Shock absorber with sealing ice scraper

A shock absorber of the type comprising a damping fluid cylinder and a piston assembly, the piston assembly comprising a piston housed within the cylinder and a shaft extending from the piston, through a shaft seal at a first end of the cylinder and out of the cylinder, the improvement comprising:

• a sealing scraper assembly, mounted at the first end of the cylinder, comprising:
• a sealing ice scraper member having a generally cylindrical scraper surface, said scraper surface defining a scraper surface bore through which said shaft reciprocally passes;
• said scraper surface bore being sized larger than said shaft so to define a desired gap between the scraper surface and the shaft;
• a recess formed into said scraper surface;
• and
• an outer fluid seal mounted within said recess and in fluid sealing contact with the shaft, whereby liquid within said gap is at least inhibited from passing the outer fluid seal and into said damping fluid chamber.

A shock absorber comprising:

• a damping fluid cylinder having a first end and defining a damping fluid chamber;
• a piston assembly comprising;
• a shaft having a first shaft end within the cylinder;
• and
• a piston mounted to the shaft towards the first shaft end for reciprocal movement within the cylinder, the piston dividing the chamber into first and second variable-volume parts;
• at least one of the piston assembly and the cylinder comprising a restricted fluid flow path fluidly coupling the first and second parts of the chamber;
• an interface housing mounted to the first end of the cylinder;
• a sealing scraper assembly, mounted at the first end of the cylinder by the interface housing, comprising:
• a sealing ice scraper sleeve having a generally cylindrical scraper surface, said scraper surface defining a scraper surface bore through which said shaft reciprocally passes;
• said scraper surface bore being sized larger than said shaft so to define a desired gap between the scraper surface and the shaft;
• a recess formed into said scraper surface;
• and
• an outer fluid seal mounted within said recess and in fluid sealing contact with the shaft, whereby liquid within said gap is at least inhibited from passing the outer fluid seal and into said damping fluid chamber;
• said interface housing comprising a first axial-position mounting element and a second, resilient, axial-position mounting element, said scraper sleeve captured between said mounting elements, whereby said scraper sleeve may move axially against the second mounting element;
• the second, resilient, axial-position mounting element also acting as an inner fluid seal in sealing contact with the shaft;
• and
• said second mounting element comprising a generally conical sealing portion which resiliently engages both said shaft and said scraper sleeve.

A shock absorber comprising:

• a damping fluid cylinder having a first end and defining a damping fluid chamber;
• a piston assembly comprising;
• a shaft having a first shaft end within the cylinder;
• and
• a piston mounted to the shaft towards the first shaft end for reciprocal movement within the cylinder, the piston dividing the chamber into first and second variable-volume parts;
• at least one of the piston assembly and the cylinder comprising a restricted fluid flow path fluidly coupling the first and second parts of the chamber;
• an interface housing mounted to the first end of the cylinder;
• a sealing scraper assembly, mounted at the first end of the cylinder by the interface housing, comprising:
• a sealing ice scraper member having a generally cylindrical scraper surface, said scraper surface defining a scraper surface bore through which said shaft reciprocally passes;
• said scraper surface bore being sized larger than said shaft so to define a desired gap between the scraper surface and the shaft;
• a recess formed into said scraper surface;
• and
• a fluid seal mounted within said recess and in fluid sealing contact with the shaft, whereby liquid within said gap is at least inhibited from passing the fluid seal and into said damping fluid chamber;
• and
• said interface housing comprising means for permitting limited axial and radial movement of said scraper member relative to the cylinder.