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Timestamp: 2013-05-19 16:26:53
Document Index: 500275000

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Split Electromechanical Motor Vehicle Stabilizer Having A Locking Device, And Method For Roll Stabilization In The Event Of Failure Or Shutoff Of The Active Motor Vehicle Stabilizer 9 views for this patent on FreshPatents.comupdated 05/17/13
Patents sorted by company.	01/10/08 | Class 280 Monitor | RSS | Browse: Prev - Next Split electromechanical motor vehicle stabilizer having a locking device, and method for roll stabilization in the event of failure or shutoff of the active motor vehicle stabilizer Abstract: A split electromechanical motor vehicle stabilizer having a locking device, and a method for roll stabilization are described. A split motor vehicle stabilizer is provided for roll stabilization, having a built-in electromechanical actuator for bracing two stabilizer parts against one another, including at least an electric motor, a gear unit, and a locking device which can lock a housing for the actuator to a rotor in the electric motor. The housing is connected to one of the stabilizer parts, and a gear unit output shaft is connected to the other stabilizer part for the purpose of transmitting torque. The housing and the rotor can be locked in only one position relative to one another after the locking device is activated, and that is the normal position for the two halves of the stabilizer in which they are not braced against one another. ...
Agent: Crowell & Moring LLP Intellectual Property Group - Washington, DC, USInventors: Timo Anderten, Thomas MeitingerUSPTO Applicaton #: #20080007023 - Class: 280124106 (USPTO) - 01/10/08 - Class 280 Related Patent Categories: Land Vehicles, Wheeled, Running Gear, Suspension Arrangement, Antiroll Or AntiswayThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080007023, Split electromechanical motor vehicle stabilizer having a locking device, and method for roll stabilization in the event of failure or shutoff of the active motor vehicle stabilizer.
[0001] This application is a continuation of PCT International Application
No. PCT/EP2006/003230, filed Apr. 8, 2006, which claims priority under 35
U.S.C. .sctn. 119 to German Patent Application No. 10 2005 021 673.0,
filed May 11, 2005, the entire disclosures of which are herein expressly
[0002] The invention relates to a split electromechanical motor vehicle
stabilizer having a locking device, and a method for roll stabilization
of the vehicle which include a built in electromechanical actuator for
bracing two stabilizer parts against one another.
[0003] It is known to divide a motor vehicle stabilizer into a first
stabilizer part associated with the suspension of the left wheel on a
vehicle axle, and a second stabilizer part associated with the suspension
of the right wheel on this vehicle axle. When these stabilizer parts are
mutually rotatable about their common longitudinal axis, a greatly
increased roll support may be achieved compared to chassis having
conventional stabilizers when the two stabilizer parts are rotated with
respect to one another, as necessary, by suitable actuation provided by
an actuator provided therebetween.
[0004] An electromechanical actuator that is suitable for this application
comprises an electric motor and a mechanical gear unit. A stabilizer is
thus obtained, the two stabilizer halves of which may be rotated with
respect to one another in a targeted manner by the electromechanical
actuator, thereby producing a desired stabilizer torque which then
prevents roll of the vehicle bodywork.
[0005] German Patent Document DE 198 46 275 A1 describes such a split
stabilizer having a built-in electric oscillating motor for roll control.
By using the stabilizer parts designed as passive torsion springs, this
split stabilizer is able to transmit pretensioning and thus a
stabilization torque into the vehicle bodywork which counteracts a roll
[0006] To allow pretensioning of the stabilizer parts for roll control,
the oscillating motor must actively apply a defined torque, and thus be
able to set a given angle of rotation between the two stabilizer parts.
The magnitude of the torque to be applied must be selected in accordance
with the magnitude of the roll motion.
[0007] If the roll control fails, for example due to an interruption in
the power supply or malfunction of a system component, the actuator is no
longer able to actively provide the necessary torque, which in the
absence of further measures results in loss of activity of the two
stabilizer parts, since the rotor and stator of the electric motor may be
easily rotated with respect to one another.
[0008] To prevent this undesired rotation, the oscillating motor in German
Patent Document DE 198 46 275 A1 has a brake which acts as a locking
device between the two stabilizer parts in the event of a malfunction in
the system. The stabilizer parts then act as a passive stabilizer which
permits a roll angle that deviates from the roll angle in the actively
stabilized state, but still allows travel to continue.
[0009] During cornering, however, if a transition from active roll control
to passive roll stabilization occurs due to use of the brake, and the
oscillating motor is locked, but the oscillating motor has pretensioned
the stabilizer parts against one another, the vehicle continues traveling
with the vehicle bodywork rotated about the longitudinal axis of the
vehicle when cornering is completed.
