Adaptive off-state control method

A method for controlling the operation of a suspension system including a controllable damper having an on-state and off-state interconnected between a supporting and supported members, the method comprising the steps of:

• monitoring the conditions of operation of the suspension system and generating data indicative thereof;
• generating from the data a relative displacement signal and a relative velocity signal;
• processing the relative displacement signal and the relative velocity signal to provide damper command signals to the controllable damper to adjust damping thereof in the on-state in accordance with a primary control method;
• and
• modulating the damper command signals for the off-state in accordance with the relative displacement signal in order to adapt an off-state damping value with respect to the relative displacement signal.

A method for controlling the operation of a suspension system including a controllable damper having an on-state and off-state interconnected between a supporting and supported members, the method comprising the steps of:

• monitoring the conditions of operation of the suspension system and generating data indicative thereof;
• generating from the data a relative displacement signal and a relative velocity signal;
• processing the relative displacement signal and the relative velocity signal to provide damper command signals to the controllable damper to adjust damping thereof in the on-state in accordance with a primary control method;
• and
• modulating the damper command signals for the off-state in accordance with a measure of power in the system in order to adapt an off-state damping value with respect to the measure of power.

A system for controlling the operation of a suspension system, comprising:

• a controllable damper having an on-state and an off-state, the controllable damper operable to receive a command signal to activate the on-state or the off-state;
• a sensor system having an input representative of a condition of operation of the suspension system and generating output data indicative thereof;
• and
• a controller in communication with the controllable damper and the sensor system, the controller having a processor for receiving the output data from the sensor system and for generating the command signal according to a first predetermined control parameter, wherein the first predetermined control parameter automatically modulates the command signal for the off-state over time based upon the condition of operation in order to adjust an off-state damping value with respect to the condition of operation.

A system for controlling the operation of a suspension system, comprising:

• a controllable damper having an on-state and an off-state, the on-state corresponding to an on-state damping characteristic and the off-state corresponding to an off-state damping characteristic, where the on-state damping characteristic is greater than the off-state damping characteristic, the controllable damper operable to receive a command signal to activate the on-state or the off-state;
• a sensor system having an input representative of a condition of operation of the suspension system and generating output data indicative thereof;
• an off-state processor operable to receive a first input corresponding to the sensor system output data and operable to generate an off-state signal based thereon, wherein the off-state signal is automatically modulated over time based upon the condition of operation in order to adjust an off-state damping value with respect to the condition of operation;
• an on-state processor operable to receive a second input corresponding to the sensor system output data and operable to generate an on-state signal based thereon, wherein the on-state signal activates a primary control parameter for actively controlling the controllable damper;
• and
• a controller in communication with the off-state processor and the on-state processor, the controller operable to generate the command signal based on the off-state signal or based on the on-state signal depending on the condition of operation.

A suspension system, comprising:

• a supporting member;
• a supported member;
• a semi-active damper interconnected between the supporting member and the supported member, the damper having an on-state and an off-state, the damper switchable between the on-state and the off-state by a command signal;
• a sensor system operable to receive a system input representative of an operating condition of the supported member relative to the supporting member and to generate output data representative thereof;
• a primary control mechanism for receiving the output data and generating an on-state control signal, the on-state control signal associated with one of a plurality of on-state damping characteristic for controlling the damper in the on-state in accordance with a first set of predetermined instructions as determined by the output data;
• an off-state control mechanism for receiving the output data and generating an off-state control signal, the off-state control signal associated with one of a plurality of off-state damping characteristics for controlling the damper in the off-state in accordance with a second set of predetermined instructions as determined by the output data, wherein the off-state control signal is automatically modulated over time based upon the output data in order to adjust an off-state damping value with respect to the output data;
• and
• a controller for generating the command signal based on the on-state control signal or the off-state control signal, the controller comprising a switching mechanism for selectively receiving the on-state control signal or the off-state control signal in accordance with a third set of predetermined instructions as determined by the output data.