Patent EP0174119A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0174119A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Hydraulic damping unit
Assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
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Filing: 1985-08-14
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2005-08-14
Abstract
Abstract Rebound damping action of a hydraulic damper is set by rotating a selector plate (92) within a piston assembly (28) of the shock absorber to a selected one of a number of rotary positions to control orifice (128,130,132) selection and the degree of spring disc pack (104) deflection, and thereby control the rate of oil flow through the piston assembly during rebound.
Inventors
- 👤 Wayne Vincent Fannin
- 👤 Harry Charles Buchanan, Jr.
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 09:26
CPC Classifications
F; F16; F16F; F16F9/00; F16F9/32; F16F9/44; F16F9/46; F16F9/466; F16F9/467
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
294 words
A hydraulic damping unit for controlling the spring action of vehicle suspension springs, comprising a cylinder tube (16) having a hydraulic fluid therein, a valved piston assembly (28) mounted for linear stroking movement in the cylinder tube (16) and hydraulically separating the cylinder tube into first and second chambers, valve means in the piston for controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid between the chambers through the piston assembly (28), a piston rod (30) extending from the piston assembly (28) to the exterior of the damping unit (10), a rotatable actuator (64) extending within the piston rod (30), and valving means (98,92,104) mounted in the piston assembly (28) for selectively opening and closing a plurality of flow-control orifices (128,130,132) for varying and controlling the damping action of the unit (10), characterised in that the valving means comprises an orifice plate (98) fixed in the piston assembly (28) and having a plurality of flow-control orifices (128,130,132) therethrough, a selector plate (92) rotatably mounted in the piston assembly (28) and connected to the actuator (64) for rotation thereby for selectively opening and closing the flow-control orifices (128,130,132) for varying and controlling the damping action of the unit (10), and a plurality of deflectable valve discs (104) secured at a connection to the orifice plate (98) at one side thereof and on stroking movement extending the damping unit (10) from an initial flattened condition of the valve discs (104) in which the flow-control orifices (128,130,132) are fully covered are deflectable to predetermined deflected positions effective to establish a selectively variable flow control restriction (135) between the valve discs (104) and the orifice plate (98), to control the rate of flow of fluid through the piston assembly (28) and thereby the spring-damping characteristics of the hydraulic damping unit (10).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
294 words
A hydraulic damping unit for controlling the spring action of vehicle suspension springs, comprising a cylinder tube (16) having a hydraulic fluid therein, a valved piston assembly (28) mounted for linear stroking movement in the cylinder tube (16) and hydraulically separating the cylinder tube into first and second chambers, valve means in the piston for controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid between the chambers through the piston assembly (28), a piston rod (30) extending from the piston assembly (28) to the exterior of the damping unit (10), a rotatable actuator (64) extending within the piston rod (30), and valving means (98,92,104) mounted in the piston assembly (28) for selectively opening and closing a plurality of flow-control orifices (128,130,132) for varying and controlling the damping action of the unit (10), characterised in that the valving means comprises an orifice plate (98) fixed in the piston assembly (28) and having a plurality of flow-control orifices (128,130,132) therethrough, a selector plate (92) rotatably mounted in the piston assembly (28) and connected to the actuator (64) for rotation thereby for selectively opening and closing the flow-control orifices (128,130,132) for varying and controlling the damping action of the unit (10), and a plurality of deflectable valve discs (104) secured at a connection to the orifice plate (98) at one side thereof and on stroking movement extending the damping unit (10) from an initial flattened condition of the valve discs (104) in which the flow-control orifices (128,130,132) are fully covered are deflectable to predetermined deflected positions effective to establish a selectively variable flow control restriction (135) between the valve discs (104) and the orifice plate (98), to control the rate of flow of fluid through the piston assembly (28) and thereby the spring-damping characteristics of the hydraulic damping unit (10).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
47 words
A hydraulic damping unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the deflectable valve discs (104) are deflectable in response to hydraulic fluid forces directed through the flow-control orifices (128,130,132) which are respectively located at increasing radial distances from the centre (134) of the valve discs (104).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
95 words
A hydraulic damping unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the piston assembly (28) has a shell-like housing means (88) mounting the selector plate (92), the orifice plate (98) has a central region thereof fixed to the piston assembly (28), the deflectable valve discs (104) are secured at a central location to the orifice plate (98) and adjacent the lower side of the same to initially resiliently cover the orifices (128,130,132), and a connector (114) extends through the piston assembly (28) to a backing plate (112) beneath the deflectable valve discs (104).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
99 words
A hydraulic damping unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that first closure means comprising a piston rod guide and seal assembly (32,34) closes one end of the cylinder tube (16), second closure means (24) closes the other end of the cylinder tube (16), the piston rod (28) extends from securement to the piston assembly (28) through the cylinder tube (16) and the piston rod guide (32) for operative connection to a sprung mass (12) of a vehicle, and means (26) secures the cylinder tube (16) to the unsprung mass (14) of the vehicle.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
40 words
A hydraulic damper according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that a plurality of the said flow-control orifices (128,130,132) through the orifice plate (98) are spaced radially outwardly from the centre of the orifice plate (98).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
74 words
A hydraulic damping unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the selector plate (92) has openings (124,126) therethrough and is selectively rotatable to a first position in which a first fluid force can deflect the valve discs (104) to establish a first flow rate, and to a second position to establish deflection of the valve discs (104) to establish a second flow rate through the piston assembly (28).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
92 words
7; A hydraulic damping unit according to claim 6, characterised in that the selector plate (92) is additionally rotatable to a third position to establish a corresponding deflection of the valve discs (104) to establish a third flow rate through the piston assembly (28), whereby overall the valve discs (104) are deflectable between the said first, second and third positions to vary and control the flow control restriction (135) and thereby the rate of flow of fluid through the piston assembly (28) as the piston assembly (28) strokes in the rebound direction.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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