JPS60209310A - Suspension for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the construction of a suspension whose spring stiffness and damping force are variable, and to heighten the hermetic property of the suspension, by enabling a single driver built in a main actuator, to drive a gas passage open/close mechanism and an orifice control mechanism. CONSTITUTION:A suspension comprises a main and an auxiliary actuators 1, 40. In the main actuator 1, a hollow rod 10, which is attached to a vehicle body by an attaching portion 26, is inserted in a cylinder 2 attached to a vehicle wheel by an attaching portion 4, in such a manner that the hollow rod can be moved back and forth. A damping force production device 17 is provided in the lower portion of the hollow rod 10. In the auxiliary actuator 40, a free piston 42 is fitted in a cylinder 41, and the inflow and outflow of oil to and from the oil chamber 44 of the cylinder 41 are regulated by an oil quantity controller 45. A gas passage open/close mechanism 30 is provided for a gas passage 28 manufactured in a common base 25 for both the actuators 1, 40. Not only the gas passage open/close mechanism 30 but also the orifice control mechanism 31 of the damping force production device 17 are driven by a single motor 32.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a vehicle suspension system including a main actuator and a sub actuator.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle suspension system is known in which a cylinder contains gas and oil to provide a spring function due to the gas and a damping function due to the oil. In this type of suspension system, as previously proposed by the present inventor in Japanese Patent Application No. 176401/1982,
By providing a sub-actuator separately from the main actuator, connecting the gas chamber in the main actuator and the gas chamber in the sub-actuator with gas piping, and installing an on-off valve in the middle of the gas piping, the effective gas chamber volume can be increased. The damping force can also be changed by changing the spring constant in two stages, and by controlling the opening amount of the orifice provided inside the main actuator from the outside via a rod-shaped body. be.

However, this mechanism requires a separate drive source for changing the spring constant and a drive source for changing the damping force, making the structure complicated. Further, there are also disadvantages such as special consideration must be given to the seal cauterization of the rod-shaped body.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to provide a suspension system for a vehicle that has an excellent structure and is oil- or gas-tight.

[Summary of the invention]

The gist of the present invention is to provide a cylinder having an oil chamber inside, a hollow rod telescopically inserted into the cylinder and having an oil chamber and a gas chamber inside, and a hollow rod provided in the hollow rod and connected to the cylinder. In a vehicle suspension system comprising a main actuator equipped with a damping force generating mechanism section that communicates an oil chamber with an oil chamber of a hollow rod, and a sub actuator having an internal gas chamber; A gas passage opening/closing mechanism is provided in the gas passage section that communicates the gas chamber with the gas chamber of the sub-actuator, an orifice flow adjustment mechanism is provided in the damping force generation mechanism section, and an output shaft is provided on both sides within the main actuator. A projecting drive source (for example, a motor or a solenoid) is built in, and one output shaft of this drive source drives the gas passage opening/closing mechanism, and at the same time, the other output shaft drives the orifice flow path adjustment mechanism. There is a particular thing.

According to the above configuration, the gas passage opening/closing mechanism and the orifice flow passage adjustment mechanism can be controlled simultaneously by the output shaft of one drive source housed in the main actuator, which simplifies the structure, and also makes the structure extremely low in terms of sealing. It will be advantageous.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. The vehicle suspension system shown in FIG. 1 includes a main actuator 1 and a sub actuator 40.

First, the main actuator 1 will be explained. Reference numeral 2 in the figure indicates a cylinder, and a mounting portion 4 provided with a rubber bushing 3 is provided at the bottom of the cylinder 2. In this installation, the portion 4 is fixed to the wheel side.

Further, the upper end portion 2a of the cylinder 2 is expanded, and a hydraulic seal 5 is provided inside the upper end portion 2a. Further, a pan lever 6 that projects upward is attached to the upper end surface of the cylinder 2.

Further, an oil chamber 7 is formed inside the cylinder 2. A pump stopper 8 is provided on the inner bottom surface of the oil chamber 7.

A hollow rod 10 is telescopically inserted into the cylinder 2. This hollow rod 10 is provided with an oil chamber 11 and a gas chamber 12 above the oil chamber 11 filled with high-pressure nitrogen gas.

