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Vehicular suspension system utilizing variable damping force shock absorber

  • US 5,467,280 A
  • Filed: 07/30/1993
  • Issued: 11/14/1995
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/04/1992
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A vehicular suspension system comprising:

  • a variable damping force shock absorber disposed between a vehicle body and at least one of a plurality of road wheels and including a variable semi-active hydraulic damper which is operable between a plurality of different damping characteristics;

    a sensor for detecting an absolute vertical velocity (Vn) of a sprung mass of the vehicle to generate an absolute vertical velocity indicative signal; and

    a control unit responsive to said vertical velocity, for generating a control signal (V) based on said vertical velocity (Vn) to adjust the damping characteristic of said damper;

    wherein said control unit includes a dead-band controlling means for adjusting the damping characteristic to a minimum damping characteristic only when the control signal value is maintained within a controlled dead-band threshold value (Ns);

    wherein said dead-band controlling means initially sets the dead-band threshold value (Ns) by multiplying a ratio of a damping force generated at a minimum damping characteristic to a damping force generated at a maximum damping characteristic at a predetermined piston speed of said damper with an initially-set maximum damping characteristic threshold (Vp1, Vp2) above which the damping characteristic of said damper is adjusted to said maximum damping characteristic, andwherein said dead-band controlling means renews said initially-set maximum damping characteristic threshold (Vp1, Vp2) with a current value of said control signal and varies said initially set dead-band threshold value (Ns) in proportion to changes in said renewed maximum damping characteristic threshold (Vp1, Vp2), until the control signal value (V) reaches a peak value (P1, P2), at which peak value a rate of change in said detected vertical velocity (Vn) is equal to zero, from the time when the control signal value (V) exceeds the initially set maximum damping characteristic threshold (Vp1, Vp2).

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