Air supply system for active air suspension
AssigneeArvinMeritor Technology, LLC
InventorJeffrey M. Lloyd
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air suspension includes a plurality of air spring assemblies that each include a piston airbag and a primary airbag mounted over the piston airbag. The primary and piston airbags each have a variable volume that is controlled independently of the other for active suspension control. Each piston airbag includes a piston intake valve and a piston exhaust valve. Each primary airbag includes a control valve that is operable to supply and exhaust air from the corresponding primary airbag. The control valves and piston intake valves operate independently of each other. A compressor supplies air to a supply reservoir which is used to supply air to the primary and piston airbags. The compressor includes a bypass loop that directs exhausted air to a compressor inlet when the compressor is running.
Claims20
An air supply system for an active air suspension comprising:
- a plurality of air spring assemblies, each air spring assembly including a piston airbag and a primary airbag mounted around said piston airbag such that said piston airbag provides a rolling surface for said primary airbag;
- a piston intake valve for each piston airbag;
- a piston exhaust valve for each piston airbag;
- a control valve for each primary airbag;
- a supply reservoir to supply air to said piston airbags and said primary airbags;
- and
- a compressor assembly including an intake and an output to supply air to said supply reservoir.
A method of supplying air to an active air suspension comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a plurality of air spring assemblies, each air spring assembly including a piston airbag and a primary airbag mounted around the piston airbag such that the piston airbag provides a rolling surface for the primary airbag;
- (b) fluidly connecting a separate piston intake valve to each piston airbag to supply air to the piston airbag from a supply reservoir;
- (c) fluidly connecting a separate piston exhaust valve to each piston airbag;
- (d) fluidly connecting a separate control valve to each primary airbag to supply air to the primary airbag from the supply reservoir independently of supplying air to the piston airbags;
- and
- (e) supplying compressed air to the supply reservoir with a compressor assembly.
An air supply system for an active air suspension comprising:
- a plurality of air spring assemblies, each air spring assembly including a piston airbag and a primary airbag mounted around said piston airbag such that said piston airbag provides a rolling surface for said primary airbag;
- a discrete piston valve bock for each piston airbag;
- a common valve block for said primary airbags;
- a supply reservoir to supply air to said piston airbags and said primary airbags;
- a compressor assembly that provides a high pressure air source to said supply reservoir and directly to said air spring assemblies;
- and
- a controller that communicates a control signal to said compressor assembly to independently supply air to said primary airbags via said common valve block and to each piston airbag via a respective discrete piston valve block.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.