Traveling Surface Inspection Patents (Class 280/5.518)
  • Patent number: 11945275
    Abstract: A damping control device includes a control force generating device and a controller. The controller is configured to acquire road surface displacement related values related to a plurality of road surface displacements in a predetermined sampling zone, acquire an amplitude index indicating a magnitude of an amplitude of the sampled values, determine an operation delay period of the control force generating device based on the magnitude of the amplitude indicated by the amplitude index, calculate target control force for reducing vibration of a vehicle body based on the road surface displacement related values at a predicted passing position where a wheel is predicted to pass after an elapse of the operation delay period from a current time, and transmit, to the control force generating device, a control command for causing the control force generating device to regulate the control force to agree with the target control force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroki Furuta
  • Patent number: 11932327
    Abstract: A machine comprises a frame, a plurality of ground engaging units, a plurality of moveable legs, and a hydraulic system. A first ground engaging unit and a second ground engaging unit connect a first leg and a second leg, respectively, with the frame. The hydraulic system controls heights of the plurality of moveable legs. The hydraulic system comprises a fluid circuit to control fluid between the first and second legs, a load holding valve to control fluid flow into the fluid circuit, and first and second relief valves to control flow of fluid between the first and second legs in opposite directions. A method for controlling slope of a construction machine comprises activating a relief valve connecting right and left lifting cylinders to control flow of hydraulic fluid between the lifting cylinders to control retraction of one of the lifting cylinders from retracting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Caterpillar Paving Products Inc.
    Inventors: Nicholas J. Argenziano, Dario Sansone
  • Patent number: 11884257
    Abstract: A method for controlling driving force of a vehicle includes determining a natural frequency of vehicle suspension pitch motion according to characteristics of a suspension device of the vehicle, providing a filter configured for removing or passing a natural frequency component of the vehicle suspension pitch motion to a control unit of the vehicle, determining, by the control unit, a required driving force command based on vehicle driving information collected during vehicle driving, determining, by the control unit, a final front wheel driving force command and a final rear wheel driving force command through a filtering process using the filter from the determined required driving force command, and controlling, by the control unit, a driving force applied to a front wheel and a rear wheel of the vehicle by a driving device for driving the vehicle according to the determined final front wheel driving force command and the determined final rear wheel driving force command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventor: Ji Won Oh
  • Patent number: 11568687
    Abstract: Described herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for evaluating vibrational characteristics of a vehicle such as an autonomous vehicle and vibrational characteristics of a road surface in conjunction with one another to identify anomalous vehicle vibrational characteristics that may be indicative of potential damage to the structure of a vehicle. A baseline vibrational signature may be generated for a road segment based on sensor data received from multiple vehicles traversing the road segment. A vibrational signature may also be generated for a particular vehicle being evaluated based on real-time sensor data. If the vibrational signature for the vehicle deviates from the baseline vibrational signature for the road segment by more than a threshold amount, the vehicle may be deemed to be exhibiting anomalous vibrational characteristics indicative of potential vehicular damage. One or more actions in response thereto may then be taken such as automatically halting the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Pony AI Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Dingli, Peter G. Diehl, Chen Yue Li
  • Patent number: 11541712
    Abstract: Disclosed are a system, a method, and an apparatus for controlling a suspension using image data captured by an image sensor. The suspension control apparatus includes at least one image sensor mounted to an own vehicle to capture image data of the surrounding environment of the own vehicle, and a controller configured to control the own vehicle based on the image data captured by the at least one image sensor, wherein the controller receives the image data from the at least one image sensor, extracts suspension control reference information including at least one of road environment information, own vehicle surrounding object information, and own vehicle state information based on the image data and/or an in-vehicle sensor of the own vehicle, and generates a control signal for controlling the height of a suspension according to the suspension control reference information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: HL KLEMO VE CORP.
