Patent Application
20230128428
The present disclosure relates to a two-piece plastic dirt shield for shock absorbers.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Shock absorbers absorb excitations imparted on a vehicle axle system originating from the road. They ensure permanent road grip of the wheels and thus good braking effects. Shock absorbers are essential for driving safety and ride comfort. A typical shock absorber includes a cylinder attached to a vehicle structure such as an axle and a piston assembly including a piston disposed within the cylinder and a rod attached to the piston and to a vehicle body or frame member. Dirt shields have been commonly used to prevent contamination within the shock absorber and to protect the piston rod and oil seal against any damage. The typical material for current truck and bus shock absorber dirt shields is metal.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
A dirt shield is provided for shock absorbers having a piston assembly and a cylinder member with a metal dirt cap connected to a rod of the piston assembly. A plastic dirt shield bracket is adapted to be fixed to the metal dirt cap and includes a first portion and a second portion hingedly connected to one another. A dirt shield tube is connected to the plastic dirt shield bracket.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
With reference to
A plastic dirt shield bracket 20 is fixed to the metal dirt cap 18. As best shown in
With reference to
As shown in
As shown in
The present disclosure provides a two-piece plastic dirt shield including the plastic dirt shield bracket 20 is closed around the dirt shield cap 18 and secured by the latch member 28 engaging the catch portion 30 to provide a stiff/robust connection. The bottom of the plastic dirt shield bracket 20 is designed to receive the dirt shield tube 40 which can be press fit or snap fit onto the plastic dirt shield bracket 20 to allow for an easily formed and assembled dirt shield assembly 20/40 with an appropriate length. The design provides for reduced weight and cost by using plastic instead of metal and requires no painting of the plastic dirt shield assembly 20/40. In addition, the proposed plastic design eliminates the need for welding with the dirt shield cap and provides a corrosion resistant dirt shield assembly.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature’s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
