Suspension apparatus of a vehicle
First Claim
1. A suspension apparatus of an automotive vehicle having a cylinder unit interposed between a sprung weight and an unsprung weight for performing a control of a posture of a vehicle body by controlling supply or discharge of an operating liquid to or from the cylinder unit under a predetermined condition, comprising:
- a reservoir tank for storing the operating liquid;
a high-pressure line for supplying the operating liquid of a high pressure to the cylinder unit;
a pump for pumping the operating liquid up from the reservoir tank and supplying the operating liquid of a high pressure to the high-pressure line;
a trouble detecting means for detecting a trouble which causes the supply or discharge of the operating liquid to or from the cylinder unit to occur in an abnormal fashion;
an ignition switch detecting means for detecting an off state of an ignition switch; and
a flow-rate altering means for releasing the operating liquid of the high-pressure line to the reservoir tank when the trouble is detected by the trouble detecting means or when an off state of the ignition switch is detected by the ignition switch detecting means such that a flow rate produced by the flow-rate altering means at the time when the operating liquid is released is larger at the time when the trouble is detected than at the time when the off state of the ignition switch is detected.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A suspension apparatus of an automotive vehicle controls a posture of the vehicle body by controlling supply and discharge of an operating liquid to and from a cylinder unit interposed at each of the wheels between a sprung weight and an unsprung weight. The pressure within a high-pressure line for supplying the operating liquid of a high pressure to the cylinder units is released to the reservoir tank at a faster speed when a trouble occurs which cannot normally perform a control of the posture of the vehicle body and at a slower speed when an ignition switch has been turned off.
11 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A suspension apparatus of an automotive vehicle having a cylinder unit interposed between a sprung weight and an unsprung weight for performing a control of a posture of a vehicle body by controlling supply or discharge of an operating liquid to or from the cylinder unit under a predetermined condition, comprising:
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a reservoir tank for storing the operating liquid; a high-pressure line for supplying the operating liquid of a high pressure to the cylinder unit; a pump for pumping the operating liquid up from the reservoir tank and supplying the operating liquid of a high pressure to the high-pressure line; a trouble detecting means for detecting a trouble which causes the supply or discharge of the operating liquid to or from the cylinder unit to occur in an abnormal fashion; an ignition switch detecting means for detecting an off state of an ignition switch; and a flow-rate altering means for releasing the operating liquid of the high-pressure line to the reservoir tank when the trouble is detected by the trouble detecting means or when an off state of the ignition switch is detected by the ignition switch detecting means such that a flow rate produced by the flow-rate altering means at the time when the operating liquid is released is larger at the time when the trouble is detected than at the time when the off state of the ignition switch is detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A suspension apparatus of an automotive vehicle, comprising:
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a plurality of cylinder units, each of the cylinder units being interposed at each wheel between a sprung weight and an unsprung weight; a reservoir tank for storing an operating liquid; a pump for pumping the operating liquid up from the reservoir tank and functioning as a source of supplying the operating liquid of a high pressure; a high-pressure line for connecting the pump to the cylinder units, to which the operating liquid of a high pressure pumped by the pump is supplied; a supplying control valve connected to the high-pressure line; a low-pressure line for connecting the reservoir tank to the cylinder units; a discharging control valve connected to the low-pressure line; a plurality of ride height detecting means, each ride height detecting means for detecting a ride height, or a height of the vehicle body, in a position of each of the respective wheels; a posture control means for determining an actual posture of the vehicle body on the basis of the ride heights detected by the plurality of the ride height detecting means and for controlling the supplying control valve and the discharging control valve so as for the actual posture of the vehicle body determined to become a predetermined posture thereof; a trouble detecting means for detecting a trouble which causes supply and discharge of the operating liquid to and from the cylinder unit to occur in an abnormal way; an ignition switch detecting means for detecting an off state of an ignition switch; and a flow-rate altering means for releasing the operating liquid of the high-pressure line to the reservoir tank when the trouble is detected by the trouble detecting means or when an off state of the ignition switch is detected by the ignition switch detecting means such that a flow rate produced by the flow-rate altering means at the time when the operating liquid is released is larger at the time when the trouble is detected than at the time when the off state of the ignition switch is detected. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A suspension apparatus of an automotive vehicle having a cylinder unit interposed between a sprung weight and an unsprung weight for performing control of a posture of a vehicle body by controlling supply or discharge of an operating liquid to or from the cylinder unit under a predetermined condition, comprising:
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a reservoir tank for storing the operating liquid; a high-pressure line for supplying the operating liquid at a high pressure to the cylinder unit; a pump for pumping the operating liquid up from the reservoir tank and supplying the operating liquid at a high pressure to the high-pressure line; a trouble detecting means for detecting a trouble which causes the supply or discharge of the operating liquid to or from the cylinder unit to occur in an abnormal fashion; an ignition switch detecting means for detecting a state of an ignition switch in which the ignition switch is turned off; a relief passage for releasing the pressure in the high-pressure line to the reservoir tank; and a flow-rate altering means for altering a flow rate through the relief passage so that the flow rate becomes larger when a trouble is detected by the trouble detecting means than when an ignition switch is turned off, where the flow rate through the relief passage is set normally to zero.
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23. A suspension apparatus of an automotive vehicle, comprising:
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a plurality of cylinder units, each being interposed at each wheel between a sprung weight and an unsprung weight; a reservoir tank for storing an operating liquid; a pump for pumping the operating liquid up from the reservoir tank and functioning as a source of supplying the operating liquid at a high pressure; a high-pressure line for connecting the pump to the cylinder units, to which the operating liquid at a high pressure pumped up by the pump is supplied; a supplying control valve connected to the high-pressure line; a low-pressure line for connecting the reservoir tank to the cylinder units; a discharging control valve connected to the low-pressure line; a plurality of ride height detecting means, each ride height detecting means for detecting a ride height, or a height of the vehicle body, in a position at each of the respective wheels; a posture control means for determining an actual posture of the vehicle body on the basis of the ride heights detected by the plurality of the ride height detecting means and for controlling the supplying control valve and the discharging control valve so that the actual posture of the vehicle body determined by the plurality of ride height detecting means is set as a predetermined posture of the vehicle body; a trouble detecting means for detecting a trouble which causes the supply or discharge of the operating liquid to or from the cylinder unit to occur in an abnormal fashion; an ignition switch detecting means for detecting a state of an ignition switch in which the ignition switch is turned off; a relief passage for releasing the pressure in the high-pressure line to the reservoir tank; and a flow-rate altering means for altering a flow rate through the relief passage so that the flow rate becomes larger when a trouble is detected by the trouble detecting means than when an ignition switch is turned off, where the flow rate through the relief passage is set normally to zero.
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Specification