JP2007062527A - Vehicle height adjusting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate work by lowering vehicle height, at the time of maintenance work of devices in an engine compartment and loading/unloading work in a luggage room. <P>SOLUTION: When a hood panel 133 is in an opening state, vehicle height on a front wheel side is made to be small (S9). As a result of that, the maintenance work of the devices in the engine compartment can be facilitated. When a back door 135 is in an open state, the vehicle height on a rear wheel side is made lower (S12). As a result of that, the loading/unloading work in the luggage room can be facilitated. In these cases, as compared with a case decreasing the vehicle height of all of four wheels, a front end portion or a rear end portion can be lowered, so that work is facilitated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a suspension device capable of separately adjusting the vehicle height on each of a front wheel side and a rear wheel side.

Patent Document 1 describes a vehicle height adjustment device in which a vehicle height adjustment instruction switch is provided in a luggage room, and the vehicle height is controlled by operating the vehicle height adjustment instruction switch. In this vehicle height adjustment device, when the vehicle height adjustment instruction switch is operated, fluid flows out from all the fluid cylinders provided for the front, rear, left and right wheels, and the vehicle height is reduced in all four wheels. Patent Document 2 describes a vehicle height adjusting device that reduces the vehicle height when it is detected that a person has got off after the ignition switch is turned off or a load is unloaded. Yes. Also in this vehicle height adjusting device, the hydraulic oil flows out from all the hydraulic cylinders provided for the front, rear, left and right wheels, and the vehicle height is reduced in all four wheels.
JP-A-3-67716 JP 2003-285616 A

  An object of the present invention is to make loading and unloading of luggage in a luggage room, maintenance work of an apparatus in an engine room, and the like easier than in the case of the vehicle height adjusting apparatus described in Patent Document 1.

  The above-mentioned problem is a vehicle height adjustment that adjusts the vehicle height, which is the relative positional relationship between the wheel side member and the portion of the vehicle body corresponding to the wheel side member, on each of the front wheel side and the rear wheel side of the vehicle. The device includes: (a) a front opening / closing body that covers a space other than a vehicle compartment provided on the front wheel side of the vehicle; and a rear opening / closing body that covers a space other than the vehicle compartment provided on the rear wheel side of the vehicle. An open / close state detection device for detecting at least one open / close state, and (b) when the open / close state detection device detects that at least one of the open / close states is open, It is solved by including the vehicle height reduction part which makes small.

  In the vehicle height adjustment device described in this section, when it is detected that the front opening / closing body is in the open state, the vehicle height on the front wheel side is reduced, and it is detected that the rear opening / closing body is in the open state In addition, the rear wheel side vehicle height is reduced. Compared to the case where the vehicle height on both the front wheel side and the rear wheel side is reduced, when the vehicle height on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side are the same, the vehicle height at the front end and the rear end is reduced. It can be made small and work can be facilitated. Moreover, energy consumption can be reduced compared with the case where the vehicle height of both the front wheel side and the rear wheel side is reduced.

In the vehicle height adjusting device described in this section, when it is detected that the front opening / closing body is in the open state, the vehicle height on the front wheel side is reduced without changing the vehicle height on the rear wheel side, and the rear opening / closing body is When it is detected that the vehicle is in the open state, the vehicle height on the front wheel side remains the same, and the vehicle height on the rear wheel side is reduced, and it is detected that both the front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body are open. The vehicle height on both the front and rear wheels is reduced. In this way, the vehicle height on the side corresponding to the open / close body in the open state (the front open / close body or the rear open / close body) is reduced, and the vehicle height on the opposite side is kept as it is.
The vehicle height adjusting device can adjust the vehicle height on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side separately. The vehicle heights of the front, rear, left and right wheels may be adjusted separately, or the vehicle heights of the left and right front wheels and the left and right rear wheels may be adjusted in the same manner. The vehicle height adjusting mechanism may be provided for each wheel, or may be provided on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side.

The front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body each cover a space other than the passenger compartment. The space other than the vehicle compartment corresponds to the engine room, the luggage room, and the like, but the front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body may cover the space other than the vehicle interior and also the vehicle interior.
Whether the engine room and the luggage room are provided on the front side or the rear side depends on the position of the engine in the vehicle, etc. {FF: Front Engine Front Drive (FR), RR: Rear Engine Rear Drive, MR: Midship Engine Rear Drive}, determined by vehicle type, etc. Further, the space covered by the front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body may be a space having both an engine room and a luggage room.
The front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body may be referred to as a hood panel, a bonnet, a luggage compartment door, a trunk lid, a back door, or the like.