    Inventor: Minki Park
  • Patent number: 11529837
    Abstract: A vehicle comprising: a vehicle body; a plurality of wheel assemblies each having a rotation axis; at least one suspension linkage, each suspension linkage coupling a respective wheel assembly to the vehicle body to permit motion of the rotation axis of each respective wheel assembly relative to the vehicle body; a damper coupled to a respective suspension linkage to constrain the motion of the associated wheel assembly by applying a damper reaction force to the suspension linkage, the damper being configured to be responsive to a damper force control output to vary the damper reaction force being applied to the suspension linkage; at least one vehicle sensor configured to provide vehicle condition data; and a damper control unit configured to generate the damper force control output that causes the damper to generate respective damper reaction forces to act against the suspension linkage to control the motion of the wheel assembly towards a set position for the wheel assembly relative to the vehicle body, ad
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: McLaren Automotive Limited
    Inventor: Will Hoult
  • Patent number: 11524684
    Abstract: A vehicle control device includes: a control portion that makes, of a plurality of shock absorbers included in a vehicle, a first damping force of at least one shock absorber that is located on a first direction side on which acceleration acts in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle larger than a second damping force of at least one shock absorber of the plurality of shock absorbers that is located on a second direction side opposite to the first direction in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle before acceleration acting on the vehicle is detected by an acceleration sensor due to acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: AISIN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masaya Sugai, Satoshi Kokubo, Shinya Harada
  • Patent number: 11370444
    Abstract: A vehicle control device includes an information acquisition unit that acquires road surface condition information indicative of a road surface condition determined on the basis of sound data obtained by performing sound source separation with respect to a sound acquired by a microphone array, a storage unit in which there is stored control content in accordance with the road surface condition, and a control unit which controls a drive unit provided on a vehicle, on the basis of the control content in accordance with the road surface condition indicated by the road surface condition information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Go Morita, Takashi Ozeki, Tomoyuki Sahata
  • Patent number: 11096272
    Abstract: An embodiment includes generating a sense signal that represents a first vibration of a platform, and reducing a level of the first vibration by generating, in response to the sense signal, a second vibration in the platform. For example, a sensor generates a sense signal representing a first vibration induced (e.g., a shock-induced vibration) in the platform. And a vibration-cancel circuit reduces or eliminates a level of the first vibration in response to the sense signal. For example, the vibration-cancel circuit reduces a magnitude of a first vibration induced in a platform, or eliminates the first vibration altogether, by generating, in the platform, a second vibration having a magnitude approximately equal to the magnitude of the first vibration and having a phase approximately opposite to the phase of the first vibration. That is, the second vibration cancels the first vibration to reduce the net vibration that the platform experiences.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventor: Alexander Spivak
  • Patent number: 11059339
    Abstract: A system for predictive chassis control including a wheel-spring device controllable with respect to a damping or suspension characteristic, a sensor for ascertaining a force profile of a disturbance acting on the wheel-spring device, and a navigation for ascertaining a current geoposition of the off-road utility vehicle in the form of an associated position data. The system includes a memory unit and a control unit for saving the force profile induced by the disturbance or a quantity derived therefrom. The control unit detects an imminent renewed crossing of the disturbance by continuous reconciliation of the current geoposition received from the navigation with the saved position data. The control unit adapts the damping or suspension characteristic on the basis of the saved force profile or the quantity derived therefrom by a pilot control of the wheel-spring device to compensate for an influence of the disturbance on the wheel-spring device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventors: Matthias Zwanzger, Mattias Lang, Christian Von Holst
  • Patent number: 10828954
