Automotive vehicle suspension control system
First Claim
1. A suspension control system for use with an automotive vehicle supported on front-left and front-right road wheels at front-left and front-right road wheel positions and also on rear left and rear-right road wheels at rear-left and rear-right road wheel positions, comprising:
- shock absorbers provided between sprung and unsprung masses of the vehicle at the respective road wheel positions for providing variable damping force characteristics;
at least one sensor for sensing a sprung mass vertical behavior and producing a sensor signal indicative of a sensed sprung mass vertical behavior;
a calculation unit for receiving the sensor signal fed from the sensor, the calculation unit further comprising;
a first calculating circuit for calculating sprung mass vertical velocities at the respective road wheel positions based on the sensed sprung mass vertical behavior;
a second calculating circuit for calculating relative velocities between the sprung and unsprung masses at the respective road wheel positions based on the sensed sprung mass vertical behavior with the use of a predetermined transfer function including terms related to damping coefficients of the respective shock absorbers; and
a control unit for producing control signals based on the calculated sprung mass vertical velocities and the calculated relative velocities to control the damping force characteristics of the respective shock absorbers, the control unit further comprising a determining circuit for determining damping coefficients of the respective shock absorbers based on the corresponding control signals, and a varying circuit for varying the terms included in the predetermined transfer function based on the determined damping coefficients.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A suspension control system for use with shock absorbers provided between sprung and unsprung masses of an automotive vehicle at the positions of the respective vehicle road wheels for providing variable damping force characteristics. Sprung mass vertical velocities at the respective road wheel positions are derived from a sensed sprung mass vertical behavior. Relative velocities between the sprung and unsprung masses at the respective road wheel positions are derived from the sensed sprung mass vertical behavior with the use of a predetermined transfer function including terms related to damping coefficients of the respective shock absorbers. A control unit is provided for producing control signals based on the derived sprung mass vertical velocities and the derived relative velocities to control the damping force characteristics of the respective shock absorbers. Damping coefficients of the respective shock absorbers are determined based on the corresponding control signals. The terms related to the damping coefficients of the respective shock absorbers are varied according to the determined damping coefficients.
36 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A suspension control system for use with an automotive vehicle supported on front-left and front-right road wheels at front-left and front-right road wheel positions and also on rear left and rear-right road wheels at rear-left and rear-right road wheel positions, comprising:
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shock absorbers provided between sprung and unsprung masses of the vehicle at the respective road wheel positions for providing variable damping force characteristics; at least one sensor for sensing a sprung mass vertical behavior and producing a sensor signal indicative of a sensed sprung mass vertical behavior; a calculation unit for receiving the sensor signal fed from the sensor, the calculation unit further comprising; a first calculating circuit for calculating sprung mass vertical velocities at the respective road wheel positions based on the sensed sprung mass vertical behavior; a second calculating circuit for calculating relative velocities between the sprung and unsprung masses at the respective road wheel positions based on the sensed sprung mass vertical behavior with the use of a predetermined transfer function including terms related to damping coefficients of the respective shock absorbers; and a control unit for producing control signals based on the calculated sprung mass vertical velocities and the calculated relative velocities to control the damping force characteristics of the respective shock absorbers, the control unit further comprising a determining circuit for determining damping coefficients of the respective shock absorbers based on the corresponding control signals, and a varying circuit for varying the terms included in the predetermined transfer function based on the determined damping coefficients. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification