JPH0356943B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a vehicle equipped with a power steering mechanism and a vehicle height adjustment mechanism, in which hydraulic fluid from one hydraulic source is divided into the power steering mechanism and the vehicle height adjustment mechanism, respectively. Regarding a control device.

Generally, vehicles such as automobiles are equipped with a power steering mechanism and a vehicle height adjustment mechanism, but when supplying hydraulic oil to each mechanism, two hydraulic sources such as pumps are required, and two hydraulic power sources are required. Since it is controlled, there are many hydraulic sources, different types of hydraulic oil, the structure is complex, and a lot of installation space is required, which is disadvantageous in terms of management.

Therefore, systems have been developed that utilize hydraulic fluid supplied from one hydraulic source and divide it into various mechanisms.

This uses an accumulator as a hydraulic power source, and the hydraulic oil in the reservoir is stored in the accumulator by a pump driven by the engine, and the hydraulic oil from this accumulator is divided by a breaker to separate each This circuit leads to the suspension, brakes, steering, clutch, and gear shift.

However, since this system controls each mechanism using the pressure oil of the accumulator, it is necessary to store a large amount of pressure oil higher than the actuator pressure of each mechanism, resulting in higher pressure and larger size.

Furthermore, the above system has a problem in that it is not possible to precisely control each mechanism.

For example, (a) It is difficult to lower the vehicle height to improve stability at high speeds, and (b) If steering control and vehicle height adjustment control are performed at the same time, there may be a shortage of hydraulic fluid, especially for steering control. There are problems such as: (c) it is not possible to perform operations such as giving priority to .

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to have a simple structure,
To provide a flow control device that requires a small installation space, can preferentially control a power steering mechanism, and can finely control a power steering mechanism and a vehicle height adjustment mechanism.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a configuration in which hydraulic fluid discharged from one pump is supplied to the power steering mechanism via a priority valve, and surplus flow from the priority valve is supplied to the power steering mechanism via a flow control valve. The priority valve and the flow control valve are supplied to the vehicle height adjustment mechanism, and are characterized in that the flow rate is variably controlled via a controller operated by an external signal.

According to the above configuration, the hydraulic fluid discharged from the pump is preferentially supplied to the power steering mechanism by the priority valve, and the surplus flow at that time is sent to the flow control valve, where the required flow rate is regulated. Furthermore, it is supplied to the vehicle height adjustment mechanism. The priority valve and flow control valve are variably controlled by signals from the controller.

The present invention will be explained below based on the illustrated embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flow rate control device according to the present invention supplies a desired amount of hydraulic fluid to one hydraulic operating mechanism 1 and a pressure that supplies a desired amount of hydraulic fluid to the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2. It has an oil supply circuit 3. In this embodiment, the present device is shown as a vehicle height adjustment device.

One of the hydraulic actuation mechanisms 1 has an open center type valve, and in this embodiment is a power steering mechanism for a vehicle. The pressure oil supply circuit 3 is connected to the pressure oil supply circuit 3 via the circuit A.
It becomes possible to operate when a desired amount of hydraulic oil is supplied from the pressurized oil supply circuit 3, and is also communicated through the circuit A' so that the hydraulic oil after the operation is returned to the pressure oil supply circuit 3. Note that when hydraulic oil is flowing in the pressure oil supply circuit 3, hydraulic oil is always supplied to one of the hydraulic operating mechanisms 1, but when the hydraulic operating mechanism 1 is not operated,
Of course, the oil is returned to the pressure oil supply circuit 3 via the circuit A'.

The other hydraulic operating mechanism 2 has a closed center type valve, and in this embodiment is used as a vehicle height adjustment mechanism,
The pressure oil supply circuit 3 is communicated with the pressure oil supply circuit 3 via a circuit B.

The other hydraulic operating mechanism 2 includes vehicle height adjusters 20 disposed on the left and right sides of the front and rear sides of the vehicle, and hydraulic oil supplied to the vehicle height adjusters 20 via a circuit B to the vehicle. A flow divider 21 that separates the flow to the rear side and front side of the vehicle, and a leveling valve 22 disposed in a circuit that communicates the flow divider 21 with the vehicle height adjuster 20 on the front side and rear side of the vehicle. It has the following.

