Vehicle cab levelling apparatus

Abstract: A vehicle cab levelling apparatus includes a spool (37) extending from a piston (36) so as to shut an exhaustion valve (31) by closely attaching thereto and to open the exhaustion valve by distancing therefrom in accordance with the upward and downward movement of the piston (36), a slider valve (40) provided on the periphery of the spool so as to move upwardly and downwardly along the axis of the spool, shutting or opening a discharge passage (39), and a slider valve operation member (46,47) operated by the upward and downward movement of lever (35), and shutting the discharge passage (39) by shifting the slider valve (40) through compressing and supplying air into an operation chamber (44) formed by the slider valve (40). The apparatus enables reducing power loss by preventing exhaustion of vehicle compressed air at a vehicle travelling stage wherein upward and downward cab movement occurs fast and constantly.

Description: The invention relates to an apparatus for levelling a vehicle cab according to the precharacterizing part of claim 1. A levelling valve has been generally adopted to a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck for maintaining a desired level of the vehicle by automatically controlling the air pressure therein in accordance with the fluctuation of a cab load weight, wherein the compressed air for enabling a brake operation of the vehicle is employed to produce the preferred air pressure. Figure 4 shows a conventional air suspension levelling valve apparatus which is installed on a lower surface portion of a vehicle cab. The conventional levelling valve apparatus is provided to flow the air therein by the up-and-down movement of a lever 1 generated by shaking a vehicle cab, the operation of which apparatus will be set forth hereunder. When the lever 1 becomes horizontal, a suction valve 2 and a discharge valve 3 remain closed, and accordingly a second chamber 5 is blocked off from the exterior thereof. Therefore, the compressed air flows for functioning against an air spring is not generated. At the above stage of the conventional levelling valve body, when a heavy weight becomes loaded into the vehicle cab, the lever 1 connected to the lower surface of the cab moves downwardly, and a fixed shaft provided in one side portion of the valve body begins rotating. Since a pin type projection is formed on an eccentric center of the fixed shaft, the rotation of the fixed shaft enables the pin type projection to move upwardly and conjoin into a recess of a piston 6. Then, the piston 6 connected to the eccentric center of the fixed shaft and a spool 7 concurrently move upward, thereby opening the suction valve 2; at this moment, the discharge valve 3 which is stuck to the spool 7 remains closed. As a result, the compressed air flows into the air spring device via each of the first chamber 4 and the second chamber 5. That is, the ascending of the spool 7 in accordance with the upward movement of the piston 6 causes the suction valve 2 to be opened, and thus to pushingly open the reverse valve 15, whereby the compressed air flowed externally into the first chamber 4 continues to flow down into the second chamber 5. However, the discharge valve 3 having a certain distance obtained from a valve seat is adhered to an upper portion of the spool 7, thereby blocking the central discharge passage 10 formed as a hole along the axis of the spool 7. Consequently, the compressed air flowed into the second chamber 5 is supplied after passing through an outlet 11 into the air spring device which supports the vehicle cab. When the compressed air is flowed via the outlet 11 into the air spring, the lowered vehicle cab will move upward back, and then the lever 1 will recover the horizontal level thereof, thus closing each of the suction valve 2 and the discharge valves 3, whereby the second chamber 5 can be blocked off from the exterior and accordingly the level state of the vehicle cab can be obtained. Meanwhile, when the lever moves upwardly due to a light weight loaded in the vehicle cab, an upper portion of the spool 7 will have a certain distance from the inner surface of the discharge valve 3, thereby opening the discharge valve 3 therethrough and having the suction valve 2 closed in accordance with the downward movements of the piston 6 and the spool 7. Consequently, the second chamber 5 is opened through each of the discharge valve 3 and the outlet 11 toward the outer atmosphere. The highly compressed air for functioning against the air spring is discharged into the outer atmosphere through the second chamber 5, the discharge passage 10 and the outlet 12 provided at a lower end portion of the piston 6, respectively. When the air in the air spring