In the vehicle height adjusting device according to claim 2, the opening / closing state detecting device is a rear opening / closing body opening / closing state detecting device for detecting an opening / closing state of the rear opening / closing body, and the vehicle height reducing portion is When the rear opening / closing body opening / closing state detection device detects that the rear opening / closing body is in an open state, the rear opening / closing body opening / closing state detecting device is a rear wheel side vehicle height reduction portion that reduces the rear wheel side vehicle height.
The open / close state detection device for the rear opening / closing body is mounted on most vehicles. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the vehicle height on the rear wheel side when the open state of the rear opening / closing body is detected while suppressing an increase in the cost of the vehicle height adjusting device.
In the vehicle height adjusting device according to claim 3, when the average vehicle height on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side of the vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined first set value, the first In at least one of the case where it is equal to or less than a predetermined second set value that is smaller than the set value, the vehicle height is not reduced by the vehicle height reducing portion even if the at least one is in the open state. A first vehicle height reduction prohibiting portion is provided.
It is considered that the average vehicle height is equal to or higher than the first set value because, for example, the vehicle height is intentionally increased in order to avoid interference with the road surface. Therefore, it is not desirable to reduce the vehicle height when the average vehicle height is equal to or greater than the first set value. Further, when the vehicle height is equal to or lower than the second set value, it is not desirable to further reduce the vehicle height. Therefore, in at least one of the case where the vehicle height is not less than the first set value and the case where the vehicle height is not more than the second set value, even if the front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body are in the open state, It is desirable not to reduce the height.
For example, when the average vehicle height is greater than or equal to the first set value or less than or equal to the second set value, (a) the opening / closing state of the front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body is not detected by the opening / closing detection device (B) If the detection result is not read even if detected by the open / close detection device, (c) Even if it is detected that the open / close detection device is open, the detection result is ignored, etc. Can be realized.
In the vehicle height adjustment device according to the fourth aspect, a vehicle height adjustment permission / prohibition selection device including an operation member operable by an operator is provided. If vehicle height adjustment prohibition is selected by the vehicle height adjustment permission / prohibition selection device, the vehicle height will not be reduced even if the front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body are open. Has been.
In the vehicle height adjusting device according to claim 5, when the open / closed state detecting device detects that the at least one is in a closed state, a vehicle height is predetermined on at least one side thereof. A standard vehicle height adjustment unit for adjusting the state is provided.
In the vehicle height adjusting device described in this section, the standard vehicle height is set when the front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body are in the closed state. As a result, for example, after the work is completed and the front opening / closing body and the rear opening / closing body are closed, the vehicle is returned to the standard vehicle height.

Hereinafter, a suspension device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present suspension device, as shown in FIG. 1, suspension cylinders 10FL, FR are respectively provided between the wheel holding devices 6FL, FR, RL, RR for holding the front, rear, left, right wheels 4FL, FR, RL, RR and the vehicle body 8, respectively. , RL, RR are provided together with a suspension spring (not shown). The suspension cylinders 10FL, FR, RL, and RR are operated by a working fluid as a fluid. Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish the suspension cylinder 10 or the like, it is used with symbols FL, FR, RL, and RR representing wheel positions, and when there is no need to distinguish between them, they are used without a symbol.
The suspension cylinders 10FL, FR, RL, and RR have the same structure, and each includes a housing 11, a piston 12 that is fitted inside the housing 11 so as to be relatively movable, and a piston rod 14. The rod 14 is connected to the wheel holding device 6 and the housing 11 is connected to the vehicle body 8 so as not to move relative to each other in the vertical direction. The piston 12 is provided with a communication passage 20 having a throttling function for communicating the two liquid chambers 16 and 18 partitioned by the piston 12. The throttle function generates a damping force corresponding to the relative movement speed of the piston 12 with respect to the housing 11 (the flow rate of the working fluid flowing through the throttle). The suspension cylinder 10 functions as a shock absorber.