[0010] The embodiments of the invention provide a split electromechanical
motor vehicle stabilizer for roll stabilization and a method for roll
stabilization for a motor vehicle in which these disadvantages do not
occur during use of a locking device, and which in the event of failure
of the roll control allows a mechanically functioning emergency operation
of the stabilizer, which is employed as a function of the position on the
input side over several rotations of the actuator, and which need only
absorb the lower gear unit input load, not the high load on the output
[0011] According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a split
motor vehicle stabilizer is provided for roll stabilization, having a
built-in electromechanical actuator for bracing two stabilizer parts
against one another, which includes at least an electric motor, a gear
unit, and a locking device which can lock a housing for the actuator to a
rotor in the electric motor, the housing being connected to one of the
stabilizer parts, and a gear unit output shaft being connected to the
other stabilizer part for the purpose of transmitting torque. The housing
and the rotor can be locked relative to one another in only one position,
for example the locking position, after the locking device is activated,
and the locking position is the normal position for the two halves of the
stabilizer in which they are not pretensioned against one another.
[0012] This embodiment provies the advantage that when the roll control
shuts off or fails, the rotational motion of the two stabilizer parts
relative to one another can be locked in only one position, which
corresponds for example to the position on level ground with the wheels
facing straight ahead. This advantageously ensures that at the end of a
cornering maneuver, the vehicle does not have to continue travel with a
vehicle bodywork rotated about the longitudinal axis of the vehicle if
the roll control fails during the cornering. This is because, as a result
of the pretensioning of the bodywork springs, the vehicle bodywork can
resume a horizontal position before locking is initiated.
[0013] A fully mechanical, form-fit lock is still possible, however, as
fail-safe protection in an exemplary gear unit which can be operated in
oscillating mode with limitation of absolute revolutions, in order to
allow the failure mode to be initiated in a defined horizontal position
of the vehicle bodywork. A form-fit connection of the gear unit input
shaft and the housing is advantageously established in the case of
failure mode operation, the exemplary connection being made as a function
of the position. The information concerning the location of the defined
position of the mechanical locking is provided in this example by
superimposing multiple, in this case two, mechanical position indicators.
[0014] In one exemplary preferred embodiment of the invention, the locking
device includes a movable locking bar which is fixed to the housing,
i.e., the rotor, so as to be displaceable in the axial position, and
which by being moved into the locking position establishes a form-fit
connection, having a locking effect in the circumferential direction,
with at least one recess in the rotor, i.e., the housing. This
advantageously ensures a particularly simple design of the locking
[0015] Alternatively, the exemplary locking device may also include a
movable locking bar which is fixed to the housing or to the gear unit
output shaft so as to be displaceable in the axial position, and which by
being moved into the locking position establishes a form-fit connection,
having a locking effect in the circumferential direction, with at least
one recess in the gear unit output shaft or in the housing.
[0016] In one exemplary embodiment, the locking device may include an
electromagnet which holds the locking bar against the pretensioning force
of a spring in a nonlocking position, or in a locking position. As an
alternative in the design of the locking device, a choice may be made as
to whether the locking device will be used with or without the supply of
current in the failure state.
[0017] In one preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, the locking
device includes a locking bar having at least three form-fit profiles: a
first profile whose counter-profile is provided on the gear unit output
shaft, a second profile whose counter-profile is provided on the rotor,
and a third profile whose counter-profile is provided on the housing.
[0018] In one simple, particularly preferred exemplary embodiment of the
invention, one of the three form-fit profiles is always engaged with its
counter-profile for the purpose of fixing the locking bar in the
circumferential direction and for axial guiding thereof. In addition, the
other two form-fit profiles are engaged with their counter-profiles only
when the locking device fixes the two stabilizer parts in the locking
[0019] One particularly advantageous exemplary method for roll control on
a front and/or rear axle of a motor vehicle by using a split stabilizer,
in which an electromechanical actuator compensates for roll motions of
the vehicle bodywork with respect to the chassis by bracing the two
stabilizer parts against one another in both rotational directions of the
electromechanical actuator, in such a way that the vehicle bodywork
maintains a substantially parallel horizontal plane. In this exemplary
embodiment, following shutoff or in the event of failure of the
electromechanical actuator, roll motions of the vehicle bodywork with
respect to the chassis are influenced by the fact that the two stabilizer
parts are connected to one another by a locking device in their normal
position, namely the locking position. If an electromechanical actuator
is provided on both the front and rear axles, the driving stability may
be increased by locking only the stabilizer parts on the front axle,
since undercontrol of the handling characteristics is achieved. In cases
when this is the sole desired influence on the handling characteristics,
the motor vehicle may also be equipped with split stabilizers in which
only the actuator for the front axle is provided with a locking device.
