Adjustable shock absorbers

Claim 2

An adjustable fluid energy absorber, comprising: housing means including a central tubular housing member and a pair of end members positioned adjacent opposite ends of said central tubular housing member; sleeve means disposed in said housing means so as to form a first fluid chamber within the interior of said sleeve means and a second fluid chamber between said sleeve means and said tubular housing member; ram means slideably disposed on said housing means for receiving a shock load thereon, said ram means including a piston slideably disposed within one of said fluid chambers and a piston rod connected to said piston and extending outwardly from one end of said housing means; said sleeve means including a first sleeve member having a plurality of circular openings extending radially therethrough to permit fluid communication between said first and second chambers, said plurality of openings being arranged in a first row which extends substantially axially of said first sleeve member whereby movement of said piston axially of said one chamber causes fluid to flow from said one chamber through said openings into said other chamber; control means for varying the effective flow area of said first row of openings to selectively vary the energy dissipation characteristics of said energy absorber, said control means including a second sleeve member disposed substantially adjacent and in concentric, rotatable relationship with said first sleeve member, said second sleeve member having a plurality of circular openings extending therethrough with said openings being positioned within a second row which extends substantially axially of said second sleeve member, the openings of said second row being adapted to at least partially overlap the openings of said first row, and said first and second rows of openings further being slightly angularly offset relative to one another; and adjustment means including a manually rotatable adjustment member disposed directly adjacent the exterior axial end face of one of said end members and fixedly interconnected to the adjacent axial end of one of said sleeve members for permitting relative rotational movement between said sleeve members for adjusting and varying the overlapped area of the openings of said first and second rows, said adjustment member being coaxial with and rotatably movable substantially about the longitudinal axis of said piston rod.

Claim 3

An adjustable fluid energy absorber, comprising: housing means including a central tubular housing member and a pair of end members positioned adjacent opposite ends of said central tubular housing member; sleeve means disposed in said housing means so as to form a first fluid chamber within the interior of said sleeve means and a second fluid chamber between said sleeve means and said tubular housing member; ram means slideably disposed on said housing means for receiving a shock load thereon, said ram means including a piston slideably disposed within one of said fluid chambers and a piston rod connected to said piston and extending outwardly from one end of said housing means; said sleeve means including a first sleeve member having a plurality of openings extending radially therethrough to permit fluid communication between said first and second chambers, said plurality of openings being arranged in a first row which extends substantially axially of said first sleeve member whereby movement of said piston axially of said one chAmber causes fluid to flow from said one chamber through said openings into said other chamber; control means for varying the effective flow area of said first row of openings to selectively vary the energy dissipation characteristics of said energy absorber, said control means including a second sleeve member disposed substantially adjacent and in concentric, rotatable relationship with said first sleeve member, said second sleeve member having a plurality of openings extending therethrough with said openings being positioned within a second row which extends substantially axially of said second sleeve member, the openings of said second row being adapted to at least partially overlap the openings of said first row, and said first and second rows of openings further being slightly angularly offset relative to one another; and adjustment means including a manually movable adjustment member disposed adjacent one axial end of said housing means and fixedly connected to the adjacent axial end of one of said sleeve members for permitting relative rotational movement between said sleeve members for adjusting and varying the overlapped area of the openings of said first and second rows, said adjustment member being disposed directly adjacent the axial end face of one of said end members in concentric and surrounding relationship to said piston rod for rotational movement relative to said rod and relative to said housing means about the longitudinal axis of said rod.

Claim 4

An adjustable fluid energy absorber, comprising: housing means including a central tubular housing member and a pair of end members positioned adjacent opposite ends of said central tubular housing member; sleeve means disposed in said housing means so as to form a first fluid chamber within the interior of said sleeve means and a second fluid chamber between said sleeve means and said tubular housing member; ram means slideably disposed on said housing means for receiving a shock load thereon, said ram means including a piston slideably disposed within one of said fluid chambers and a piston rod connected to said piston and extending outwardly from one end of said housing means; said sleeve means including a first sleeve member having a plurality of openings extending radially therethrough to permit fluid communication between said first and second chambers, said plurality of openings being arranged in a first row which extends substantially axially of said first sleeve member whereby movement of said piston axially of said one chAmber causes fluid to flow from said one chamber through said openings into said other chamber; control means for varying the effective flow area of said first row of openings to selectively vary the energy dissipation characteristics of said energy absorber, said control means including a second sleeve member disposed substantially adjacent and in concentric, rotatable relationship with said first sleeve member, said second sleeve member having a plurality of openings extending therethrough with said openings being positioned within a second row which extends substantially axially of said second sleeve member, the openings of said second row being adapted to at least partially overlap the openings of said first row, and said first and second rows of openings further being slightly angularly offset relative to one another; and adjustment means including a manually movable adjustment member disposed adjacent one axial end of said housing means and fixedly connected to the adjacent axial end of one of said sleeve members for permitting relative rotational movement between said sleeve members for adjusting and varying the overlapped area of the openings of said first and second rows, said adjustment member being disposed directly adjacent the axial end face of one of said end members in concentric and surrounding relationship to said piston rod for rotational movement relative to said rod and relative to said housing means about the longitudinal axis of said rod.

Claim 5

An energy absorber according to claim 2, wherein the individual openings in said first row are of a substantially uniform diameter, and wherein the individual openings in said second row are also of a substantially uniform diameter.

Claim 6

An energy absorber according to claim 2, further including passageway means interconnecting said first and second fluid chambers, and one-way valve means coacting with said passageway means for freely permitting flow of fluid from said other fluid chamber to said one fluid chamber while preventing fluid flow in the reverse direction.

Claim 7

An energy absorber according to claim 2, wherein said piston is slideably disposed within the first fluid chamber as defined within the interior of said first sleeve member, wherein said second sleeve member surrounds said first sleeve member, and wherein said adjustment member is fixedly secured to one axial end of said first sleeve member for rotating same relative to said housing means, said second sleeve member being fixedly secured relative to said housing means, and releasable detent means coacting between said adjustment member and said housing means for releasably maintaining said first sleeve member in a selected position.

Claim 8

An energy absorber according to claim 2, wherein the openings in said first and second rows are circular.

Claim 9

An energy absorber according to claim 6, wherein the individual openings formed in one of said rows are adapted to at least partially overlap a pair of adjacent openings formed in the other of said rows.

Claim 10

An energy absorber according to claim 7, wherein the opening in said one row are of substantially larger cross-sectional area than the openings in said other row.