Vehicle suspension system
First Claim
1. A vehicle suspension system comprising a front suspension system for resiliently suspending the front wheels of a vehicle, a rear suspension system for resiliently suspending the rear wheels of the vehicle, at least one of the front and rear suspension systems having a variable suspension characteristic, an adjustment means for changing the suspension characteristic of said at least one of the front and rear suspension systems, a roll detecting means which detects rolling of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined level and outputs a detection signal, a vehicle speed detecting means which detects whether the vehicle speed is higher than a predetermined value and outputs a detection signal, and a control means which receives the detection signals from the roll detecting means and the vehicle speed detecting means and delivers to the adjustment means a control signal to control the suspension characteristic of said at least one of the front and rear suspension systems so that, when the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined value, the steering characteristic is more toward the oversteer side when the degree of rolling of the vehicle is larger than the predetermined level than when the degree of rolling is smaller than the predetermined level and, when the vehicle speed is not lower than the predetermined value, the steering characteristic is fixed irrespective of the degree of rolling of the vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle is provided with a suspension system comprising front and rear suspension systems the suspension characteristics of which are separately variable. The suspension characteristics of the front and rear suspension systems are controlled so that, when the vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined value, the steering characteristic is more toward the oversteer side during rolling of the vehicle than during straight travel of the vehicle and, when the vehicle speed is not lower than the predetermined value, the steering characteristic is fixed irrespective of whether the vehicle rolls.
145 Citations
13 Claims
- 1. A vehicle suspension system comprising a front suspension system for resiliently suspending the front wheels of a vehicle, a rear suspension system for resiliently suspending the rear wheels of the vehicle, at least one of the front and rear suspension systems having a variable suspension characteristic, an adjustment means for changing the suspension characteristic of said at least one of the front and rear suspension systems, a roll detecting means which detects rolling of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined level and outputs a detection signal, a vehicle speed detecting means which detects whether the vehicle speed is higher than a predetermined value and outputs a detection signal, and a control means which receives the detection signals from the roll detecting means and the vehicle speed detecting means and delivers to the adjustment means a control signal to control the suspension characteristic of said at least one of the front and rear suspension systems so that, when the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined value, the steering characteristic is more toward the oversteer side when the degree of rolling of the vehicle is larger than the predetermined level than when the degree of rolling is smaller than the predetermined level and, when the vehicle speed is not lower than the predetermined value, the steering characteristic is fixed irrespective of the degree of rolling of the vehicle.
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12. A vehicle suspension system comprising a pair of front suspension assemblies for resiliently suspending the front wheels of a vehicle, a pair of rear suspension assemblies for resiliently suspending the rear wheels of the vehicle, each of the suspension assemblies comprising a shock absorber the damping rate of which is variable, an adjustment means for changing the damping rate of the shock absorber of each suspension assembly, a roll detecting means which detects rolling of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined level and outputs a detection signal, a vehicle speed detecting means which detects whether the vehicle speed is higher than a predetermined value and outputs a detection signal, and a control means which receives the detection signals from the roll detecting means and the vehicle speed detecting means and delivers to the adjustment means a control signal which controls the damping rates of the shock absorber of the front and rear suspension assemblies so that, when the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined value, the ratio of the damping rate of the shock absorbers of the front suspension assemblies to that of the rear suspension assemblies is smaller when the degree of rolling of the vehicle is larger than the predetermined level than when the degree of rolling is smaller than the predetermined level and, when the vehicle speed is not lower than the predetermined value, the ratio is fixed irrespective of the degree of rolling of the vehicle.
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13. A vehicle suspension system comprising a pair of front suspension assemblies for resiliently suspending the front wheels of a vehicle, a pair of rear suspension assemblies for resiliently suspending the rear wheels of the vehicle, each of the suspension assemblies comprising a spring the spring rate of which is variable, an adjustment means for changing the spring rate of the spring of each suspension assembly, a roll detecting means which detects rolling of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined level and outputs a detection signal, a vehicle speed detecting means which detects whether the vehicle speed is higher than a predetermined value and outputs a detection signal, and a control means which receives the detection signals from the roll detecting means and the vehicle speed detecting means and delivers to the adjustment means a control signal which controls the spring rate of the spring of the front and rear suspension assemblies so that, when the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined value, the ratio of the spring rate of the springs of the front suspension assemblies to that of the rear suspension assemblies is smaller when the degree of rolling of the vehicle is larger than the predetermined level than when the degree of rolling is smaller than the predetermined level and, when the vehicle speed is not lower than the predetermined value, the ratio is fixed irrespective of the degree of rolling of the vehicle.
Specification