JP2012091538A - Steering performance variable apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering performance variable apparatus that can improve steering performance and riding comfortability of a vehicle in a simple configuration so that a dumper smoothly operates even if an operation speed configuring a suspension of the vehicle is considerably low.SOLUTION: The steering performance variable apparatus for varying steering stability performance of the vehicle by varying frictions of the dumper mounted on the vehicle includes an electric noise application means that applies electric noise to a part of the vehicle, the part being electrically conductive to the dumper.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle steering performance variable device, and more particularly to a steering performance variable device capable of improving the vehicle steering performance by changing the operation of the damper without depending on the operation speed of the damper in the suspension. .

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle suspension is configured by combining a spring that supports a vehicle body and a damper that attenuates vibration of the spring. The damper includes a damper case in which oil as a working fluid is sealed, an orifice that circulates oil up and down, a piston that moves along the cylinder, a damper rod that is attached to the piston, and a cylinder that is sealed in the cylinder. In order to prevent oil leakage, it is constituted by an oil seal that seals between the cylinder and the damper rod. The suspension is configured such that when the piston moves up and down along the cylinder, oil is circulated through the orifice of the piston, thereby causing resistance to the movement of the piston and damping the vibration of the spring.
However, when the operating speed of the piston is slow with respect to the cylinder (very low speed range), the frictional force generated between the oil seal and the damper rod is large, so the damper does not operate smoothly, resulting in poor maneuverability and riding comfort. It has become one of the factors that impair the comfort of.
In order to solve such a problem, the patent literature provides a polymer actuator that enables tightening of the oil seal with respect to the damper rod in the relationship between the oil seal and the damper rod. There is disclosed a damper device that controls the tightening force of the damper rod, makes the friction characteristic between the oil seal and the damper rod variable according to the operating speed of the damper rod, and improves the steering stability performance and the riding comfort.

  However, according to the damper device according to the patent document, the operation performance of the damper in a very low speed range is improved by dynamically controlling the frictional force between the oil seal and the damper rod. Due to the complexity of the structure itself, if a failure occurs in the polymer actuator or the control device that controls the polymer actuator, it will affect the maneuverability of the vehicle, which will deteriorate the steering stability and ride comfort. There is a risk of it.

JP 2009-168047 A

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention improves vehicle handling performance and ride comfort with a simple device configuration so that the damper operates smoothly even when the operation speed of the damper constituting the suspension of the vehicle is very low. An object of the present invention is to provide a variable steering performance device that can be improved.

As a configuration for solving the above-described problem, a steering performance variable device that changes the friction performance of a damper mounted on a vehicle to vary the stable performance of the steering of the vehicle, and is a part of the vehicle that is electrically connected to the damper. The electric noise applying means for applying the electric noise is provided.
According to this configuration, by applying electric noise to a part of the vehicle that is electrically connected to the damper by the electric noise applying means, the friction of the damper can be changed to make the steering stability performance of the vehicle variable. it can.
According to another configuration, electrical noise is applied between a damper cylinder and a damper rod attached to a piston moving in the cylinder.
According to this configuration, by applying electrical noise between the damper cylinder and the damper rod, the friction between the damper rod and the sliding oil seal is reduced, and the piston operating speed relative to the cylinder is very low. However, it is possible to improve the steering stability of the tire by operating the damper smoothly.
According to another configuration, the steering performance variable device includes an application number counting unit that counts the number of times the electric noise is applied by the electric noise applying unit.
According to this configuration, the friction of the damper varies depending on the number of times of application of electrical noise applied from the electrical noise application unit of the steering performance variable device. Therefore, the friction of the damper is obtained by counting the number of applications by the application number counting unit. Can be confirmed and can be selected according to the driver's preference. The friction of the damper changes depending on whether the number of times of application is an odd number or an even number.
According to another configuration, the steering performance variable device includes a detection unit that detects the start of the engine of the vehicle, and the number of applications counted by the application number counting unit when the detection unit detects the start of the engine is zero. It was set as the structure reset to.
According to this configuration, the state of the vehicle can be made the same every time the engine is started by resetting the number of applications counted by the application number counting means.
According to another configuration, the application number counting means includes a display means for displaying the number of times electrical noise is applied.
According to this configuration, since the number of times of application applied to the damper can be visually recognized, the driver who drives the vehicle can change the setting of the friction of the damper according to the situation.
According to another configuration, the electrical noise is configured to be a pulse voltage.
According to this configuration, since the pulse voltage is composed of a plurality of frequency components, actual electrical noise can be reproduced in a pseudo manner.

