Hydraulic Single-Axle Roll Control Without Stabilizer Bar Packaging Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional mechanical stabilizer bars/anti-roll bars in vehicle suspension systems are limited by packaging constraints and are reactive, only counteracting roll moments after suspension movement has begun, failing to effectively manage body roll during turns and impacting cornering performance and comfort.
Innovation Solution
A single axle suspension system with hydraulic circuits and pressurizing mechanisms that actively control roll stiffness by adjusting hydraulic fluid pressure independently of damper movements, using ball/screw mechanisms and a gearset driven by a motor to provide active roll control, allowing for proactive reduction of vehicle roll during cornering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional mechanical stabilizer bars are used, then packaging space is required for straight unobstructed paths, but this limits design flexibility and increases packaging constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical stabilizer bars with hydraulic circuits that connect dampers through fluid pathways. The hydraulic fluid transmits forces between dampers, eliminating the need for rigid mechanical linkages and straight unobstructed paths, thereby resolving packaging constraints while maintaining anti-roll functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes mechanical stabilizer bar linkages with a hydraulic force transmission system. Instead of mechanical connections requiring straight paths, hydraulic fluid pressure and flow transmit the anti-roll forces, allowing flexible routing and reducing packaging constraints
2Reliability
If mechanical stabilizer bars are used, then the system is reactive and only works when suspension starts moving, but this fails to limit body roll the moment a turn is initiated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates pressurizing mechanisms that can pre-pressurize the hydraulic circuits before suspension movement occurs. This allows the system to be proactive, establishing the necessary hydraulic pressure to counteract roll moments immediately when a turn is initiated, rather than reacting after movement begins
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses sensors to detect suspension movement and vehicle state, providing feedback to the control system. This feedback enables the pressurizing mechanisms to adjust hydraulic pressure in real-time, optimizing roll control effectiveness by responding to actual suspension conditions
3Reliability
If hydraulic pressurizing mechanisms are added to provide active roll control, then roll control effectiveness is improved, but system complexity and number of components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates pressurizing mechanisms directly into the existing damper assemblies, merging the anti-roll control function with the suspension damping function. This integration approach reduces overall system complexity by combining multiple functions into unified components rather than adding separate independent systems
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively reduces vehicle roll during cornering, enhancing grip, handling, and braking performance, while improving comfort and stability by actively adjusting roll stiffness and reducing body oscillations, thus augmenting or replacing traditional anti-roll bars.
Implementation Method 1
Each of the first and second pressurizing mechanisms includes a variable volume chamber and a ball/screw mechanism configured to adjust the volume of the variable volume chamber
Implementation Method 2
The first working chamber of the right damper is connected in fluid communication with the second working chamber of the left damper by a first hydraulic circuit
Data Source
AI summary
A single axle suspension system that includes right and left dampers, first and second hydraulic circuits, a first pressurizing mechanism that is connected in fluid communication with the first hydraulic circuit, and a second pressurizing mechanism that is connected in fluid communication with the second hydraulic circuit. The first and second pressurizing mechanisms are configured to provide active roll control by adding and removing hydraulic fluid to and from the first and second hydraulic circuits to increase and decrease pressure inside the first and second hydraulic circuits independent of damper movements. This in turn causes a simultaneous increase in the fluid pressure inside either the first working chamber of the right and the second working chamber of the left damper or the first working chamber of the left damper and the second working chambers of the right damper to provide roll stiffness that counters vehicle roll during cornering.