Provided is a vibration isolator in which simplification of detachment work of a fixing component attached to a vibration isolating component enables the natural frequency of the entire support structure for a vibration source to be easily changed. A vibration isolator includes a vibration isolating component including a rubber, which is an elastic body, the vibration isolating component supporting, in a housing having a slit, a support portion of a compressor as a vibration source that includes a motor and that is provided on a bottom plate of the housing; and a fixing component provided to pass through the slit and detachable from an outside of the housing, the vibration isolating component being fixed, in the housing, with the fixing component such that the fixing component is in contact with part of a periphery of a narrow portion of the vibration isolating component.

Springs of different types are provided with the ability to dynamically change stiffness. For one embodiment turning the elastic beams with elongated cross-section inside a leaf spring's housing plate, leaf springs stiffness is varied. Friction forces between plates are also controlled by using a thin layer of electro-rheological fluid between plates whose viscosity is greatly varied by application of voltage. Second embodiment springs made of hollow tubing filled with oil wherein inside pressure is changed by an actuated membrane or piston whose movement drastically increases the hydrostatic pressure inside the tubing and thus increases tensile stress in the tubing's wall and expands the diameter of tubing which may be of cross-section purposely suited for expansion, thereby increasing its stiffness or decreasing it with any desired frequency or changing the stiffness possibly in milliseconds for a period of time. These springs that are also provided with limited actuation capability are especially suitable for counteracting vibration when changing stiffness with same frequency as vibration. When a number of such springs are used to support one load, they can be used for dynamically varying the load distribution or preventing a change to said load distribution in real time. Another embodiment features annular corrugated tubing which with the increase in inside pressure will substantially lengthen, producing large coil radius expansion and accordingly large decrease in spring stiffness, still another embodiment uses corrugated tubing inside a retaining cylinder; said tubing expands lengthwise when inside pressure is increasing but retaining cylinder forces the lengthening tubing to produce new coils inside of it resulting in spring length increase that is actuation and large stiffness variability resulting from coil number variability.

A damper for electric power steering disposed on each of opposite ends of a worm shaft includes a rubber unit made of a rubber material, and a damper frame disposed on each of opposite sides of the rubber unit. The rubber unit includes a concave part which is concavely formed by forming a groove on an outer circumference thereof, and a convex part which is a convex remaining part.

An isolator designed through the inclusion of a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) along and at or near an electromagnetic coil. A variety of factors can be balanced to produce an isolator that takes advantage of the radially axial coil. One non-limiting embodiment of the design uses a two-part coil bobbin geometry; wherein the axial center of the bobbin is a nonmagnetic material which allows passage of the magnetic field, while the end pieces are made of a high permeability material that limits the stray magnetic field and improves the magnetic flux density through the MRE by providing a pathway of least magnetic reluctance. The MRE changes stiffness and damping properties in response to the strength of the magnetic field, which can be controlled by changing the current through the electromagnetic coil. Feedback and feedforward control systems can allow for real time adaptation by the isolator in response to changing external stimuli. The isolator is useful for a variety of uses. Non-limiting examples are for reducing whole body vibrations for operators of trucks and heavy machinery, as well as for creating greater comfort for patients in ambulance gurneys and passengers in airplane seats.