An industrial gas spring with a pressure chamber in a casing with an end wall, a piston rod received at least in part in the casing for reciprocation between extended and retracted positions and a pressure relief assembly carried by the end wall. The pressure relief assembly may have a membrane communicating with the pressure chamber and a plunger configured to breach the membrane when engaged and moved by the piston rod when it overtravels its design intended retracted position.

There is provided an air spring for supporting a load, the air spring comprises a chamber for holding a pressurised gas in use, a load-bearing surface arranged to transmit a force from a load in use to the pressurised gas held in the chamber. Importantly, in order to lower the spring rate, the chamber contains a mass of adsorptive material. There is also provided a use of an adsorptive material for the purpose of lowering the spring rate of an air spring, including a gas strut and a pneumatic wheel. There is also provided a method of designing an air spring using an adsorptive material to lower the spring rate.

To achieve the object described above, a shock absorber to solve the problem of the present invention includes a cover that covers an outer periphery of a cylinder which a reaction force air chamber forming member is slid ably in contact with, so that a slidable movement surface of the cylinder on which the reaction force air chamber forming member slidably moves is protected by the cover. Therefore, the slidable movement surface of the cylinder is not damaged by being hit by a flying stone or the like, an air tight property of the reaction force air chamber is maintained, and characteristics of an air spring included in the shock absorber do not change.

An air spring assembly is disclosed. The air spring assembly includes an upper fork tube having a base lug on one end, a lower fork tube having an opening to receive the upper fork tube in a first axial end, and a fork tube gas seal to form a gas seal between the upper fork tube and the lower fork tube. A partial cartridge tube within a portion of the upper fork tube, the partial cartridge tube including a partial cartridge tube gas seal between an outer diameter (OD) of the partial cartridge tube and an inner diameter (ID) of the upper fork tube. An annular volume formed between the ID of the upper fork tube, the OD of the partial cartridge tube, the partial cartridge tube gas seal, and the base lug of the upper fork tube.

A pressure-balanced shock absorber has an outer tube, an inflatable base, a piston tube, a valve adjusting rod, a piston base, an inner tube, and an adjusting resilient element. The inflatable base has a valve passage and a first valve core. The first valve core selectively seals the valve passage. The piston tube communicates with the valve passage. The valve adjusting rod is movably mounted in the valve passage of the inflatable base and the valve tube. The piston base is connected to the piston tube and has a piston passage. A second valve core selectively seals the piston passage. The inner tube is mounted around the piston tube. The piston base divides the inner tube into a first air chamber and a second air chamber. The adjusting resilient element is disposed in the piston tube to achieve the effect of inflating two air chambers.

A pneumatic suspension system is provided. The pneumatic suspension system includes a pneumatic suspension component configured to be positioned within a fork tube in a front-end motorcycle suspension system. The pneumatic suspension component defines a single body housing having a pneumatic cylinder therein.

A method and apparatus for a shock absorber for a vehicle having a gas spring with first and second gas chambers, wherein the first chamber is utilized during a first travel portion of the shock absorber and the first and second chambers are both utilized during a second portion of travel. In one embodiment, a travel adjustment assembly is configured to selectively communicate a first gas chamber with a negative gas chamber.

A damper device comprises a cylinder, a piston bearing on one side of the cylinder, a piston rod displaceably received by the piston bearing, and a bottom unit on another side of the cylinder. The cylinder, the piston bearing and the bottom unit form a closed chamber that is filled with a compressible liquid. The piston rod subdivides the chamber into first and second chamber halves between which the liquid can be displaced if the piston rod is displaced relative to the cylinder. Furthermore, the closed chamber provides for a variable volume so as to compensate temperature-induced pressure fluctuations inside the closed chamber.

A suspension system for use with a motorcycle includes a single body having two pneumatic cylinders in axial alignment therein. The suspension system may be sold in a kit, and may be installed in an existing front wheel fork.

A method and apparatus for a shock absorber for a vehicle having a gas spring with first and second gas chambers, wherein the first chamber is utilized during a first travel portion of the shock absorber and the first and second chambers are both utilized during a second portion of travel. In one embodiment, a travel adjustment assembly is configured to selectively communicate a first gas chamber with a negative gas chamber.