The schematic block diagram of the steering performance variable apparatus which concerns on this invention. The exploded view of a damper. The conceptual diagram of the test apparatus for investigating the influence which arises between a damper case and a piston valve. The graph which shows the conceptual diagram of the vibration test which vibrates a damper, and the result of a vibration test.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are included in the invention. It is not necessarily essential to the solution, but includes a configuration that is selectively adopted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the steering performance variable device 1. Hereinafter, the steering performance variable device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
The steering performance variable device 1 is a so-called computer including a CPU as a calculation means, a ROM and a RAM as storage means, an interface as a communication means, and the like, and operates based on a program stored in the ROM. The steering performance variable device 1 is mounted on a vehicle and includes a control unit 2 and a display operation unit 3.
The control unit 2 includes an engine start detection unit 11, a display reset unit 12, an electric noise application unit 13, and an application number counting unit 14.
The engine activation detection means 11 detects the activation of the engine based on, for example, an ignition signal output to the starter motor when the vehicle engine is activated.
The display reset unit 12 outputs a reset signal to an application number counting unit 14 and a display unit 15 to be described later based on an ignition signal detected by the engine activation detection unit 11, and the number of applications counted by the application number counting unit 14 The application count displayed on the display means 15 is reset to zero.
The electric noise applying means 13 is constituted by, for example, a pulse generator, and outputs a pulse voltage generated by the pulse generator to the damper 30 of the vehicle. The pulse generator is a voltage generator capable of generating a voltage having an arbitrary waveform, and outputs a voltage having a preset waveform. For example, the pulse generator has a pulse width of 100 μsec. , A pulse voltage of 10 mV is output for one pulse every time the operating means 16 is operated. The pulse of the pulse voltage is not limited to the above, and the pulse width and voltage may be set as appropriate. The pulse voltage may be a pulse voltage composed of a plurality of frequency components such as electrical noise. The electric noise applying means 13 is not limited to a pulse generator, and may be any device that can apply a pulse voltage or a pulsed voltage including a plurality of frequency components such as electric noise.
The application number counting means 14 detects the pulse voltage output by the electric noise applying means 13 and stores the number of times the pulse voltage output from the electric noise applying means 13 is output.

The display operation unit 3 includes a display unit 15 and an operation unit 16, and is disposed, for example, in a position where the driver can visually recognize and in an operable range.
The display unit 15 is connected to the application number counting unit 14 and displays the number of application times of the electric noise of the application number counting unit 14. The display means 15 is comprised by display apparatuses, such as 7 segment LED which can display a number. In addition, the display method of the number of times of application by the display means 15 is not limited to displaying numbers, but may be configured to turn on light classified by color depending on whether the number of times of application of the pulse voltage is an odd number or an even number.
The operation means 16 is constituted by, for example, a push switch and is connected to the electric noise applying means 13. When the driver operates the switch once, a pulse voltage application signal is output to the electric noise applying means 13.
Further, the steering performance variable device 1 includes a power input terminal 21 connected to a battery mounted on the vehicle, and a pulse voltage output terminal 22 that outputs a pulse voltage output from the electric noise applying means 13. The voltage input to the power input terminal 21 is supplied to each means of the control unit 2 and the display operation unit 3. The pulse voltage output terminal 22 includes a plus terminal and a minus terminal, and lead wires 22A and 22B that individually extend from each terminal are connected to a damper 30 that constitutes the suspension of the vehicle.

The damper 30 includes a damper case 31 and a damper rod 32 that expands and contracts with respect to the damper case 31. In addition, as an example of the damper 30, a single cylinder type, a double cylinder type, etc. are mentioned, Any form may be sufficient.
A conductor 22B extending from the minus terminal of the pulse voltage output terminal 22 is connected to the damper case 31, and a conductor 22A extending from the plus terminal of the pulse voltage output terminal 22 is connected to the damper rod 32.
Specifically, the conducting wire 22B extending from the minus terminal is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the damper case 31 using the annular ring 23, and the minus terminal and the damper case 31 are connected by the conducting wire 22B so as to be electrically conductive.
Further, the annular terminal 24 is fitted to the tip of the conducting wire 22A extending from the plus terminal, the annular terminal 24 is inserted into the screw portion 32a formed on the outer peripheral surface of the damper rod 32, and then the suspension is secured by the nut 25. Tighten together with the component parts.

