JPH055684B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vehicle height adjustment device that automatically displays the final pressure value in the previous vehicle height adjustment when the power is turned on.

Some vehicle height adjustment devices display the pressure of a gas chamber in a suspension system that changes the vehicle height on a display device during vehicle height adjustment. However, in this case, when checking the pressure in the gas chamber, the vehicle height adjustment device must be activated, and since the pressure in the gas chamber is checked, the overall adjustment time becomes longer, which is undesirable.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have created the present invention in order to effectively solve the problems.

An object of the present invention is to automatically control gas pressure between a means for performing vehicle height adjustment in a vehicle height adjustment device and a means for displaying gas chamber pressure, regardless of the means for performing vehicle height adjustment when the power is turned on. Since the final pressure value of the room pressure is displayed, the adjustment time is shortened and the pressure in the gas room is prevented from decreasing.

A feature of the present invention is that the vehicle height is adjusted by supplying and discharging high-pressure air to and from a gas chamber for vehicle height adjustment formed in the suspension system, and that the internal pressure of the gas chamber is adjusted when adjusting the vehicle height. In the vehicle height adjustment device, the final pressure value at the time of vehicle height adjustment is stored in a memory, and when the power is turned on, the final pressure value is read from the memory and automatically displayed on the display means. This is because it is configured like this.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a vehicle height adjustment device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a system diagram of the same adjustment device. In this embodiment, it is configured as a vehicle height adjustment device for a motorcycle.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a compressed air generator, which is comprised of a compressor 2 that compresses atmospheric air to generate high-pressure air, and a dryer 3 that removes moisture from the high-pressure air. Reference numerals 4 and 4 designate front forks at the front of the vehicle, and 5 and 5 designate suspensions at the rear of the vehicle, each of which has a gas chamber (not shown) formed therein that expands and contracts its length in the axial direction to change the vehicle height. ing. The compressed air generator 1 and the gas chambers of the front forks 4, 4 and the rear suspensions 5, 5 are connected by an air pipe 6, and there is a part in the middle of the air pipe 6 as shown in the figure. A control valve unit 13 is provided which includes solenoid valves 7 and 8 which are front and rear switching valves, a relief solenoid valve 9 which is an exhaust valve for opening to the atmosphere, a pressure sensor 10, a pressure limiter 11, and further includes a check valve 12. .

In the above configuration, the compressor 2 and the solenoid valves 7, 8, and 9 are operated based on commands from a control device 14 composed of, for example, a CPU. That is, by opening the solenoid valve 7 and closing the solenoid valve 8, the compressor 2
When activated, high-pressure air is supplied to each gas chamber of the front forks 4, 4 to raise the vehicle height at the front of the vehicle, and the solenoid valves 7, 8 are kept in the same state as above, and the relief solenoid valve 9 is activated. If you open and close the front forks 4 and 4 continuously,
High-pressure air is gradually released from each gas chamber, lowering the vehicle height. Conversely, if the solenoid valve 8 is opened, the solenoid valve 7 is closed, and either the compressor 2 or the relief solenoid valve 9 is operated, high-pressure air is supplied and discharged to the gas chambers of the rear suspensions 5, 5, and the vehicle height at the rear of the vehicle is increased. Adjustments can be made. Note that when the vehicle height is not adjusted, both the solenoid valves 7 and 8 are closed, the compressor 2 is stopped, and the relief solenoid valve 9 is in a closed state.

Generally, the loads applied to the front and rear parts of a vehicle are different, and therefore the pressure settings of the high-pressure air supplied to each gas chamber are also different between the front and rear parts. Therefore, the height adjustment of the front and rear of the vehicle is performed separately, and the solenoid valves 7 and 8 are used to select the front and rear of the vehicle.

Regarding the vehicle height adjustment device having the above configuration, furthermore, the manual/auto selection switch 1
5. Operating means such as a manual front/rear selection switch 16, a manual up/neutral/down selection switch 17, a vehicle height sensor 18 that outputs vehicle height information, a brake sensor 19 that detects the brake state, and a gas chamber in the front fork. A display 20 for digitally displaying the internal pressure of the gas chamber of the rear suspension, and a display 21 for digitally displaying the internal pressure of the gas chamber of the rear suspension. Output signals from each operating means and vehicle height sensor 18,
The output signal from the brake sensor 19 is sent to the control device 1.
4, and the display devices 20 and 21 output and display the pressure value obtained by arithmetic processing in the adjustment device 14 the pressure data obtained from the pressure sensor 10 during vehicle height adjustment.

