Suspension system for vehicle

• US 7,900,938 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2008
• Issued: 03/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Sano, Katsuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Dickson; Paul N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rocca; Joseph
• Application Number:
  US12/811,966
• Publication Number:
  US 20100276896A1
• Time in Patent Office: 830 Days
• Field of Search: 280/124.106, 280/124.107, 280/124.152, 280/124.157, 280/5.5, 280/5.502, 280/5.507, 280/5.509, 280/5.515, 701/37, 701/38
• US Class Current: 280/5.502
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0152 characterised by the action on a particular type of suspension unit B60G17/01941 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0162 mainly during a motion involving steering operation, e.g. cornering, overtaking B60G17/0164 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 21/0555 including an actuator inducing vehicle roll
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2200/18 Multilink suspensions, e.g. elastokinematic arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2200/184 Assymetric arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2202/42 Electric actuator
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2202/442 Rotary actuator
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2204/1242 on a damper, e.g. MacPerson strut
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2204/128 Damper mount on vehicle body or chassis
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2204/4191 Planetary or epicyclic gears
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/0521 Roll rate
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/102 vertical
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/104 lateral or transversal with regard to vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/204 Vehicle speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/208 of wheel rotation
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/252 vertical
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/41 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/91 Frequency
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2500/10 Damping action or damper
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2500/102 stepwise
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2500/11 : Damping valves
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/02 : Retarders, delaying means, dead zones, threshold values, cut-off frequency, timer interruption
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/124 : Error signal
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/182 : Active control means
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2600/184 : Semi-Active control means
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/012 : Rolling condition
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/162 : Reducing road induced vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/9122 : ARS - Anti-Roll System Control

Abstract

A suspension system for a vehicle including: a stabilizer apparatus configured to change a stabilizer force by an operation of an actuator, a pair of hydraulic shock absorbers configured to change damping coefficients thereof, and a control device which is configured to execute a body-roll damping control in which at least a part of the stabilizer force is controlled to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of a body of the vehicle, which is configured to change, in the body-roll damping control, a degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force, and which is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of each absorber such that a component of the absorber force for damping roll of the vehicle body is controlled in accordance with the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force, namely, such that the component of the absorber force becomes smaller in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is high than in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is low.

Claims

1. A suspension system for a vehicle, comprising:

a stabilizer apparatus which includes;

(a) a stabilizer bar whose opposite ends are connected respectively to an unsprung portion on a left-wheel side of the vehicle and an unsprung portion on a right-wheel side of the vehicle and which generates, on the basis of a twist-reacting force thereof, a stabilizer force by which a distance between a sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the left-wheel side and a distance between a sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the right-wheel side are changed relative to each other; and

(b) an actuator configured to change the stabilizer force by an operation thereof;

a pair of shock absorbers of a hydraulic type each of which is provided between the sprung portion and the unsprung portion on a corresponding one of the left-wheel side and the right-wheel side and each of which generates an absorber force as a damping force with respect to a relative movement of the sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the corresponding one of the left-wheel side and the right-wheel side toward or away from each other, the pair of shock absorbers respectively including damping-coefficient changing mechanisms each configured to change a damping coefficient that is an ability to generate the absorber force and that is a basis of a magnitude of the absorber force to be generated; and

a control device which is configured to control the stabilizer force of the stabilizer apparatus by controlling the operation of the actuator of the stabilizer apparatus and which is configured to control the damping-coefficient changing mechanisms of the pair of shock absorbers,

wherein the control device is configured to execute a body-roll damping control in which at least a part of the stabilizer force is controlled to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of a body of the vehicle,

wherein the control device is configured to change, in the body-roll damping control, a degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force and is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of each of the pair of shock absorbers such that a component of the absorber force which is generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers and which is for damping roll of the body of the vehicle becomes smaller in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is high than in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is low, and

wherein the control device is configured such that, in the body-roll damping control, the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force becomes higher in an instance where an intensity of a vibration of an unsprung resonance frequency is high than in an instance where the intensity of the vibration of the unsprung resonance frequency is low.

2. The suspension system according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to control, in the body-roll damping control, the at least a part of the stabilizer force to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of the vehicle body relative to a horizontal plane.

3. The suspension system according to claim 2,

wherein a damping force which is required to damp a movement of each of the sprung portions and which has a magnitude in accordance with a sprung-portion absolute speed that is a speed of the movement of said each of the sprung portions is defined as a required sprung damping force while a damping force with respect to the movement of said each of the sprung portions that depends on the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is defined as a stabilizer-force-dependent sprung damping force, and

wherein the control device is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of said each of the pair of shock absorbers such that the absorber force generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers becomes equal to a difference between the required sprung damping force of said each of the pair of shock absorbers and the stabilizer-force-dependent sprung damping force.

