Patent EP0184915B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0184915B1
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Ride control apparatus for a motor vehicle
Assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
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Filing: 1985-11-19
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Granted: 1990-01-10
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Expires: 2005-11-19
Abstract
No abstract record available.
Inventors
- 👤 Kenneth Robert Meloche
- 👤 James Gerard Mcleish
- 👤 Douglas Richard Bach
- 👤 Harry Charles Buchanan, Jr.
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 17:01
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60G; B60G17/00; B60G17/015; B60G17/018; B60G2202/00; B60G2202/30; B60G2202/31; B60G2202/314; B60G2401/00; B60G2401/25; B60G2500/00; B60G2500/10; B60G2500/20; B60G2500/30; B60G2600/00; B60G2600/18; B60G2600/184; B60G2600/187; B60G2600/1877
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim
200 words
Ride control apparatus for a motor vehicle (200) having sprung and unsprung masses connected by a variable damper (8) and effective to adjust the damping of the variable damper adaptively in response to road conditions during the motor vehicle operation, the ride control apparatus being characterised by sensing means (210) responsive to the vertical separation between the sprung and unsprung masses to generate periodic signals thereof; means (212-216, 265) responsive to said signals to count the road caused oscillations of said vertical separation during a predetermined time period and generate a first number therefrom; means (212-216, 266) responsive to said signals to sense the maximum range of said vertical separation. during the predetermined time period and generate a second number therefrom; lookup memory means (214) effective to store damping control numbers as a function of predetermined values of said first and second numbers; and- means effective, (212-216, 268) after said predetermined time period, to obtain from said lookup memory means a damping control number corresponding to said first and second numbers and to adjust the variable damper (8) in response to said damping control number, whereby the ride character of the motor vehicle (200) is adapted to actual road conditions.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
200 words
Ride control apparatus for a motor vehicle (200) having sprung and unsprung masses connected by a variable damper (8) and effective to adjust the damping of the variable damper adaptively in response to road conditions during the motor vehicle operation, the ride control apparatus being characterised by sensing means (210) responsive to the vertical separation between the sprung and unsprung masses to generate periodic signals thereof; means (212-216, 265) responsive to said signals to count the road caused oscillations of said vertical separation during a predetermined time period and generate a first number therefrom; means (212-216, 266) responsive to said signals to sense the maximum range of said vertical separation. during the predetermined time period and generate a second number therefrom; lookup memory means (214) effective to store damping control numbers as a function of predetermined values of said first and second numbers; and- means effective, (212-216, 268) after said predetermined time period, to obtain from said lookup memory means a damping control number corresponding to said first and second numbers and to adjust the variable damper (8) in response to said damping control number, whereby the ride character of the motor vehicle (200) is adapted to actual road conditions.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
155 words
Ride control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the lookup memory means (214) is effective to store a plurality of sets of damping control numbers as functions of predetermined values of said first and second numbers, each said set including damping control numbers adapted to a different general ride characteristic; in that the ride control apparatus includes operator controlled selection means effective to select one of said sets of damping control numbers; and in that the obtaining and adjusting means (212-216, 268) is effective, after said predetermined time period, to obtain from the selected set of damping control numbers in said lookup memory means (214) a damping control number corresponding to said first and second numbers and to adjust the variable damper (8) in response to said damping control number, whereby the motor vehicle (200) ride character is adapted to actual road conditions and to the operator's choice of general ride characteristics.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
194 words
Ride control apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that the sensing means (210) is responsive to the vertical separation between the sprung and unsprung masses relative to a plurality of predetermined separations above and below a base separation to generate the periodic signals thereof; in that the ride control apparatus includes means effective to determine during a predetermined time period the relative movements of the sprung and unsprung masses away from the base separation following a relative movement of the sprung and unsprung masses toward the base separation of at least a predetermined distance and count and store the number of times each of said predetermined separations is crossed in said movements; in that the first number generating means (212-216, 265) is effective to generate the first number from the highest of said stored counts; and in that the second number generating means (212-216, 266) is effective to generate the second number from the difference between the most widely separated of said predetermined separations including the predetermined separation having the highest of said stored counts and between which all such predetermined separations have at least a predetermined minimum count.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
79 words
Ride control apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the obtaining and adjusting means (212-216, 268) is effective, after said predetermined time period, to obtain from said lookup memory means (214) a damping control number corresponding to said first and second numbers, the ranges of the first and second numbers corresponding to the damping control number in use during said predetermined time period being temporarily enlarged at the expense of neighbouring ranges in order to provide hysteresis.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
198 words
Ride control apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the determining means is effective to set a trip value equal to the signal from the sensing means (210) for each such signal during a predetermined time period which corresponds, in comparison with the last trip value, to a position farther from the base position by a predetermined amount, or to a position closer to the base position by a predetermined amount, or to a position on the opposite side of the base position; memory cell means effective to maintain stored counts of selected, sensed crossings of the predetermined separations during the predetermined time period; and means effective, whenever a new trip value is set, to increment all stored counts in a portion of a continuous band of said predetermined separations, the portion being (a) the full band if the trip points are on the same side of the base separation and the new trip point is greater than the old trip point, (b) that portion of the band from the base separation to the new trip point if the old and new trip points are on opposite sides of the base separation and (c) otherwise nothing.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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