Autonomous control damper

1. A damper system for a vehicle comprising:

an electrically adjustable hydraulic shock absorber having:

a pressure tube forming a working chamber and containing a working fluid within the working chamber;

a reserve tube surrounding said pressure tube and forming a reservoir chamber;

the shock absorber having a first end;

a rod guide disposed at the first end;

the shock absorber having a second end opposite to the first end of the shock absorber;

a base valve assembly disposed at the second end within the pressure tube for communicating the working fluid between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber;

a piston supported from a piston rod;

a plurality of two position electro-mechanical valves which have a different flow area in each of the two positions, the plurality of electro-mechanical valves being disposed within the shock absorber adjacent to the first end, the plurality of electro-mechanical valves further being disposed remote from the piston and laterally offset from the piston and operable to communicate portions of the working fluid between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber; and

a damper control module forming a portion of the shock absorber and contained within a housing at the first end of the shock absorber adjacent the rod guide, the damper control module including a circuit board having damper setting logic determining a target damping state of the shock absorber based on data received from a plurality of sensors mounted on the shock absorber, wherein the only electrical inputs to the shock absorber include a power input and the data from the plurality of sensors, wherein the circuit board also includes valve switching logic determining a present state of each one of the plurality of electro-mechanical valves and coil activation logic controlling power to the plurality of electro-mechanical valves based on a comparison of the target damping state to the present state of each one of the plurality of electro-mechanical valves to thus control flow of the working fluid between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber, and thus to control the damping state of the shock absorber.

2. The damper system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of sensors includes a three-axis accelerometer disposed at the shock absorber.

3. The damper system of claim 1 further comprising:

a damper sensor disposed with the damper control module, wherein the damper control module determines the damping state based on data from the damper sensor and the plurality of sensors.

4. The damper system of claim 1 wherein:

the damper control module is coupled to each one of the plurality of electro-mechanical valves.

5. A vehicle system comprising:

a body;

a suspension system; and

the damper system of claim 1 , wherein the damper system couples the suspension system to the body.

6. A damper system for a vehicle comprising:

an electrically adjustable hydraulic shock absorber, the shock absorber including:

a first end and a second end opposite the first end;

a rod guide at the first end;

a pressure tube defining a working chamber for holding a working fluid;

a reserve tube surrounding the pressure tube to define a reservoir chamber between the reserve tube and the pressure tube;

a base valve disposed at the second end and communicating portions of the working fluid between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber;

a piston rod and a piston supported from the piston rod;

a damper control module disposed within a housing of the shock absorber at the first end adjacent to the rod guide, and electrically coupled to the shock absorber;

the damper control module communicating with an electrically actuatable valve disposed remote from the piston and laterally offset from the piston rod, for communicating portions of the working fluid between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber, and being operable to determine a target damping state of the shock absorber based on data received from a plurality of sensors disposed in proximity of the shock absorber, and to control actuation and de-actuation of the electrically actuatable valve, to thus control the shock absorber such that the shock absorber operates at the target damping state, wherein the only electrical inputs to the shock absorber include a power input and data from the plurality of sensors.

7. The damper system of claim 6 wherein the damper control module receives data regarding a temperature of the shock absorber from one of the plurality of sensors, and the damper control module adjusts the target damping state of the shock absorber based on the temperature received.

8. The damper system of claim 6 further comprising:

a damper sensor disposed with the damper control module, wherein the damper control module determines the target damping state based on data from the damper sensor and the plurality of sensors.

9. The damper system of claim 6 wherein the vehicle includes an air spring and a pressure sensor that detects a pressure of the air spring, and the damper control module adjusts the target damping state of the shock absorber based on data from the pressure sensor.

10. A vehicle system comprising:

a plurality of the damper systems of claim 6 ; and

a communication network communicably coupling the plurality of the damper systems.

11. A vehicle system comprising:

a plurality of the damper systems of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of the damper systems includes one master damper system and a slave damper system; and

a communication network communicably coupling the master damper system and the slave damper system, wherein:

the master damper system determines a slave damping state of the shock absorber of the slave damper system and transmits the slave damping state to the slave damper system via the communication network; and

the slave damper system controls the shock absorber based on the slave damping state received.

12. A damper system for a vehicle comprising:

an electrically adjustable hydraulic shock absorber having:

a rod guide assembly;

a pressure tube operably coupled to the rod guide assembly to form a working chamber that contains a working fluid therein;

a reserve tube disposed around the pressure tube to define a reservoir chamber between the pressure tube and the reserve tube;

a piston rod and a piston supported from the piston rod;

the electrically adjustable hydraulic shock absorber further including a plurality of electro-mechanical valves disposed within the shock absorber remote from the piston and each being laterally offset from the piston rod, the electro-mechanical valves controlling fluid flow between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber; and

a damper control module disposed within a housing at the shock absorber and in communication with the plurality of electro-mechanical valves, wherein the damper control module includes a circuit board including dedicated damper setting logic, wherein the damper setting logic determines a target damping state of the shock absorber based on data received from a plurality of sensors disposed in proximity of the shock absorber, the circuit board also including power drive electronics for controlling power to each one of the plurality of electro-mechanical valves, such that the shock absorber operates at the target damping state, wherein the only electrical inputs to the shock absorber include a power input and data from the plurality of sensors.

13. The damper system of claim 12 wherein the plurality of sensors includes sensors disposed at the shock absorber.

14. The damper system of claim 12 wherein the plurality of electro-mechanical valves comprises a plurality of on/off, two position valves.

15. An autonomous damping system for a vehicle comprising:

an electrically adjustable hydraulic shock absorber having:

a pressure tube forming a working chamber and containing a working fluid within the working chamber;

a reserve tube surrounding said pressure tube and forming a reservoir chamber;

a base valve assembly disposed within the pressure tube for communicating the working fluid between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber;

a piston supported from a piston rod;

a sensor disposed at the shock absorber;

an electro-mechanical valve disposed within the shock absorber remote from the piston and operable to communicate portions of the working fluid between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber; and

a damper control module housed within a housing of the shock absorber and forming a portion of the shock absorber;

wherein the damper control module receives data from the sensor, determines a target damping state of the shock absorber based on the data, determines a present state of the electro-mechanical valve and determines whether the state of the valve must change to achieve the target damping state, and actuates the electro-mechanical valve to control flow of the working fluid between the working chamber and the reservoir chamber at the target damping state, the damper control module including a damper setting module including a circuit board having damper setting logic which determines the target damping state of the shock absorber based on the data received from the sensor, wherein the target damper setting is determined without the damper setting module receiving any other signal than the data from the sensor.

16. The damper system of claim 15 , wherein the shock absorber includes a plurality of sensors disposed at the shock absorber.

17. The damper system of claim 15 , wherein the damper control module is in communication with a communications network associated with the vehicle.

18. The damper system of claim 17 , wherein the damper control module sends signals via the communications network associated with the vehicle to a remote module associated with the vehicle.

19. The damper system of claim 15 , wherein the damper control module also receives signals from at least one additional sensor or subsystem which is located remotely from the shock absorber.

20. The damper system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one additional sensor or subsystem, comprises at least one of:

a three-axis accelerometer disposed at the shock absorber;

an angular rate sensor;

an inertial measurement unit (IMU);

a temperature sensor;

a height sensor;

an accelerometer;

a tri-axial acceleration sensor;

a potentiometer; or

a global positioning system (GPS) or tracking sensor.