Spring element for a vehicle shock absorber, and vehicle shock absorber and vehicle having same

Abstract

A spring element includes a longitudinal axis, a main body that extends along the longitudinal axis and which can be elastically deformed between an uncompressed base state and a state in which the main body is compressed in the direction of the longitudinal axis, a groove extending peripherally on the outside of the main body, and a supporting ring arranged in the groove. A plurality of cut-outs is formed between the supporting ring and the main body in the groove in the base state of the main body. A vehicle shock absorber and a vehicle can use the spring element.

Claims

1. A spring element for a vehicle shock absorber, comprising: a longitudinal axis and a base body which extends along the longitudinal axis and can be elastically deformed between an uncompressed basic state and a state in which it is compressed in a direction of the longitudinal axis; a groove which runs around an outside of the base body; and a supporting ring arranged in the groove, wherein in a basic state of the base body one or more cutouts are formed between the supporting ring and the base body in the groove, wherein a gap which permits air to escape is formed between the supporting ring and the one or more cutouts.

2. The spring element according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of cutouts are embodied in a form of: cylindrical, partially cylindrical or hollow-cylindrical recesses, conically tapering recesses, partially conically shaped recesses, polygonal or partially polyhedron-shaped recesses, or a combination of a plurality of the recess shapes.

3. The spring element according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of cutouts are provided and are arranged distributed uniformly over the circumference of the groove.

4. The spring element according to claim 1, wherein the base body is partially or completely composed of an elastomer.

5. The spring element according to claim 1, wherein the supporting ring is partially composed of an elastomer, and has a metal core, which is encased by the elastomer.

6. A vehicle shock absorber comprising: the spring element according to claim 1.

Description

(1) In addition, the invention relates to the use of a spring element as a main shock absorber or as an additional spring in a vehicle shock absorber. The invention solves the problem on which it is based in the case of such a use in that the spring element is embodied according to one of the preferred embodiments described above. The invention will be described below with reference to the appended figures and on the basis of a preferred exemplary embodiment. In the figures:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic spatial illustration of a spring element according to a preferred exemplary embodiment,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of the spring element according to FIG. 1,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a side view according to FIG. 2 without a supporting ring, according to FIGS. 1 to 3,

(5) FIG. 5 shows an installation arrangement of the spring element according to FIGS. 1 to 4,

(6) FIG. 6 shows a force/deflection diagram, and

(7) FIG. 7 shows a rigidity/deflection diagram.

(8) Firstly, FIG. 1 illustrates a spring element 1 according to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention. The spring element 1 has a base body 3. The base body 3 is partially or completely composed of an elastomer, preferably of a rubber or a polyisocyanate-polyaddition product such as, for example, a PUR foam.

(9) The base body 3 has an essentially truncated-cone-shaped lateral surface on the outside of which a peripheral groove 5 is formed. A supporting ring 7 is accommodated in the groove. In addition, a plurality of cutouts 9 are formed in the base of the groove 5, said cutouts having the result that the supporting ring 7 does not bear completely on the surface of the groove 5 of the base body 3 but rather a plurality of cavities corresponding to the number of recesses 9 remain as long as the base body 3 is in the uncompressed basic state (shown in FIG. 1).

(10) The spring element 1 has a first end side 10 in which a plurality of depressions 11 are formed, with the result that a corresponding number of projections 13, which are adjacent as a result of the depressions 11, are produced which project in the direction of a longitudinal axis L (FIGS. 2, 4, 5).

(11) A mounting flange 15 is formed on a second end side 12 lying opposite the first end side 10. The mounting flange 15 is provided for clamping the spring element 1 in a supporting part of a vehicle shock absorber or a retaining die of a test device (cf. FIG. 5).

(12) FIG. 2 shows the spring element 1 in a side view. As is apparent from the side view, the groove 5 bounds, in the direction of the longitudinal axis L, the region in which the cutouts 9 extend. The cutouts 9 are covered essentially completely by the supporting ring 7, with the result that it is virtually impossible for contamination and relatively large particles to accumulate in the cutouts 9. A small gap between the cutouts 9 and the supporting ring 7 permits air to escape, which facilitates the penetration of material of the base body 3 into the cavities which are provided by the cutouts 9.

