Nissan Motor Company Limited

Unisia Jecs Corporation

Kayaba Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Naoto Fukushima

Yohsuke Akatsu

Yukio Fukunaga

Itaru Fujimura

Sunao Hano

Masaharu Sato

Masaharu Satoh

Kensuke Fukuyama

Hirotsugu Yamaguchi

Kunihiko Hidaka

Kazuroh Iwata

Yosuke Akatsu

Kazuro Iwata

Masahiro Tsukamoto

Kazunobu Kawabata

Kenro Takahashi

Shinichi Matsui

Shuuji Torii

Toji Takemura

Shin Takehara

Masaru Sugino

Keiichiro Yabuta

Teruhiko Mochizuki

Yousuke Akatsu

Hiroshi Yamanaka

Yukio Fukanaga

Etsuo Katsuyama

Yoshiki Tsuda

A traction distribution device includes a hydraulic motor arranged in a differential-gear mechanism for providing relative torque between one of the wheel shafts and a differential casing in accordance with the direction of a hydraulic pressure supplied thereto. A pressure regulating valve is arranged to control the hydraulic pressure supplied to the motor, whereas a selector valve is arranged to switch the direction of the hydraulic pressure supplied to the motor.

Traction distributing devices for motor vehicles

Provided are a yaw moment generating mechanism a which produces a yawing motion at the vehicle, a vehicle behavior detection means b which detects a vehicle behavior, an actual yaw moment detection means a which is included in the vehicle behavior detection means b and detects an actual yaw moment acting on the vehicle, a target yaw moment arithmetic-calculation means d which calculates a target yaw moment necessary for a current vehicle behavior on the basis of an input from the vehicle behavior detection means b, and an operating command means e which operates the yaw moment generating mechanism to output a yaw moment equivalent to the difference between the target yaw moment and the actual yaw moment. Therefore, during the vehicle yaw dynamics control, it is possible to enhance the control quality without the control delay and control hunting and without giving the driver an uncomfortable feeling.

Device for controlling yawing of vehicle

In method and apparatus for estimating a sideslip angle of an automotive vehicle, a cornering power (PC.sub.2) of a rear road wheel is calculated as in the following equation (1a) using detected values of a yaw rate (.DELTA..psi.), a lateral acceleration (.DELTA..DELTA.Y), and a vehicle velocity (V). The estimated sideslip angle (P.beta.) is calculated in the following equation (1b).

Method and apparatus for estimating sideslip angle of automotive vehicle

An active suspension system is provided which includes hydraulic cylinders for suppressing rolling motion of a vehicle body. The system is responsive to lateral acceleration acting on the vehicle body to provide a control signal for supplying hydraulic pressure to the cylinders for anti-rolling control. The control signal includes first and second pressure control signals. The first pressure control signal commands supply of hydraulic pressure for providing an anti-rolling moment, while the second pressure control signal commands supply of hydraulic pressure for supporting a portion of the static load of the vehicle body to maintain the vehicle body at a target height level. The system is further responsive to increase in lateral acceleration to modify the second pressure control signal to reduce the hydraulic pressure for supporting the portion of static load, thereby compensating for forces acting to raise the vehicle body caused by the anti-rolling control for establishing a constant vehicular height level irrespective of variation in the lateral acceleration acting on the vehicle body.

Automotive active suspension system for regulating vehicular height

An actively controlled suspension system for automotive vehicles includes a lateral acceleration sensor and a controller for suppressing rolling of the vehicle. The controller controls a distribution ratio of anti-roll moment or lateral load shift between a driven wheel and a non-driven wheel so as to enhance steering characteristics of the vehicle. The controller changes the distribution ratio depending on both the lateral acceleration and the wheel speed difference between the driven wheel speed and the non-driven wheel speed such that the distribution ratio at a non-driven wheel side of suspension system is increased from a designated reference value according to the increase in the wheel speed difference and a rate of change in the distribution ratio is attenuated towards the designated reference value according to the increase in the lateral acceleration.

Actively controlled suspension system for automotive vehicles

A double-wishbone type suspension system includes a hub carrier for rotatably supporting a front wheel of a vehicle, and upper and lower link devices for connecting upper and lower ends of the hub carrier to a vehicle body, respectively. The upper link device is connected to the vehicle body and the hub carrier at first and second connecting points, respectively. The lower link device includes a link element to be applied with a steering force such that the hub carrier is rotated about a kingpin axis which passes a point between the upper and lower ends of the hub carrier. The suspension system has a novel geometrical arrangement such that, in the case of a front wheel which is situated on outer side with reference to a cornering center, the second connecting point is caused during a steering operation to move along an arcuate path about the first connecting point so that the kingpin axis is tilted inwardly. During a steering operation, the front wheel has a camber characteristic which exhibits a negative camber tendency while minimizing a force component tending to lift the front wheel to ensure a natural steering feel.