Individual passages 22FL, FR, RL, and RR are connected to the liquid chambers 16 of the suspension cylinders 10FL, FR, RL, and RR, respectively.
In each of the individual passages 22FL, FR, RL, RR, the accumulators 24FL, FR, RL, RR and the accumulators 26FL, FR, RL, RR and the accumulators 26FL, FR, RL, RR and the accumulators 26FL, FR, RL, RR are parallel to each other. And are connected. In addition, the spring constants are respectively connected to the connecting passages 27FL, FR, RL, RR connecting the suspension cylinders 10FL, FR, RL, RR (individual passages 22FL, FR, RL, RR) and the accumulators 26FL, FR, RL, RR, respectively. Switching valves 28FL, FR, RL, and RR are provided.
Each of these accumulators 24 and 26 has a function as a spring, and includes, for example, a housing and a partition member that partitions the inside of the housing, and the individual passage 22 communicates with one volume change chamber of the partition member. The other volume change chamber is provided with an elastic body, and the volume of the other volume change chamber decreases due to the increase in the volume of the one volume change chamber, thereby generating an elastic force. Can be. The accumulators 24 and 26 may be bellows type, bladder type, piston type, or the like.
In this embodiment, the accumulator 24 has a larger spring constant than the accumulator 26. Hereinafter, the accumulator 24 is referred to as a high-pressure accumulator, and the accumulator 26 is referred to as a low-pressure accumulator.

In the open state of the spring constant switching valve 28, since the hydraulic fluid is easily exchanged between the suspension cylinder 10 and the accumulators 24 and 26 than in the closed state, the spring constant of the suspension spring is apparently small. In the closed state, the spring constant is apparently large.
In this embodiment, the spring constant is large during turning, braking, or driving, and the vehicle is traveling straight at a constant speed (longitudinal acceleration and lateral acceleration are less than the set values, the longitudinal acceleration is 0, the lateral acceleration is Is not limited to 0), the spring constant is small.

The individual passages 22FL, FR, RL, and RR are provided with variable throttles 30FL, FR, RL, and RR, respectively. As described above, the hydraulic fluid flows in and out in the liquid chamber 16 by the vertical movement of the wheel holding devices 6FL, FR, RL, and RR relative to the vehicle body 8. In this case, the individual passage 22 is provided by the variable throttle 30. By controlling the flow path area, the damping force generated in the suspension cylinder 10 is controlled. In the present embodiment, a damping force adjusting mechanism is configured by the variable diaphragm 30 and the like.
When the flow area of the individual passage 22 is reduced by the variable throttle 30, the suspension hardness is hard (a state in which the damping force increases when the relative movement speed in the vertical direction between the wheel and the vehicle body is the same). When the flow path area is increased, the flow is soft (the damping force is reduced when the relative movement speed is the same). These are controlled according to the state of the mode selection switch by the driver, but may be controlled based on the traveling state of the vehicle. In this embodiment, when the vehicle is in a turning state, it is hard when it is in a braking / driving state (deceleration / acceleration state), and a decrease in running stability is suppressed.

The suspension device is provided with a hydraulic fluid supply / discharge device 50. The hydraulic fluid supply / discharge device 50 includes a high-pressure source 56, a reservoir as the low-pressure source 58, an individual control valve device 60, and the like.
The high-pressure source 56 includes a pump device 64 including a pump 61 and a pump motor 62, a pressure accumulator 66, and the like. The pump device 64, the pressure accumulator 66, and the like are provided in the control passage 68. The hydraulic fluid in the reservoir 58 is pumped up and discharged by the pump 61, and is stored under pressure in the pressure accumulator 66. The accumulator 66 for pressure accumulation is connected to the control passage 68 via a pressure accumulation control valve 70 which is a normally closed electromagnetic on-off valve. A fluid source pressure sensor 72 is provided in the control passage 68. The fluid source pressure sensor 72 can detect the discharge pressure of the pump 61 and the accumulator pressure.
A check valve 74 and a silencing accumulator 76 are provided on the discharge side of the pump 61 in the control passage 68. An outflow passage 84 that connects the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the pump 61 is provided, and an outflow control valve 86 is provided in the outflow passage 84. The outflow control valve 86 is a pilot-type on-off valve that can be mechanically opened and closed using the discharge pressure of the pump 61 as a pilot pressure. The pump 61 is in an operating state and is closed while hydraulic fluid is discharged. While 61 is inactive, it is open.

