An air suspension system includes a tank, a tank-side open/close valve, an air suspension-side open/close valve, a system portion, and the like. The system portion includes a compressor, an air drier, and a first passage and a second passage provided between the tank-side open/close valve and the air suspension-side open/close valve in parallel, a discharge valve, a tank-side control valve, an air suspension-side control valve, and the like. Due to this configuration, the air suspension system regenerates the air drier by opening the discharge valve to thus cause the air in the second passage to flow from an opposite side toward one side of the air drier when no power is supplied to the tank-side control valve and the air suspension-side control valve.

A damper system for a vehicle is provided that includes an outer tube, a piston rod, and a piston assembly that is mounted to the piston rod and separates the outer tube into first and second working chambers. A valve assembly, mounted to the piston assembly, controls fluid flow between the first and second working chambers. A magnetic rotor is fixed to and extends annularly about the outer tube. A stator assembly is coupled to the piston rod by a spherical bearing assembly. The stator assembly includes a plurality of coils that apply an active damping force to the piston rod when energized. The coils can also generate electricity from axial movements of the piston rod relative to the outer tube. One or more glide bearings are disposed radially between the coils and the magnetic rotor in a sliding fit to stabilize the stator assembly.

A damping system includes a first magnetic damper pair mounted on a suspension system of a vehicle. The first magnetic damper pair includes a first magnet mounted on a first surface of a body of the vehicle and a second magnet mounted on a first moveable component of the suspension system coupled to a wheel of the vehicle. A sensor is mounted on the body of the vehicle or the wheel. A damping system control module is configured to receive, from the sensor, inputs indicative of a velocity and a displacement of the wheel relative to the body of the vehicle, calculate an amount of force to generate between the magnetic damper pair in a direction opposite a direction of movement of the wheel, and control supply of current to at least one of the first magnet and the second magnet to generate the calculated amount of force.

A suspension controller includes a target current setting unit, a current limitation setting unit, a current outputting unit, a current detector, and an estimated temperature calculator. The target current setting unit sets a target current value. The current limitation setting unit sets a current limitation value. The current outputting unit supplies a solenoid with a current that is based on the target current value, the current limitation value, and a power supply voltage. The solenoid controls a damping force of a suspension. The current detector detects a current value of the current supplied to the solenoid. The estimated temperature calculator calculates an estimated temperature of the solenoid based on the current value detected by the current detector so that the current limitation setting unit changes the current limitation value based on the estimated temperature.

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 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 suspension controller includes a target current setting unit configured to set a target current value, a current limitation setting unit configured to set a current limitation value, a current detector configured to detect a current value of a first current supplied to a solenoid that is configured to control a damping force of a suspension, a duty ratio setting unit configured to set a duty ratio based on the target current value, based on the current limitation value, and based on the current value detected by the current detector; and a current outputting unit configured to supply the solenoid with a second current that corresponds to the duty ratio set by the duty ratio setting unit and to a power supply voltage. The current limitation setting unit is configured to change the current limitation value based on the duty ratio set by the duty ratio setting unit.

Provided is a damper for a semi-active energy regenerative suspension based on hybrid excitation. The damper includes: an upper lifting lug, a dustcover, a lower lifting lug, a hydraulic shock absorber, and a hybrid excitation mechanism, wherein the hydraulic shock absorber is configured to provide a constant viscous damping coefficient, and wherein the hybrid excitation mechanism is configured to generate an adjustable electromagnetic damping force, to transform the vibration energy into electrical energy, and to storage the electrical energy. Also provided is a method for determining the sizes of the damper. The damper which has a simple structure, balances the vibration isolation property and energy regenerative property of the vehicle suspension, and provides a fail-safe function. Furthermore, the method for determining the sizes of the damper is easy and practical to implement, has definite steps and produces drastically optimized results.

A suspension includes inner magnets coupled to an inner cylindrical member and outer magnets coupled to an outer cylindrical member that circumscribes the inner cylindrical member. The inner magnets are stacked on top of one another in an axial direction and include a first set having a first polarity alternately arrayed with a second set having a second polarity. The outer magnets are stacked on top of one another in the axial direction and include a first set having the first polarity alternately arrayed with a second set having the second polarity. Each inner magnet in the first set is radially aligned with an outer magnet in the second set and each inner magnet in the second set is radially aligned with an outer magnet in the first set to provide an attractive electromagnetic field between the magnets that passively absorbs axial displacement between the inner and outer cylindrical members.

A solenoid includes: a covering portion including a peripheral portion to cover a periphery of a coil contained in a cylindrical housing, the covering portion covering an opening 61 of the housing; a sleeve provided around an outer periphery of the covering portion, the sleeve being configured to be disassemblable; and a sealing element disposed inside the sleeve, the sealing element being configured to prevent foreign matters from entering the housing.