Nissan Motor Company Limited

Bridgestone Corporation

Nissan Shatai Co., Ltd.

Takaaki Uno

Yasuji Shibahata

Yasumasa Tsubota

Kenji Kawagoe

Takuya Murakami

Hideo Aimoto

Masaharu Satou

Tamiyoshi Kasahara

Masaharu Sato

Hiroshi Nagaoka

Kazuo Chiba

Hiroshi Yamahata

Koji Hio

Yukio Fukunaga

Takuya Dan

Michihiro Orikawa

Hiroshi Tonomura

Yuji Okuyama

Yoshitaka Iijima

Hiroyasu Kan

Ken Sugino

Tamaki Horiuchi

An electromagnetic suspension apparatus for an automotive vehicle, employs an electromagnetic actuator interleaved between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass and arranged in parallel with a suspension spring element, and an electric motor built in the electromagnetic actuator for driving the electromagnetic actuator. A motor controller calculates a displacement input, such as a suspension stroke acceleration and a suspension velocity, transmitted to the electromagnetic actuator, and controls the motor to bring a suspension damping force closer to a desired damping force suited for the displacement input. The motor controller calculates an internal inertia force of the electromagnetic actuator, and corrects or compensates for a motor output by the internal inertia force of the electromagnetic actuator.

Electromagnetic suspension apparatus for automotive vehicles and method for controlling electric motor of the same

An electromagnetic suspension system for a vehicle, comprises an electromagnetic actuator interposed between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass and disposed substantially in parallel with an spring element. An electric motor is provided for driving the electromagnetic actuator. A motor controller is configured to calculate a displacement input applied to the electromagnetic actuator and to control the electric motor in a manner that the electromagnetic actuator generates an optimum damping force corresponding to the displacement input. A motor control circuit is provided for the electric motor, through which the electric motor is connected to the motor controller. Additionally, an electrical damping element is electrically connected to the motor control circuit and in parallel with the electric motor to generate a damping force in a passive manner under a dynamic braking of the electric motor in response to the displacement input to the electromagnetic actuator from the unsprung mass.

Electromagnetic suspension system for vehicle

A wheel suspension for rear wheels of an automotive vehicle, comprises a coil spring on a rear lateral link having an articulation point on an axle housing, a front lateral link, a radius rod and an upper arm having an articulation point on the axle housing at a position higher than a wheel center. A shock absorber is arranged such that its longitudinal axis crosses the wheel center as viewed the axle housing in a transverse direction with respect to a normal forward driving direction. The upper arm is connected to a suspension member via a forward pivot and a rearward pivot. The arrangement is such that loading the axle housing at the connection point with the upper arm in a rearward direction with respect to the normal forward direction causes the upper arm to position the connection point inwardly with respect to the vehicle body, and loading the axle housing at the connection point in the normal forward direction causes the upper arm to position the connection point outwardly with respect to the vehicle body.

Rear wheel suspension

A rear wheel suspension arrangement for an automotive vehicle provides an axle housing rotatably mounting rear vehicular road wheels, each of the wheels having a wheel center. At each wheel, a radius rod which extends forwardly and inwardly, as viewed in a normal forward direction of the vehicle, is connected to the axle housing at a first articulated connection at a position lower than the wheel center. Further, a front lateral link, extending generally transversely to the forward direction of the vehicle is connected to the axle housing at a second articulated connection also located below the wheel center. In addition, a rear lateral link, positioned rearwardly of the front lateral link and extending in the traverse direction of the vehicle, is connected to the axle housing at a third articulated connection also located below the wheel center. The suspension structure also includes an upper arm having an articulated connection to the axle housing at a position above the wheel center. A coil spring is disposed between a lower side of a vehicle body and an upper surface of the rear lateral link, while a shock absorber having a coaxially mounted bump rubber provided at an upper side thereof is connected at an upper end thereof to the vehicle body and at a lower end thereof to a fourth articulated connection at an upper side of the axle housing.

Wheel suspension for rear wheels

An axle supporting member for a rear wheel is suspended to a suspension member by an upper link system which includes an A-arm and a side rod. The forward lower link member and the side rod are respectively arranged in front and rear of a vertical plane passing through a rotary axis of the rear wheel, while a suspension spring and a shock absorber are seated on the forward lower link member positioned in front of the above-mentioned vertical plane with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Accordingly, an initial load transmitted from the suspension spring is mainly borne by the front end part of the suspension member, so that an initial load exerted to the rear end part of the suspension member becomes smaller. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the resilient deformation of bushings in the front and rear parts of the suspension member upon application of a wind-up input force.

Rear suspension of vehicle

An axle beam suspension arrangement comprises a lateral link assembly which is mounted to a single support point on a vehicle body and two support points on an axle beam of the vehicle. The lateral link assembly consists of a lateral link member connected between a support point on the axle beam and the support point on the vehicle body, an assist link is provided which connects between the second support point on the axle beam and a point on the length of the lateral link, closer to the end at which the lateral link connects to the axle than the end connecting to the vehicle body. The lateral link is connected to the axle beam support point via a bush which is flexible in the axial direction of the lateral link. Thus scuff, or vertical disalignment of the vehicle wheels during bounding and rebounding is prevented while occurrence of rolling may be detected while jack-up forces applied to vehicle wheels are absorbed. The arrangement is further applicable to watt link type suspension arrangements incorporating to lateral links and an intermediate link. According to this arrangement, road unevenness input to the lateral links is absorbed by rotation of the intermediate link.