portion is externally discharged, the vehicle cab will move downwardly to a desired level. Also, when the lever 1 reaches the horizontal level according to the downward movement of the cab, the second chamber 5 will be shut off from the exterior in accordance with the blocking of the discharge passage 10 by having the upper portion of the heightened-back spool 7 stuck to the discharge valve 3. Therefore, the vehicle cab remains level by maintaining a regular air pressure. However, the above-described conventional levelling valve apparatus has a couple of disadvantages, in which since the numerously repeated inflow and its discharge of the compressed air in accordance with the upward and downward movement of a vehicle cab during the vehicle travelling generates a significant amount of the compressed air exhaustion, thereby leading directly to power loss due to the excessive operation of an air compressor, and more critically, because the compressed air is demanded to function a brake system as well as an air suspension device in a vehicle, such excessive exhaustion of the compressed air can reduce the air pressure which plays a significant part for an air brake system, thus threatening a driving safety by weakening the braking power of a vehicle. Besides, as an additional disadvantage of the conventional valve apparatus, the heavy noise being produced when the compressed air continues to be discharged out of the above-described levelling valve apparatus is referred to as to tensely tease the driver's nerve. DE-A-30 08 239 which shows the features of the preamble of claim 1, discloses an apparatus for levelling a vehicle air spring, comprising a spool formed extendedly from a piston so as to shut a discharge valve, a slider valve provided on the periphery of the spool within an operation chamber, a slider valve operation means including an eccentric device, a safety valve, a discharge duct and a suction duct both extending from the operation chamber, and a friction spring for supporting the slider valve. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle cab levelling apparatus capable of reducing power loss by preventing an excessive exhaustion of the compressed air which is supplied to maintain a desired regular level of a vehicle cab during the upward and downward movements occurring in the vehicle having a cab thereon such as a truck. It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle cab levelling valve apparatus for minimizing the noise occurring in accordance with the compressed air exhaustion by reducing the frequency of the air exhaustion which is performed to maintain a horizontal level of a vehicle cab. According to the invention, this is achieved by the features of the characterizing part of claim 1. An advantageous embodiment is described in subclaim 2. A suction and an exhaustion of compressed air are blocked at a horizontal level of a vehicle cab, when lowered from the horizontal level, the vehicle cab is raised to the horizontal level by the compressed air flowed into an air spring through a suction valve which is opened in accordance with an upwardly moving piston powered by the downwardly moving lever, and when raised up to a certain height above the horizontal level thereof in accordance with the upwardly moving vehicle cab, the lever is lowered to the horizontal level by exhausting the compressed air stored in the air spring through an exhaustion valve opened externally by the downwardly moving piston and the exhaustion passage opened thereto, comprises a spool formed extendedly from the piston so as to shut the exhaustion valve by closely attaching thereto and to open the exhaustion valve by distancing therefrom in accordance with the upward and downward movement of the piston, a slider valve provided on the periphery of the spool so as to move upwardly and downwardly along the axis of the spool, shutting or opening the discharge passage, and a valve operation member for operating in accordance with the upward and downward movement of the lever, and shutting the discharge passages by shifting the slider valve in accordance with supplying an externally provided air into an operation chamber formed by the slider valve. The accompanying drawings in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described as follows. Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a vehicle cab levelling apparatus showing an operating state thereof when a lever of the vehicle cab levelling apparatus is moved downwardly. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the example of fig. 1 showing an operating state thereof when a lever of a vehicle cab levelling apparatus is moved upwardly. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention showing an operating state thereof when the lever performs the speedy movement upwardly and downwardly. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional vehicle cab levelling apparatus. With reference to figs. 1 and 2 which are examples for understanding the invention, and fig. 3 which is an embodiment of the present invention, the structure of a vehicle cab levelling apparatus in accordance with the present invention will be set forth hereunder. A suction orifice 21 for inwardly sucking the compressed air from an air compressor is formed in the upper end portion of a valve body 20. A reverse valve 24 elastically supported by a compression spring 23 for preventing the reverse flow of the incoming compressed air is provided in a first chamber 22 which is formed extendedly from the suction orifice 21. The compression spring 23 is supported by a suction valve 25. A plurality of first passages 28 are penetratingly formed upwardly and downwardly in the suction valve 25 for separating the first chamber 22 from a second chamber 26 or connecting the first and second chambers 22, 26 through the first passages 28 by having the suction valve 25 closely adhered to or distanced from a valve seat 27. A discharge valve 31 having a plurality of second passages 30 therein is provided at the other end portion of a valve step 29 extended from the suction valve 25. The discharge valve 31 is placed onto or distanced from a valve seat 32 provided beneath the lower portion of the second chamber 26. A flow hole 33 connecting the second chamber 26 and an air spring (not shown) therethrough is formed in a side wall of the second chamber 26. A piston 36 is provided in a third chamber 34 separated by the valve seat 32 from the second chamber 26 so as to enable a sliding movement up and down the axis of the third chamber 34 . The piston 36 is being interlocked by a lever 35, which gradient shifts in accordance with the load amount of a vehicle cab. A spool 37 extended upwardly from the piston 36 and having a shorter diameter thereof than that of the piston 36 penetrates the valve seat 32, contacting the lower surface of the discharge valve 31. Inside the spool 37, a discharge passage 38 is formed along the upper half portion of the axis of the spool 37. A plurality of discharge passages 39 are formed perpendicularly to the discharge passage 38 which is opened through the passages 39 to the third chamber 34. A slider valve 40 is provided on the periphery of the spool 37 so as to open or shut the discharge passages 39 by the upward and downward movement thereof. The slider valve 40 is elastically supported by a return spring 42 provided between the slider valve 40 and an inward projection 41 formed extendedly from the lower and inner peripheral surface of the third chamber 34. The piston 36 is also elastically supported by the return spring 43 provided between the inward projection 41 and the piston 36. An air duct 45 is formed in a side wall of a valve operation chamber 44 provided beneath the lower surface of the valve seat 32. The air duct 45 is opened to a pressure cylinder 46 serving as an air compressor for operating the slider valve 40, and the air within the pressure cylinder 46 is pressingly transferred into the valve operation chamber 44 in accordance with the pressure movement of the piston 47. A suction duct 48 is punchingly formed in the piston 47 so as to suck the external air into the cylinder 46 by an upward stroke of the piston 47. When an externally projected rod 49 is pushed up by the upward movement of the lever 35, the piston 47 performs an air compressing operation in the cylinder 47, and then during a downward movement of the lever 35, the piston 47 returns to the initial level thereof in accordance with the elasticity of the return spring 50. An exhaust duct 51 having a diameter thereof shorter than that of the air duct 45 is formed in another side wall of the operation chamber 44. The discharge passages 38 and 39 are opened to an exhaust exit 53 exposed toward the outer atmosphere by passing through a plurality of holes 52 which are punchingly formed along the axis of the piston 36. The operation of the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention will now be described as follows. When a vehicle cab maintains a optimum posture at a stationary stage, the lever 35 remains level, and each of the suction valve 25 and the discharge valve 31 is closely adhered to the valve seats 27 and 32, respectively. The upper portion of the spool 37 is also adhered to the discharge valve 31. Thus, each of the upper and lower valves 25 and 31 becomes closed. As a result, since the second chamber 26 is separated from the first chamber 22 and the third chamber 34, the suction and discharge circulation of the compressed air does not occur. When