ATTITUDE CHANGE REDUCTION STRUCTURE

• US 20120173105A1
• Filed: 09/07/2010
• Published: 07/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Fujiwara, Shinichi, Kozono, Kohei
• Granted Patent: US 8,670,912 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/70
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 17/04 Arrangements of piping, valves in the piping, e.g. cut-off valves, couplings or air hoses traction couplings involving joints for supply lines, electric circuits, or the like B60D1/62; couplings peculiar to railway vehicles for, or combined with, couplings or connectors for fluid conduits or electric cables B61G5/06; pipes, cut-off valves, couplings, air hoses per se F16C, F16K, F16L
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 17/221 Procedure or apparatus for checking or keeping in a correct functioning condition of brake systems hydraulic pressure systems in general F15B19/00, F15B21/04; testing structures or apparatus G01M

Abstract

An attitude change reduction structure, which reduces a vehicle attitude change that occurs during braking due to known left-right asymmetry of a vehicle structure, includes a brake pressure control mechanism that increases a brake pressure at a brake for a wheel (9) on a right side and a brake pressure at a brake for a wheel (9) on a left side to a same target brake pressure; and a brake pressure change rate differentiation structure that makes a rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel (9) on the right side with respect to time different from a rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel (9) on the left side with respect to time, based on the known left-right asymmetry of the vehicle structure.

Claims

1. An attitude change reduction structure that reduces a vehicle attitude change that occurs during braking due to known left-right asymmetry of a vehicle structure, the attitude change reduction structure comprising:

a brake pressure control mechanism that increases a brake pressure at a brake for a wheel on a right side and a brake pressure at a brake for a wheel on a left side to a same target brake pressure; and

a brake pressure change rate differentiation structure that makes a rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel on the right side with respect to time different from a rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel on the left side with respect to time, based on the known left-right asymmetry of the vehicle structure, wherein

the brake pressure change rate differentiation structure includes brake hoses on the right and left sides, and an amount of expansion of the brake hose on the right side is different from an amount of expansion of the brake hose on the left side; and

the amount of expansion of the brake hose on one of the right and left sides is smaller than the amount of expansion of the brake hose on the other of the right and left sides so that the rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel on the one of the right and left sides with respect to time is greater than the rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel on the other of the right left sides with respect to time.

2. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

when a vehicle is deflected toward one of the right and left sides during braking due to the known left-right asymmetry of the vehicle structure, the brake pressure change rate differentiation structure makes the rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel on one of the right and left sides with respect to time greater than the rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel on the other of the right and left sides with respect to time.

4. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

the amount of expansion is a difference between a volume inside the brake hose at a first brake pressure at which the brake hose does not expand, and a volume inside the brake hose at a second brake pressure that is higher than the first brake pressure.

5. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

the brake hose on the right side includes a front-right wheel brake hose and a rear-right wheel brake hose, and the brake hose on the left side includes a front-left wheel brake hose and a rear-left wheel brake hose;

and

when a center of gravity of the vehicle is offset toward the right side from a center line extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the amount of expansion of the front-right wheel brake hose is smaller than that of the front-left wheel brake hose, and the amount of expansion of the rear-right wheel brake hose is smaller than that of the rear-left wheel brake hose.

6. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

the brake hose on the right side includes a front-right wheel brake hose and a rear-right wheel brake hose, and the brake hose on the left side includes a front-left wheel brake hose and a rear-left wheel brake hose;

and

when a center of gravity of the vehicle is offset toward the right side from a center line extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the amount of expansion of the front-right wheel brake hose is smaller than the amount of expansion of the front-left wheel brake hose, and the amount of expansion of the rear-right wheel brake hose is equal to the amount of expansion of the rear-left wheel brake hose.

7. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

the brake hose on the right side includes a front-right wheel brake hose and a rear-right wheel brake hose, and the brake hose on the left side includes a front-left wheel brake hose and a rear-left wheel brake hose;

and

when a center of gravity of the vehicle is offset toward the left side from a center line extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the amount of expansion of the front-left wheel brake hose is smaller than that of the front-right wheel brake hose, and the amount of expansion of the rear-left wheel brake hose is smaller than that of the rear-right wheel brake hose.

8. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

the brake hose on the right side includes a front-right wheel brake hose and a rear-right wheel brake hose, and the brake hose on the left side includes a front-left wheel brake hose and a rear-left wheel brake hose;

and

when a center of gravity of the vehicle is offset toward the left side from a center line extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the amount of expansion of the front-left wheel brake hose is smaller than that of the front-right wheel brake hose, and the amount of expansion of the rear-right wheel brake hose is equal to the amount of expansion of the rear-left wheel brake hose.

12. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

the brake hoses on the right and left sides are connected by a brake tube.

13. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

the known left-right asymmetry of the vehicle structure is a difference between a load applied to the wheel on the right side and a load applied to the wheel on the left side;

and

the brake pressure change rate differentiation structure makes the rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel, to which a larger load is applied, with respect to time greater than the rate of change in the brake pressure at the brake for the wheel, to which a smaller load is applied, with respect to time.

14. The attitude change reduction structure according to claim 1, wherein

the target brake pressure is determined based on a depression amount of a brake pedal.

3. (canceled)

9. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

11. (canceled)