Patent ID: 6202992
Filing Date: 2001-03-20
Classification: B60G

Abstract:
In a vehicle leveling system for a vehicle that includes a wheel assembly having a wheel that rolls on a road, where the leveling system includes an airbag device that supports a second part adapted to be fastened on said vehicle to a first part adapted to be fastened on said vehicle, a pressured air source, and a leveling valve coupled to said vehicle parts to fill said airbag from said source through a filling conduit when the airbag height decreases below a set range and to exhaust air from the airbag through an exhaust conduit to the atmosphere when the airbag height increases above said set range, where the difference in air pressure between said source and said airbag may be greater than the difference in air pressure between said airbag and the atmosphere, and where said filling and exhaust conduits have separate filling and exhaust conduit portions that are used only when filling and exhausting air to and from said airbag, respectively, the improvement wherein:said filling conduit portion includes a part forming a constriction that causes air to flow at a slower rate through said filling conduit for a given pressure drop than through said exhaust conduit for said given pressure drop, to decrease the actual flow rate through said filling conduit to make it closer to the flow rate through said exhaust conduit.