Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Tsukasa Watanabe

Toshio Onuma

Shuuichi Buma

Toshio Aburaya

Takashi Yonekawa

Hiroyuki Ikemoto

Naoji Sakakibara

Shigeo Takahashi

Hiroaki Maeda

Toshiaki Hamada

Kiyohumi Mizuno

Kazutaka Kuwana

Hiroyuki Amano

Kunihito Sato

Takeshi Goto

Mizuho Sugiyama

Nobuyuki Hashimoto

Osamu Komazawa

Akiya Taneda

Kozo Fujita

Shuuetsu Suzuki

Masanori Hirose

Kouji Hirao

Fumio Kojima

Masahiro Fukuta

Hidemori Tsuka

Mutsumi Miyashiro

Shinji Matsuda

Satoshi Naganawa

Hiroaki Fukuda

Takayuki Tomohara

An actuator for steering rear wheels is reduced in size and its construction is simplified while preventing a degradation in the reliability. An electric coil 2 is disposed on the outside while a rotor is disposed on the inside, assisting in heating dissipation. One of bearings 10 which support a rotor and an electric coil 2 are integrally secured to a casing 1 when a resin 3 is molded thereon. At the same time, a ring gear 12 is formed by the molding of the resin 3. In addition, the molding operation of the resin forms one of sun gears, 11a, integrally with a rotor 4. The casing 1 is formed with a recess or projection 1a, 1b, thus preventing a slip of the resin member 3 from occurring. A permanent magnet 13 which is separate from a permanent magnet 5 used for driving is mounted on the rotor.

Actuator for steering rear wheels

Rear wheels are returned to central orientations when a rear wheel steering mechanism of 4WS system fails to operate. Required drive power is minimized and the apparatus is reduced in size. A main motor M1 is coupled to a steering shaft 1 through a drive transmitting mechanism 1a, 5a, 5b and 6a, and an auxiliary electric motor M2 is coupled to a drive shaft 6 through a gear mechanism 9, 12, 8a, 7 which includes a solenoid operated clutch CL. The motor M2 is normally disengaged from the drive shaft, but upon detecting the occurrence of a failure, the clutch is activated and the motor M2 is set in operation for returning the steered position of the rear wheels to the center.

Motor assisted steering apparatus for vehicle

In a hydraulic active suspension system, a plurality of actuators having working fluid chambers are provided corresponding to the vehicle wheels. Each actuator is adapted to increase and decrease vehicle height in response to the pressure within its working chamber, which is controlled by a pressure control device. Vehicle speed and vehicle heights at the locations corresponding to the vehicle wheels are detected by corresponding sensors. A control device is further provided for controlling the pressure control device so that the pressures within the working fluid chambers are driven to substantially the desired pressures, the desired pressures determined by, at least, the sum of the first control parameters corresponding to the differences between the actual vehicle heights detected and the associated desired vehicle heights and the second control parameters corresponding to the changing amounts of the vehicle height differences. The second control parameters are so set that the higher the vehicle speed is, the higher the second quantities are in magnitude, enhancing the controllability and stability of the vehicle under higher vehicle speed conditions and ensuring a greater comfortability level of the vehicle under lower vehicle speed conditions.

Hydraulic active suspension system for a vehicle performing vehicle

A suspension pressure control system applies a pressure which is proportional to a current level supplied to a solenoid of a pressure control valve to a shock absorber associated with a suspension from the valve. A height and a lateral acceleration of a car body as well as a steering angular velocity are detected. A deviation of the height from a target height is calculated. The suspension pressure is adjusted responding to the deviation and a change rate thereof. Also a correction value is calculated on the basis of the lateral acceleration for adjusting the suspension pressure responding to the correction value and a change rate thereof. Proportional coefficients for converting the change rate of the deviation and the change rate of the correction value to pressures to be corrected are corresponding to the steering angular velocity.

Pressure control system for suspension

In a hydraulic active suspension system, a plurality of actuators having working fluid chambers are provided corresponding to vehicle wheels. Each actuator is adapted to increase and decrease vehicle height in response to the pressure within its working chamber, which is controlled by a pressure control device. Vehicle speed and lateral acceleration are detected by corresponding sensors. A control device is further provided for controlling the pressure control device by compensating values determined base upon the lateral acceleration detected. The control device is adapted to reduce the compensating values in magnitude when the vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined value under which the lateral acceleration sensor sometimes detects a false lateral acceleration, thereby reducing the possibility that the vehicle body may generate an unpleasant roll due to the erroneous control on the pressures within the working fluid chambers based upon a false lateral acceleration.

Hydraulic active suspension system for a vehicle for controlling the

The invention is directed to an apparatus for steering rear wheels of a vehicle. A vehicle speed sensor detects a speed of the vehicle, and a steering angle sensor detects a steering angle of front wheels of the vehicle and provides a first steering signal. A control device is provided for receiving the first steering signal and providing a second steering signal representing a desired steering angle of rear wheels of the vehicle which is determined in response to the first steering signal. A drive device is arranged to receive the second steering signal and steer the rear wheels to reach the desired steering angle. Then, a limit mechanism is provided for reducing the range of variation of steering angle of the rear wheels steered by the drive device to a predetermined range when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined speed, or the steering angle of the front wheels is less than a predetermined angle. Accordingly, when the vehicle is traveling at high speed, or when the vehicle turns with a large turning radius, the steering angle of the rear wheels is prevented from being unnecessarily varied.

