Patent ID: 7813853
Filing Date: 2010-10-12
Classification: B60G

Abstract:
1. A damping force control apparatus for a vehicle in which four wheels are suspended by respective suspension systems including respective shock absorbers, and damping forces of the shock absorbers are controlled individually in accordance with turning conditions of the vehicle, the damping force control apparatus comprising: wheel stroke detection means for detecting respective strokes of the four wheels in relation to a vehicle body; lateral acceleration detection means for detecting a lateral acceleration acting on the vehicle during turning; plurality of sprung acceleration detection means for detecting respective sprung accelerations at positions that correspond to the four wheels; target-posture setting means for setting a target posture of the vehicle body during turning in accordance with the lateral acceleration detected by the lateral acceleration detection means; actual posture determining means for determining an actual posture of the vehicle body during turning in accordance with the sprung accelerations detected by the plurality of sprung acceleration detection means; correction posture determining means for determining a correction posture by comparing the target posture and the actual posture; target-damping-force setting means for setting target damping forces which the shock absorbers are required to generate so as to render the actual posture of the vehicle body determined by the actual posture determining means coincident with the target posture set by the target-posture setting means, wherein the target damping forces are set in accordance with the correction posture and a stroke speed that is based on the strokes; and damping-force control means for controlling the damping forces of the shock absorbers in accordance with the target damping forces set by the target-damping-force setting means.