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There is provided an air spring for supporting a load, the air spring comprises a chamber for holding a pressurized gas in use, a load-bearing surface arranged to transmit a force from a load in use to the pressurized gas held in the chamber. Importantly, in order to lower the spring rate, the chamb

There is provided an air spring for supporting a load, the air spring comprises a chamber for holding a pressurized gas in use, a load-bearing surface arranged to transmit a force from a load in use to the pressurized gas held in the chamber. Importantly, in order to lower the spring rate, the chamber contains a mass of adsorptive material. There is also provided a use of an adsorptive material for the purpose of lowering the spring rate of an air spring, including a gas strut and a pneumatic wheel. There is also provided a method of designing an air spring using an adsorptive material to lower the spring rate.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An air spring for supporting a load, the air spring comprising: a chamber for holding a pressurised gas in use, anda load-bearing surface arranged to transmit a force from a load in use to the pressurised gas,wherein the chamber contains a mass of adsorptive material to lower the spring rate of t

1. An air spring for supporting a load, the air spring comprising: a chamber for holding a pressurised gas in use, anda load-bearing surface arranged to transmit a force from a load in use to the pressurised gas,wherein the chamber contains a mass of adsorptive material to lower the spring rate of the air spring andwherein the air spring further comprises a bellows and the chamber comprises a first sub-chamber within the bellows that has a volume that changes in use and a second sub-chamber that has a fixed volume. 2. The air spring of claim 1, wherein the adsorptive material comprises a granular material. 3. The air spring of claim 1, wherein the adsorptive material comprises an activated carbon. 4. The air spring of claim 3, wherein the activated carbon has an N2 surface area in excess of 1500 m2/g. 5. The air spring of claim 1, wherein the air spring comprises a barrier to contain the adsorptive material, and the barrier allows for fluid communication between the adsorptive material and the rest of the chamber. 6. The air spring of claim 1, wherein the air spring comprises one or more restricted openings between the adsorptive material and the rest of the chamber. 7. The air spring of claim 1, wherein the chamber is pressurised and the load-bearing surface is attached to a load. 8. The air spring of claim 1, wherein the air spring is a reversible sleeve air spring. 9. The air spring of claim 8, wherein the reversible sleeve air spring comprises a piston that contains the adsorptive material. 10. The air spring of claim 9, wherein a piston lid is provided to contain the adsorptive material and allow fluid flow between the adsorptive material and the remaining chamber, and the piston lid comprises one of a gauze, a mesh, a filter grill and a flexible elastic membrane arranged to allow a net movement of gas into and out of the adsorptive material. 11. The air spring of claim 10, wherein the piston lid is an orifice plate defining an orifice, the orifice is protected from the adsorptive material by a substantially hemispherical mesh and the orifice plate comprises an orifice rivet having the hemispherical mesh attached thereto. 12. The air spring of claim 8, wherein the reversible sleeve air spring comprises a bellows, and wherein the bellows comprises a casing for the adsorptive material, and the adsorptive material is contained within the casing.