Steering damper in and for vehicles

A steering damper for a vehicle having a frame, steerable wheel means movably mounted on said frame, handlebars mounted on said frame rotatable about an axis relative to said frame, connected to said steerable wheel means for controlling the steering movement thereof;

• said steering damper including:
• a cylinder assembly including a hollow cylinder having closures at the ends thereof and being adapted to have a damping fluid therein, a dam fixedly mounted in said cylindrical assembly extending along the surface of the cylinder between the closures, a vane assembly including vanes extending from a shaft, said vane assembly being mounted in said cylindrical assembly with said shaft extending axially and said vanes radially, said vanes being dimensioned to extend axially to said closures on each side and radially to the periphery of said cylinder, there being spacing between said vanes and closures and said vanes and said periphery such as to permit ready movement of said vanes, said shaft being adapted to be connected to said handlebars to rotate said vanes circumferentially in said cylinder assembly in synchronism with the rotation of the handlebars following the movement of said handlebars responsive to the steering movement of said steerable wheel means in either direction, said vane assembly when being rotated in one of said either directions defining between a first vane approaching the dam and the dam a first substantially closed compartment of decreasing volume and between a second vane retreating from the dam and the dam a second substantially closed compartment of increasing volume, the movement of said first vane increasing the pressure within said first compartment, means, responsive to said increasing pressure, for transmitting fluid under said pressure from said first compartment to said second compartment, the transmitting means being dimensioned and the viscosity of the fluid being such that the movement of the vanes in the fluid exerts a damping force on the handlebars as said vanes are moved in said one direction, and means, responsive to the return of said vanes in the direction opposite to said one direction, for permitting said handlebars to return from said one direction in the opposite direction with substantially no damping.

A steering damper for a vehicle having a frame, steerable wheel means mounted on said frame movable in either direction from the center, handlebars on said frame rotatable in either direction about an axis relative to said frame connected to said steerable wheel means for controlling the steering movement of said steerable wheel means, said handlebars being connected to said steerable wheel means so that said handlebars are in center with said steerable wheel means in center and the movement of said handlebars in either direction and in magnitude corresponding to the movement of said steerable wheel/means in direction and magnitude, said handlebars being manually rotatable from said center in either direction and also being rotatable from said center undesirably on contact of said steerable wheel means with an obstruction;

• said steering damper including:
• a container adapted to have damping fluid therein, means in said container including vanes movable in said fluid from center, means in said container to define with a first of said vanes a first compartment of variable volume dependent on the position of said first vane and also to define with a second of said vanes a second compartment of variable volume dependent on the position of said second vane, a third compartment being defined between the first and second vanes, means connecting said handlebars to said vanes, to rotate said vanes in synchronism with the rotation of said handlebars about said axis, the connection being such that the center of said vanes corresponds to the center of said handlebars and the movement of said handlebars in one direction from center reduces the volume of said first compartment and increases the pressure of said fluid against the movement of said first vane thereby damping the movement of said handlebars in said first direction and also increasing the volume of said second compartment, and the movement of the handlebars in the opposite direction from center reduces the volume of said second compartment and increases the pressure of said fluid against said second vane, and also increases the volume of said first compartment and means, responsive to the return of said vanes following movement of said vanes in said one direction or said opposite direction, for reducing substantially the pressure in said fluid in said first compartment or said second compartment respectively opposing the return of each of said first and second vanes respectively, to their center, as the case may be, to reduce substantially the damping against the return of each of said vanes to the center thereby to facilitate the return of said handlebars and the steering wheel means to their center positions.

A vehicle having a frame, a hollow head supported by said frame, steerable wheel means movably mounted on said frame, a gooseneck mounted in said head rotatable in either direction from a center about the axial centerline of said head, handlebars connected to said gooseneck rotatable therewith from a center, said handlebars being also connected to said steerable wheel means for controlling the steering movement thereof, a cylindrical assembly mounted fixedly within said head, said assembly including a cylindrical wall having closures at the ends thereof, said assembly being adapted to contain a damping fluid a dam mounted fixedly within said cylindrical assembly, first and second vanes mounted within said assembly connected to said gooseneck rotatable therewith in either direction from a center to a first position where said first vane approaches said dam on one side or to a second position where said second vane approaches said dam on the opposite side, said vanes being in their said center with said steerable wheel means and said handlebars being in their center and the displacement of said vanes from their said center corresponding to the displacement of said handlebars from their center responsive to the displacement of said steerable wheel means from its said center, said vanes when displaced from their respective center on the displacement of said handlebars from their center, in cooperation with said fluid, damping the movement of said handlebars while being displaced from their center.

A vehicle including a frame, steerable wheel means movably mounted on said frame, handlebars mounted on said frame rotatable about an axis relative to said frame connected to said steerable wheel means for controlling the steering movement thereof, and a steering damper connected to said handlebars for damping the movement of said handlebars on the contact of said wheel means with an obstruction undesirably turning said wheel means and the handlebars connected thereto;

• said damper including:
• a hollow cylinder having closures at the ends thereof, said cylinder and closures forming a cylindrical assembly, means connecting said assembly fixedly to said frame, said assembly being adapted to have therein a damping fluid, dam means fixedly connected to said assembly extending into said cylinder along the length of said cylinder, vane means dimensioned to extend axially between said closures and radially to the inner periphery of said cylinder but readily movable along said closures and periphery, means penetrating through said closure at least at one end of said assembly, connecting said handlebars to said vane means so that said vane means is rotatable in said fluid in synchronism with the rotation of said handlebars about said axis, said rotation of said vane means defining closed compartments of variable volume between said dam means and said vane means with a first compartment decreasing in volume defined by a first part of said vane means approaching said dam means with said handlebars moved in one direction and a second compartment increasing in volume defined by said dam means and a second part of said vane means retreating from said dam means, said first part of said vane means producing pressure towards the dam means on the fluid in said first compartment, means, responsive to said exerted pressure, for transmitting the fluid under pressure from said first compartment to said second compartment, said transmitting means being adapted to enable said fluid as it is transmitted to damp the movement of said handlebars in said one direction, and means, responsive to the return of said handlebars in the direction opposite to said one direction, for permitting the return of said handlebars in the direction opposite to said one direction with substantially no damping.