Control system for motor vehicle suspension unit
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsGary M. Klinger, Thomas G. Reichenbach, Shunso F. Watanabe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An operating system for an adjustable suspension unit having adjustable damping capability includes a suspension control unit which modulates the force imposed upon the body of the motor vehicle by adjusting the force developed by the suspension unit according to the particular stroke of the cycle in which the suspension unit is operating so that the suspension unit will exert a net force upon the body in a desired direction.
Claims13
A suspension system for a motor vehicle having a body and road wheels supporting said body, with said road wheels being connected to said body on said suspension system, said suspension system comprising:
- an adjustable suspension unit comprising a damping device and adjustment means for adjusting the damping force produced by said damping device in response to a control signal;
- sensor means for predicting acceleration of said vehicle;
- and
- a control system operatively connected to said adjustment means for producing said control signal for controlling the damping of said adjustable suspension unit in response to a predicted acceleration signal from said sensor means so that said suspension unit will resist roll of said body resulting from said acceleration, said control system comprising
- means for determining a particular stroke of the cycle in which said suspension unit is operating;
- and
- means for controlling the force produced by said suspension unit during any particular stroke of said suspension unit such that said suspension unit will, if located on that side of said body tending to move downward during a roll movement, apply a net force in an upward direction against said body, whereas in the event that said suspension unit is located on that side of said body tending to move upward during said roll movement, said suspension unit will be controlled so as to apply a downwardly directed force against said body.
A method for operating a motor vehicle suspension unit having adjustable damping capability, where said vehicle has a body supported by road wheels connected to said body by said suspension unit, said method comprising the steps of:
- detecting vertical motion of said body with respect to a horiziontal global reference plane;
- directly measuring the magnitude of the force developed by said suspension unit by a load cell;
- and
- adjusting the magnitude of the force developed by said suspension unit according to the particular stroke of the cycle in which said suspenion unit is operating, so that said suspension unit will exert a net force upon said body in a direction tending to resist the detected vertical motion of said body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.