Note that a float may be placed between the oil chamber 11 and the gas chamber 12. Furthermore, dry bearings 14 and 15 are provided on the sliding surfaces of the cylinder 2 and the hollow rod 10. 16
is a rebound stopper.

Further, a damping force generating mechanism section 17 is provided at the lower part of the hollow rod 10.
is provided. The damping force generating mechanism section 17 includes a well-known disc valve 20, a relief coil spring 21, a variable orifice 22, and the like, and allows the oil chamber 7 of the cylinder and the oil v11 of the hollow rod to communicate with each other.

Further, a common base 25 is airtightly attached, for example, by welding, so as to close the upper end opening of the hollow rod 10. The common base 25 is provided with a mounting portion 26 for mounting on the vehicle body side. Also, cylinder 2
A cover 27 is attached to surround the upper part of the hollow rod 10 and the upper part of the hollow rod 10.

A gas passage portion 28 is formed in the common base 25,
The gas chamber 12 of the main actuator and the gas chamber 43 of the sub-actuator described below can communicate with each other. 28a is a nitrogen gas J1j inlet, which is filled with t, L* after gas filling.

In the main no. 7 knob 1J-ta, there is a gas passage opening/closing part 1 for controlling the flow and cutoff of the gas passage part 28.
s1130 is provided, and the damping force generation mechanism section 17 is also provided with an A-refice flow path adjustment mechanism 31. The gas passage opening/closing mechanism 30 and the orifice flow passage adjustment 11 [I31] are both controlled simultaneously by a motor 32 as an example of a drive source.

More specifically, output shafts 33 and 34 that rotate integrally protrude from both the upper and lower ends of the motor 32, and one of the output shafts 33 is connected to a rotary on-off valve provided in the gas passage section 28. It is connected to 35. By changing the rotational position of this opening/closing valve 35, the gas passage MS28 is opened and closed, and when the gas passage part 28 is opened, the gas? 12.43
The spring constant is low because these are in communication with each other, and conversely, when the gas passage section 28 is blocked, only the gas chamber 12 of the main actuator works, so that the spring constant is high.

The other output shaft 34 extends downward and is connected to an orifice opening adjustment valve 36. This adjustment valve 36 is
It is rotatably inserted into an annular body 37 provided with a communication hole 37a. By changing the rotational position of the regulating valve 36, the opening amount of the flow hole 37a, that is, the flow passage cross-sectional area of the variable orifice 22 changes, and the damping force changes.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2(A), the gas passage section 28
When the on-off valve 35 is rotated in the direction of communicating the orifice, the regulating valve 36 is rotated in the direction of widening the orifice flow path as shown in FIG. 2(B), and conversely, as shown in FIG.
) When the on-off valve 35 is rotated in the direction to close the gas passage section 28, the regulating valve 36 is rotated in the direction to narrow the orifice flow path as shown in FIG. 3(B). It has become.

On the other hand, the sub actuator 40 has a bottomed cylinder portion 41.
, a free piston 42 provided inside the cylinder portion 41, a gas chamber 43 and an oil chamber 44 partitioned by the free screw 42, and an oil quantity control device 45 for taking oil into and out of the oil chamber 44. Consists of etc. The cylinder part 41
The upper end surface is airtightly attached to the lower surface of the horizontally extending portion 25a of the common base 25 by, for example, welding.

46 is a seal.

The oil amount control device 45 includes a hydraulic pressure lNI 47, hydraulic pressure switching valves 48, 49, an oil tank 50, and the like.

The motor 32 and hydraulic switching valves 48 and 49 are controlled by a controller 60 such as a microcomputer. The controller 60 receives signals from, for example, a vehicle height sensor 61, a speed sensor 62, a handle sensor 63, a brake sensor 64, an accelerator sensor 65, a handbrake sensor 66, and the like.

In one embodiment of the device having the above configuration, a damping force is generated in the damping force generating mechanism section 17 by the hollow rod 10 expanding and contracting relative to the cylinder 2, and the gas chamber 12.
Due to the repulsive force of the nitrogen gas inside 43, the function as a spring is exerted.