Hereinafter, an operation method of the steering performance variable device 1 will be described.
When a driver on the vehicle operates an ignition key for starting the engine and rotates the key to the ON position, the steering performance variable device 1 is activated. When the ignition key is further rotated and operated to the engine start position, an ignition signal is output to the starter and the engine is started. The ignition signal is detected by the engine start detection unit 11 and the detection of the ignition signal is output to the display reset unit 12. The display reset unit 12 outputs a reset signal to the application number counting unit 14 and the display unit 15 to reset the application number stored in the application number counting unit 14 to zero, and resets the display on the display unit 15 to zero.
When the driver once operates the application button of the operation means 16 with the engine started, the electric noise application means 13 applies a pulse voltage to the damper 30 via the conductors 22A and 22B. When a pulse voltage is output from the electrical noise applying unit 13, a voltage application signal is output to the application number counting unit 14, and the application number counting unit 14 stores the application number "1". Then, the application number counting means 15 outputs the stored application number “1” to the display means 15 to display the application number “1”.
By the above operation, the sliding resistance in the very low speed region in the operation of the damper 30 is alleviated, so that the operation of the damper 30 can be made smooth and the steering performance can be improved.

  In the above state, when the driver once again operates the application button of the operation unit 16 to apply a pulse voltage to the damper 30, a voltage application signal is output to the application number counting unit 14, and the application number counting unit 14 The number of application times “2” is stored. Then, the application number counting unit 14 outputs the stored application number “2” to the display unit 15 to display the application number “2”. Therefore, the sliding resistance of the damper 30 in the very low speed region is in a state immediately after the engine is started. That is, hardness is generated in the initial operation of the damper 30, and the initial damping resistance of the damper 30 is increased.

  Then, after the vehicle is stopped and the engine is stopped, when the engine is started to run again, the ignition signal output with the start of the engine is detected by the engine start detection means 11, and the display reset means 12 A reset signal is output to the application frequency counting means 14 and the display means 15, and the application frequency stored in the application frequency counting means 14 and the display of the application frequency of the display means 15 are reset to “zero”.

  That is, every time when the engine is started, the application number stored in the application number counting means 14 is reset and the display of the application number on the display means 15 is reset, so that “zero” is displayed for the number of applications after the engine is started. The driver can change the steering performance by applying the pulse voltage to the damper 30 from the electric noise applying means 13 according to the running situation by confirming the display count.

Hereinafter, an experimental result in which it is verified that the friction of the damper 30 is changed by applying a pulse voltage to the damper 30 by the steering performance variable device 1 of the present invention will be described.
First, it was examined what voltage can be applied to the damper case 31 and the damper rod 32 to change the steering performance. Specifically, two voltage supply lines extending from a pulse generator 55 (see FIG. 3) capable of outputting a voltage having an arbitrary waveform are connected to the damper case 31 and the damper rod 32 to thereby generate voltages having different waveforms. Was applied to the damper case 31 and the damper rod 32 to conduct a steering stability performance test. For example, the waveform of the voltage to be applied is obtained by changing the wavelength and amplitude of a periodically changing waveform such as a SIN wave and a pulse wave to make the waveform half a wavelength. As a result, it was found that a change in the steering performance can be obtained when a pulse voltage is applied. This is considered to be a difference in properties between a SIN waveform voltage composed of one frequency component and a pulse waveform voltage such as electric noise composed of a plurality of arbitrary frequency components.

Next, in order to investigate which element of the damper 30 is affected by applying a pulse voltage to the damper 30, a voltage application test with the damper 30 alone was performed.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the damper 30 of the test vehicle. First, elements constituting the damper 30 will be described.
The damper 30 is a so-called twin tube type damper, and is disposed from the bottom in the order of a cylindrical base valve 33 and a cylindrical inner cylinder 34 in a damper case 31 of a bottomed cylindrical body with one opening. The A damper rod 32 having a cylindrical piston valve 35 at one end is inserted into the inner cylinder 34. That is, the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 34 is a cylinder of the piston valve 35. The outer peripheral surface of the piston valve 35 that slides with the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 34 is subjected to fluorine-based resin processing. An annular rod guide 37 that supports sliding of the damper rod 32 and an annular oil seal 38 that prevents the damper oil sealed in the damper case 31 from being inserted are inserted into the damper rod 32. The outer peripheral surfaces of the rod guide 37 and the oil seal 38 are fitted into the inner peripheral surface of the damper case 31. An annular pressing ring 39 is fitted into the opening of the damper case 31. In the above configuration, the damper case 31, the damper rod 32, the base valve 33, the inner cylinder 34, and the piston valve 35 are made of metal whose main component is iron. The rod guide 37 is made of a metal mainly composed of aluminum.

