Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyoda Koki Kabushiki Kaisha

Hajime Kamimae

Shuuichi Buma

Osamu Takeda

Nobutaka Ohwa

Hideo Inoue

Hiroyoshi Kojima

Takashi Izuo

Hideo Nakai

Kazunori Yoshida

Masashi Yamashita

Hiroyoshi Kako

Mitsuhiko Morita

Kenichi Fukumura

Yasutaka Fukumoto

Toshiaki Yamamoto

Satoru Ohsaku

Yasuhiko Mishio

Ichisei Kamimura

Takuo Shibata

Mitsunobu Hattori

Hiroaki Takegawa

A steering apparatus of a vehicle can achieve detection of an absolute angle of a steering shaft with a simple structure while preventing an increase in power consumption. A resolver sensor outputs an output signal corresponding to an angular position of a steering shaft of the vehicle. A lock mechanism restricts rotation of the steering shaft at locking positions provided around the steering shaft at equal intervals. An axial multiplication angle k&#xd7; of the output signal of the resolver sensor and a number N of the locking positions provided around the steering shaft satisfy a relationship represented by k&#x2266;N.

Steering apparatus for a vehicle

An electrically operated power steering apparatus for an automotive vehicle having a steering wheel to be operated by the vehicle operator includes a motor and a power supply restricting device. The motor applies a drive force thereof to a torque transmitting system so as to assist a steering torque applied to the steering wheel by the vehicle operator. The power supply restricting device utilizes a temperature of a heated portion of the electrically operated power steering apparatus which emits heat as a result of a supply of an electric power to the motor, at a reference point of time, as an initial temperature of the heated portion, utilizes a plurality of electric power-related values each of which is related to at least one of a current and a voltage value of the motor, as a plurality of physical quantities related to temperature increases of the heated portion each of which is an increase of the temperature of the heated portion from that at the reference point of time, and restricts the electric power supply to the motor such that an actual value of the temperature of the heated portion does not exceed a predetermined upper limit thereof.

Electrically operated power steering apparatus selectively restricting electric power supply to motor by using initial value and subsequent increase of temperature of heated portion therein

A sprung structure is provided with an acceleration computing section. A damping force estimating section (16) of a relative velocity estimating section (12) estimates a damping force by reading information from a damping force characteristic storing section (14) in accordance with a valve opening degree instruction and the relative velocity between sprung and unsprung structures estimated in the last control cycle. An estimating and computing section 18 estimates the relative velocity between sprung and unsprung structures in accordance with the above acceleration and estimated damping force. A suspension system is controlled in accordance with the relative velocity.

Sprung- and unsprung-structure relative-velocity computing apparatus for

A suspension system of an automotive vehicle including a spring disposed between an unsprung mass and a sprung mass for resiliently supporting thereon the sprung mass and a damping force generating mechanism arranged in parallel with the spring for absorbing vibration of the sprung mass relative to the unsprung mass, wherein the suspension system is provided with a spring element disposed in series with the damping force generating mechanism between the unsprung and sprung masses and an electrically operated control mechanism for controlling a spring coefficient of the spring element.

Suspension system of automotive vehicle and electric control apparatus

A damping force control system for an automotive vehicle having a semiactive damper mechanism provided between an unsprung mass and a sprung mass of the vehicle, wherein vertical velocity of the sprung mass is detected so that switchover of the semiactive damper mechanism from a low damping state to a high damping state is permitted upon lapse of a predetermined time after it has been detected that an absolute value of the detected vertical velocity of the sprung mass exceeded a preselected magnitude of approximate zero.

Damping force control system for automotive vehicle

An air pressure circuit comprising a compressor cylinder which is divided into two chambers by a slidable piston, a suction port and an exhaust port each, having a valve and mounted on one chamber of the cylinder, inhaling air of a pressure higher than that of atmospheric air form the suction port and exhausting the piston-compressed air from the exhaust port. The air pressure in the side of suction port is introduced from the other chamber of the cylinder.

Air pressure circuit

A vehicle fluid suspension circuit has an efficient cross-sectional area of the high pressure supply line is smaller than that of the low pressure exhaust line. The fluid supply and discharge speed can be equalized so that the vehicle height increasing speed and the vehicle height decreasing speed are equalized with each other, and the ride comfort is improved. Furthermore, the vehicle suspension circuit has two lines from fluid suspension to low pressure reserve tank are provided during fluid exhaust. A simplified construction can vary a speed of exhausted fluid from fluid suspension. Feeding and exhausting speeds, computation for the valve opening and closing time intervals is improved to be quite simple, and quick control is attained.

Vehicle fluid suspension circuit with equalized supply and discharge

A vehicle air suspension circuit having air suspensions for wheels and an air supply device which increases pressure of air taken from an air intake port and supplies the air to the air suspension. Moreover, this vehicle air suspension circuit is made up of a tank which receives the air discharged from the air suspension and is kept at the pressure higher than the atmospheric air pressure and a changeover valve which is provided to the air intake port of the air supply device and selects atmospheric air or the air in the tank as the intake air.

Vehicle air suspension circuit with a changeover means and a low

A vehicle fluid suspension circuit comprising fluid sources provided to the front and rear sides of a vehicle, front and rear side paths connecting the front and rear side fluid sources and fluid suspensions of right and left wheels of the respective sides and providing valves between the resepective fluid sources and fluid suspensions of respective wheels and a front-to-rear path having an effective sectional area which is smaller than the effective sectional areas of the front side path and rear side path, respectively, and connecting the front side fluid source with the rear side fluid source.

Vehicle fluid suspension circuit

A hydraulic buffer includes a cylinder, a piston disposed movably in the cylinder to partition the interior of the cylinder into two liquid chambers, and a piston rod connected to the piston and having a first path communicating with one of the liquid chambers and extending axially beyond the piston and a second path communicating with the other of the liquid chambers. A solenoid valve received in the piston rod has a tubular spool disposed movably axially of the piston rod and has a third path capable of communicating with the second path in the piston rod. Further, inside the spool is disposed a pipe having a fourth path capable of communicating with the third path in the spool and communicating with the first path in the piston rod.

Growing community of inventors

Okazaki, Japan

Hajime Kamimae