The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 20, 2016
Filed:
Feb. 10, 2015
Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);
Jianbo Lu, Northville, MI (US);
Steven Joseph Szwabowski, Northville, MI (US);
Kwaku O. Prakah-Asante, Commerce Township, MI (US);
Fling Tseng, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Perry Robinson MacNeille, Lathrup Village, MI (US);
Xiaoming Wang, Canton, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
A vehicle selectively operates in a plurality of operational modes. The operational modes carry with them different commands for operating a controlled suspension system such as a continuously controlled damping suspension system, a controlled steering system such as an electronic power-assist steering system, and a powertrain of the vehicle. For example, in one operational mode, the powertrain might be more sensitive to output torque from a motor or engine quickly with little hesitation. The vehicle includes a sensing system, such as a plurality of suspension height sensors and a corresponding controller programmed to receive suspension height signals indicating the characteristic of the road, to categorize the signals, and to compute categorized vehicle characteristics such as vehicle pitch, heave, roll, yaw, etc. The controller can discretize the categorized signals into a discrete number of index values, and then command the vehicle to change operational mode based on the discrete index value.