Suspension system for vehicle

• US 8,398,091 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2009
• Issued: 03/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KYB Corp., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kayaba Industry Company Limited, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Inoue, Hirofumi, Kondo, Takuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Dickson, Paul N
• Assistant Examiner(s): ENGLISH, JAMES A
• Application Number:
  US12/935,703
• Publication Number:
  US 20110025000A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,411 Days
• Field of Search: 280/5.5, 280/5.507, 280/5.515, 280/124.134, 280/124.135, 280/124.141, 280/124.145, 280/124.146, 280/124.154, 280/124.165, 280/124.168, 280/124.179, 188/266.1, 188/266.3, 267/2, 267/64.11
• US Class Current: 280/5.507
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0157 non-fluid unit, e.g. electric motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/06 Characteristics of dampers , e.g. mechanical dampersB60G17/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2202/42 Electric actuator
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/102 vertical
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/206 Body oscillation speed; Body vibration frequency
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/252 vertical

Abstract

A suspension system for a vehicle, including: an electromagnetic actuator configured to generate an actuator force and including a sprung-side unit supported by a sprung portion, an unsprung-side unit supported by an unsprung portion, a screw mechanism, and an electromagnetic motor; a connecting mechanism including a support spring for permitting one of the sprung-side and unsprung-side units to be floatingly supported as a floating unit by a unit-floatingly support portion that is one of the sprung and unsprung portions by which the floating unit is supported; and a controller including a sprung-vibration-damping control portion and a relative-vibration-damping control portion that is configured to execute a relative-vibration damping control for damping a vibration of the floating unit caused by the structure in which the floating unit is floatingly supported by the support spring.

Claims

1. A suspension system for a vehicle, comprising:

an electromagnetic actuator including;

(A) a sprung-side unit supported by a sprung portion;

(B) an unsprung-side unit which is supported by an unsprung portion and which moves relative to the sprung-side unit in association with a relative movement of the sprung portion and the unsprung portion toward and away from each other;

(C) a screw mechanism including a threaded rod and a nut which are screwed with each other and one of which is provided on the sprung-side unit while the other of which is provided on the unsprung-side unit, such that one of the threaded rod and the nut rotates relative to the other of the threaded rod and the nut in accordance with a relative movement of the sprung-side unit and the unsprung-side unit;

(D) an electromagnetic motor configured to give, the one of the threaded rod and the nut, a first force with respect to relative rotation of the threaded rod and nut, the actuator being configured to generate, based on the first force of the electromagnetic motor, an actuator force that is a second force with respect to the relative movement of the sprung-side unit and the unsprung-side unit;

a connecting mechanism which includes a support spring for permitting the unsprung-side unit to be floatingly supported as a floating unit by a unit-floatingly support portion that is the unsprung portion by which the unsprung-side unit is supported, the connecting mechanism being configured to connect, owing to an elastic force of the support spring, the unsprung-side unit and the unsprung portion to each other while permitting a relative movement thereof; and

a controller configured to control the actuator force of the actuator by controlling an operation of the electromagnetic motor,

wherein the controller includes;

a sprung-vibration-damping control portion configured to execute a sprung-vibration damping control for generating, as one component of the actuator force, a third force having a magnitude in accordance with a moving speed of the sprung portion, so as to damp a vibration of the sprung portion; and

a relative-vibration-damping control portion configured to execute a relative-vibration damping control for generating, as one component of the actuator force, a fourth force having a magnitude in accordance with a relative moving speed of the unsprung-side unit and the unsprung portion, so as to damp a vibration of the unsprung-side unit which is caused by the structure in which the unsprung-side unit is supported by the support spring.

2. The suspension system according to claim 1, wherein the relative-vibration-damping control portion is configured to generate the fourth force having a magnitude in accordance with the relative moving speed of the unsprung-side unit and the unsprung portion, on the basis of a rotational speed of the electromagnetic motor and a relative moving speed of the sprung portion and the unsprung portion.

3. The suspension system according to claim 1, wherein the relative-vibration-damping control portion is configured to execute, as the relative-vibration damping control, a control for restraining resonance phenomenon of the unsprung-side unit which is caused by the structure in which the unsprung-side unit is floatingly supported by the support spring.

4. The suspension system according to claim 1, wherein the controller further includes an unsprung-vibration-damping control portion configured to execute an unsprung-vibration damping control for generating, as one component of the actuator force, a fifth force having a magnitude in accordance with a moving speed of the unsprung portion, for damping a vibration of the unsprung portion.

5. The suspension system according to claim 1, wherein the controller further includes a body-posture-change-restraining control portion configured to execute, for restraining at least one of pitch and roll of a body of the vehicle, a body-posture-change restraining control for generating, as one component of the actuator force, a counter force against an acting force that acts on the body of the vehicle as a cause of the at least one of pitch and roll, the counter force having magnitude in accordance with the acting force.

6. The suspension system according claim 1, comprising a main spring configured to connect, owing to an elastic force thereof, the sprung portion and the unsprung portion.

7. The suspension system according to claim 1, comprising a connect spring configured to connect, owing to an elastic force thereof, the unsprung-side unit and the sprung portion by which the sprung-side unit is supported.

8. The suspension system according to claim 1, further comprising a hydraulic damper configured to generate a counter force against the relative movement of the sprung portion and the unsprung portion.

9. The suspension system according to claim 1, wherein the connecting mechanism includes a hydraulic damper configured to generate a counter force against the relative movement of the unsprung-side unit and the unsprung portion.

10. The suspension system according to claim 1, wherein the relative-vibration-damping control portion is configured to execute the relative-vibration damping control only in a situation in which a component of an intensity of the vibration of the unsprung-side unit with respect to a specific frequency is higher than a threshold.

11. The suspension system according to claim 10, wherein the relative-vibration-damping control portion is configured to execute, as the relative-vibration damping control, a control for restraining resonance phenomenon of the unsprung-side unit which is caused by the structure in which the unsprung-side unit is floatingly supported by the support spring and is configured to execute the control only in a situation in which a component of the intensity of the vibration of the unsprung-side unit with respect to a resonance frequency in the resonance phenomenon as the specific frequency is higher than the threshold.

12. The suspension system according to claim 1, further comprising a relative-displacement limiting mechanism configured to limit a relative displacement of the unsprung-side unit and the unsprung portion in the relative movement thereof.

13. The suspension system according to claim 12, wherein the relative-vibration-damping control portion is configured such that a control gain set for the fourth force to be generated by the actuator in the relative-vibration damping control is made larger in an instance where an amount of the relative displacement of the unsprung-side unit and the unsprung portion in the relative movement thereof exceeds a threshold than an instance where the amount of the relative displacement does not exceed the threshold.

14. The suspension system according to claim 12, wherein the relative-vibration-damping control portion is configured such that a control gain set for the fourth force to be generated by the actuator in the relative-vibration damping control increases with an increase in an amount of the relative displacement of the unsprung-side unit and the unsprung portion in the relative movement thereof.