ITRN20100027A1 - EQUIPMENT FOR TESTING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE SUSPENSIONS AND THE LONGITUDINAL AND TRAVERSAL STRUCTURE OF A VEHICLE WITH A WHEEL IN MOVEMENT - Google Patents

Description

Description of the invention having the title;

Equipment for testing the efficiency of the suspension and the longitudinal and transverse attitude of a moving vehicle.

The present invention falls within the field of measurement and control devices. It refers to a circuit device for measuring the effectiveness of the suspensions, in damping the road roughness transmitted to a moving vehicle called "comfort", by means of a series of sensors placed on it.

It is also able to evaluate the attitude of the vehicle longitudinally and transversely.

All these data will be transmitted to a monitor visible to the driver.

A suspension normally consists of two parts:

1- From a spring, which has the task of supporting the weight of the static vehicle, its thrust can be adjusted by increasing its preload (by compressing it).

2 - A generally hydraulic shock absorber, which has the task of damping the compression and extension movements, can be adjusted with the respective adjusters.

The driver on board a moving vehicle receives stresses (accelerations), through the physical parts in contact with the vehicle, for cars the seat, the steering wheel, the pedals, for the motorcycles, the saddle, the handlebars, the footrests .

In this context of data detection there are data detection systems called telemetry, they are delicate and expensive sensors that measure the motions of the suspensions, accelerations, speeds and temperatures. .etc.

They are applied in various points of the vehicle and provide all the information instant by instant to a control unit.

They are difficult instruments to install, the values are read and interpreted by a computer, and only specialists know how to interpret them, certainly not by any user.

The present invention seeks to solve these drawbacks.

The found gives simple information in real time, on a monitor visible to the user.

The invention will mainly analyze the vertical accelerations suffered by the vehicle and therefore the driver, and they can be both negative and positive,

If the accelerations fall within a given range of values, they give an optimal comfort value.

These accelerations are recorded by sensors, called accelerometers, for example in a motorcycle they are positioned integral with the frame and above each wheel.

In a four-wheeled vehicle, the sensors are mounted on the four ends of the frame, in order to detect greater oscillations.

With the accelerations and the time in which they take place, they can derive the speeds

(a = v / t for which we will have the speed v = a x t.) with which the vehicle moves vertically.

To ensure a good degree of comfort and road holding, each type of vehicle must have, for example:

the speed of movement of the suspensions, in compression and extension not beyond certain values.

the speed values in compression and extension depend a lot on the type of vehicle and its use eg track, road, cross, enduro etc.

A vehicle used for road use will never have the suspension excursions, from a specific off-road vehicle, but for both there are specific speed and acceleration parameters to be respected.

The control unit mounted on the vehicle will process the incoming data by displaying them, both graphically and numerically, on a screen visible to the driver, if said speeds, they will fall within the optimal parameters.

The exceeding of this value, in compression or extension and on which axle of the wheel it occurred, will also be displayed and quantified.

A monitor, positioned in a visible way to the driver, through a color and numerical graphic symbology, will show how to adjust the suspension registers: in compression speed and extension speed.

This simple information will ensure that the user can adjust the individual registers of

suspensions, and makes the "comfort" value fall back into the optimal predefined value.

Description Fig A:

Example of how the data detection screen can be configured: screen size 100 x 80 mm. thickness 20 hymns.

The screen is divided in two vertically, the left side concerns the front, right rear side of the vehicle.

The values are updated in real time, only the average values start after the first 10 minutes of ignition.

The upper part of the screen concerns the effectiveness value of the suspension in compression and extension, the time, the graphs, average and maximum speed values, etc.

The lower part of the screen, the longitudinal balance of the vehicle and its average and maximum attitude. etc

A, B, C, ON / OFF buttons.

Key function:

By pressing button A once B I select ROAD BIKE Pressing button A twice B I select BIKE FROM TRACK By pressing button A three times B I select BIKE TO ENDURO By pressing button A four times B I select BIKE from CROSS Pressing button A five times B I select SCOOTER

Etc,

Pushing the tì key, the last 10 minutes of acquisition are stored.

Data recovery in memory:

By pressing the B key once C I see the data of the last 10 minutes.

By pressing the A key twice C I see the data of the penultimate 10 minutes.

By pressing the A key three times C I see the data of the third to last ten minutes.

Pressing the C key blocks all the data in memory at that precise moment.

You can press the C key for (for example to control the neutral balance when cornering) also using a key located at the end of an extension, to facilitate its use,

The comfort value is obtained from the control unit, based on a specific formula, taking into account all the data acquired by the various sensors.

The vehicle comfort scale has values ranging from 1-10, where 10 represents the maximum achievable value.