When hydraulic oil is supplied to the vehicle height adjuster 20, the piston rod 20b slidably inserted into the cylinder 20a constituting the vehicle height adjuster 20 is raised, and the vehicle The vehicle height of the cylinder 20a will be adjusted higher, and conversely, if hydraulic oil is discharged from the vehicle height adjuster 20, the cylinder 20a
The inner piston rod 20b is lowered, and the height of the vehicle is adjusted lower.

Further, the hydraulic oil that has passed through the flow divider 21 is transferred to the vehicle height adjuster 20 via the leveling valve 22.
When the leveling valve 22 is supplied to
is switched to the supply position 22a, and when discharging hydraulic fluid from the vehicle height adjuster 20, the leveling valve 22 is switched to the discharge position 2.
2b, there is no need to supply hydraulic oil to the vehicle height adjuster 20, and the vehicle height adjuster 20
Of course, when there is no need to discharge hydraulic fluid from the engine, the leveling valve 22 is switched to the shutoff position 22c. Although not shown, each switching operation in the leveling valve 22 is performed by energizing the solenoids 22d and 22e by input from a vehicle height sensor appropriately installed in the vehicle height adjuster 20, etc. It is something.

In this embodiment, a solenoid valve 23 is disposed between the leveling valve 22 and each vehicle height adjuster 20 on the front side and rear side of the vehicle, so that the effect of the shutoff position 22c in the leveling valve 22 is further enhanced. It is designed so that it can be increased. Further, a variable throttle 24 is disposed between this solenoid valve 23 and each vehicle height adjuster 20, and allows hydraulic fluid to flow into each of the left and right vehicle height adjusters 20 on the front or rear side of the vehicle. Care has been taken to balance the amount so that it can expand and contract at a constant speed. Furthermore, an accumulator 26 having a solenoid valve 27 is disposed between the variable throttle 24 and each vehicle height adjuster 20 and communicated through a damping force generating valve 25.

The pressure oil supply circuit 3 has a hydraulic source 30 consisting of a pump, and supplies hydraulic oil from a tank 31 to one hydraulic operating mechanism 1 and the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2.
It is formed to discharge toward. In addition,
In this embodiment, the pump serving as the hydraulic power source 30 is configured to be operated by a drive source 30' consisting of a vehicle's drive engine.

The hydraulic fluid discharged from the hydraulic power source 30 is supplied toward the priority valve 32, which has a flow rate of hydraulic fluid necessary for operating one of the hydraulic operating mechanisms 1 communicating therewith. The system will be provided with priority. The surplus flow at that time is configured to be supplied toward the flow control valve 33. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the priority valve 32 is formed so that the flow rate of the hydraulic oil flowing through the circuit A that is inserted therethrough and communicated with one of the hydraulic actuation mechanisms 1 can be made variable. .

As a result, the flow rate of hydraulic oil supplied to the power steering mechanism, which is one of the hydraulic operating mechanisms 1, can be made variable depending on the vehicle speed, or the operation of the power steering mechanism is required. This means that the flow rate of the surplus flow toward the flow control valve 33 can be increased when the flow control valve 33 is not in use. The variable throttle 32' in the priority valve 32 is configured to be variable in response to input from a controller 35 disposed outside and connected to the sensor 34.

The float control valve 33 to which the surplus flow from the priority valve 32 is supplied is
The surplus flow is restricted to the flow rate required for the operation of the other hydraulic actuating mechanism 2, and the surplus flow divided at the time of restriction is so formed as to be returned to the tank 31. The flow control valve 33 has a variable throttle 33' and is formed so that the flow rate of the hydraulic fluid supplied to the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2 can be varied as necessary.

Thereby, the flow rate of the hydraulic oil supplied to the vehicle height adjuster 20 in the vehicle height adjustment mechanism, which is the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2, can be adjusted as necessary, and as a result, the vehicle height can be adjusted. This allows the expansion speed of the container 20 to be selected. Variable throttle 33' in this flow control valve 33
is connected to the controller 35, and is configured to be variable in response to input from the controller 35.