The suspension cylinders 10FL, FR, RL, and RR are connected to a high pressure source 56 and a low pressure source 58 through individual passages 22FL, FR, RL, and RR and a control passage 68.
The individual control valve device 60 includes individual control valves 90FL, FR, RL, RR provided in the individual passages 22FL, FR, RL, RR. A left and right communication valve 92 is provided in the front wheel side left and right communication passage 91 connecting the individual passages 22FL and FR, and a left and right communication valve 94 is provided in the rear wheel side left and right communication passage 93 connecting the individual passages 22RL and RR.
These individual control valves 90FL, FR, RL, RR, and left and right communication valves 92, 94 are normally closed electromagnetic on-off valves. When the left and right communication valves 92, 94 are closed, the individual control valves 90FL, FR, RL, RR are By individually controlling each wheel 4FL, FR, RL, RR, the wheel holding device 6FL, FR, RL, RR and the corresponding body part 8 (corresponding to the suspension cylinder 10FL, FR, RL, RR) The vehicle height, which is the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle, can be controlled independently. A vehicle height adjusting actuator is constituted by the individual control valve 90 and the like, and the amount of fluid in the suspension cylinder 10 is controlled by the control of the vehicle height adjusting actuator, thereby controlling the vehicle height.

This suspension apparatus is controlled by a suspension ECU 100 mainly including a computer. The suspension ECU 100 includes an execution unit 102, a storage unit 104, an input / output unit 106, and the like. The input / output unit 106 includes a spring constant switching valve 28, a coil of a variable throttle 30, and a hydraulic fluid supply / discharge device 50 (control valve for pressure accumulation). 70, the individual control valve 90, the coils of the left and right communication valves 92, 94, the pump motor 62, etc.) are connected via a drive circuit (not shown), and are provided for each fluid source pressure sensor 72, front, rear, left and right wheels, A vehicle height sensor 120 that detects the vehicle height, a traveling state detection device 122 that detects the traveling state of the vehicle, a vehicle height adjustment mode selection switch 124, a vehicle height adjustment instruction switch 126, an ignition switch 128, and a shift lever position are detected. As shown in FIG. 2, the shift position sensor 130 detects whether the front, rear, left, and right doors (doors for getting on and off the vehicle) 131 are open. Akateshi lamp switch (a door opening / closing switch for getting on and off) 132, a hood panel opening / closing switch 134 for detecting whether or not the hood panel (front opening / closing body) 133 is open, and a back door (rear opening / closing body) 135 are opened. A back door opening / closing switch 136, a cancel switch 138 and the like for detecting whether or not the state is in the state are connected.
The storage unit 104 stores a working vehicle height adjustment program and the like represented by the flowchart of FIG.

The traveling state detection device 122 includes a traveling speed sensor that detects a traveling speed of the vehicle, a yaw rate sensor that detects a turning state, a longitudinal acceleration sensor that detects a braking / driving state, and the like.
The vehicle height adjustment mode selection switch 124 is operated by the driver, and the operation of the switch 124 selects either the automatic mode or the manual mode. When the automatic mode is selected, the vehicle height is changed accordingly when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and when the manual mode is selected, the vehicle height adjustment instruction switch 126 is instructed. It can be changed accordingly.
The vehicle height adjustment instruction switch 126 is operated by the driver, and is operated when the vehicle height is increased or when the vehicle height is decreased. When an operation for increasing the vehicle height is performed, the vehicle height is increased by a predetermined set amount (one step), and when an operation for decreasing the vehicle height is performed, the vehicle height is set in advance. It is decreased by a predetermined set amount (one step).

The boarding / exiting door 131 covers the passenger compartment of the vehicle and may be referred to as a front door or a rear door. The getting-on / off door 131 is normally opened and closed when a person gets on and off the vehicle, and the opening / closing state of each of the getting-on / off doors 131 is detected by the getting-on / off door opening / closing switch 132.
The hood panel 133 covers the engine room, and is normally opened when performing maintenance work on an apparatus (for example, an engine or the like) in the engine room. Since the vehicle provided with the suspension device of the present embodiment is an FF (or FR) vehicle, the engine room is provided on the front side of the vehicle, and the hood panel 133 is a front opening / closing body. The hood panel open / close switch 134 is a switch for detecting the open / closed state of the hood panel 133.
A back door (sometimes referred to as a luggage compartment door) 135 covers both the luggage room and the passenger compartment, and is a rear opening / closing body in this embodiment. When loading / unloading luggage in the luggage room, it is normally opened, and the open / close state of the back door 135 is detected by the back door open / close switch 136.
The cancel switch 138 is manually operated by an operator, thereby permitting control to reduce the vehicle height when the hood panel 133 and the back door 135 are open (hereinafter referred to as work vehicle height adjustment). Either a state or a prohibited state is selected. Turned on when work vehicle height adjustment is prohibited (when it is not desired that work vehicle height adjustment be performed), and turned off when permitted (when work vehicle height adjustment is desired). It is said.

