JPS6140575Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a vehicle height adjustment device for front wheels and rear wheels of a vehicle.

Most conventional vehicle height adjustment devices of this type adjust the vehicle height only on the rear wheels, for example, and in vehicles with long wheelbases such as trucks, changes in vehicle height on the rear wheels are applied to the front wheels. However, in vehicles with short wheelbases such as passenger cars, problems arise such as changes in the vehicle height of the rear wheels can cause the direction of the headlights to change significantly. In this case, it is necessary to adjust the vehicle height of the front wheels to the same level as the rear wheels. In addition, air levelers are installed between the vehicle body and axle for the front and rear wheels so that the vehicle height of the front and rear wheels can be selectively adjusted depending on the size of the load and the location of the load. It is necessary to operate each of these air levelizers independently.

By the way, in a system where such air levelizers operate independently, for example, when the load is large, the vehicle height on the rear wheel side may be raised, and the vehicle height on the front wheel side may be lowered. It operates to supply air to the levelizer and exhaust air directly from the air leveler to the atmosphere. In other words, the compressed air that has been obtained is wasted when the air leveler is lowered, and as a result, it is necessary to always supply air compressed from the atmosphere to the air leveler that is supposed to rise, and the compressor has to The problem was that a large amount of work had to be done, which increased energy loss.

The present invention was developed by focusing on such conventional problems, and includes providing an air supply/exhaust passage and an exhaust passage each having an intake/exhaust valve and an exhaust valve for each of the air levelizers on the front and rear wheels. The exhaust passage is connected to the intake port of the compressor, and the supply and exhaust valve and the exhaust valve are configured to be selectively operated by the output of the vehicle height sensor and/or an external instruction signal. , when one of the air levelizers on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side is raised and the other is lowered, the compressed air exhausted from the other air levelizer is returned to the one air levelizer through the compressor. To provide a vehicle height adjustment device that contributes to energy saving by increasing compressed air usage efficiency.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an operation panel that can command the operation and amount of operation of air levelizers on the front and rear wheels, which will be described later, and is provided with operation switches and a display section. Reference numeral 2 denotes a control device, which inputs command signals from the operation panel 1, detection signals from vehicle height sensors 3 and 4 on the front and rear wheels, and pressure signals from tank pressure sensors to be described later. It acts to control the operation of the supply and exhaust valves and exhaust valves, as well as the start switch of the compressor motor. 5 is the intake port 5a, 5b
The compressor has a discharge port 5c and is operated by a motor 7 that is driven when a start switch 6 is turned on. Note that the starting switch 6 is connected to the control device 2. Reference numeral 8 denotes an air dryer connected to the discharge port 5c of the compressor 5, and an exhaust valve 10 communicating with the atmosphere is branch-connected to an air supply/exhaust passage 9 connecting these air dryers, and the operation of this exhaust valve 10 is controlled by a control device. It's summery. Reference numeral 11 denotes an air tank, and the control device 2 is connected to a branch passage 12 from an air supply/exhaust passage 15, which will be described later, connected to the air dryer 8.
They are connected via an on-off valve 13 whose opening and closing are controlled by. Note that 14 is a pressure switch that detects compressed air in the air tank 11, and its pressure detection signal is input to the control device 2. 15 is a supply/exhaust passage connected to the air dryer 8, and this supply/exhaust passage 15 has branch passages 18, 19 as supply/exhaust passages that branch and supply compressed air to each of the air levelizers 16, 17 on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side. is connected. Further, supply and exhaust valves 20 and 21 are connected to these branch passages 18 and 19, and the opening and closing of these valves are controlled by output signals from the control device 2, respectively. Furthermore, each of the supply and exhaust valves 20,
An exhaust valve 2 is provided in each of the branch passages 18 and 19 connecting the air levelizer 21 and each air levelizer 16 and 17.
Branch passage 2 as an exhaust passage connecting 2 and 23
4, 25 are connected, and both branch passages 24, 2
One end of the exhaust passage 26 is connected to the connection midpoint of 5,
The other end of this exhaust passage 26 is the intake port 5b of the compressor 5.
It is connected to the. A branch passage 27 is connected between the exhaust passage 26 and the air tank 11 via an on-off valve 28.

Next, the effect will be explained.

