Vehicle-height adjusting system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9821622-B2
Application number	US-201615337295-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 28, 2016
Priority date	Dec 28, 2015
Publication date	Nov 21, 2017
Grant date	Nov 21, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle-height adjusting system includes: vehicle-height adjusting actuators each for adjusting a vehicle height for a corresponding one of wheels; a pressure medium supplier for supplying a pressure medium from a tank to each of the vehicle-height adjusting actuators; and a vehicle height adjuster for adjusting the vehicle height for each wheel. The vehicle-height adjusting actuators include a left vehicle-height adjusting actuator and a right vehicle-height adjusting actuator. The vehicle height adjuster includes a supply amount controller configured to control the pressure medium supplier such that substantially the same amount of the pressure medium is to be supplied from the tank to the left vehicle-height adjusting actuator and the right vehicle-height adjusting actuator, when at least one of the wheels is in contact with an uneven road surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle-height adjusting system, comprising:
a plurality of vehicle-height adjusting actuators provided respectively for a plurality of wheels of a vehicle and each being capable of adjusting a vehicle height for a corresponding one of the plurality of wheels, the plurality of vehicle-height adjusting actuators including:
a left vehicle-height adjusting actuator, as one of the plurality of vehicle-height adjusting actuators, capable of adjusting the vehicle height for at least one left wheel of the vehicle on at least one of a front-wheel side and a rear-wheel side, and
a right vehicle-height adjusting actuator, as one of the plurality of vehicle-height adjusting actuators, capable of adjusting the vehicle height for at least one right wheel of the vehicle on the at least one of the front-wheel side and the rear-wheel side;

a pressure medium supplier including a tank storing a pressure medium, the pressure medium supplier being capable of supplying the pressure medium from the tank to each of the plurality of vehicle-height adjusting actuators; and
a vehicle height adjuster configured to adjust the vehicle height for each of the plurality of wheels by controlling the pressure medium supplier to control an amount of the pressure medium to be supplied to each of the plurality of vehicle-height adjusting actuators, the vehicle height adjuster including:
an uneven-road-surface determiner configured to determine whether one of the plurality of wheels is in contact with an uneven road surface, and
a supply amount controller configured to control the pressure medium supplier such that an amount of the pressure medium to be supplied from the tank to the left vehicle-height adjusting actuator is substantially equal to an amount of the pressure medium to be supplied from the tank to the right vehicle-height adjusting actuator, when the uneven-road-surface determiner determines that the one of the plurality of wheels is in contact with the uneven road surface.

2. The vehicle-height adjusting system according to claim 1 , wherein the supply amount controller is further configured to:
control the pressure medium supplier such that a substantially identical amount of the pressure medium is to be supplied from the tank to the left vehicle-height adjusting actuator and the right vehicle-height adjusting actuator, individually.

3. The vehicle-height adjusting system according to claim 1 , wherein the supply amount controller is further configured to:
control an amount of the pressure medium supplied from the tank to each of the plurality of vehicle-height adjusting actuators, by controlling an amount of reduction in a tank pressure that is a pressure of the pressure medium stored in the tank.

4. The vehicle-height adjusting system according to claim 3 , wherein
the uneven-road-surface determiner comprises a warp-amount obtainer configured to obtain a warp amount, and the warp amount is an absolute value of a difference between a sum of vehicle heights respectively for a front right wheel and a rear left wheel, and a sum of vehicle heights respectively for a front left wheel and a rear right wheel, and
the supply amount controller includes a tank-pressure-reduction-amount determiner configured to determine a target vehicle-height increase amount based on the warp amount obtained by the warp-amount obtainer, and to determine a tank-pressure reduction amount based on the target vehicle-height increase amount.

5. The vehicle-height adjusting system according to claim 1 , wherein
the uneven-road-surface determiner determines that one of the plurality of wheels is in contact with an uneven road surface when a warp amount is larger than a threshold value, and
the warp amount is an absolute value of a difference between a sum of vehicle heights respectively for a front right wheel and a rear left wheel, and a sum of vehicle heights respectively for a front left wheel and a rear right wheel.

6. The vehicle-height adjusting system according to claim 1 , wherein the supply amount controller is configured to control the amount of the pressure medium to be supplied to each of the plurality of vehicle-height adjusting actuators, based on at least one of a temperature in the vehicle-height adjusting system and a load acting on each of the plurality of wheels.

7. A vehicle-height adjusting system, comprising:
a vehicle-height adjusting actuator capable of adjusting a vehicle height for a wheel;
a pressure-medium supplying and discharging device including a tank storing a pressure medium, the pressure-medium supplying and discharging device being configured to supply the pressure medium from the tank to the vehicle-height adjusting actuator and configured to discharge the pressure medium from the vehicle-height adjusting actuator and supply the pressure medium to the tank; and
a vehicle height adjuster configured to adjust the vehicle height by controlling the pressure-medium supplying and discharging device, the vehicle height adjuster including:
an uneven-road-surface determiner configured to determine whether one of a plurality of wheels is in contact with an uneven road surface; and
a tank-pressure-dependent vehicle height adjuster configured to adjust the vehicle height by controlling an amount of change in a tank pressure to control an amount of change in the pressure medium in the vehicle-height adjusting actuator when the uneven-road-surface determiner determines that the one of the plurality of wheels is in contact with the uneven road surface, wherein the tank pressure is a pressure of the pressure medium stored in the tank.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ohashi Hideki
• Okimura Kohtaroh
• Kanda Ryo
• Tanaka Shogo
• Tokumitsu Jun

Classifications

• B60G17/033 Primary

  characterised by regulating means acting on more than one spring · CPC title

• B60G2500/2021

  Arrangement of valves · CPC title

• B60G2400/952

  of door or bonnet · CPC title

• B60G2400/252

  vertical · CPC title

• B60G2400/50

  Pressure · CPC title