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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorsJames M. Barbison, Kevin H. Erickson, Arnett R. Weber, Ronald W. Farewell, Richard Coury, Thomas R. King, Stephen H. Bell, Nelson C. Goncalves
Estimating the term…
A shock absorber is provided that includes a housing having an inner wall defining a working fluid chamber and an outer wall spaced outwardly from the inner wall defining a fluid reservoir. Either a compression head or an inner cylinder head may be arranged at an end of the housing. The head extends radially from a first portion interior of the inner wall to a second portion exterior of the inner wall with the head separating the working fluid chamber and the fluid reservoir. The head includes a passageway extending between the first and second portions fluidly interconnecting the working fluid chamber and the fluid reservoir. A valve is disposed about the inner wall and is arranged in the fluid reservoir. The valve has an annular sealing portion adjacent to the second portion for obstructing fluid flow through the passageway in a closed position and spaced from the second portion in an open position. A toroidal solenoid has a central opening with the inner wall disposed within the central opening. The solenoid concludes an electric coil generating magnetic flux on either the inner wall or the valve for generating a closing force against the second portion with the sealing portion. Alternatively, the valve and toroidal solenoid may be arranged outside of the fluid reservoir about either the piston rod or the lower mount.
A shock absorber comprising:
A shock absorber comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Means on or in the damper for manual or non-automatic adjustment; such means combined with temperature correction: allowing control from a…
With a closed cylinder and a piston separating two or more working spaces therein: bitubular units
Springs
Term end not estimated
This invention relates to a shock absorber with adjustable damping, and more particularly, the invention relates to a toroidal solenoid and valve assembly to provide adjustable damping for a shock absorber.
Vehicles utilize shock absorbers to dampen vibrations and shocks experienced by the vehicle. Variations in payload and ground conditions may effect vehicle control and handling. It is desirable to selectively adjust a damping force in a shock absorber to improve vehicle control and handling in response to these variables.
Numerous adjustable designs have been proposed in the prior art for controlling a valve that regulates the fluid flow through a portion of the shock absorber to adjust the damping characteristic. For example, the piston includes fluid passageways that regulate the fluid flow through the piston. A valve may be used in connection with the fluid passageways to change the flow therethrough. A conventional linear solenoid has been used to open and close the valve. However, a passage must be formed in the piston rod to route the wires to the solenoid to connect the solenoid to the controls. Utilizing a hollow piston rod complicates the shock absorber design and adds cost to the absorber.
Other advantages of the present invention can be understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the present invention solenoid and valve assembly approximate to the inner cylinder head;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a first configuration of the present invention solenoid and valve assembly;
A shock absorber 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The shock absorber 10 includes a housing 12 that has a cylindrical inner wall 14 and a cylindrical outer wall 18 surrounding the inner wall 14 to provide a twin tube shock absorber configuration. The inner wall 14 defines a working fluid chamber 16, and the outer wall 18 defines a fluid reservoir 20. A gas cell 22 is typically arranged within the reservoir 20 to prevent foaming of the hydraulic fluid.
An inner cylinder head 26 is arranged at one end of the housing 12 and supports the piston rod 30. A piston 28 is disposed within the working fluid chamber 16 and is connected to the piston rod 30. A compression head 24 is secured at an end of the housing 12 opposite the inner cylinder head 26. The heads 24, 26 and piston 28 typically include fluid passageways that partially define the overall damping characteristics of the absorber 10. The inner cylinder head 26 may include passageways connecting the working fluid chamber 16 and reservoir 20 to control damping characteristics during the rebound stroke, which is indicated by the upward arrow in FIG. 1. Similarly, the compression head 24 may include fluid passageways connecting the working fluid chamber 16 and reservoir 20 to control the damping characteristics during the compression stroke in which the piston 28 moves toward the compression at 24.
The inner cylinder head 26 has a first portion 32 arranged interiorly of the inner wall 14 and a second portion 34 arranged exteriorly of the inner wall 14. Together the portions 32 and 34 separate the working fluid chamber 16 and the reservoir 20 from one another. A passageway 36 may be formed in the inner cylinder head 26 to interconnect the working fluid chamber 16 and reservoir 20 to provide damping during the recoil stroke. However, by utilizing a passageway without a valve, damping may not be adjusted. To this end, a valve with an actuator must be used to meter or control the flow of fluid through the passageway 36.