axle assembly to said frame to support at least part of the frame weight on said first axle assembly, including apparatus for sensing the height of the air bag, comprising:
- a tilt arm having first and second end portions pivotally coupled about primarily horizontal axes respectively to said frame and to said first axle;
a first electronic tilt sensor means with a part that is mounted on a first location on said tilt arm and that generates an electrical signal indicating the tilt angle of said first location about a substantially horizontal axis, whereby to indicate air bag height.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system is provided for use on large vehicles of the type wherein the vehicle frame (12) is supported on vehicle axle assemblies (14, 20, 22) through air bags (26, 30, 32), and each air bag has a lower end coupled to the lower end of an arm such as a swing arm (112) whose upper end is pivotally mounted on the frame. The height of the air bag is sensed by a pair of tilt sensors (50, 52), one on a tilt arm such as the swing arm (112), that has one end pivotally connected to the vehicle frame and an opposite end at least pivotally connected to the vehicle axle assembly. The other sensor senses tilt of the vehicle frame about an axis parallel to the axes of pivoting of the tilt arm. Each tilt sensor senses tilt of its location with respect to gravity, and the difference in tilt indicates air bag height.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A vehicle suspension system which includes a vehicle frame, a plurality of axle assemblies that have laterally-extending axles and that support said frame above the ground, including a first axle assembly with a first axle, and a first air bag that extends from substantially said first axle assembly to said frame to support at least part of the frame weight on said first axle assembly, including apparatus for sensing the height of the air bag, comprising:
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a tilt arm having first and second end portions pivotally coupled about primarily horizontal axes respectively to said frame and to said first axle;
a first electronic tilt sensor means with a part that is mounted on a first location on said tilt arm and that generates an electrical signal indicating the tilt angle of said first location about a substantially horizontal axis, whereby to indicate air bag height. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A vehicle suspension system for a vehicle that lies in the atmosphere and that has a frame with laterally spaced first and second opposite sides, a plurality of axle assemblies including a first axle assembly, a first tilt arm having a first arm end pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis on said frame and having a second arm end connected to a first side of said first axle assembly to move up and down with said first side of said first axle assembly, a first air bag that is supported by said first side of said first axle assembly and that supports said frame, and a source of pressured air, comprising
first and second tilt sensors that each produces an electrical output indicating the tilt of the corresponding sensor with respect to gravity about substantially parallel tilt axes, said first tilt sensor mounted on said tilt arm and said second tilt sensor mounted on said frame; a control coupled to said tilt sensors, said source of pressured air and said air bag, said control constructed to generally flow pressured air from said source of pressured air to said first air bag when the difference in tilt angles indicated by said sensors indicates an air bag height below a predetermined value, and to flow air from said air bag into the atmosphere when the difference in tilt angles indicated by said sensors indicates an air bag height above a predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. An electronic system for a vehicle that has longitudinally spaced front and rear ends and laterally spaced opposite sides, for use with a suspension system of the vehicle where the suspension system includes air bags that support locations on a vehicle frame on axle assemblies, and where the vehicle includes at least a first tilt arm that connects a first location on the frame to a first axle assembly location, comprising:
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a first tilt sensor that is mounted on said tilt arm and that generates an electrical signal that indicates tilt of said tilt arm about a first axis with respect to gravity to indicate height of a first of said air bags;
a second tilt sensor that is mounted on a location on said vehicle frame to indicate tilt of the frame location about an axis that is parallel to said first axis;
a control that generates a signal indicating at least changes in the difference between the tilt angles of said first and second tilt sensors;
at least one electrically controlled valve that is controlled by said control to inflate and deflate said first air bag to maintain a predetermined height of said first air bag. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A vehicle that has laterally opposite sides and that has axle assemblies with axles that rotate about lateral axes, said vehicle having a frame, said vehicle having swing arm means lying at each side, each swing arm means having opposite arm ends each pivotally coupled respectively to said frame and to a first of said axles about a primarily laterally-extending axis, and said vehicle having first and second air bags each extending substantially between said frame and one of said axle assemblies, comprising:
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tilt sensor means coupled to a first of said swing arm means for generating signals indicating tilt of said first swing arm;
control means connected to said tilt sensor means for controlling air pressure in at least said first air bag to generally maintain a predetermined height of said first air bag. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification