Damping air spring for heavy-duty vehicle axle/suspension systems

An air spring comprising:

• a bellows including a bellows chamber;
• a piston including a piston chamber, said bellows chamber being operatively connected to said piston chamber;
• at least one opening disposed between the bellows chamber and the piston chamber for restricted fluid communication between said bellows chamber and said piston chamber;
• wherein a ratio of a cross-sectional area of said at least one opening in square inches to a volume of the piston chamber in cubic inches to a volume of the bellows chamber in cubic inches to a ratio of said volume of said bellows chamber to said volume of said piston chamber is from about 1:600:1200:0.001 to about 1:14100:23500:5.0;
• and
• wherein said air spring provides acceptable damping in a first critical frequency range of from about 0.8 Hz to about 2.0 Hz and in a second critical frequency range of from about 8.0 Hz to about 15 Hz.

An air spring for a heavy-duty vehicle axle/suspension system comprising:

• a bellows including a bellows chamber;
• a piston including a piston chamber, said bellows chamber being operatively connected to said piston chamber;
• at least one opening disposed between the bellows chamber and the piston chamber for restricted fluid communication between said bellows chamber and said piston chamber;
• wherein a ratio of a cross-sectional area of said at least one opening in square inches to a volume of the piston chamber in cubic inches to a volume of the bellows chamber in cubic inches to an estimated effective area of said air spring in square inches, is from about 1:600:1200:120 to about 1:14100:23500:1200;
• and
• wherein said cross-sectional area of the at least one opening is in a range of from about 0.14 square inches to about 0.5 square inches.

An air spring comprising:

• a bellows including a bellows chamber;
• a piston including a piston chamber, said bellows chamber being operatively connected to said piston chamber;
• at least one opening disposed between the bellows chamber and the piston chamber for restricted fluid communication between said bellows chamber and said piston chamber;
• wherein a ratio of a cross-sectional area of said at least one opening in square inches to a volume of the piston chamber in cubic inches to a volume of the bellows chamber in cubic inches to a ratio of said volume of said bellows chamber to said volume of said piston chamber is from about 1:600:1200:0.001 to about 1:14100:23500:5.0;
• and
• wherein said cross-sectional area of the at least one opening is in a range of from about 0.14 square inches to about 0.5 square inches.