In this embodiment, a relief valve 36 is provided in the circuit A between the priority valve 32 and one of the hydraulic operating mechanisms 1, and a relief valve 36 is provided between the priority valve 32 and the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2.
A relief valve 37 is also disposed between the hydraulic operating mechanisms 1 and 2, and is configured to operate when the piping resistance in each hydraulic operating mechanism 1, 2 becomes large. Even when there is a risk that the viscosity of the pipe becomes high and the piping resistance increases significantly, the variable throttle 32' in the priority valve 32 or the flow control valve 33
By adjusting the throttle of the variable throttle 33' in , a desired amount of hydraulic oil can be supplied without operating the relief valves 36, 37.

A switching valve 3 is provided in the circuit B that communicates from the flow control valve 33 to the other hydraulic actuation mechanism 2.
8 is disposed, and when supplying hydraulic oil to the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2, the solenoid 38a is energized and placed in a communicating state, that is, an ON state. Then, this switching valve 38
When the switching valve 38 is in the ON state, the hydraulic fluid from the flow control valve 33 is supplied to the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2 via circuit B, and when the switching valve 38 is in the OFF state, the hydraulic fluid from the flow control valve 33 is supplied to the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2 via circuit B. The hydraulic oil will be returned to the tank 31. Although not shown, the energization and release of the solenoid 38a of the switching valve 38 are performed by input from a vehicle height sensor appropriately installed in the vehicle height adjuster 20, etc. .

Here, in the hydraulic pressure supply circuit 3, the hydraulic source 30, the priority valve 32, the flow control valve 33, and each relief valve 36,
An embodiment of a unit in which the flow control device can be made compact by integrally forming the flow control device 37 will be described based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2A to FIG. (See arrows a1 and a2 in FIG. 2).

This priority valve 32 has a valve body 32a having an orifice on one side in an oil chamber 40a in a casing 40, and a rod 32c connected to a solenoid 32b is inserted through the valve body 32a. The rod 32c is arranged so that its tip is adjacent to the orifice, and the opening of the orifice is adjusted by moving the rod 32c forward or backward by energizing the solenoid 32b. The priority valve 32 also has a plunger 32e held on the other side of the oil chamber 40a by a coil spring 32d.

Two pipe lines 41 and 42 are connected to the oil chamber 40a constituting the priority valve 32, and one of the pipe lines 41 connects one of the hydraulic operating mechanisms 1 and the relief valve 36 at the other end thereof. (see Fig. 2 D), and the other pipe 42 is connected to
It communicates with a flow control valve 33 (see FIG. 2C). Note that hydraulic oil flows into the one pipe 41 through the orifice of the valve body 32a (see arrow b1 in FIG. 2), and the plunger 32e is connected to the coil spring 32d into the other pipe 42. The hydraulic oil flows in when the cylinder is moved backward against the repulsive force of the cylinder (see arrow b2 in Fig. 2).

Therefore, the hydraulic oil from the vane pump is regulated by the orifice of the valve body 32a so as to have a flow rate necessary for operating one of the hydraulic operating mechanisms 1, and flows into the pipe line 4.
1, and the surplus flow flows into the plunger 3.
2e is retreated, flows into the pipe 42, and is supplied toward the flow control valve 33. At this time, by energizing the solenoid 32b and adjusting the tip of the rod 32c to close the orifice, the amount of inflow into the pipe line 41, that is, the amount of inflow into one of the hydraulic actuating mechanisms 1, is controlled. This means that the variable diaphragm 32' (see FIG. 1) can be made small.

A float control valve 33 communicating with the other pipe line 42 is formed in another oil chamber 40b formed in the casing 40, and a relief valve 37 is also formed in the oil chamber 40b. (See Figure 2 C).

That is, the flow control valve 33 is
It is formed on one side of the oil chamber 40b, and a partition member 33d having a through hole 33c in the center is attached to a valve body 33b having a solenoid 33a, and a distal end thereof is installed in the through hole 33c. It has a rod 33e to be inserted. The tip of the rod 33e can be inserted deeper into the through hole 33c by energizing the solenoid 33a.

Further, the relief valve 37 is connected to the oil chamber 40b.
A plunger 37 whose rear end is locked by a coil spring 37a is disposed on the other side of the plunger 37.
Consists of b.

The hydraulic oil passing between the through hole 33c and the tip of the rod 33e in the flow control valve 33 is supplied toward the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2 (see arrows c2 and d2 in FIG. 2).

