Air spring piston with integrated sealing
AssigneeContinental Automotive Systems, Inc.
InventorsChristian Schallmeier, Ralf Pielock, Sunny Makkar, Garrett Mark Pniewski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air spring for air suspension system comprises a piston assembly and a damper assembly where the piston assembly is spaced apart from the damper assembly to at least partially define an air chamber. A seal is molded with piston walls to form an integrated piston assembly. The seal includes at least one sealing lip extending radially inward from the piston assembly at an angle that is non-perpendicular to an axis of the damper and the at least one sealing lip contacts the damper assembly when the piston assembly and the damper assembly are assembled together to seal the air chamber.
Claims6
An air spring for air suspension system comprising:
- a piston assembly and a damper assembly wherein the piston assembly is spaced apart from the damper assembly to at least partially define an air chamber;
- a seal molded with piston walls to form an integrated piston assembly, wherein the seal includes at least one sealing lip extending radially inward from the piston assembly at an angle that is non-perpendicular to an axis of the damper;
- and
- wherein the at least one sealing lip contacts the damper assembly when the piston assembly and the damper assembly are assembled together to seal the air chamber.
A method of manufacturing a piston assembly, comprising:
- forming a seal using an injection mold form;
- forming piston walls at least partially surrounding the seal with the injection molding form to create an integrated piston assembly;
- assembling the piston around a damper assembly, such that an air chamber is at least partially defined by the piston assembly and the damper assembly;
- and
- wherein a sealing lip extending from the seal is in contact with the damper assembly to seal the air chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.