VEHICLE STABILIZER SYSTEM

Abstract

A stabilizer system for a vehicle including: a pair of stabilizer apparatus provided for a front-wheel side and a rear-wheel side of the vehicle, each including a stabilizer bar connected at its opposite ends to respective wheel holding members for supporting left and right wheels, an actuator which includes an electric motor and which changes, by an operation of the motor, roll-restraining force exerted by the stabilizer bar, and a driver disposed between the motor and an electric power source for driving the motor; and a control device which controls the motor of each stabilizer apparatus via the driver and thereby controls an operation of the actuator, wherein the control device includes an under-both-driver-no-power-supply-state control portion which controls at least one of the drivers of the two stabilizer apparatus to be placed into a phase-interconnection operation state in which terminals of respective phases of the motor are electrically connected to each other, when both of the drivers of the two stabilizer apparatus are in a no-power-supply operation state in which no power is supplied from the power source to the motor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of a claimable invention will be better understood by reading a following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an overall structure of a stabilizer system according to one embodiment of a claimable invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a stabilizer apparatus of the stabilizer system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view in cross section showing an actuator of the stabilizer apparatus of FIG. 1:

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an inverter of the stabilizer system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view schematically showing a state of the inverter in the circuit diagram of FIG. 4 in which an electric current based on power generated by an electric motor flows back toward a converter;

FIG. 6 is a table showing changing patterns of an electrified phase established by the inverter of FIG. 4 in respective operation modes of the electric motor;

FIG. 7 is a view schematically showing a state in which the inverter shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 4 is in a phase-interconnection operation state;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a stabilizer-control program executed in the stabilizer system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an operation-mode determining sub routine executed in the stabilizer-control program; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing functions of a stabilizer electronic control unit (ECU) as a control device.

Claims

1. A stabilizer system for a vehicle comprising: a pair of stabilizer apparatus one of which is provided for a front-wheel side of the vehicle while the other of which is provided for a rear-wheel side of the vehicle and each of which includes: a stabilizer bar connected at opposite ends thereof to respective wheel holding members which respectively support left and right wheels of the vehicle; an actuator which includes an electric motor and which changes, by an operation of the electric motor, roll-restraining force to be exerted by the stabilizer bar; and a driver which is disposed between the electric motor and an electric power source for driving the electric motor; anda control device which controls the electric motor of each of the pair of stabilizer apparatus via the corresponding driver and thereby controls an operation of the corresponding actuator,wherein the control device includes an under-both-driver-no-power-supply-state control portion which controls at least one of the drivers of the pair of stabilizer apparatus to be placed into a phase-interconnection operation state in which terminals of respective phases of the corresponding electric motor are electrically connected to each other, when both of the drivers of the pair of stabilizer apparatus are in a no-power-supply operation state in which no power is supplied from the power source to the electric motor.

2. The stabilizer system according to claim 1, wherein the driver of each of the pair of stabilizer apparatus includes: (A) a plurality of pairs of switching elements, each pair being provided for the terminal of each phase of the corresponding electric motor and including (a-1) a positive-side switching element which is operable to electrically connect the corresponding terminal and a positive-side terminal of the electric power source to each other when the positive-side switching element is placed in an ON state and to disconnect the corresponding terminal and the positive-side terminal of the electric power source from each other when the positive-side switching element is placed in an OFF state and (a-2) a negative-side switching element which is operable to connect the corresponding terminal and a negative-side terminal of the electric power source to each other when the negative-side switching element is placed in an ON state and to disconnect the corresponding terminal and the negative-side terminal of the electric power source from each other when the negative-side switching element is placed in an OFF state; and (B) a switching-element controller which selectively places each of the switching elements between the ON state and the OFF state.

3. The stabilizer system according to claim 2, wherein the under-both-driver-no-power-supply-state control portion controls at least one of the drivers of the pair of stabilizer apparatus to be placed in an operation state in which only the positive-side switching elements or only the negative-side switching elements are all placed in the ON state, when both of the drivers of the pair of stabilizer apparatus are in the no-power-supply operation state.

4. The stabilizer system according to claim 1, wherein the control device controls the operation of the actuator of each of the pair of stabilizer apparatus based on a turning condition of the vehicle and thereby executes a control which permits the corresponding stabilizer bar to exert the roll-restraining force in accordance with the turning condition of the vehicle.

5. The stabilizer system according to claim 1, wherein the control device executes a control which permits the driver of each of the pair of stabilizer apparatus to be placed in the no-power-supply operation state, when the roll-restraining force exerted by the corresponding stabilizer bar is in process of decrease.

6. The stabilizer system according to claim 1, wherein the stabilizer bar of each of the pair of stabilizer apparatus is constituted by including a pair of stabilizer bar members each of which includes a torsion bar portion disposed coaxially along an axis extending in a width direction of the vehicle and an arm portion which extends continuously from the torsion bar portion so as to intersect the torsion bar portion and which is connected at a leading end thereof to the corresponding wheel holding member, andwherein the actuator of each of the pair of stabilizer apparatus is operable to rotate the torsion bar portions of the pair of stabilizer bar members relative to each other.

7. The stabilizer system according to claim 6, wherein the actuator of each of the pair of stabilizer apparatus further includes a decelerator for decelerating rotation of the corresponding electric motor and a housing which holds the decelerator and the electric motor, andwherein the torsion bar portion of one of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to the housing so as to be unrotatable relative to the housing while the torsion bar portion of the other of the pair of stabilizer bar members is connected to an output portion of the decelerator so as to be unrotatable to the output portion.