Vehicle suspension system

A suspension system for a vehicle comprising:

• a suspension spring elastically interconnecting a vehicle body and a wheel of the vehicle;
• an actuator disposed in parallel with said suspension spring and having an electric motor, such that said actuator is capable of generating, based on a force of said electric motor, an actuator force forcing the vehicle body and the wheel toward and away from each other, and causing the generated actuator force to act as a damping force against displacement of the vehicle body and the wheel toward and away from each other;
• and
• a control device configured to control the actuator force generated by said actuator, by controlling operation of said electric motor,
• wherein said control device is capable of establishing a constant-force generating state in which the actuator force is constantly generated as a constant actuator force by said actuator with supply of an electric power thereto from a battery as an electric power source of said electric motor such that the generated constant actuator force acts in one of a rebound direction for forcing the vehicle body and the wheel away from each other and a bound direction for forcing the vehicle body and the wheel toward each other,
• wherein said control device is configured to control said constant-force generating state, based on a charge state of said battery,
• wherein said suspension spring and said actuator are provided for each of four wheels as front right and left and rear right and left wheels of the vehicle, so that four actuators are provided for the respective four wheels, for generating respective constant actuator forces, and
• wherein said control device is capable of establishing a state, as said constant-force generating state, in which two of said four actuators positioned in respective positions that are diagonal to each other are assigned to generate, as the respective constant actuator forces, respective forces that act in the rebound direction while the other two of said four actuators are assigned to generate, as the respective constant actuator forces, respective forces that act in the bound direction.

A suspension system for a vehicle, comprising:

• a suspension spring elastically interconnecting a vehicle body and a wheel of the vehicle;
• an actuator disposed in parallel with said suspension spring and having an electric motor, such that said actuator is capable of generating, based on a force of said electric motor, an actuator force forcing the vehicle body and the wheel toward and away from each other, and causing the generated actuator force to act as a damping force against displacement of the vehicle body and the wheel toward and away from each other;
• and
• a control device configured to control the actuator force generated by said actuator, by controlling operation of said electric motor,
• wherein said control device is capable of establishing a constant-force generating state in which the actuator force is constantly generated as a constant actuator force by said actuator with supply of an electric power thereto from a battery as an electric power source of said electric motor such that the generated constant actuator force acts in one of a rebound direction for forcing the vehicle body and the wheel away from each other and a bound direction for forcing the vehicle body and the wheel toward each other,
• wherein said control device is configured to control said constant-force generating state, based on a charge state of said battery, and
• wherein said control device is configured, when said battery is in a highly charged state, to execute a highly-charged state control for forcedly establishing said constant-force generating state.

A suspension system for a vehicle, comprising:

• a suspension spring elastically interconnecting a vehicle body and a wheel of the vehicle;
• an actuator disposed in parallel with said suspension spring and having an electric motor, such that said actuator is capable of generating, based on a force of said electric motor, an actuator force forcing the vehicle body and the wheel toward and away from each other, and causing the generated actuator force to act as a damping force against displacement of the vehicle body and the wheel toward and away from each other;
• and
• a control device configured to control the actuator force generated by said actuator, by controlling operation of said electric motor,
• wherein said control device is capable of establishing a constant-force generating state in which the actuator force is constantly generated as a constant actuator force by said actuator with supply of an electric power thereto from a battery as an electric power source of said electric motor such that the generated constant actuator force acts in one of a rebound direction for forcing the vehicle body and the wheel away from each other and a bound direction for forcing the vehicle body and the wheel toward each other,
• wherein said control device is configured to control said constant-force generating state, based on a charge state of said battery, and
• wherein said control device is configured to limit establishment of the constant-force generating state, when said battery is in a low charged state.