Patent ID: 6102418
Filing Date: 2000-08-15
Classification: B60G,F16F

Abstract:
Hydropneumatic suspension system for supporting wheels of a motor vehicle, comprising:at least one suspension arrangement (1, 2) comprising at least one hydraulic shock-absorber (4, 4a), at least one hydropneumatic spring (6) and at least one damping valve (8, 8a);the shock-absorber (4, 4a) including a cylinder (10) containing a hydraulic medium and a piston (12) guided therein for compression and rebound movements, the piston (12) separating a cylinder volume (16) from an annular space (18) surrounding a piston rod (14);the cylinder volume (16) connected via the damping valve (8, 8a) to the hydropneumatic spring (6) so as to produce a spring force;the damping valve (8, 8a) being operative such that a hydraulic rebound flow, occurring when the shock-absorber (4, 4a) rebounds, passes via a flow path (20) through the damping valve (8, 8a) and is damped thereby;the flow path (20) including a valve element (22) operative to continually alternately close and reopen the flow path;the valve element (22) being responsive to at least one control pressure (p.sub.1,p.sub.2,p.sub.3) to vary the damping characteristic;the annular space (18) of the shock absorber (4, 4a) being connected directly, bypassing the damping valve (8, 8a), with the hydropneumatic spring (6) which produces the spring force; andan additional pressure accumulator (46/50) operative to store static pressure of the cylinder volume (16) and to supply that static pressure to operate the valve element, so that the static pressure is used as the at least one control pressure (p.sub.1, p.sub.2, p.sub.3).