If it is desired to raise or lower the air levelizers on the front and rear wheels of the vehicle, such an instruction is given on the operation panel 1. Based on the output data of the vehicle height sensors 3 and 4, this instruction signal causes the control device to open and close the supply and exhaust valves 20 and 21, and to open and close the exhaust valve 20 and
2, 23 to open and close. Now, supply and exhaust valve 2
0, 21 and the on-off valve 28 are opened and the compressor 5 is operated, air is supplied from the compressor 5 to the air chamber of each air levelizer 16, 17 via the air dryer 8, and the vehicle height is lowered over the entire vehicle. rises. Next, when lowering the vehicle height, open the supply/exhaust valves 20, 21 and the exhaust valve 10 while keeping the exhaust valves 22, 23 closed, and the air in the air chamber flows through the supply/exhaust passages 18, 19, and 15, and further into the dryer. 8, is discharged from the exhaust valve 10 via the supply/exhaust passage 9. In this case,
The pressure inside the air tank 11 is detected by the pressure switch 14, and if the air tank internal pressure is too low, the exhaust valve 10 and the supply/exhaust valves 20, 21 are closed, the on-off valve 13 and the exhaust valves 22, 23 are opened, and the compressor 5
The reduced exhaust gas can be stored in the air tank 11 again.

In addition, when raising the vehicle height of either the front wheel side or the rear wheel side, the compressor 5 is operated to open either one of the supply and exhaust valves 20 and 21, and when the vehicle height is lowered, the supply and exhaust valves 20 and 21 are opened. Open either exhaust valve 20, 21 and exhaust valve 10.

Furthermore, based on the output signal of the control device 2,
In some cases, one of the air levelizers 16 or 17 on the front wheel side or the rear wheel side is raised, and the other air levelizer 17 or 16 is lowered, thereby causing both air levelizers 16, 17 to move relative to each other. For example, when attempting to lower the front wheels and raise the rear wheels, the supply and exhaust valves 21 and 22 are opened, and the supply and exhaust valves 20 and 23 are kept closed. When the compressor 5 is operated in this way, the compressed air in the air chamber of the air levelizer 16 on the front wheel side is sent to the compressor 5 through the exhaust valve 22 and the exhaust passage 26, and after being compressed by the compressor 5. The air is sent through the air dryer 8 and the supply/exhaust valve 21 to the air chamber of the air levelizer 17 on the rear wheel side. That is, the air leveler 17 rises upon receiving the return of the compressed air from the air leveler 16,
This causes the air levelizer 16 to descend. In addition,
When the air levelizer 17 is lowered and the air leveler 16 is raised, the supply and exhaust valves 20 and the exhaust valves 23 are opened, and the supply and exhaust valves 21 and the exhaust valves 2 are opened.
2 can be kept closed and compressed air can be circulated as before. In this way, when the vehicle height sensor 3 and/or 4 detects that the vehicle height of any of the air levelizers 16 or 17 has reached the set level, the control device 2
Close all 3. Thereafter, when the pressure in the air tank 11 becomes sufficiently high, the start switch 6 is turned off in response to a command from the control device 2 based on a signal from the pressure switch 14 to stop the operation of the compressor.

On the other hand, when lowering both the front wheel side and rear wheel side air levelizers 16, 17, if the pressure in the air tank 11 is low, the air supply/exhaust valves 20, 2
1 is closed, the exhaust valves 22, 23 and the on-off valve 13 are opened, the compressor 5 is operated, and the air levelizer 16,
The compressed air in the 17 air chambers can be stored in the air tank 11 without being released to the atmosphere.

In this way, the compressed air from one air levelizer 16 or 17 can be sent to the other air levelizer 17 or 16 via the compressor 5 for reuse, or the compressed air exhausted from each air levelizer 16 or 17 can be Exhaust valves 22, 23, compressor 5,
By returning the air to the air tank 11 via the on-off valve 13, it is possible to reduce the load on the compressor and shorten the operating period of the compressor, contributing to energy saving measures.

According to the present invention, each of the air levelizers on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side is provided with an air supply/exhaust passage with an air supply/exhaust valve interposed therebetween, and an exhaust passage with an air exhaust valve interposed therebetween,
The exhaust passage is connected to the intake port of the compressor, and the operations of the supply and exhaust valve and the exhaust valve are selectively controlled based on the output of the vehicle height sensor and/or an external instruction signal. ,
Compressed air from one air levelizer can be returned to the other air levelizer, and energy savings can be achieved by reducing the load on the compressor.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram of the vehicle height adjustment device of the present invention. 3, 4...Vehicle height sensor, 5...Compressor, 5a,
5b... Intake port, 8... Air dryer, 9... Supply/exhaust passage, 11... Air tank, 15... Supply/exhaust passage, 16, 17... Air levelizer, 18, 1
9... Supply and exhaust passage, 20, 21... Supply and exhaust valve, 2
2, 23...exhaust valve, 24, 25, 26...exhaust passage.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A compressor in which an air supply/exhaust passage with a supply/exhaust valve interposed therebetween and an exhaust passage with an exhaust valve interposed are connected to each of the air levelizers on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side, respectively, and the end of the exhaust passage is used to supply air to the supply/exhaust passage. is connected to the air intake port of the compressor, and the compressed air is returned between each air levelizer via the compressor by control operations of the supply and exhaust valve and the exhaust valve based on the output signal of the vehicle height sensor and/or external instruction signal. A vehicle height adjustment device characterized by: