Piston assembly with open bleed
AssigneeTenneco Automotive Operating Company Inc.
InventorsJean-Marie Tuts, Patrick Massonet, Ronny Vanbrabant, Kristoff Six
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A shock absorber includes a piston which has at least one compression fluid passage, at least one rebound fluid passage and at least one bleed fluid passage. A compression valve assembly closes the at least one compression passage and a rebound valve assembly closes the at least one rebound passage. A bleed valve assembly with the bleed fluid passage defines a first, always open flow path through the piston and a second flow path, separate from the first flow path, through the piston. A bleed disc is movable between a first position where the second flow path is open and a second position where the second flow path is closed.
Claims19
A shock absorber comprising:
- a pressure tube defining a fluid chamber;
- a piston disposed within said fluid chamber, said piston dividing said fluid chamber into an upper working chamber and a lower working chamber;
- a compression passage extending through said piston between said upper and said lower working chambers;
- a compression valve assembly engaging said piston, said compression valve assembly closing said compression passage;
- a rebound passage extending through said piston between said upper and said lower working chambers;
- a rebound valve assembly engaging said piston, said rebound valve assembly closing said rebound passage;
- a bleed passage extending through said piston between said upper and said lower working chambers;
- a first bleed valve assembly engaging said piston, said first bleed valve assembly and said bleed passage defining a first flow path between said upper and lower working chambers extending through said piston and a second flow path between said upper and lower working chambers extending through said piston, said second flow path being different from said first flow path;
- wherein
- said first bleed valve assembly includes a first closing disc and a first orifice disc, said first closing disc movable between a first position where said first closing disc is spaced from said first orifice disc to open said second flow path and a second position where a said first closing disc is in direct engagement with said first orifice disc to close said second flow path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.