    Abstract: A vehicle suspension control system includes a controller configured to receive recorded information related to a location and severity of a surface irregularity to be traversed by a vehicle, determine a desired damping force based on the information, and send a damper adjustment signal based on the desired damping force. The vehicle suspension control system further includes an adjustable damper configured to adjust a damping force of the vehicle suspension system in response to the damper adjustment signal. Methods include controlling vehicle suspension systems and gather information related to irregularities in a surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Ahmed Mohamed, Russ Lee Norton, Phil Lenius, Benjamin Bulat
  • Patent number: 10605699
    Abstract: A method for detecting a defective damper device of a vehicle, including the following steps: monitoring the specific damper travel values (DW) of at least two wheel carriers of the vehicle in a monitoring period (UZ), determining the specific damper speeds (DG) and the specific damper accelerations (DB) on the basis of the monitored specific damper travel values (DW) in the monitoring period (UZ), acquiring the specific damper work values (DA) on the basis of the determined specific damper speeds (DG) and on the basis of the determined specific damper accelerations (DB), generating a comparison result (VE) from a comparison of the acquired specific damper work values (DA) with one another, and generating at least one specific status signal (SS) on the basis of the comparison result (VE) for the at least two wheel carriers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Alexander Weiβ, Günter Poetsch, Nils Kallert, Markus Gantikow
  • Patent number: 10538136
    Abstract: A damping force control device for controlling damping forces of shock absorbers by a control device, which is configured to extract first vibration components in a first frequency range and second vibration components in a higher frequency range than the first frequency range from vertical accelerations of a sprung mass at the positions of wheels, to calculate correction coefficients which decrease as the degree of the second vibration increases with respect to the degree of the first vibration, and to control damping coefficients of the shock absorbers so as to be the products of target damping forces calculated based on the vertical accelerations of the sprung mass and the correction coefficients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takashi Saito
  • Patent number: 10471795
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for compensating for vertically oriented movements of a superstructure of a vehicle. The vehicle is provided with the superstructure and with an active undercarriage having a plurality of wheels which are in contact with the carriageway, wherein each wheel is connected via an actuator adjustable over its length at a wheel assigned to a suspension point with the superstructure. Vertically oriented movements of the superstructure are caused by an inclination of the carriageway and by unevennesses of the carriageway, a first change of the length of at least one actuator is carried out for frequencies in a first, lower frequency range, and a second change of the length of the at least one actuator is carried out for frequencies in a second, higher frequency range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventors: Andreas Unger, Christoph Göhrle
  • Patent number: 10406882
    Abstract: A method for controlling a suspension system of a vehicle, as well as suspension systems, and a vehicle including a suspension system is provided. The suspension system may include at least one adjustable damping device that is controlled via a control signal, such as from a controller of the suspension system, in order to dynamically adjust the damping characteristic of the damping device. The control signal may be generated on the basis of at least one of current driving dynamics data and optically recorded information about an area of a ground surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Mohsen Lakehal-Ayat, Uwe Hoffmann, Yvonne Baeumchen, Felix Weinreich, Michael Seemann
  • Patent number: 10406884
    Abstract: A damping control system for a vehicle having a suspension located between a plurality of ground engaging members and a vehicle frame includes at least one adjustable shock absorber having an adjustable damping profile and a driver actuatable input. The driver actuatable input may be positioned to be actuatable by the driver in the absence of requiring a removal of either of the hands of the driver from a steering device of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: Polaris Industries Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathon P. Oakden-Graus, Brian D. Krosschell
  • Patent number: 9643467
    Abstract: An active suspension system for a sprung mass that is supported and movable relative to an unsprung mass. The active suspension system has a suspension that comprises an electromagnetic actuator that is adapted to produce an arbitrary force on the sprung mass that is independent of the position, velocity and acceleration of the sprung mass, a control system that provides control signals that cause the suspension to exert force on the sprung mass, to control the position of the sprung mass relative to the unsprung mass, wherein the control system implements a control algorithm with one or more constants, and a user interface that is operable to cause a change of one or more of the control algorithm constants so as to vary how closely motion of the sprung mass follows motion of the unsprung mass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventors: Brian Alexander Selden, James A. Parison