The operation of the suspension device configured as described above will be described.
The outflow / inflow of hydraulic fluid in the suspension cylinder 10 is controlled by the vehicle height adjusting device, thereby adjusting the vehicle height. In the present embodiment, the vehicle height adjusting device is constituted by a portion for storing the working vehicle height adjusting program represented by the flowchart of FIG.
The vehicle height adjustment is performed when the vehicle height adjustment instruction switch 126 is operated in the manual mode, when a predetermined condition is satisfied in the automatic mode, or the like. Further, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, such as when the vehicle is in a stopped state, the vehicle height is set to a normal vehicle height (standard vehicle height).
For example, in the case of reducing the vehicle height, which is the distance between the wheel holding device 6FL and the portion corresponding to the left front wheel 4FL of the vehicle body 8, for the left front wheel 4FL, the individual control valve 90FL is opened and the suspension cylinder 10FL is opened. The hydraulic fluid is allowed to flow out from the reservoir 58 to the reservoir 58. When the vehicle height is increased, the individual control valve 90FL is opened and the pump motor 62 is driven. As a result, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid discharged from the pump 61 is supplied to the suspension cylinder 10FL.

  In the present embodiment, whether or not the hood panel 133 is in an open state, whether or not the back door 135 is in an open state is detected, and when it is detected that the hood panel 133 is in an open state, When the vehicle height on the front wheel side (vehicle height on the left and right front wheels) is reduced and it is detected that the back door 135 is open, the vehicle height on the rear wheel side (vehicle height on the left and right rear wheels) is reduced. The When it is detected that both the hood panel 133 and the back door 135 are in the open state, both the vehicle height of the left and right front wheels and the vehicle height of the left and right rear wheels are reduced.

  The work vehicle height adjustment program represented by the flowchart of FIG. 3 is executed at predetermined time intervals. In step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as S1. The same applies to other steps), it is determined whether or not a front side working flag, which will be described later, is in a set state. It is determined whether it is in the set state. If any of the flags is in the reset state, it is determined in S3 whether or not the ignition switch 128 is in the ON state. In S4, it is determined whether or not the cancel switch 138 is in the OFF state. In S5, the average vehicle height (the average vehicle height of the entire vehicle, for example, can be obtained as the average value of the vehicle heights of the front, rear, left and right wheels) is the Normal vehicle height (standard vehicle height). Is determined (whether it is within a predetermined setting range determined by the standard vehicle height). In S6, it is determined whether the boarding / exiting door 131 is closed, and in S7. It is then determined whether the shift position is in parking or neutral.

In the OFF state of the ignition switch 128, it is desirable that vehicle height adjustment, which is less necessary, is not performed in order to reduce energy consumption. Therefore, it is desirable that the work vehicle height adjustment is not performed when the ignition switch 128 is in the OFF state.
The ON state of the cancel switch 138 is a state in which work vehicle height adjustment is intentionally prohibited. Therefore, S8 and subsequent steps are not executed in the ON state.
Further, when the vehicle height is already small, if the vehicle height is further reduced, there is a risk of interference with the road surface. Similarly, since the state where the vehicle height is already large is a state where the vehicle height is intentionally increased, it is not desirable to reduce the vehicle height. Therefore, both when the average vehicle height is the LOW vehicle height (when the vehicle height is less than or equal to the second set value) and when the vehicle is at the HIGH vehicle height (when the vehicle height is greater than or equal to the first set value). In this case, the work vehicle height adjustment is not performed. In both cases where the vehicle height is LOW and HIGH, the work vehicle height adjustment is not prohibited, but is allowed in either case. You can also
Furthermore, when the boarding / exiting door 131 is in an open state, it is considered that either a person is getting on or off or a person may get on or off. In such a case, it is desirable not to perform work vehicle height adjustment (vehicle height adjustment in which the vehicle body tilts).
Further, it is desirable that the work vehicle height adjustment is executed when the shift position is in the parking or neutral position and the vehicle is not in a starting position. The shift position may be executed not when the parking position is in the neutral or neutral position but when the parking brake is in the activated state.
Furthermore, in addition to the conditions of S1 to 7, it is possible to add a condition that the vehicle is in a stopped state. This is because maintenance work and loading / unloading work are usually performed when the vehicle is in a stopped state.