Double-wishbone-type front wheel suspension system

An automotive suspension control system for anti-rolling motion control is provided. This system serves to adjust wheel loads acting on driven wheels when a wheel speed difference between the driven wheels is greater than a preselected value, concluding that slippage occurs at one of the driven wheels, the adjustment is carried out for securing traction of a slipping driven wheel. The system is responsive to lateral acceleration acting on a vehicle body to decrease a degree of adjustment of the wheel loads according to increase in the lateral acceleration for enhancing cornering stability on road surfaces having different friction coefficients.

Automotive active suspension system for anti-rolling control

An active suspension system for an automotive vehicle is arranged to regulate the attitude of a vehicle body in a flat or balanced state by controlling hydraulic cylinders respectively disposed between a vehicle body and a road wheel, in response to an attitude change of the vehicle body. The active suspension system comprises electromagnetically operated variable vibration attenuation valves, each of which is fluidly connected with each hydraulic cylinder and is followed by an accumulator. Each variable vibration attenuation valve is adapted to be variable in its attenuation constant in response to a vertical acceleration experienced by the road wheel. The variable vibration attenuation valve takes on a low attenuation constant to maintain a high riding quality of the vehicle under a normal cruising condition, and a high attenuation constant to suppress the response of the road wheel under a rough road cruising condition.

Active suspension system

An actively controlled suspension system includes a vehicular rolling detecting component to adjust the suspension characteristics for suppressing the vehicular rolling. In addition, the actively controlled suspension control system may be provided for adjusting roll-stabilization load distribution between the front and rear suspension systems for adjusting vehicular driving stability by suppressing rolling and pitching of the vehicle body.

Actively controlled automotive suspension system with adjustable

An anti-rolling suspension control system generally derives anti-rolling control signals for controlling suspension characteristics of respective suspension systems in order to suppress vehicular rolling motion. The system is further provided means for monitoring road friction condition. The system derives distribution of rolling moment distribution ratio between front suspension systems and rear suspension systems based on the monitored road friction condition so that the derived distribution may be adapted to the road surface frictional condition.

Anti-rolling controlling system for automotive active suspension system

A double-wishbone type suspension system includes a hub carrier for supporting an automobile wheel, upper and lower link devices for rotatably connecting upper and lower ends of the hub carrier to a vehicle body, respectively, and a wind-up link element for connecting a middle portion of the hub carrier between the upper and lower ends to the lower link device. The wind-up link element is arranged diagonally with reference to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and rotatably connected to the hub carrier at a connecting point where the hub carrier is permitted to rotate in a direction of toe angle variation. This connecting point is used as a kingpin axis setting point whose location can be relatively freely determined to satisfy requirements imposed on the suspension system, due to a relatively high degree of freedom in designing the configuration of the hub carrier.

Suspension system for automotive vehicle wheel

A suspension control system employs a first lateral acceleration sensor for monitoring a lateral acceleration at a first point on a vehicular body and a second lateral acceleration sensor for monitoring lateral acceleration at a second point on the vehicular body, which second point is provided at a longitudinally offset position from the first point. A controller derives a lateral shifting of vehicular load at the front suspension systems on the basis of a first lateral acceleration monitored by the first lateral acceleration sensor, and a lateral shifting of the vehicular load at a rear suspension system on the basis of a second lateral acceleration monitored by the second lateral acceleration sensor. Control for front and rear suspension systems is performed independently on the basis of the lateral load shifting at the front and rear suspension systems.

Suspension control system with variable steering characteristics

An actively controlled suspension system employs a pressure control valve which is operable in response to a control signal and controls fluid pressure in the fluid chamber of a hydraulic cylinder as a replacement for the conventional hydraulic shock absorber. The pressure control valve is associated with a controller which detects bounding and rebounding acceleration and stroke speed in bounding and rebounding motion for deriving a control signal to operate the pressure control valve to absorb vibration energy to be transmitted between a vehicle body and a suspension member.

Actively controlled automotive suspension system with improved damping

An active suspension system for an automotive vehicle is provided which regulates relative displacement between a vehicle body and wheels. This suspension system includes first and second gain controllers associated with hydraulic cylinders for supressing vehicular rolling based on lateral acceleration acting on the vehicle body. The first and second gain controllers amplify the level of the lateral acceleration, monitored by a sensor, by first and second gains respectively to vary pressure of the hydraulic cylinders. The suspension system further includes a low-pass filter which restricts a frequency of a signal output from the acceleration sensor high than a preselected cutoff frequency to decrease the second gain relative to the first gain to reduce the degree of load shift for the rear wheels relative to that of the front wheels.

Control system for active suspension which distributes load according to

An actively controlled suspension system employs a lateral acceleration sensor for monitoring lateral acceleration exerted on the vehicular body. The lateral acceleration is shifted frontwardly from a gravity center of the vehicle body at the neutral position or non-rolling condition. The magnitude of frontward offset of the lateral acceleration sensor is so selected as to cancel influence of phase delay when the lateral acceleration sensor is oriented at the position of the neutral gravity sensor.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Naoto Fukushima