  • Patent number: 9278600
    Abstract: An active road noise control system for a vehicle (10) comprising one or more inertial actuators (30) for suppressing vibrations in the chassis of the vehicle (10) and/or vehicle body (8).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: Jaguar Land Rover Limited
    Inventor: Barry Slater
  • Patent number: 8996249
    Abstract: A method for controlling an active suspension is disclosed. The method includes steps of determining a dimension of a road abnormality ahead of the vehicle; comparing the dimension with a vehicle dimension; responsive to the comparison, classifying the abnormality as one type of a plurality of predetermined types; responsive to a dimension of the abnormality, further classifying the abnormality as having a severity of one type of a plurality of predetermined types; and controlling the suspension responsive to the abnormality type and severity type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jianbo Lu, Dimitar P. Filev, Davor Hrovat, Eric Hongtei Tseng, Uwe Hoffmann, Simon Baales, Michael Seeman
  • Patent number: 8948968
    Abstract: An active suspension system for a vehicle including elements for developing and executing a trajectory plan responsive to the path on which the vehicle is traveling. The system may include a location system for locating the vehicle, and a system for retrieving a road profile corresponding to the vehicle location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence D. Knox, Neal M. Lackritz, James A. Parison, William R. Short
  • Patent number: 8788146
    Abstract: A method for controlling an active suspension includes steps of determining a dimension of a road abnormality ahead of the vehicle and comparing the dimension with a vehicle dimension. Responsive to the comparison, the abnormality is classified as one type of a plurality of predetermined types. Responsive to a height dimension of the abnormality, the abnormality is further classified as having one of a small, medium, or large severity. The suspension is controlled responsive to the type and severity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jianbo Lu, Dimitar P. Filev, Davor Hrovat, Eruc Hongtei Tseng, Uwe Hoffmann, Simon Baales, Micheal Seemann
  • Publication number: 20140001717
    Abstract: A vehicle suspension and wheel damper using anti-causal filtering. Information from in front of a wheel or information about an operating condition of a vehicle is used to anti-causally determine a response of an active suspension associated with the wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Publication date: January 2, 2014
    Inventors: Marco Giovanardi, David J. Warkentin
  • Patent number: 8517395
    Abstract: An active suspension system for a vehicle including elements for developing and executing a trajectory plan responsive to the path on which the vehicle is traveling. The system may include a location system for locating the vehicle, and a system for retrieving a road profile corresponding to the vehicle location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence D. Knox, Neal M. Lackritz, William R. Short
  • Patent number: 8365847
    Abstract: A surface vehicle capable of overcoming obstacles is disclosed in which the vehicle accelerates vertically while having a horizontal velocity. The vehicle has a frame and at least three wheels attached to the frame to which a horizontal propulsion system is coupled. Further, a vertical propulsion system is coupled to the frame and the wheels. The vertical propulsion system is capable of providing a force to such wheels normal to the surface so that the vehicle separates from the surface. The vehicle has an electronic control unit coupled to the vertical propulsion system to automatically control its operation. Further, sensors are used to evaluate the characteristics of the surface that pertain to supporting a vertical acceleration/deceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Mobile Intelligence Corporation
    Inventors: Wayne Miller Brehob, Douglas Christopher MacKenzie
  • Patent number: 8285447
    Abstract: An active suspension system senses roadway defects and adjusts an active and controllable suspension system of the vehicle before tires come in contact with the defect. The active suspension system identifies a type of defect or debris, e.g., pothole, bump, object, etc., along with the size, width, depth, and/or height information of the defect to more accurately control operation of the suspension system to prepare for, or avoid contact with the roadway defects and obstacles. Imaging techniques are employed to identify the defect or debris. Operation of a serviced cruise control system is controlled to enhance passenger safety and comfort.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Enpulz, L.L.C.
