Automotive suspension system with vehicle height control
First Claim
1. An automotive suspension system including a vehicle height control system comprising:
- a suspension strut suspending a suspension member from a vehicle body and including a shock absorber which produces a damping force in response to vertical motion of a vehicle body with respect to the suspension member;
a vehicle height sensor for detecting the vertical position of the vehicle body with respect to the suspension member and producing a height-indicative signal having a value directly representative thereof;
a damping force adjusting mechanism associated with said shock absorber for adjusting the magnitude of damping force by adjusting the cross-sectional area of a flow-restriction orifice in the shock abosrber, said damping force adjusting mechanism including an electrical actuator for adjusting said cross-sectional area;
a vehicle height-adjusting mechanism associated with said shock absorber for controlling a height-adjusting force applied to said shock abosrber, which force is effective to separate said vehicle body from said suspension member; and
a controller associated with said damping force adjusting mechanism and said vehicle height control mechanism for sending control signals thereto, said controller including means responsive to said height-indicative signal to control said height-adjusting mechanism to increase said height-adjusting force applied between said vehicle body and said suspension member to raise the vehicle body when the value of said height-indicative signal is smaller than a given threshold, means responsive to increases in said height-adjusting force to operate said damping force adjusting mechanism to increase said cross-sectional area and thus reduce the damping force, means responsive to height indicative signals having a value greater than a given threshold to control said height-adjusting mechanism to decrease said height-adjusting force to lower the vehicle body, and means responsive to decreases in said height-adjusting force to reduce said cross-sectional area to increase the damping force.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automotive suspension system includes a height control system for controlling vehicle height and a damping force adjusting system for adjusting damping force produced by a shock absorber. The height control system and the damping force adjusting system are coordinated such that the damping force is decreased when the height control system shifts the vehicle body upwards, and the damping force is increased when the height control system shifts the vehicle body downwards. Furthermore, the height control system is responsive to the height of the vehicle body and the vehicle speed to shift the vehicle body up and down so that the vehicle body is held to within a predetermined range of height.
97 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An automotive suspension system including a vehicle height control system comprising:
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a suspension strut suspending a suspension member from a vehicle body and including a shock absorber which produces a damping force in response to vertical motion of a vehicle body with respect to the suspension member; a vehicle height sensor for detecting the vertical position of the vehicle body with respect to the suspension member and producing a height-indicative signal having a value directly representative thereof; a damping force adjusting mechanism associated with said shock absorber for adjusting the magnitude of damping force by adjusting the cross-sectional area of a flow-restriction orifice in the shock abosrber, said damping force adjusting mechanism including an electrical actuator for adjusting said cross-sectional area; a vehicle height-adjusting mechanism associated with said shock absorber for controlling a height-adjusting force applied to said shock abosrber, which force is effective to separate said vehicle body from said suspension member; and a controller associated with said damping force adjusting mechanism and said vehicle height control mechanism for sending control signals thereto, said controller including means responsive to said height-indicative signal to control said height-adjusting mechanism to increase said height-adjusting force applied between said vehicle body and said suspension member to raise the vehicle body when the value of said height-indicative signal is smaller than a given threshold, means responsive to increases in said height-adjusting force to operate said damping force adjusting mechanism to increase said cross-sectional area and thus reduce the damping force, means responsive to height indicative signals having a value greater than a given threshold to control said height-adjusting mechanism to decrease said height-adjusting force to lower the vehicle body, and means responsive to decreases in said height-adjusting force to reduce said cross-sectional area to increase the damping force. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13)
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10. A method of coordinating automatic vehicle height control and manual shock absorber damping forces selection in an automotive vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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increasing the damping force of the shock absorber or shock absorbers in response to decreases in the vehicle height mediated by an automatic vehicle height control system; and decreasing the damping force of the shock absorber or shock absorber in response to increases in the vehicle height mediated by the automatic vehicle height control system. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. An automotive suspension system including a vehicle height control system comprising:
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a suspension strut suspending a suspension member from a vehicle body and including a shock absorber which produces a damping force in response to vertical motion of a vehicle body with respect to the suspension member; a vehicle height sensor for detecting the vertical position of the vehicle body with respect to the suspension member and producing a height-indicative signal having a value directly representative thereof; a damping force adjusting mechanism associated with said shock absorber for adjusting the magnitude of damping force in a step-wise manner; a vehicle height-adjusting mechanism associated with said shock absorber for controlling a height-adjusting force applied to said shock absorber in a step-wise manner, which force is effective to separate said vehicle body from said suspension member; and a controller associated with said damping force adjusting mechanism and said vehicle height control mechanism for sending control signals thereto, said controller including means responsive to said height-indicative signal to control said height-adjusting mechanism to increase said height-adjusting force applied between said vehicle body and said suspension member to raise the vehicle body when the value of said height-indicative signal is smaller than a given threshold, means responsive to a step of increase in said height-adjusting force to operate said damping force adjusting mechanism to reduce the damping force by one step, means responsive to height-indicative signals having a value greater than a given threshold to control said height-adjusting mechanism to decrease said height-adjusting force to lower the vehicle body, and means responsive to a step of decrease in said height-adjusting force to increase the damping force by one step.
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Specification