[0020] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present
[0021] Two preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are
illustrated in the following description and the associated drawings,
which show the following:
[0022] FIG. 1: shows a partial schematic illustration relating to the
operating principle of an electromechanical actuator according to the
invention, for an active motor vehicle stabilizer;
[0023] FIG. 2: shows the electromechanical actuator according to FIG. 1 in
a partially illustrated longitudinal and transverse section;
[0024] FIG. 3: shows a further embodiment of an electromechanical actuator
according to the invention, in a partial schematic illustration relating
to the operating principle, for an active motor vehicle stabilizer; and
[0025] FIG. 4: shows the electromechanical actuator according to FIG. 3 in
a partially illustrated longitudinal and transverse section.
[0026] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary active stabilizer, of which only the ends
of two stabilizer parts 20, 21 are illustrated, which are connected to
one another via an electromechanical actuator 23 and which may be
pretensioned against one another. In this exemplary embodiment, the
actuator includes an electric motor, not illustrated, as a device for
producing torque, and a mechanical gear unit 24 as a device for
transmitting torque to the stabilizer parts 20, 21. In this example, the
selected gear transmission ratio of the gear unit 24 is constant. The
actuator 23 may have a housing 7 which is connected to the stabilizer
part 20. The stator of the electric motor may be attached in the housing
7, and during operation of the electric motor the stator transmits torque
via its rotor 1 to the mechanical gear unit 24. The torque is further
transmitted to the stabilizer part 21, thus bracing the two stabilizer
parts 20, 21 against one another. Segments of the stabilizer parts 20, 21
are shown in the figure which indicate that in the vicinity of the
attachment point the stabilizer parts 20, 21 are coaxially positioned
with respect to the actuator 23. Torque is transmitted to the stabilizer
parts 20, 21, for example, via suitable shaft-hub connections (not
[0027] Conventional fastening elements (not illustrated) may be provided
on the motor vehicle (not illustrated), and for each stabilizer part 20,
21 a respective support bearing is provided, and on the ends of the
stabilizer parts (not shown) a force transmission device is provided for
the wheel suspension (not shown).
[0028] The dynamics of the overall exemplary system are primarily
influenced by the gear transmission ratio, the mass inertia of the
system, the electric motor, and the torsional rigidity of the two
stabilizer parts 20, 21.
[0029] According to an embodiment of the invention, by virtue of being
supplied with current, the electric motor is able to brace the stabilizer
parts 20, 21 against one another for purposes of roll control. A
conventional controllable, reversible electric motor may be used so that
the stabilizer parts 20, 21 may be braced against one another in both
rotational directions with varying torque.
[0030] Locking of the two stabilizer parts 20, 21 with respect to one
another typically occurs after the roll control shuts off or fails. At
that time, roll motions of the vehicle bodywork with respect to the
chassis are influenced by the fact that the two stabilizer parts 20, 21
twist without the actuator 23 for the roll control compensating for the
roll motions. Thus, even if the roll control shuts off or fails, roll
stabilization may still be achieved during cornering, thereby reducing
the roll angle. A cornering maneuver which is stable with respect to yaw
is achieved when the actuator on the front axis is locked and the
actuator on the rear axis is not locked.
[0031] An exemplary locking device allows the two stabilizer parts 20, 21,
which are situated only in one given position with respect to one
another, to be mechanically connected in the locking position, so that
before the locking device engages, the vehicle bodywork, for example
after failure of the roll control during a cornering maneuver, is first
aligned in the normal position of the two stabilizer parts 20, 21 in
which the stabilizer parts are not pretensioned against one another, as
soon as the vehicle resumes straight-ahead travel. Only then does the
locking device cause the housing 7 for the actuator 23 to be fixed to the
rotor 1 of the electric motor, whereby the housing 7 is connected to one
stabilizer part 20, and a gear unit output shaft 4 is connected to the
other stabilizer part 21 for the purpose of transmitting torque.
[0032] The locking device according to this embodiment includes a
displaceable locking bar 6 which is fixed to the housing 7 via a spline
25 which is always engaged, so as to be stationary in the circumferential
direction and movable in the axial direction, and which, as the result of
being displaced into the locking position, establishes a locking form-fit
connection with the rotor 1. For purposes of roll control, an
electromagnet 5 (FIG. 2) supplied with current may be used to hold the
locking bar 6 against the pretensioning force of a spring 8 in the
nonlocking position. If the roll control fails, the current supply to the
electromagnet 5 ceases, and for establishing the form-fit connection with
the rotor 1 the spring 8 then pushes the locking bar 6 when a first
form-fit profile 10 on the locking bar 6, whose counter-profile 10' is
provided on the gear unit output shaft 4, and a second form-fit profile 9
on the locking bar 6, whose counter-profile 9' is provided on the rotor
1, are able to engage with the respective counter-profile 10', 9'. This
occurs, in this exemplary embodiment, when the two stabilizer parts 20,
21 are in the locking position, i.e., in their normal position in which
they are not braced against one another, and the vehicle bodywork is thus
kept parallel to a horizontal plane.
