Hydraulic stabilizer control system with road surface sensor
First Claim
1. A stabilizer control system for a vehicle having a body, right and left unsprung members and right and left wheels connected to said right and left unsprung members, respectively, comprising:
- (a) stabilizer means, connected between said right and left unsprung members, and having an inherent rigidity for reducing rolling of said vehicle;
(b) actuator means for selectively disabling said stabilizer means to prevent said inherent rigidity of said stabilizer means from influencing said vehicle so that said right and left unsprung members move freely, and for selectively connecting said stabilizer means to said unsprung members so that said inherent rigidity reduces rolling of said vehicle;
(c) means for detecting the turning condition of said vehicle;
(d) means for detecting a rough road condition; and
(e) means for;
(1) commanding said actuator means to disable said stabilizer means when said turning detecting means detects essentially straight travel and said road detecting means detects road that is not rough;
(2) commanding said actuator means to connect said stabilizer means to reduce the roll of the vehicle when said turning detecting means detects less than a predetermined smooth road that condition and said road detecting means detects road that is not rough; and
(3) commanding said actuator means to disable said stabilizer means when said turning detecting means detects either essentially straight travel or less than a predetermined rough road turning condition and said road detecting means detects rough road.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an automotive vehicle having a stabilizer connected to unspring members, a hydraulic stabilizer control system comprises a hydraulic cylinder unit interposed between the stabilizer and at least one of the unspring members; a road surface sensor for detecting a road surface condition, a speed sensor for detecting a speed of said automotive vehicle, and a steering sensor for detecting a steering angle of said automotive vehicle; and a controlling unit for controlling the hydraulic cylinder unit in accordance with outputs from the sensors. A roll of the vehicle is reduced by this hydraulic stabilizer control system even when the vehicle is turning on a rough road.
51 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A stabilizer control system for a vehicle having a body, right and left unsprung members and right and left wheels connected to said right and left unsprung members, respectively, comprising:
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(a) stabilizer means, connected between said right and left unsprung members, and having an inherent rigidity for reducing rolling of said vehicle; (b) actuator means for selectively disabling said stabilizer means to prevent said inherent rigidity of said stabilizer means from influencing said vehicle so that said right and left unsprung members move freely, and for selectively connecting said stabilizer means to said unsprung members so that said inherent rigidity reduces rolling of said vehicle; (c) means for detecting the turning condition of said vehicle; (d) means for detecting a rough road condition; and (e) means for;
(1) commanding said actuator means to disable said stabilizer means when said turning detecting means detects essentially straight travel and said road detecting means detects road that is not rough;
(2) commanding said actuator means to connect said stabilizer means to reduce the roll of the vehicle when said turning detecting means detects less than a predetermined smooth road that condition and said road detecting means detects road that is not rough; and
(3) commanding said actuator means to disable said stabilizer means when said turning detecting means detects either essentially straight travel or less than a predetermined rough road turning condition and said road detecting means detects rough road. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A hydraulic stabilizer control system for a vehicle having a body, right and left unsprung members and right and left wheels connected to said right and left unsprung members, respectively, comprising:
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(a) a stabilizer coupled between said right and left unsprung members; (b) means for generating pressurized hydraulic fluid; (c) a hydraulic cylinder unit having first and second chambers, interposed between said stabilizer and one of said unsprung members; (d) hydraulic control means for;
(1) selectively interconnecting said chambers of said hydraulic cylinder unit to allow free expansion and contraction of said chambers;
(2) selectively disconnecting said chambers of said hydraulic cylinder unit to fix the length thereof; and
(3) selectively expanding and contracting the length thereof when said cylinder unit is supplied with said pressurized fluid;(e) means for determining a roll amount of said vehicle; (f) means for detecting a rough road condition; and (g) means for;
(1) commanding said hydraulic control means to supply the pressurized fluid to said hydraulic cylinder unit to reduce the roll of the vehicle when the roll amount of said vehicle determined by said roll determining means is larger than a predetermined smooth road threshold value and said road detecting means detects that the road condition is not rough; and
(2) temporarily commanding said hydraulic control means to disconnect said chambers of said hydraulic cylinder unit, and then to supply the pressurized fluid to said hydraulic cylinder unit to move said hydraulic cylinder unit to a determined length when the roll amount of said vehicle determined by said roll determining means is larger than a predetermined rough road threshold value and said road condition detecting means detects rough road. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A hydraulic stabilizer control system for a vehicle having a body, right and left unsprung members and right and left wheels connected to said right and left unsprung members, respectively, comprising:
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(a) a stabilizer connected between right and left unsprung members; (b) a hydraulic cylinder unit having first and second chambers, interposed between said stabilizer and one of said unsprung members; (c) hydraulic control means for selectively interconnecting the chambers of the hydraulic cylinder unit to allow said chambers to freely expand and contract in response to independent movements to right and left unsprung members caused by road vibrations; (d) sensing means for detecting movement caused by expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder unit; (e) determining means for determining a rough road condition in accordance with said detected movement; and (f) control means for commanding the hydraulic control means to interconnect the chambers of the hydraulic cylinder unit, thereby producing free expansion and contraction of the cylinder unit when the vehicle is traveling on a rough road as determined by said determining means. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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Specification