Land vehicles – Body elevation or tilt – Establishing riding or trim height
Patent
1992-05-18
1993-12-14
Tyson, Karin L.
Land vehicles
Body elevation or tilt
Establishing riding or trim height
280708, 280714, B60G 21067, B60G 21073
Patent
active
052695565
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a suspension system for a vehicle, and is specifically related to controlling the movement of the wheels relative to the vehicle body when traversing uneven surfaces and turning at speed.
In known suspension systems resilient means such as springs or torsion bars are provided to perform a multiplicity of functions ranging from the absorption of impact loading (as from hitting bumps at speed) to the provision of flexible support to enable all the wheels to maintain contact with uneven terrain. Additionally applied loads such as cargo deflects traditional suspensions to induce wheel travel in a similar manner to dynamic or contour loadings.
Traditional resiliently sprung suspensions are based on each wheel assembly being provided with an individual resilient component which mechanically supports the respective "corners" of the vehicle. The resilient components are rapidly progressive and normal vehicle weight is only distributed to each wheel when all the wheels collectively describe a flat plane surface. When a wheel of a vehicle passes over (or is parked on) a bump, this wheel carries more vehiclular weight than it normally carries on flat ground. Meanwhile the other wheels are correspondingly relieved of some of that weight.
These rapidly progressive resiliently sprung suspension systems work satisfactorily only within a very narrow spectrum of dynamic, static and applied loading situations, and any type of overloading or even underloading of a vehicle normally adversely affects its abilities to maintain traction, average ground clearance, and quality of ride. Moreover the scope of demands upon known resilient suspension systems leads to self conflicting performance characteristics as there is no inherent ability in the system to detect and react differently to diverse situations, which cause resonant rebounding, requiring excessive damping with shock absorbers limiting free movement of unsprung weight.
Recently resilient spring suspension systems have begun to incorporate variable damping and spring rates in an attempt to redress some of the shortcomings. Some other more advanced suspension systems (active and semi-active suspensions) incorporate a number of electronic sensors and accelerometers which monitor information such as vertical wheel travel and body roll, as well as speed, steering and braking commands. This and other data is processed by a computer which instructs hydraulic actuators to override the normal function of resilient springs in order to interpret, compensate and adjust the suspensions performance to suit speed, terrain and other factors in order to maintain a level ride and even distribution of weight onto the wheels. These suspension systems therefore need an external intelligent back-up system therefore need an external intelligent back-up system and the actuators require a substantial input of external energy drawn from the vehicle engine.
A range of active and semi-active suspensions for vehicles have been proposed recently including systems operating on the basis of compression and/or displacement of fluids and a limited number of versions of these forms of suspension are already incorporated in production vehicles. However, the systems currently in use employing a liquid and/or gaseous medium usually incorporate a pump to maintain the liquid or gas at the required pressure and distribution, and sophisticated control mechanisms to regulate the operation of the suspension system in accordance with sensed road and/or vehicle operating conditions. These known systems incorporating pumps and electronic control systems, are comparatively expensive to construct and maintain and require energy input, and therefore have limited acceptability in the vehicle industry.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a suspension system which has the advantages of the liquid and/or gas systems, but is considerably simpler in construction and operates more effectively.
With this object in view, there is provided by the present invention a vehicle hav
REFERENCES:
patent: 2988372 (1961-06-01), Higginbotham
patent: 3945664 (1976-03-01), Hiruma
patent: 4478431 (1984-10-01), Muller et al.
patent: 4586728 (1986-05-01), Tokunaga et al.
Towerhill Holdings Pty. Ltd.
Tyson Karin L.
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