Damping with damping mass inside wheel
AssigneeBose Corporation
InventorDavid E. Hanson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle suspension system includes a vehicle body subframe, a wheel with a tire mounted upon a wheel hub assembly having a wheel spindle inside the wheel bearing. A wheel damping mass of ogival shape surrounds the outer race of the wheel bearing and is formed with a vertical slot whose length is perpendicular to the major diameter of the ogival cross section. The damping mass is formed with a pair of openings on each side of the vertical slot that accommodates a support assembly including a vertical shaft held by a shaft retainer intermediate the shaft ends, upper and lower bearings and centering springs located between the shaft retainer and each of the latter bearings. Damping fluid dissipates vibrational energy and may comprise a major component of the damping mass.
Claims15
A vehicle suspension system comprising,
- an unsuspended mass comprising a wheel having a wheel axis with an annular region about the wheel axis free of brake elements, having a wheel spindle and rotatable about the wheel axis and embracing a central plane perpendicular to the wheel axis,
- a suspended mass comprising the vehicle body,
- damping mass means for damping vibrations of said wheel,
- said damping mass means being located within said wheel in said annular region substantially symmetrical about said central plane and relatively translatable with respect to said wheel along a nonrotating damping mass axis passing through said wheel axis and in said central plane,
- and damping mass support means for supporting said damping mass means to always be in noncontacting relationship with said wheel.
In a vehicle suspension system having an unsuspended mass comprising a wheel having a wheel axis and rotatable about the wheel axis in a rotation plane perpendicular to the wheel axis and a suspended mass comprising the vehicle body, the improvement comprising,
- damping mass means for damping vibrations of said wheel,
- said damping mass means being disposed in said rotation plane and disposed about the wheel axis,
- wherein said wheel has a bearing and said damping mass means is formed with a central opening in which said bearing is located,
- wherein said damping mass means is formed with a vertical slot of width corresponding substantially to the diameter of said bearing for resisting horizontal movement of said damping mass means while allowing vertical movement thereof,
- wherein said damping mass means is of generally ogival cross section with the major diameter thereof substantially perpendicular to the length of said slot,
- wherein said damping mass means is formed with vertical openings on each side of said slot and further comprising,
- damping mass supporting means for supporting said damping mass means,
- said damping mass supporting means having a support assembly seated in each of said openings, each of said support assemblies including,
- a vertical shaft,
- a shaft retainer intermediate the ends of said shaft support said shaft,
- upper and lower bearings,
- and centering springs between said shaft retainer and each of said upper and lower bearings.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.