Automatic vehicle suspension system

• US 3,902,691 A
• Filed: 11/27/1973
• Issued: 09/02/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Owen J. Ott
• Original Assignee: Owen J. Ott
• Inventors: Ott, Owen J.
• Primary Examiner(s): King, Lloyd L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Eisenzopf, Reinhard J.
• Application Number:
  US05/419,415
• Time in Patent Office: 644 Days
• Field of Search: 246/167R,187B 280/112A,6R,6.1,DIG.1,6H 104/1R,18,149 105/171,164,149,194,185,209
• US Class Current: 246/167.00R
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0155 pneumatic unit
• CPC Class Codes: B61F 5/22 Guiding of the vehicle underframes with respect to the bogies

Abstract

A system for the automatic control of the characteristics of the suspension system of railway or other vehicles in accordance with actual conditions of the track or other path over which the vehicle is moving. Data sources are provided at intervals alongside a track, each data source being sensible by apparatus on board a train moving past the source to provide an output representation of the condition of the track and roadbed along a predetermined portion of the way. Control signals are derived for adjusting the characteristics of the vehicle suspension system to provide efficient travel over the particular pathway.

Claims

1. A system for the automatic control of the suspension characteristics of the support means of a vehicle traveling along a prepared pathway, said system comprising:

an adjustable vehicle support means operative in response to control signals to adjustably couple the body of said vehicle to the path following members of said vehicle to selectively permit adjustment of the lateral position, vertical position and tilt of said body in relation to said path following members;

at least one data source disposed along said pathway and operative to provide coded information representative of the condition of said pathway lying ahead of said data source;

communication means operative to receive coded information from said at least one data source; and

control meAns on board said vehicle and operative in response to said coded information to provide control signals for said vehicle support means to cause adjustment of said suspension characteristics in accordance with the condition of said pathway as represented by said at least one data source.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein said vehicle support means includes a lateral adjustably compliant support means and vertical adjustably compliant support means for adjustably coupling said vehicle body to said path following members;

said lateral support means being operative to adjust the lateral positioning, coupling and damping of said vehicle body with respect to said path following members in response to control signals from said control means;

said vertical support means being operative to adjust the vertical positioning, coupling and damping of said vehicle body with respect to said path following members in response to control signals from said control means.

3. A system according to claim 2 wherein said control means is operative to decode said information from said data source and provide control signals for both said lateral and vertical support means to respectively adjust the lateral and vertical compliance thereof to achieve optimum riding characteristics under actual pathway conditions as represented by said data source.

4. A system according to claim 1 wherein at least one data source includes a plurality of similar data sources disposed in respective selected positions along said pathway and each operative to provide coded information representative of the condition of a respective section of said pathway.

5. A system according to claim 1 wherein said vehicle is a railway vehicle and said prepared pathway is a railway track along which said railway vehicle travels.

6. For use with a railway vehicle traveling along a track having predetermined track conditions along a travel path, a system for the automatic control of the suspension characteristics of the support means of said vehicle, said system comprising:

an adjustable vehicle support means operative in response to control signals to adjustably couple the body of said vehicle to the wheels of said vehicle to selectively permit adjustment of the lateral position, vertical position and tilt of said body in relation to said wheels;

a plurality of data sources disposed along said track at respective predetermined positions and each operative to provide coded information representative of the condition of a predetermined section of said track lying ahead of said source;

communication means on board said vehicle and operative to receive coded information from each of said data sources upon passage by said vehicle past said respective data sources; and

control means on board said vehicle and operative in response to said received coded information to provide control signals for said vehicle support means to cause adjustment of said suspension characteristics in accordance with the condition of said track as represented by said data sources to thereby achieve optimum riding characteristics under actual track conditions as represented by said data source.