If all the determinations in steps S1 to S7 are YES, it is detected in S8 whether the hood panel 133 is in the open state. If the hood panel 133 is in the closed state, the determination is no and S9 and S10 are not executed. On the other hand, if the hood panel 133 is in the open state and the determination is YES, the vehicle height of the left and right front wheels is set to the LOW vehicle height in S9 and 10, and the front side working flag is set. The individual control valves 90FL and FR are opened until the value detected by the vehicle height sensor 120 becomes equal to or lower than the second set value. The front side in-operation flag is a flag that is set when the front vehicle height is set to the LOW vehicle height when the hood panel 133 is opened, and when engine maintenance work or the like is considered to be performed. A flag that is set.
Next, in S11, it is detected whether or not the back door 135 is in an open state. When the back door 135 is in the closed state, S12 and 13 are not executed. However, when the back door 135 is in the open state and the determination is YES, in S12 and 13, the vehicle height of the left and right rear wheels is LOW vehicle height. The rear working flag is set. The individual control valves 90RL and RR are opened until the actual vehicle height becomes the LOW vehicle height. The rear work in progress flag is a flag that is set when the rear vehicle height is set to the LOW vehicle height by opening the back door 135, and loading / unloading work of luggage in the luggage room is performed. This flag is set when it is considered.

Thus, in this embodiment, when the hood panel 133 is in the open state, the vehicle height on the front wheel side is reduced, and the vehicle height of all four wheels is not reduced. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the height on the front wheel side is the same, the height HF of the front end is compared with the height HA when the vehicle height of all four wheels is reduced. Therefore, the operation can be made easier.
The same applies to the case where the back door 135 is in the open state, and the vehicle height at the rear end can be reduced as compared with the case where the vehicle height of all four wheels is reduced.
Further, the energy consumption for opening the individual control valve 90 can be reduced as compared with the case where the vehicle height on both the front wheel side and the rear wheel side is reduced.

On the other hand, when the front side working flag is in the set state, the determination in S1 is YES, and in S14, it is determined whether or not the hood panel 133 is in the closed state. When the front work in progress flag is in the set state and the hood panel 133 is in the open state, the determination in S14 is NO and the vehicle height on the front wheel side is kept low. While the food panel 133 is in the open state, S1 and S14 are repeatedly executed.
If the food panel 133 is closed over time, the determination in S14 becomes YES. It is considered that maintenance work for the engine and the like has been completed. In S15, the vehicle height of the left and right front wheels is set to the Normal vehicle height, and in S16, the front work flag is reset. When the vehicle height of the left and right front wheels is smaller than the normal vehicle height, the individual control valves 90FL and FR are opened and the pump motor 62 is operated until the value detected by the vehicle height sensor 120 reaches the normal vehicle height. .

If the rear working flag is in the set state, the determination in S2 is YES, and in S17, it is determined whether or not the back door 135 is in the closed state. When the rear working flag is in the set state and the back door 135 is in the open state, the determination in S17 is NO and the vehicle height on the rear wheel side is kept LOW. While the hood panel 133 is in the closed state and the back door 135 is in the open state, S1, 2, and 17 are repeatedly executed.
When the back door 135 is closed, the determination in S17 is YES. It is considered that work such as loading and unloading of luggage in the luggage room has been completed. In S18, when the vehicle height of the left and right rear wheels is smaller than the normal vehicle height, the individual control valves 90RL and RR are opened until the normal vehicle height is reached, and the pump motor 62 is operated. For example, when the load is unloaded, the vehicle height may return to the normal vehicle height due to the reduced load. In this case, there is no need to operate the pump motor 61 or open the individual control valves 90RL and RR. In any case, in S19, the rear working flag is reset.
As described above, when these operations are completed and the hood panel 133 and the back door 135 are closed by executing S14 to S19, the vehicle height can be automatically returned to the normal vehicle height.

  In the present embodiment, since the cancel switch 138 is provided, it is possible to prevent the work vehicle height from being adjusted according to the intention of the operator. This makes it possible to improve the usability of the vehicle height adjusting device.

In the present embodiment, a vehicle height reduction portion is configured by a portion that stores and executes S8 to 13 of the working vehicle height adjustment program represented by the flowchart of FIG. 3 of the suspension ECU 100, and among these, S11 The rear wheel side vehicle height reduction portion is configured by a portion for storing ˜13, a portion for executing, and the like. In addition, a standard vehicle height adjustment unit is configured by a part that stores S1, 2, 14 to 19, a part that executes S1, and the like.
Further, when the determination of S5 is NO, the first vehicle height reduction prohibition unit is configured by preventing S8 to 13 from being executed, and when the determination of S4 is NO, S8 to 13 is executed. As a result, the second vehicle height reduction portion is configured.

