Land vehicles – Wheeled – Running gear
Patent
1985-12-12
1987-04-28
Love, John J.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Running gear
280 6R, 280707, B62D 902, B60G 1700
Patent
active
046608532
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to vehicle body tilting systems of the kind which includes tilt actuator means for controlling the direction and magnitude of tilt of the vehicle body during vehicle cornering and tilt control valve means responsive to centripetal acceleration of the vehicle operatively connected to the actuator means, the tilt actuator means and tilt control valve means being operative to tilt the vehicle body so that the vehicle body remains substantially in line with the resultant vector of gravity and the centripetal acceleration.
THE PRIOR ART
A vehicle body tilting system of the kind described above is described in EP No. 0 020 835 A. From experience with other systems relating to vehicle suspensions it is thought that the response of hydraulic control valves may be inadequate in certain vehicle manoevres. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle body tilting system of the kind described which is responsive to steering movements which cause changes in centripetal acceleration.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, in a vehicle body tilting system of the kind referred to the tilt control valve means is also operatively connected to the steering mechanism of the vehicle such that the tilt actuator means gives a response to a change in steering angle in the same sense as the response due to the change in centripetal acceleration resulting from the change in steering angle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings the
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a hydraulically operable vehicle body tilting system, and; the
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of an electronic arrangement for a vehicle body tilting system in accordance with the features of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing (FIG. 1) which is a diagrammatic view of a vehicle body tilting system according to the invention.
In the drawing there is shown tilt actuator means in the form of a double-acting hydraulic ram 11 which acts between a chassis frame and a body frame of a three wheeled vehicle as described in EP No. 0 020 835 A. The ram 11 is operatively connected to a spool-type control valve 12 by hydraulic lines 13 and 14 which are selectively connected to a pressure line 15 or a return line 16 according to the position of the valve spool 17. Hydraulic pressure is supplied to line 15 by a conventional pump 18, cut-out regulator valve 19 and accumulator 21.
A pendulum 22 is connected to the valve spool 17 through a spring-box (not shown), the arrangement being such that when the pendulum 22 hangs freely and the vehicle is on a flat level ground, the actuator 11 supports the vehicle body upright and the valve spool 17 is in the lap position. During cornering of the vehicle the pendulum 22 and spool valve 12 act as tilt control valve means operative to tilt the vehicle body so that the normally upright axis of the vehicle body remains substantially in line with the resultant vector of gravity and the centrifugal force acting on the vehicle. This means that under steady state cornering conditions, the pendulum 22 remains in the normal position relative to the vehicle body and the occupants of the vehicle experience no lateral forces. When the pendulum moves from the position shown in the drawing, hydraulic pressure in lines 13 and 14 increases or decreases to restore the valve spool 17 to the lap position.
The spool valve 12 is also operatively connected to the steering mechanism of the vehicle by hydraulic lines 23 and 24 which are connected to chambers 25 and 26 respectively. These chambers 25 and 26 are formed by the end faces of the housing 27 of the spool valve 12 and by flexible diaphragms 28 which are secured to the spool valve housing 27. The diaphragms 28 and valve body 27 function as slave cylinder devices which respond to hydraulic pressure developed by a double acting master cylinder device 28A
REFERENCES:
patent: 3285623 (1966-11-01), Winsen
patent: 4333668 (1982-06-01), Hendrickson et al.
patent: 4357033 (1982-11-01), Lee
patent: 4487429 (1984-12-01), Ruggles
patent: 4573702 (1986-03-01), Klem
Love John J.
Rice Kenneth R.
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