End-stop control valves for providing progessive damping forces in vibration dampers

An end-stop control valve comprising:

• a piston that is configured to move longitudinally within a damper tube, the piston having a valve seat;
• a valve disc stack-up, wherein a radially outer portion of the valve disc stack-up is supported on the valve seat, the radially outer portion of the valve disc stack-up being configured to deflect away from the valve seat of the piston at times;
• a catch piston with which the piston is configured to engage during an end-of-stroke damping event, the catch piston being movable longitudinally within the damper tube;
• and
• a piston band that is disposed on the piston, at least partially surrounds the piston, protrudes radially relative to a radial outermost portion of the piston, and is positionable radially within a sidewall of the catch piston, wherein as the end-of-stroke damping event begins the piston band is configured to engage the catch piston before the piston engages the catch piston, wherein the piston band includes a pathway that extends longitudinally and permits hydraulic fluid to flow from a first longitudinal side of the catch piston to a second longitudinal side of the catch piston before the piston engages with the catch piston,
• wherein the piston band is configured such that hydraulic fluid can pass around the piston band when the piston band is not engaged with the catch piston.

An end-stop control valve comprising:

• a piston that is configured to move longitudinally within a damper tube, the piston having a valve seat;
• a valve disc stack-up, wherein a radially outer portion of the valve disc stack-up is supported on the valve seat, the radially outer portion of the valve disc stack-up being configured to deflect away from the valve seat of the piston at times during operation of the end-stop control valve;
• a catch piston with which the piston is configured to engage during an end-of-stroke damping event, the catch piston being movable longitudinally within the damper tube;
• a spring disc that is configured to move longitudinally within the damper tube with the piston, wherein the spring disc is not part of the valve disc stack-up and is spaced apart from the valve disc stack-up such that the spring disc is not supported on the valve seat with the valve disc stack-up, wherein as the end-of-stroke damping event begins the spring disc is configured to engage a support of the catch piston before the piston engages the catch piston;
• and
• a spring that is disposed longitudinally adjacent to the spring disc, wherein the spring disc and the spring are configured such that as the end-of-stroke damping event begins and the spring disc contacts the catch piston, the spring compresses and resists movement of the piston towards the catch piston;
• wherein in a first position the spring disc is not elastically deformed in a longitudinal direction when the spring disc initially contacts the support of the catch piston, wherein in a second position the spring disc is elastically deformed in the longitudinal direction when the piston contacts the catch piston.