On the other hand, when the hydraulic oil pressure passing between the through hole 33c and the tip of the rod 33e becomes excessive, the plunger 37b
The hydraulic oil retreats against the repulsive force of the oil chamber 40b, flows into the pipe 43 connected to the oil chamber 40b (see arrow e2 in FIG. 2), and the hydraulic oil is returned to the tank 31. becomes.

Therefore, the surplus flow flowing out from the priority valve 32 via the pipe 42 is regulated by the flow control valve 33 to the flow rate of the hydraulic fluid necessary for operating the other hydraulic operating mechanism 2. At this time, when the solenoid 33a is energized, the flow rate of the hydraulic oil between the through hole 33c and the tip of the rod 33e is adjusted to be even smaller, forming a variable throttle 33' (see Fig. 1). becomes.

The hydraulic oil flowing through the pipe 41 is divided into a flow to one of the hydraulic operating mechanisms 1 and a flow to the relief valve 36 (indicated by arrows c1, d1, and d1 in FIG. 2).
e1), this relief valve 36 is formed in an oil chamber 40c that is formed separately in the casing 40, and includes a partition member 36b having a through hole 36a in the center, and a partition member 36b adjacent to this through hole 36a. and a poppet 36d energized by a coil spring 36c. When the hydraulic oil flowing into the oil chamber 40c flows into the through hole 36a and moves the poppet 36d backward, it flows into the pipe line 43 communicating with the tank 31 (see the arrow in FIG. 2). f1).

Therefore, when one side of the hydraulic operating mechanism 1 exceeds the set pressure, the relief valve 3
6 is activated, and the hydraulic oil is returned into the tank 31.

The excitation operation for each of the solenoids 32b and 33a is performed by input from the controller 35, which operates according to what is detected by the sensor 34, as described above.

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

When a large amount of hydraulic fluid is discharged from the pump, the flow rate required to operate one power steering mechanism and the other vehicle height adjustment mechanism can be regulated by a variable priority valve and a variable flow control valve.

Even when the amount of hydraulic oil discharged from the pump is small, the necessary hydraulic oil is supplied to one power steering mechanism via the priority valve, and when the vehicle is stopped or at extremely low speeds, There is an advantage in that the amount of hydraulic oil required for the operation of the power steering mechanism is always supplied.

The advantage is that as the vehicle speed increases, the flow rate of hydraulic oil supplied to the power steering mechanism can be reduced by a signal from the controller, and a larger amount of hydraulic oil can be supplied to the other vehicle height adjustment mechanism. There is.

It is possible to keep the flow rate supplied to the power steering mechanism small while supplying a large amount of hydraulic fluid to the other vehicle height adjustment mechanism, so it is possible to quickly adjust the vehicle height when the vehicle is stopped or started at an extremely low speed. There are advantages to doing so.

The flow rate of hydraulic oil to the vehicle height adjustment mechanism can be varied by signals from the controller, so when used in cold regions, for example, piping resistance in the vehicle height adjustment mechanism increases, causing the relief valve to close. There is also the advantage that even when there is a risk that the relief valve will operate, the relief valve can be prevented from operating by controlling the flow rate to the vehicle height adjustment mechanism.

The power steering mechanism and vehicle height adjustment mechanism can share a single pump as the hydraulic source.
In addition, one type of hydraulic oil can be used, and the structure is simple and compact, so the installation space is small. Moreover, if the pressure oil supply circuit is made into a unit, the entire apparatus can be made more compact.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a flow rate control device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a unit of a pressure oil supply circuit according to the present invention, Fig. 2 A is a side sectional view, and Fig. 2 B is a front view. FIG. 2C is a partial plan sectional view taken along the middle line HA in FIG. 2A, and FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...One hydraulic operation mechanism, 2...Other hydraulic operation mechanism, 3...Pressure oil supply circuit, 20...Vehicle height adjuster, 3
0...Hydraulic power source, 32...Priority valve, 33
...Flow control valve, 32', 33'...Variable throttle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Hydraulic oil discharged from one pump is supplied to the power steering mechanism via a priority valve, and surplus flow from the priority valve is supplied to the vehicle height adjustment mechanism via a flow control valve. A flow control device characterized in that the priority valve and the flow control valve have flow rates variably controlled via a controller operated by an external signal. 2. The flow control device according to claim 1, wherein the power steering mechanism has an open center type valve, and the vehicle height adjustment mechanism has a closed center type valve.