Claims
- 1. A damper, comprising:a housing; a piston movably disposed within the housing, the piston dividing an interior of the housing into first and second cavities and having a passage defined in the piston to couple the first and second cavities, wherein the passage includes at least a disk shaped space within the piston defined by an entire region between two substantially parallel surfaces within a radial distance from an axis of the piston, a plurality of inlet flow ports coupling the first cavity to radially outer portions of the disk shaped space each through a substantially straight path, and a plurality of outlet flow ports each coupling the second cavity with a central portion of the disk shaped space; a magneto-rheological (MR) fluid contained within at least the first cavity and the disk shaped space such that the MR fluid completely fills the entire region between the two substantially parallel surfaces within the radial distance from the axis of the piston, motion of the piston being damped by a flow of MR fluid through the passage; a magnet disposed to produce a magnetic field within at least the disk shape space of the passage.
- 2. The damper according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of inlet flow ports are disposed proximate the radial edge of the piston.
- 3. The damper according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of outlet flow ports includes a portion defined along an axis of the piston and a portion opening to the second cavity.
- 4. The damper according to claim 1, wherein the piston includes a shaft portion.
- 5. The damper according to claim 1, wherein the magnet is an electromagnet.
- 6. The damper according to claim 1, wherein the number of inlet ports and the number of outlet ports being different.
- 7. The damper according to claim 1, wherein the magnet is disposed on the piston within the housing.
- 8. A damper, comprising:a housing; a piston movably disposed within the housing, the piston dividing an interior of the housing into first and second cavities and having a passage defined in the piston to couple the first and second cavities, wherein the passage includes at least a space within the piston coupled with the first cavity through a plurality of substantially straight inlet flow ports and coupled with the second cavity through a plurality of outlet flow ports with the number of inlet flow ports being different than the number of outlet flow ports; a magneto-rheological (MR) fluid contained within at least the first cavity, motion of the piston being damped by a flow of MR fluid through the passage; a magnet disposed to produce a magnetic field within at least a portion of the passage.
- 9. The damper according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of inlet flow ports of the passage are disposed proximate the radial edge of the piston.
- 10. The damper according to claim 8, wherein the passage includes a portion defined along an axis of the piston to couple the space with the second cavity in conjunction with the at least one outlet flow port.
- 11. The damper according to claim 8, wherein the piston includes a shaft portion.
- 12. The damper according to claim 8, wherein the magnet is an electromagnet.
- 13. The damper according to claim 8, wherein the magnet produces a magnetic field within at least the space.
- 14. A damper, comprising:a housing; a piston movably disposed within the housing, the piston dividing an interior of the housing into first and second cavities and having a passage defined in the piston to couple the first and second cavities, wherein the passage includes a plurality of substantially straight inlet ports to couple the passage with the first cavity and a plurality of outlet ports to couple the passage with the second cavity, the number of inlet flow ports being different than the number of outlet flow ports; a magneto-rheological (MR) fluid contained within at least the first cavity, motion of the piston being damped by a flow of MR fluid through the passage; a magnet disposed to produce a magnetic field within at least a portion of the passage.
- 15. The damper according to claim 14, wherein the inlet flow ports are disposed proximate the radial edge of the piston.
- 16. The damper according to claim 15, wherein the inlet flow ports are disposed randomly.
- 17. The damper according to claim 14, wherein the inlet flow ports are disposed randomly.
- 18. The damper according to claim 14, wherein the outlet flow port are further coupled with a portion of the passage defined along an axis of the piston.
- 19. The damper according to claim 14, wherein the magnet is an electromagnet.
Parent Case Info
This application claims priority to a provisional application, Ser. No. 60/167,933, filed Nov. 29, 1999.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
WO 9804846 |
Feb 1998 |
WO |
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/167933 |
Nov 1999 |
US |