US 6,145,637 A · Steering damper in and for vehicles

A steering damper for a vehicle having a frame, steerable wheel means mounted on said frame, movable in either direction from the center, a steer-tube connected to said steerable wheel means, handlebars on said frame rotatable about an axis relative to said frame connected to said steerable wheel means through said steer-tube for controlling the steering movement of said steerable wheel means, said handlebars being mounted on said frame rotatable about said axis in either direction from the center, said handlebars being connected to said steerable wheel means so that with said handlebars in center the movement of said handlebars in either direction corresponds to the steering 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 as on contact of said steerable wheel means with an obstruction;

said steering damper including:
a container having damping fluid therein, means in said container including vane means, means, adapted to connect said container to said handlebars for rotating said container relative to said vane means as said handlebars are rotated from center in either direction and in synchronism with said handlebars, a first of said vane means defining with said container a first compartment of variable volume dependent on the position of said container relative to said first of said vane means as said container is rotated and also a second of said vane means defining with said container a second compartment of variable volume dependent on the position of said container relative to said second of said vane means as said container is rotated, a third compartment being defined between the first and second of said vane means, the connection adapted to be made between said container and said handlebars being such that the center about which said container is rotated corresponds to the center about which said handlebars are rotated and the rotation 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 container relative to said first of said vane means damping the movement of said handlebars in said one 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 of said vane means, and means, adapted to respond to the movement of said container relative to said vane means in said opposite direction or said one direction on the return of said handlebars from the position of said handlebars resulting from rotation of said handlebars in said one direction or said last-named opposite direction for reducing substantially the pressure in said fluid opposing the return rotation of said container to its center to reduce substantially the damping against the return of the container to the center thereby to facilitate the return of said handlebars and the steerable wheel means to their center position, the steering damper being characterized by that it is adapted to be mounted within said steer-tube and to be connected to said handlebars to operate as described responsive to the movement of said handlebars.

A steering damper for a vehicle having a frame, steerable wheel means mounted on said frame movable in either direction from center, handlebars on said frame rotatable about an axis relative to said frame, a steer-tube connected to said steerable wheel means and to said handlebars for controlling the steering movement of said steerable wheel means, said handlebars being mounted on said frame rotatable about said axis in either direction from the center, 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 rotation of said handlebars in either direction producing corresponding movement of said steerable wheel means in the corresponding direction, said handlebars being manually rotatable from said center in either direction and also being rotatable from said center undesirably as on contact of said steerable wheel means with an obstruction;

said steering damper including:
a container having damping fluid therein, vane means in said container, said steering damper being adapted to be mounted within said steer-tube, and connection between said handlebars to said container for rotating said container relative to said vane means synchronously with said handlebars, means in said container to define with a first of said vane means as said container is rotated relative to such vane means a first compartment of variable volume and also to define with a second of said vane means a second compartment of variable volume, the first of said compartments decreasing in volume and increasing the pressure of said fluid on said first of said vane means as said container is rotated in one direction and the second compartment increasing in volume and decreasing the pressure on the second of said vane means as said container is rotated in said one direction, said increasing pressure in the first of said compartments damping the rotation of said handlebars and the movement of the steerable wheel connected thereto, and said steering damper including means adapted to respond to the return of said handlebars to center from displacement from center for suppressing the damping against said return of said handlebars.

Steering damper in and for vehicles

Life of this patent

Steering damper in and for vehicles

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims13