Damper control device

• US 9,751,373 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2015
• Issued: 09/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KYB Corp.
• Original Assignee: KYB Corp.
• Inventors: Kurita, Norihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Jos, Basil T
• Application Number:
  US15/126,184
• Publication Number:
  US 20170080769A1
• Time in Patent Office: 866 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/016 characterised by their responsiveness, when the vehicle is travelling, to specific motion, a specific condition, or driver input B60G17/017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/0182 involving parameter estimation, e.g. observer, Kalman filter
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/01908 Acceleration or inclination sensors characterised by the use of gyroscopes B60G21/08
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/01933 Velocity, e.g. relative velocity-displacement sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 17/08 Characteristics of fluid dampers adjusting fluid dampers in general F16F9/44 - F16F9/53
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2202/24 Fluid damper
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2300/12 Cycles; Motorcycles
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/0511 Roll angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/0522 Pitch rate
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/0523 Yaw rate
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/104 lateral or transversal with regard to vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2400/5182 Fluid damper
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2500/10 Damping action or damper
• CPC Class Codes: B60G 2800/014 Pitch; Nose dive
• CPC Class Codes: B62J 45/4152 for sensing longitudinal inclination of the cycle
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 2025/044 Suspensions with automatic adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: B62K 25/04 for mounting axles resiliently on cycle frame or fork for sidecars, forecars or the like B62K27/06

Abstract

The damper control device includes a three axis rate sensor that detects a pitching angular velocity of a vehicle body of a two-wheeled vehicle, a pressure sensor that detects a pressure of a contraction-side chamber in a front-wheel side damper, a pressure sensor that detects a pressure of a contraction-side chamber of a rear-wheel side damper, and a correction unit that corrects the pitching angular velocity. The damper control device controls the pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the front-wheel side damper and the pressure of the contraction-side chamber of the rear-wheel side damper on the basis of the corrected pitching angular velocity, the pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the front-wheel side damper and the pressure of the contraction-side chamber of the rear-wheel side damper.

Claims

1. A damper control device comprising:

a pitching angular velocity detection unit configured to detect a pitching angular velocity of a vehicle body of a two-wheeled vehicle;

a roll angle detection unit configured to detect a roll angle of the vehicle body;

a yaw angular velocity detection unit configured to detect a yaw angular velocity of the vehicle body;

a front-wheel side pressure detection unit configured to detect a pressure of a contraction-side chamber in a front-wheel side damper, the front-wheel side damper being interposed between the vehicle body and a front-wheel of the two-wheeled vehicle;

a rear-wheel side pressure detection unit configured to detect a pressure of a contraction-side chamber in a rear-wheel side damper, the rear-wheel side damper being interposed between the vehicle body and a rear-wheel of the two-wheeled vehicle; and

a correction unit configured to correct the pitching angular velocity on the basis of the roll angle and the yaw angular velocity, the correction unit being configured to remove a component based on the roll angle and the yaw angular velocity from the detected pitching angular velocity during turning of the two-wheeled vehicle, wherein

the pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the front-wheel side damper and the pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the rear-wheel side damper are controlled on the basis of the corrected pitching angular velocity, the pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the front-wheel side damper, and the pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the rear-wheel side damper.

2. The damper control device according to claim 1, wherein

the correction unit includes a high-pass filter configured to filter the pitching angular velocity detected by the pitching angular velocity detection unit.

3. The damper control device according to claim 1, wherein

a target torque that reduces the pitching of the vehicle body is obtained using the corrected pitching angular velocity, the damper that is contracted by the pitching is selected out of the front-wheel side damper and the rear-wheel side damper using the target torque, a target pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the selected damper is obtained, and the pressure of the contraction-side chamber of the selected damper is fed back to control the pressure of the contraction-side chamber of the selected damper.

4. The damper control device according to claim 1, further comprising

a velocity detection unit configured to detect a vertical direction velocity of the vehicle body, wherein

a target torque that reduces the pitching of the vehicle body is obtained using the corrected pitching angular velocity,

a pitching reducing damping force of a front-wheel side and a pitching reducing damping force of a rear-wheel side are obtained using the target torque, the pitching reducing damping force of the front-wheel side being required for reducing the pitching of the front-wheel side damper, the pitching reducing damping force of the rear-wheel side being required for reducing the pitching of the rear-wheel side damper,

a bounce reducing damping force of the front-wheel side and a bounce reducing damping force of the rear-wheel side are obtained using the vertical direction velocity, the bounce reducing damping forced being required for reducing the bounce near a center of the vehicle body,

a target front-wheel side pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the front-wheel side damper is obtained using the pitching reducing damping force of the front-wheel side and the bounce reducing damping force of the front-wheel side, and the pressure of the contraction-side chamber of the front-wheel side damper is fed back to control the pressure of the contraction-side chamber of the front-wheel side damper, and

a target rear-wheel side pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the rear-wheel side damper is obtained using the pitching reducing damping force in the rear-wheel side and the bounce reducing damping force in the rear-wheel side, and the pressure of the contraction-side chamber of the rear-wheel side damper is fed back to control the pressure of the contraction-side chamber of the rear-wheel side damper.

5. The damper control device according to claim 4, further comprising

a centrifugal force correction unit configured to remove an influence of a centrifugal acceleration using the vertical direction velocity of the vehicle body.

6. The damper control device according to claim 1, further comprising

a velocity detection unit configured to detect a vertical direction velocity of the vehicle body, wherein

a target torque that reduces the pitching of the vehicle body is obtained using the corrected pitching angular velocity,

the damper that is contracted by the pitching is selected out of the front-wheel side damper and the rear-wheel side damper using the target torque, a target pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the selected damper is obtained on the basis of the target torque and the vertical direction velocity, and the pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the selected damper is fed back to control the pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the selected damper.

7. The damper control device according to claim 6, wherein

when the front-wheel side damper is selected, the target pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the front-wheel side damper is obtained on the basis of the target torque, the vertical direction velocity, and a brake signal of the two-wheeled vehicle.

8. The damper control device according to claim 6, wherein

when the rear wheel side damper is selected, the target pressure of the contraction-side chamber in the rear-wheel side damper is obtained on the basis of the target torque, the vertical direction velocity, and an accelerator signal of the two-wheeled vehicle.

9. The damper control device according to claim 1, wherein

the front-wheel side damper and the rear-wheel side damper include:

a cylinder;

a piston slidably inserted into the cylinder, the piston partitioning the inside of the cylinder into the contraction-side chamber filled by liquid and an expansion-side chamber filled by liquid;

a reservoir that communicates with the contraction-side chamber,

an expansion-side damping passage configured to give a resistance to a flow of the liquid from the expansion-side chamber to the contraction-side chamber;

a contraction-side passage provided in parallel with respect to the expansion-side damping passage, the contraction-side passage allowing only a flow of the liquid from the contraction-side chamber to the expansion-side chamber;

a contraction-side damping passage configured to give a resistance to a flow of the liquid from the contraction-side chamber to the reservoir;

a suction passage provided in parallel with respect to the contraction-side damping passage, the suction passage allowing only a flow of the liquid from the reservoir to the contraction-side chamber;

a bypass passage provided in parallel with respect to the contraction-side damping passage and the suction passage, the bypass passage allowing the contraction-side chamber to communicate with the reservoir; and

a pressure control element provided at the bypass passage and configured to adjust the pressure of the contraction-side chamber.