Adjustable variable oleopneumatic shock-absorbing device

An oleopneumatic shock absorbing apparatus that includes:

• a cylindrical body member having a bottom wall for closing one end of said body member, said opposite end of said body member being open,
• an elongated push rod passing through said open opposite end and being slidably contained within said body member, said push rod having a longitudinal chamber passing upwardly through the bottom of said push rod so that the bottom of said push rod can move toward and away from the bottom wall of said body member,
• an annular seal mounted upon the bottom of said push rod that moves in sealing contact against the inner wall of said body member,
• a free floating piston mounted in said longitudinal chamber that separates the chamber into a gas cavity at the back of the chamber containing a gas and a fluid chamber at the front of the chamber containing a hydraulic oil,
• an elongated regulator element mounted upon the bottom wall of said body member and passing upwardly into said fluid chamber, said regulator element having a cross section that varies along its length and is minimum at an axial portion thereof that corresponds to a midpoint of the stroke of said push rod,
• wherein the diameter of the inner surface of said push rod is greater than the largest outer diameter of said regulator element, whereby movement of said push rod toward and away from the bottom wall of said body member provides shock absorption which is variable throughout the stroke of the push rod, both in the outward and return strokes, as a result of fluid flow through a space defined between the inner surface of said push rod and the outer surface of said regulator element.