  Therefore, among the components of the damper 30, there are three combinations of components that move and influence each other: the inner cylinder 34 and the piston valve 35, the damper rod 32 and the oil seal 38, and the damper rod 32 and the rod guide 37. That is, the component that is affected by the steering performance by applying the pulse voltage is any combination of the inner cylinder 34 and the piston valve 35, the damper rod 32 and the oil seal 38, and the damper rod 32 and the rod guide 37.

Therefore, the electrical relationship between the damper case 31 and the piston valve 35 was examined in order to investigate the effect that occurs between the damper case 31 and the piston valve 35 by applying a pulse voltage. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a test apparatus in which a part of a single cylinder type damper is modeled in order to investigate the influence of the damper case 31 and the piston valve 35.
A damper case 31, a piston valve 35, and a damper rod 32 are made of a material mainly composed of iron, and a piston ring 41 that is in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the damper case 31 is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the piston valve 35. The piston ring 41 is formed by molding a fluororesin into a C-shaped cross section. The damper case 31 and the piston valve 35 are electrically insulated by the piston ring 41. In addition, the damper case 42 is filled with the damper oil 42. The damper case 31 and the damper rod 32 are held in a state of being electrically insulated from the outside, and the damper rod 32 is slid with respect to the damper case 31 to change the charge state of each component to the coulomb. Measurement was performed with a meter 43. The coulomb meter 43 is a measuring instrument that measures the electric charge charged on the object.

First, by moving the damper rod 32 up and down and sliding the piston valve 35 with respect to the damper case 31, negative charges accumulate on the inner peripheral surface of the damper case 31, and slide with the inner peripheral surface of the damper case 31. It was measured by a coulomb meter 43 that positive charges accumulated on the outer peripheral surface of the piston ring 41 in contact therewith. Then, the positive charge is collected on the outer peripheral surface of the piston ring 41, and the negative charge is collected on the inner peripheral surface of the piston ring 41 and the piston ring 41 is in a polarization state. Further, negative charges are charged in the damper rod 32 and the piston valve 35. In this state, the positive electrode of the pulse generator 55 was connected to the damper rod 32 side, the negative electrode was connected to the damper case 31 and a pulse voltage was applied, but no change was seen in the charge relationship of each part. .
Therefore, a combination that is affected by applying a pulse voltage between the damper rod 32 and the damper case 31 is between the damper rod 32 and the oil seal 38 or between the damper rod 32 and the rod guide 37. I found out.

Next, in order to investigate the effect produced between the damper rod 32 and the oil seal 38 by applying a pulse voltage, the material of the rubber part of the oil seal 38 that slides against the damper rod 32 is examined. The part was made of nitrile rubber (NBR). Therefore, the friction when the pulse voltage was applied to the nitrile rubber alone and the friction when the pulse voltage was not applied were measured and compared. As a result, it was found that the friction was reduced by applying the pulse voltage.
That is, it was confirmed that the friction between the damper rod 32 and the oil seal 38 is reduced by applying a pulse voltage between the damper rod 32 and the damper case 31.

Next, considering the effect that occurs between the damper rod 32 and the rod guide 37 by applying a pulse voltage, the damper rod 32 is made of a metal whose main component is iron, and the rod guide 37 is mainly composed of aluminum. It is made of metal. That is, since the damper rod 32 and the rod guide 37 are always electrically connected, there is no change in the electrical state regardless of the application of the pulse voltage.
From the above, it was confirmed that the friction between the damper rod 32 and the oil seal 38 is reduced by applying a pulse voltage between the damper case 31 and the damper rod 32 of the damper 30. That is, it was confirmed that the friction between the damper rod 32 and the oil seal 38 is reduced, so that even if the operation speed of the damper 30 is very low, it smoothly operates and changes the maneuvering performance.

