An electromechanical vehicle height adjustment unit comprises a displaceable member having an abutment surface for abutment of an end of a vehicle spring or for abutment of a vehicle body and a displacement mechanism coupled to the displaceable member and operative to displace the displaceable member in a height direction. The electromechanical vehicle height adjustment unit comprises a rechargeable energy storage device coupled to the electric motor to store electric energy output by the displacement mechanism during a vehicle lowering operation.

A suspension control device which controls an operation of a suspension of a vehicle includes an operation-induced state quantity estimation portion which estimates an operation-induced state quantity caused by an operation of a vehicle, a road surface-induced state quantity estimation portion which estimates a road surface-induced state quantity caused by a road surface, an operation-induced state quantity conversion portion which converts the operation-induced state quantity into an operation-induced required damping force, a road surface-induced state quantity conversion portion which converts the road surface-induced state quantity into a road surface-induced required damping force, and a current value calculation portion which determines a current value to be applied to the suspension with reference to the operation-induced required damping force and the road surface-induced required damping force.

A control unit that controls control currents supplied to shock absorbers that generate damping forces according to the control currents determines coefficients of two functions that functionally identify an equivalent damping coefficient and an equivalent spring constant of each suspension based on relationships between the control current supplied to each shock absorber and the coefficients of the two functions that change according to the control current and a frequency of a relative vibration between a sprung and an unsprung of a vehicle, and calculates a relative displacement or a relative velocity between the sprung and the unsprung based on a vertical acceleration detected by a detection device and the two functions in which the coefficients are determined.

A suspension device includes: a suspension including a damping device which damps a force generated between a vehicle body and a wheel; and a damping force control unit that increases a damping force of the damping device so as to be greater than the damping force generated when an acceleration of change in a stroke amount is less than a predetermined value determined in advance, when the acceleration of the change in the stroke amount is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, in which the stroke amount is an amount of displacement from a reference position of the wheel with respect to the vehicle body in an extension direction of the suspension.

A method is provided for diminishing the effect of roadway anomalies on a vehicle by dynamically adjusting an actuating element for regulating damper forces of a vibration damper of a vehicle wheel when passing over a roadway anomaly, in particular a pothole, wherein, when the falling edge of the roadway anomaly is reached, the actuating element is switched into its hardest setting and, when the rising edge of the roadway anomaly is reached, the force request is set equal to 0 and, thereafter, a force request is calculated based on the parameters of the vehicle and the suspension and is transmitted to the damping.

A controller executes full extension suppression control or full compression suppression control of adjusting a damping force to be large when a piston being displaced through sliding in an inner tube approaches a full extension position or a full compression position. Moreover, a stroke from a neutral position of the piston in the inner tube to a full compression control start position is set so as to be longer than a stroke from the neutral position of the piston to a full extension control start position. A portion between the full extension control start position to the full compression control start position is set to a dead zone in which none of the full extension suppression control and the full compression suppression control are executed.

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 method for controlling vehicle motion is described. The method includes accessing a set of control signals including a measured vehicle speed value associated with a movement of a vehicle. A control signal associated with user-induced input is also accessed. The method compares the measured vehicle speed value with a predetermined vehicle speed threshold value to achieve a speed value threshold approach status, and then compares the set of values to achieve a user-induced input threshold value approach status. The method monitors a state of a valve within the vehicle suspension damper, and determines a control mode for the vehicle suspension damper. The method also regulates damping forces within the vehicle suspension damper.

A system for controlling the stability of a vehicle equipped with semi-active dampers includes: an actuator, a plurality of sensors, a low-level control unit, a high-level control unit and a mid-level control unit adapted to execute an algorithm for calculating a damping level (C.sub.ref).

A vehicle suspension system includes: a road surface sensor provided in a vehicle body portion ahead of a front wheel to detect an unevenness of a road surface; an electromagnetic damper that applies a damping force and a propulsive force along a stroke direction to a vehicle body and the front wheel with the aid of a motor element; and an ECU. The road surface sensor includes: a first road surface sensor; and a second road surface sensor that overlaps the first road surface sensor in a vehicle width direction and is provided at a position behind the first road surface sensor. The ECU includes: a road surface height calculation unit that calculates a road surface height based on detection values from the road surface sensors and a movement amount of the vehicle; and a damper control unit that controls the motor element based on the calculated road surface height.