Air suspension apparatus

An air suspension apparatus comprising:

• an air chamber that is to act as a spring element;
• a hydraulic shock absorber to adjust a damping force characteristic via transmission of air pressure from said air chamber to said hydraulic shock absorber, with different damping force characteristics capable of being exhibited on an extending side and a retracting side of said hydraulic shock absorber such that
• (i) when the air pressure in said air chamber is high, a hard damping force characteristic is exhibited on the extending side of said hydraulic shock absorber and a soft damping force characteristic is exhibited on the retracting side of said hydraulic shock absorber, and
• (ii) when the air pressure in said air chamber is low, a soft damping force characteristic is exhibited on the extending side of said hydraulic shock absorber and a hard damping force characteristic is exhibited on the retracting side of said hydraulic shock absorber;
• and
• a delay element disposed within a path that interconnects said air chamber and said hydraulic shock absorber, wherein said delay element is to delay the transmission of the air pressure from said air chamber to said hydraulic shock absorber by limiting only air flow through said path.

An air suspension apparatus comprising:

• a cylinder to contain hydraulic fluid therein;
• a piston slidably disposed within said cylinder, with said piston having a piston rod extending therefrom;
• a flow path through which the hydraulic fluid is to flow in response to sliding movement of said piston;
• a damping force generating mechanism to generate a damping force by controlling the flow of the hydraulic fluid through said flow path;
• an air chamber in which a pressure is to vary in response to said piston rod being extended and retracted;
• and
• a damping force adjusting mechanism to adjust the damping force by transmitting the pressure in said air chamber,
• whereby different damping force characteristics are to be provided during extension and retraction of said piston rod, respectively, by operation of said damping force generating mechanism in association with said damping force adjusting mechanism such that
• (i) when the pressure in said air chamber is high in response to said piston rod being at a retracted position, a hard damping force characteristic is exhibited during extension of said piston rod and a soft damping force characteristic is exhibited during retraction of said piston rod,
• (ii) when the pressure in said air chamber is low in response to said piston rod being at an extended position, a soft damping force characteristic is exhibited during extension of said piston rod and a hard damping force characteristic is exhibited during retraction of said piston rod, and
• (iii) when the pressure in said air chamber is between high and low in response to said piston rod being at an intermediate position between said retracted position and said extended position, a soft damping force characteristic is exhibited during extension of said piston rod and a soft damping force characteristic is exhibited during retraction of said piston rod.

An air suspension apparatus comprising:

• a cylinder to contain hydraulic fluid therein;
• a piston slidably disposed within said cylinder, with said piston having a piston rod extending therefrom;
• a flow path through which the hydraulic fluid is to flow in response to sliding movement of said piston;
• a damping force generating mechanism to generate a damping force by controlling the flow of the hydraulic fluid through said flow path;
• an air chamber in which a pressure is to vary in response to said piston rod being extended and retracted;
• and
• a damping force adjusting mechanism to adjust the damping force by transmitting the pressure in said air chamber,
• wherein said damping force adjusting mechanism includes a valve member that is to move in response to the pressure in said air chamber, and said damping force generating mechanism includes a spool for controlling the flow of said hydraulic fluid through said flow path, with said spool to move in response to movement of said valve member.

An air suspension apparatus comprising:

• a cylinder to contain hydraulic fluid therein;
• a piston slidably disposed within said cylinder, with said piston having a piston rod extending therefrom;
• a flow path through which the hydraulic fluid is to flow in response to movement of said piston;
• a damping force generating mechanism to generate a damping force by controlling the flow of the hydraulic fluid through said flow path;
• an air chamber in which air pressure is to vary in response to said piston rod being extended and retracted;
• a damping force adjusting mechanism to adjust the damping force by transmitting the air pressure in said air chamber;
• and
• a delay element to delay transmission of the air pressure in said air chamber by limiting air flow from said air chamber to said damping force adjusting mechanism.