Land vehicles – Wheeled – Articulated vehicle
Patent
1984-04-16
1987-08-25
Love, John J.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Articulated vehicle
180135, 280446B, B62D 5304
Patent
active
046888187
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method for regulating the bending stability of road vehicles with at least two vehicle parts connected by an articulation unit, whereby said vehicle parts can be in a stationary, non-stationary, stable or instable travelling state, and an articulation unit with an articulation operable by means of hydraulic adjusting means and a hydraulic control mechanism controllable by means of an electronic computer with check valves arranged in the hydraulic circuit and at least one damping valve for performing the method.
In the case of single-articulation road vehicles, in which the drive is positioned in the rear, the disadvantage occurs that when cornering on icy roads, the thrust exerted on the rear axle attempts to increase the bending angle between the vehicle parts. When travelling in a straight line, at around 100 km/h instabilities occur even under normal road con ions, as a result of vehicle and steering momentums. In the case of multiple-articulation road vehicles, such unstable travelling states occur even at lower speeds. As this can lead to critical driving situations, it has been proposed for single-articulation vehicles to interconnect the vehicle parts by means of a swivel joint, which has a locking mechanism. The control part of the latter comprises a potentiometer in the articulation, as well as a potentiometer which is driven by the steering system and an electronic regulator, which compares the potentiometer voltages. If the voltage value associated with the joint is higher than the value associated with the steering system, the regulator provides the hydraulic control unit with an instruction to operate the articulation lock.
The disadvantage of this known mechanism is that a correcting measure can only be carried out on exceeding the bending limit for stationary circular travel. By then, valuable time has elapsed and the tail of the vehicle has taken up kinetic energy, which must be dissipated in order to bring the vehicle under control again. Therefore, instabilities can occur in the case of single-articulation vehicles at higher speeds, which can no longer be compensated by the control mechanism. In the case of two-articulation and multiple-articulation vehicles, the known mechanism is unsuitable, because up to the time of exceeding the bending limit for stationary circular travel, as a result of its length, the vehicle has taken up so much energy and is in a skidding state, that the hydraulic means are no longer in a position to dissipate this energy and consequently the vehicle goes out of control.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method for regulating the bending stability of multiple-articulation vehicles, which permits a faster and more accurate regulation of the bending stability, so that a stable travelling state is ensured, even at high speeds.
According to the invention, this object is achived in that firstly the associated articulation angle .beta.i for the steering angle .alpha.i possible under stable travelling conditions is determined. While travelling, the articulation angle is then repeatedly checked after a predetermined distance .DELTA.s to establish whether the articulation angle .beta.i predetermined at the start of the distance .DELTA.s as a function of the particular steering angle .alpha.i corresponds to the articulation angle which actually occurs at the end of the distance .DELTA.s. If the actual value for the articulation angle differs from the desired value of the articulation angle, the predetermined hydraulic functions for follow-up are performed until, while taking account of the permitted tolerances, the actual value of the articulation angle corresponds to the desired value thereof. If the articulation angle passes above or below permitted tolerance limits .beta.I limit, .beta.II limit, then measures are taken preventing an incorrect movement direction and which permit or assist the reaching of the desired travelling state. As a function of the selected steering angle, a specific articulation angle is always
REFERENCES:
patent: 4106792 (1978-08-01), Schultz
patent: 4313616 (1982-02-01), Howard
patent: 4344640 (1982-08-01), Ratsko
patent: 4365685 (1982-12-01), Ratsko
patent: 4455035 (1984-06-01), Ivony
Diederiks, Jr. Everett G.
Love John J.
LandOfFree
Method for regulating the bending stability of road vehicles does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method for regulating the bending stability of road vehicles, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method for regulating the bending stability of road vehicles will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1919234