Claims
- 1. A height control valve (12) for controlling the relative height between a vehicle frame (16) and a trailing arm suspension (10) comprising a trailing arm (14) having one end pivotally mounted to the vehicle frame and carrying an axle that rotatably mounts ground engaging wheels, and an air spring (22) positioned between another end of the trailing arm and the vehicle frame to resist the rotation of the trailing arm relative to the frame, the height control valve comprising:
a housing (30) defining an interior chamber (36) and having an inlet port (38) for fluidly connecting to a source of pressurized air, an air spring port (39) for fluidly connecting to the air spring, and an exhaust port (40) for fluidly connecting to atmosphere; and a valve (60, 70) disposed within the interior chamber and selectively operable between a fill position where air spring port is fluidly connected to the inlet port to introduce pressurized air from the air source into the air spring, an exhaust position where the air spring port is fluidly connected to the exhaust port to exhaust pressurized air from the air spring, and a neutral position where the air spring port is fluidly disconnected from the inlet port or the exhaust port, to thereby control the introduction and exhaustion of air from the air spring to rotate the trailing arm relative to the vehicle frame and adjust the height of the vehicle frame.
- 2. The height control valve according to claim 1, wherein the valve is characterized by a rotatable valve element (70) disposed within the interior chamber and fluidly separating the inlet port and the exhaust port, the rotatable valve element having a control passage (78, 82, 84, 86) that selectively fluidly connects the air spring port to the inlet port or the outlet port upon the rotation of the rotatable valve element, and the rotatable valve element being biased into sealing abutment relative to the housing by the pressure from the pressurized air.
- 3. The height control valve according to claim 2, wherein the housing comprises a first wall portion (36A) from which extends a second wall portion (36B) to partially define the interior chamber, the air spring port and the exhaust port are positioned on the first wall portion, and inlet port is positioned on the second wall portion, the rotatable valve element comprises a disk (70) having a first and second opposing sides connected by a peripheral edge, the first side of the disk abuts the first wall portion and overlies the air spring port and the exhaust port and the second side faces the inlet port wherein pressurized air entering the inlet port biases the disk first side against the first wall portion to seal the air spring port and exhaust port relative to the inlet port.
- 4. The height control valve according to claim 3, wherein the control passage comprises first (86) and second (84) spaced blind openings formed in the first side of the disk and a separating wall formed by the portion of the disk disposed between the blind openings, wherein when the valve is in the neutral position, the separating wall overlies the air spring port to prevent fluid communication between the air spring port and either the exhaust port or inlet port, when the disk is rotated a first rotational direction from the neutral position, the first blind opening is in fluid communication with the inlet port and the air spring port to place the valve in the fill position, when the disk is rotated in a second rotational direction, opposite the first rotation direction, from the neutral position, the disk is second blind opening is in fluid communication with the exhaust port and the air spring port to place the valve in the exhaust position.
- 5. The height control valve according to claim 4, wherein the first and second blind openings are shaped such that an increasing cross-sectional area of the first and second blind openings is exposed to the air spring port as the valve is moved from the neutral position to the fill and exhaust positions, respectively, to provided for increasing air flow rate as a function of the degree of rotation of the disk.
- 6. The height control valve according to claim 4, wherein the first and second blind openings are positioned on the disk relative to the air spring opening such that an increasing cross-sectional area of the first and second blind openings is exposed to the air spring port as the valve is moved from the neutral position to the fill and exhaust positions, respectively, to provided for increasing air flow rate as a function of the degree of rotation of the disk.
- 7. The height control valve according to claims 4-6, and further comprising a static disk (60) positioned between the first wall portion and the rotatable disk and coupled to the first wall portion, the static disk having an exhaust passage (62) extending through the disk and in fluid communication with the exhaust port and an air spring passage (64) extending through the disk and in fluid communication with the air spring port, wherein the separating wall overlies the air spring passage when the valve is in the neutral position, the first blind opening overlies a portion of the air spring passage when the valve is in the fill position, and the second blind opening overlies a portion of the air spring passage when the valve is in the exhaust position.
