Suspension apparatus of automotive vehicle

• US 5,175,686 A
• Filed: 12/07/1990
• Issued: 12/29/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Inventors: Oda, Kazuya, Nishiyama, Yasuma
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Gary
• Application Number:
  US07/624,091
• Time in Patent Office: 753 Days
• Field of Search: 364/424.05, 280/707, 280/840
• US Class Current: 701/38
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0162 mainly during a motion involving steering operation, e.g. cornering, overtaking B60G17/0164 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/018 characterised by the use of a specific signal treatment or control method
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2202/413 Hydraulic actuator
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/104 lateral or transversal with regard to vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/204 Vehicle speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/25 Stroke; Height; Displacement
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/46 Steering frequency
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/60 Load
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/91 Frequency
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2500/10 Damping action or damper
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/02 Retarders, delaying means, dead zones, threshold values, cut-off frequency, timer interruption
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/07 Inhibiting means
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/184 Semi-Active control means
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/26 Electromagnets; Solenoids
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/28 Temporary fluctuations
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/012 Rolling condition
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/24 Steering, cornering
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/912 Attitude Control; levelling control

Abstract

A suspension apparatus of an automotive vehicle having a liquid cylinder disposed between a member on the side of a vehicle body and a member on the side of each wheel and a flow rate control valve so disposed as to implement a supply or discharge of an operating liquid to or from a liquid pressure chamber of the liquid cylinder is so designed as to implement reverse roll control for reversing rolling the vehicle body when the vehicle is running in a predetermined running region. When the behavior of the vehicle is changing frequently, for example, when the vehicle is running along a zig-zag course, namely, when the direction of transverse acceleration acting upon the vehicle body changes frequently, the reverse roll control is inhibited.

Claims

1. A suspension apparatus of an automotive vehicle having a liquid cylinder disposed between a member on a side of a vehicle body and a member on a side of each wheel and a flow rate control valve so disposed as to implement a supply or discharge of an operating liquid to or from a liquid pressure chamber of the liquid cylinder, comprising:

a control means for generating a control signal to the flow rate control valve so as to make the vehicle body in a reversely rolling state in a predetermined running region;

a vehicle-behavior detecting means for detecting automotive vehicle body movement; and

a determination means for determining the movement of the automotive vehicle in accordance with a signal detected by and generated by said vehicle behavior detecting means, wherein the determination means suspends control by the control means to reverse roll control the movement of the vehicle body by making the vehicle body roll in a reverse way when the movement of the automotive vehicle has been determined by said determining means as changing frequently.

2. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control means allows a transition period of time to be so set as to gradually transfer a suspension state in which said reverse roll control is suspended to a regularly reverse state by releasing the suspension state when said determination means confirms that the movement of the vehicle body changes from a frequently changing state to a stable state in response to said signal from said vehicle-behavior detecting means.

3. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said predetermined running region is set as a low-speed region in which a vehicle speed is equal to or slower than a predetermined vehicle speed.

4. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said predetermined running region is set as a low-transverse acceleration region in which a transverse acceleration acting upon the vehicle body is equal to or slower than a predetermined transverse acceleration.

5. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control signal generated by said control means is so set to allow a target stroke Xr of said liquid cylinder to become a value obtainable by the following formula:

##EQU2## where Xo is a stroke of the liquid cylinder at the time when the vehicle stops;

Fo is a load acting upon the liquid cylinder at the time when the vehicle stops;

F is a load acting upon the liquid cylinder during running;

K is a spring coefficient;

Kg is a roll control coefficient; and

G is a transverse acceleration acting upon the vehicle body.

6. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle-behavior detecting means comprises a transverse acceleration detecting means to detect transverse acceleration acting upon the vehicle body.

7. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the transverse acceleration is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, which is detected by said transverse acceleration detecting means, and is to be used for determining the movement of the vehicle body.

8. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said determination means determines the movement of the vehicle as changing frequently when a direction of the transverse acceleration acting upon the vehicle body has changed during a predetermined period of time.

9. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said transition period of time is a predetermined period of time to be set by a timer.

10. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein roll control is gradually returned to a regularly reverse roll control by gradually increasing a control coefficient for the reverse roll control in the transition period of time.

11. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein a current reverse-roll control coefficient is set in the transition period of time by adding a predetermined value to a previous reverse-roll control coefficient.

12. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control means generates a control signal to the flow rate control valve so as to cause the vehicle body not to roll by executing a zero roll control, when the reverse roll control is suspended.

13. A suspension apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the determination means comprises means for executing transverse roll control based on a first roll control coefficient Kg1 when the vehicle body is stable and for executing zero roll control based on a second roll control coefficient Kg2 when the vehicle body is frequently changing directions.