Lean Vehicle Tilt Layout With Passive Roll Stiffness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lean vehicles face challenges in maintaining stability during turns due to centrifugal forces, which can destabilize the vehicle posture, and there is a need for a cost-effective solution that enhances stability while allowing for easy miniaturization.
Innovation Solution
A lean vehicle design incorporating a lean unit with a lean mechanism and passive suspension, where the lean unit is mounted on one wheel unit and the passive suspension generates roll stiffness on the other, allowing for tilting and stability control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the vehicle width is reduced to enable miniaturization, then the vehicle size is reduced, but the vehicle stability deteriorates due to centrifugal force during turning
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle body is made dynamically tiltable in the vehicle width direction through the lean mechanism. The lean drive unit enables the vehicle body to actively change its orientation angle in response to turning conditions, allowing the vehicle to maintain stability by tilting in the turning inward direction to counteract centrifugal force, thus resolving the stability issue caused by reduced vehicle width.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a lean mechanism is added to improve stability during turning, then the vehicle stability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suspension system is segmented into two distinct configurations: one wheel unit is equipped with a lean mechanism and lean drive unit, while the other wheel unit uses a simple passive suspension. This segmentation allows the vehicle to achieve stable leaning functionality without requiring complex mechanisms at all wheel units, thus improving stability while controlling overall device complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If active lean control is implemented to maintain stable lean posture during turning, then the lean posture stability is improved, but the cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of implementing active lean control at all wheel units, the system applies lean control partially at only one wheel unit. The passive suspension at the other wheel unit provides sufficient support without requiring active control, achieving the necessary lean posture stability during turning while significantly reducing manufacturing costs and structural complexity.
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 design maintains stable traveling performance and reduces costs by simplifying the structure, ensuring stable lean postures during turns through balanced tilt control and roll stiffness management.
Implementation Method 1
a passive suspension provided on the other of the wheel units and configured to generate roll stiffness when the vehicle body is tilted with respect to the ground in the vehicle width direction
Data Source
AI summary
A lean vehicle includes: a plurality of wheel units provided at least at a front position and a rear position of a vehicle body and each including a pair of wheels spaced apart in a vehicle width direction; a lean unit provided in a vicinity of one of the wheel units and including a lean mechanism configured to relatively tilt the wheel unit and the vehicle body with respect to a ground in a turning inward direction and a lean drive unit configured to drive the lean mechanism; and a passive suspension provided on the other of the wheel units and configured to generate roll stiffness when the vehicle body is tilted with respect to the ground in the vehicle width direction.