Hydraulic damper

Claim 1

In a hydraulic damper including a cylinder containing hydraulic fluid therein, a piston working in the cylinder and partitioning the interior thereof into two liquid chambers, a piston rod connected to the piston and extending through one of the liquid chambers to project to the outside of the cylinder, disc valves provided on opposite sides of the piston for generating damping force both in the extension and contraction strokes of the damper, a liquid passage formed in the piston rod for communicating said two liquid chambers, an adjusting member for adjusting the effective passage area of the liquid passage, and a digital encoder for detecting the adjusting positions of the adjusting member, the improvement wherein said digital encoder comprises: at least three concentrically arranged electrically conductive patterns; at least three sliding elements mounted for, upon relative rotation between said patterns and said sliding elements, electrically contacting respective said patterns; said patterns having circumferential dimensions such that a first said pattern contacts its respective sliding element in a first circumferential region whereat a second said pattern contacts its respective sliding element, thereby generating a first digital signal representative of a first position of said adjusting member, a second circumferentail region whereat a third said pattern contacts its respective sliding element, thereby generating a second digital signal representative of a second position of said adjusting member, and a third circumferential region whereat both said second and third patterns contact their respective sliding elements, thereby generating third and fourth digital signals representative of a third position of said adjusting member; said first pattern being connected to a common electric line; and said second and third patterns extending in respective opposite circumferential directions beyond said first pattern on opposite circumferential sides of said third circumferential region, thereby ensuring simultaneous generation of said third and fourth digital signals.