Ground clearance-regulated, air-suspended axle aggregate, for example for monospace private cars
First Claim
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1. Axle assembly with a level control for a pneumatic suspension for a vehicle, comprising:
- controllable pneumatic-suspension assemblies which are arranged separately on each vehicle side, the controllable pneumatic-suspension assemblies being connectable separately to at least one of a compressor and an outlet to atmosphere via a control valve arrangement, and sensors arranged separately for each said vehicle side for sensing at least one of a level of a vehicle body and a distance between a vehicle body part and a wheel carrier of the axle assembly, wherein a change on both of said sides in the level of the vehicle body takes place incrementally and with continuous alternation between the vehicle sides via a closed-loop or an open-loop control unit which controls the control valve arrangement to directly connect the pneumatic-suspension assembly of the one vehicle side and the pneumatic-suspension assembly of the other vehicle side to the compressor in an alternating fashion to provide successive incremental lifting movements for each of the vehicle sides in an alternating fashion, and when the level of the vehicle body is to be lowered on both of said each sides, said closed-loop or open loop control unit connects the pneumatic-suspension assemblies to the atmosphere in an alternating fashion to carry out successive incremental lowering movements for each of the vehicle sides in an alternating fashion, and wherein during the respective lifting or lowering movement of a respectively active pneumatic-suspension assembly by the control unit, the level of the vehicle body at the respective vehicle side is set to be higher or lower by a specific amount than the level of the vehicle body at a corresponding pneumatic-suspension assembly on the respective other vehicle side.
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Abstract
An axle assembly with level control, in particular with a pneumatic suspension. Changes in level which may, if appropriate, become necessary on both vehicle sides take place incrementally and with continuous alternation between the vehicle sides, i.e. the left-hand and right-hand vehicle sides are alternately raised or lowered.
21 Citations
13 Claims
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1. Axle assembly with a level control for a pneumatic suspension for a vehicle, comprising:
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controllable pneumatic-suspension assemblies which are arranged separately on each vehicle side, the controllable pneumatic-suspension assemblies being connectable separately to at least one of a compressor and an outlet to atmosphere via a control valve arrangement, and sensors arranged separately for each said vehicle side for sensing at least one of a level of a vehicle body and a distance between a vehicle body part and a wheel carrier of the axle assembly, wherein a change on both of said sides in the level of the vehicle body takes place incrementally and with continuous alternation between the vehicle sides via a closed-loop or an open-loop control unit which controls the control valve arrangement to directly connect the pneumatic-suspension assembly of the one vehicle side and the pneumatic-suspension assembly of the other vehicle side to the compressor in an alternating fashion to provide successive incremental lifting movements for each of the vehicle sides in an alternating fashion, and when the level of the vehicle body is to be lowered on both of said each sides, said closed-loop or open loop control unit connects the pneumatic-suspension assemblies to the atmosphere in an alternating fashion to carry out successive incremental lowering movements for each of the vehicle sides in an alternating fashion, and wherein during the respective lifting or lowering movement of a respectively active pneumatic-suspension assembly by the control unit, the level of the vehicle body at the respective vehicle side is set to be higher or lower by a specific amount than the level of the vehicle body at a corresponding pneumatic-suspension assembly on the respective other vehicle side. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of adjusting a level of a vehicle having separately controllable left-side and right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies and corresponding left-side and right-side vehicle level sensors, said method comprising:
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sensing an actual level of the vehicle via said level sensors;
comparing the actual level of the vehicle with a desired vehicle level; and
adjusting said left-side and right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies by continuously alternating between the following steps until the actual level of the vehicle corresponds to said desired vehicle level;
(a) adjusting one of said left-side and right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies until a difference in the level between the left-side pneumatic-suspension assembly and the right-side pneumatic-suspension assembly is a predetermined value, and (b) adjusting the other of said left-side and right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies until a difference in the level between the left-side pneumatic-suspension assembly and the right-side pneumatic-suspension assembly is said predetermined value.
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12. Axle assembly with a level control for a pneumatic suspension for a vehicle, comprising:
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controllable left-side and right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies which are arranged separately on each vehicle side in relation to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, the controllable pneumatic-suspension assemblies being connectable separately to at least one of a compressor and an outlet to atmosphere via a control valve arrangement, and sensors arranged separately on each said vehicle side for sensing at least one of a level of a vehicle body and a distance between a vehicle body part and a wheel carrier of the axle assembly, wherein a change on both of said sides in the level of the vehicle body takes place incrementally and with continuous alternation between the vehicle sides via a closed-loop or an open-loop control unit which controls the control valve arrangement to directly connect the left-side pneumatic-suspension assembly and the right-side pneumatic-suspension assembly to the compressor in an alternating fashion to provide successive incremental lifting movements for each of the vehicle sides in an alternating fashion, and when the level of the vehicle body is to be lowered on both of said each sides, said closed-loop or open loop control unit connects the left-side and the right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies to the atmosphere in an alternating fashion to carry out successive incremental lowering movements for each of the vehicle sides in an alternating fashion and, wherein during the respective lifting or lowering movement of a respectively active pneumatic-suspension assembly by the control unit, the level of the vehicle body at the respective vehicle side is set to be higher or lower by a specific amount than the level of the vehicle body at a corresponding pneumatic-suspension assembly on the respective other vehicle side.
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13. An assembly for adjusting a level of a vehicle having separately controllable left-side and right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies and corresponding left-side and right-side vehicle level sensors comprising:
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means for sensing an actual level of the vehicle via said level sensors, means for comparing the actual level of the vehicle with a desired vehicle level, and means for adjusting said left-side and right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies by continuously alternating between the following steps until the actual level of the vehicle corresponds to said desired vehicle level;
(a) adjusting one of said left-side and rightside pneumatic-suspension assemblies until a difference in the level between the left-side pneumatic-suspension assembly and the right-side pneumatic-suspension assembly is a predetermined value, and (b) adjusting the other of said left-side and right-side pneumatic-suspension assemblies until a difference in the level between the left-side pneumatic-suspension assembly and the right-side pneumatic-suspension assembly is said predetermined value.
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Specification