Longitudinal attitude of a vehicle.

Take for example, a new motorcycle, where the rider's weight has been rated at 80 kg.

With this value, the manufacturer guarantees the bike an optimal longitudinal trim, which ensures handling qualities and roadholding. The vehicle, when the rider gets on board, lowers by squeezing the suspension springs on the front more than the rear.

For example, I: 1 'anterior drops by 30 min. The posterior of 20 min making the difference of the two values we get 10 mm.

Imm. it is the difference, an intrinsic characteristic of the set-up of that vehicle. When we go to vary this value for example by carrying a passenger, we will notice that the vehicle lowers more on the rear. These changes in attitude will cause significant changes to the driving behavior of the vehicle on the road, for example the forks will have a greater degree of inclination, they will cause poor handling when cornering, even the tire pressure will have to be changed, etc

To bring the bike back to the factory setting, you need to increase the thrust of the spring, in this case of the rear shock absorber,

preloading it,

The sensors applied on the moving vehicle, after a few minutes of data acquisition, will send enough data to the control unit to evaluate the suspension travel, it will make an average, both for the front and rear suspension, and will calculate the difference.

This value, processed and compared with that of the ECU database, which collects all the various types of vehicles, is shown on the monitor.

Precise indications, graphics and numbers will help the driver to increase, in this case, the thrust (preload) of the spring, of the rear suspension, to restore the vehicle's optimal attitude.

The system can also be applied to four-wheeled vehicles to restore the attitude of both the longitudinal axis (pitch) and the transverse axis (roll).

Neutral cornering balance.

For example, a two-wheeled vehicle traveling a curve is subject to crushing, based on a component of the centrifugal force.

The front and rear are lowered, the sensors detect the relative movements, the control unit will calculate the crushing difference between the front and the rear.

This difference is detected when the driver of the vehicle leaves the brakes while cornering, after a few seconds he starts to give gas, in these seconds we get the vehicle's neutral step, called balancing.

This precise moment is memorized automatically by the control unit or manually via a button, pressed by the driver of the vehicle. The balance is the difference of how much the front de! vehicle compared to the rear.

This value varies from vehicle to vehicle.

For example, the optimal cornering balance for a sport road bike is with the front axle 70 - 80 mm lower than the rear

this value does not change if the curve is fast or very slow, within this value the bike has an optimal behavior in all the curves for which it was designed.

if this value has not been respected and we have a greater difference (due to a greater weight on the rear) the bike exiting the curve will tend to widen the trajectory, on the contrary if it is lower in the Panieri ore it will tend to close the curve losing grip on the front wheel.

The invention, as in the case of the set-up seen previously, evaluates this difference in that precise moment, of the curve and quantifies both graphically and numerically on the monitor, this value to make changes to the vehicle.

The restoration of the! Optimal neutral balancing, also in this case, occurs by modifying the thrust of the suspension springs, through the various adjusters (preloads) or by replacing them with springs with different thrust loads.

The value of the balance is very important for a racing bike and the safety of the vehicle, if not respected, it jeopardizes the road holding with anomalous and unexpected behavior.

The invention is susceptible of numerous parametric and circuit modifications all falling within the scope of the inventive concept and furthermore all the details can be replaced by equivalent technical elements.

In practice, obviously, improvements and / or improvements falling within the following claims are possible

Claims (5)

CLAIMS: 1 Equipment for testing the efficiency of the suspensions, of a moving wheeled vehicle, of absorbing road bumps is characterized by the fact of evaluating with a numerical and graphic value, each type of vehicle, the degree of comfort and road holding . 2 Equipment claims the possibility for the user to be able to intervene independently on the calibration (where possible) of the suspensions by reading the monitor data; evaluate the deterioration of efficiency due to prolonged use. By adjusting the speed registers of the suspension, accelerations and excursions, both in the crushing, compression and extension phases, they will be optimized within certain optimal values. 3 The equipment makes it possible to adjust the suspensions of the same vehicle to different types of terrain. 4 Equipment is used to identify the longitudinal alignment of a vehicle. The change in attitude of a vehicle in running order varies according to the positioning of its load. The finding gives a numerical graphic value of how to adjust the adjusters (spring preload and tire pressure) to bring back the optimal attitude. 5 Equipment is characterized by the fact that it calculates the neutral balance when cornering. A vehicle at a certain point in the curve for a few moments has a so-called neutral attitude, not affected by the action of the brake and that of the gas. The invention reveals the numerical differences in the excursion occurring on the individual suspensions, due to the crushing of a component of the centrifugal force, while traveling in a curve. These differences, within certain values of each vehicle, make the vehicle stable and performing when cornering, both in fast and slow corners.