Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Showa Corporation

Yukihiro Orimoto

Ryoma Kanda

Tomohiro Yamazaki

Koichi Shibusawa

Toru Takenaka

Shuji Shiraishi

Hiroyuki Urabe

Takayuki Toyoshima

Hiroshi Kono

Seiryo Konakai

Yutaka Hozumi

Norikazu Kurosu

Tuyoshi Funano

Ken Issiki

Ryoji Nakagawa

Provided is an examination method for a damping force variable mechanism, the examination method including: an operation step of operating a damper in a state in which the damper is installed in a vehicle, the damper being provided with a damping force variable mechanism that changes a damping force according to an input current (an example of a signal); and a detection step of detecting an induction current (an example of an output from the vehicle) from the damping force variable mechanism of the damper installed in the vehicle, wherein a detection device that performs the operation of the detection step is provided. Thus, the damping force variable mechanism of a pressure damping device can be examined in a state in which the damping force variable mechanism is installed in the vehicle.

Method and system for inspecting damping force variable mechanism, and method for inspecting pressure damping device

A suspension controller includes a wheel speed sensor that detects the wheel speed of each wheel, a basic input amount calculating unit that calculates the basic input amount of the vehicle on the basis of a wheel speed variation detected by the wheel speed sensor, a state amount calculating unit that calculates the state amount of the vehicle by inputting the basic input amount to a vehicle model representing the motion of the vehicle, and a damper controlling unit that controls the damping force of a damping-force-variable damper on the basis of the calculated state amount. If the wheel speed variation detected by the wheel speed sensor decreases below zero by a predetermined value or more on the minus side, the vertical load of the wheel is considered to be decreased, and the damping force is controlled to be greater than before the decrease.

Suspension controller

A control input for operating an actual vehicle actuator and a control input for operating a vehicle model are determined by an FB distribution law based on a difference between a reference state amount determined by a vehicle model and an actual state amount of an actual vehicle such that the state amount error is approximated to zero, and then an actuator device of the actual vehicle and the model vehicle are operated based on the control inputs. The FB distribution law determines a control input for operating the model such that a state amount error is approximated to zero while restraining a predetermined restriction object amount from deviating from a permissible range. A vehicle control device capable of enhancing robustness against disturbance factors or their changes while performing operation control of actuators that is as suited to behaviors of an actual vehicle as possible is provided.

Vehicle control device

A vehicular suspension system is provided in which the lower end of a coil spring () is positioned lower than a support part () where a suspension arm () is supported on a vehicle body, the lower end of the coil spring () is positioned on the laterally inner side of the vehicle body relative to the upper end of the coil spring (), and when a wheel (W) rebounds and the coil spring () is elongated, the lower end of the coil spring () can therefore move along its axis. As a result, the coil spring () can be prevented from bending at a time of rebound, the spring constant thus increases, and the lower end of the coil spring () is pressed strongly against a spring seat () and thus prevented from lifting, thereby preventing any degradation in the turning performance. This can prevent the lower end of the coil spring of the vehicular suspension system from lifting from the spring seat when the coil spring is elongated, thus preventing any degradation in the turning performance.

Vehicular suspension system

In manufacturing a knuckle body forged or cast from light alloy of a suspension device, a large vertical height of a pair of bosses protruding downward from front and rear ends in a lower portion of the knuckle body may cause degradation in forgeability or castability of the knuckle body to hinder manufacturing, and also cause reduction in rigidity of the bosses to reduce mounting strength of a lower arm support bracket made of ferrous metal. A vertical height of the pair of bosses of the knuckle body is set to be smaller than a vertical height of the lower arm support bracket, thereby improving forgeability or castability of the knuckle body and increasing rigidity of the bosses.

Suspension device

There is provided a suspension arm mounting structure in which a mounting end portion of a suspension arm is fastened relative to a vehicle body with a bolt and a nut and in which the wheel alignment is adapted to be adjusted by displacing the bolt in a direction orthogonal to an axis thereof through rotation of a pair of plate cams disposed at ends of the bolt, characterized in that a cylindrical collar is provided over a shank portion of the bolt; in that one of the pair of plate cams and an engagement portion for engagement with a turning tool are provided at one end of the cylindrical collar in such a manner as to prohibit a relative rotation therebetween, and in that an engagement portion is formed on the other end of the cylindrical collar so as to prohibit a relative rotation between the cylindrical collar and the other of the pair of plate cams. According to this construction, since the bolt and the plate cam can rotate relatively to each other, tightening can be effected at the head of the bolt. In addition, both adjusting the wheel alignment and tightening the bolt can be performed on the same side by disposing the engagement portion for engagement with a turning tool for use in performing a wheel alignment adjustment on the side of the head of the bolt.

Suspension arm mounting structure

In a double wishbone type wheel suspension system comprising an upper A-arm and a lower A-arm, a toe control link is additionally provided between the vehicle body and a forward part of the knuckle. In particular, the pivotal attachment of the toe control link to the vehicle body is located below the plane defined by the lower A-arm, and the toe control link is located generally ahead of the spindle of the wheel. Therefore, the toe control link can be arranged close to the road contact surface of the wheel so that the resistance of the wheel against the side force which tends to tilt the wheel in the direction to change the camber angle can be increased so that a high camber rigidity can be achieved. This improves the anti-squat property of the vehicle, and improves the lateral stability of the vehicle when traveling over irregular road surfaces as well as when making turns. Also, because the toe control ink is placed ahead of the spindle, it is possible to maximize the distance between the control link and the king pin axis, which typically has a negative caster angle and a negative caster trail. Therefore, a highly controllable toe compliance can be produced so that a suitable side-force steer-in property can be achieved while maintaining a sufficient camber rigidity.

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Wako, Japan

Yukihiro Orimoto