Distributed active vehicle suspension system
First Claim
1. A vehicle suspension system for use in a vehicle having vehicle wheel and hub assemblies and a vehicle body, the vehicle suspension system comprising:
- a plurality of actuators connected between the vehicle wheel and hub assemblies and the vehicle body, each of the plurality of actuators being contractible and extendable to control the vehicle attitude;
first control means associated with at least one of the plurality of actuators and for generating a respective first control signal which is indicative of a load applied to the vehicle in response to a road input to the vehicle;
second control means associated with the plurality of actuators and for generating a second control signal which is indicative of a load applied to the vehicle in response to a driver input to the vehicle;
filtering means associated with the second control means and for filtering the second control signal from the second control means to remove signals which are above a predetermined bandwidth of frequencies; and
means for combining the first control signal with the filtered second control signal to provide an actuator control signal which is applied directly to the at least one actuator, the actuator control signal varying as a function of (i) the first control signal having signals within the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies and signals above the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies and (ii) the filtered second control signal having signals only within the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies to control contraction and extension of the at least one actuator and thereby to provide control of the vehicle attitude.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle suspension system has hydraulically extensible and contractable actuators 14 connected between the vehicle body and the wheel assemblies 17. The actuators 14 are controlled by valves 25 to control the vehicle attitude. The valve 25 of each of the actuators 14 is controlled by a first device such as a digital processor 100, 200, 300 and 400 respectively which is individual to the respective actuator and a second device such as a digital processor 500 which controls all of the actuators 14. Signals generated from the first and second devices are combined to form control signals for each actuator 14. Signals from the second device 500 are filtered before being combined with those from the first device 100, 200, 300 or 400 to remove signals from the second device 500 that are outside a particular band width. The filtering means may be adjustable to set the band width of frequencies above which signals from the second device are removed. Preferably the second device 500 is responsive to signals for resolving heave, pitch, roll and warp of the vehicle.
64 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A vehicle suspension system for use in a vehicle having vehicle wheel and hub assemblies and a vehicle body, the vehicle suspension system comprising:
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a plurality of actuators connected between the vehicle wheel and hub assemblies and the vehicle body, each of the plurality of actuators being contractible and extendable to control the vehicle attitude; first control means associated with at least one of the plurality of actuators and for generating a respective first control signal which is indicative of a load applied to the vehicle in response to a road input to the vehicle; second control means associated with the plurality of actuators and for generating a second control signal which is indicative of a load applied to the vehicle in response to a driver input to the vehicle; filtering means associated with the second control means and for filtering the second control signal from the second control means to remove signals which are above a predetermined bandwidth of frequencies; and means for combining the first control signal with the filtered second control signal to provide an actuator control signal which is applied directly to the at least one actuator, the actuator control signal varying as a function of (i) the first control signal having signals within the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies and signals above the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies and (ii) the filtered second control signal having signals only within the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies to control contraction and extension of the at least one actuator and thereby to provide control of the vehicle attitude. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A vehicle suspension system for use in a vehicle having vehicle wheel and hub assemblies and a vehicle body, the vehicle suspension system comprising:
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a plurality of actuators connected between the vehicle wheel and hub assemblies and the vehicle body, each of the plurality of actuators being contractible and extendable to control the vehicle attitude; first control means associated with at least one of the plurality of actuators and for generating a respective first control signal having a first clock frequency, said first control signal indicative of a load applied to the vehicle in response to a road input to the vehicle; second control means associated with the plurality of actuators and for generating a second control signal having a second clock frequency, said second control signal indicative of a load applied to the vehicle in response to a driver input to the vehicle, the second clock frequency of the second control signal being lower than the first clock frequency of the first control signal; filtering means associated with the second control means and for filtering the second control signal from the second control means to remove signals which are above a predetermined bandwidth; and means for combining the first control signal with the filtered second control signal to provide an actuator control signal which is applied directly to the at least one actuator the actuator control signal varying as a function of (i) the first control signal having signals within the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies and signals above the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies and (ii) the filtered second control signal having signals only within the predetermined bandwidth of frequencies to control contraction and extension of the at least one actuator and thereby to provide control of the vehicle attitude.
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10. A vehicle suspension system for use in a vehicle having vehicle wheel and hub assemblies and a vehicle body, the vehicle suspension system comprising:
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a plurality of actuators connected between the vehicle wheel and hub assemblies and the vehicle body, each of the plurality of actuators being contractible and extendable to control the vehicle attitude; first control means associated with at least one of the plurality of actuators and for generating a respective first control signal; second control means associated with the plurality of actuators and for generating successive second control signals having respective first and second amplitude values at respective first and second times, the second time being later than the first time; and amplitude modification means associated with the second control means and for decreasing the difference in amplitude value between the first and second amplitude values of the successive second control signals by modifying the second amplitude value occurring at said second time of the successive second control signals; and means for combining the first control signal with (i) the respective first amplitude value occurring at said first time of the successive second control signals, and (ii) the modified second amplitude value occurring at second time of the successive second control signals to provide an actuator control signal which is applied to the at least one actuator to control contraction and extension of the at least one actuator to control vehicle attitude. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification