Composite material spring for suspension device of vehicle, and method for controlling driving of vehicle using the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11453263-B2
Application number	US-202117371686-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2021
Priority date	Dec 7, 2020
Publication date	Sep 27, 2022
Grant date	Sep 27, 2022

Abstract

An embodiment composite material spring for a suspension device of a vehicle includes a leaf spring configured to be installed in a body of the vehicle and a wheel of the vehicle, a first fluid container installed at a left side of a center of the leaf spring and including a first magnetorheological fluid, and a second fluid container installed at a right side of the center of the leaf spring and including a second magnetorheological fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A composite material spring for a suspension device of a vehicle, the composite material spring comprising:
a leaf spring configured to be installed at a body of the vehicle and a wheel of the vehicle;
a first fluid container installed at a left side of a center of the leaf spring and including a first magnetorheological fluid; and
a second fluid container installed at a right side of the center of the leaf spring and including a second magnetorheological fluid, wherein:
the first fluid container includes first electromagnets configured to apply a first magnetic fluid to the first magnetorheological fluid to adjust a stiffness of the composite material spring; and
the second fluid container includes second electromagnets configured to apply a second magnetic field to the second magnetorheological fluid to adjust the stiffness of the composite material spring.

2. The composite material spring of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid container and the second fluid container are installed in respective holes in the leaf spring.

3. The composite material spring of claim 1 , wherein the first fluid container and the second fluid container are installed on a respective surface of the leaf spring.

4. A method for controlling driving of a vehicle using a composite material spring for a suspension device of the vehicle, the method comprising:
determining a longitudinal inclination angle of the vehicle according to a rear load of the vehicle as being greater than or equal to a reference inclination angle; and
controlling a stiffness of the composite material spring installed at a rear wheel of the vehicle to be larger than a stiffness of a composite material spring installed at a front wheel of the vehicle,
wherein the composite material spring comprises:
a leaf spring installed at each of a body of the vehicle and wheels of the vehicle, including the front wheel and the rear wheel of the vehicle;
a first fluid container installed at a left side of a center of the leaf spring and including a first magnetorheological fluid having a stiffness adjusted according to an amount of output current of a controller; and
a second fluid container installed at a right side of the center of the leaf spring and including a second magnetorheological fluid having a stiffness adjusted according to the amount of output current of the controller.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the first fluid container includes first electromagnets that apply a first magnetic field to the first magnetorheological fluid to adjust the stiffness of the first magnetorheological fluid; and
the second fluid container includes second electromagnets that apply a second magnetic field to the second magnetorheological fluid to adjust the stiffness of the second magnetorheological fluid.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first fluid container and the second fluid container are installed in respective holes in the leaf spring.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first fluid container and the second fluid container are installed on respective surfaces of the leaf spring.

8. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that a steering angle of a steering wheel of the vehicle is greater than or equal to a reference steering angle;
determining that steering of the steering wheel of the vehicle is counterclockwise; and
controlling the stiffness of a composite material spring installed at a right wheel of the vehicle to be larger than the stiffness of a composite material spring installed at a left wheel of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that a steering angle of a steering wheel of the vehicle is greater than or equal to a reference steering angle;
determining that steering of the steering wheel of the vehicle is clockwise; and
controlling the stiffness of a composite material spring installed at a left wheel of the vehicle to be larger than the stiffness of a composite material spring installed at a right wheel of the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that a steering angle of a steering wheel of the vehicle is less than a reference steering angle;
determining that a velocity of the vehicle is greater than or equal to a reference velocity; and
controlling the stiffness of the composite material springs installed at each of the wheels of the vehicle to be smaller than a reference value.

11. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that a steering angle of a steering wheel of the vehicle is less than a reference steering angle;
determining that a velocity of the vehicle is less than a reference velocity; and
controlling the stiffness of the composite material springs installed at each of the wheels of the vehicle with a reference value.

12. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that an acceleration velocity of the vehicle is greater than or equal to a reference acceleration velocity;
determining that an acceleration of the vehicle is a forward-direction acceleration of the vehicle; and
controlling the stiffness of the composite material spring installed at the rear wheel of the vehicle to be larger than a reference value.

13. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that an acceleration velocity of the vehicle is less than a reference acceleration velocity; and
controlling the stiffness of the composite material springs installed at each of the wheels of the vehicle with a reference value.

14. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining that an acceleration velocity of the vehicle is greater than or equal to a reference acceleration velocity;
determining that an acceleration of the vehicle is a backward-direction acceleration of the vehicle; and
controlling the stiffness of the composite material spring installed at the front wheel of the vehicle to be larger than a reference value.

15. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining there is a protrusion on a front road on which the vehicle is to travel; and
controlling, the stiffness of the composite material spring installed at the front wheel of the vehicle to be smaller than a reference value when the front wheel of the vehicle reaches the protrusion, and then controlling the stiffness of the composite material spring installed at the rear wheel of the vehicle to be smaller than the reference value when the rear wheel of the vehicle reaches the protrusion.

16. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining there is no protrusion on a front road on which the vehicle is to travel; and
controlling the stiffness of the composite material springs installed at each of the wheels of the vehicle with a reference value.

17. A method for controlling driving of a vehicle using a composite material spring for a suspension device of the vehicle that includes a composite material spring at each of a body of the vehicle and wheels of the vehicle, wherein each of the composite material springs comprises a leaf spring, a first fluid container installed at a left side of the leaf spring and including a first magnetorheological fluid having a stiffness adjusted according to an amount of output current of a controller, and a second fluid container installed at a right side of the leaf spring and including a second magnetorheological fluid having a stiffness adjusted according to the amount of output current of the controller, the method comprising:
determining whether a longitudinal inclination angle of the vehicle according to a rear load of the vehicle is g

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Corp

Inventors

• Suh Jingyo
• Lee Ji Hoon

Classifications

• B60G2400/821

  Uneven, rough road sensing affecting vehicle body vibration · CPC title

• B60G2500/20

  Spring action or springs · CPC title

• B60G2400/106

  longitudinal with regard to vehicle, e.g. braking · CPC title

• B60G17/0157

  non-fluid unit, e.g. electric motor · CPC title

• B60G2800/014

  Pitch; Nose dive · CPC title