- 8. The height control valve according to claims 4-7, wherein the first blind opening extends from the separating wall to the peripheral wall of the disk so that the first blind opening is always in fluid communication with the inlet port.
- 9. The height control valve according to claims 4-8, wherein the second blind opening extends from the separating wall to the exhaust port so that the second blind opening is always in fluid communication with the exhaust port.
- 10. The height control valve according to claim 9, wherein the housing comprises a shaft opening (68) extending through the first wall portion, the shaft opening forms a portion of the exhaust port, and the second blind opening is in fluid communication with the shaft opening.
- 11. The height control valve according to claim 10, and further comprising a shaft (48) extending through the shaft opening and affixed to the disk whereby the rotation of the shaft rotates the rotatable disk to place the valve in the neutral, fill, or exhaust positions.
- 12. The height control valve according to claim 11, wherein the rotatable disk comprises a slot (80) and the shaft comprises a key (50) received within the slot to connect the shaft and the rotatable disk.
- 13. The height control valve according to claim 12, and further comprising a resin disposed within the slot to fill in any spaces between the key and the slot.
- 14. The height control valve according to claims 11-13, and further comprising a lever (32) having one end connected to the shaft and another end adapted to be connected to the trailing arm, whereby the rotation of the trailing arm moves the lever to thereby rotate the shaft and move the valve between the neutral, fill, and exhaust positions.
- 15. The height control valve according to claim 14, wherein the lever comprises first (58) and second (57) elongated arms, the first arm has one end fixedly mounted to the shaft, the second arm has one end adapted to be connected to the trailing arm, and the second arm is rotatably adjustable relative to the first arm to provide for adjusting the height of the lever relative to the trailing arm.
- 16. The height control valve according to claim 15, wherein the first arm comprises an opening (65), the second arm has another end that is rotatably mounted to the shaft and an arcuate slot (61) that aligns with first arm opening, and a releasable fastener (71) extending through the first arm opening and the second arm arcuate slot to permit the selective rotational positioning of the second arm relative to the first arm to adjust the height of the lever.
- 17. The height control valve according to claims 1-16, wherein the housing is characterized by a manifold body (41A) defining an air spring chamber (39B) fluidly connected to the air spring port and an inlet chamber (38A) fluidly connected to the inlet port, and a manifold cover module (41B) removably mounted to the manifold body to enclose the air spring chamber and the inlet chamber.
- 18. The height control valve according to claim 17, wherein the manifold cover comprises at least one air supply connector (42) for fluidly coupling an air supply to the inlet chamber and at least one air spring connector (43) for fluidly connecting the air spring chamber to the air spring.
- 19. The height control valve according to claim 18, wherein the manifold cover further comprises an accessory connector (44) for fluidly connecting a vehicle accessory to the air spring chamber.
- 20. The height control valve according to claims 17-19, and further comprising a modular dump valve (110) removable mounted between the manifold body and the manifold cover for fluidly connecting the air spring port to the exhaust port to exhaust the pressurized air from the air springs independent of the position of the height control valve.
- 21. The height control valve according to claim 20, wherein the dump valve comprises a housing (112, 116) having an inlet passage (124) that fluidly connects the air supply connector to the inlet chamber, an exhaust port (128), an air spring passage (122) fluidly connecting the air spring chamber to the air spring connector and the dump valve exhaust port, and a valve (150) positioned within the air spring passage for selectively fluidly connecting the air spring chamber between to the air spring connector and the dump valve exhaust port to exhaust the pressurized air from the air springs.
- 22. The height control valve according to claim 21, wherein the air spring passage comprises a dump chamber (114) formed within the housing and fluidly connected to the dump valve exhaust port, the dump chamber having a first opening fluidly connected to the air spring chamber and a second opening fluidly connected to the air spring connector, and the valve is a spool valve operable between a first position where the first and second openings are fluidly connected and a second position where the first opening is fluidly connected to the dump valve exhaust port.