[0033] The exemplary locking device according to this embodiment may be
implemented very easily by using a mechanical gear unit 24, such as a
planetary gearing, in which the gear unit input shaft, which in this case
corresponds to the rotor 1, and the gear unit output shaft 4 are coaxial.
However, this principle may be utilized with a countershaft transmissions
[0034] In a normal operating mode according to this embodiment, i.e., when
roll control is in operation, the locking bar 6 is held by the
electromagnet 5, composed of a coil 5a and a solenoid plunger 5b (FIG.
2), in the position which enables the actuator 23. In the event of a
power failure, the locking bar 6 together with the first form-fit profile
10 and the second form-fit profile 9 are pressed against their respective
counter-profiles 10' on the gear unit output shaft 4 and 9' on the rotor
1, via the spring 8. The gear unit 24 is not locked via the form-fit
connection of the profiles 9, 9' until both counter-profiles 9', 10' are
able to engage with the form-fit profiles 9, 10. The necessary locking
torque is correspondingly reduced via the gear transmission ratio. The
counter-profile 10', which acts as a position indicator for the gear unit
output shaft 4, is guided via an extension through the gear unit input
shaft, the rotor 1, which may be formed as a hollow shaft, and fastened
to the gear unit output shaft 4. Since no torque transmission occurs at
this location, the extension may have a correspondingly thin design and
the counter-profile 10' may likewise have small dimensions, so that
recurring matching with the form-fit profile 10 may be achieved at this
location at every 360 degrees of rotation.
[0035] The exemplary cross section in FIG. 2 shows a semicircular
depression in the form-fit profile 10. In contrast, for the
torque-transmitting form-fit profile 9 the contour is designed to match
the load force. A hexagonal shape may be used for the form-fit profile 9.
This results in a match with the counter-profile 9' every 60 degrees. The
gear transmission ratio of the exemplary mechanical gear unit 24 is
therefore selected such that two locking positions of the form-fit
profiles 9, 10, in engagement with the counter-profiles 9', 10' do not
repeat until after a large number of revolutions. The following equation
describes the number of revolutions after which a repeated locking is
possible. For an odd-numbered transmission i, the angle which results in
a repeated match of both form-fit profiles 9, 10 with their
counter-profiles 9', 10' may be increased, within the allowable error
tolerance due to elastic deformation and gear unit play, which could also
result in locking despite a difference of several degrees. .phi. an
i .times. 1 .PHI. ab .di-elect cons. Z .times. .phi. an .PHI.
an .di-elect cons. Z where .phi..sub.an: Angle of rotation of the
rotor or gear unit input shaft [0036] .PHI..sub.an: Locking angle on
the input side [0037] .PHI..sub.ab: Locking angle on the output side
[0038] i: Gear unit transmission ratio [0039] .epsilon. Z: Integer
[0040] FIGS. 3 and 4 show a different exemplary embodiment of a device for
fixing the locking position, instead of a form-fit profile with a
corresponding counter-profile, a harmonic drive gear unit is used. In
other respects, identical parts are denoted by the same reference
numerals corresponding to the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0041] The exemplary gear unit input shaft, i.e., the rotor 1, may have an
elliptical section 2 on which a flexible annular gear 3 revolves, i.e.,
slides, and which is deformed corresponding to the elliptical shape of
the shaft. This annular gear 3 has outer teething 3a which engage with
inner teething 11, the ring gear, for the stationary housing 7. The
operation of this exemplary gear pair is based on the harmonic drive
principle, whereby a small gear difference results in a high gear ratio
between the gear unit input shaft and the annular gear 3. The annular
gear 3 may have a borehole as a counter-profile 10', in which the locking
device with its form-fit profile 10 engages at a defined position. In the
operating mode, the locking bar 6 is restrained by an electromagnet 5
supplied with current (FIG. 4), composed of a coil 5a and a solenoid
plunger 5b, against the restoring force of the spring 8. Upon failure of
the roll control, the locking bar 6 together with the form-fit profile 10
is pressed against the annular gear 3, thus allowing the locking bar to
engage in the position defined by the counter-profile 10' by displacement
into the locking position. In this case, the torque-transmitting form-fit
profile 9 for the locking bar 6 simultaneously engages with its
counter-profile 9', fixed to the rotor, on the annular gear 3, and
establishes the form-fit connection. This produces locking in the
circumferential direction, between the end 12 of the gear unit input
shaft and the locking bar 6, i.e., between the housing 7 and the rotor 1.
The torque for locking the gear unit input shaft, i.e., the rotor 1, may
be transmitted via a spline 25, in which the locking bar 6 may be axially
displaced, to the housing 7. As a result of the high gear ratio of the
harmonic drive gear unit, the exemplary gear unit 24 may be locked in a
desired position over a large angular range.
[0042] The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate
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