Axle beam type suspension arrangement for vehicle

A vibration damping insulator for supporting a structural member on a vehicle chassis. The insulator comprises a first tubular member connected to said structural member, a second tubular member disposed coaxially within the first tubular member and connected to the vehicle chassis, a first elastomeric body interconnecting the first and second tubular members and arranged to undergo shear when the tubular members are displace in one direction and compression when the tubular members are displaced in a second direction relative to each other, a stiffening plate disposed in the first elastomeric body between the first and second tubular members, a vibratable mass, and a second elastomeric body separate from the first elastomeric body and interconnecting the vibratable mass and one of the tubular members. The second elastomeric body and the vibratable mass define a dynamic damper having a resonance characteristic which suppresses transmission of vibration from the structural member to the chassis.

Insulator for use in automotive suspension or the like

A vehicle has rear wheels each equipped with a rear tire having a tire characteristic which is different from that of front wheels, and which is suitable for one cornering condition, for example, a condition in which a lateral acceleation is high, and a steering system which steers the rear wheels so as to remedy the deficiency of the tires of the rear wheels in another cornering conditions.

Vehicle steering system for adjusting tire characteristic

The present invention features an insulator unit for supporting a suspension arrangement on a chassis or the like. The main elastomeric body of the insulator is arranged to have sufficient rigidity as to limit the displacement of the suspension with respect to the chassis. The device further includes a vibratory mass or masses which upon being excited cancel vibrations which would otherwise be transmitted through the main elastomeric member.

In addition to a conventional steering system for steering a vehicle through the front wheels in accordance with an angular displacement of the steering wheel, the vehicle is equipped with a negative feedback steering control system which steers the vehicle through the front or rear wheels in accordance with an instantaneous yaw rate of the vehicle. The feedback system has a vehicle behavior sensor for sensing the yaw rate, and an control circuit which determines an actual quantity which is equal to the yaw rate or a linear combination of the yaw rate and the time derivative of the yaw rate and a reference quantity which is a function of the angular displacement and the vehicle speed, so designed as to be approximately equal to the yaw rate if there is no disturbance. The control circuit produces a feedback signal proportional to a difference between the actual quantity multiplied by a first coefficient and the reference quantity multipled by a second coefficient. In response to the feedback signal, an actuator corrects the direction of the front or rear wheels in such a direction as to reduce the yaw rate. A lateral acceleration of the vehicle may be used in place of the yaw rate.

Auxiliary steering system for wheeled vehicle

An annular element is disposed within an outer tubular member of an insulator device in a manner to surround a recessed elastomeric body interposed between the outer tubular member and an inner tubular member. A channel formed in the outer periphery of the annular element is closed by the outer tubular member to define a passage which fluidly intercommunicates chambers defined by the recesses formed in the elastomeric body. The channel is sufficiently long and robust as to ensure the desired vibration damping and working life of the unit.

Vibration insulator

A vehicle is provided with a system for steering front wheels, a system for steering rear wheels, a vehicle speed sensor and a controller. By sending a command signal to the rear wheel steering system, the controller steers the rear wheels in an in-phase mode in which the rear wheel steer direction is the same as the front wheel steer direction when the vehicle speed is high, and in a fixed mode in which the rear wheels are not steered at all or in an opposite phase mode in which the rear wheel steer direction is opposite to the front wheel steer direction when the vehicle speed is low. There is further provided with means for detecting a failure in the rear wheel steering system, vehicle speed and controller. The controller is arranged to steer the rear wheels always in the in-phase mode irrespectively of the vehicle speed if a failure is detected.

Four wheel steer system with fail-safe control

A vehicle is equipped with a power steering control system and a compliance steer control system. Hydraulic fluid pressurized by a hydraulic pump is controlled in pressure by a fluid control valve, and the thus controlled hydraulic fluid is selectively directed through a directional control valve to at least one of the power steering system and the compliance steer control system in accordance with vehicle speed, thereby stopping fluid supply to the power steering system in a high vehicle speed range while to the compliance steer control system in a low vehicle speed range.

Vehicle steering control system

A vehicle is equipped with a rear wheel control device including hydraulic actuators for controllably turning rear wheels under influence of hydraulic fluid supplied thereto from a hydraulic pump. Turning the rear wheels is made in one of first and second directions which are opposite to each other, in response to steering effort applied to a steering wheel. The change-over operation of the rear wheel turning between the first and second directions takes place upon substantially stopping supply of the hydraulic fluid to the actuators, thereby preventing shock during the turning direction change-over operation.

Vehicle steering control system and method of operating same

A vehicle is equipped with a power steering system having a power cylinder, and a vehicle control mechanism having an actuator. The power cylinder and the actuator are supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure through first and second control valves, respectively, to independently control the power steering control system and the vehicle control mechanism. The first and second control valves are configurated integrally with each other to form a single control valve assembly, thereby providing advantages of weight, production cost, and required space reductions.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Takaaki Uno