Vehicle ride control system
First Claim
1. A ride control suspension control system for a vehicle comprising:
- a plurality of sensors providing sensor signals indicative of a plurality of conditions;
a suspension control unit mounted between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass, said suspension control unit including a damper having a compression chamber and a rebound chamber, said suspension control unit further including a fluid control circuit selectively providing fluid communication between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber, said fluid control circuit including a single pressure regulator to selectively restrict flow of fluid from said compression chamber to said rebound chamber and from said rebound chamber to said compression chamber; and
a controller for controlling operation of said pressure regulator as a function of said sensor signals.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A ride control suspension control system having suspension control units with a damper and a single pressure regulator that controls dampening in both the compression and rebound chambers of the damper. The fluid control circuit may include a plurality of check valves that coordinate the flow of fluid to and from both chambers through the pressure regulator. In one embodiment, the system includes a central controller that receives input from a variety of sensors and directly controls operation the pressure regulators in each of the suspension control units without the need for any remote processors. The ride control suspension system may also include wheel position sensors that are external to the accumulator.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A ride control suspension control system for a vehicle comprising:
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a plurality of sensors providing sensor signals indicative of a plurality of conditions;
a suspension control unit mounted between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass, said suspension control unit including a damper having a compression chamber and a rebound chamber, said suspension control unit further including a fluid control circuit selectively providing fluid communication between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber, said fluid control circuit including a single pressure regulator to selectively restrict flow of fluid from said compression chamber to said rebound chamber and from said rebound chamber to said compression chamber; and
a controller for controlling operation of said pressure regulator as a function of said sensor signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A suspension control unit for use in damping forces between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass in a vehicle comprising:
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a damper having a compression chamber and a rebound chamber, said damper being mountable between the sprung mass and the unsprung mass;
a fluid control circuit defining a flow path between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber, said fluid control circuit including a single pressure regulator selectively restricting fluid flow between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber; and
a controller receiving sensor signals from a plurality of sensors and controlling operation of said pressure regulator as a function of said sensor signals, said sensors signals being indicative of road and vehicle conditions. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A ride control suspension control system for a vehicle having a sprung mass and an unsprung mass comprising:
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a plurality of sensors for providing sensor signals indicative of road and vehicle conditions;
a plurality of suspension control units mounted between the sprung mass and the unsprung mass, said suspension control units each including a damper having a compression chamber and a rebound chamber, said suspension control units each including a fluid control circuit defining at least one flow path between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber, each fluid control circuit including a single pressure regulator for variably controlling fluid flow in both directions between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber; and
a central controller electrically connected to each of said plurality of sensors and to said pressure regulators of each of said suspension control units, said central controller including a processor for processing said sensor signals in accordance with a plurality of predetermined algorithms to obtain separate control signals for each of said pressure regulators said central controller including an output circuitry to transmit each of said separate control signals to a corresponding one of said pressure regulators. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for operating a vehicle ride control suspension system comprising the steps of:
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providing a suspension control unit having a damper and a single pressure regulator for selectively controlling fluid flow between a compression chamber and a rebound chamber of the damper, collecting signals from a plurality of sensors indicative of conditions;
computing a compression signal based at least in part on one or more of the collected signals;
computing a rebound signal based at least in part on one or more of the collected signals, the rebound signal being computed separately from the compression signal;
applying one of the compression signal and the rebound signal to the single pressure regulator to selectively control fluid flow between the compression chamber and the rebound chamber as a function of the signals; and
repeating said collecting step, said compression signal computing step, said rebound signal computing step and said applying step. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A suspension control unit for use in damping forces between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass in a vehicle comprising:
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a damper having a compression chamber and a rebound chamber, said damper being mountable between the sprung mass and the unsprung mass;
a fluid control circuit defining a flow path between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber, said fluid control circuit including a pressure regulator selectively restricting fluid flow between said compression chamber and said rebound chamber;
a control for selecting a ride control setting;
a controller receiving sensor signals from a plurality of sensors and controlling operation of said pressure regulator as a function of said sensor signals and said ride control setting, said sensors signals being indicative of road and vehicle conditions.
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Specification