Rear wheel steering apparatus for vehicles

A pressure control valve delivers a pressure which is proportional to a current level chosen to energize a solenoid therein to a shock absorber of a suspension. A spool in the valve has an annular groove for communicating an output port to a high pressure port or a low pressure port selectively. There are conical surfaces or inclined surfaces at edges of lands adjacent to the groove, which incline from annular surfaces of the lands toward the bottom of the groove. The inclined surfaces slow down a change of the flow rate from the high pressure port to the output port and from the output port to the low pressure port when the annular groove communicates with the high pressure port and the low pressure port respectively.

Pressure control valve device

A rotary actuator is disclosed which changes the angular position of the rotary valve which is used to determine the attenuation presented by a shock absorber. The rotary actuator is disposed within a cylindrical piston rod of the shock absorber, and comprises a power transmission mechanism for driving the rotary valve for rotation between a first and a second position within a given range, a d.c. motor for driving the mechanism, a first stop mechanism for selectively stopping the rotation of the motor at a third position which is situated centrally within the given range, and a solenoid assembly for making the first stop mechanism operative. These components are disposed within the cylindrical piston rod in the sequence named from below to above. The power transmission mechanism includes a second stop mechanism which prevents the rotary valve from rotating outside a first and a second location which determine the given range.

Apparatus for driving rotary valve of shock absorber

A pressure responsive switch having an atmospheric pressure chamber including electrical contacts which are sealed hermetically by a flexible pleated cover whereby the flexible pleated cover deforms in accordance with the expansion and contraction of the atmosphere in the atmospheric pressure chamber. The alteration of the temperature surrounding the atmospheric chamber provides for the expansion and contraction of the atmosphere with the atmospheric pressure chamber and the pleated cover maintains the atmospheric pressure constant within the pressure chamber.

Pressure responsive switch

A solenoid valve assembly having a valve member, disposed in a casing, movable between first and second positions for controlling communication between an inlet port and an outlet port provided in the casing which includes an armature of magnetic material operatively connected with the valve member, a leaf spring fixed at a first end thereof to the armature and biasing the valve member to the first position, a spring retainer having a first end portion which retains a second end of the leaf spring and which is stationarily fixed at a second end portion thereof to the casing, a stationary core of magnetic material mounted in the casing and operatively engageable with the armature and a mechanism acting on the stationary core and the armature for rotating the armature towards the stationary core whereby the valve is moved to the second position and an adjusting mechanism connected to the casing for adjusting tensioning of the leaf spring.

Solenoid valve assembly

In a hydromechanical transmission, low and high speed drive power trains are selectively completed in response to variation of the speed ratio between an input shaft and an output shaft. The transmission comprises a speed ratio detecting valve for detecting lower and higher limits of a predetermined speed ratio and a clutch control valve for conducting the switch over between the low and high speed drive power trains when the actual speed ratio reaches a range defined by the lower and higher limits of the predetermined speed ratio.

Hydromechanical transmission

An electromagnetic control valve is provided with a housing having an inlet and two outlets extending through the wall of the housing. A valve member is mounted in spaced relation from each outlet opening on a resilient member for movement into and out of engagement with a valve seat surrounding the outlet opening. An elongated valve actuator is pivoted at its mid-point between the two valve members and is provided with a projection adjacent each end disposed in contact with a respective valve member. A spring normally biases the valve actuator about its pivot point to bias one of the valve members into engagement with its associated valve seat. An electromagnet is located on the opposite side of the valve actuator from said one of said valve members to pivot the valve actuator against the force of the spring.

Electromagnetic control valve assembly

A thermostatic circuit breaker includes a movable contact which is movable in response to thermal transformation of a thermostatic disk. In order to easily support the movable contact, the movable contact is secured to an offset spring of electrically-conducting and elastic material and is located at a predetermined position with respect to the thermostatic disk and a stationary contact.

Thermostatic circuit breaker

In a hydromechanical transmission, low and high range clutches are selectively operated in response to variation of an actual speed ratio between an input shaft and an output shaft to complete low or high speed drive power train. The transmission comprises a speed ratio detecting valve for detecting lower and higher limits of a predetermined speed ratio and a clutch control valve for selectively operating the low and high range clutches when the actual speed ratio reaches in a range defined by the lower and higher limits of the predetermined speed ratio. The operation of the clutch control valve is controlled by a pressure control valve in accordance with a difference in value between a first signal responsive to a throttle opening angle and a second signal responsive to the rotation speed of the input shaft such that the low and high range clutches are selectively operated only when the difference between the first and second signals becomes a predetermined value.

Growing community of inventors

Toyota, Japan

Tsukasa Watanabe