Stabilizer system for vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11718141-B2
Application number	US-202117224500-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2021
Priority date	Jun 9, 2020
Publication date	Aug 8, 2023
Grant date	Aug 8, 2023

Abstract

In each of a first stabilizer device and a second stabilizer device, a stabilizer bar is supported by one or more cylinders, a communication passage via which two fluid chambers of each cylinder are connected is provided, and an opening-closing valve is disposed in the communication passage such that an inter-fluid-chamber communication state where the two fluid chambers communicate with each other and an inter-fluid-chamber shutoff state where the two fluid chambers are shut off from each other are selectively established. Hereby, a vehicle body roll restraining effect is achieved in the inter-fluid-chamber shutoff state while the vehicle body roll restraining effect is cancelled in the inter-fluid-chamber communication state. A linkage mechanism by which those two states of each of the stabilizer devices are changed in conjunction with each other is provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A stabilizer system for a vehicle, the stabilizer system comprising:
a first stabilizer device provided for either one of front wheels and rear wheels; and
a second stabilizer device provided for the other one of the front wheels and the rear wheels, wherein:
each of the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device includes
(a) a stabilizer bar extending in a right-left direction,
(b) one or more cylinders each including a housing and a piston by which the housing is sectioned into two fluid chambers, the one or more cylinders being disposed between the stabilizer bar and a corresponding one of the wheels or between the stabilizer bar and a vehicle body in an extensible and contractible manner,
(c) a communication passage via which the two fluid chambers of each of the one or more cylinders are connected to each other, and
(d) an opening-closing valve disposed in the communication passage and configured to selectively establish an inter-fluid-chamber communication state where the two fluid chambers communicate with each other and an inter-fluid-chamber shutoff state where the two fluid chambers are shut off from each other;

the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device are each configured such that a vehicle body roll restraining effect is achieved in the inter-fluid-chamber shutoff state, and the vehicle body roll restraining effect is cancelled in the inter-fluid-chamber communication state; and
the stabilizer system includes a linkage mechanism configured to, when the inter-fluid-chamber shutoff state is established in a main stabilizer device, establish the inter-fluid-chamber shutoff state in a following stabilizer device, the main stabilizer device being one of the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device, the following stabilizer device being the other one of the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device,
wherein, when the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device are both brought into the inter-fluid-chamber shutoff state, roll stiffness on a front wheel side is higher than roll stiffness on a rear wheel side.

2. The stabilizer system according to claim 1 , wherein the linkage mechanism is configured such that:
the opening-closing valve of the main stabilizer device is an electrically controllable electromagnetic valve;
the stabilizer system includes an introduction passage via which a hydraulic pressure of one of the two fluid chambers of each of the one or more cylinders of the main stabilizer device is introduced into the following stabilizer device; and
the opening-closing valve of the following stabilizer device is a non-electromagnetic valve configured to operate by using, as a pilot pressure, the hydraulic pressure introduced via the introduction passage.

3. The stabilizer system according to claim 2 , wherein the linkage mechanism includes a non-electromagnetic selector valve by which a higher hydraulic pressure out of respective hydraulic pressures of the two fluid chambers of each of the one or more cylinders of the main stabilizer device is introduced into the following stabilizer device.

4. The stabilizer system according to claim 2 , wherein the opening-closing valve of the main stabilizer device is a normally-closed electromagnetic valve configured to be brought into an open state by being excited.

5. The stabilizer system according to claim 2 , wherein:
the one or more cylinders of either of the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device each include a piston rod having a base end part connected to the piston and a distal end part extending out of the housing through one of the two fluid chambers; and
the housing is connected to either of the stabilizer bar and a corresponding one of the wheels or the vehicle body, and the distal end part of the piston rod is connected to the other one of the stabilizer bar and the corresponding one of the wheels or the vehicle body.

6. The stabilizer system according to claim 5 , comprising an accumulator connected to both the communication passage of the first stabilizer device and the communication passage of the second stabilizer device so that the one or more cylinders of either of the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device are each extensible and contractible in the inter-fluid-chamber communication state.

7. The stabilizer system according to claim 6 , wherein at least either one of the communication passage of the first stabilizer device and the communication passage of the second stabilizer device is connected to the accumulator via the introduction passage.

8. The stabilizer system according to claim 6 , comprising a shutoff valve configured to close the accumulator when the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device are both brought into the inter-fluid-chamber shutoff state.

9. The stabilizer system according to claim 8 , wherein the shutoff valve is an electrically controllable electromagnetic valve.

10. The stabilizer system according to claim 9 , wherein the shutoff valve is a normally-opened electromagnetic valve that is brought into a closed state by being excited.

11. The stabilizer system according to claim 1 , wherein at least either one of the first stabilizer device and the second stabilizer device is a two-cylinder stabilizer device configured such that:
opposite ends of the stabilizer bar are connected to a pair of wheel holding portions, respectively, the wheel holding portions being configured to hold right and left wheels, respectively, and vertically move relative to the vehicle body together with the wheels thus held;
the two-cylinder stabilizer device includes, as the one or more cylinders, a pair of cylinders each disposed between a corresponding one of a pair of supported portions and the vehicle body such that the supported portions of the stabilizer bar are supported by the vehicle body, the supported portions being provided in right and left parts of the stabilizer bar, respectively,
each of the pair of the cylinders being configured to extend and contract in accordance with a rebound operation and a bound operation of a corresponding wheel out of the right and left wheels relative to the vehicle body such that
a volume of a first fluid chamber as one of the two fluid chambers of the each of the pair of the cylinders increases at a time of the rebound operation of the corresponding wheel while the volume of the first fluid chamber decreases at a time of the bound operation of the corresponding wheel, and
a volume of a second fluid chamber as the other one of the two fluid chambers of the each of the pair of the cylinders decreases at the time of the rebound operation of the corresponding wheel while the volume of the second fluid chamber increases at the time of the bound operation of the corresponding wheel;

the communication passage includes
a first communication passage via which the first fluid chamber of one of the pair of the cylinders communicates with the second fluid chamber of the other one of the pair of the cylinders,
a second communication passage via which the second fluid chamber of the one of the pair of the cylinders communicates with the first fluid chamber of the other one of the pair of the cylinders, and
an inter-passage commutation passage via which the first communication passage and the second communication passage communicate with each other; and

the opening-closing valve is disposed in the inter-passage communication passage.

12. The stabilizer system according to claim 11 , wherein the two-cylinder stabilizer device includes a holder via which a held portion provided in a central part of the stab

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Tabata Masaaki
• Murata Kazuyuki
• Yamamoto Masashi

Classifications

• B60G21/073 Primary

  between wheels on the same axle but on different sides of the vehicle, i.e. the left and right wheel suspensions being interconnected · CPC title

• B60G17/015

  the regulating means comprising electric or electronic elements ({B60G17/002}, B60G17/005 take precedence) · CPC title

• B60G21/055

  Stabiliser bars · CPC title

• B60G2202/135

  Stabiliser bar and/or tube · CPC title

• B60G2204/8304

  using a fluid · CPC title