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Apparatus and method for controlling damping force characteristic of vehicular shock absorber

  • US 5,485,377 A
  • Filed: 09/12/1994
  • Issued: 01/16/1996
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/13/1993
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for an automotive vehicle comprising:

  • a) a plurality of shock absorbers, each shock absorber being interposed between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass and having damping force characteristic changing means for operatively setting a damping force characteristic at either of extension or compression stroke side with respect to a piston of the shock absorber to a desired damping force characteristic in response to a drive signal input thereto;

    b) vertical sprung mass acceleration detecting means for detecting vertical accelerations of the sprung mass at at least right and left positions of a vehicle body with respect to a vehicular forward direction and outputting vertical acceleration signals indicative thereof;

    c) vertical sprung mass velocity determining means for determining vertical sprung mass velocity signals corresponding to a position of each of the shock absorbers on the basis of the respective vertical sprung mass acceleration signals;

    d) steering state detecting means for detecting a steering angular displacement and a steering angular velocity from a vehicular steering system and outputting signals indicative thereof;

    e) controlling means for controlling the damping force characteristic of each of the shock absorbers on the basis of a control signal, said control signal being a synthesization of a bouncing rate signal calculated on the basis of the vertical sprung mass velocity signal corresponding to each shock absorber position and a control gain, a rolling rate signal calculated on the basis of a difference between the vertical sprung mass velocity signals for left and right portions of the vehicle body, a rolling angular displacement signal calculated on the basis of the vertical sprung mass velocity signals for the left and right portions of the vehicle body and a rolling angular gain, the steering angular displacement signal, and the steering angular velocity signal, said controlling means synthesizing said control signal at a predetermined rate of synthesis and converting said control signal into the drive signal; and

    f) rate of synthesis setting means for variably setting the predetermined rate of synthesis according to the steering angular velocity signal and steering angular displacement signal.

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