A damper device includes an outer cylinder, an inner cylinder disposed inside the outer cylinder and having an inner chamber, a lower open end, and an upper closed end wall with a vent hole, a piston disposed in the inner chamber and having a passageway, a check valve coupled to the passageway to permit only upward flowing of a working fluid in the inner chamber through the passageway, and a piston rod having a lower rod end disposed outwardly of the outer cylinder, and an upper rod mounted to permit the piston to slide with the piston rod. The sliding of the piston rod is dampened by sliding of the piston in the inner chamber. A hinge assembly including the damper device is also disclosed.

A vehicle interior component with an improved torque hinge is provided. The vehicle interior component may comprise a base and a cover configured to move relative to the base. The torque hinge may be coupled to the base and the cover and configured to hold the cover in any position relative to the base. The torque hinge may comprise a bushing, a brake, a clamp and a fastener configured to provide a clamping force between the clamp and brake. The bushing may be configured to move with the cover as the cover moves relative to the base to provide a frictional force against the brake. The clamp may be manufactured by an extrusion process. The clamp may comprise a curved portion and first and second extension portions extending from the curved portion. The first and second extension portions of the clamp may be substantially parallel.

An artificial joint with a knee axis including a swing-phase control means having a variable friction-based swing-phase controller. The variable friction-based swing-phase controller may apply different resistances at different ranges of motion by altering the torque applied upon the knee axis by altering any combination, or all of the following: the length of a lever arm and a force applied. This may be done to optimize the swing-phase control of the artificial joint to promote natural and smooth walking gait.

An energy absorber having a bar movable along a longitudinal axis by a tensile force. First and second energy absorbers extend along the longitudinal axis. A coupling mechanism couples the second energy absorber to the bar. The first energy absorber activates upon movement of the bar along the longitudinal axis. The coupling mechanism has a force transferring element to transfer force from the bar to the second energy absorber upon activation by a trigger. The trigger is subjected to a trigger load that is proportional to the bar's velocity along the longitudinal axis. The trigger is displaceable from its unloaded position upon loading and, simultaneously, constrained from displacing by a constraining force acting in opposite direction of the trigger load. The trigger displaces to activate the force transferring element to activate the second energy absorber when the velocity of the bar is above first pre-determined non-zero amount.

A vibration damper (11) including a movable section ((20) to move in at least one direction; a support section to movably support the movable section; a vibration detector (29) to detect a vibration received by the vibration damper; and a computing processor (30) to compute an amount of displacement of the movable section (20) in a first direction, which is associated with the vibration, based on a detection result of the vibration detector (29) to obtain an amount of correction corresponding to the amount of displacement. The support section moving the movable section (20) in a second direction opposite to the first direction based on the amount of correction obtained by the computing processor (30).

A vehicle interior component with an improved torque hinge is provided. The vehicle interior component may comprise a base and a cover configured to move relative to the base. The torque hinge may be coupled to the base and the cover and configured to hold the cover in any position relative to the base. The torque hinge may comprise a bushing, a brake, a clamp and a fastener configured to provide a clamping force between the clamp and brake. The bushing may be configured to move with the cover as the cover moves relative to the base to provide a frictional force against the brake. The clamp may be manufactured by an extrusion process. The clamp may comprise a curved portion and first and second extension portions extending from the curved portion. The first and second extension portions of the clamp may be substantially parallel.

A tuned mass damper for reducing vibration on a component includes a shaft connector member configured to be coupled to the component and a cable termination member. The tuned mass damper also includes at least one cable coupled to the shaft connector member and to the cable termination member such that vibration of the component is transferred to the at least one cable via the shaft connector member and increased or decreased by the at least one cable.

A variable damping assembly includes a base, a supporting member, a damping member, and an elastic member. The supporting member is positioned on the base. The damping member is rotatably coupled to the supporting member and presses against the housing. The elastic member includes a first end and a second end opposite to the first end. The first end of the elastic member is coupled to the supporting member and the second end of the elastic member is coupled to the housing. The elastic member provides an elastic force and the damping member provides a damping force changed as the elastic force changes.

An engine support (1) for preventing a linear movement, including a clamping element-blocking unit (3) that has two switched states, a housing (4) that is located radially outside the clamping element-blocking unit (3), and a rod (2); in the open switched state, the rod (2) can move linearly relative to the housing (4), and in the closed switched state, a relative linear movement between the rod (2) and the housing (4) is prevented; the clamping element-blocking unit (3) includes two clamping element cages (6, 7) which are located axially next to each other and in which a plurality of clamping elements (10) are guided, and also includes at least one spring (11, 16), the blocking effect being created by axially moving the clamping element cages (6, 7) towards each other.

An electronic shifter can include a base, a shift lever assembly, a detent system and a clutch system. The shift lever assembly can include a pivot base having a coupling member. The detent system can include a biasing member and a detent member associated with the shift lever assembly. The biasing member can bias the detent member into engagement with a cam member. The clutch system can include a flexible clutch member and a bearing area having a bearing surface. The bearing area can be associated with the base and can receive the coupling member and clutch member to pivotably couple the shift lever assembly to the base. The detent system can apply a downward force onto the coupling member thereby forcing the clutch member against the bearing surface and providing frictional damping of the shift lever assembly during movement thereof proportional with a biasing force of the biasing member.