    Inventor: James D. Bennett
  • Patent number: 7934725
    Abstract: A surface vehicle capable of overcoming obstacles is disclosed in which the vehicle accelerates vertically while having a horizontal velocity. The vehicle has a frame and at least three wheels attached to the frame to which a horizontal propulsion system is coupled. Further, a vertical propulsion system is coupled to the frame and the wheels. The vertical propulsion system is capable of providing a force to such wheels normal to the surface so that the vehicle separates from the surface. The vehicle has an electronic control unit coupled to the vertical propulsion system to automatically control its operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2011
    Assignee: Mobile Intelligence Corporation
    Inventors: Wayne Miller Brehob, Douglas Christopher MacKenzie
  • Patent number: 7878510
    Abstract: An active suspension system for a vehicle including elements for developing and executing a trajectory plan responsive to the path on which the vehicle is traveling. The system may include a location system for locating the vehicle, and a system for retrieving a road profile corresponding to the vehicle location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence D. Knox, Neal M. Lackritz, James A. Parison, William R. Short
  • Patent number: 7739019
    Abstract: A rough road detection system for a vehicle comprises a first acceleration sensor that measures vertical acceleration of a component of the vehicle. An adaptive acceleration limits module determines a first acceleration limit based upon a speed of the vehicle. A limit comparison module generates a rough road signal based on a comparison of the first acceleration limit from the adaptive acceleration limits module and the measured acceleration from the first acceleration sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: Dominique Robert, Herve Scelers, Pascal Tissot
  • Patent number: 7513508
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a system and method for computer assisted driving of vehicles. The system disclosed herein provides an array of sensors positioned in the vehicles at strategic points for capturing vibrations and sound induced, when the vehicles move over pavement surfaces marked with predefined patterns of peaks and troughs. The sensors further measure frequencies of these vibrations. An onboard computer on the vehicle matches the captured frequencies and sound against pre-specified frequencies to obtain unique frequency signatures for the segment of the pavement traversed by the vehicle. Navigational data and geographical data associated with the unique frequency signature are used to provide assistance in driving of vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2009
    Inventor: Romeo Fernando Malit
  • Patent number: 7434816
    Abstract: An active suspension system for a vehicle including elements for developing and executing a trajectory plan responsive to the path on which the vehicle is traveling. The system may include a location system for locating the vehicle, and a system for retrieving a road profile corresponding to the vehicle locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2008
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence D. Knox, Neal M. Lackritz, James A. Parison, William R. Short
  • Patent number: 7334801
    Abstract: An automated vehicle suspension system includes an elongated and linear drive axle having opposed end portions pivotally connected to a selected portion of a vehicle and laterally extending outwardly therefrom respectively. The system further includes a mechanism for detecting uneven road surfaces. The detecting mechanism is coupled to the drive axle and housed proximate to a vehicle's wheel. The system further includes a mechanism for automatically articulating the wheel about the drive axle such that the wheel can be selectively raised and lowered from equilibrium to offset an impact force associated with the uneven road surfaces when the vehicle travels thereover during driving conditions. A wheel hub interface is laterally secured to the detecting mechanism such that the drive axle can be maintained at a substantially stable position. A wheel mount is threadably coupled to one end portion of the drive axle and outwardly spaced from the wheel hub interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Inventor: Michael F. Hohmann
  • Publication number: 20070096405
    Abstract: An active suspension system for a vehicle including elements for developing and executing a trajectory plan responsive to the path on which the vehicle is traveling. The system may include a location system for locating the vehicle, and a system for retrieving a road profile corresponding to the vehicle location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2006
    Publication date: May 3, 2007
    Inventors: Lawrence Knox, Neal Lackritz, James Parison, William Short
  • Patent number: 7195250
    Abstract: An active suspension system for a vehicle including elements for developing and executing a trajectory plan responsive to the path on which the vehicle is traveling. The system may include a location system for locating the vehicle, and a system for retrieving a road profile corresponding to the vehicle location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2007
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventors: Lawrence D. Knox, Neal M. Lackritz, James A. Parison, William R. Short
  • Patent number: 7168709