In the work vehicle height adjustment program represented by the flowchart of FIG. 3, S2 can be executed after execution of S14 or S16.
Further, in the above embodiment, the opening and closing of the hood panel 133 and the opening and closing of the back door 135 are detected, respectively, and in the open state, the vehicle height on the corresponding side is reduced, Either the vehicle height on the front wheel side is reduced when the hood panel 133 is in the open state, or the vehicle height on the rear wheel side is reduced when the back door 135 is in the open state. And the other can not be executed.
Furthermore, the work vehicle height adjustment program can be divided into a front work vehicle height adjustment program and a rear work vehicle height adjustment program, and can be executed separately.
In the above embodiment, the vehicle height is set to a predetermined vehicle height (Low vehicle height) in each of the case where the hood panel 133 is open and the case where the back door 135 is open. However, it is also possible to control the vehicle height reduction amount to be a predetermined set reduction amount.
Furthermore, the set reduction amount and the set vehicle height can be determined by the operator's input or the like.
Further, S1, 2, and S14-19 can be executed by a vehicle height adjustment program different from the work vehicle height adjustment program. By executing another vehicle height adjustment program, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the working flag is in the reset state, and the hood panel 133 and the back door 135 are in the closed state, the vehicle height is set to the normal vehicle height. To be.

Furthermore, in the said Example, although S8-13 was made to be performed when the average vehicle height is Normal, it is performed when the average vehicle height is below Normal, If it is, it can be prevented from being executed.
An example of this case is shown in the flowchart of FIG. In S3, whether the ignition switch 128 is in an ON state, in S4, in the cancel switch 138 is in an OFF state, in S30, whether the vehicle height is equal to or less than Normal, in S6, 7 It is determined whether or not the vehicle door 131 is in a closed state, and whether or not the shift position is parking or neutral. If all the determination results are YES, S8 and subsequent steps are executed.
The reason why the vehicle height is HIGH is intentionally high, so it is not desirable to make it low. On the other hand, when the vehicle height is LOW and the cancel switch 138 is in the OFF state, it is considered that further reduction of the vehicle height is required for work. Therefore, when the vehicle height is LOW, the hood panel 133 and the back door 135 are opened to allow the vehicle height to be lowered.
In S8, it is determined whether or not the hood panel 133 is in the open state. If it is in the closed state, it is determined in S31 whether or not it was previously opened. This time, it is determined whether or not the open state is switched to the closed state. If the vehicle was also closed last time, the determination is no and the vehicle height is left as it is.
Similarly, in S11, it is determined whether or not the back door 135 is in the open state. If the back door 135 is in the closed state, it is determined in S33 whether or not it was in the previous open state. If the vehicle was also closed last time, the vehicle height remains unchanged.
There are cases where the vehicle height is maintained at Normal and when it is maintained at LOW.

When the hood panel 133 is in the open state, the determination in S8 is YES, and the vehicle height on the front wheel side is set to the LOW vehicle height in S9. It is considered that maintenance work for the engine and the like is performed.
When the back door 135 is opened, the determination in S11 is YES, and the vehicle height on the rear wheel side is set to the LOW vehicle height in S12. It is considered that loading and unloading work is performed in the luggage room.
While the hood panel 133 is in the open state and the back door 135 is in the closed state, S3-7 (30), 8, 9, 11, 33 are repeatedly executed, and the vehicle height on the front wheel side is kept LOW. While the hood panel 133 is in the closed state and the back door 135 is in the open state, S3 to 7 (30), 8, 31, 11, and 12 are repeatedly executed, and the vehicle height on the rear wheel side is kept at the LOW vehicle height. . While both the hood panel 133 and the back door 135 are in the open state, S3 to 7 (30), 8, 9, 11, and 12 are repeatedly executed, and the vehicle height on both the front wheel side and the rear wheel side is set to LOW. The
In contrast, when the hood panel 133 is closed, the determination in S8 is NO, the determination in S31 is YES, and the vehicle height on the front wheel side is set to Normal in S32. When the back door 135 is closed, the determination in S11 is NO, the determination in S33 is YES, and the vehicle height on the rear wheel side is set to Normal in S34.
In this way, when the hood panel 133 and the back door 135 are closed, the vehicle height is returned to Normal.

