JPS6256802B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a kneeling device for adjusting the vehicle height of a large air suspension vehicle such as a bus when passengers are ascending and descending.

Air suspension vehicles generally have left and right bellows for air springs that are supplied with air from the main air tank through a leveling valve, and when the vehicle height is lowered, the leveling valve communicates between the main air tank and the bellows. When the vehicle height increases, the leveling valve opens to the exhaust side to remove air from the bellows and lower the vehicle height, so the vehicle height is always kept constant. On the other hand, when passengers on a bus go up and down, it is desirable that the vehicle height be lowered, as this makes it easier for passengers to go up and down. In this case, it is desirable to lower the vehicle height by exhausting the air from the air spring bellows of an air suspension vehicle. However, discharging air from the left and right bellows at the same time wastes a large amount of air, which is uneconomical since it is necessary to supply a large amount of air to restore the vehicle height.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a kneeling device for an air suspension vehicle that can operate economically by discharging air from the air spring bellows only on the side of the vehicle that has an entrance, thereby preventing wastage of air. be.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an air suspension vehicle 12 such as a bus equipped with a kneeling device 10 according to the present invention, and the air suspension vehicle 12 has a frame ( bellows 18 for air springs provided between the wheels 14, 14', 16, 16' (not shown);
18', 20, 20', front bellows 1
8 and 18' are supplied with air from a main air tank (not shown) through a well-known leveling valve 22 that opens and closes depending on the vehicle height and a main air supply passage 24, or air is removed through the leveling valve 22 to maintain a predetermined vehicle height. The rear bellows 20, 20' are also supplied with air or removed from the same system to maintain a predetermined vehicle height.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the kneeling device 10 of the present invention has a branch air supply passage 24B corresponding to the front bellows 18' on the side having the elevator opening 13 (see FIG. 1) of the air suspension vehicle 12. It consists of a cut valve 26 with an exhaust port provided in the main air supply passage 24, and a cut valve 28 provided in the main air supply passage 24. The inlet 26a of the cut valve 26 is connected to the branch air supply passage 24B, and the outlet 26b of the cut valve 26 is connected to the bellows 18'. An inlet 28a of the cut valve 28 is connected to the leveling valve 22, and an outlet 28b of the cut valve 28 is connected to the main air supply passage 24. When the inlet and outlet of the cut valve 26 is closed, the outlet 26b and the exhaust port 26c communicate with each other to remove air from the bellows 18'.

The kneeling control means 30 includes a cut valve 2
It consists of a solenoid valve 32 that supplies control air to control the opening and closing of the solenoid valves 6 and 28, and a kneeling switch 34 that gives a command to close the solenoid valve 32.The solenoid valve 32 is connected to a control air tank (not shown). , and the kneeling switch 34 is connected in series with a battery power supply 36.

Next, to describe the operation of the kneeling device, during normal driving, the kneeling switch 34 is open and the solenoid valve 32 is open, so the cut valve 26,
Control air is supplied to the cut valves 26 and 28, with their inlets and outlets communicating, so that the bellows 18 and 18' are filled with air to maintain the vehicle height set by the leveling valve 22. ing. When the kneeling switch 34 is closed to raise or lower passengers at a stop, the solenoid valve 32 is shut off and the control air is exhausted, so the cut valve 2
6 and 28 block the inlet/outlet and cut valve 2
Since the exhaust port 26c of No. 6 is communicated with the outlet 26b, air is removed from the bellows 18', and the vehicle height on the side of the elevator port 13 is lowered. When the kneeling switch 34 is opened after the passenger has finished ascending and descending, the electromagnetic valve 32 opens and the cut valves 26 and 28 open, so that air is again sent to the bellows 18' and the vehicle returns to a predetermined height. In addition, the cut valve 28 is used as the leveling valve 22 during kneeling.
This is to prevent air from being sent to the bellows 18 as it opens.

According to the present invention, as described above, air is discharged from only one bellows during kneeling, so it is economical to prevent wastage of air, and since less air is discharged, a predetermined amount of air is discharged after kneeling is completed. There is a practical benefit of being able to return to the vehicle height in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an air suspension vehicle equipped with a kneeling device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a system diagram of the kneeling device according to the present invention. 10... Kneeling device, 12... Air suspension vehicle, 22... Leveling valve, 24...
...Main air supply passage, 24A, 24B...Branch air supply passage, 26, 28...Cut valve, 26c
. . . Exhaust port of cut valve 26, 30 . . . Kneeling control means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an air suspension vehicle equipped with left and right bellows for air springs to which air is supplied from the main air tank via a leveling valve, a cut valve with an exhaust port and a cut valve with an exhaust port provided in a branch air supply passage corresponding to one bellows. , a cut valve provided in the main air supply passage on the outlet side of the leveling valve, and a kneeling control means for closing the cut valve with an exhaust port and communicating the exhaust port of the cut valve with an exhaust port with the one bellows. A kneeling device for air suspension vehicles, which is characterized by: