Adjustable suspension strut for a motor vehicle and method of adjusting a suspension strut
AssigneeDr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft
InventorsDietmar Becker, Thomas Garbe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adjustable suspension strut for a motor vehicle includes a damping element enveloped by a spring, a first ring cylinder axially slidable relative to the damping cylinder, a second ring cylinder disposed between the damping cylinder and the first ring cylinder, a working chamber defined by at least the first and second ring cylinders, and an adjusting element configured to adjust the relative position between the damping element and one of the first and the second ring cylinders. The second ring cylinder is axially slidable relative to the damping cylinder. The second end of the spring is disposed on one of the ring cylinders. The two ring cylinders are axially displaced relative to each other.
Claims30
An adjustable suspension strut for a motor vehicle, comprising:
- a damping element enveloped by a helical spring and having a damping cylinder and a piston rod, which can be moved in and out in the damping cylinder;
- a first spring seat, disposed on the damping element;
- a second spring seat, spaced apart from the first spring seat;
- a first ring cylinder, which can be slid axially with a first guide surface on the damping cylinder;
- a second ring cylinder, which is disposed between the damping cylinder and the first ring cylinder, and on which the first ring cylinder is guided with a second guide surface on a third guide surface of the second ring cylinder, wherein the second spring seat is disposed on one of the ring cylinders, wherein the second ring cylinder has a fourth guide surface on an internal circumferential wall and can be displaced axially on the damping cylinder, and wherein one of the two ring cylinders can be displaced axially in relation to the other ring cylinder;
- a working chamber, whose volume can be changed and which is defined by at least the first and second ring cylinders;
- and
- an adjusting element, which can be adjusted manually stepped and/or stepless in the axial direction on the damping element, either the first or the second ring cylinder being braced against the adjusting element.
An adjustable suspension strut for a motor vehicle, comprising:
- a spring having first and second ends;
- a damping element including:
- a damping cylinder, and
- a piston rod movably disposed in the damping cylinder, the first end of the spring being connected to the piston rod;
- a first ring cylinder axially slidable relative to the damping cylinder;
- a second ring cylinder disposed between the damping cylinder and the first ring cylinder, the second ring cylinder being axially slidable relative to the damping cylinder, wherein the second end of the spring is disposed on one of the ring cylinders;
- a working chamber defined by at least the first and second ring cylinders, wherein the two ring cylinders are axially displaced relative to each other;
- and
- an adjusting element configured to adjust the relative position between the damping element and the other of the first and the second ring cylinders.
An adjustable suspension strut for a motor vehicle, comprising:
- a spring having first and second points;
- a damping element including:
- a damping cylinder, and
- a piston rod movably disposed in the damping cylinder;
- an automatic adjusting element;
- and
- a manual adjusting element connected in series to the automatic adjusting element, the first point of the spring being connected to one of the damping cylinder and piston rod, the second point of the spring being connected to one of the manual and automatic adjusting elements, wherein the position of the second point of the spring is adjusted, in series, by the manual and automatic adjusting elements.
A method of adjusting a suspension strut including a spring having first and second ends, and a damping element having a damping cylinder and a piston rod movably disposed in the damping cylinder, wherein the first end of the spring is connected to the piston rod, the method comprising:
- automatically adjusting the relationship between the second end of the spring and the damping cylinder;
- and
- manually adjusting the relationship between the second end of the spring and the damping cylinder, wherein the relationship between the second end of the spring and the damping cylinder is determined by the sum of the automatic adjustment and manual adjustment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.