Ford Motor Company Limited

James L Blechschmidt

Martin A Ekonen

A control valve having a cylinder mounted to a frame of a motor vehicle and a piston rod mounted to an axle of a motor vehicle for controlling the amount of air introduced to or exhausted from an air suspension spring mounted between the axle and frame of the motor vehicle. The piston rod is connected to a piston which is slidable within a cylinder. Three ports, a port leading to an air spring, an exhaust port, and a supply port extend through the side wall of the cylinder. A piston has a passage therethrough with one outlet at the top surface of the piston and a second outlet at a side surface of the piston. The piston is movable to three positions; one position with the supply port in communication through the passage, with the air spring port, a second position which all three ports are sealed from one another, and a third position in which the air spring port is in communication with the exhaust port. As air flows to and from the air spring connected to the air spring port, the piston slides respectively down and up towards its second position to control the height of the motor vehicle.

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Plymouth, MI, United States of America

James L Blechschmidt