ELECTRONIC CONTROL OF VEHICLE AIR SUSPENSION

摘要

A system is provided for use on large vehicles (10) of the type wherein the vehicle frame (12) is supported on vehicle axle assemblies (14,20,22) through air bags (26,30,32), and each air bag has a lower end coupled to the lower end of an arm such as a swing arm (112) whose upper end is pivotally mounted on the frame (12). The height of the air bag (26,30,32) is sensed by a pair of tilt sensors (50,52), sensing tilt of its location with respect to gravity, and the difference in tilt indicates air bag (26,30,32) height. The output of the tilt sensors (50,52) may be filtered, and a motion detector (77) allows rapid filling or dumping of air bags (26,30,32) independent of filtering of tilt sensor (50,52) signals. Control of the vehicle air suspension can also be based upon inputs from one or more air bag pressure sensors (71a, 71b, 73a, 73b).