4. The suspension system according to claim 3, wherein the control device is configured such that the damping coefficient of said each of the pair of shock absorbers that is changed by each of the damping-coefficient changing mechanisms becomes equal to a minimum one of predetermined damping coefficients when the sprung portion and the unsprung portion of said each of the pair of shock absorbers move toward or away from each other in a direction of the damping force generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers.

5. The suspension system according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to execute, also under execution of the body-roll damping control, a body-roll-amount reducing control for reducing a roll amount of the body of the vehicle by controlling a part of the stabilizer force to become a force having a magnitude in accordance with roll moment that the body of the vehicle undergoes due to turning of the vehicle.

6. The suspension system according to claim 1,

wherein the stabilizer bar is constituted by a pair of stabilizer bar members each of which includes a torsion bar portion disposed so as to extend in a width direction of the vehicle and an arm portion which extends continuously from the torsion bar portion so as to intersect the torsion bar portion and which is connected at a leading end portion thereof to a wheel-holding portion that holds a corresponding one of left and right wheels, and

wherein the actuator is configured to rotate the torsion bar portions of the pair of stabilizer bar members relative to each other.

7. The suspension system according to claim 6,

wherein the actuator includes an electromagnetic motor as a power source, a decelerator which decelerates rotation of the electromagnetic motor, and a housing which holds the electromagnetic motor and the decelerator, and

wherein the torsion bar portion of one of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to the housing so as to be unrotatable relative to the housing while the torsion bar portion of the other of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to an output portion of the decelerator so as to be unrotatable relative to the output portion.

8. A suspension system for a vehicle, comprising:

a stabilizer apparatus which includes;

(a) a stabilizer bar whose opposite ends are connected respectively to an unsprung portion on a left-wheel side of the vehicle and an unsprung portion on a right-wheel side of the vehicle and which generates, on the basis of a twist-reacting force thereof, a stabilizer force by which a distance between a sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the left-wheel side and a distance between a sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the right-wheel side are changed relative to each other; and

(b) an actuator which includes an electromagnetic motor as a power source and which is configured to be operated by a force generated by the electromagnetic motor and to change the stabilizer force by an operation thereof;

a pair of shock absorbers of a hydraulic type each of which is provided between the sprung portion and the unsprung portion on a corresponding one of the left-wheel side and the right-wheel side and each of which generates an absorber force as a damping force with respect to a relative movement of the sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the corresponding one of the left-wheel side and the right-wheel side toward or away from each other, the pair of shock absorbers respectively including damping-coefficient changing mechanisms each configured to change a damping coefficient that is an ability to generate the absorber force and that is a basis of a magnitude of the absorber force to be generated; and

a control device which is configured to control the stabilizer force of the stabilizer apparatus by controlling the operation of the actuator of the stabilizer apparatus and which is configured to control the damping-coefficient changing mechanisms of the pair of shock absorbers,

wherein the control device is configured to execute a body-roll damping control in which at least a part of the stabilizer force is controlled to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of a body of the vehicle,

wherein the control device is configured to change, in the body-roll damping control, a degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force and is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of each of the pair of shock absorbers such that a component of the absorber force which is generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers and which is for damping roll of the body of the vehicle becomes smaller in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is high than in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is low, and

wherein the control device is configured such that, in the body-roll damping control, the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force becomes lower in an instance where a charged amount of a battery that is a supply source of an electric power to the electromagnetic motor is smaller than in an instance where the charged amount of the battery is large.

9. The suspension system according to claim 8, wherein the control device is configured to control, in the body-roll damping control, the at least a part of the stabilizer force to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of the vehicle body relative to a horizontal plane.

10. The suspension system according to claim 9,

wherein a damping force which is required to damp a movement of each of the sprung portions and which has a magnitude in accordance with a sprung-portion absolute speed that is a speed of the movement of said each of the sprung portions is defined as a required sprung damping force while a damping force with respect to the movement of said each of the sprung portions that depends on the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is defined as a stabilizer-force-dependent sprung damping force, and

wherein the control device is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of said each of the pair of shock absorbers such that the absorber force generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers becomes equal to a difference between the required sprung damping force of said each of the pair of shock absorbers and the stabilizer-force-dependent sprung damping force.

11. The suspension system according to claim 10, wherein the control device is configured such that the damping coefficient of said each of the pair of shock absorbers that is changed by each of the damping-coefficient changing mechanisms becomes equal to a minimum one of predetermined damping coefficients when the sprung portion and the unsprung portion of said each of the pair of shock absorbers move toward or away from each other in a direction of the damping force generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers.

12. The suspension system according to claim 8, wherein the control device is configured to execute, also under execution of the body-roll damping control, a body-roll-amount reducing control for reducing a roll amount of the body of the vehicle by controlling a part of the stabilizer force to become a force having a magnitude in accordance with roll moment that the body of the vehicle undergoes due to turning of the vehicle.

