A bearing spring/damper system of a vehicle wheel has a hydraulic vibration damper consisting of a damper cylinder and a damper piston guided therein, the piston rod of which hydraulic vibration damper is fastened to the vehicle body, whilst the damper cylinder is supported to a wheel guiding element. A pretension spring is clamped functionally between the damper piston and a pretension piston which can be displaced hydraulically in the longitudinal direction of the piston rod. The pretension piston is supported hydraulically with respect to the damper cylinder by a support chamber filled with the hydraulic medium of the vibration damper, and can be displaced by a conveying device, which conveys hydraulic medium into or out of the support chamber. The pretension spring is parallel-connected in every possible position of the pretension piston of a bearing spring ultimately clamped between the vehicle body and the wheel for force transmission.

A speed retarding device for a rotary nozzle includes a hollow cylindrical housing and a rotatable tubular shaft rotatably carried by the housing. The shaft has a central axial bore and an enlarged drag sleeve portion carried in the housing. A pair of support bearings support the drag sleeve portion of the shaft in the housing. An annular inner seal between each of the support bearings and the drag sleeve portion defines a cavity within the housing receiving a viscous fluid confined within the cavity. The drag sleeve portion includes a peripheral helical groove and a plurality of axial bores extending therethrough parallel to the central bore, one or more blind axial bores each having a closed end an open end, and a piston disposed in each of the one or more blind axial bores each defining an air space between the closed end and the piston.

A method and apparatus for a shock absorber having a damping fluid compensation chamber with a gas charge. In one aspect, a partition separates a first chamber portion from a second chamber portion, wherein the first portion of the chamber is at a first initial gas pressure and the second portion of the chamber is at a second initial pressure. A valve separates the first and second chamber portions and opening the valve comingles the first and second chamber portions so that the combined chamber portions are at a third pressure. In another aspect, a piston disposed through a wall is in pressure communication with the gas charge and is biased inwardly toward a pressure of the charge, whereby an indicator is movable by the piston in response to the pressure.

Electrorheological fluid is loaded in a shock absorber (1) as hydraulic fluid (2). The shock absorber (1) controls a generated damping force by causing a potential difference to be generated in an electrode passage (19) and controlling a viscosity of the electrorheological fluid passing through this electrode passage (19). A plurality of partition walls (20) is provided between an inner cylinder (3) and an electrode cylinder (18). By being configured in this manner, the shock absorber (1) forms a plurality of helical flow passages (21) between the inner cylinder (3) and the electrode cylinder (18). In this case, an inclination angle of each of the partition walls (20) is not constant, and each of the partition walls (20) includes a sharply inclined portion (20A) inclined at a large angle on at least an entrance side of an extension-side flow passage (21).

The invention relates to a valve to ensure pressure compensation between subchambers of a hydraulic damper, wherein the valve comprises a first side for connection to a first subchamber and a second side for connection to a second subchamber, the valve is designed to shut off in its rest position a flow of fluid between the two sides and comprises, when deflected from its rest position, a passage channel with a passage cross-section for admitting the flow of fluid, the valve comprises two valve elements guided towards each other and movable towards each other along a path of movement in a movement direction x, one of the two valve elements is designed as a moving element and the other valve element as a seat element, a pressure can be applied to the moving element, on the load side thereof, by a fluid coming from the first side, generating an effective force for moving the moving element in the moving direction x, and the moving element is connected to a spring system which applies to the moving element a spring force, generating a restoring force opposite to the effective moving force. At least one of the valve elements comprises a cylinder section comprising a plurality of passages, the passage channel runs through at least some of the passages and the passage cross-section is limited by a cross-section of these passages, while the other valve element comprises a closed cylindrical surface which lies on the one valve element in the rest position, shutting off the flow of fluid, and the passage cross-section can be adjusted by the deflection of the valve as a result of the movement of the moving element towards the seat element in the direction of movement x, the passage cross-section increasing with the deflection.

The hydraulic damping device includes: a cylinder storing fluid; a piston configured to form a channel through which the fluid flows along with relative movement of a rod relative to the cylinder in a specific direction; a valve having elasticity, the valve being configured to open and close the channel in the piston; a movement permitting part configured to permit the valve to move between a contact position and a spaced position, the contact position being a position where the valve contacts the piston, the spaced position being a position where the valve is spaced from the piston; a restricting part configured to restrict bending of the valve at the spaced position; and a pressing part having elasticity, the pressing part being configured to press the valve against the piston.

A method of on-demand energy delivery to an active suspension system is disclosed. The suspension system includes an actuator body, a hydraulic pump, an electric motor, a plurality of sensors, an energy storage facility, and a controller. The method includes disposing an active suspension system in a vehicle between a wheel mount and a vehicle body, detecting a wheel event requiring control of the active suspension; and sourcing energy from the energy storage facility and delivering it to the electric motor in response to the wheel event.

A shock absorber is provided that includes a shock body and a shaft assembly. The shock body has an inner chamber. The inner chamber is defined by a cylindrical interior surface. At least one groove is formed in the interior surface within at least one select length of the shock body. A piston of the shaft assembly is received within the inner chamber of the shock body. The piston includes valving to allow dampening matter that is received within the inner chamber to pass through the piston to allow the piston to move within the inner chamber. The at least one groove that is formed within the interior surface is configured to allow at least some of the dampening matter to bypass the valving of the piston to allow the piston to move through the at least one select length with less resistance.

A vibration damping device of an inverted structure includes a cylinder, a rod capable of protruding and retracting in the cylinder, an outer cylinder coupled to the rod and inserted over the outer periphery of the cylinder, and a bush slidably inserted between the outer cylinder and the cylinder. A gap between the outer cylinder and the cylinder is filled with lubricating oil. The bush contains polytetrafluoroethylene and perfluoro alkoxy alkane. The lubricating oil contains an organic molybdenum additive.

A damper system for a vehicle including a pressure tube and a piston assembly. A stroke dependent damper assembly is coupled to a piston rod at a position below the piston assembly. A free floating piston positioned in an internal cavity of the stroke dependent damper assembly is longitudinally moveable between retracted, middle, and extended positions. A metering pin extends from the floating piston into a through-bore in a distal end of the stroke dependent damper assembly. An orifice is defined between an inner surface of the through-bore and an outer surface of the metering pin. Longitudinal movement of the floating piston changes the position of the metering pin in the through-bore, which changes the size of the orifice. Fluid flow through the orifice is restricted when the orifice size decreases, which slows down the movement of the floating piston as it approaches the retracted and extended positions.