the cab load becomes heavier, as shown in Fig. 1, the lever 35 tiltingly moves downwardly, thus raising the piston 36 which concurrently moves upwardly pressing the return spring 43. The rising piston 36 causes the upper portion of the spool 37 to push up the discharge valve 31, thereby distancing each of the suction valve 25 and the discharge valve 31 from the respectively corresponding valve seats 27 and 32. Due to the thusly opened suction valve 25, the compressed air flowing into the air flow orifice 21 pushingly opens the reverse valve 24, flows down into the first chamber 22 and is guided into the second chamber 26 via the passages 28 and the opening provided between the valve stem 29 and the valve seat 27. At this moment, because the upper portion of the spool 37 is adhered to the lower surface of the discharge valve 31 and the discharge passage 38 is externally blocked, the compressed air flowed into the second chamber 26 is supplied through the flow duct 33 into the air spring, thereby raising the vehicle cab. When the cab moves upwardly in accordance with the compressed air, each of the piston 36, the spool 37 and the suction and discharge valves 25 and 31 moves downwardly, and when the lever reaches the horizontal level, the suction and discharge valves 25 and 31 are shut down respectively, and accordingly the flow of the compressed air in the valve body 20 is stopped. As a result, the vehicle cab maintains the optimum posture thereof. Meanwhile, when the vehicle cab becomes lighter by the unloading of passengers or freights therefrom, as shown in Fig. 2, the lever 35 tiltingly moves upwardly, thus causing the piston 36 and the spool 37 to perform the downward movement. When each of the suction and discharge valves 25 and 31 is adhered to the corresponding valve seats 27 and 32 respectively, the upper portion of the spool 37 becomes distanced from the discharge valve 31, so that the second chamber 26 and the third chamber 34 become opened to each other through the opened discharge passages 38 and 39. Therefore, the highly compressed air for functioning against the air spring is externally exhausted via the discharge passages 38, 39 and the holes 52 formed in the piston 36, whereby the vehicle cab moves downwardly in accordance with the lowered air pressure in the air spring. When the lever 35 tiltingly moves back downwardly to the horizontal level, the upper portion of the spool 37 is adhered to the discharge valve 31 and the valve passage 38 becomes blocked externally along with the already blocked suction valve 25, whereby the exhaustion of the compressed air is stopped and the vehicle cab maintains the horizontal level. The above-described operation is performed at a stationary stage in which the lever 35 begins moving upwardly or downwardly from the horizontal level such as the case occurring when passengers mount into or dismount out of the vehicle cab. Meanwhile, when the vehicle cab continues repeated upward and downward shakings during the vehicle travelling, the pressure cylinder 46 operating for the slider valve 40 functions, thereby controlling the exhaustion of the compressed air. When a vehicle cab begins speedy up-and-down movements, the piston 47 in the pressure cylinder 46 reciprocates at a speedy rate in accordance with the elasticity of the return spring 50. At a initial stage in which the stroke movement of the piston 47 for the compression and expansion of the air, the previously described operation generates the repeated supply and discharge of the compressed air, and yet causes lasting pressure increase in the operation chamber 44 since the externally applied air is flowed into the pressure cylinder 46 and again dispatched instantly into the operation chamber 44 after being compressed by the piston 47, whereby the slider valve 40 presses the return spring 42, moves downwardly and shuts the discharge passages 39 formed punchingly in the spool 37. The blocking of the discharge passages 39 causes the second chamber 26 to be separated, and more external discharge of the compressed air can be prevented. When the air pressure in the operation chamber 44 is heightened due to the repeated upward and downward movements of the vehicle cab, the slider valve 40 enables the discharge passages 39 to be opened due to the deeper drop of the slider valve 40, whereby the surplus pressure therein is exhausted externally through the exhaust duct 51. However, the diameter of the exhaust duct 51 is shorter than that of the air duct 45, so that the inner air pressure in the operation chamber 44 can increase lastingly. To prevent such lasting inner pressure increase, the exhaust duct 51 can be formed larger in size so as to maintain a regular pressure using a check valve which can be provided