Method for operating a damper system of a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12479260-B2
Application number	US-202418630132-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 9, 2024
Priority date	Jun 13, 2023
Publication date	Nov 25, 2025
Grant date	Nov 25, 2025

Abstract

A method for operating a damper system of a vehicle having an active damper and a hydraulic assembly arranged to control the damper. The hydraulic assembly includes a hydraulic pump and at least one control valve. Requirements placed upon the damper are defined with regard to the dynamics and force that are to be set. Depending on the defined requirements, the hydraulic pump of the hydraulic assembly operates at a minimum rotary speed and a defined opening setting of the at least one control valve. Based on the minimum rotary speed of the hydraulic pump and the defined opening settings of the control valve, a dynamic force setting of the damper takes place by way of a change of the opening setting of the at least one control valve. Alternatively or additionally, a high-value force setting of the damper takes place by changing the rotary speed of the pump.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for operating a damper system of a vehicle having an active damper and a hydraulic assembly arranged to control the damper, which hydraulic assembly includes a hydraulic pump and at least one control valve, wherein the method comprises:
defining requirements placed upon the damper with regard to dynamics and/or force to be set based on a sensed roadway condition of a route in front of the vehicle in a direction of travel, defining a minimum rotary speed of the hydraulic pump based on the defined requirements, the defined minimum rotary speed corresponding to the sensed roadway condition; operating the hydraulic pump at the defined minimum rotary speed; determining a limit force at which the damper can respond to the sensed roadway condition without requiring an adjustment from the defined minimum rotary speed of the hydraulic pump; defining an opening of the at least one control valve depending on the defined requirements, the defined opening corresponding to the sensed roadway condition; setting the defined opening of the at least one control valve; when a force to be provided by the damper due to changing roadway conditions is less than the limit force, the method comprises changing the defined opening setting of the at least one control valve without adjusting the defined minimum rotary speed, resulting in a dynamic force setting of the damper being set; and when the force to be provided by the damper due to changing roadway conditions is greater than the limit force, the method comprises changing the defined minimum rotary speed of the hydraulic pump, thereby resulting in a high-value force setting of the damper being set.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the hydraulic pump is fluidically connected to a first hydraulic chamber of the damper via a first hydraulic line and to a second hydraulic chamber of the damper via a second hydraulic line, wherein the first hydraulic line and the second hydraulic line are further fluidically connected via a third hydraulic line, and the at least one control valve of the hydraulic assembly comprises a first control valve and a second control valve that are arranged in the third hydraulic line, said method comprising:
changing the defined opening setting of the first control valve and/or of the second control valve, resulting in the dynamic force setting of the damper being set.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein defining the requirement placed upon the damper additionally takes place based on a vehicle speed.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the roadway condition is sensed by way of sensors or optical sensors.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein information regarding the roadway condition provided to the vehicle externally is taken into account when defining the requirement placed upon the damper.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein defining the requirement placed upon the damper takes place on a basis of superstructure movements of the vehicle resulting from a driver input.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein defining the requirement placed upon the damper is based on a driving profile.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein defining the requirement placed upon the damper is based on a chassis setting.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a specification of the minimum rotary speed takes place from the defined requirements placed upon the damper by way of a characteristic map.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein a frequency of an expected adjustment by the damper and/or an average level of the adjustment by the damper and/or a degree of decoupling of a superstructure from the roadway and/or a specification of a power consumption of the damper system are employed as an input variable for the characteristic map.

11 . The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
increasing or decreasing the opening setting of the first control valve and/or the second control valve.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the dynamic force setting of the damper, setting the defined opening of the at least one control valve causes a pressure reduction in a first chamber of the active damper that is fluidly connected to the at least one control valve, and operating the hydraulic pump at said minimum rotary speed causes the pump to deliver hydraulic fluid into a second chamber of the active damper.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the hydraulic pump is a reversible pump, wherein a first side of the pump is fluidly connected to the second chamber of the active damper via a first hydraulic line and a second side of the pump is fluidly connected to the first chamber of the active damper via a second hydraulic line.

14 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein a third hydraulic line fluidly interconnects the first and second hydraulic lines, and wherein the at least one control valve is directly and fluidly connected to the third hydraulic line.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein a fourth hydraulic line interconnects the first and second hydraulic lines, and wherein the third and fourth hydraulic lines are fluidly interconnected together by a fifth hydraulic line.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , further comprising a first check valve that is directly and fluidly connected to the fourth hydraulic line.

17 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein a second check valve is directly and fluidly connected to the fourth hydraulic line, and wherein said first and second check valves are disposed on opposite sides of an intersection point connecting the fourth and fifth hydraulic lines.

18 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein a hydraulic reservoir is directly and fluidly connected to the fifth hydraulic line.

19 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein another control valve is directly and fluidly connected to the third hydraulic line, and said at least one control valve and said another control valve are disposed on opposite sides of an intersection point connecting the third and fifth hydraulic lines.

Assignees

• Porsche Ag

Inventors

• Witte Thomas
• Liebold Jochen

Classifications

• B60G17/019

  characterised by the type of sensor or the arrangement thereof {(B60G17/01941 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B60G2202/416

  using a pump, e.g. in the line connecting the lower chamber to the upper chamber of the actuator · CPC title

• B60G2202/24

  Fluid damper · CPC title

• B60G2400/204

  Vehicle speed · CPC title

• B60G17/0165

  to an external condition, e.g. rough road surface, side wind · CPC title