Flexible wall spring damper
First Claim
1. A flexible wall spring damper including opposed first and second rigid mounting members interconnected by a flexible side wall for defining a flexible wall spring damper chamber, a plurality of solid essentially incompressible in volume irregular shaped elastomeric particles included in said damper chamber, said plurality of elastomeric particles having particle sizes of 30 mesh or smaller filling said chamber at least to the point wherein under static load said chamber is essentially filled, and a flexible diaphragm connected to said second rigid mounting member, a selectively pressurizable gas chamber is interposed between said second rigid mounting member and said diaphragm, whereby relative movement between said opposed rigid mounting members operates to stress said flexible side wall, vary the volume of said gas chamber, and cause relative interaction between the solid incompressible individual particles thus promoting the desired damping and spring characteristics.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible wall spring damper including opposed first and second rigid mounting members interconnected by a flexible side wall is provided. A spring damper chamber is included within the flexible wall and is interposed between the opposed rigid mounting members. A plurality of elastomeric particles are included in the damper chamber. A selectively pressurizable gas chamber is interposed between the rigid mounting members and the flexible side walls. In one embodiment of the invention, a flexible diaphragm connected to one of the rigid mounting members defines the selectively pressurizable gas chamber. In another embodiment of the invention, a spiral tube defines the flexible side wall and includes an inner chamber including the plurality of elastomeric particles. Relative movement between the opposed rigid mounting members operates to stress the flexible side wall and the plurality of elastomeric particles, and vary the volume of the selectively pressurizable gas chamber. The invention exhibits the operational characteristic of a constant natural frequency independent of the mass supported by the device.
73 Citations
15 Claims
- 1. A flexible wall spring damper including opposed first and second rigid mounting members interconnected by a flexible side wall for defining a flexible wall spring damper chamber, a plurality of solid essentially incompressible in volume irregular shaped elastomeric particles included in said damper chamber, said plurality of elastomeric particles having particle sizes of 30 mesh or smaller filling said chamber at least to the point wherein under static load said chamber is essentially filled, and a flexible diaphragm connected to said second rigid mounting member, a selectively pressurizable gas chamber is interposed between said second rigid mounting member and said diaphragm, whereby relative movement between said opposed rigid mounting members operates to stress said flexible side wall, vary the volume of said gas chamber, and cause relative interaction between the solid incompressible individual particles thus promoting the desired damping and spring characteristics.
- 6. A spiral dry viscous spring damper including opposed first and second rigid mounting members and a flexible wall connecting member therebetween, said connecting member comprising a first spirally configured tube including a first plurality of tube windings and including a tube inner chamber, a plurality of solid essentially incompressible in volume irregular shaped elastomeric particles are included in said inner chamber, said particles having particle sizes of 30 mesh or smaller substantially filling said tube inner chamber, whereby relative movement between said rigid mounting members operates to stress said spirally configured tube and cause relative interaction between the solid incompressible individual particles thus promoting the desired damping and spring characteristics.
- 11. A flexible wall spring damper including opposed first and second rigid mounting members interconnected by a flexible side wall for defining a flexible wall spring damper chamber, a plurality of elastomeric solid essentially incompressible in volume irregular shaped particles included in said damper chamber, said plurality of elastomeric particles having particle sizes of 30 mesh or smaller filling said chamber at least to the point wherein under static load said chamber is essentially filled, whereby relative movement between said opposed rigid mounting members operates to stress said flexible side wall and cause relative interaction between the solid incompressible individual particles thus promoting the desired damping and spring characteristics.
Specification