- 23. The height control valve according to claims 1-13 and 17-22, characterized by a lever (32) having one end operably coupled to the valve to selectively move the valve between the fill, exhaust, and neutral positions and another end adapted to be connected to the trailing arm, whereby the rotation of the trailing arm moves the lever to thereby move the valve between the neutral, fill, and exhaust positions.
- 24. The height control valve according to claim 23, wherein the valve comprises a moveable valve element (70) and the lever comprises first and second elongated arms, the first arm has one end fixedly coupled to the moveable valve element, the second arm has one end adapted to be connected to the trailing arm, and the second arm is rotatably adjustable relative to the first arm to provide for adjusting the height of the lever relative to the trailing arm.
- 25. The height control valve according to claim 24, wherein the first arm comprises an opening (65), the second arm has another end that is rotatably pined relative to the first arm and an arcuate slot (61) that aligns with first arm opening, and a releasable fastener (71) extending through the first arm opening and the second arm arcuate slot to permit the selective rotational positioning of the second arm relative to the first arm to adjust the height of the lever.
- 26. The height control valve according to claims 1-4 and 17-25, wherein the valve is characterized by a moveable valve element (70) having a control passage (78, 82, 84, 86) moveable between a first position where the control passage fluidly connects the air spring port to the inlet port to place the valve in the fill position, a second position where the control passage fluidly connects the air spring port to the exhaust port to place the valve in the exhaust position, and a third position where the control passage is not in fluid communication with either the inlet port or the exhaust port to place the valve in the neutral position, and the control passage presents an increasing cross-sectional area to the air spring port as the valve is moved to either the fill or exhaust positions to provided for increasing air flow rate as a function of the degree of movement of the moveable element.
- 27. The height control valve according to claim 26, wherein the housing comprises a first wall portion from which extends a second wall portion to partially define the interior chamber, the air spring port and the exhaust port are positioned on the first wall portion, and the inlet port is positioned on the second wall portion, the moveable valve element comprises a rotatable disk (70) having first and second opposing sides connected by a peripheral edge, the first side of the disk overlies the air spring port and the exhaust port and the second side faces the inlet port so that pressurized air entering the chamber through the inlet port biases the disk first side against the first wall portion to seal the air spring port and exhaust port relative to the inlet port.
- 28. The height control valve according to claim 27, wherein the control passage comprises first (86) and second (84) spaced blind openings formed in the first side of the disk and the portion of the disk disposed between the blind openings forms a separating wall, the first and second blind openings are shaped such that an increasing cross-sectional area of the first and second blind openings is exposed to the air spring port as the valve is moved from the neutral position to the fill and exhaust positions, respectively.
- 29. The height control valve according to claim 28, wherein the control passage comprises first (86) and second (84) spaced blind openings formed in the first side of the disk and the portion of the disk disposed between the blind openings forms a separating wall, the first and second blind openings are positioned on the disk such that an increasing cross-sectional area of the first and second blind openings is exposed to the air spring port as the valve is moved from the neutral position to the fill and exhaust positions, respectively, to provided for the increasing air flow rate as a function of the degree of rotation of the disk.
- 30. The height control valve according to claim 29, wherein the first and second blind openings are spaced a different radial distance from a rotational axis of the disk than the air spring port.
- 31. The height control valve according to claims 1 and 17-30, and further characterized by a shaft (48) extending through the housing and having a key (50), the valve further comprises a rotatable valve (70) element having a slot (80) that receives the key of the shaft, and a resin is disposed within the slot to fill in any spaces between the key and the slot, wherein the rotation of the shaft rotates the rotatable valve element to selectively fluidly connect the air spring port to the inlet port and the exhaust port to place the valve in the fill and exhaust positions respectively.
- 32. The height control valve according to claim 31, wherein the rotatable valve element is biased into sealing abutment relative to the housing by the pressure from the pressurized air.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation of pending International Application No. PCT/US00/23278 filed Aug. 24, 2000, which designates the United States and claims priority benefits of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/150,621 filed Aug. 24, 1999.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60150621 |
Aug 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/US00/23278 |
Aug 2000 |
US |
Child |
10214036 |
Aug 2002 |
US |