(13) A more precise view of the cutouts 9 in the base body 3 of the spring element 1 is given in FIG. 3, where the supporting ring is eliminated for the sake of better illustration. The groove 5 has two groove walls which lie positioned opposite one another at an angle . The junctions between the groove walls and the outer lateral face of the base body 3 are configured in a flowing fashion by means of a first radius 19 and a second radius 21. The groove base 17 also has a radius 17, which results in a more homogenous deformation behavior in the event of compression. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the cutouts 9 are spaced apart from one another.

(14) As is apparent from FIG. 4, the base body 3 of the spring element 1 is embodied as a hollow body and has a cutout 23 which is oriented coaxially with respect to the longitudinal axis L. The cutout 23 is widened on the side of the first end side 10 by means of a conical face 27. The cutout 23 is equally widened on the second end side by means of a conical face 25.

(15) The cutouts 9 are, when considered from the lateral face of the base body 3, let more deeply into the base body 3 than the groove 5. A distance x is formed between the groove base 17 and the cutout 9. The distance x is preferably in a region of 1 mm or more, more preferably in a range from 1 to 6 mm, particularly preferably in a range from 2 to 3 mm.

(16) The cutout 9 is preferably embodied in the shape of a partial sphere. The corresponding sphere diameter is preferably in a range from 2 mm to 30 mm, and is particularly preferably 8 mm or more.

(17) FIG. 5 illustrates that the supporting ring 9 is not embodied monolithically but rather has a core 8 which is encased by an elastomer 14. The core 8 is preferably embodied in a metallic fashion.

(18) While the spring element 1 was respectively illustrated in an isolated form in FIGS. 1 to 4, in FIG. 5 an installation situation of the spring element 1 is depicted. The spring element 1 is installed in a test arrangement 50. The test arrangement 50 has a retaining die 51, into which the spring element 1 is clamped with its mounting flange 15.

(19) The test arrangement 50 also has a compression die 53 which is configured to be placed in abutment with the projections 13 of the spring element 1.

(20) The retaining die 51, the compression die 53 and the spring element 1 are held essentially coaxially with respect to the longitudinal axis L by a centering mandrel 55.

(21) The test arrangement 50 corresponds structurally to a vehicle shock absorber according to the invention. In such a vehicle shock absorber 50 according to the invention the retaining die 51 would be a supporting part, while the compression die 53 would be a damper cap of the vehicle shock absorber. The centering mandrel 55 would be, when transferred to the vehicle shock absorber according to the invention, a piston rod.

(22) In the case of the test arrangement 50, in order to determine a force/deflection characteristic curve or a rigidity profile the spring element is compressed in the direction of the longitudinal axis L. This is done by moving the compression die 53 in the direction of the arrow 54 and/or by moving the retaining die 51 in the direction of the arrow 56. Owing to the relative movement of the dies 51, 53, the spring element 1 is deformed elastically from the uncompressed basic state shown in FIG. 5 into a compressed state. In this context, initially only a small amount of force is necessary, which results in a flat profile of the force/deflection characteristic curve (see region K.sub.1 in FIG. 6).

(23) Starting from a certain amount of deformation, characterized in FIG. 6 by point P, the deformation of the spring element 1 is continued to such an extent that the material of the base body 3 has moved into the cutouts 9, essentially (FIGS. 1 to 4) in the direction of the arrows 57 in the direction of the supporting ring 7. This evasive movement in the direction of the arrows 57 can be seen in FIG. 7: the region K.sub.1 has a local maximum M on a rigidity curve S.sub.1 for a spring element from the prior art which does not have any cutouts in the groove. After the maximum M has been passed through, the rigidity decreases for a short deflection range, before then rising strongly in sector K.sub.2 starting approximately from point P.

(24) However, as a result of the fact that the spring elements which are embodied according to the invention have cutouts 9 (FIGS. 1 to 5), when compression commences in the region K.sub.1 the material can firstly move out into the cutouts 9, which results in a significantly flatter profile of the rigidity curves S.sub.2, S.sub.3. The curves S.sub.2, S.sub.3 differ only slightly, which is attributable to the differing number of cutouts 9. The curve S.sub.2 represents a spring element with, for example, eight cutouts, while the curve S.sub.3 represents a spring element with, for example, 10 cutouts. Both graphs run approximately in a strictly monotonously rising fashion, but rising at any rate in a significantly more uniform fashion than the curve S.sub.1 according to the prior art.

(25) In a way which is analogous to the installation in a test arrangement 50, the same force/deflection profile as in FIG. 6 and also the same rigidity profile as in FIG. 7 would be obtained for the spring elements 1 according to the invention if they were installed in a vehicle shock absorber.