JPH0234967Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a pneumatic vehicle height adjustment device used in vehicles such as automobiles.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Pneumatic vehicle height adjustment devices that adjust the height of a vehicle from the ground, that is, the vehicle height, by controlling the air pressure supplied to an air chamber built into a suspension system of a vehicle such as an automobile have been known. The structure of this pneumatic vehicle height adjustment device is normally constructed as shown in FIG. In the figure, shock absorbers 1 and 2 for the left and right wheels (not shown) are fixed to piston rods 3 and 4, respectively, and a cylindrical outer ring that loosely fits on the outer periphery of the shock absorbers 1 and 2 is fixed to piston rods 3 and 4, respectively. Diaphragms 7, 8 having a substantially U-shaped cross section are hermetically connected to the outer peripheries of the cover shells 5, 6 and the shock absorbers 1, 2.
A vehicle height adjusting means is provided in which air chambers 9 and 10 of a sealed structure are formed inside the outer cover shells 5 and 6. Each of the shock absorbers 1 and 2 is configured such that air pressure is supplied independently to each of the air chambers 9 and 10, so that the effective length normally changes depending on the air pressure, thereby adjusting the vehicle height.

The air compressor 11 as an air source has an air pipe 15
It is connected to air chambers 9 and 10 of the vehicle height adjustment means via an air passage 15 consisting of A, 15B, and 15C. An air dryer 12 is disposed in the air pipe 15A, and a check valve 13 is provided downstream of the air dryer 12 to allow fluid to flow only from the air compressor side.
is provided. The check valve 13 is provided with a bypass line 15D, and a fixed orifice 14 is provided in this line 15D. Air pipe 15 branched from the air pipe 15A
Air valves 18 and 19 are provided at B and 15C, and when the air valves are opened, compressed air from the air compressor 11 is supplied to the air chambers 9 and 10 of the vehicle height adjustment means. The air dryer 12 is configured as a ventilation structure containing a large amount of granular moisture absorbing material such as silica gel in the container, and removes moisture from the compressed air to prevent rusting of the device. A discharge valve 20 is provided in the middle of the air pipe connecting the air compressor 11 and the air dryer 12 to release compressed air from the air chambers 9 and 10 of the vehicle height adjusting means to the outside.

In the conventional vehicle height adjustment device configured as described above, when the vehicle height measured by the vehicle height sensors 21 and 22 is lower than the set value, the control device 23
At the same time, when the air compressor 11 is operated via the The air is supplied through the valve 13 to the air chambers 9 and 10 on the open side of the air valves 18 and 19, increasing the volume of the air chamber and raising the vehicle height to the set value. When the vehicle height is higher than the set value, at least one of the air valves 18, 19 determined to have a high vehicle height opens, and at the same time the exhaust valve 20 opens, and the air chambers 9, 10 of the vehicle height adjustment means are opened. Compressed air is discharged to the atmosphere through orifice 14, air dryer 12 and exhaust valve 20 at a relatively low velocity to lower the vehicle height. When the vehicle height reaches the set value, the air valves 18 and 19 and the exhaust valve 20 are closed to maintain an appropriate vehicle height. During this time, the air compressor is stopped.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, in the conventional vehicle height adjustment device described above, since the inner diameter of the orifice 14 is constant, the flow rate of the compressed air to be discharged is almost constant.
There was a problem that the vehicle height adjustment took the same amount of time when the vehicle height was adjusted rapidly and the engine ignition was ON, or when the ignition was OFF when the vehicle height adjustment speed was not an issue.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vehicle height adjustment device that solves the above problems, increases the speed of vehicle height adjustment when the ignition is turned on, and can effectively remove moisture captured by the air dryer. .

[Means to solve the problem]

The vehicle height adjustment device according to the present invention includes: a vehicle height adjustment means that adjusts the vehicle height according to the air pressure supplied to the air chamber; an air source that supplies compressed air to the air chamber;
an air dryer disposed in an air path connecting the vehicle height adjusting means and an air source; and an air valve selectively blocking the air path connecting the air dryer and an air chamber of the vehicle height adjusting means. a check valve provided in the air passage between the air dryer and the air valve and allowing fluid to flow only to the air chamber side of the vehicle height adjustment means; and a pipe bypassing the check valve. a switching valve having two types of orifices;
a discharge valve that is provided in the air path between the air dryer and the air source and releases compressed air from the air chamber of the vehicle height adjustment means to the outside; In addition to controlling an air valve, a discharge valve, and an air source, the switching valve is configured such that a large diameter orifice communicates with the air passage when the ignition is turned on, and a small diameter orifice communicates with the air passage when the ignition is turned off. It is composed of a control means for controlling.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, when the engine ignition is ON, the large-diameter orifice is communicated with the air passage to speed up the discharge of compressed air from the air chambers 9 and 10 when lowering the vehicle height adjustment.
Vehicle height adjustment can be made faster and the ignition
When OFF, a small-diameter orifice is communicated with the air passage to slow the discharge of compressed air, and the air dryer 12
It can promote the regeneration of silica gel inside.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle height adjustment device according to the present invention. In this figure, everything other than the orifice 14 of the conventional example shown in FIG. The orifice is explained below. The air pipe 15A on the downstream side of the air dryer 12 is provided with a check valve 13 that allows fluid to flow only from the air compressor 11 side. A switching valve 26 having two orifices 24 and 25 with different throttle diameters is provided in a conduit 15D that bypasses this check valve.

