A gyroscope-based rotation damper for a motor vehicle, includes a flywheel that is driven via a drive, rotates around an axis of rotation at an angular velocity (ω.sub.φ), the flywheel being mounted in a gimbal on the motor vehicle structure by way of a first bearing element and a second bearing element. The flywheel is mounted rotatably around the angle of rotation (φ) at the first bearing element, and the first bearing element is rotatably mounted at the second bearing element around a first angle of rotation (θ) around a first axis aligned orthogonal to the axis of rotation of the flywheel, and the second bearing element is mounted rotatably around a second angle of rotation (ψ) around a second axis aligned orthogonal to the first axis, as well as a controller unit for controlling a shaft drive.

A vehicle suspension control apparatus includes a mode determination device that determines a mode of a shock absorber for a vehicle, corresponding to an identified speed bump, when the speed bump is identified in front of the vehicle, a suspension control amount calculation device that calculates an amount of suspension control for passing over the speed bump, based on the determined mode of the shock absorber, and a controller that controls a suspension of the vehicle based on the calculated amount of suspension control.

A control apparatus for a suspension apparatus includes: an acquisition section which acquires a stroke amount of the suspension apparatus disposed between a vehicle body and a wheel to damp vibration propagated from the wheel; a calculation section which calculates a stroke velocity based on the stroke amount; and a damping force control section which controls damping force of the suspension apparatus based on the stroke velocity. The calculation section includes a first calculation section which differentiates the stroke amount by use of a first time constant as a time constant, to thereby calculate a first stroke velocity, and a second calculation section which differentiates the stroke amount by use of a second time constant larger than the first time constant as a time constant, to thereby calculate a second stroke velocity, and calculates the stroke velocity based on the first stroke velocity and the second stroke velocity.

A control apparatus for a suspension apparatus, includes: a vehicle speed acquiring section which acquires a vehicle speed as a speed of a vehicle; an acquisition section which acquires a stroke velocity of the suspension apparatus; a contribution ratio determining section which determines a contribution ratio between a first parameter and a second parameter based on the vehicle speed, the first parameter serving for controlling a damping force in a first speed region of the vehicle, the second parameter serving for controlling the damping force in a second speed region which is a speed region higher in speed than the first speed region; a change amount restricting section which restricts a change amount of the contribution ratio; and a damping force controlling section which controls the damping force of the suspension apparatus based on the restricted contribution ratio and the stroke velocity.

A vehicle suspension control apparatus includes a mode determination device that determines a mode of a shock absorber for a vehicle, corresponding to an identified speed bump, when the speed bump is identified in front of the vehicle, a suspension control amount calculation device that calculates an amount of suspension control for passing over the speed bump, based on the determined mode of the shock absorber, and a controller that controls a suspension of the vehicle based on the calculated amount of suspension control.

A method for changing a ride height position of a motor vehicle comprises measuring a respective relative distance of a vehicle superstructure from corresponding wheels, with spring travel sensors and transmitting a respective spring travel signal to an electronic open-loop and closed-loop control device of the motor vehicle. The spring travel signals pass through a frequency filtering in the electronic open-loop and closed-loop control device The frequency filtering initially comprising a bandpass filtering which splits the spring travel signal into a signal component excited by the wheel and a signal component excited by the vehicle superstructure. The signal component excited by the vehicle superstructure is filtered out, the frequency filtering then comprising an absolute value conversion of the bandpass-filtered spring travel signal and subsequently a low-pass filtering.

A control apparatus for a suspension apparatus, includes: a vehicle speed acquiring section which acquires a vehicle speed as a speed of a vehicle; an acquisition section which acquires a stroke velocity of the suspension apparatus; a contribution ratio determining section which determines a contribution ratio between a first parameter and a second parameter based on the vehicle speed, the first parameter serving for controlling a damping force in a first speed region of the vehicle, the second parameter serving for controlling the damping force in a second speed region which is a speed region higher in speed than the first speed region; a change amount restricting section which restricts a change amount of the contribution ratio; and a damping force controlling section which controls the damping force of the suspension apparatus based on the restricted contribution ratio and the stroke velocity.

A gyroscope-based rotation damper for a motor vehicle, includes a flywheel that is driven via a drive, rotates around an axis of rotation at an angular velocity (.sub.), the flywheel being mounted in a gimbal on the motor vehicle structure by way of a first bearing element and a second bearing element. The flywheel is mounted rotatably around the angle of rotation () at the first bearing element, and the first bearing element is rotatably mounted at the second bearing element around a first angle of rotation () around a first axis aligned orthogonal to the axis of rotation of the flywheel, and the second bearing element is mounted rotatably around a second angle of rotation () around a second axis aligned orthogonal to the first axis, as well as a controller unit for controlling a shaft drive.

A control apparatus for a suspension apparatus includes: an acquisition section which acquires a stroke amount of the suspension apparatus disposed between a vehicle body and a wheel to damp vibration propagated from the wheel; a calculation section which calculates a stroke velocity based on the stroke amount; and a damping force control section which controls damping force of the suspension apparatus based on the stroke velocity. The calculation section includes a first calculation section which differentiates the stroke amount by use of a first time constant as a time constant, to thereby calculate a first stroke velocity, and a second calculation section which differentiates the stroke amount by use of a second time constant larger than the first time constant as a time constant, to thereby calculate a second stroke velocity, and calculates the stroke velocity based on the first stroke velocity and the second stroke velocity.

An air spring is configured for use in connection with a motor vehicle. The air spring includes a first end cap. The first end cap is configured to attach to a first vehicle component. The air spring also includes a piston member. The piston member is configured to attach to a second vehicle component. The piston member is movable toward and away from the first end cap in an axial direction during use. The air spring also includes an air sleeve that is coupled to the first end cap at a first end by use of a first crimp ring and to the piston member at a second end by use of a second crimp ring to form a chamber configured to receive pressurized air. The air spring further includes a transition collar that is configured to placed radially outward from either the first or second crimp ring. The transition collar includes a sloped or tapered exterior surface that allows a portion of the air sleeve to engage and roller over the exterior surface of the transition collar to reduce wear to the air sleeve.