Patent Application
20050109570
1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a damping element between two masses, consisting of a container tube, a piston slidably mounted therein in a damping medium, a piston rod connected to this piston, and a fastening part or fixing component for connecting the damping element to a first of the two masses which are to be isolated from each other with respect to vibration, the piston rod being connected to one of the masses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Damping elements or shock absorbers of the type indicated above (e.g., U.S. 2003/0160372) are used in motor vehicles, for example, between a first mass, namely, the passenger compartment which is to be isolated from the vibrations, and a second mass, namely, the wheels, which are subject to vibration while the vehicle is being driven. The damping element is connected by means of a piston rod to, for example, the first mass, and by means of a fastening part to the second mass. The piston rod is hinged to a piston, which executes oscillating movements inside a container tube of the damping element, which is connected to the fastening part and filled with damping medium, these oscillating movements corresponding to the vibrational movements of the two masses with respect to each other.
In certain embodiments, the fastening part on the damping element is designed with a fork so that it can be attached pivotably to the second mass. The fork has bores at its two ends, so that the damping element can be supported in an articulated manner on the second mass by means of a pin, which is pushed through the two bores. According to the state of the art, this fork is mounted on a stem, and the stem is mounted in turn on a bottom part of the container tube. This bottom part is a disk, which is welded to the container tube to seal it off. This disk is therefore welded to the stem and the stem is welded to the fork to provide the functions “sealing” and “attachment”.
The inventive object of the present invention provides that the two parts, namely, the stem and the fork, are combined into a single part in order to make possible a production method which is low in cost but which, above all, is also suitable for mass production. This single piece can then be connected to the bottom part. In addition, the component also has increased strength. The advantages of this measure are obvious. The fastening part is produced as a forging, because this production method minimizes the amount of metal-removing machining which must be done. The weight of the fastening part can be reduced by designing its dimensions to accommodate the buckling and bending stresses. Special attention is given here to the shaft, the cross section of which can have a profile, which can be, for example, a double-T profile, which presents no difficulties to forging as a production method.
The present invention therefore has the goal of improving the design of the fastening part of a damping element in such a way that the damping element, consisting of a container tube, a piston mounted slidably therein, a piston rod connected to this piston, and a fastening part, can be made available at low cost and assembled with minimal effort.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.
The damping element 1 shown in
Another embodiment of a damping element 1 can be found in
A damping element 1 with a container tube 3 can be seen in
a show a fastening part 5, in which the fork 19 is provided with fastening bores 20 for the connection of the damping element to a vehicle. The stem 17, forming a single piece with the fork 19, has an oval cross section.
a again show a fastening part 5, in which the fork 19 is also a designed to form a single unit with the stem 18. The stem 18 has a round cross section, as can be seen
Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2004 001 933.9 | Jan 2004 | DE | national |
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/370,122, filed Feb. 19, 2003, now pending, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10370122 | Feb 2003 | US |
| Child | 11019430 | Dec 2004 | US |
