Earlier this morning Patently Apple posted a rumor report from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo regarding Project Titan. Today also happens to be Granted Patent day and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple another patent relating to next-generation active suspension systems.

Active Suspension System

Road vehicles include suspension systems that support a body of the vehicle on road surfaces over which the vehicles travel. The suspension system controls vertical movement of tire and wheel assemblies relative to the body due to road disturbances, so as to maintain contact of the tire and wheel assemblies with the road surface and to provide comfort to passengers in the vehicle body. Vertical movements of the unsprung mass due to road disturbances generally occur in a low frequency (e.g., around 3 Hz), which may be referred to primary ride.

Additional vertical movements of the unsprung mass may occur in a higher frequency range due to dynamic characteristics of the unsprung mass (e.g., stiffness of the tire), which may be referred to as secondary ride or wheel hop.

Typically, movements of the unsprung mass in the low and high frequency ranges are damped by passive fluid dampers, which extend and transfer force between the unsprung mass and the vehicle body.

Apple's patent covers various implementations of suspension assemblies and suspension actuator assemblies.

In one implementation, a suspension actuator assembly includes a first actuator and a second actuator. The first actuator selectively applies a first force between an unsprung mass and a sprung mass of a vehicle to control movement therebetween. The second actuator selectively applies a second force between the unsprung mass and a reaction mass to damp movement of the unsprung mass. The second actuator is coupled to the first actuator to form the suspension actuator assembly as a singular unit.

In a second implementation, a suspension assembly includes a suspension arm, a tire and wheel assembly, and a suspension actuator assembly. The suspension arm is pivotably coupleable to a vehicle body that forms a sprung mass. The tire and wheel assembly is coupled to the suspension arm to cooperatively form an unsprung mass. The suspension actuator assembly coupleable to the vehicle body and is coupled to the suspension arm. The suspension actuator assembly includes a first ball screw actuator and a second ball screw actuator. The first ball screw actuator includes a first motor, a first ball nut rotatable by the first motor, and a first shaft received by the first ball nut and axially movable relative thereto with rotation of the first ball nut by the first motor. The second ball screw actuator includes a second motor, a second ball nut rotatable by the second motor, and a second shaft received by the second ball nut and axially movable relative thereto with rotation of the second ball nut by the second motor. The second motor is coupled to the first motor in a fixed coaxial arrangement. The first ball screw actuator and the second ball screw actuator are operable to control movement between the vehicle body and the suspension arm, and are further operable to move the first motor and the second motor cooperatively as a reaction mass to damp movement of the unsprung mass.

In a third implementation, a suspension assembly includes a suspension arm, a tire and wheel assembly, and a suspension actuator assembly. The suspension arm is pivotably coupleable to a vehicle body that forms a sprung mass. The tire and wheel assembly is coupled to the suspension arm to cooperatively form an unsprung mass. The suspension actuator assembly coupleable to the vehicle body and is coupled to the suspension arm. The suspension actuator assembly forms a ball screw actuator for controlling movement between the vehicle body and the suspension arm and forms an electromagnetic linear actuator for controlling movement between the suspension arm and a reaction mass.

Apple's patent FIG. 10 below is a schematic view of a control system for use with the suspension assembly of FIG. 2; FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a suspension assembly connected to a vehicle body.

For those interested in Apple's Project Titan and future vehicles in general, Apple's granted patent 10,906,370 presents 5 more possible implementations of their invention along with some engineering equations