Process of producing a torsional vibration damper with a loosely embedded guiding ring

Claim 1

A process of producing a torsional vibration damper, comprising (a) a hub ring; (b) a flywheel ring coaxially surrounding the hub ring, said hub ring and said flywheel ring defining the inside and outside, respectively, of an annular space between them; (c) an elastic body of annular configuration disposed in said annular space and attached to said hub ring and flywheel ring, respectively, said elastic body being made of a heat vulcanizable rubber material; and (d) a separate guiding ring enclosed within said elastic body, said guiding ring being made of a rigid material which does not bond to the elastic body during vulcanization, said process comprising the steps of: (1) assembling said hub ring, flywheel ring, elastic body and guiding ring in their relative respective positions in the vibration damper; (2) heating the assembly to the vulcanization temperature to bond said elastic body to said hub ring and flywheel ring; and (3) cooling the assembly to ambient temperature, whereby a gap is formed by shrinkage between said elastic body and said guiding ring.