The vehicle height adjustment device as described above has a brake sensor 1
Based on the signal given from 9, if other requirements such as the fact that the brake has not been applied are met, the brake becomes ready for operation. The vehicle height adjustment method is as follows:
The manual/auto selection switch 15 allows manual vehicle height adjustment or automatic vehicle height adjustment. In the case of manual vehicle height adjustment, use switch 16 to select either the front or rear side, and use switch 17 to adjust the height up or down.
By selecting one of these, the driver himself can adjust the vehicle height to his liking under a certain pressure limit while visually observing changes in the pressure display on the indicators 20 and 21. On the other hand, in the case of automatic vehicle height adjustment, predetermined "OK", "HIGH", and "LOW"
Based on the vehicle height adjustment output from the vehicle height sensor 18, etc., the vehicle height is adjusted so that whenever the vehicle height changes with respect to the reference vehicle height, the vehicle height is always set to the reference vehicle height ("OK" state). . In this case, the adjustment target is only the rear side, and the driver himself is not involved in adjusting the vehicle height.

In the above, in either manual or automatic vehicle height adjustment, when the compressor 2 or solenoid valve 9 is operated to perform the vehicle height adjustment, the pressure sensor 10 detects the pressure at least during the vehicle height adjustment. The internal pressure of each gas chamber in the front fork 4 or rear suspension 5 is displayed on the display devices 20 and 21. If the internal pressure values of each gas chamber are displayed as digital values on the displays 20 and 21 in this way, it is convenient for the driver etc. to be able to adjust the vehicle height by looking at this display, especially when making manual adjustments. good.

However, when displaying the pressure on the display devices 20 and 21, it is always assumed that the vehicle height adjustment is in operation. That is, when the compressor 2 is operated to raise the vehicle height, or when the relief solenoid valve 9 is operated to lower the vehicle height.
The pressure is displayed on the indicators 20 and 21 only when the door is opened.

Therefore, in the present invention, the pressure can be displayed on the indicators 20 and 21 independently of the vehicle height adjustment operation. That is, the pressure in each gas chamber is measured during past vehicle height adjustments, and is displayed on the indicators 20 and 21 while the adjustment is in progress. Further, the CPU in the control device 14 is provided with a series of programs for adjusting the vehicle height, and is also provided with a backup memory for system maintenance. Therefore, the final pressure value of each gas chamber obtained by adjusting the vehicle height is
The final pressure value stored in the backup memory is stored in the backup memory, and the final pressure value stored in the backup memory is then automatically read out and displayed when power is turned on to the electrical system of the vehicle. The automatic display of the final pressure value on the indicators 20 and 21 is built into the CPU of the control device 14 as a program.

By doing so, when measuring and displaying pressure, it is not necessary to supply high-pressure air by the first compressor 2 or to discharge high-pressure air by the relief solenoid valve 9, which reduces the frequency of compressor operation and prevents malfunctions. In addition, it is possible to prevent pressure reduction in the gas chamber and piping.
Therefore, the display 2 can be adjusted without adjusting the vehicle height.
0 and 21, it is possible to check the internal gas pressure, etc.

In the above embodiment, a vehicle height adjustment device for a motorcycle has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to various vehicle height adjustment devices.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the pressure can be displayed regardless of the vehicle height adjustment operation, which reduces the frequency of compressor operation, reduces the chance of failure, and shortens the adjustment time. This can prevent pressure reduction in the air circuit.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle height adjustment device according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a control system diagram of the adjustment device. In the drawing, 2 is a compressor, 4 is a front fork, 5 is a rear suspension, 7, 8, and 9 are solenoid valves, 10 is a pressure sensor, 14 is a control device, and 20, 21 are pressure indicators.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The vehicle height is adjusted by supplying and discharging high-pressure air to a gas chamber for adjusting the vehicle height formed in the suspension system, and when adjusting the vehicle height, the internal pressure of the gas chamber is displayed on a display means. The vehicle height adjustment device is characterized in that a final pressure value at the time of vehicle height adjustment is stored in a memory, and when the power is turned on, the final pressure value is read from the memory and automatically displayed on the display means. Vehicle height adjustment device.