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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.

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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 first chamber formed on one side of the piston within the housing and containing fluid and a second chamber in the housing

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 first chamber formed on one side of the piston within the housing and containing fluid and a second chamber in the housing containing fluid, the shock absorber comprising: (a) a valve in a fluid communication path between the first and second chambers, the valve having an orifice component and a moveable orifice blocker component, wherein the blocker has at least an open position in which fluid can flow through the orifice and a closed position in which the blocker substantially obstructs fluid from flowing through the orifice and wherein the orifice blocker is configured to move from the closed position to the open position solely through an inertial effect of forces that are applied to the orifice blocker and tend to cause at least a partial stroke of the shock absorber;(b) at least one biasing element disposed in the valve that exerts a first biasing force urging the blocker toward said closed position and contributes to a total biasing force that urges said blocker in the closed position to remain in said closed position; and(c) wherein every component of said total biasing force is applied to the blocker by structures contained entirely within the shock absorber and every component of said total biasing force that is controlled so as to vary said total biasing force is controlled only by at least one non-electromagnetic device selected from the group of pneumatic, hydraulic and mechanical devices; and wherein when the blocker is in the open position the first biasing force is no greater for any particular piston stroke position than said total biasing force; and wherein the first biasing force at at least one piston stroke position is insufficient by itself to return the blocker to the closed position. 2. The shock absorber according to claim 1, further comprising a third chamber in fluid communication with at least one of the other two chambers. 3. The shock absorber according to claim 2, wherein the first chamber is a compression chamber, the second chamber is a rebound chamber and the third chamber is a reservoir chamber. 4. The shock absorber according to claim 2, further comprising a port disposed in a fluid communication passage between the third chamber and at least one of the other two chambers. 5. A shock absorber with a housing having a cylindrical sidewall, a piston slidably mounted in, and sealingly engaging, the sidewall, a first chamber formed on one side of the piston within the housing and containing fluid and a second chamber in the housing containing fluid, the shock absorber comprising: (a) a valve in a fluid communication path between the first and second chambers, the valve having an orifice component and an orifice blocker component that is moveable by an inertial effect of forces that are applied to the orifice blocker and tend to displace the piston and the sidewall relative to one another, wherein the blocker has at least an open position in which fluid can flow through the orifice and a closed position in which the blocker substantially obstructs fluid from flowing through the orifice; and(b) a permanent magnet in at least one of said valve components and a magnetically permeable body in the other of said valve components, whereby the blocker is urged toward one of the blocker positions by a magnetic bias formed by the permanent magnet and the magnetically permeable body, wherein upon sufficient inertial force upon the blocker the magnetic bias is exceeded, thereby forcing the blocker from the one of the blocker positions to the other of the blocker positions; wherein the blocker is permitted to move to a position where the magnetic bias is insufficient by itself to return the blocker from the other of the blocker positions to the one of the blocker positions. 6. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 5, wherein the first chamber is a compression chamber and the second chamber is a rebound chamber. 7. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 5, wherein the magnetic bias tends to bias the blocker toward the closed position. 8. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 5, further comprising a a third chamber intermediate the first chamber and the second chamber. 9. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 5, further comprising at least a second orifice allowing fluid passage through the piston. 10. A shock absorber with a housing having a cylindrical sidewall, a piston slidably mounted in, and sealingly engaging, the sidewall, a first chamber formed on one side of the piston within the housing and containing fluid, a second chamber in the housing containing fluid, a third chamber accommodating a variable volume of fluid, said third chamber in fluid communication with the first chamber, the shock absorber comprising: (a) a valve in a fluid communication path between the first chamber and a selected one of the other chambers, the valve having an orifice component and an orifice blocker component, at least one of which is moveable by an inertial effect of forces applied to the shock absorber that tend to displace at least one of the valve components relative to the other of said valve components, wherein at least one of said valve components is moveable relative to another of said valve components between at least (i) an open valve position in which fluid can flow through the orifice between the first chamber and the selected chamber and (ii) a closed valve position in which the blocker substantially obstructs fluid from flowing through the orifice; and(b) a permanent magnet in at least one of said valve components and a magnetically permeable body in the other of said valve components, whereby the valve components are urged toward one of the valve positions by a magnetic bias formed by the permanent magnet and the magnetically permeable body, wherein upon sufficient inertial effect of forces applied to at least one of the valve components the magnetic bias is exceeded, thereby causing the valve components to move from one of the valve positions to the other valve position; and wherein the magnetic bias is insufficient by itself to return the valve to the one of the valve positions from the other valve position. 11. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 10, wherein the first chamber is a compression chamber, the second chamber is a rebound chamber, and the third chamber is a reservoir chamber. 12. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 10, wherein the magnetic bias tends to bias the blocker toward the closed position. 13. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 10, further comprising a a fourth chamber intermediate the first chamber and the second chamber. 14. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 10, further comprising at least a second orifice allowing fluid passage through the piston. 15. 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 first chamber formed on one side of the piston within the housing and containing fluid, a second chamber in the housing containing fluid, a third chamber accommodating a variable volume of fluid, said third chamber in fluid communication with the first chamber, the shock absorber comprising: (a) a valve in a fluid communication path between the first chamber and a selected one of the other chambers, the valve having an orifice component, an opener component spaced from the orifice and an orifice blocker component that is moveable by an inertial effect of forces applied to the blocker component that tends to displace the blocker component relative to the orifice component, wherein the blocker has at least an open position in which fluid can flow through the orifice and a closed position in which the blocker substantially obstructs fluid from flowing through the orifice; and(b) a non-electromagnetic permanent magnet in one of said blocker and said opener, and a non-electromagnetic magnetically permeable body in the other of said blocker and said opener for urging the blocker toward the open position, wherein upon sufficient inertial effect of force upon the blocker the blocker is moved from one of the blocker positions to the other of the blocker positions; andwherein the blocker is initially moved from the other of the blocker positions towards the one of the blocker positions through a force other than magnetic force. 16. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 15, wherein the first chamber is a compression chamber, the second chamber is a rebound chamber, and the third chamber is a reservoir chamber. 17. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 15, wherein magnetic bias tends to bias the blocker toward the closed position. 18. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 15, further comprising a fourth chamber intermediate the first chamber and the second chamber. 19. The shock absorber in accordance with claim 15, further comprising at least a second orifice allowing fluid passage through the piston. 20. The shock absorber according to claim 15, further comprising a mechanical spring seating against a second blocker and urging the second blocker toward the closed position. 21. A shock absorber with a housing having a cylindrical sidewall, a piston slidably mounted in, and sealingly engaging, the sidewall, a first chamber containing fluid, and a second chamber containing fluid, the shock absorber comprising: (a) a valve in a fluid communication path between the first chamber and the second chamber, the valve having an orifice component and an orifice blocker component, wherein the orifice component and the orifice blocker component are configured to move relative to one another between at least an open valve position in which the orifice blocker component is spaced from the orifice component and a closed valve position in which the orifice blocker component is adjacent, and substantially obstructs fluid from flowing through, the orifice;(b) a magnetically attractive element positioned adjacent the orifice blocker component, whereby the orifice blocking component is urged toward one of the valve positions by a magnetic bias formed by the magnetically attractive element and the orifice blocker component; and(c) wherein upon sufficient inertial effect of force upon at least one of the orifice blocking component and the magnetically attractive element, the magnetic bias between the magnetically attractive element and the orifice blocker component is exceeded, thereby causing the orifice blocker component to move from one of the valve positions to the other of the valve positions; and wherein the magnetic bias is insufficient by itself to return the orifice blocker component to the one of the valve positions from the other of the valve positions. 22. The shock absorber according to claim 21, further comprising a biased secondary valve configured to open and close a third orifice. 23. The shock absorber according to claim 21, wherein the first chamber is a compression chamber and the second chamber is a rebound chamber. 24. The shock absorber according to claim 23, further comprising a reservoir chamber in fluid communication with at least one of the first chamber and the second chamber. 25. The shock absorber according to claim 21, wherein the valve defines a serpentine path for fluid to travel. 26. The shock absorber according to claim 21, wherein the magnetically attractive element comprises a permanent magnet. 27. The shock absorber according to claim 21, wherein the orifice blocking component comprises a permanent magnet.