Furthermore, if oil is put in and out of the oil chamber 44 using the oil amount control device 45, the internal pressure or volume of the gas chamber 12.430 changes as the oil amount changes, and as a result, the expansion of the hollow O-rad 10 is adjusted. can do. In other words, the vehicle height can be adjusted. The vehicle height adjustment command may be automatically output by the vehicle height sensor 61 so that a constant vehicle height can be maintained at all times.
A desired vehicle height may be obtained by manually outputting a vehicle height adjustment signal by operating a manual switch (not shown).

Furthermore, the motor 32 is driven based on signals input from various sensors 61 to 66 to control the gas passage opening/closing mechanism 30 and the orifice flow passage adjustment mechanism 31, thereby stabilizing the vehicle body posture and improving ride comfort. You can also do that.

For example, when the vehicle is running straight ahead, riding comfort can be improved by opening the on-off valve 35 of the gas passage section 28 to lower the spring constant, and at the same time maximizing the flow rate of the regulating valve 36 of the orifice flow path to reduce the damping force. Improvement 10- I can do it.

In addition, when turning, suddenly accelerating, suddenly stopping, or running at high speed, the motor 32 is driven via the controller 60 based on the output signals from the above-mentioned sensors or signals generated by manual operation, and the gas passage section 28 is shut off to stop the spring. By increasing the constant and at the same time minimizing the opening amount of the regulating valve 36 of the orifice flow path to increase the damping force, it is possible to avoid improving the steering stability.

Note that a solenoid may be used as the drive source instead of the C motor 32. In addition, the output shafts 33 and 34 are not limited to rotation.
The intended purpose of the present invention can be achieved even if the shaft is configured to move 11 times in the axial direction.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the main actuator 1 and the sub actuator 40 are separated, and a gas chamber 12 on the main actuator side is connected via a gas pipe 70. It communicates with the gas chamber 43 on the side of the sub-accumulator. However, other basic configurations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment, so common parts will be designated with the same symbol -rq and their explanation will be omitted.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, in a vehicle suspension system in which the spring constant and damping force can be changed, the gas passage opening/closing mechanism and the orifice are controlled by one drive source built into the main actuator. The structure is simple because both flow path adjustment mechanisms can be driven, and the built-in drive source greatly improves the sealing of gas and oil inside the actuator, making it possible to obtain a highly reliable suspension system. can.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a vehicle suspension system showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2(A) and 3(A) are cross-sectional views showing a part of the gas passage opening/closing mechanism in different operating states 2(B) and 3(B) are cross-sectional views showing a part of the orifice flow path adjustment mechanism in mutually different operating states, and FIG. 4 is a vehicular device showing another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the suspension device. 1... Main actuator, 2... Cylinder, 7...
・Oil chamber, 10...Hollow rod, 11...Oil seedling, 12
... Gas chamber, 17... Damping force generation mechanism section, 28...
・Gas passage section, 30...Gas passage opening/closing ta side, 31.
... Orifice flow path adjustment mechanism, 32... Motor (drive source), 33.34... Output shaft, 40... Sub-actuator, 43... Gas chamber, 44... Oil chamber. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 13-

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A cylinder with an oil chamber inside, a hollow rod telescopically inserted into this cylinder and having an oil chamber and a gas chamber inside, and a In addition to having a main actuator equipped with a damping force generating mechanism section that communicates with the oil chamber,
In a vehicle suspension system equipped with a sub actuator having a gas chamber inside; a gas passage opening/closing mechanism is provided in a gas passage portion that communicates the gas chamber of the main actuator with the gas chamber of the sub actuator; An orifice flow path adjustment mechanism is provided in the force generation mechanism, and a drive source with output shafts protruding from both sides is built into the main actuator, and one output shaft of this drive source drives the gas passage opening/closing mechanism. A suspension system for a vehicle, characterized in that the orifice flow path adjustment mechanism is simultaneously driven by the other output shaft. (2) When each output shaft of the drive source drives the gas passage opening/closing mechanism in the opening direction, it simultaneously drives the orifice passage adjustment mechanism in the direction of widening the orifice passage, and also closes the gas passage opening/closing mechanism. The vehicle suspension system according to claim 1, wherein when driving in the direction, the orifice flow path adjustment mechanism is driven in a direction to narrow the orifice flow path.