The aperture diameter of the two orifices 24 and 25 is 2.
4 is larger than 25, and the switching valve 26
When not energized, the large diameter orifice 24
The compressed air is now flowing.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. FIG. 2 shows the main parts of the control circuit of this embodiment. When ignition switch 27 is turned OFF, timer 2
8 starts operating and secures power to the control circuit for a certain period of time. At this time, if the vehicle height sensor 21 is emitting a vehicle height lowering signal, the signal from the high vehicle height determination circuit 29 and the signal from the timer 28 are used.
The AND circuit 30 is activated, the output of this AND circuit energizes the switching valve 26, and the small diameter orifice 2
5 so that compressed air flows. Simultaneously with the energization of the switching valve 26, a signal from the AND circuit 30 is input to the OR circuit 32, and the output from the OR circuit 32 opens the discharge valve 20. Furthermore, the signal from the high vehicle height determination circuit 29 is input to the OR circuit 31, and the output of the OR circuit 31 operates the air valve 18, and the air chamber 9 of the vehicle height adjustment means is vented to the atmosphere via the exhaust valve 20. communicate with. At this time, since the output of the low vehicle height determination circuit 33 is zero, the air compressor 11 is in a stopped state. Therefore, the compressed air in the air chamber 9 of the vehicle height adjustment means passes through the air valve 18 and the orifice 25 with a small diameter, passes through the air dryer 12, and is discharged from the exhaust valve 20 at a slow speed. At this time,
The moisture contained in the silica gel in the air dryer 12 is sufficiently discharged into the atmosphere by compressed air.
Regeneration of silica gel is promoted. ignition
When it is OFF, there is no need to rapidly adjust the vehicle height, so there is no problem even if the discharge of compressed air from the air chamber 5 is delayed.

Furthermore, when the ignition switch 27 is ON, the timer 28 does not operate due to the OFF circuit 31, so even if the vehicle height sensor 21 issues a signal to lower the vehicle height, there is no output from the AND circuit 30, and the switching valve 26 is not energized. The switching valve 26
When there is no conduction, the large diameter orifice 24 connects the air passage 1.
5. At this time, the high vehicle height determination circuit 29
Input the lowering signal from OR to the OR circuit 32, and
An output from circuit 32 opens drain valve 20. Therefore, the compressed air passes through the orifice 24 having a large restrictor diameter, passes through the air dryer 12, and is discharged from the exhaust valve 20 at a high speed, making it possible to rapidly adjust the vehicle height. In this case, air dryer 12
Since the compressed air passes through the air dryer rapidly, the moisture contained in the silica gel in the air dryer cannot be recovered sufficiently, but the ignition
There is no problem because the silica gel can be regenerated at a slower pumping speed than before after turning off.

When the vehicle height sensor 21 is outputting a signal to lower the vehicle height, the high vehicle height determination circuit 29, the OR circuit 31,
32, the air valve 18 and exhaust valve 20 are opened, and when the vehicle height sensor 21 is outputting a signal to raise the vehicle height, a signal is output from the low vehicle height determination circuit 33, and the low vehicle height determination circuit 33 outputs a signal. The air valve 18 is opened via the OR circuit 31, and the air compressor 11 is started. Then, in the exhaust valve 20, the signals from the AND circuit 30 and the high vehicle height determination circuit 29 both become zero, and the output of the OR circuit 32 becomes zero, so the exhaust valve 20 is closed. Furthermore, when the vehicle height is appropriate, the high vehicle height determination circuit 29 and the low vehicle height determination circuit 3
3 becomes zero and the output signal of the circuit becomes zero, so the OR circuit 31 does not operate and the air valve 18 becomes non-conducting and closes.

Although the above description of the operation with reference to FIG. 2 has been made with respect to the vehicle height adjustment device on the left side in FIG. 1, the same applies to the vehicle height adjustment device on the right side.

According to this embodiment, the ignition system eliminates the need to rapidly adjust the vehicle height when lowering the vehicle height.
When the ignition is OFF, the compressed air is discharged through the orifice 25 with a small diameter, and when the ignition is ON, where rapid vehicle height adjustment is desired, the compressed air is discharged through the orifice 24 with a large diameter. The vehicle height adjustment speed can be increased when necessary while sufficiently regenerating the silica gel inside the vehicle.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the present invention, an air dryer is provided in the air path connecting the vehicle height adjustment means and the air source, and an ignition is installed downstream of the air dryer.
A switching valve is installed that selects a large-diameter orifice when the ignition is turned on, and a small-diameter orifice when the ignition is turned off, making it possible to quickly adjust vehicle height when the ignition is turned on.
When the system is turned off, the moisture trapped in the air dryer is released into the atmosphere, allowing the moisture absorbing material to be regenerated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the vehicle height adjustment device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a flow diagram showing the operation of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a conventional vehicle height adjustment device. FIG. 9,10...Air chamber, 11...Air compressor, 1
2...Air dryer, 13...Check valve, 1
4, 24, 25... Orifice, 15, 16, 1
7... Air passage, 18, 19... Air valve, 20...
…Discharge valve.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A vehicle height adjusting means for adjusting the vehicle height according to the air pressure supplied to the air chamber, an air source supplying compressed air to the air chamber, and an air path arranged in an air path connecting the vehicle height adjusting means and the air source. an air dryer, an air valve that selectively blocks the air passage connecting the air dryer and the air chamber of the vehicle height adjustment means, and an air passage between the air dryer and the air valve. a check valve which is provided and allows fluid to flow only to the air chamber side of the vehicle height adjustment means; a switching valve having two types of orifices provided in a conduit that bypasses the check valve; and the air dryer. and an exhaust valve that is provided in the air passage between the vehicle height adjusting means and the air source and releases compressed air from the air chamber of the vehicle height adjusting means to the outside, and In addition to controlling the valve and air source, a large diameter orifice communicates with the air passage when the ignition is turned on, while the switching valve is connected to the air passage when the ignition is turned on.
A vehicle height adjustment device comprising a control means for controlling a small diameter orifice to communicate with the air passage when the vehicle is turned off.