Protective sleeve

Abstract

A protective sleeve made of an elastic material for a piston-cylinder unit with a piston disposed in a cylinder bore in an axially displaceable manner. The protective sleeve is provided with annular end segments that can be supported on the outer piston wall on one side and in the cylinder bore on the other. A middle segment of an essentially hollow cylindrical shape connects the two end segments with each other and, when the piston is in an entered position, is folded like a rag in a radial direction as in a bellows. To ensure reliable and correct folding of the protective sleeve during the entry of the piston, the middle segment is subdivided in the axial direction into annular longitudinal segments, the lengths of which are approximately equal to the length of a fold wall, and at least one of the longitudinal segments is provided with an essentially annular stiffening zone.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.