Shock absorber with variable damping characteristic

US4986392A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Korber AG · DE

Inventor

• Werner Komossa · Bornsen, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: May 12, 1989
• Grant date: Jan 22, 1991
• Expiry date: May 12, 2009

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B60G2500/10
• WIPO field: Mechanical elements
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A shock absorber wherein a piston divides the internal space of a cylinder into two cylinder chambers and has a passage of variable cross-sectional area for the flow of damping fluid between the cylinder chambers. The piston has a first section which is connected with a piston rod and is in sliding engagement with the internal surface of the cylinder, and a second section which is reciprocable in the first section and has two sets of surfaces which are acted upon by damping fluid. The passage is defined by the two sections. One set of surfaces is acted upon by damping fluid which is pressurized as a result of axial movement of the piston in the cylinder, and the other set of surfaces is acted upon by damping fluid which fills a plenum chamber of the piston and is acted upon by a valving element forming part of an electrically operated fluid pressure regulating unit. The difference between the forces which the damping fluid applies to the two sets of surfaces determines the axial positions of the two sections of the piston with reference to each other and hence the cross-sectional area of the passage for the flow of damping fluid between the cylinder chambers.