Method of manufacturing cylinder apparatus
AssigneeHitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
InventorsYasuyuki Kitagawa, Naoya Kubo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
When manufacturing a disk valve having a ring-shaped elastic seal member fixed to one side thereof for use in a cylinder type hydraulic shock absorber, a disk valve blanked from a plate material is set on a bottom of a lower mold member that is curved to be convex on one side. Mold clamping is performed to form a cavity by a cylindrical mold part and to press the disk valve with a press part to deform the disk valve into a shape that is convex on one side. In this state, the cavity is filled with a rubber material through a passage and vulcanized and cured to mold and fix an elastic seal member to the disk valve. At this time, the disk valve is deformed in a direction in which the curvature reduces by shrinkage of the rubber material.
Claims15
A method of manufacturing a cylinder apparatus, the cylinder apparatus including:
- a cylinder having a fluid sealed therein;
- a piston slidably fitted in the cylinder;
- a piston rod connected to the piston;
- and
- a valve device adapted to regulate a flow of fluid caused by sliding movement of the piston to generate a pressure difference;
- wherein the valve device includes an annular disk valve having an annular elastic seal member fixed to at least one side thereof;
- the method comprising:
- the step of fixing the elastic seal member to the disk valve, the step including:
- a deforming step of deforming the disk valve in such a manner that a surface on one side is convex and a surface on an opposite side is concave;
- and
- a fixing step of fixing the elastic seal member to the surface on the convex side of the disk valve deformed in the deforming step,
- wherein a correcting force with which the one side surface of the disk valve is deformed into a convex shape is at such a level that the disk valve is deformed to be convex on the one side when the elastic seal member is removed therefrom, and
- wherein the elastic seal member is shrunk after being fixed to apply a force for deforming the surface of the disk valve on the concave side to deflect the disk valve, thereby making the surfaces of the disk valve on the convex side and the concave side substantially flat.
A method of manufacturing a shock absorber, the shock absorber comprising:
- a cylinder having a fluid sealed therein;
- a piston slidably fitted in the cylinder;
- a piston rod connected to the piston;
- and
- a damping valve device adapted to control a flow of fluid caused by sliding movement of the piston, the damping valve device including an annular disk valve having an annular elastic seal member of rubber material fixed to one side thereof;
- the method comprising:
- fixing the elastic seal member to the disk valve, including:
- a deforming step of deforming the disk valve in such a manner that a surface on one side is convex and a surface on an opposite side is concave;
- and
- a fixing step of fixing the elastic seal member to the convex side of the disk valve deformed in the deforming step by vulcanization and curing,
- wherein an elastic seal member is not provided on the concave side of the disk valve,
- wherein a correcting force with which the one side surface of the disk valve is deformed into a convex shape is at such a level that the disk valve is deformed to be convex on the one side thereof when the elastic seal member is removed therefrom, and
- wherein the disk valve is deformable according to shrinkage of the elastic seal member at the time of the curing after vulcanization.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.