The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 41 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a new Project Titan patent relating to active suspension systems. If you happen to be an automotive engineer or an advanced vehicle mechanic, then this could be an interesting patent to review. This is definitely not a consumer-friendly patent.

According to Apple, active suspension systems incorporate actuators that are controlled by an external controller to change the ride characteristics of a vehicle in response to sensed conditions. Functions performed by active suspension systems can include, for example, controlling the vertical movement of the wheels of the vehicle relative to a vehicle body of the vehicle, controlling damping firmness at each of the wheels, and self-levelling.

Apple's granted patent covers an improved active suspension system for a vehicle having a wheel that is subject to an external force. The active suspension system includes an actuator having an output structure that is connected to the wheel, an energy storage device having a compressible chamber, a valve assembly that is operable to control flow of a working fluid between the actuator and the energy storage device, and a controller that determines whether to permit or resist motion of the output structure in response to the external force.

The controller permits motion of the output structure by allowing fluid to flow from the actuator to the energy storage device using the valve assembly, thereby compressing the compressible chamber. The controller resists motion of the output structure by allowing fluid to flow from the energy storage device to the actuator using the valve assembly, thereby expanding the compressible chamber.

Another aspect of Apple's granted patent covers a system that includes a hydraulic actuator having a body, a piston rod that extends out of the body, a piston head disposed in the body, an upper volume defined inside the body on a first side of the piston head, and a lower volume defined inside the body on a second side of the piston head.

The system also includes an energy storage device having a housing, an upper chamber defined inside the housing, a lower chamber defined inside the housing, and a compressible chamber defined inside the housing. The system also includes an upper valve assembly that is operable to control flow of a working fluid between the upper volume of the hydraulic actuator and the upper chamber of the energy storage device.

The system also includes a lower valve assembly that is operable to control flow of the working fluid between the lower volume of the hydraulic actuator and the lower chamber of the energy storage device.

The system also includes a controller that controls of operation at least one of the upper valve assembly or the lower valve assembly to store energy in the energy storage device by compressing the compressible chamber by flow of the working fluid into the energy storage device from the hydraulic actuator when a desired travel direction for the piston rod matches an external force direction.

The controller controls operation of at least one of the upper valve assembly or the lower valve assembly to release energy from the energy storage device by expanding the compressible chamber by flow of the working fluid into the hydraulic actuator from the energy storage device when the desired travel direction for the piston rod is opposite the external force direction.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below is an illustration that shows a portion of a vehicle that has a hydraulic actuator, an actuation system, and a suspension system controller.

Apple's patent FIG. 6 above is a diagram that shows an energy storage device of the actuation system.

For more details, review Apple's newly granted patent 10,814,690 here. To review other Project Titan patents, check out our archives here.