13. The suspension system according to claim 8,

wherein the stabilizer bar is constituted by a pair of stabilizer bar members each of which includes a torsion bar portion disposed so as to extend in a width direction of the vehicle and an arm portion which extends continuously from the torsion bar portion so as to intersect the torsion bar portion and which is connected at a leading end portion thereof to a wheel-holding portion that holds a corresponding one of left and right wheels, and

wherein the actuator is configured to rotate the torsion bar portions of the pair of stabilizer bar members relative to each other.

14. The suspension system according to claim 13,

wherein the actuator further includes a decelerator which decelerates rotation of the electromagnetic motor and a housing which holds the electromagnetic motor and the decelerator, and

wherein the torsion bar portion of one of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to the housing so as to be unrotatable relative to the housing while the torsion bar portion of the other of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to an output portion of the decelerator so as to be unrotatable relative to the output portion.

15. A suspension system for a vehicle, comprising:

a stabilizer apparatus which includes;

(a) a stabilizer bar whose opposite ends are connected respectively to an unsprung portion on a left-wheel side of the vehicle and an unsprung portion on a right-wheel side of the vehicle and which generates, on the basis of a twist-reacting force thereof, a stabilizer force by which a distance between a sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the left-wheel side and a distance between a sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the right-wheel side are changed relative to each other; and

(b) an actuator configured to change the stabilizer force by an operation thereof,

a pair of shock absorbers of a hydraulic type each of which is provided between the sprung portion and the unsprung portion on a corresponding one of the left-wheel side and the right-wheel side and each of which generates an absorber force as a damping force with respect to a relative movement of the sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the corresponding one of the left-wheel side and the right-wheel side toward or away from each other, the pair of shock absorbers respectively including damping-coefficient changing mechanisms each configured to change a damping coefficient that is an ability to generate the absorber force and that is a basis of a magnitude of the absorber force to be generated; and

a control device which is configured to control the stabilizer force of the stabilizer apparatus by controlling the operation of the actuator of the stabilizer apparatus and which is configured to control the damping-coefficient changing mechanisms of the pair of shock absorbers,

wherein the control device is configured to execute a body-roll damping control in which at least a part of the stabilizer force is controlled to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of a body of the vehicle,

wherein the control device is configured to change, in the body-roll damping control, a degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force and is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of each of the pair of shock absorbers such that a component of the absorber force which is generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers and which is for damping roll of the body of the vehicle becomes smaller in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is high than in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is low, and

wherein the control device is configured such that, in the body-roll damping control, the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force becomes higher in an instance where an intensity of at least one of a heave vibration of the body of the vehicle and a pitch vibration of the body of the vehicle is high than in an instance where the intensity of the at least one of the heave vibration of the body of the vehicle and the pitch vibration of the body of the vehicle is low.

16. The suspension system according to claim 15, wherein the control device is configured to control, in the body-roll damping control, the at least a part of the stabilizer force to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of the vehicle body relative to a horizontal plane.

17. The suspension system according to claim 16,

wherein a damping force which is required to damp a movement of each of the sprung portions and which has a magnitude in accordance with a sprung-portion absolute speed that is a speed of the movement of said each of the sprung portions is defined as a required sprung damping force while a damping force with respect to the movement of said each of the sprung portions that depends on the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is defined as a stabilizer-force-dependent sprung damping force, and

wherein the control device is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of said each of the pair of shock absorbers such that the absorber force generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers becomes equal to a difference between the required sprung damping force of said each of the pair of shock absorbers and the stabilizer-force-dependent sprung damping force.

18. The suspension system according to claim 17, wherein the control device is configured such that the damping coefficient of said each of the pair of shock absorbers that is changed by each of the damping-coefficient changing mechanisms becomes equal to a minimum one of predetermined damping coefficients when the sprung portion and the unsprung portion of said each of the pair of shock absorbers move toward or away from each other in a direction of the damping force generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers.

19. The suspension system according to claim 15, wherein the control device is configured to execute, also under execution of the body-roll damping control, a body-roll-amount reducing control for reducing a roll amount of the body of the vehicle by controlling a part of the stabilizer force to become a force having a magnitude in accordance with roll moment that the body of the vehicle undergoes due to turning of the vehicle.

20. The suspension system according to claim 15,

wherein the stabilizer bar is constituted by a pair of stabilizer bar members each of which includes a torsion bar portion disposed so as to extend in a width direction of the vehicle and an arm portion which extends continuously from the torsion bar portion so as to intersect the torsion bar portion and which is connected at a leading end portion thereof to a wheel-holding portion that holds a corresponding one of left and right wheels, and

wherein the actuator is configured to rotate the torsion bar portions of the pair of stabilizer bar members relative to each other.

21. The suspension system according to claim 20,

wherein the actuator includes an electromagnetic motor as a power source, a decelerator which decelerates rotation of the electromagnetic motor, and a housing which holds the electromagnetic motor and the decelerator, and

wherein the torsion bar portion of one of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to the housing so as to be unrotatable relative to the housing while the torsion bar portion of the other of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to an output portion of the decelerator so as to be unrotatable relative to the output portion.

22. A suspension system for a vehicle, comprising:

a stabilizer apparatus which includes;

(a) a stabilizer bar whose opposite ends are connected respectively to an unsprung portion on a left-wheel side of the vehicle and an unsprung portion on a right-wheel side of the vehicle and which generates, on the basis of a twist-reacting force thereof, a stabilizer force by which a distance between a sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the left-wheel side and a distance between a sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the right-wheel side are changed relative to each other; and

(b) an actuator configured to change the stabilizer force by an operation thereof;

a pair of shock absorbers of a hydraulic type each of which is provided between the sprung portion and the unsprung portion on a corresponding one of the left-wheel side and the right-wheel side and each of which generates an absorber force as a damping force with respect to a relative movement of the sprung portion and the unsprung portion on the corresponding one of the left-wheel side and the right-wheel side toward or away from each other, the pair of shock absorbers respectively including damping-coefficient changing mechanisms each configured to change a damping coefficient that is an ability to generate the absorber force and that is a basis of a magnitude of the absorber force to be generated; and

a control device which is configured to control the stabilizer force of the stabilizer apparatus by controlling the operation of the actuator of the stabilizer apparatus and which is configured to control the damping-coefficient changing mechanisms of the pair of shock absorbers,

wherein the control device is configured to execute a body-roll damping control in which at least a part of the stabilizer force is controlled to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of a body of the vehicle,

wherein the control device is configured to change, in the body-roll damping control, a degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force and is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of each of the pair of shock absorbers such that a component of the absorber force which is generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers and which is for damping roll of the body of the vehicle becomes smaller in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is high than in an instance where the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is low, and

wherein the control device is configured such that, in the body-roll damping control, the degree of the magnitude of the roll damping force by the stabilizer force becomes higher in an instance where a running speed of the vehicle is high than in an instance where the running speed of the vehicle is low.

23. The suspension system according to claim 22, wherein the control device is configured to control, in the body-roll damping control, the at least a part of the stabilizer force to act as a roll damping force having a magnitude in accordance with a roll speed of the vehicle body relative to a horizontal plane.

24. The suspension system according to claim 23,

wherein a damping force which is required to damp a movement of each of the sprung portions and which has a magnitude in accordance with a sprung-portion absolute speed that is a speed of the movement of said each of the sprung portions is defined as a required sprung damping force while a damping force with respect to the movement of said each of the sprung portions that depends on the roll damping force by the stabilizer force is defined as a stabilizer-force-dependent sprung damping force, and

wherein the control device is configured to control, under execution of the body-roll damping control, the damping coefficient of said each of the pair of shock absorbers such that the absorber force generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers becomes equal to a difference between the required sprung damping force of said each of the pair of shock absorbers and the stabilizer-force-dependent sprung damping force.

25. The suspension system according to claim 24, wherein the control device is configured such that the damping coefficient of said each of the pair of shock absorbers that is changed by each of the damping-coefficient changing mechanisms becomes equal to a minimum one of predetermined damping coefficients when the sprung portion and the unsprung portion of said each of the pair of shock absorbers move toward or away from each other in a direction of the damping force generated by said each of the pair of shock absorbers.

26. The suspension system according to claim 22, wherein the control device is configured to execute, also under execution of the body-roll damping control, a body-roll-amount reducing control for reducing a roll amount of the body of the vehicle by controlling a part of the stabilizer force to become a force having a magnitude in accordance with roll moment that the body of the vehicle undergoes due to turning of the vehicle.

27. The suspension system according to claim 22,

wherein the stabilizer bar is constituted by a pair of stabilizer bar members each of which includes a torsion bar portion disposed so as to extend in a width direction of the vehicle and an arm portion which extends continuously from the torsion bar portion so as to intersect the torsion bar portion and which is connected at a leading end portion thereof to a wheel-holding portion that holds a corresponding one of left and right wheels, and

wherein the actuator is configured to rotate the torsion bar portions of the pair of stabilizer bar members relative to each other.

28. The suspension system according to claim 27,

wherein the actuator includes an electromagnetic motor as a power source, a decelerator which decelerates rotation of the electromagnetic motor, and a housing which holds the electromagnetic motor and the decelerator, and

wherein the torsion bar portion of one of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to the housing so as to be unrotatable relative to the housing while the torsion bar portion of the other of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to an output portion of the decelerator so as to be unrotatable relative to the output portion.