A shock absorber having a valve controlling the flow rate of fluid between a compression chamber and a rebound chamber in a housing and separated by a piston. The valve has an orifice component and a blocker component, one of which has a permanent magnet, and the other of which has a magnetically pe
A shock absorber having a valve controlling the flow rate of fluid between a compression chamber and a rebound chamber in a housing and separated by a piston. The valve has an orifice component and a blocker component, one of which has a permanent magnet, and the other of which has a magnetically permeable material. Upon the application of sufficient fluid pressure, the blocker component is forced away from the orifice component, despite the magnetic bias that tends to attract the two structures. Because the magnetic force decreases as the two components are spaced farther apart, the shock absorber has excellent performance characteristics. Alternatively, a mechanical spring urges the blocker closed, and magnetic attraction between the blocker and a spaced opener mitigates the increased force of the compressed spring tending to close the valve.
대표청구항▼
1. A shock absorber having a housing with a cylindrical sidewall, a piston slidably mounted for reciprocating through a piston stroke in, and sealingly engaging, the sidewall, a compression chamber formed on one side of the piston within the housing and containing fluid, a rebound chamber in the hou
1. A shock absorber having a housing with a cylindrical sidewall, a piston slidably mounted for reciprocating through a piston stroke in, and sealingly engaging, the sidewall, a compression chamber formed on one side of the piston within the housing and containing fluid, a rebound chamber in the housing containing fluid, a reservoir chamber accommodating a variable volume of fluid, said reservoir chamber in fluid communication with the compression chamber, the shock absorber comprising: (a) a valve in a fluid communication path between the compression chamber and one of the chambers selected from the group consisting of the rebound chamber and the reservoir chamber, the valve having an orifice portion and an orifice blocker portion, wherein at least one of said valve portions is moveable relative to the other of said valve portions between at least (i) an open valve position in which fluid can flow through the orifice and (ii) a closed valve position in which the blocker substantially obstructs fluid from flowing through the orifice;(b) at least one non-electromagnetic biasing element disposed in the valve that exerts a biasing force urging said at least one moveable valve portion toward said closed valve position and contributes to a total biasing force that urges said at least one moveable valve portion already in the closed valve position to remain in said closed valve position; and(c) wherein every component of said total biasing force is applied by non-electromagnetic structures and every component of said total biasing force that is controlled is controlled only by at least one device selected from the group consisting of non-electrical pneumatic, non-electrical hydraulic and non-electrical mechanical devices; and wherein when the valve is in the open valve position the biasing force urging said at least one moveable valve portion back to the closed valve position is no greater for any particular piston stroke position than said corresponding total biasing force at said particular piston stroke position. 2. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 1 wherein, for each piston stroke position, the biasing force urging said at least one moveable valve portion toward the closed valve position from the open valve position is less than a corresponding total biasing force at that piston stroke position that urges the valve to remain in the closed valve position. 3. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 1 wherein said biasing element further comprises a non-electromagnetic permanent magnet in at least one of said valve portions and a magnetically permeable body in the other of said valve portions, wherein the magnetically permeable body is selected from the group consisting of non-electromagnetic permanent magnets and iron-containing bodies that are not electromagnets. 4. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 1, wherein the intensity of the biasing element's bias is adjustable by a structure external to the shock absorber. 5. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 4, wherein said shock absorber is part of a suspension for a wheel of a bicycle. 6. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 4, wherein said external structure is adjustable by hand and does not require the use of a tool for adjustment. 7. A shock absorber having a housing with a cylindrical sidewall, a piston slidably mounted for reciprocating through a piston stroke in, and sealingly engaging, the sidewall, a compression chamber formed on one side of the piston within the housing and containing fluid, a rebound chamber in the housing containing fluid, a reservoir chamber accommodating a variable volume of fluid, said reservoir chamber in fluid communication with the compression chamber, the shock absorber comprising: (a) a valve in a fluid communication path between the compression chamber and one of the chambers selected from the group consisting of the rebound chamber and the reservoir chamber, the valve having an orifice portion and an orifice blocker portion, wherein at least one of said valve portions is moveable relative to the other of said valve portions between at least (i) an open valve position in which fluid can flow through the orifice and (ii) a closed valve position in which the blocker substantially obstructs fluid from flowing through the orifice; and(b) a non-electromagnetic permanent magnet in at least one of said valve portions and a magnetically permeable body in the other of said valve portions, wherein the magnetically permeable body is selected from the group consisting of non-electromagnetic permanent magnets and iron-containing bodies that are not electromagnets, whereby the valve portions are urged toward the closed valve position in a direction opposite a fluid flow direction through the orifice by at least a magnetic bias formed by the permanent magnet and the magnetically permeable body, the magnetic bias contributing to a total biasing force, every component of which is applied by non-electromagnetic structures, that urges the valve portions in the closed valve position to remain in said closed valve position, and upon sufficient force applied by fluid in one of said chambers the magnetic bias is exceeded, thereby forcing the valve portions from the closed valve position toward the open valve position. 8. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 7, further comprising means for adjusting the magnetic bias. 9. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 7, further comprising means for displacing the permanent magnet relative to the magnetically permeable body. 10. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 7, further comprising a linkage extending from one of said valve portions to an exterior of the housing for manually adjusting the position of one of said valve portions relative to the other of said valve portions, thereby adjusting the magnetic bias.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (10)
Jolly Mark R. ; Carlson J. David ; Prindle Donald R., Adjustable valve and vibration damper utilizing same.
Bosley Robert W. (Cerritos CA) Kirshman Samson (San Jose CA) LeMay Dan B. (Palos Verdes Estates CA) Renken Wayne G. (San Jose CA), Electromagnetic valve with permanent magnet armature.
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