US 8,229,642 B2Granted

Vehicle systems control for improving stability

AssigneeHonda Motor Co., Ltd.

InventorsJames W. Post, II, Xiaodi Kang, William Monsma

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Abstract

Improved methods of controlling the stability of a vehicle are provided via the cooperative operation of vehicle stability control systems such as an Active Yaw Control system, Antilock Braking System, and Traction Control System. These methods use recognition of road surface information including the road friction coefficient (mu), wheel slippage, and yaw deviations. The methods then modify the settings of the active damping system and/or the distribution of drive torque, as necessary, to increase/reduce damping in the suspension and shift torque application at the wheels, thus preventing a significant shift of load in the vehicle and/or improving vehicle drivability and comfort. The adjustments of the active damping system or torque distribution temporarily override any characteristics that were pre-selected by the driver.

Claims7

Dependent claims

A cooperative Active Damping System (ADS) method for providing enhanced stability of a vehicle travelling on a road, comprising the steps of:

providing an Active Damping System (ADS) for adjusting suspension characteristics on the vehicle;
providing an Antilock Braking System (ABS) on the vehicle;
providing a Traction Control System (TCS) on the vehicle;
providing an Active Yaw Control (AYC) system on the vehicle;
inferring a high coefficient of friction of the road surface when an operational (Activating/Not activating) status of at least one of the TCS and AYC systems is “Activating” and a vector representation of the vehicle's longitudinal and lateral acceleration is greater than 0.5 g, and inferring a low coefficient of friction of the road surface when the operational status of at least one of the TCS and AYC systems is “Activating” and the vector representation of acceleration is below 0.3 g;
and
upon inferring a high coefficient of road surface friction, adjusting a damping state of the ADS to a high damping setting;
and
upon inferring a low coefficient of road surface friction, adjusting the damping state of the ADS to a low damping setting.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/019,341Filed 24 Jan 2008 · us provisional application
Priority: 25 Jan 2007
Published: US 2008/0183353 A131 Jul 2008
Granted: 24 Jul 2012
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification32 codes

B60T 8/17555
Brake regulation specially adapted to control the stability of the vehicle, e.g. taking into account yaw rate or transverse acceleration in a…
B60G 17/0165
Characterised by their responsiveness, when the vehicle is travelling, to specific motion, a specific condition, or driver input: to an external…
B60G 17/0195
The regulating means comprising electric or electronic elements: characterised by the regulation being combined with other vehicle control systems
B60G 17/06
Resilient suspensions having means for adjusting the spring or vibration-damper characteristics, for regulating the distance between a…