Vehicle suspension system with variable-damping force shock-absorbers - has dead zone in stepping-motor control whose boundaries are raised and lowered according to measured vertical velocity

摘要

Each shock-absorber (SA) incorporates a reservoir chamber between oil-filled coaxial cylinders and is adjusted by a stepper motor (3) under central control (4) responsive to the signals from vertical accelerometers (1) at associated points on the bodywork. The controller incorporates a dead-zone circuit whereby the damping characteristics of the shock-absorbers are adjusted to their min. only while the control signal remains within a dead zone for the vertical velocity, whose magnitude governs the variation of upper and lower bounds of the dead zone. ADVANTAGE - The life of the system is extended and its energy consumption reduced by prevention of unnecessary reaction to insignificant fluctuations in e.g. high-speed travel over a straight dry road.