This invention pertains to shock absorbers, and a method of controlling their operation. Specifically, this invention relates to use of a user interface allowing to control the sensitivity of various parameters used by a programmed electronic control unit. When in operation, said electronic control unit automatically send calculated and user-adjusted electronic signals to electronic control devices which proportionally regulate flow of fluid within each shock absorbers of a vehicle.

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, 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 controller includes a target frequency determining unit, first and second acceleration sensors, and a predetermined variable calculator. The target frequency determining unit determines a target frequency from a vibration state of a vibration source. The first acceleration sensor obtains a first acceleration of a mass member. The second acceleration sensor obtains a second acceleration of a vibration controlled member. The predetermined variable calculator calculates a predetermined variable of a transfer function of the first acceleration with respect to the second acceleration at the target frequency. If the predetermined variable is a numeric value other than 0, the controller changes a magnetic force generated in an electromagnet.

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 solenoid valve that can be adjusted axially, and hermetically, to a first end of a body of a shock absorber in order to be able to regulate the hydraulic load of the shock absorber as well as guide the movement of the rod in a longitudinal direction. The solenoid valve includes a movable part that can be moved between an open fluid flow position and another closed fluid flow position, a regulating chamber that generates a pressure to move said movable part towards the opening and an elastic element that generates a closing force. Likewise, the solenoid valve also includes electronic means to exert a force on the movable part, to move it in the direction of movement, preferably by means of a magnetic load. The invention also includes a shock absorber with hydraulic load regulation that comprises a solenoid valve, like the one mentioned, adjusted hermetically to a first end of the body of said shock absorber.

A shock absorber includes: a cylinder; a piston slidably inserted into the cylinder; a piston rod connected to the piston and extending outside the cylinder; a main valve that generates a damping force; a pilot chamber that applies pressure to the main valve; an introduction passage that introduces the fluid into the pilot chamber; a pilot passage that communicates the pilot chamber and a downstream side of the main valve with each other; and a control valve provided in the pilot passage. In an upstream side of the pilot passage from the control valve, the pilot passage is provided with a first orifice, a first passage provided in parallel with the first orifice, a first check valve that is opened at a predetermined differential pressure and allows a flow toward the control valve through the first passage, and a second orifice.

A method for detecting a defective damper device of a vehicle, including the following steps: monitoring the specific damper travel values (DW) of at least two wheel carriers of the vehicle in a monitoring period (UZ), determining the specific damper speeds (DG) and the specific damper accelerations (DB) on the basis of the monitored specific damper travel values (DW) in the monitoring period (UZ), acquiring the specific damper work values (DA) on the basis of the determined specific damper speeds (DG) and on the basis of the determined specific damper accelerations (DB), generating a comparison result (VE) from a comparison of the acquired specific damper work values (DA) with one another, and generating at least, one specific status signal (SS) on the basis of the comparison result (VE) for the at least two wheel carriers.

Examples of techniques for classifying roughness of a road are disclosed. In one example implementation, a method includes performing a first temporal analysis based at least in part on a speed of each of a plurality of wheels of a vehicle. The method further includes performing a second temporal analysis based at least in part on a combined wheel speed of the plurality of wheels. The method further includes performing a frequency analysis based at least in part on the speed of each of the plurality of wheels of the vehicle. The method further includes classifying the roughness of the road based at least in part on the first temporal analysis, the second temporal analysis, and the frequency analysis.

A damping control system for a vehicle having a suspension located between a plurality of ground engaging members and a vehicle frame includes at least one adjustable shock absorber having an adjustable damping characteristic. The system also includes a controller coupled to each adjustable shock absorber to adjust the damping characteristic of each adjustable shock absorber, and a user interface coupled to the controller and accessible to a driver of the vehicle. The user interface includes at least one user input to permit manual adjustment of the damping characteristic of the at least one adjustable shock absorber during operation of the vehicle. Vehicle sensors are also be coupled to the controller to adjust the damping characteristic of the at least one adjustable shock absorber based vehicle conditions determined by sensor output signals.