Remotely operated bypass for a suspension damper
AssigneeFox Factory, Inc.
InventorJohn Marking
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A damper assembly with a bypass for a vehicle comprises a pressure cylinder with a piston and piston rod for limiting the flow rate of damping fluid as passes from a first to a second side of said piston. A bypass provides fluid pathway between the first and second sides of the piston separately from the flow rare limitation. In one aspect, the bypass is remotely controllable from a passenger compartment of the vehicle. In another aspect, the bypass is remotely controllable based upon one or more variable parameters associated with the vehicle.
Claims14
A throttle valve for allowing and limiting a flow of a fluid there through, said throttle valve comprising:
- a movable piston sealed within a valve body of said throttle valve, said movable piston comprising:
- a shaft coupled to and extending from a first end of said movable piston;
- a biasing member telescopically mounted relative to, and moveable on, a first end of said shaft;
- a spring coaxially mounted on said shaft and disposed between said biasing member and said piston;
- an inlet and an outlet configured for enabling said fluid to flow through said throttle valve;
- a seat disposed within said valve body, and upon which said biasing member sits when said spring biases said shaft toward an extended position;
- and
- a locked-out position preventing a flow of said fluid in any direction, wherein during said locked-out position, said spring is fully compressed, thereby closing said biasing member against said spring and closing a gap, wherein said gap is formed between a first end of said shaft and an interior of said biasing member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.