Note that the steps of S31 and 33 are not indispensable. When the hood panel 133 and the back door 135 are in the closed state, the vehicle height can be set to Normal in S32 and 34.
In the above embodiment, the suspension cylinders 10FL, FR, RL, RR are provided corresponding to the front, rear, left and right wheels 4FL, FR, RL, RR, respectively, and the individual control valves 90FL, FR, RL, Although RR is provided corresponding to each of the suspension cylinders 10FL, FR, RL, and RR, one individual control valve 90 may be provided on each of the front wheel side and the rear wheel side. For example, the individual control valves can be provided in common to the suspension cylinders 10FL and FR and in common to the suspension cylinders 10RL and RR, respectively.
Furthermore, one vehicle height adjusting mechanism such as a suspension cylinder may be provided on each of the front wheel side and the rear wheel side. In any case, it is not indispensable that the vehicle heights of the front, rear, left and right wheels can be individually adjusted. It is only necessary that the vehicle height can be adjusted on each of the front wheel side and the rear wheel side.
Moreover, in the said Example, although the suspension cylinder 10 act | operated by a hydraulic fluid was provided between the wheel holding | maintenance apparatus 6 and the vehicle body 8, a suspension cylinder shall be act | operated by gas. Furthermore, a link mechanism and a motor are provided, and the distance between the wheel holding device 6 and the vehicle body 8 can be adjusted by the operation of the motor.
Furthermore, although the said Example demonstrated the case where the suspension apparatus was applied to the vehicle (FF, FR) with which the engine was provided in the front side, the vehicle (RR) provided in the rear side, provided in the center part. It can also be applied to a vehicle (MR).
In an RR vehicle, there is a case where a luggage room is provided on the front side and an engine room is provided on the rear side, and both an engine room and a luggage room are provided. In an MR vehicle, a luggage room may be provided on both the front side and the rear side.
In addition to the above-described embodiments, the present invention can be carried out in various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

It is a figure which shows the whole suspension apparatus containing the vehicle height adjustment apparatus which is one Example of this invention. It is a front view which shows the vehicle carrying the said suspension apparatus. It is a flowchart showing the work vehicle height adjustment program memorize | stored in the memory | storage part of suspension ECU of the said suspension apparatus. It is a figure showing the action | operation in the said suspension apparatus. It is a flowchart showing another vehicle height adjustment program for work memorize | stored in the memory | storage part of suspension ECU of the said suspension apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10: Suspension cylinder 90: Individual control valve 100: Suspension ECU 134: Hood panel open / close switch 136: Back door open / close switch 138: Cancel switch

Claims (5)

A vehicle height adjusting device for adjusting a vehicle height, which is a relative positional relationship between a wheel side member and a portion corresponding to the wheel side member of a vehicle body, on each of a front wheel side and a rear wheel side of the vehicle. ,
Opening / closing state of at least one of a front opening / closing body that covers a space other than the passenger compartment provided on the front wheel side of the vehicle and a rear opening / closing member that covers a space other than the passenger compartment provided on the rear wheel side of the vehicle An open / closed state detecting device for detecting
A vehicle height adjustment comprising: a vehicle height reduction portion for reducing the vehicle height on at least one side when the open / close state detection device detects that at least one of the at least one is in an open state. apparatus.   The opening / closing state detection device is a rear opening / closing member opening / closing state detection device that detects an opening / closing state of the rear opening / closing member, and the vehicle height reduction unit is configured to detect the rear opening / closing member opening / closing state detection device by the rear opening / closing member opening / closing state detection device. 2. The vehicle height adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle height adjusting device is a rear wheel side vehicle height decreasing portion that reduces a vehicle height on the rear wheel side when it is detected that the side opening / closing body is in an open state.   When the vehicle height adjusting device has an average vehicle height on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side of the vehicle equal to or higher than a predetermined first set value, the vehicle height adjusting device is determined in advance to be smaller than the first set value. In the case of at least one of the case where it is less than or equal to the second set value, even if the at least one is in an open state, the first vehicle height reduction prohibition that prevents the vehicle height from being reduced by the vehicle height reduction portion The vehicle height adjusting device according to claim 1, comprising a portion.   The vehicle height adjustment device includes (a) an operation member that can be operated by an operator, and vehicle height adjustment permission for selecting either a state in which vehicle height adjustment by the vehicle height reduction unit is permitted or a state in which vehicle height adjustment is prohibited is selected. -When the prohibition state is selected by the prohibition selection device and (b) the vehicle height adjustment permission / prohibition selection device, the vehicle height is reduced by the vehicle height reduction portion even if the at least one is in the open state. The vehicle height adjusting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a second vehicle height decrease prohibiting unit that prevents the vehicle from being decreased. When the vehicle height adjusting device detects that the at least one is in the closed state by the open / closed state detecting device, the vehicle height adjusting device adjusts the vehicle height to a predetermined standard state on at least one side thereof. The vehicle height adjusting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a height adjusting portion.

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