An electromechanical vehicle height adjustment unit comprises an upper spring pad operative to support an upper end of a vehicle spring, a top mount that is displaceable relative to the upper spring pad, and a displacement mechanism coupled to the upper spring pad and the top mount and operative to displace the top mount relative to the upper spring pad in a height direction. The displacement mechanism comprises a rotary-to-linear motion conversion mechanism and an electric motor.

A regenerative shock absorber that include a housing and a piston that moves at least partially through the housing when the shock is compressed or extended from a rest position. When the piston moves, hydraulic fluid is pressurized and drives a hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor, in turn, drives an electric generator that produced electric energy. The electric energy may be provided to a vehicle, among other things. The regenerative shock absorber may also provide ride performance that comparable to or exceeds that of conventional shock absorbers.

A shock absorber for a vehicle includes an inner tube at least partially defining an inner fluid compartment and an outer tube enclosing at least in part the inner tube therein. Together, the inner tube and the outer tube at least partially define an outer fluid compartment therebetween. The inner tube defines a bypass zone having a plurality of bypass apertures that fluidly communicate the inner fluid compartment with the outer fluid compartment. A piston is movably mounted within the inner tube and moves in compression and in rebound. The piston defines a piston passage extending through the piston for permitting fluid flow between a first side and second side of the piston. An electronically controlled valve is connected to the piston and controls fluid flow through the piston passage. A method for controlling the shock absorber is also disclosed.

A regenerative shock absorber that include a housing and a piston that moves at least partially through the housing when the shock is compressed or extended from a rest position. When the piston moves, hydraulic fluid is pressurized and drives a hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor, in turn, drives an electric generator that produced electric energy. The electric energy may be provided to a vehicle, among other things. The regenerative shock absorber may also provide ride performance that comparable to or exceeds that of conventional shock absorbers.

A suspension control system includes: a suspension that couples a sprung structure and an unsprung structure of a vehicle; a stabilizer; and a control unit configured to estimate a stroke speed, wherein the vehicle includes first wheels and second wheels, the suspension includes first suspensions provided for the first wheels and second suspensions provided for the second wheels, the stabilizer includes a first stabilizer bar that couples the first suspensions, the control unit includes: indirect stabilizer force calculation unit configured to calculate an indirect stabilizer force received by each of the second suspensions in conjunction with a posture change of the sprung structure; sum calculation unit configured to calculate a sum of forces acting on each of the second suspensions; and an observer configured to receive the sum and output an estimation value of a stroke speed of each of the second suspensions.

The disclosure relates to a method to estimate dynamic loads acting vertically on a rear axle of a motor vehicle during a forward driving operation. To enable an estimation of the dynamic loads acting vertically on the rear axle during the forward driving operation of the motor vehicle cost-effectively, the dynamic loads are estimated in consideration of dynamic mechanical forces engaging vertically at a front axle of the motor vehicle during the forward driving operation. In addition, dynamic acceleration forces engaging at a spring mass of the motor vehicle during the forward driving operation are also considered when estimating the dynamic loads during the forward driving operation.

A suspension control system includes: a suspension, a damping force of which fluctuates in accordance with a control amount; and a control unit controlling the damping force by determining the control amount. The control unit executes a control amount correction process of determining the control amount by combining a base control amount and a correction control amount. The control unit executes the control amount correction process such that the damping force becomes smaller than a base damping force regardless of a stroke speed in the case where a requested damping direction is an upward direction, and executes the control amount correction process such that the damping force becomes larger than the base damping force regardless of the stroke speed in the case where the requested damping direction is a downward direction.

A regenerative shock absorber that include a housing and a piston that moves at least partially through the housing when the shock is compressed or extended from a rest position. When the piston moves, hydraulic fluid is pressurized and drives a hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor, in turn, drives an electric generator that produced electric energy. The electric energy may be provided to a vehicle, among other things. The regenerative shock absorber may also provide ride performance that comparable to or exceeds that of conventional shock absorbers.

A relative velocity between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass of a vehicle is calculated by differentiating a stroke amount of an electromagnetic damper with respect to time. The relative velocity is compared with a predetermined value that is set in advance, and a determination is made whether or not the relative velocity is the predetermined value or higher. In a case where the relative velocity is lower than the predetermined value (relative velocity<predetermined value), a normal filter is selected, and a gain G of only an unsprung resonance frequency range is increased. On the other hand, in a case where the relative velocity is the predetermined value or higher (relative velocitypredetermined value), a delay inhibition filter is selected, and a gain of a high frequency range is increased compared to the normal filter.

An object of the present invention is to obtain an electromagnetic suspension apparatus capable of meeting a request to improve ride comfort irrespective of a magnitude of a spring constant preset in a spring member. The electromagnetic suspension apparatus includes an electromagnetic actuator that generates a driving force related to vibration damping of the vehicle body, an information acquisition unit that acquires information on a stroke position of the electromagnetic actuator, and an ECU that calculates a target driving force of the electromagnetic actuator and controls a driving force of the electromagnetic actuator using the calculated target driving force. When the stroke position acquired by the information acquisition unit is in a neutral range including a neutral position, the ECU corrects the target driving force so as to reduce a spring force related to the spring member as compared with when the stroke position is in a non-neutral range.