Fluid-filled elastic center bearing mount

Claim 1

A fluid-filled elastic center bearing mount for flexibly supporting a propeller shaft of a motor vehicle on a body of the vehicle through a center bearing, comprising: an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve disposed radially outwardly of said inner sleeve, said propeller shaft being extending through said inner sleeve, and said outer sleeve being secured to said body; an elastic body interposed between said inner and outer sleeves for elastically connecting the sleeves; said elastic body partially defining a pressure-receiving chamber between said inner and outer sleeves, such that said pressure-receiving chamber extends over a predetermined circumferential length of said sleeves, said pressure-receiving chamber being filled with a non-compressible fluid and receiving a vibrational load applied between said sleeves; said elastic body having a generally arcuate void which extends in an axial direction of the inner and outer sleeves and which is located opposite to said pressure-receiving chamber in a diametrical direction of said inner sleeve in which said vibrational load is primarily received by said pressure-receiving chamber; means for defining a first and a second variable-volume equilibrium chamber adjacent to circumferentially opposite ends of said pressure-receiving chamber, said means for defining the equilibrium chambers comprising a first and a second flexible diaphragm; orifice-defining means for defining a first orifice for fluid communication between said pressure-receiving chamber and said first equilibrium chamber, and a second orifice for fluid communication between said pressure-receiving chamber and said second equilibrium chamber; and an elastic stop disposed within said pressure-receiving chamber and extending from one of said inner and outer sleeves toward the other in said diametrical direction.