JPH0443810B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vehicle height adjustment device that performs zero correction of a pressure sensor when the pressure sensor is exposed to the atmosphere.

Previously, the present applicant proposed a vehicle height adjustment device equipped with a pressure sensor (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-38274, etc.). This pressure sensor displays the pressure status of the gas chamber installed in the suspension system that changes the vehicle height during vehicle height adjustment, and also detects air leaks in the air circuit by opening the air chamber after the adjustment is completed. It has a function to perform a zero check to check etc.

By the way, in order to manufacture a large number of vehicle height adjustment devices as described above, a large number of pressure sensors are prepared, but in this case, not all pressure sensors can accurately display pressure based on the pressure sensors. That is, it is common that the detection accuracy of the pressure sensor varies.

Therefore, it is necessary to correct a pressure-sensitive sensor having an error that cannot correctly detect 1 atm when sensing the atmosphere. In the vehicle height adjustment device described above, the air circuit is opened to the atmosphere at the time of startup or after the vehicle height adjustment is completed, and a zero check is performed using a pressure sensor to check whether the air circuit is at atmospheric pressure. The above problem can be solved if the pressure sensor is also zero-corrected when the pressure sensor is opened.

An object of the present invention is to enable a vehicle height adjustment device equipped with a pressure sensor to perform zero correction on the pressure sensor in correspondence with the vehicle height adjustment operation, so that even if there is an error in the pressure sensor, it will be zero. The purpose is to enable accurate pressure display by performing pressure display assuming that.

The present invention is characterized in that a vehicle height adjustment device is provided with a pressure sensor that measures and displays the pressure state of a vehicle height adjustment gas chamber in a suspension system during vehicle height adjustment. The reason is that the pressure is corrected to zero by this release to the atmosphere.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to 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 indicate front forks at the front of the vehicle, and 5 and 5 indicate rear 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 interposed, which includes solenoid valves 7 and 8 as the switching valves, a relief solenoid valve 9 for opening to the atmosphere as an exhaust valve, a pressure sensor 10, and 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, when the solenoid valve 7 is opened and the solenoid valve 8 is closed to operate the compressor 2, high pressure air is supplied to the front fork 4,
The front forks 4, 4 are supplied with gas to raise the vehicle height at the front of the vehicle, and when the relief solenoid valve 9 is intermittently opened and closed while the solenoid valves 7 and 8 are kept in the same state as above, the front forks 4, High pressure air is gradually released from each of the gas chambers 4 and the vehicle height is lowered. 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, vehicle adjustments at the front and rear of the vehicle are performed separately, and the solenoid valves 7 and 8 are used to select the front and rear.

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 for the front walk. A display 20 for digitally displaying the internal pressure of the gas chamber of the reaction, and a display 21 for digitally displaying the internal pressure of the gas chamber of the reaction.
Output signals from each operating means and vehicle height sensor 1
8. The output signal from the brake sensor 19 is input to the control device 14, and the pressure data obtained from the pressure sensor 10 at the time of vehicle height adjustment is calculated and calculated in the control device 14 on the displays 20 and 21. The pressure value is output and displayed.

The vehicle height adjustment device as described above has a brake sensor 1
Based on the signal given from 9, when other conditions 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 can adjust the vehicle height to suit his/her preference under a certain pressure limit while visually observing changes in the pressure display on the display devices 20, 20. On the other hand, in the case of automatic vehicle height adjustment, predetermined "OK", "HIGH", and "LOW"
Based on the vehicle height information output from the vehicle height sensor 18, etc., the vehicle height is adjusted so that whenever the vehicle height changes with respect to the standard vehicle height, the vehicle height is always set to the standard 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, the zero pressure test is performed when the vehicle height adjustment device is activated or when the vehicle height adjustment operation is completed. That is, when the solenoid valves 7 and 8 are closed, the relief solenoid valve 9 opens for about 2 seconds to open the air pipe 6 and the surrounding area of the unit 13 to the atmosphere, and then the pressure sensor 10 closes the air pipe 6, etc. If the pressure inside the vehicle is measured and the measured pressure is zero, it is determined that there is no air leakage in the air circuit system and the vehicle height is normal, since atmospheric pressure is being measured. transition to state. On the other hand, if the pressure does not reach zero correctly, it is assumed that there is a failure in the air circuit system, and a lamp (not shown) is lit to issue a warning, and the operation of the entire apparatus is stopped.

By the way, the accuracy of the pressure detection of the pressure sensor 10 differs from sensor to sensor as described in the section on the prior art, and there are variations, and even though it is detecting the atmospheric pressure state, the output is always zero. Do not mean. Therefore, it becomes necessary to perform zero correction.

In the vehicle height adjustment device according to the present invention, as described above, the relief solenoid valve 9 is opened at a certain period of time to release the atmosphere to the atmosphere, so this release to the atmosphere can be used to correct the pressure to zero regardless of the zero pressure test. A process is provided to correct the output signal of the pressure sensor 10 so that it becomes zero correctly by opening the pressure sensor 10 to the atmosphere. This pressure zero correction of the pressure sensor 10 when the pressure sensor 10 is opened to the atmosphere may be performed only once, or may be performed periodically.

In this way, after correction, pressure data processing and pressure display are performed based on the corrected zero pressure. As a result, variations in the pressure sensor 10 itself are automatically adjusted, making it possible to always display the correct pressure.

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 description, according to the present invention,
There is no need to perform zero correction at the stage of manufacturing the pressure sensor, and it can be done during the vehicle height adjustment process after it is installed in the vehicle height adjustment device, which is convenient, saves time, and furthermore Since it is possible to eliminate variations in the pressure sensor itself and detect pressure with good accuracy, it is possible to accurately detect and display pressure.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

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 float fork, 5 is a reaction, 7, 8, and 9 are solenoid valves, 10 is a pressure sensor, and 14 is a control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A gas chamber for vehicle height adjustment formed in the suspension system and a pressure source that supplies pressurized air are communicated via an on-off valve, and a flow path between the on-off valve and the pressure source is branched from the flow path for applying pressurized air. An exhaust valve is provided to release pressurized air to the atmosphere, and a pressure sensor is provided in the flow path between the on-off valve and the exhaust valve to detect the pressure in this flow path, and when the vehicle height is increased, the exhaust valve is Pressurized air is supplied from the pressure source to the gas chamber by closing the exhaust valve and opening the on-off valve, and when lowering the vehicle height, pressurized air is supplied from the gas chamber to the atmosphere by opening the exhaust valve and the on-off valve. The vehicle height adjustment device is a zero pressure adjustment device that processes or displays the pressure detected by the pressure sensor as atmospheric pressure when the on-off valve is closed and the exhaust valve is opened. A vehicle height adjustment device characterized by performing correction.