thereby. Instead, as shown in Fig. 3, a pressure maintenance room 54 differing from the exhaust duct 51 can be provided in a portion extended upwardly from the pressure cylinder 46. In accordance with a safety valve 56 elastically supported by a spring 55, when the air pressure in the pressure cylinder 46 becomes heightened, the safety valve 56 presses the spring 55 and recedes upwardly, thus causing the air discharged through a drain duct 57. As a result, an appropriate inner pressure for the slider valve 40 can be obtained to an extent enough to maintain a stage in which the slider valve 40 blocks the discharge passages 39. When the slider valve 40 shuts the discharge passages 39, the heavy shaking of the vehicle cab can be prevented, and accordingly the cab slowly shifts to a horizontal level. That is, when the vehicle cab is placed at a lower level, the compressed air is flowed through the opened suction valve 25, so that the cab slowly moves upwardly. When the cab is positioned at a higher level, since the air in the operation chamber 44 is discharged therefrom as time goes by, the slider valve 40 begins moving slowly in accordance with the elasticity of the spring 42. Therefore, the compressed air is discharged therefrom through the discharge passages 39 which is being opened slowly, whereby the vehicle cab is restored to a normal level. Such prevention of the compressed air exhaustion as described previously is obtained when the vehicle cab generates heavy movements upwardly and downwardly in accordance with the vehicle momentum. When the gradient shift of the lever slowly occurs to a certain direction due to the weight variation of the loaded cab, the air amount pumped out of the pressure cylinder 46 remains small and the air supply rate shows a low value. Besides, the continuous air exhaustion through the suction duct 48 and the exhaust duct 51 can interrupt the formation of an appropriate air pressure in the operation chamber 44, which pressure serves to rebounce the elasticity of the spring 42. As a result, the shift of the slider valve 40 to a level for blocking the discharge passages 39 has yet to be achieved, whereby the blocking of the compressed air exhaustion cannot be obtained. As described above, the vehicle cab levelling apparatus in accordance with the present invention enables reducing power loss by preventing an undesired exhaustion of the compressed air at a vehicle travelling stage wherein the upward and downward movement occurs fastly and constantly, by means of providing a slider valve for blocking discharge passages and a slider valve member for forming an air pressure so as to operate the slider valve, thereby reducing the loss of the compressed air serving as a braking source and thus maintaining a sufficient brake pressure, whereby a strong brake force can be obtained, and the passengers as well as the driver can enjoy a quieter and more comfortable driving.

Claims: An apparatus for levelling a vehicle cab, comprising: a spool (37) formed extendedly from a piston (36) so as to shut a discharge valve (31) by closely attaching thereto and to open the discharge valve (31) by distancing therefrom in accordance with the upward and downward movement of said piston (36); a slider valve (40) provided on the periphery of said spool (37) so as to move upwardly and downwardly along the axis of said spool (37), shutting or opening a discharge passage (39) formed perpendicular to the axis of the spool (37); a slider valve operation means for operating in accordance with the upward and downward movement of a lever (35), and shutting said discharge passage (39) by shifting said slider valve (40) in accordance with supplying an externally provided air into an operation chamber (44) formed by said slider valve (40); a safety valve (56) for externally exhausting the air therefrom when the air pressure in said operation chamber (44) maintains more than a certain value; an exhaust duct (51) having a smaller diameter thereof than that of an air duct (45) so as to discharge the air being flowed from said slider valve operation means into said operation chamber (44); and a rebouncing means (42) for supporting said slider valve (40), characterized in that the slider valve operation means is a pressure cylinder (46) in accordance with the upward and downward movement of a piston (47) returned after its upward movement by a rebouncing means (50). The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rebouncing means for supporting the slider valve (40) and for returning the piston (47) is a respective return spring (42; 50).

Inventors: GITAE KIM, GITAE, KIM
Applicants: HYUNDAI MOTOR CO LTD, HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B60G17
IPC codes: B60G17, B62D33, F16K17, B60G99