    Abstract: The invention provides a suspension control apparatus for a vehicle which can execute a suspension control suitable even for a rough road by executing the suspension control based on an actual road surface profile, while taking various vehicle states (weight, speed, etc.) into consideration, and learning the road surface profile. The suspension control apparatus has a vertical acceleration sensor for detecting a vertical acceleration of the vehicle, and a control unit for determining a road surface profile by estimating waves and irregularities in the road surface based on the vertical acceleration of the vehicle detected by the vertical acceleration sensor, and determining a suspension control value based on the thus determined road surface profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2007
    Assignee: Aisin Aw Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiaki Niwa, Toshihiro Shiimado, Nobuaki Miki
  • Publication number: 20050285356
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for set and forget driveby itself and or assisted any wheeled transportations by “Reading” and marking pavements of embedded data (peaks/troughs) by “Writing”, A systems for reading vibrations of the road surfaces upon body of vehicles by sensors with Arrays of sensors preferrably vibration transducer positioned strategically in the vehicles. Captured frequencies are the basis of “reading” the road thereby steering the vehicles in the right directions. Capture sounds emitted when tires run over the pavements by reading the bounced sounds and effectively processing dual. Writing by plurality of printing heads printing non-visible ink/paint, stamping pavements by air or stamper/rods for embedding data. Laser/led sender/receiver for picking-up the non-visible ink/paint data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Publication date: December 29, 2005
    Inventor: Romeo Malit
  • Patent number: 6892123
    Abstract: In an unified control of a plurality of active chassis systems a role of each chassis system in applying a corrective net force and a corrective moment to a vehicle is determined. In determining the roles, control influence coefficients and a control authority of each active chassis system is determined. An activation status of each active chassis system based on the control influence coefficients and the control authority is subsequently determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2005
    Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Aleksander B. Hac
  • Patent number: 6799103
    Abstract: An operating characteristics control device for a vehicle includes a physical constitution detecting device for detecting a physical constitution of a passenger, an operation device operated by the passenger, a condition changing device operated by the operation device and changing the condition of the vehicle and an operating characteristic setting device for setting a characteristic showing a relationship between an operating force applied to the operation device and the condition of the vehicle changed by the operation of the condition changing device in response to the physical constitution of the passenger detected by the physical constitution detecting device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi Toda, Yoshiyuki Yasui
  • Publication number: 20040094912
    Abstract: The invention provides a suspension control apparatus for a vehicle which can execute a suspension control suitable even for a rough road by executing the suspension control based on an actual road surface profile, while taking various vehicle states (weight, speed, etc.) into consideration, and learning the road surface profile. The suspension control apparatus has a vertical acceleration sensor for detecting a vertical acceleration of the vehicle, and a control unit for determining a road surface profile by estimating waves and irregularities in the road surface based on the vertical acceleration of the vehicle detected by the vertical acceleration sensor, and determining a suspension control value based on the thus determined road surface profile.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2003
    Publication date: May 20, 2004
    Inventors: Toshiaki Niwa, Toshihiro Shiimado, Nobuaki Miki
  • Publication number: 20030189300
    Abstract: A vehicle roll control system uses two accelerometers (38, 40) on the vehicle to detect body roll and then filters out higher frequency roll movements as indicative of a rough road surface. The system also monitors vehicle speed, and increases roll stiffness in response to measured increase in vehicle speed, but decreases roll stiffness in response to detected rough road surfaces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2003
    Publication date: October 9, 2003
    Inventor: William Burdock
  • Patent number: 6477466
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling the elevation of a vehicle body in the event of a collision includes devices for sensing information concerning objects approaching the vehicle. Sensed information may include, for example, the relative speed, distance and contour of the approaching object. Based on this information, a control unit determines whether a collision is likely. If so, the point of impact, as well as an optimal vehicle height for the collision are determined based on the sensed information, such that the impact between the object and the vehicle occurs in a portion of the vehicle which has greater reinforcement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2002
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Hans Kocherscheidt, Richard Eiletz