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US 12,729,742 B2Granted
Internal floating piston
AssigneeFox Factory, Inc.
InventorMatthew Stewart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed herein is a shock absorber comprising a cylinder, a rod, a main damping piston, the main damping piston coupled to the rod and configured for operation within the cylinder, the main damping piston configured to divide the cylinder into a compression side and a rebound side, a body cap disposed at one end of the cylinder, wherein the body cap has a second inner diameter greater than an inner diameter of the cylinder, an internal floating piston disposed within the body cap, configured to divide the body cap into a first side and a second side, and a base valve piston disposed to separate the compression side from the first side.
Claims20
A shock absorber comprising:
- a cylinder;
- a rod;
- a main damping piston, the main damping piston coupled to the rod and configured for operation within the cylinder, the main damping piston configured to divide the cylinder into a compression side and a rebound side, said rod disposed coaxially with a central axis of said cylinder, said rod configured to move along said central axis and into or out of said cylinder;
- a body cap disposed at one end of the cylinder, wherein the body cap has a second inner diameter greater than an inner diameter of the cylinder, such that a volume per axial length of said body cap is greater than a volume per axial length of said cylinder, wherein an overall length of said shock absorber is reduced while an overall stroke characteristic of said shock absorber remains unchanged, said reduction in said overall length of said shock absorber being a function of a ratio between said second inner diameter of said body cap and said inner diameter of said cylinder, wherein when said rod moves along said central axis and into said cylinder, said rod moves toward said body cap, and wherein when said rod moves along said central axis and out of said cylinder, said rod moves away from said body cap;
- a fill valve fluidically coupled with said body cap;
- an internal floating piston disposed within the body cap, configured to divide the body cap into a first side and a second side;
- and
- a base valve piston disposed to separate the compression side from the first side.
5 more elements
A shock absorber comprising:
- an external cylinder, the external cylinder having an external cylinder outer diameter;
- an internal cylinder concentrically disposed within the external cylinder, the internal cylinder having an internal cylinder inner diameter;
- a rod, said rod disposed coaxially with a central axis of said cylinder, said rod configured to move along said central axis and into or out of said cylinder;
- a main damping piston, the main damping piston coupled to the rod and configured for operation within the internal cylinder, the main damping piston configured to divide the internal cylinder into a compression side and a rebound side;
- a body cap disposed at one end of the external cylinder, wherein the body cap has a first inner diameter fit to match the external cylinder outer diameter, wherein the body cap has a second inner diameter that is greater than the internal cylinder inner diameter, such that a volume per axial length of said body cap is greater than a volume per axial length of said cylinder, wherein an overall length of said shock absorber is reduced while an overall stroke characteristic of said shock absorber remains unchanged, said reduction in said overall length of said shock absorber being a function of a ratio between said second inner diameter of said body cap and said internal cylinder inner diameter, wherein when said rod moves along said central axis and into said cylinder, said rod moves toward said body cap, and wherein when said rod moves along said central axis and out of said cylinder, said rod moves away from said body cap;
- a fill valve fluidically coupled with said body cap;
- an internal floating piston disposed within the body cap, configured to divide the body cap into a first side and a second side;
- and
- a base valve piston disposed to separate the compression side from the first side.
6 more elements
A shock absorber comprising:
- an external cylinder, the external cylinder having an external cylinder outer diameter;
- an internal cylinder concentrically disposed within the external cylinder, the internal cylinder having an internal cylinder inner diameter;
- a rod, said rod disposed coaxially with a central axis of said cylinder, said rod configured to move along said central axis and into or out of said cylinder;
- a main damping piston, the main damping piston coupled to the rod and configured for operation within the internal cylinder, the main damping piston configured to divide the internal cylinder into a compression side and a rebound side;
- a body cap disposed at one end of the external cylinder, wherein the body cap has a first inner diameter fit to match the external cylinder outer diameter, wherein the body cap has a second inner diameter that is greater than the internal cylinder inner diameter, such that a volume per axial length of said body cap is greater than a volume per axial length of said cylinder, wherein an overall length of said shock absorber is reduced while an overall stroke characteristic of said shock absorber remains unchanged, said reduction in said overall length of said shock absorber being a function of a ratio between said second inner diameter of said body cap and said internal cylinder inner diameter, wherein when said rod moves along said central axis and into said cylinder, said rod moves toward said body cap, and wherein when said rod moves along said central axis and out of said cylinder, said rod moves away from said body cap;
- a fill valve fluidically coupled with said body cap;
- a cinch ring to threadedly couple the body cap to the internal cylinder;
- an internal floating piston disposed within the body cap, configured to divide the body cap into a first side and a second side, wherein the internal floating piston has a diameter configured to slidably move axially along said second inner diameter of said body cap, said diameter of said internal floating piston allowing a decrease in the amount of pressure within the body cap;
- and
- a base valve piston disposed to separate the compression side from the first side.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.