Acceleration controlled fluidic shock absorber
OwnerRomald E. Bowlesinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention provides a shock absorber for wheeled and track type vehicles in which the conventional compression valve is replaced by an acceleration controlled vortex throttle. A beam deflection amplifier introduces fluid radially, tangentially or at an intermediate position into a vortex chamber under control of an accelerometer. The vortex throttle is controlled such that in the presence of acceleration of a wheel relative to the ground shock motion is lightly resisted while long term movement of the wheel toward the vehicle is strongly resisted so that the wheel more closely follows the terrain contour with reduced energy delivered by the wheel to the vehicle body.
Claims6
A compression valve for a shock absorber having a compression chamber said compression valve comprising a vortex chamber for controlling flow out of the compression chamber into a reservoir of the shock absorber partly filled with a compressible fluid, said vortex valve having a substantially radial fluid input and a substantially tangential fluid input, means for supplying fluid to said inputs, an accelerometer and means responsive to said accelerometer for decreasing fluid input to said tangential fluid input as a function of increasing acceleration,
- said accelerometer and said last mentioned means comprising a mass, spring means for biasing said mass to a first position, first and second ports communicating with said radial and said tangential fluid inputs, respectively, said first and second ports being closed and open respectively, to fluid flow by said mass when in said first position and being increasingly opened and closed by said mass as a function of increases in acceleration,
- said mass comprising a central hollow tube;
- a body having a central cylindrical aperture for receiving said hollow tube, said body having means for communicating with said first input, said first port being an opening through said hollow tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.