Patent ID: 6019495
Filing Date: 2000-02-01
Classification: B60G

Abstract:
An apparatus for detecting step-out of a suspension control system including a shock absorber, a mechanism which adjusts a damping factor and a controller for driving the mechanism toward a given target value so as to set up the damping factor of the shock absorber at the target value, the apparatus comprising:distance detecting means for detecting a relative distance between a first object which supports a suspension and a second object supported by the suspension;acceleration detecting means for detecting a vertical acceleration applied to the second object supported by the suspension;acceleration estimating means for determining an estimated value of the vertical acceleration applied to the second object supported by the suspension on the basis of the relative distance detected by the distance detecting means, an equation of motion defining a relationship among a sprung mass, a spring constant of a suspension spring, a position of the sprung mass and a position of the unsprung mass and said damping factor of the shock absorber which is set by the controller; andstep-out detecting means for detecting a deviation between an actual condition of the damping factor adjusting mechanism and a condition sensed by the controller in accordance with a deviation between the actual acceleration detected by the acceleration detecting means and the estimated acceleration determined by the acceleration estimating means.