Boots – shoes – and leggings
Patent
1991-12-19
1994-03-15
Chin, Gary
Boots, shoes, and leggings
280707, 280840, B60G 1701
Patent
active
052950743
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a vehicle suspension control system. By "vehicle" is meant all classes of vehicle capable of motion on land, and the term includes motor vehicles, lorry cabs and trailers, tractors and tracked vehicles.
In particular, the invention relates to a vehicle suspension control system for controlling the suspension of a vehicle having an active suspension system.
Active suspension systems are well known. For example, our European Patent Application No. EP-A-0114757 discloses an active suspension system in which a number of sensor inputs representing variables of vehicle motion are processed in a microprocessor to produce signals representing forces required at the points of support of the vehicle body on its wheel/hub assemblies. The required forces are applied by respective hydraulic actuators disposed between the vehicle body and each wheel/hub assembly to maintain as nearly as possible a constant attitude of the vehicle.
Active suspension systems operate on the principles either of measuring the forces acting between the vehicle body and the wheel/hub assemblies or of calculating such forces from measured values indicative of vehicle behaviour.
The main problem faced by the designer of an active suspension system is the difficulty that whilst the vehicle suspension system should respond to perturbations in the road (dynamic inputs) by moving the actuators attached to the wheel and hub assembly, the suspension system should not cause the actuators to deflect in response to loads imposed upon the vehicle by reason of "steady state inputs". "Steady state inputs" include loads being placed on the suspension due to the cornering and acceleration/deacceleration of the vehicle. "Steady state input" also include variations on the load of the vehicle due to load carried inside the vehicle and aerodynamic forces on the vehicle. Such "steady state inputs" should generally not cause displacement of the actuators. In other words, the designer is faced with the problem of designing a suspension system which is "soft" to road input whilst being "hard" to steady state inputs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided a vehicle suspension control system comprising: and one or more unsprung masses connected thereto and producing signals proportional to said forces; dynamic force components respectively; vector quantities required between the sprung mass and the or each unsprung mass to maintain a constant orientation of said sprung mass relative to a reference plane; vector quantities required between the sprung mass and the or each unsprung mass substantially to eliminate the transmission of dynamic forces between the sprung mass and the or each unsprung mass; and
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
There now follows a description of a specific embodiment of the invention, by way of example, with reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan representation of a motor vehicle having a control system according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic elevational view of one corner of the vehicle of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the principles of operation of the control system of FIGS. 1 and 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a motor vehicle 10 having four wheels 11, 12, 13, 14. The motor Vehicle 10 has a body 15 and the wheels 11, 12, 13, 14 are connected to the body 15 by suspension and steering or drive components (not shown in detail). The suspension components are described below in relation to FIG. 2.
The front wheels 11 and 12 of the vehicle 10 are steerable, and the vehicle has a conventional steering linkage 17 driven by steering wheel 18 via steering column 19.
The vehicle 10 of FIG. 1 has an on-board computer 20 incorporating a microprocessor 21. Microprocessor 21 receives signals from a number of sensors distributed about the vehicle and controls the suspension of the vehicle 10 in response to the signals.
Each wheel and
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patent: 4898257 (1990-02-01), Brandstadter
patent: 4907154 (1990-03-01), Yasuda et al.
patent: 4967359 (1990-10-01), Sugasawa et al.
patent: 5046008 (1991-09-01), Dieter
patent: 5071157 (1991-12-01), Majeed
patent: 5119297 (1992-06-01), Buma et al.
Chin Gary
Group Lotus PLC
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