An air spring includes a top plate, a bottom plate disposed with a distance in a main load direction from the top plate, and a diaphragm made of elastically deformable rubber and connected to the top plate and the bottom plate to form a closed space therebetween. A modulus of elasticity of a material constituting a connection section which is disposed in the top plate and the bottom plate and connected to the diaphragm is greater than a modulus of elasticity of the rubber constituting the diaphragm and smaller than a modulus of elasticity of aluminum.

A damping valve includes a main valve opening and closing a main passage, and a pilot passage reducing a pressure of the upstream of the main passage by a throttle to guide as a back-pressure biasing the main valve to the closing direction. A pressure control valve being disposed on the downstream of the throttle and including a seating portion controlling the back-pressure, and a switching valve including a circular depressed portion opening and closing the pilot passage are integrated and controlled by a single solenoid. The damping valve includes fail passages being branched from the downstream of the throttle to bypass the main valve, and a fail valve opening and closing the fail passage. The switching valve is arranged on the upstream of the pressure control valve in the pilot passage. The fail passages are branched from the upstream of the switching valve of the pilot passage.

Disclosed herein is an apparatus for variable fluid damping. The apparatus comprises a mount. The apparatus also comprises a damper coupled to the mount to apply a damping force in response to movement of the mount. The apparatus further comprises an electrical element positioned to correspond to the damper. The apparatus additionally comprises a rheological fluid disposed in the damper. The rheological fluid changes viscosity in response to a change in an output of the electrical element to change the damping force of the damper. The apparatus also comprises a controller to provide input to the electrical element in response to a normal operating condition or an emergency operating condition.

An assembly for enabling continuous seat post function during extreme conditions is described and includes: a first valve at least partially, slidably disposed within a stationary piston and for controlling a first fluid pathway there through, wherein the first fluid pathway runs from a first portion and to a second portion of the oil chamber, wherein the stationary piston separates the oil chamber into the first portion and the second portion; and a second valve at least partially disposed within the stationary piston and disposed in series with the first valve and having a second fluid pathway disposed through the first valve and the second valve, being in parallel with the first fluid pathway, running from the first portion to the second portion of the oil chamber, and providing a bypass for oil to flow from the first portion to the second portion when the first fluid pathway is closed.

A method for monitoring a dual-stage, separated gas/fluid shock strut includes receiving, by a controller, a primary chamber temperature sensor reading, a primary chamber pressure sensor reading, and a shock strut stroke sensor reading, calculating, by the controller, a secondary chamber nominal pressure based upon the primary chamber temperature sensor reading, determining, by the controller, a shock strut stroke associated with the secondary chamber nominal pressure, calculating, by the controller, a volume of oil in an oil chamber, a volume of gas in a primary gas chamber, a number of moles of gas in the primary gas chamber, a volume of oil leaked into the primary gas chamber, a volume of gas in a secondary chamber, and a number of moles of gas in the secondary chamber.

A method for monitoring a dual-stage, stroke activated, mixed fluid gas shock strut includes receiving, by a controller, primary chamber temperature and pressure sensor readings, secondary chamber pressure and temperature sensor readings, and a shock strut stroke sensor reading, calculating, by the controller, a compression factor, determining, by the controller, a plurality of compression factors for known oil volumes based on the primary chamber temperature sensor reading and/or the shock strut stroke sensor reading, and calculating, by the controller, an oil volume in a primary chamber of the shock strut, a number of moles of gas in the primary chamber of the shock strut, a volume of gas in a secondary chamber of the shock strut, and a number of moles of gas in the secondary chamber.

The present invention relates to a damper for a rail vehicle, the damper comprising —a cylindrical housing (1) wherein a hollow piston (2) is received axially movable, —a working chamber (5) of variable volume in the housing, —a overflow chamber (4) of variable volume in the piston, the hydraulic overflow chamber (5) being connected to the hydraulic working chamber (5) via a throttle (8) that is in a flow passage between the working chamber (5) and the overflow chamber (4), —a spring chamber (3) of variable volume in the piston, the spring chamber (3) being configured to hold a gas volume for acting as a spring, and the spring chamber being separated from the hydraulic overflow chamber (4) by a separator piston (6) that is axially movable, and the damper further comprising a pressure detector (7) that is configured to detect a pressure in at least one of the spring chamber (3), the working chamber (5) and the overflow chamber (4). The invention also relates to a monitoring system and to a method for monitoring a pressure in a damper.

A drive arrangement for a motor vehicle flap including a gas pressure element, the gas pressure element has an outwardly sealed cylinder and a piston moveable in the cylinder interior along the cylinder axis and subdivides the cylinder interior into two sub-chambers, the gas pressure element has a first drive connection connected to the cylinder, and a second drive connection connected to the piston, the cylinder filled with a fluid and the piston has an overflow channel arrangement to create a balancing flow between the two sub-chambers to balance a pressure drop between the two sub-chambers. The piston is assigned a switchable valve arrangement which, depending on the pressure drop between the two sub-chambers, to create different through-flow states differing the cross section of the overflow channel arrangement. Upon exceeding a predetermined threshold for the pressure drop, the valve arrangement switches to change the cross section of the overflow channel arrangement.

Technologies are generally described for stackable, configurable monitoring systems for shock absorbers or dampers. An example monitoring system may include one or more sensor boards, a processor board, a power supply board, and a communications board stacked together and fitted into a body of a shock absorber (or damper). Each sensor board may condition sensor outputs from one or more sensors. The processor board may process the conditioned sensor outputs and provide data to external computing devices. In some examples, the power supply board may recharge an on-board battery. The stacking order of the boards may be configurable. In other examples, a displacement sensor board may be disposed on the body and measure displacement using a laser module.

A pressure control valve for open-loop or closed-loop control of a pressure of a compressed fluid in a pilot pressure chamber includes a valve housing with at least one inlet and at least one outlet, a wall section fixedly connected with the valve housing and having a first passage channel and a first throughbore, through which the compressed fluid can flow, and forms a first valve seat. The pressure control valve also includes a tappet and first and second sealing elements. The tappet is mounted in the valve housing and movable along a longitudinal axis by an energizeable actuation device. The first sealing element is mounted so as to be movable along the longitudinal axis in the valve housing and is biased by means of a first spring into a closure position in which the first sealing element bears against the first valve seat and closes the first through-bore.