An actuator system for a vehicle suspension system including: an actuator having a piston and a first fluid chamber separated from a second fluid chamber by the piston; a hydraulic pump having a first port, a first hydraulic circuit operable to connect the first port to the first chamber, the first hydraulic circuit including a first valve, the first valve being a damper valve operable to variably restrict flow of hydraulic fluid out of the first chamber; a first hydraulic accumulator connected to a first gallery of the first hydraulic circuit between the first port and the first valve; a second hydraulic accumulator connected to a second port of the pump via a second gallery; and a second valve, the second valve being a variable pressure relief valve operable to variably restrict flow of hydraulic fluid from the first gallery to the second gallery.

An actuator system for a vehicle suspension system includes: an actuator having a piston and a first fluid chamber separated from a second fluid chamber by the piston; a hydraulic pump having a first port connected by a first hydraulic circuit to the first chamber via a first valve, the first valve being a damper valve operable to variably restrict flow of hydraulic fluid out of the first chamber; a first hydraulic accumulator connected to the first hydraulic circuit between the first port and the first valve; and a second hydraulic accumulator connected to the first port by a second valve, the second valve being a variable pressure relief valve operable to variably restrict flow of hydraulic fluid from the first port to the second hydraulic accumulator.

A damper includes a pressure tube, a piston assembly, a piston rod, a reserve tube, and a reserve chamber. The damper also includes a base valve assembly having a valve body and a compression disc assembly. The compression disc assembly engages a first end face of the valve body to restrict flow through at least one compression passage. The base valve assembly also includes a rebound disc assembly. The rebound disc assembly engages a second end face of the valve body to restrict flow through at least one rebound passage. The rebound disc assembly includes at least one rebound bending disc that directly engages the second end face to close the at least one rebound passage. The rebound bending disc bends in response to pressure within the at least one rebound passage to permit flow through the at least one rebound passage.

Provided is an on-demand shock stiffening system. The on-demand shock stiffening system operates to immediately stiffen the shocks in response to a user activating the system. The system may include a main body with an oil flow aperture and a flow control system that operates to restrict the flow of oil between the reservoir and the shock. The on-demand shock stiffening system may be coupled between the reservoir and the bridge of the shock and operates to restrict flow of the oil in order to stiffen the shock immediately in an on-demand manner.

A multi-stage adjusting damping valve as well as a shock absorber and suspension system using the damping valve are provided. The multi-stage adjusting damping valve comprises a throttle valve, an overflow valve and a multi-stage pilot valve. The multi-stage pilot valve comprises a mechanical regulating valve and a plurality of high-speed switch electromagnetic valves having different throttle hole diameters. The damping valve is connected between a rod cavity and an oil storage cavity of the shock absorber by means of a middle cavity, and the multi-stage damping rapid regulation of the shock absorber is achieved through high-frequency opening and closing of a high-speed switching electromagnetic valve, and in comparison, the machining precision, the manufacturing cost and the control and calibration difficulty of the present disclosure are greatly reduced.

A spring for a check valve which can be used in particular in controllable vibration dampers, said spring comprising a flat main body with a first surface, a second surface and a centre point, and two or more spring arms, which cooperate resiliently with the main body and in the unloaded state protrude from the first surface or the second surface, the spring arms forming a free end and having a longitudinal axis that runs through the free end and tangentially to a circle about the centre point of the main body. The invention further relates to a check valve having a spring of this kind. In addition, the invention relates to a controllable vibration damper which comprises such a check valve, and to a motor vehicle having a controllable vibration damper of this kind.

A mechanism and method for externally adjusting the mid-valve stiffness is described and enables adjustment of a mid-valve functionality without disassembly of a suspension system incorporating the invention. The effect of this adjustment on the damping curve is far greater than either low-speed compression adjusters or conventional high-speed compression adjusters. The apparatus combines the valve-stiffening system of a high speed compression adjuster with the sensitivity of the mid-valve. Externally accessible adjustment members are operatively coupled to the mid-valve components located internally in a fork so that manipulation of the adjustment members causes adjustment of the mid-valve and the damping force created by the mid-valve. The apparatus may be utilized in closed cartridge suspension forks (CCSF) and open cartridge suspension forks (OCSF) and other shocks or suspension dampers.

A suspension apparatus includes a valve device provided between an upper chamber and a lower chamber of each of hydraulic cylinders and configured to establish and block communication between these chambers. The valve device includes a first passage and an extension-side damping force generation mechanism. Hydraulic oil flows out from the upper chamber into the first passage due to a movement of a piston in a cylinder of each of the hydraulic cylinders. The extension-side damping force generation mechanism includes a damping valve and a back-pressure chamber. The damping valve is disposed in the first passage, and generates a damping force by restricting a flow of the hydraulic oil generated due to a sliding movement of the piston. The back-pressure chamber applies an inner pressure thereof to this damping valve in a valve-closing direction.

A position-sensitive shock absorber 1 comprising an internal fluid space 3, a piston 5 and fluid system 7. The piston divides the internal fluid space into a compression side 3a and a rebound side 3b. The fluid system fluidly connects the compression side to the rebound side. The fluid system comprises a chain 9 of three or more external fluid spaces 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d external to the internal fluid space, space flow-control-arrangements 27i, 27ii, 27iii, and passage arrangements 25a, 25b, 25c, 25d mutually spaced along the internal fluid space. Each of the space flow-control-arrangements is configured to mutually fluidly connect a respective adjacent two of the external fluid spaces. Each of the external fluid spaces has a respective one of the passage arrangements. Each of the passage arrangements comprises one or more passages opening to the internal fluid space. The piston is movable along the internal fluid space to at least one of pass (at least one of the passages) and at least restrict flow through at least one of the passages.

A damper assembly comprises a main tube defining a fluid chamber. The main tube includes a first section, a second section, and an intermediate portion. A sleeve is disposed about the main tube. An external tube is disposed about the main tube and the sleeve. The external tube defines a compensation chamber between the sleeve and the external tube. A main piston divides the fluid chamber into a rebound chamber and a compression chamber. A piston rod couples to the main piston for moving the main piston between a compression stroke and a rebound stroke. The sleeve is in an abutment relationship with the second section of the main tube, radially spaced apart from the first section of the main tube, defining a compartment extending between the sleeve and the first section of the main tube. A housing for the damper assembly is also disclosed herein.