Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Yukio Hayakawa

Kiyoshi Nakahara

Nobuyoshi Asanuma

Satoshi Kondo

On an outside of a damper main body of an inverted type of vehicular damper, a pressure casing of a cylindrical shape which is connected to a damper rod is provided in a manner movable up and down. A pressure chamber for containing therein a pressure medium which varies between a liquid phase and a gaseous phase is formed between the damper main body and the pressure casing. An electric heater to heat and evaporate the pressure medium inside the pressure chamber is provided. Electric charging to the electric heater is controlled by a vehicle height detection switch which is attached to the damper rod or the like.

Inverted type of vehicular damper with vehicle height adjusting function

On an outside of a damper main body (,) of an inverted type of damper, a cylindrical case (,) which is coupled to a damper rod (,) is provided so as to be movable up and down. Between the damper main body (,) and the case (,), there is formed a pressure chamber (,) filled with a pressure medium of low boiling point which varies between a gaseous state and a liquid state. By use of a heater (,) which is disposed inside the pressure chamber (,) the pressure medium is heated and evaporated, whereby the vehicle height is increased by the vapor pressure of the pressure medium. In the above-described damper with a vehicle height adjusting function, the heater (,) is arranged to be easily mounted and dismounted to thereby improve the ease with which the maintenance is performed. The influence on the suspension stoke which is caused by the presence of the heater (,) is also minimized. The heater is formed into a bar heater (,). This bar heater (,) is horizontally inserted into the bottom of the pressure chamber (,) through a connector portion (,) which is provided in the case (,). A tail portion of the bar heater (,) is fitted into the connector portion (,) in a threaded manner.

Damper with vehicle height adjusting function

A case is provided on an outside of a damper main body that is connected to a damper rod and which can freely move in vertical directions. A pressure chamber is formed between the damper main body and the case in which a pressure medium is sealed up, which pressure medium changes its phase between vapor and liquid phases. The pressure medium is heated and vaporized by heat generated by virtue of a damping effect of the damper, while the pressure medium is condensed by virtue of heat radiating from the case by running wind. During the running on a rough road when the heating value of the damper becomes large, the internal pressure of the pressure chamber is increased to thereby raise the vehicle height, and during the running at high speeds when the heat radiating value becomes large, the internal pressure of the pressure chamber is decreased to thereby lower the vehicle height.

Damper with vehicle height adjustment function

In a vehicular damper with a vehicle height adjusting function, a pressure source for adjusting the vehicle height is integrally assembled into the damper to improve the ease with which the damper is assembled into a vehicle body. For that purpose, on an outer peripheral portion of a damper main body there is provided a case which is connected to a damper rod and which is vertically movable. A refrigerant which varies between a gaseous phase and a liquid phase is contained in the case in a hermetically sealed manner. An electric heater is disposed inside the case to heat and evaporate the refrigerant by the electric heater. The vehicle height is increased by an increase in the vapor pressure inside the case.

Vehicular damper with vehicle height adjusting function having an internal heat source

On an outside of a damper main body, there is provided a case which is movable up and down and which is connected to a damper rod. Between the damper main body and the case, there is formed a pressure chamber which is filled with a pressure medium which changes its state between a gaseous state and a liquid state. A heating chamber to flow therethrough a heating medium which is heated by the heat of the driving source or the like of a vehicle is disposed in a manner to contact a liquid sump portion of the pressure chamber. The pressure medium is heated and evaporated by the heat of the heating medium to thereby increase the internal pressure of the pressure chamber. The case is thus pushed upward and the damper rod is moved up, whereby the vehicle height increases.

Vehicular damper with vehicle height adjusting function

In a first type, there is provided, inside an inner tube of a twin-tube type of damper, a pressurizing chamber to be defined by a free piston which is slidably fit onto an outer surface of a rod. A fluid pressure from an outside pressure source is supplied to the pressurizing chamber to push down a damper piston via the free piston to thereby forcibly contract the damper. In a second type, there is provided inside an inner tube a cylinder which is slidably fit onto an outer surface of a rod, and a piston mounted on the rod is inserted into the cylinder. A fluid pressure from the pressure source is supplied to the pressurizing chamber inside the cylinder to push down the rod via the piston to thereby forcibly contract the damper. In a third type, a rod is slidably inserted into a partition wall in an intermediate portion of a damper main body of a mono-tube type of damper. A free piston which is prevented by a stopper member from dropping out of position downwards is slidably mounted onto an outer surface of a rod portion below the partition wall. A fluid pressure from a pressure source is supplied to a pressurizing chamber to be defined between the partition wall and the free piston. The rod is pushed down via the free piston and the stopper member to thereby forcibly contract the damper.

Hydraulic damper for vehicle

The hydraulic pressure to be supplied to a hydraulic actuator mounted on a vehicle, such as a hydraulic cylinder for vehicle height control, is arranged to be generated by utilizing a waste heat of a power source such as an engine of the vehicle or the like. There are provided an oil chamber to be connected to a hydraulic actuator, a pressurizing chamber containing therein, in a sealed manner, a medium which varies between a gaseous state and a liquid state, and a heating device which heats and evaporates the medium inside the pressurizing chamber and through which cooling water for cooling the power source to be mounted on the vehicle flows. The hydraulic pressure is generated by compressing the oil chamber by a vapor pressure of the medium inside the pressurizing chamber. In case the hydraulic actuator is a hydraulic cylinder for a vehicle height control, there is provided a flow control valve which controls the amount of supply of the cooling water to the heating device depending on the vehicle height.

Hydraulic pressure source apparatus and vehicle height control apparatus

A vessel of a liquid pressure generating apparatus is divided into two vessels of an upper liquid pressure generating vessel containing therein a liquid chamber whose volume can be varied, and a lower medium vessel into which is filled a medium which varies between a gaseous state and a liquid state. Both the vessels are connected by a communicating passage. The two vessels are respectively provided with heating heat exchange portions into which is inputted an external heat such as a waste heat of a driving source of a vehicle. The medium vessel is also provided with a cooling heat exchange portion. By the inputting of heat and stopping thereof, the liquid pressure can be controlled with good response.

Growing community of inventors

Tochigi-ken, Japan

Yukio Hayakawa