Next, in order to investigate how much effect is obtained in the operation of the damper 30 by applying a pulse voltage to the damper 30, the vibration test was performed by arranging the damper 30 as a single unit in the vibration test apparatus.
4A shows a conceptual diagram of a vibration test for vibrating the damper 30, and FIG. 4B shows a sliding force of the damper 30 when the damper 30 is placed in the vibration test apparatus and shaken. And a graph showing the relationship between the number of times the voltage is applied to the damper 30.
The vibration test apparatus is an apparatus that measures the sliding force applied to the damper rod 32 by repeatedly expanding and contracting the damper 30 according to a waveform in which an amplitude and a period are set in advance. The damper 30 fixes the damper case 31 in an electrically insulated state to the lower fixing portion 51 of the vibration testing apparatus via an insulator 53, and the insulator 30 to the upper fixing portion 52 of the vibration testing apparatus via the insulator 53. The damper rod 32 is fixed in an electrically insulated state. In addition, a pulse generator 55 that applies a pulse voltage is connected to the damper 30. A positive electrode extending from the pulse generator 55 is connected to the damper rod 32, and a negative electrode extending from the pulse generator 55 is connected to the damper case 31. The sliding force was measured every time from 0 to 4 times of voltage application.

As shown in FIG. 4B, it was confirmed that the sliding force acting on the damper rod 32 changes depending on the number of times the pulse voltage is applied. Specifically, the same sliding force was obtained when the number of times of voltage application was 1 and 3 odd times, and almost the same sliding force was obtained at 0 times, 2 times, and 4 even times. In addition, the sliding force when the number of times of application is an odd number of times 1 and 3 and the sliding force when the number of times of application is an even number of times 0, 2 and 4 are odd numbers of sliding force. 5% to 10% smaller than that. That is, the sliding force was smaller when the pulse voltage was applied an even number than when the pulse voltage was applied an odd number. Note that the number of application times of 0 corresponds to a state after the engine of the damper 30 mounted on the vehicle is started.
Therefore, it was confirmed that the sliding force changes by applying a pulse voltage between the damper rod 32 and the damper case 31 and controlling the number of times of application.

Therefore, the operation performance variable device 1 of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle, and an initial operation from a very low speed range of the damper 30 is performed by applying a pulse voltage to the damper rod 32 and the damper case 31 of the damper 30 provided in the vehicle. The steering performance of the vehicle can be changed by smoothing. Further, since the maneuverability can be changed depending on the number of times the pulse voltage is applied to the damper 30, the initial operation of the damper 30 can be improved or the initial operation of the damper 30 can be hardened so The steering performance can be made variable according to the user's preference.
As described above, by mounting the steering performance variable device 1 of the present invention on a vehicle, the steering performance can be determined according to the driver's intention without changing the structure and characteristics of the components constituting the suspension including the tire and the damper. Can be improved. Further, even if the steering performance variable device 1 of the present invention is operated, other performances in the vehicle are not deteriorated, and the riding comfort can be improved together with the steering performance.
Note that the steering performance variable device mounted on the vehicle is not limited to the above configuration, and may be designed as appropriate. In addition, the conductors 22A and 22B extending from the steering performance variable device 1 have been described as being directly connected to the damper case 31 and the damper rod 32 of the damper 30, but components and dampers that are electrically connected to the damper rod 32 in the vehicle. You may make it apply a pulse voltage to the damper case 31 and the damper rod 32 indirectly via the components electrically connected with the rod 32.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. Various modifications or improvements can be added to the above embodiment.

1 control performance variable device, 2 control unit, 3 display operation unit,
11 engine start detecting means, 12 display resetting means, 13 electric noise applying means,
14 application frequency counting means, 15 display means, 16 operation means, 21 power input terminal,
22 pulse voltage output terminal, 22A, 22B conductor, 23 annular ring,
24 annular terminal, 25 nut, 30 damper, 31 damper case,
32 damper rod, 33 base valve, 34 inner cylinder, 35 piston valve,
37 Rod guide, 38 Oil seal, 39 Holding ring,
41 piston ring, 42 damper oil, 43 coulomb meter,
55 Pulse generator.

Claims (6)

A steering performance variable device that varies the stability of the steering of the vehicle by changing the friction of a damper mounted on the vehicle,
A steering performance variable device comprising an electrical noise applying means for applying electrical noise to a part of a vehicle that is electrically connected to the damper.   The steering performance variable device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical noise is applied between a cylinder of the damper and a damper rod attached to a piston moving in the cylinder.   The steering performance variable device according to claim 1, wherein the steering performance variable device includes an application number counting unit that counts the number of times the electric noise is applied by the electric noise applying unit.   The steering performance variable device includes detection means for detecting start of a vehicle engine, and resets the number of application times counted by the application number counting means to zero when the detection means detects start of the engine. The steering performance variable device according to claim 3.   The steering performance variable device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the application number counting means includes display means for displaying the number of application times of the electric noise.   6. The steering performance variable device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical noise is a pulse voltage.

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