Suspension apparatus of vehicle

• US 4,685,690 A
• Filed: 12/09/1985
• Issued: 08/11/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/1984
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Takahisa, Ogawa, Masao, Fujita, Haruyasu
• Primary Examiner(s): Bertsch, Richard A.
• Application Number:
  US06/806,914
• Time in Patent Office: 610 Days
• Field of Search: 280/709, 280/702, 280/711, 280/688, 280/112 A, 280/772, 280/707, 280/692
• US Class Current: 280/124.103
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 21/007 means for adjusting the wheel inclination
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2204/421 Pivoted lever mechanisms for mounting suspension elements, e.g. Watt linkage
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/012 Rolling condition
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 9/02 combined with means for inwardly inclining vehicle body on bends

Abstract

A suspension spring is provided with a telescopic member comprising a cylinder and a piston, and fluid pressurized by a pump is controlled by a control valve, and fed to the telescopic member or discharged therefrom. Due to the foregoing, the total length of the suspension springs is varied. Since the control valve is in association with a steering mechanism, either one of the pair of right and left suspension springs is expanded according to steering operation, while the other suspension spring is contracted. As a result, a vehicle body is inclined toward the turning center side. The inside of the cylinder may be defined into two upper and lower cylinder chambers by the piston, so that when fluid is fed to one of the cylinder chambers, the fluid is simultaneously discharged from the other cylinder chamber. The control valve is a rotary valve formed of an inner valve and an outer valve. Such rotary valves may be mounted on the respective suspension springs. Otherwise, the stream of the fluid may be switched by only one rotary valve to expand or contract the respective suspension springs.

Claims

1. A suspension apparatus of a vehicle disposed between a pair of right and left vehicle wheels and a vehicle body comprising:

a suspension spring which is expanded and contracted by feeding fluid thereto and discharging the fluid therefrom;

a control valve comprising a rotary valve attached to said suspension spring and adapted to control the feeding and the discharging of the fluid; and

a swingable piece pivotally attached at one end to a steering member reciprocally movable in the right and left direction and at the other end to a valve body of said control valve, so that the swingable piece is swung according to reciprocal movement of said steering member to rotate said valve body;

the pivot axis of said swingable piece with respect to said steering member being disposed on a generally extension of the pivot axis of said suspension spring with respect to the vehicle body.

2. A suspension apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control valve comprises an inner and an outer valve bodies formed of rotary bodies relatively rotatably and intimately fitted together about a same axis, and a housing enclosing these valve bodies therein, and relatively rotatably and intimately contacted to the outer peripheral surface of the outer valve body, both of said valve bodies each being provided with a feed port and a discharge port opened up in a contacting surface of each of said valve bodies in such a manner as that a rotary position where said feed ports of both the valve bodies are brought to be in conformity with respect to each other is different from a rotary position where said discharge ports of both the valve bodies are brought to be in conformity with respect to each other.

3. A vehicle body inclining apparatus including a pair of suspension spring respectively disposed between a pair of right and left vehicle wheels and a vehicle body and which is expanded and contracted according to the feeding and the discharging of fluid, and a fluid switching apparatus adapted to feed the fluid to one of said suspension springs and discharge the fluid from the other suspension spring in response to a steering member;

said fluid switching apparatus comprising a first rotary valve which is rotated in association with said steering member, and a second rotary valve mutually rotatably fitted to said first rotary valve, said first rotary valve being provided with a feed port communicating with a fluid source and a fluid discharge path, said second rotary valve being provided with a pair of right and left connecting ports selectively communicating with said feed port or fluid discharge path due to relative rotation between said first rotary valve and the second rotary valve, said connecting ports being connected to said respective suspension springs, a pull member being disposed between said second rotary valve and said suspension springs and adapted to rotate said second rotary valve by tensile force produced when said suspension springs are expanded.